Night of the Dark Horse (An Allegra Fairweather Mystery)

by Janni Nell

  Why was he still here? Why hadn’t the Powers-That-Be taken him to his well-earned retirement? Was the magic of Fairyland anchoring him to this world? Masking him from the Powers-That-Be? Was Casper actually dead? Not human-dead, but angel-dead?

  Tears dribbled from my eyes and splashed down onto his cheeks. “Fuck you, Casper,” I whispered. “Fuck you for dying and leaving me.”

  I heard a swift intake of breath, saw Casper’s chest move. My heart soared. But he didn’t wake up. Come on, Casper. Wake up. Tell me to stop being a baby. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t will life into him.

  The Fae energy that had kept me going suddenly ebbed. I was so tired. I no longer cared that it was dangerous for humans to sleep in Fairyland. That you could fall asleep and wake up a thousand years later. I was so, so tired. I’d just rest my eyes. That wouldn’t hurt would it? I shifted my position until my back rested against the trunk of the blossom tree. Mmm...so nice to rest. My mind wandered, as it does when you’re on the edge of sleep.

  I thought of Dad out on the Nullabor Plain. Had he been alone? Had there been a woman cradling him in her arms? What was I thinking? Dad had been married then. Well, technically he was still married to Mom. She was the bigamist.

  What happened to you, Dad? Why didn’t you come back? Okay, I got that he might not have wanted to return to Mom. With adult eyes, I could see they’d been ill-suited. Mom was much happier with my stepfather, Steven, but why hadn’t Dad come back to me? And yeah, to Lily. I guess she missed him too, even if she did like our stepfather a whole lot better than I did.

  Was that the moment I slipped from wakefulness into sleep? The next thing I remembered was someone saying, “Wake up,” and shaking me.

  “Piss off,” I muttered, reaching out to silence my alarm clock.

  “Allegra, wake up.” A gentle hand slapped my cheek.

  I drew back my fist and opened my eyes. At first all I could do was stare at the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Sure, Casper was hollow-cheeked. Sure, his eyes boasted dark circles and his body would no longer be welcome in a Mr. Universe contest. But he was alive and currently, albeit inexplicably, trying to disentangle himself from my arms.

  “You came back to me.”

  He looked at the sky as though he expected the Powers-That-Be to swoop at any moment. But nothing disastrous happened. There was no deep Charlton Heston voice booming, You’ve messed up, Casper. Prepare for retirement.

  “I never left,” he said. “I was just resting.”

  “It’s not a good idea to rest in Fairyland. You might never wake up. Can you walk?”

  “Of course. No problem.”

  Brave words that didn’t quite match the reality. Even with the aid of his walking stick Casper shuffled along. I positively bounced beside him. The healing energy of Fairyland had kicked in again. I had strength to spare, which was just as well because Casper was struggling with each step. When he couldn’t go on, I lifted him in my arms.

  I walked all the next day and on through the night carrying him all the way. Sure, I took breaks—sometimes very long breaks. More than once Casper had to pull me back from the brink of sleep.

  After a while he stopped complaining about the indignity of being carried by his morsub. We both knew how much weight he’d lost since entering Fairyland. We both knew, although neither of us mentioned it, that he was looking more and more like the ninety pound weakling of legend. But he was my ninety pound weakling. If anyone tried to kick sand in his face, I’d hurt them.

  On the third day, I started hallucinating. It began with a vision of Santa Claus, whom I’d helped with a problem a few Christmases ago. Now, Santa gave me a silver-wrapped gift tied with a red ribbon. “Don’t open it until Christmas,” he said. Then he climbed on Rudolf and rode away to the sound of sleigh bells even though there was no sleigh in sight. When Santa disappeared, another man approached from a different direction.

  Handsome, strong, around forty and in the prime of life. He was quite close before I saw the cleft in his chin. When I was a kid, I used to press that cleft as though it was a button. “Dad.” I had imagined that if I ever saw him again, I’d rush right into his arms, but I didn’t “Where have you been?” I asked. Should I have said, I’m so happy to see you? Or, I love you? I felt both those things but the burning question in my mind was, “Why didn’t you come home?”

