Tides of magic, p.7
Tides of Magic, page 7
Not knowing if she’d succeeded or failed spectacularly at the task she’d been assigned, only that her heart was beating extremely fast, Charley made it down the path of the cottage, heading for the closest thing to a safe place she had here: her holiday park cabin. The vision played in her mind, dreamlike and disconcerting. It felt more real than something only imagined, and even here, in broad daylight, she didn’t feel entirely safe. How could she protect herself from something she didn’t understand?
For now, though, she just made her way through the little settlement that had become familiar to her, with its river and cluster of houses. Low cloud had descended on the holiday park, so dense Charley could barely see the entrance, while the air around was clear. She paused, taking in what she knew must not be a natural phenomenon, before making her way down the driveway.
Every sound had her on edge. She turned, side to side, in the thick fog, seeing – or thinking she could see – things out of the corners of her eyes. Uneasy dreams played just outside her vision, insectoid legs stretching and stalking around her. She breathed deeply and pushed on, the cloud thinning to a clear stretch of land in the centre of the holiday park.
Just ahead of her, Thalassa and Gordon faced each other, sidestepping, angling for a fight. Wisps of cloud swirled around their feet and then dissipated into the thick fog that encircled this arena. They both looked furious.
“You asshole. There is no good reason for you to be hiding this from me. Tell me what the ring means!”
“It’s just an old thing, okay? It’s none of your business.”
A handful of spectators had gathered around the far side of the clearing. Charley noticed True amongst them, her arms folded and expression wary. A couple more of the park's permanent residents emerged from their caravans, edging forward and peering through the fog, as if they’d never seen something so exciting, nor had so much fun, in all their lives.
“Do not lie to me!” Thalassa bellowed. She was tiny, she was elderly, but she was a force to be reckoned with. She stalked forward, slamming her staff into the ground with every step. Gordon edged backwards, sliding himself behind the climbing frame. Charley couldn’t tell if he was reluctant to fight a woman because it felt unchivalrous, or if he was genuinely scared of what she might be capable of.
“Thal…” Charley tried to say, but she got nowhere. Thalassa was already on a rant and it seemed like there was no stopping her.
“You’re useless. You’re rude. You have no respect for your elders.”
“Oh, useless am I? Well, there’s a new one. I host your guests, even find room for them in the height of summer. I help you fix your car. Just once I require a little privacy, I don’t give you everything you want, you...”
Shimmering light emerged from Thalassa’s hand, coalescing into a ball which she threw at Gordon, a gleaming trail lingering in its wake. With a look of horror, or perhaps fury, he dodged what was coming for him. It sputtered into sparks and then died away, leaving smoke filling the air.
Gordon picked himself up. “Go back to your witch castle, you silly old bat!”
Charlie crouched behind a slide as another bolt of blue whooshed through the air. Gordon dodged, stumbling against a picnic table that thumped onto its side. Charley suspected he’d once been agile, perhaps an athlete. And it wasn’t so much that he was limited now, even though he appeared to be pushing retirement age – his job was, after all, pretty hands-on – so much as he hadn’t adjusted and still on some level expected himself to be as spry as he’d been when he was young. The effect could have been comedic, but Charley found herself wincing. She wasn’t yet sure what to make of Gordon – his earlier kindness and the possibility he might in some way be keeping them from finding Melissa jostled for space in her head – but she took no pleasure in seeing him like this.
He certainly wasn’t helpless though. Pulling himself up, he picked up a large spiral screw – the sort used for securing trampolines – and threw it at Thalassa, who stepped neatly out of the way.
Charley watched anxiously, unsure what she wanted the outcome to be, except to hope it didn’t delay her search. She suspected this was as much about their respective personalities and, more to the point, their longstanding friendship with each other as it was about Melissa or about Gordon’s ring or whatever Gordon was hiding from Charley and Thalassa both.
