Enchantment

by Pati Nagle

  “Shall I walk you home?”

  Holly swallowed. “Yes, please. And thanks. Thanks—so much.”

  “You might not want to come here alone again.”

  “Yeah.”

  She hurried off the dock to join him. Glanced back toward the lake, but didn’t see anything. Disappointed, she turned toward Madison’s place.

  The cop walked beside her, unhurried. Holly expected a lecture, but he didn’t say anything more. She glanced at him a couple of times, thinking he looked vaguely familiar but unable to place him. He went with her up the hill to the townhouse, and Holly stopped at the gate.

  “Thanks again.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m sorry I couldn’t help about your friend.”

  “What?”

  Before her eyes, the cop wavered, then shrank and melted, uniform and gun vanishing as he morphed into the water spirit from the lake, draped in something filmy and green that stirred with the breeze. Holly gasped.

  The spirit smiled. “All things come and go. The key is to enjoy them while they are here.”

  She began to shrink again, brightening at the same time with a glow that had nothing to do with the porch light. In the space of a breath she became a small point of green-gold light that hovered in the air before Holly, then danced in a spiral. A firefly.

  “Thank you,” Holly whispered as the light flew away toward the lake.

  She watched until it was gone, then opened the gate and went in. Her computer sat on the chair where she’d left it. Slowly she picked it up and went inside.

  The TV was still on. She didn’t want to be distracted by it; so trite, so insignificant compared to the magic she’d just seen. She put away her computer and headed for the bathroom to take a shower. With water pouring over her, she thought about the lake spirit and about Ohlan.

  They must both be really old. Ohlan had come to life with his spring, and the lake had to have been here for a long time.

  “All things come and go,” the spirit had said. She’d probably seen a lot of humans come and go.

  And how wonderful that she watched out for them. Holly felt a rush of gratitude for the way the spirit had saved her from a nasty situation. How often did she do that sort of thing? She must care a lot, to watch over silly humans that way, and all the other creatures that came to the lake or lived in it. All of them coming and going, while the spirit remained the same.

  There must be spirits like that in every body of water on the planet. How many times had they rescued humans or animals? They couldn’t do it every time—there were accidents, deaths. How many more would there be without the guardian spirits?

  Holly felt a tingle of excitement. The world was far more magical than most people realized. How amazing, and how wonderful! She wanted to share it, and was frustrated that she couldn’t.

  Her thoughts turned to Ohlan. He wasn’t really dying. She just couldn’t bear to admit the possibility. Tears sprang up at the thought of it, and here in the privacy of the shower she let them be washed from her.

  “Enjoy them while they are here,” the spirit had said.

  Whatever happened, Holly was determined to do exactly that. She would enjoy Ohlan, preferably for the rest of her life, but if that wasn’t possible, then as long as she could.

  Had Amanda done that? She thought over Amanda’s story as she dried off, trying to glean any hints of the truth that Amanda had veiled with the fairy tale.

  She pulled on the oversized t-shirt she used as a nightshirt and went back to the living room to get her computer. The dinette table had been cleared except for the pansies. Holly sat there and opened her laptop, then searched on Amanda again and brought up the obituary. This time she read the whole thing.

  Amanda hadn’t died in Las Palomas. She’d stayed after the war, continuing to work for the government, but in the sixties she had married and moved away to Minnesota to raise a family. A son and a daughter had survived her.

  Holly surfed on their names and found an obituary for the daughter, just a couple of years ago. The son, Thomas Benton, was apparently still alive, working as a high school sports instructor.

  Holly searched in vain for an email address for him. The school he worked at was cagey with contact information for their instructors, and Thomas didn’t seem to have a blog. She found his name in school newsletters, but nowhere else. She looked up the school’s mailing address and saved it on her computer. If nothing else, she could send him a letter in care of the school.

  And what would she ask him? Hi, did your mother ever tell you about the water spirit she was in love with?

  Holly sighed. There had to be a way to ask that wouldn’t make her sound crazy. She was too tired to think about it now, though.

  She shut down her computer and carried it to the living room. The news was just ending, and Madison sat up on the sofa, stretching.

  “Ready to crash?”

  “Just about,” Holly said.

  “Well, I warmed up the sofa for you.”

  Holly watched her sister grab her fanny pack and go out the front door. She bit her lip as she opened the sofa into her bed.

  Sheila yawned, standing up with the remote in her hand. “That’s it for me, too. Should I leave it on?”

  Holly shook her head, and Sheila turned off the TV, leaving the remote on the coffee table. “’Night, Holly.”

  “G’night.”

