The Steward

by Christopher Shields

  “I didn’t know my dad could work on cars,” I said.

  “I’m not sure what he’s doing—that car is in perfect running order. They all are,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “Fae mechanics?” I mused.

  “I don’t actually get my hands dirty, but...” he said with a wink.

  After Gavin drove off, I joined Dad, hoping that he felt better. He’d hired a security company to come out and put an alarm on the house, the studio and the Toy Box. He’d even talked about wiring the boat dock with motion sensors.

  “Hey, what are you guys doing?” I asked.

  Mitch’s face lit up. “Dad’s just checkin’ the fluids—we’re going to drive it today.”

  Dad nodded his head. “Yeah, time to do something with it.”

  By the exasperated tone in his voice, I knew he meant more than drive it. Could he actually be planning to sell it? Surely not. We both knew what that would do to Mitch, who’d placed dibs on it as soon as Aunt May gave me the Thunderbird. Dad had promised it to him, too. The thought made me sad and I didn’t understand it, but he wasn’t talking and I didn’t feel like pushing the issue. So I left him with Mitch.

  TWENTY-TWO

  FIRE

  After dinner and several games of pool with Mitch, I feigned exhaustion so I could go back to my room and search the internet for the Fire element. I read several different articles and blogs, and as with every other search I’d done, there were some general themes that seemed consistent but nothing specific. Then I studied the objects in the duffel bag. I fell asleep thinking about them and woke up the next morning doing the same. A large bag of grey granules, and a small sundial made of copper with a pedestal base. That was all.

  The granules didn’t have much of a smell. I Googled gun powder. It looked the same, and it bothered me to learn that unburned gunpowder didn’t have much of a scent. Great, this could be explosive. I thought the substance might also be seeds of some kind, but I didn’t know for sure. I opened my bedroom window to allow some air in.

  Ten minutes later a familiar Blue Jay appeared on the sill. I was relieved that Sara was here. It had been two days since her last visit, but her timing surprised me—it was daytime.

  “Sara, what happened? Why are you here right now?”

  Her voice sounded bizarre coming from the small bird. “Nothing is wrong. The Judge decided to transfer me to Berryville this morning. After meeting with Danny Johns, my attorney, the judge thought a change of venue was in order since May was so well known here. I cannot stay long. The deputies who moved me will awaken any minute from the nap I induced and realize that I’m gone.”

  I laughed. “Wait, you compelled them?”

  She sounded horrified and whispered like she was in a confessional. “Only to the extent it was absolutely necessary.”

  “You’ve made your jail break!” I felt a smile take command of my face.

  “Yes, and I need to start leaving a rather conspicuous trail away from the Weald, but I wanted to come by and let you know first.”

  “Sara, before you go, please, Dad is being so weird, he won’t talk, he won’t smile and I think he’s going to sell his car—that’s going to break Mitch’s heart.”

  “Give me a minute.” She popped out and startled me in the process. I hate it when they do that.

  I waited. My senses told me she was in the walk-out basement, just beyond the pool table. A few minutes later the Blue Jay reappeared on the sill, and I jumped … again.

  “Right now he’s engrossed in a sporting event of some kind, but I can sense his despair and the feeling of isolation he’s wrestling with. This is harder on him than I thought it would be, though I cannot say I’m surprised. I don’t have the time to study him to see exactly what he’s going through—I will have Gavin focus on him.”

  “What did you mean by that, not surprised?” I asked.

  “I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you. Your dad has suffered through a lot, and it changed him. He withdraws from the people around him in situations like this—it has frequently been his way of dealing with trauma. Remember when May told you about her son, Kyle?”

  “Yes, he died on the bluffs.”

  “What she didn’t tell you was that your dad was there when it happened.”

  A breath caught in my throat.