  “I couldn’t,” he said.

  “Come on, Dad, you’ve gotta give me more than that. I’ve been waiting for your return since I was fifteen. “

  “I wanted to come home. I wanted to see my Little Leggy again.”

  “Little Leggy? You stopped calling me than when I was twelve.”

  He smiled. “Only because you begged me to stop.”

  “You bet I did.” The nickname had made me sound like kid, which is not good when you’re breathing down the neck of adolescence.

  Dad went on, “I know I’ve been away a long time, but I never stopped thinking of my girls and wishing I was with my Lily and Leggy.”

  “Why didn’t you come back?”

  “It wasn’t possible.”

  “You could’ve called.”

  “It wasn’t possible.”

  “Bullshit. Everyone has a phone.”

  “Unless it’s been stolen.”

  “Right, like you can’t buy a new phone in Australia.”

  “You can’t if you’re in the middle of the desert.”

  “Reality check, Dad. You can’t survive in the desert for years. Not alone. I know how harsh it is. What really happened? Why were you gone so long?”

  I heard movement behind me and glanced around to see that Casper had gotten to his feet. “Who are you talking to?” he asked.

  “Dad,” I said, reaching for Casper’s hand and dragging him forward. “It’s about time you two met.” Although Casper had been with me since I was six years old, he’d never formally met Dad.

  Casper said, “Allegra, he’s not real.”

  “Sure he is.” But I felt compelled to take a closer look at Dad.

  Handsome, fit, about forty. He looked just as he had the last time I’d seen him right before he boarded the plane to Sydney. Oh right. I got it. He wouldn’t look like that now. He’d be in his fifties. He’d have more wrinkles and perhaps a touch of gray at his temples. I stepped up to him and touched his cheek. His image rippled like suddenly disturbed water then split apart leaving nothing but air.

  A ball of tears stuck in my throat. I swallowed them down. Hard.

  Casper said, “I’m sorry.”

  “We’ve rested too long.” I scooped Casper into my arms.

  “There’s no need for that,” he protested. “I can walk for a while.”

  “We both know that’s not true.”

  He didn’t raise the subject again.

  I walked on—Go west, young woman—until the setting sun bloodied the sky above a grove of trees.

  Casper stirred in my arms and said, “Do you hear that?”

  I stopped to listen. “All I can hear is the wind in the trees, which is kind of weird since the leaves aren’t moving.”

  “It’s not the wind,” said Casper. “Sounds like rushing water to me.”

  “I don’t see any river.”

  “It must be on the other side of the trees.”

  I carried him down a cute fairy path, past artistically gnarled trunks, beneath leaves in every imaginable shade of green. When we reached the other side of the wood, the gentle Fae countryside changed dramatically. Instead of lush landscape that hinted at good rainfall and gentle sun, we were faced with scorched earth and a dried up riverbed.

  “Where’s the fricking water?” I demanded.

  “Maybe the River of Dreams is supposed to be dry.”

  “That’s stupid. It’s a river. Besides, I can hear it. Unless... Do you think it’s invisible?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.”

  I had another more disturbing thought. “Maybe it’s not th
ere at all.”

  “You trust Dermot, right?”

  “Yes, but his information about the river was fourth hand. Even he said it was a long shot.” My stomach clenched. I couldn’t bear to think this was a sham. Had we fallen for the cruelest con of all time?

  “Put me down,” said Casper.

  At first he was unsteady on his feet, and used my shoulder for balance, but soon he was able to rely on his cane again. He inched toward the cracked, dried mud of the riverbed. When I started to follow he said, “No, stay there. It might be dangerous.”

  “And yet you’re prepared to bathe,” I said.

  “Is there any choice? If I don’t...” he glanced skyward.

  “I’m coming in with you.”

  “No you’re not.” His voice had never been so forceful.

  “Still trying to protect me?”

  “It’s my job. Promise you won’t follow me. I mean it, Allegra.” His eyes met mine.

