She claps her hands and falls into another crouch. She gestures towards the book. “Put me in it. I can also tell you about the Ceasg.”
“That demonic mermaid thing?” Marley says, shuddering.
“It looked like an otter crossed with a human,” I muse, pulling the book towards me and obediently opening it. “What is it?”
“Water dweller. Likes to drown people. For sport and for food. That’s about it, really. It usually tries to lure people under. Less splashing about that way. It must have been a junior one that we saw, otherwise it wouldn’t have been that bothered by someone like me.”
The image of her hive of leaves attacking the Ceasg floods my mind and I wish for the millionth time that I was an artist. Then I could draw it. “Thanks. I’ll put that down once we get home.”
“And then me?”
“Maybe.”
She pouts and suddenly transforms into one singular leaf. It makes both of us start in surprise. She transforms back, laughing loudly and joyously.
“That is a good trick,” mutters Marley.
“I’m still learning, too,” Alona giggles, gauging my face for a reaction. She wants me to laugh, as well. I know it. “Just like you.”
I study her, still not sure what I think. I don’t make friends that easily. Even if they can impress me by turning into a tree.
“I can show you both all kinds of things around these parts, if you like,” she says with openness and enthusiasm.
I shove the book into my bag and start heading back to the house, knowing both of them will follow.
“What things?”
“Hidden parts. Secret places.”
It’s the part of this quest I can never resist. I stop walking and hesitate.
“No,” Marley says firmly. “We’ve done enough tonight, Ramya.”
I try to look endearing. “What’s one more thing, then?”
“No,” he says, refusing to be persuaded. “My head hurts and I was almost drowned by a killer… whatever that thing was.”
“Ceasg,” both Alona and I say simultaneously.
“Fine. Well, it tried to drown me or eat me, and it didn’t even have the courtesy to Glamour itself, so I’m going to be having nightmares about that for some time. I’d like to go home.”
“All right, all right, relax. We’re going home.”
I still don’t move though. I’m looking at Alona. Taking in this strange, nature girl with her green hair, bright eyes, and earthy apparel. “How old are you?”
“Oh,” she thinks for a moment, scratching her left ankle with the big toe of her right foot. Her feet are dirty from the woodland floor. “I was made a couple of years ago. In Spring, I think. It was warm.”
“What a nice story,” Marley says quickly. “You can tell us all about it when we next meet. Later. After tonight. Because we’re going to bed. Goodnight.”
Alona laughs again, clearly finding Marley’s cantankerousness amusing. The giggle suddenly dies, however, and her entire face darkens as her eyes lock on something behind my cousin and me. She stumbles backwards and turns instantly back into a tree. I frown and turn, steeling my nerves for whatever is there.
I exhale and release all my fear, amazed at what I see. “You.”
The Stranger is standing at the front gate of our house. He wears black, as he always does, with a bright teal pocket square in his jacket. I always remember little details about him when we’re face to face again, but when we’re apart it’s impossible. He evades memory. He is impossible to describe when he’s not around. It’s a strange sort of spell he has about him.
I don’t know his name and he always brushes that off, stating that he has too many.
He’s the one who really changed the direction of my life. I was walking through the Old Town of Edinburgh when I saw a little statue of a dog leap down from its podium and trot along Candlemaker Row, into the Stranger’s bookshop. He was the one who gave me the book. He was the one who told me about the Hidden Folk. He was the one who started me on my grandfather’s quest.
“Lovely to see you again, Ramya.”
I turn back to look at Alona, who remains transformed. The tree stands still and steady; no passer-by would believe it to be enchanted. A Dryad in plain sight.
“Wish I could say the same.”
He laughs. “What have I done?”
Marley takes a step forward, addressing the Stranger. “You never just show up without a reason. So, what
is it?”
“Look how jaded the two of you have become.”
The Stranger leaves your mind when you’re not around him. His power is probably stronger than that of anyone I knew, even stronger than Aunt Opal’s. He feels otherworldly in a way that makes me intrigued but also nervous. It’s as if he’s part of something so much bigger than all of us.
That’s how he knows so many things.
“Portia’s looking for something in these parts.”