  Sara explained that Dad had been selected to be the next Steward—she saw the same gift in him that she’d seen in me, but the accident began to change him, a change that wasn’t complete until his parents died in a car wreck just before he turned fourteen, and just a week before Aunt May was to reveal to him what she’d revealed to me in January.

  A lump formed in my throat. He’d been there when Kyle died—he’d seen it happen. I couldn’t imagine what that did to him. I’d nearly lost Candace and it about destroyed me.

  “I never knew.”

  “No, David doesn’t talk about it. He came here to live with May and James for a while, and they treated David like their own child. Nonetheless, he left Arkansas as soon as he could. It took May’s poor health—and his need to provide for your mom, your brother and you—to bring him back here.

  “Maggie, I came to talk to you about your trial.”

  “About all of this stuff?” I looked at the provisions on my bed.

  “No, you have to figure these out for yourself. I’m here to tell you that I will be gone for a little while. I won’t be at your Fire trial, but Gavin will.”

  “Can’t you just pop in for a minute?”

  “Maggie, I can’t teleport. I can move much faster in my natural form than humans can, but I still have to cover the distance.”

  “I thought you could pop through walls—just blink to places.”

  She smiled. “Now you see where some of the myths come from. I merely shift into my natural form to pass through physical objects—like heat does—and take physical form on the other side. I’m going to Europe for a while, but I will be back, you have to trust me.”

  Despite feeling more exposed than ever, I said, “I don’t like that you’re leaving, but you know I trust you.”

  “This is important, Maggie, if something happens and you need help—if you need something and Gavin cannot help you—I need you to seek out a Fae that goes by the name Billy Macy.”

  “Billy Macy?”

  “Yes, remember that name, commit it to memory. You’ll find him at Turpentine Creek.”

  “Where … where is that?”

  “Just ask any local—they can tell you. But remember, Billy Macy.”

  “Okay”

  “Now I have to go, but I will see you soon,” she said gently.

  “Sara, I love you.”

  The little bird was silent for a moment, just staring at me.

  “Thank you Maggie, I love you to.”

  I was stunned to hear her speak those words, and I know it showed on my face.

  “But I thought…”

  “No Maggie, you’ve misunderstood. There can be an emotional bond between human and Fae, and for me, there often is. I choose human form to experience that connection with people. I loved May, and Lola too, just as I love you. What is forbidden is the pairing. The intimate bond between Fae and human is a very powerful thing. The intimate bond is the one that is so dangerous to my kind. Forming an emotional connection is only natural.”

  As she flew away, I felt the sense of calm in my room again. That familiar presence was back. It seemed fitting at the moment. I felt more important than I ever have. A being as beautiful and ancient as Sara loved me, and that meant that Gavin might, too. Perhaps not in the way I wanted, but something I could hold on to. Maybe I’m not a bubble after all.

  * * *

  While I waited for Gavin to arrive, I went to the studio and watched Mom turning clay. It felt like it was going to get hot today—by eight o’clock in the morning the temperature had climbed past eighty degrees, and at ten-thirty, it felt closer to one hundred. I loved the hot weather, it reminded me of
Miami, but it made the studio even stuffier than normal. Mom had the windows flung open and the ceiling fan spun in a losing battle to make it cooler in the little stone building.

  “Hey honey,” Mom said without looking up, her forehead glistening. “You getting ready to go to Fayetteville with Gavin?”

  “Yes ma’am, he should be here in a few minutes.”

  “I didn’t realize he liked plants,” she said, concentrating on the tube taking shape in her hands.

  “Yeah, he knows them better than I do, I think.” I laughed to myself.

  “I don’t think that’s possible.” If she only knew. “You know, I think you should study botany or horticulture in college. I had no idea you’d have such a green thumb.”

  “Yeah, Aunt May taught me well.”

  Just then I heard the familiar exhaust note of Gavin’s car coming down the drive, and the butterflies in my stomach took flight.

  I was glad Sara came to visit this morning, but time with her did little to allay my nerves—they were back with a vengeance.