  I was struck all over again by their amazing colors of brown and green and amber that reminded me so much of a sun-dappled forest. For a moment I couldn’t speak. “Is this goodbye? You said you’d say goodbye to me before you left forever.”

  “The truth is,” he said, “I don’t know what comes next. For you or me.”

  Then he added, very low, as though hoping the Powers-That-Be wouldn’t overhear, “You’re my favorite morsub. No, my favorite woman. Of all time.” And he’d met a lot of women in the past two thousand years.

  My eyes filled with tears. By the time I’d blinked them away Casper had shuffled onto the riverbed.

  “Casper, wait—I haven’t said goodbye. I haven’t told you how much you mean to me. I haven’t said, I lo—” But it was too late.

  All the unsaid endearments bubbled from my lips and were swallowed by a sound like banshees howling. A rush of wind whipped the riverbed into a maelstrom of dust. Casper was caught in the middle of it, spun around. I shielded my eyes from the dust and tried to cover my ears to block out the terrible noise. Casper screamed, the sound punching my heart like a giant’s fist.

  Then everything went quiet.

  I opened my eyes. Where was he? I raced into the riverbed screaming his name. Dust particles drifted lazily to the ground making a mockery of my frantic efforts to find him. I screamed out his name over and over but there was no answer. Casper was gone.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rynar had been right about there being more than one rip in the border of Fairyland. I found one a few days later and made my way out and up to the ridge surrounding the misty valley. I followed the ridge east, then changed direction and headed for the road. I had no phone so I couldn’t call for Ronan to pick me up. No longer buoyed by the energy of Fairyland, I trudged on, slowly covering the miles until I reached his house. All I wanted was to collapse into bed, which figured, since I’d been gone over a week. But Ronan met me with the news that the pooka had struck again. Dr. Gallagher had been called to ride. He’d taken up the challenge to save his wife. Predictably, he’d been thrown. His old bones hadn’t held up well under the impact and he’d been hospitalized with a broken arm and leg.

  Okay, sleep wasn’t going to feature in my immediate future. I had to stop the pooka—Lorcan—before he killed someone. I barely had time to gulp a long glass of water and slap some cheese on a sandwich before I was in Ronan’s car heading for J.J. Flanagan’s castle.

  The Witches and Wizards conference had broken for lunch, which had been served in a Hogwarts style dining hall. I marched up to the dais at one end, shoved aside the lunchtime speaker and grabbed the mic. I caught sight of Wanda, who waved. I flashed her a thin, determined smile then got on with the task at hand.

  “Is there anyone called Harrison in the room?”

  Nobody moved. I scanned the room, searching for the gray-bearded guy I’d followed and lost. I didn’t see him. Was he hiding? Yep, that figured. He wouldn’t want to come out and face me. I clutched the mic. My hand was slick with sweat. This time I used Harrison’s full name. Yeah, I knew what it was—knew it as well as my own.

  “Harrison Rafferty Fairweather, your daughter wants to speak to you.”

  Silence. Except for a sudden gasp (Wanda’s), the thundering of heartbeats (mine) and the far away ticking of a clock (probably my imagination). Eventually I got tired of waiting.

  “Come on, Dad. Man up. I know you’re here somewhere.” This time I didn’t have long to wait.

  He came from the side of the room. Maybe he’d taken a bathroom break. Or maybe he was still avoiding his family. For the moment, I’d forgotten all about the case. I’d forgotten my dad might also be Lorcan’s dad. I was a kid again and mad at my daddy.

  Hands on hips, I faced him and demanded, “What’re you doing at a Witches and Wizards conference?”

  He spread his hands as though he didn’t know what to do or say.

  I had enough words for both of us. “I saw you here just a few days ago. I know you saw me. Why did you run?”

  Suddenly he found his voice. “Allegra...Allegra...” He moved quickly giving me no time to step back and escape the arms that wrapped around me. “Allegra, I’ve missed you so much.”

  I was totally shocked. I didn’t know whether to push him away, punch him or hug him and never let go. Tears threatened to escape my eyes but I blinked them away. I stepped out of his embrace and demanded the explanation I deserved.

