“That,” said Rob, “was what I had hoped you would be able to tell me. So it seems we are both disappointed.” He shrugged away from her grasp, flung the door open, and was gone.
“Timothy. Wake up.” Linden was shaking him. “We have to go.”
He groaned and rolled onto his back, blinking his sleep-gummed eyes against the light. “What, already?”
“Yes, right away. Rob’s gone, and—” She cast a nervous glance at the open door. “We can’t stay here much longer.”
Timothy swung his legs around and sat up, squinting at his watch: 5:47 A.M. Beyond the cracked window the sky was still dark, the streetlights glowing eerily through a haze of mist. He felt dislocated, as though he had wakened on some alien planet. “Okay,” he mumbled, “just give me a few minutes.”
“There’s no time to waste.” She dragged his backpack and guitar case toward him. “If any of the Empress’s faeries find us, we’re dead.”
Abruptly he was wide awake. “What?”
“Just come,” begged Linden. “I’ll explain on the way.”
As they stepped onto the landing, Timothy nearly tripped over a pair of leather shoes sitting just outside the door. “What the—” he said, but Linden had already snatched them up.
“Rob must have left them for me!” she exclaimed, slipping them on and bouncing a little. “They fit perfectly.”
“How’d he know your size?” asked Timothy, but to his surprise, Linden only blushed and hurried down the stairs.
She told him the story as they walked, passing one street after another on their way toward the nearest train station. The glamour she’d put on herself before they’d left the flat made her look like an ordinary human girl in a winter jacket and jeans, but it plainly wasn’t keeping her warm: By the time she had finished speaking her cheeks were rosy with cold, and she was hugging herself in an effort not to shiver. Timothy fished his last sweatshirt out of his backpack and handed it to her.
“Oh, I am grateful,” she breathed as she floundered into it, rolling up the sleeves that drooped over her hands. “But you haven’t said anything.” She looked up at him, eyes big with apprehension. “Are you angry?”
Timothy shoved a hand through his hair. “No, it’s all marvelous,” he said bitterly. “I’m glad you and Rob had such a nice chat. Lovely people, your folk.”
“I’m sorry.” She looked stricken. “I never imagined it would be like this. I thought if I could only find more faeries, everything would be wonderful. But to meet them, and then hear that they all despise us and call us Forsaken…and even worse, that they’re ruled by someone evil…”
“So now we’ve got no choice but to run back to Oakhaven.” Timothy stomped on a discarded soda can and kicked it aside. “It’d be one thing if I’d been gone a week, or been in an accident or something. But coming back to Paul and Peri’s the morning after I left, because I was scared of a lot of homicidal faeries—that’s just pathetic. They probably haven’t even found my note yet.”
Linden said nothing. Her head was bent, her face invisible behind her turbulence of hair.
“On the other hand,” he continued, “it’s the perfect excuse not to go back to Greenhill. Hello, Mum and Dad, England’s fine, I met some faeries and now they want to kill me. Sure you don’t want to send me to school in Canada instead?”
Linden gave a quavering laugh and then, to Timothy’s horror, burst into tears. He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her away from the road, hoping desperately that she’d calm down before someone stopped and demanded to know what was going on.
But though Linden put her hands over her face and sobbed until her body shook, none of the passing cars even slowed down. And once she’d wept herself into dry hiccups and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, Timothy was finally able to make out what she was saying:
“I’ve done everything wrong,” she choked. “I thought I could help the Oakenfolk—I thought I was helping you—but all I’ve done is put all of us in worse danger than ever. What if the Empress sends her people after us? What if they find the Oak? Valerian was right. I wasn’t ready for this. And what am I going to tell the Queen when I see her?”
Timothy regarded her helplessly for a moment. Then with sudden decisiveness he took Linden by the elbow and marched her along with him until they reached the train station. He steered her inside and made her sit down on one of the benches before taking both her hands in his and saying in the low, firm voice he used to calm his little sister, “All right, yes, it’s a bad situation. For both of us. But we’re still alive, and we’ve made it this far. That’s good, isn’t it?”