  “What time will you be home?”

  “We should be done by four, and be home by five-thirty.”

  “Okay. Call if you run late.”

  “I will.”

  “Are you ready?” Gavin asked when I climbed into the Maserati.

  He looked as beautiful as ever in his Khaki shorts, navy blue polo and canvas sandals. His hair was spiked, perfectly, and his smile seemed even more beautiful under the smoky sunglasses.

  “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

  I put the duffel in the back seat and pulled the door shut. He asked me if I’d ever met Danny Johns, the attorney. Prying my eyes off of his ripped, muscular thighs and sculpted calves, I looked out the windshield and said no.

  “You’re about to meet him.”

  “Is he Fae?”

  “Yes, Fire aligned. He’ll be conducting your trial today”

  I was surprised. I had assumed that Gavin would conduct the trial, but when I thought about it, it did make sense that the Fae would use someone other than my Treoraí.

  “What is he like?”

  “You will like him, I believe. He’s Seelie of course, and he is like me—he thinks very highly of human beings.”

  I smiled, recalling what Sara said before she flew away.

  “A Fae lawyer? Why?”

  “It comes in handy given how much humans rely on their formal rules. It never ceases to amaze me how often you sue one another.”

  Gavin explained that when the Fae agreed to the partnership, and my family took ownership of the land, it became necessary for the Fae to learn human law. Gavin joked that Danny always seemed to get his way in court. With the power of compulsion, I knew why. Sara’s transfer made even more sense now—the poor judge never stood a chance.

  “So why stay in Fayetteville.”

  “He likes it there—says it’s something about the name.” He grinned again.

  “Fayette ... Fay ... oh no way!”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so. It was originally called Washington, but there was more than a little Fae influence to change the name—ergo, the nickname Fay-town. It was too amusing to pass up.”

  I laughed and relaxed. I had no idea whether the story was true, but I needed the diversion.

  After about thirty minutes we drove past the city limits sign for Fayetteville, and I chuckled. Gavin slowed the car and I saw the entrance ahead on the right. An attractive, brown, wood-framed building with a steeply pitched roof sat to the right of a small parking lot and the gardens started just beyond. It was eleven o’clock when we parked and got out of Gavin’s car.

  There were several people milling about in the gardens, which were set around the perimeter of a large grassy area the size of a baseball field. It was a quaint, beautiful place, but not where I would expect to take a Fire trial. I stared toward the garden and wondered if I brought any cash to get inside. Gavin cleared his throat. When I looked, he wore an amused look on his face.

  “You’re not going in there—at least not yet.”

  He pointed back toward the entrance to the parking lot and I noticed a trail that went north into the woods around the back of the brown building.

  “Follow the trail for about thirty minutes until you see the old man…” he said placing special emphasis on the words. “He’ll be on the right just after you pass the two gentlemen with the dogs—it’s hot today and they’ll be the last ones down the trail until your done—I have it on good authority.”

  I knew he meant the Fae were here and they had the entire area scoped out. I smiled at him, tucked the duffle bag under my arm, and began my walk. Around the back of the building the trail grew shaded, veering away from the gardens and deeper into the woods. After twenty minutes, sweat dripped from my forehead and the little drops ran down the small of my back. I walked a little faster, despite not wanting to take my Fire trial soaking wet. Five minutes later, the trail opened up into a very long, wide grassy meadow ringed by trees—mostly large pines. The trail wrapped around the meadow’s north side and headed toward a small wooded hill. There were a dozen Fae here. I didn’t look, but I could tell they were near. I seem to be quite the attraction today.

  I also saw two men walking in my direction—one was much taller than the other. They had dogs—they were the ones. I smiled to myself when I noticed that the taller man walking in front had a black standard poodle that looked just like Justice. The next man walked two smaller poodles, one cream and the other black. We passed each other where the trail turned south at the far end. It was amusing to me—they had a relaxed conversation, completely unaware that so many Fae were nearby.

