episode 16: David's First Lesson

-David-

She woke as we turned off the highway, but didn't say much. I could still see that she was upset about her conversation with her grandmother. Finally, we were driving down the road to Napier Farm, when she suddenly swore.

"Fuck."

"What?" I asked.

"The ward."

"What ward."

She frowned, looked at my finger, clutching the steering wheel, and it was then that I noticed it was twitching.

"Pull over," she said.

"What?"

"Turn around. Stop the car."

I did as she directed and pulled onto the snow-clogged shoulder. Takara took my hand with the altered finger in her hand. "I want you to focus on this," and here she rubbed that finger with the back of her thumb. "You’re fey-touched now. You remember you told me that your finger itched when you were looking at some of the spell-tracts in Louise’s shop?"

"Yes," I responded hesitantly, knowing that Takara was about to invalidate yet another piece of my understanding about how the world worked. I felt a little sick.

"Well, the change to your finger makes you one of us, now, despite my expensive and incredibly talented exertions," and here she gave me a pointed look.

I sighed extravagantly and rolled my eyes.

"Ingrate," she said, "Anyway, what’s done is done. So it’s best to see how this might help you. Focus on this, and then on the surrounding land. Focus on the road, and how far it is to the next farm.

I looked at her, shook my head, and held my finger up in front of me as I stared at the road. Takara giggled.

"What?" I asked, irritated.

"It looks like you’re giving the country the finger."

I saw my gesture now and laughed. I was holding my middle finger extended, palm up, staring at it as I gazed down the road. "Well, it does summarize how I feel about the place."

"Oh?"

I looked over at her. "I told you about my history here."

"That’s your family. This is a place."

"Yes, well, it’s not my place."

"Oh goody. Do I sense childhood trauma?"

I frowned at her. "You’re a monster."

"Sure, sure. Like you never gossip. I’m just honest about my fondness for a good story. But that’s for later. Now, I want you to concentrate on the road with your eyes. Focus through your finger." She snickered.

"That’s not helping," I said.

"I know, but, you know."

I sighed, "I know."

"Maybe try making a circle with that finger and your thumb. A little spying glass. But keep your attention on the altered finger."

"Christ, you’re making this up as you go along, aren’t you?"

"Hmph, at least I have some idea of what’s going on, newbie. Just do it."

"Fine, fine." I felt like a child playing at pirate, but then, "What the fuck?"

"What happened?"

"The road, it, it… telescoped."

I looked over at her, and she had a fox’s grin. "Yeah, it’s a powerful glamour. Not just avoidance, but an absence. Unless you were invited, had reason to be here, that they approved, mind you. Then you would completely zone out as you drove this section of road. Just wouldn’t notice it."

"Crazy."

"She’s good, this one. Keep your guard up. They’ll be cagey, they’ll deny everything. Do you see the driveway?"

I concentrated once more upon the road and its surroundings, peering through the spyglass created with my fingers. Again there was a sense of displacement, of movement, as the road suddenly got longer. I saw a driveway leading to an old farmhouse. "Geez, yeah. So weird."

Takara gave a short laugh. "Strange for you, I’m sure. Okay, let’s head in."

We proceeded up the long driveway towards an old brick farmhouse set upon a low hill. It was in a Victorian style with a tower and a widow’s walk. The main body of the house was square, and three stories tall, with a small brick addition off to the right-hand side. The gravel drive crunched under my wheels as I followed it, winding around some old apple trees. It ended in a small parking lot behind the house, maybe enough for four cars. Off the back of the house, I saw another single-story addition. The kitchen, I assumed. I could see the fridge through the window.

The back entrance to the house had yet another addition – this time a small wooden foyer – more a place to leave muddy boots than anything else. The house seemed to define the word ‘rambling’. It had the look of a place that had gone to seed, but was now in the slow process of restoration. The barn and a large tool shed were close to the house, framing a courtyard comprising the parking lot, a relatively new flagstone patio with large planters and teak furniture, now covered, and a couple of herb and vegetable gardens fenced in by the old cedar posts and wire. I parked next to the other vehicles in the parking lot; one was a hybrid car, and the other was a pickup with the label ‘biodiesel’ above the gas tank.

We walked towards the back door of the house — I still remembered enough of farm etiquette that I knew to go to the back door — and knocked loudly. No answer. They must be in the barn. I hoped that my intrusion would be minimally unpleasant, but was not hopeful. We trudged across a courtyard that would have been lovely in pretty much any other season than muddy November. I opened the door to the barn and poked my head in. "I’m not seeing anyone," I remarked to Takara, and she just grunted in acknowledgement — it was chilly out. We were just heading towards the tool shed when the sound of something large trotting quickly in the half-frozen mire surrounding much of the barn. Before I could look behind me, there was a voice I recognized from that fateful winter’s night. One that made my blood run cold.

"Hello David," it said. "Who’s your friend?"

I turned around and there, gleaming in the pale winter light, was Babe.