Reluctantly, Linden nodded.
“So we’ll get you on the next train to Aynsbridge, and you can go back to the Oak and tell the others what happened. At least now you know that there are other faeries out there. Male faeries, even. That’s got to be worth something.”
Linden rubbed at her reddened eyes. “But if all the other faeries want nothing to do with us, and all we can do is sit in the Oak and wait to die—”
“Who says that? Maybe the faeries here in London won’t help you, but you can always go to some other city—or another country, if you have to. All you have to do is hide in the Oak for a few days until the Empress gives up looking for you, and then try again. What about these Children of Rhys that Rob mentioned? They’re faeries, too, aren’t they?”
“Yes, but we don’t even know where to find the Children, let alone whether they’d be willing to help us. And we’re running out of time.” Her expression was desolate. “Even working together, Valerian and I can’t protect the Oak the way the Queen used to. If we’d done the wards properly, you’d hardly have noticed the tree at all when you came—but you walked right up and touched it. We might be able to hide from the Empress, but what good will that do us if we just end up being found by the humans instead?”
Timothy let her go and stood up, shoving his cold hands back into his pockets. “I don’t know. But I can’t see you’ve got any other choice.”
Linden was silent, her gaze on the floor. Then she said, “You’re not going to come with me, are you? You’re going to keep running away.”
She didn’t sound accusing, only resigned. Timothy hunched his shoulders uncomfortably. “Look, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. I just don’t know what use I could be, especially if the Empress and her people do come after us. You might be safe in your Oak if you can keep up those spells long enough, but all they’d have to do to find me at Oakhaven is look through the window. They might even figure out that Peri used to be one of your people and decide to punish her, too. Is that what you want?”
Linden looked stricken. “No!”
“Right. So if you ask me, it’s better for everyone if I don’t go back to Oakhaven. Besides”—he tried to keep his voice light, but somehow the old bitterness crept in—“Paul and Peri already made it pretty obvious they didn’t want me around.”
“Only because they were afraid you’d find out about the Oak—”
“Because they don’t trust me, that’s why!” The words came out louder than he’d intended, and Linden flinched. With an effort Timothy controlled his temper and went on, “By now they should know what kind of person I am. But apparently they think I’m the kind who’d smash up a five-hundred-year-old tree for the fun of it, or stuff faeries into specimen jars and sell them for pocket money, or—”
“Or hit someone and get yourself sent away from school?” said Linden.
That stopped him. Timothy’s bruised mouth twisted in frustration, but he couldn’t think of anything to say.
“I know you’ve been hurt,” Linden told him quietly. “But you should know something else, too. Ever since the first time you came to Oakhaven, Knife—I mean Peri—has been telling me about you. She always said how clever and funny you were, and how much she enjoyed having you stay. But she also warned me, whenever you came, that I mustn’t come to the House until you’d gone. It’s not just you, Timothy—she doe
sn’t trust anybody with our secret. Because the secret’s not hers to share.”
Timothy hesitated. Then he dropped down onto the bench beside her, staring at the floor.
“I can’t go back,” he said heavily. “Not yet. Just…I’m not ready.”
Linden didn’t say anything for a long while, and he wondered if she was angry. But when she spoke, her voice was calm:
“Then you’ll just have to come to the Oak with me.”
Seven
Timothy seemed so cynical and world-weary at times, Linden had almost forgotten he was only a little older than herself. But now the eagerness in his face made him look truly fifteen again. “You mean it?” he said. “But I’m…Can you really do that?”
“I think so. It would just be a temporary change, of course, and I’ll have to keep renewing the glamour so you don’t go back to your proper size. But…” Linden’s brows furrowed as she considered the problem from every angle. At last she said with more confidence, “Yes. We’ll have to try it. It’s the only way.”
“I don’t know,” said Timothy, though he sounded reluctant to admit it. “Bringing a human into the Oak—isn’t it going to get you in a lot of trouble? It might be easier if I just took a train to France or something.”