  I looked at my watch, the lucky one with scuffs—I’d been walking for twenty-eight minutes. At the southwest edge of the meadow, the trail cut through a grove of small cedar trees and behind them, the hardwoods took over. The smell of cedar and pine was refreshing—it made it seem a little cooler.

  At thirty minutes I stopped. I stood next to a bench on the left side of the trail. I looked around, but didn’t see any elderly people.

  I did see an enormous, very ancient looking tree—its limbs were larger than most of the trees in the Weald. There was a plaque mounted to a large brown stone denoting that the tree was the Arkansas state champion Black Oak. The sign read, Quercus veluntina, though I already knew that.

  The old man, I thought. I had read where some traditions considered trees to be male. Besides that, my gut told me this was the place, and so did my senses. A Fae drew closer. I took a quick breath to control my anxiety as it came down the trail and stopped just behind the tree. An attractive man in his late twenties or early thirties stepped from behind the massive trunk.

  It struck me immediately that his face had the qualities of a lion. He had thick, longish, medium brown hair that feathered out long enough to touch the collar of his dress shirt. His light brown, almost amber colored eyes were deep set under a prominent brow and above large cheekbones and a rounded jaw. His cheek muscles were pronounced and his upper lip was a little thicker on each side than in the middle. He didn’t walk as much as he strode. It reminded me of the way Gavin moved, like a large predatory cat, though Gavin’s movements reminded me more of a Jaguar than a lion—not that I knew much about either, it was just the impression I always got.

  “Maggie, how are you?”

  “Good, and you?”

  “I’m quite well, thank you. I see you found the spot,” he said, turning to the giant oak. “Great tree, don’t you think?”

  “Yes. Is it special?” I asked, wondering if it had some hidden significance.

  “Other than its size and age, no. I simply like it. I thought this would be a great place for you to take the Fire trial, and it’s close ... I have to be in court at one-thirty.”

  I laughed. This wasn’t even what I expected.

  “I need to find the Fire sign now?”

  “You’ve already found it, so to speak. This trial isn’t about finding th
e sign as much as it is about activating it. Unlike some of my kind, I don’t believe it’s necessary to waste time with puerile scavenger hunts. If you are Fire aligned, you’ll activate the sign. If you are not … then we’ll both leave in thirty minutes. May I see your bag please?”

  “Yes.” I handed it to him.

  “You have the summer stone?”

  I nodded and pulled it from my pocket.

  “Follow me, please.”

  Danny was confident and he had an almost regal presence. He watched me with considerable interest, and smiled when I briefly put my hand on one of the lower branches. I felt a tinge of chill run down my spine, like I had with the lichen that morning after the Earth trial.

  Danny pointed to a shady area behind the tree, away from the trail, and asked me to have a seat. The grass and weeds were cut short in a radius of about twenty feet. I almost sat down in the shade, but there was one big patch where light beamed down through an opening in the canopy. My gut told me to sit in the sun so I took a place facing the tree. Danny took my bag and sat in front of me with his back against the trunk, leaning slightly to the right so that a little beam of sunlight fell on his face.

  “That’s the first test. Why did you choose the sunlight over the shade?”

  “It’s the Fire trial, so I thought being in the sun was probably necessary, and there is a sundial in my bag.” I grinned.

  He reached into the bag and handed it to me.

  “You will activate the Fire symbol at noon, exactly at noon—typically we conduct the trial on the summer solstice, but you were occupied last week. No matter, today will work just fine. Now, Maggie O’Shea, what can you tell me about the Fire element?”

  His unblinking eyes were locked onto me as though I were a gazelle or something. I thought about the symbols in the gazebo and about what I’d read.

  “Fire is heat, light, and energy…”

  His piercing stare continued and he nodded.

  “It’s tied to summer and the South—it represents courage and leadership, and it also corresponds to soul.”