  “Not here,” he said, leading me away from the mic. Honestly, we were the best lunchtime entertainment those witches and wizards ever had.

  We found a chamber off the side of the hall. “Where have you been all these years? Why didn’t you come back to us?”

  “I did. Right after I’d escaped from the prison of the bunyip shapeshifter. He kept me captive for almost a year. As soon as I got free I hiked out of the desert and flew back to Boston. But your mother was already involved with the politician, and Lily was happily dating his son. And you had Casper to look out for you.”

  He’d known about Casper? I started to ask how, but he went on.

  “It seemed cruel to insinuate myself back into your lives. Sondra and I—there’d been problems in our marriage for a while—we’d have ended in the divorce court even without Steven. I won’t say I wasn’t selfishly tempted to make contact, but I couldn’t do it. Leaving you—all of you—alone seemed the kindest thing to do.”

  “It wasn’t.”

  He said gently, “I think it was for Sondra and Lily.”

  “Not for me.”

  He touched my cheek. “I visited, often. I made sure you were doing fine. I celebrated all the important milestones. I was there at your graduation.”

  “Have you completely missed the point? I didn’t know you were there.”

  He looked confused and deflated and lost. “Looks like I really stuffed up.” His tone reminded me of me, which felt weird and right all at the same time. “I’m so sorry, Allegra. I genuinely believed I was doing the best thing for you.”

  I snorted. “You seem to have a habit of abandoning your children.”

  “Once is not a habit.”

  I used my next words like a fist, driving them into his heart. “What about your son? My half-brother.”

  “Pardon?”

  “His name is Lorcan.”

  “Lorcan?” He was genuinely confused. “That name means nothing to me.”

  “How about the name Sharina Levara?”

  He took a step backward and caught hold of a chair for support. “Sharina? She had a child? Wait a minute, how long ago was this?”

  “Are you hoping the kid isn’t yours?” There was no way to prove it conclusively. There’s no test for fairy DNA.

  “Allegra, I need to know. How old is he?”

  I studied my nails. I looked at the ceiling. I hummed a little tune. When I’d made him wait long enough, I said, “Lorcan is eight years old.”

  Dad went silent as though he was doing the math. Suddenly his face lost all color. “I have a son.”
>
  “Yeah, much more important than two daughters.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” he said sharply. “I have to see him. Is he fostered nearby?”

  “Well, here’s the thing. Sharina refused to foster him. She raised him herself.”

  “In our world? But she couldn’t. She’d be—is she very old?”

  “Worse than old.” I watched him put two and two together. His grief caused a lump in my own throat. “I can take you to her grave if you like.”

  “Yes,” he whispered. “Now, if possible.”

  On the way back to Dingaleen, Dad said, “Why would Sharina raise him herself? She could have fostered the child.”

  “The child? His name is Lorcan.”

  “Lorcan,” he repeated, testing the name on his tongue. “If Sharina had fostered Lorcan, she could’ve saved herself.”

  “I guess she wanted him to have one parent who refused to abandon him.”

  “Her death was also an abandonment. She could have chosen to live and make regular visits to Lorcan.”

  “Okay, my bad. You both abandoned him.”

  “No, you’ve got it wrong. If only she’d told me she was pregnant I wouldn’t have left. I’d have stayed to raise her child.”

  “But not to be with Sharina?”

  “Sharina deserved to have a relationship with another Fae. Not with a human who could only be with her part time. I left to give her the chance of a normal life. But the child would’ve changed everything. If only she’d told me.”

  My hands gripped the steering wheel. “She didn’t know until you’d gone.”

  “She could’ve come after me.”

  “She couldn’t find you. You’d gone back to Australia. Well, I assume that’s where you went, but how would I know? You weren’t exactly a part of my life either,” I snapped, losing concentration and almost running into another car. I spun the wheel, headed for the side of the road and screeched to a halt. Too angry to sit still, I sprang out of the car and marched up and down beside the road until Dad got out too.