“I’ll hide you from the others,” she said. “At least until we’ve had a chance to talk to the Queen and tell her our story. She’s very wise; I’m sure she’ll understand. Especially once she hears about the Empress wanting to kill you.”
And perhaps, if the Oakenfolk did Timothy this favor, he might even be willing to repay them by helping Linden search for more faeries. After all, two travelers were safer than one, and surely the Empress wouldn’t keep hunting for them forever?
Timothy looked out across the station, eyes distant as he considered her offer. Then he stood up, reaching for his guitar case.
“All right,” he said. “Hop into my pack, and we’ll go.”
By the time Timothy stepped off the train at Aynsbridge, the sun was just visible over the treetops, like a white hole punched through the sky. The air smelled clean here, damp and earthy, and as he walked down the steps from the platform into the parking lot the breeze that chased him felt surprisingly mild. Still, he was glad for his extra layer of clothing, and he could only hope that the Oak would be warm.
“Linden?” he said. “You can come out now.” But she didn’t answer. Carefully Timothy slid the backpack off his shoulders, lifted the flap to look—and there lay Linden, fast asleep. Her wings were folded against her back, and she had curled herself up in a nest made from one of his shirts.
So small, thought Timothy. Even now, it seemed impossible that the girl who had rescued him from Veronica could also be a faery tiny enough to stow away in his backpack. Not to mention how strange it was that in the space of just one night, this same faery had somehow become a friend.
Yet Linden was so different from anyone else he’d met in the last few months that Timothy couldn’t help liking her. She didn’t judge him by the shoes he wore, or what music he enjoyed, or who his parents were; she hadn’t insisted that he share her beliefs or live by certain rules to please her. She’d just accepted Timothy as he was—even more than that, she’d risked her life to help him. How could he not be grateful for that?
Timothy slipped his arms back through the straps of the backpack and set off again, treading softly so as not to wake Linden. Aside from the occasional passing car the road before him was deserted, and he dared to hope that Rob had been right: They’d escaped the city before the Empress and her servants could find them, and if they could just make it to the Oak, they’d be safe.
Half an hour later, Linden was still asleep, and Timothy had left the village well behind. The familiar wood rose up on one side of the road as he walked; he came around the bend and there, in the near distance, stood Oakhaven.
Time to get off the road, before Paul or Peri saw him. Turning off just short of the stone bridge, Timothy followed the footpath along the riverbank, dodging in and out among the trees until he reached the wood’s northeast corner. He could see the Oak now, stark and majestic against the pallid sky—but in between lay open meadow, and how could he get across without being seen?
Timothy set down his guitar and lowered his pack to the ground. “Linden, wake up.”
He heard a rustle, and then Linden emerged from beneath the flap, stretching and yawning. “What is it?” she asked, and then, “Oh!” as she saw the Oak. She fluttered out of his pack and made herself human size again, grimacing a little as her shoes squelched into the muddy ground. “All right then, let’s go.”
“Wait,” said Timothy. “I thought you were going to make me small.”
“I am. As soon as we get to the Oak.”
“As soon as Paul or Peri happens to look out the window and spots us walking across the field, you mean?”
Linden puffed out a frustrated breath. “Oh, Timothy. Would it really be so terrible if they did? It wouldn’t take long for the two of us to just tell them where we’re going, and why. Is it really fair to leave them worrying about you?”
“They’re not going to be worried,” he said firmly. “I left them a note. They won’t be expecting to see me for three weeks.”
“Well, they’ve certainly been worried about me. What am I going to say to them if I can’t even mention you?”
Timothy said nothing, and at last Linden heaved another sigh and said, “All right. But it’s going to be a long walk.”
She turned to face him, and Timothy’s pulse started to beat faster. He was actually about to go inside the Oak, explore that mysterious place that no other human had ever seen…
“Wait,” said Linden suddenly. “Your guitar. What are we going to do with it?”