Frustration hung in the air, built up to explosion point. Thalassa threw two trails of turquoise which divided and ran round opposite sides of the climbing frame, forcing Gordon to drop to the ground.
“I haven’t finished with you, Gordon Drever,” she bellowed. Then quieter, “Come on, Charley, we’ve got work to do.”
Charley mouthed an apology to Gordon, walking quickly to catch up with Thalassa as she strode into the fog.
“Shit,” Charley said, still shaken, not together enough to feel like she shouldn’t swear because it was like swearing in front of your grandmother. “You could have killed him.”
Thalassa snorted.
“Pfft, what I was throwing was mostly light, minimal heat or other types of energy. Very little risk unless I’d got him in the eye at an odd angle or something.”
Charley raised an eyebrow. The chances of that did not seem as negligible to Charley as Thalassa wanted them to sound, but there wasn’t going to be any value in saying that. Even though Gordon seemed unharmed, and at worst the playground equipment would need some repairs, she didn’t feel entirely comfortable knowing that forces like that existed in the world. Then again, given that they did, it was maybe good that she knew about it and that she’d established a relationship with a practitioner of them. In the absence of any clear answers, she followed Thalassa up to her house. The fog burned off as they walked, revealing a clear, blue-skied spring day.
“Seriously,” Thalassa continued, as they approached the top of the path. “It’s basic beginner’s magic, far more show than substance. I reckon even you could learn to do it.”
Charley didn’t bristle at the remark, though she suspected it was designed to make her bristle. Instead, she just smiled and shook her head.
“I’m being serious. Okay. Try this. Sit down there.”
Charley sat once more on the bench she had first sat on what seemed like an age ago, waiting for Thalassa to arrive, with no knowledge of what would happen next.
“Okay, you’re going to use your mind to bring out a blue glow on your palm.”
“Don’t I need a spell or a potion or something?” Charley asked, disbelieving but nervous anyway.
“For more complex spells, sure. If you could ever go that far. But this one’s simple. Okay, focus on the palm of your hand and try to draw energy from your body to it. Don’t wonder how it works, just try to work a muscle you didn’t know was there, channel the energy into your hand, that’s it.”
Charley tried to focus, felt like something moving inside her was growing, and then she lost it. She opened her eyes and shook her head.
“You’re overthinking it. Stand up. Now take a step forward.”
Charley was puzzled, but did so anyway.
“Right, so when you walked forward you didn’t think ‘I’ll contract that muscle to raise my leg and then shift the balance of my body forward before straightening my knee and so on...’ you don’t think that crap. You just do it. So make a blue orb glow on your right hand.”
Charley sat back down, took a deep breath and shut her eyes. She felt something shift, something tingle, as if muscles she’d never used before were waking and stretching, as if something new was flowing in her veins. She felt her skin crawling with sweat. Almost not daring to breathe, she opened her eyes. Resting on her palm was a glowing blue sphere. She hardly dared to blink. The more she looked at it the more complex it became, more hues than she could imagine swirling almost hypnotically in it. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
“See,” Thalassa said. “Magic isn’t an either-or thing. Most people have a bit of it in them if they try hard enough. You did well.” She waved a hand and the orb disappeared into nothing.
Had it really ever been there at all? Had Charley really created it? It seemed so hard to believe, that everyone walking around could just do this if they simply set their minds to it, but Charley had seen it with her own eyes. All this potential magic ability out there, so little of it known or acknowledged or even imagined.
“Come along child, come in, stop dawdling.”
Charley looked at the door. The scene inside – the wooden table and chairs, the tea cups, the art work – was remarkably unthreatening, and yet she was struggling.
“What is it, child?”
“It’s… it’s stupid but the thing I saw, when I did the meditating.”
“What precisely did you see?”
“I don’t know… it just scared me. There were... shadows. Legs. Not human legs. I was out at sea, with all these birds, and there were long legs, like an insect…”
“Interesting. But trust me, my spare room’s not dangerous to you. Come in.”
