Chapter 16 #2
I bite my lip, not sure what to say to all these compliments.
(Not that I don’t like them!) I’m fidgeting the pad of my thumb against the side of my index finger without even realizing it.
But she notices and immediately swivels toward the back screen door, saying with a legit Mary Poppins twinkle in her eye, “Well, we should get started, shouldn’t we?
It’s such a nice day! Let’s step out into the garden. ”
“Okay,” I say, honestly relieved. And appreciative that she picked up on my anxiety.
I know I’m the last person who should judge a book by its cover, but she really does seem different from my mother or anyone else I’ve met from her crowd.
And even though I just had a big breakfast, I don’t think I’d mind having two—or maybe six—of those richly fragrant, warm-from-the-oven cookies right now.
She takes us out to a wooden table with a slatted round top.
It sits on a flat-stone patio in the middle of an expansive lawn.
We’re surrounded by a huge variety of plants in a riot of colors, like the entire botanical garden from the Golden Gate Park has been compressed into one very large backyard.
There are cool landscaping features like a running fountain, and a white wooden lattice and arch over a stone path that leads deeper into the garden.
The scent of pollen is heady and tickles my nose.
She gestures to a simple white deck chair and I sit down. She takes the chair just to my left.
“So, I understand you’re here to free a spirit trapped by druids a long time ago.” She pours us each a cup of tea while resting her fingers on the thin china lid of the pot.
“Yeah,” I say. “I was hoping you might know a way. The spirit is the… Uh…” I hesitate, glancing up at Collin for his thoughts. He’s standing just behind her. Considering my mom’s reaction, I’m not sure how much I should reveal. He frowns and shakes his head.
“The Avatar of Knowledge, right?” she offers.
Ah. Okay. Mom already told her. Collin rolls his eyes, frustrated.
She holds out her hand. “May I see the inscriptions on the watch?”
Collin steps around her and comes next to me, urgent.
“Mind yourself, Alvin. I know she seems nice, but I’ve been trying to ask questions about her history, what things she’s working on, who she’s worked for, and I’m only able to get bits and pieces.
Maybe it’s a druid thing, another limitation built into the artifact. But it’s not common.”
I want to ask if he thinks the fact we’re trying to get him free is what’s actually messing him up, but his alarm has made me cautious enough that I still don’t want to tip Tara off that I have access to the Avatar.
Instead, I try to nod as casually as I can, like I’m responding to her but also letting Collin know I hear him.
He’s obviously aware I’m going to have to show the watch, though—we’re not just here for tea and cookies—so he says, “Whatever you do, just don’t keep us separated for long, yeah?”
I give one final, definitive nod, still smiling at Tara, and remove the watch from my back pocket. Collin disappears immediately, and when I reveal the latched silver timepiece in my hand, I say, “Just to be clear, I’m not giving this to you.”
Her eyes flick up to me, a little baffled, and I’m immediately embarrassed at how that sounds. “I’m sorry. It’s nothing personal. It’s just that ‘giving’ is kind of a big deal with this artifact.”
Her eyes soften with understanding. “Right. Giving so often is in this life.” She winks at me. “I perfectly understand.”
She doesn’t remove the watch from my palm, but she does run her index finger along the golden (and, I realize now, Celtic) knotwork that lines the edges. She asks me to turn it over and does the same on the other side, stroking the designs.
“How does it work? Do you need to open it to access the Avatar?” Her voice is hushed.
“Something like that,” I hedge, trying to at least respect Collin’s warning.
“Of course. That makes sense,” she says. “It’s exquisite. And thousands of years old! They obviously wouldn’t have had the metallurgy for any of this design back in prehistoric Ireland—let alone have known how to create an actual pocket watch! It must adapt to the times. Incredible!”
Yeah, sure, that is incredible, I guess. And it could be easy to get caught up in her enthusiasm—especially when it’s about magic, which is something I’d love to learn more about.
But her words shake me. Thousands of years old?
I’m not sure why I’m so surprised. Sure, Collin looks my age and speaks modern English, but did I really think he was trapped by druids as some kind of spirit baby twenty or so years ago, and just grew up in the watch?
Honestly, who knows how long he existed before they caught him?
He could be millions of years old, right?
