Chapter 19 #6
For form’s sake, Beth visited the two potential residences that were on the bay side of the Teeth.
There wasn’t much to distinguish the houses in that part of Wyrd.
Most were one story with a loft or attic for storage.
Some had one bedroom; others had two. All of them faced the street and had tiny front lawns.
What made them different was that the backyards weren’t divided, making the interior of a whole block of houses a community space.
Sure, there was some privacy and personal space, but the whole contained paths that connected the houses; had a community vegetable garden that everyone planted, tended, and harvested; had fruit growing from trees and bushes; had some kind of water feature.
It would be important for your immediate neighbors to get along, for personalities to mesh.
She kept that in mind as she stepped off the horse-drawn double-decker bus that could fit a dozen people if they didn’t mind being friendly.
She looked at what was considered the central business district in the Teeth.
There were businesses at either end where supplies could be brought in by water; but here was the library, the post office, a general store and small grocery store, a pharmacy that shared a building with the doctor’s and dentist’s offices.
There was even a small theater where concerts and plays were put on, and where movies were shown.
Every shop humans really needed could be found in the Teeth on a small scale.
But there were other considerations for a person who would want to catch Destiny Park’s shuttle in order to use the park’s internet, who would want to stay in contact with a few people beyond Wyrd.
Beth looked at the house in the block near the theater. A good place with two bedrooms and plenty of natural light. The kitchen seemed to be the dominant room, and she imagined someone who had a passion for cooking or baking would enjoy living there. It was a possibility.
The last house. Beth opened the front door, then went directly to the back door and opened it, making sure the screen door was off the latch.
Wondering if a particular resident would be curious enough to investigate, she wandered through the house.
A modest kitchen with fairly new appliances, including a microwave.
The main bedroom and bathroom were a comfortable size.
She tested the water to make sure it ran clear, since there was no telling how long it had been since someone had lived here. All the rooms had a layer of dust and needed a good cleaning. She’d ask Lucas about how that could be done.
She stepped into the second bedroom. Hearing the squeak of the screen door, she smiled as she walked to the center of the room and waited, listening to cautious footsteps getting closer and closer.
“A writer is going to be moving in soon,” she said. “This would be a great room for her office. It has plenty of built-in bookcases, a desk for her laptop, and another desk by a window where she could take care of paperwork.” She looked over her shoulder. “What do you think?”
“You’re the police.” His dark eyes looked too old for his age and held a wariness that bruised her heart. The skin on his arms that wasn’t covered by the sweatshirt’s pushed-up sleeves carried the scars of his previous life.
“I worked for the police when I lived across the river. Now I work for Lucas Frost as security in Destiny Park and here in the Teeth.” She tipped her head to indicate the room. “What do you think? A good house for a writer? I understand Betsy Richens and Rya Hedden have houses in this block.”
“They do.”
Beth nodded. “I think this will be a good place, the right place.” Reaching into her jacket pocket, she held out an envelope and smiled when he recognized Lucas’s handwriting. “Special delivery.”
19
Rachel twittered her objections to being wrapped up and carried in a closed basket. Lucas had explained a couple of times that it was for her own safety, that humans sometimes panicked when it was time to return to their original form.
She wouldn’t panic. She would be sensible.
She would have flown away and hidden if she’d been awake enough to understand what Lucas was doing when he took her from her cage and wrapped her in a soft cloth.
“Not far now,” Lucas said.
They moved quietly, the Arcana. Rachel heard the wheels of a cart, heard the pony’s steady hoofbeats. But she didn’t hear the Arcana as they followed the paths to the moon gate. She wasn’t sure how many of them had come with her and Lucas.
She didn’t want to go back across the river.
Ashley had told her Alistair Hampton was no longer a threat, but people who worked for him might come after her.
The Hamptons were wealthy. Even if she left the towns around the Fate River, they could find her easily enough.
A new name wouldn’t protect her if she started writing again.
But Beth Fahey had told her the Arcana had selected a house for her here on the island, and she would be safe. Beth said Rachel’s personal things, including her books, had been brought to the house so it would be easy for her to move in once she got back on her feet. Literally.
Of course, she’d had feet. It was getting used to having hands again and not being able to fly that would take some adjustment.
Lucas set the basket on the ground, opened it, and gathered Rachel in his hands.
“You were Rachel Nightingale,” Lucas said. “You are now Rahele Larke. This is what you looked like when you were human.”
Beth held up a book. Rachel cocked her head and looked at the human on the back cover.
She couldn’t remember if that face was considered pretty or plain, couldn’t remember how her body had felt before she’d become a starved survivor of Alistair’s cruel affection.
She looked and tried to remember who she had been before she’d known Alistair Hampton.
Beth handed off the book and went around the side of the moon gate. Kia Dance went around the other side, carrying a long robe.
“Are you ready?” Lucas asked.
Ready to be transformed, or ready to meet whatever fate had in store for her?
She twittered softly.
“The gate is held for transformation,” Ashley Laxton said.
Lucas unwrapped the cloth around Rachel’s body but kept his hands around her.
“You’ll be tempted to fly through the gate, but you need to walk.
The change is immediate, and you don’t want to twist an ankle by landing wrong on the other side of the gate.
” He paused. “Words have power, Rahele Larke. Intentions matter, especially when you walk through a moon gate. Know who you want to be.”
She needed to be human again. She understood that. The lark needed to become a valued memory, and a woman needed to pick up the pieces of her life.
Lucas raised his hands, freeing her.
She walked to the moon gate, through the moon gate…and would have fallen if Beth and Kia hadn’t grabbed her arms and eased her to the ground.
“You did great,” Beth whispered as she and Kia bundled Rachel into the robe, tucking it around her before Lucas joined them and went down on one knee.
“It might take your brain a day or two to tick all the boxes, as humans say, so your vision might be…odd. And your voice. Ashley, Beth, or Kia will be with you at all times while you adjust to your human form. They’ll help you in whatever way you need. Do you understand?”
She couldn’t seem to talk or twitter, so she nodded.
Lucas picked her up and carried her to the small cart and the pony. He settled her in the back of the cart with Beth and Kia before leading the way back through the park to the Arcana’s private land.
Rachel closed her eyes. Trying to sort out her vision was giving her a vicious headache, like wearing glasses that were too strong to be useful. She kept her eyes closed when Lucas picked her up again and carried her up some stairs.
Inside now. The air felt different, smelled different.
A door opened. Movement. Beth and Kia talking quietly. Lucas setting her down on cloth. Sheets? A bed?
Rachel opened her eyes. Visuals were less confusing. Not good yet, but less confusing.
Lucas had left, but Ashley arrived bringing food and water. With help, Rachel sipped the water and the broth. With help, she became reacquainted with her fingers and hands, with ankles and knees. They helped her into the bathroom, helped her take a sponge bath, helped her put on pajamas.
Ashley went out, then returned a short while later carrying a laptop.
She turned it on and opened the word-processing program.
“You probably don’t have the coordination yet to write things down, so I brought you this.
You can peck out a message using one finger instead of a beak. ” She grinned at Rachel.
“Is there anything you would like to eat?” Beth asked.
“Within reason,” Kia added. “Your innards have some adjusting to do too.”
Rachel had an answer to that. With one finger, she typed, “No worms.”
The women laughed.