Charley was still shaking as she picked up her bag and walked inside, but Thalassa was following another train of thought.
“You know why he’s like that?” Thalassa asked.
“Who?”
“Gordon. He threw a... what was that he threw at me?”
“Maybe a trampoline screw?”
“Right. I can’t believe he’d do that, but you know why he’s so obnoxious? Boarding school. People who went off to boarding school are honestly the most difficult to deal with, I swear. People who think the whole world revolves around some childish alliance or pinky promise they made when they were 15.”
Charley asked, with what she hoped came across as genuine confusion, how that related to the ring, why it made Gordon difficult, if it could be any help in finding Melissa. Rather than responding directly, Thalassa brought her tea.
“There. That will help get your strength up. Magic in a beginner is exhausting. Make sure you eat and sleep well tonight.”
This batch of tea – regular tea, not the apparently magical concoction – tasted good. It was sweet and minty and Charley sipped it gratefully, only half-listening to Thalassa’s furious ramble about Gordon.
“So, my guess is he has loyalty to some cult or club or fraternity or whatever and thinks he secretly rules things. Does he really think they wouldn’t drop him in it without a second thought if it happened to be expedient? He’s a fool if you ask me.”
“Uh huh,” Charley said. “Do you mind if I pour myself some more tea?”
Thalassa sighed, and pushed the pot, on its little plaited fabric coaster, across the table towards Charley. It was still warm and felt like it warmed Charley up from the inside when she sipped it.
“It was the same ring though,” Thalassa said. “I saw it. Just worn. I can’t believe I didn’t notice... hmmm.”
“What?” Charley asked.
“Well, some things have... you maybe have heard it referred to as a glamour. It doesn’t make them invisible as such, but it means you don’t really notice them. That would explain why in all the years of knowing Gordon I’ve never noticed he wore such a distinctive ring. Yes, it’s worn and could do with a polish, but that in itself doesn’t explain it. Except... you noticed it.”
“I mean, it didn’t mean anything to me. I just remembered it when I saw the picture.”
“Hmm. Okay, we’re going to have to work this out. Take this to him, will you?” She handed Charley a small jar. “Tell Gordon I’m sorry if I actually caused him any distress. If I harmed his ego tied up in rituals of class supremacy and...”
Charley supposed this was Thalassa’s idea of reconciliation.
“He’d probably appreciate the apology more coming from you,” Charley suggested gently.
“Exactly. That’s why I’m not going to give him the satisfaction…”
Thalassa’s grouching was curtailed by a sharp knock on the glass of the door.
“Please,” the newcomer said, as Thalassa opened it. “Can you help me find my son?”
Charley read him as an East Asian man, maybe in his fifties, obviously agitated. Probably not in the right frame of mind for pausing to read the sign. She lingered just long enough to see if there were any similarities between the cases. It seemed like there were not. Melissa was a fifth-year medical student, and Joe – the other missing person – an engineering apprentice in Wanaka. They were a vaguely similar age – and of course links couldn’t be ruled out – but there was no sign of a pattern. No, this seemed like just some other poor soul who’d been directed to Thalassa in a moment of crisis. Charley sighed and set off down the hill to face Gordon.
Chapter seven
The journey between Thalassa’s house and the holiday park had come to feel almost like a routine commute over the past few days, even though she hadn’t even heard of those places until recently. It would be strange when she left here, strange to think that one day soon she’d leave and probably never come back, never make that walk again.
Charley headed around to her cabin first, plugging her phone in to charge, before starting to look for Gordon. In the grounds, the outdoor furniture had been returned to an upright position. Anahera, dressed in mustard-coloured overalls, with a they/them pin and another depicting what Charley thought was probably a manatee, was sweeping up the pathway with a broom.
“Oh, hi!” Charley said.
“Hey. Sounds like a bit of shit went down.”
“You could say that. Looks like everyone survived, though?”