Timothy glanced down at the case still sitting by his feet. “Can’t I bring it?”
“It’s going to be awfully awkward,” she said, giving it a dubious look. “Especially getting it up the Spiral Stair. Can’t we just leave it here?”
“In the cold and damp? No, thank you—”
Linden winced. “Please don’t.”
“What?”
“The…the last thing. Don’t just say”—her voice dropped to a whisper—“thanks like that. Especially if you don’t mean it.”
Timothy frowned, but she seemed serious. “Why?”
“Because it’s a special word to us. Sacred, even. To thank someone means you’re so grateful for something they’ve done, you consider yourself to be in that person’s debt forever—and believe me, we faeries don’t take that idea lightly.”
“Oh.” Timothy was subdued. “Sorry.”
“Anyway,” Linden went on more briskly, “let me think. Oh, yes, I know.” And with that she whisked the guitar off the ground and hurried away with it. A few minutes later she came back again, empty-handed and looking pleased with herself.
“What did you do with it?” Timothy asked.
“Put it back in your room. I made it small, flew up to your window with it, and sneaked it under the bed. It should be all right there, shouldn’t it?”
“Excellent,” said Timothy admiringly. “Th—I mean, I appreciate it.”
Linden gave a little, almost shy smile. “It’s all right. Now…” She reached out and put her hands on his shoulders as though she meant to push him down to faery size by force. Timothy’s skin prickled, a thrill running through his whole body; then dizziness swept over him, and he clutched at Linden’s arms as his knees buckled—
The tingling faded. Linden let go, and Timothy opened his eyes.
It was breathtaking, and a little daunting, to see the field stretching out in front of him like some withered alien jungle. The Oak still rose in the near distance, but now it looked huger than ever, a colossal pillar bisecting the sky.
“Come on,” said Linden. “Hurry.” And she flitted off. Timothy thrashed after her, wincing as the wet grass whipped at his arms and legs. In minutes his jeans had soaked through and his sne
akers were heavy with mud, but the Oak seemed little closer than it had been before. His heart sank as he realized how much farther they still had to go.
“I don’t suppose—you could make me some wings—too?” he panted to Linden.
“That would mean turning you into something different than you are,” she called back. “I can make you smaller for a while, but that’s all.”
Somewhere in the wood behind them, a crow gave its raucous cry. Timothy froze. “Did you…Back in the restaurant, when you were telling me about the Oakenfolk…didn’t you say that crows…”
“Eat faeries, yes,” said Linden. “Which is why we’ve got to hurry. And keep your eyes open for burrows you could hide in, just in case.”
The idea of crawling into a muddy hole didn’t much appeal to Timothy, but neither did being eaten. No wonder Linden’s people preferred to stay inside the Oak. “Right,” said Timothy faintly, and kept walking.
By the time they arrived at the foot of the Oak, Timothy’s legs felt numb, his teeth were chattering, and half his weight in mud seemed to be stuck to the bottoms of his shoes. He had to stop and scrape them clean before he could move freely again. But as Linden led him down a rough ladder to a shadowy, root-framed door, he felt the old excitement resurface. He’d made it, they were really here—
“What is it?” he asked, seeing the look of distress on Linden’s face.
She held a finger to her lips, then replied in a near whisper, “The wards that protect us from humans are down again. And so is the glamour I put on the Oak to hide our doors and windows. You didn’t notice?”
Timothy shook his head. He’d been so focused on getting inside the Oak, he hadn’t even paid attention to the outside.
“Well, maybe it’s not as obvious as I thought,” said Linden, but without much conviction. She leaned all her weight against the door; with a grudging creak it swung wide, and the two of them walked in.
They emerged into a vast, cavernous space, where dim light filtered down from window slits high above. To their left, a round tunnel stretched into darkness, while in front of them stood a door whose tarnished brass plate read LIBRARY. And to their right rose a spiral staircase wide enough for three faeries to climb side by side, its smooth-worn steps twining upward as high as Timothy could see.