She closes my fingers around the timepiece and steps back. “This artifact is very powerful, Alvin. And for the moment, it’s all yours. Are you sure you want to free the Avatar?”
There’s a look of warning in her eyes. And even though Collin has been nothing but cool with me, something inside whispers that maybe I should listen to that warning.
I haven’t even known Collin a day. The truth is, there is a lot about him that’s still a complete mystery.
And not too long ago, I was at least considering the possibility that he might have been trapped in the artifact for a reason, that he could actually be some Lovecraftian horror…
“Do you think it might be dangerous to let him out?”
Her motherly smile returns, and her gaze becomes searching. “You seem like a boy with a strong moral compass who’s been through a thing or two in life. What does your gut tell you?”
Well, my gut tells me that the handsome, young-looking dude trapped in the watch has the most adorable warm smile, and that I want to snuggle and cuddle with him on trains all day long.
My anxiety, on the other hand, tells me that I’m not exactly the best judge of character, and that my track record with cute guys who act nice to me, while very limited, is a far cry from what you’d call stellar.
But she asked about my gut, so I say, “I feel like he’s a good guy. That he would never hurt anyone…”
She nods, completely satisfied. “Well, that’s good enough for me!” Then she raises an eyebrow, intrigued. “And it’s a ‘he,’ is it? So the spirit presents to you as male?”
My brows scrunch in confusion. And then just as quickly, I force myself to relax them. Right. Forget how old he is—of course, the Avatar of Knowledge might not even be a guy! It’s a spirit! Do they even have genders?
Like everything else, how I see him could all just be an illusion he’s creating to help us work better together or something. My anxiety and just overall frustration with myself (and my seemingly incurable gullibility!) ticks up one more notch.
“Of course,” I say, looking away, feeling foolish. “It’s an immaterial being. I guess it can appear however it wants…”
“Perhaps,” she says, frowning as she hears me practically mumble those last words.
She then leans in and gives my shoulder another motherly squeeze, her voice becoming more encouraging.
“Or, now that I think more about it, maybe it could be male. There are stranger things in this world, and even stranger things from beyond it! Forget what I just said. I shouldn’t have reacted that way about your friend.
We are all geeky about something. For me, it’s plants and old magic.
Sometimes I let my mouth run away with me without thinking. ” She chuckles with self-deprecation.
“It’s… still a good point,” I say, painfully aware that my recent choice to “embrace denial” with Collin might not have been as mature or self-affirming as I thought it was.
She stands. “Well, in any event, I think you are doing the right thing here! I also think I might know a way to help set your guy free. If you don’t mind me abandoning you for a few minutes, I have something in my basement that I’m pretty sure will help!”
“No, I don’t mind,” I say.
She turns to go, and before I realize what I’m doing, I raise my fingers to her arm, stopping her.
Touching anyone, let alone a virtual stranger, isn’t like me.
But if she really does have something that will work, that means I might not ever see Collin again, and whether he’s anything like he appears or not, I’m going to have to deal with how it feels to lose him.
It’s something I hadn’t really let myself think about at all, and I’m glad it’ll be someone like her—someone actually kind and thoughtful, the opposite of my mom—who’ll be here when it happens.
“Thank you. I really appreciate your help. I, uh— I don’t have many friends, and it’s actually really nice not to have to do this alone.”
Her eyes widen, and she seems both surprised and maybe even genuinely touched. “You really are a sweet boy, Alvin. Your mother has no idea how rare and special that is.”
She then gives my hand a warm pat and heads inside.
Sweet. Yeah, not a word Mom would ever use about me. Not unless she was being sarcastic, anyway. I know my guard should be raised. Still, I can’t help but like this woman. Or wish, at least in a very small way, that someone like her could have been my mother growing up.
But that’s not reality.
To stop myself from thinking truly insane thoughts, I check in with the Obligation inside me.
That’s the other reason I need to free this spirit, and it seems like Mom kept that information, at least, close to her vest. After my little nap, the compulsion is actually a bit quieter than it was before.
But it doesn’t feel any weaker. If anything, it feels like it’s waiting for the right moment to kick me when I’m down.
I wonder if maybe I should ask Tara about it.
Supposedly druids have dealt with the fae for centuries.
She might know things that Mom and Collin don’t.