“Yup, but Gordon’s pissed off. Thalassa too, I reckon.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m working here over summer, just casually, getting some money saved. Wasn’t supposed to be starting ‘til December, but it’s a few extra dollars. And it’s not like there’s anything better to do in… this place…” They looked round with faint disgust. “I think he could clean up himself, he’s more just angry about the idea of doing so. He’s in there if you need him.” They gestured at the reception room.
Charley swallowed before opening the door to reception. It was hard to work out how to approach him, not knowing how connected he was to Melissa’s disappearance, but she wasn’t going to get anywhere if she avoided him. He was sitting behind the counter, looking a little annoyed with the world but otherwise none the worse for wear.
“This is from Thalassa,” Charley said, holding out the jar of marmalade with a handwritten logo and a small piece of ribbon around the neck.
“Hmm, not poisoned is it?” he asked, looking it over.
“She seemed genuinely sorry,” Charley said. “Just stubborn.”
“Yeah, I think if she wanted to kill me she’d do it to my face. Watch me squeal. In that case please pass this onto her, but not my thanks.” He reached into the cupboard at the back of the counter and pulled out a large carry bag. “Some more frames for her beehives. I picked them up from a friend on my trip over yesterday. I know some of hers are getting a bit old. Tell her it’s not for her benefit, just for mine. I’m sick of being stung by the old wasp she is, don’t want to be stung by her bees as well.”
Charley shook her head. “You really are as bad as each other,” she muttered.
“Yes,” said Gordon. “But I’m more than a hundred years younger. Under the circumstances, I think I might be forgiven for a little immaturity, don’t you think?”
Charley laughed, but without enthusiasm. Her instinct was to like Gordon. He seemed like a good guy, and he’d been kind to her. But he also might have been responsible for Melissa’s disappearance, or at least withholding information that could help find her. And that was practically the only thing that was, in her eyes, completely unforgivable.
“Do you even know what that was all about?” he asked. “Other than her objecting to the school I went to when I was all of 13 years old.”
Charley looked at him, surprised. Could he really not know? “It’s my sister. We think she found one of those rings and it’s connected to how she went missing?”
It looked like the blood drained out of him. “Oh god, I didn’t realise it was that serious. I… Okay, I just need to talk to some people and check some things. But I’ll help you, I promise.”
Charley nodded and left without saying anything. She wasn’t sure she trusted herself with speaking, wasn’t sure how to react.
Oddly, she found herself walking down to the sea. There was the bush path leading inwards by the river and other tracks up into the hills, and of course she still had her car, she could go anywhere; but while just days ago she would have made every effort to avoid the sea, now she headed there naturally as if it was the only logical thing to do.
The sea was calm today, and the weather felt like it was on the edge of summer. Nothing remained of the earlier fog. Waves rolled in and then collapsed into white foam before they reached the sand. A light breeze blew inwards, rippling in Charley’s hair. She was overdue for a haircut, but even at the best of times she’d keep forgetting or putting it off, and this was far from the best of times.
She walked a little along the edge of the tarmac, where it gave way to ancient rock, the bag of frames dangling from the crook of her elbow. She was struggling less every day being by the sea. The salt and the pervasive scent of seaweed in the air were becoming less distressing. It wasn’t just a case of getting used to it, something was changing in her. She hadn’t been far from the sea growing up in Tauranga – she’d spent longer than this right by the sea on one or other ill-fated family holiday when she’d ended up storming off angrily while her parents complained that Charley always ruined everything. This was something different that was happening.
It was almost like being by the sea didn’t bother her at all.
To think she’d been so obsessed with avoiding it she almost went to study at Waikato, in one of New Zealand’s few inland cities, pulled to Dunedin only by her sister’s support. Dunedin wasn’t bad – the city centre wasn’t on the coast like Tauranga or Wellington or Auckland or... Jesus, why were so many cities built on the coast? And she had no reason to ever go down to the port, so it didn’t really bother her, but it was significant enough to have made it not her first choice of city.