  Holly watched Sheila go upstairs, got herself a glass of water, and crawled into bed, thinking over the day. She seemed to have ended up with more questions than when she’d started. She lay drowsing, thinking about the lake spirit and wishing she’d asked her name. The last thing she noticed before she fell asleep was the quiet opening and closing of the front door, and a whiff of cigarette smoke.

  ~ 7 ~

  “What are you supposed to get for Mom?”

  Holly stared at an array of colorful kites and whirligigs hanging outside one shop, dancing in the wind. “He didn’t say. Just something pretty.”

  “There’s a place that sells all kinds of glass stuff. She still likes glass, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  Madison headed down the street. Reluctantly, Holly tore her eyes from the rainbow kites and hurried to catch up.

  Pearl Street was indeed a great place. The pedestrian mall was ornamented with flowers and fountains, and lined with fascinating shops, galleries, and cafes. A couple of the restaurants were chains, but most of the shops were home-owned one-of-a-kind places. Holly wasn’t a big shopping enthusiast, but she could get used to hanging out here.

  The glass shop had everything from little figurines to gigantic bowls and chandeliers. Holly liked a beautiful globe in jewel colors, but agreed with Madison that a piece of jewelry would be easier to carry on the plane. Together they picked out a pendant of dichroic glass in iridescent blues and greens. It ate up a chunk of the money Dad had given Holly, but there was enough left for lunch and some airport pocket money.

  Madison led the way to her favorite cafe, where they sat at a sidewalk table watching some little kids play hackysack out in the sun. A light breeze ruffled Mad’s hair. Holly smiled, in a good mood.

  “Thanks for bringing me here. You’re right, it’s really cool.”

  “Glad you like it.” Mad sipped her iced coffee.

  “You must spend a lot of time here.”

  “Not so much during school.”

  “Man, if I were you I’d be here in all my spare time. Unless I was hiking.”

  Madison stirred her coffee with her straw, rattling the ice against the glass. She still had her sunglasses on, so Holly couldn’t see her eyes. Feeling awkward, Holly tried to think of something to say that would please her.

  “I really like your roommates.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. They’re nice. I mean, I didn’t get to talk to Carla that much—“

  “But she’s leaving, so it doesn’t matter.”

  Holly blinked. There was a definite edge to Mad’s voice.


  “What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?”

  “She won’t be here next year. You’ve got Sheila and Pam all hot to have you move in, cooking dinner last night.”

  “I just did that to say thank you. I don’t want to move in.”

  “No? Bet Dad will like the idea.” Mad stabbed at her ice with the straw.

  “I don’t care what Dad likes,” said Holly, getting angry. “I don’t want to go to school here.”

  Mad froze. “You don’t?”

  “No.” Holly picked up her own drink and took a long pull at the straw.

  “I thought you were going to apply. Dad said—“

  “Dad’s the one who wanted me to come up here with you. I’m not interested in CU.”

  “Oh.” Mad put down her glass, pushed her shades up onto her forehead, and sighed. “No offense, but I’m glad.”

  A slow grin crept onto Holly’s face. “You were picturing me tagging along with you for four years.”

  Mad smiled back, the first real smile Holly had seen from her all day. “I was.”

  “I don’t think either of us would enjoy that.”

  “No.” Mad reached across the table and took her hand. “Sorry, Hol. I need my own space.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  Their food arrived, and in a much better mood they both dug in. Holly had ordered a Denver omelet, which she’d never tried. She immediately fell in love with the combination of ham, onions, and bell peppers.

  “So where do you want to go to school?” Madison asked.

  “Don’t know. Haven’t found a place I like.”

  “Better get on the ball.”

  Holly ate a home-fried potato. She knew she’d have to have this argument with Dad. She wasn’t going to have it with Mad, too.

  Fortunately, Mad didn’t push it. Her mood was sunnier than it had been in days. She picked up the bill for lunch, then led Holly all over Pearl Street, into cool shops that they’d skipped before—book stores, places full of incense and exotic clothes, even a Goth store. On the way back to the parking lot Holly was again drawn to the kite shop, and this time Madison encouraged her to look.

  Inside, it was crammed with color. Holly wandered through the rainbows, admiring flags, kites of all shapes and sizes, lawn spinners and air spinners and stuff she wasn’t sure about but that was beautiful.

  A purple and blue air spinner caught her eye, but it was too expensive. She settled for a blue and green feather-shaped ornament on a purple ribbon that was more in line with her budget. The watery colors made her think of Ohlan. She picked out a rainbow-colored feather as well and paid for them both out of her lunch money.

  By the time they headed home it was getting close to dinner time. Madison stopped at a bake-at-home pizza place and they picked up two pies, then headed back to the townhouse.

  Sheila greeted them at the door. “Pizza! Yay!”

  Holly threw together a salad while the pizzas baked, and everyone sprawled in the living room watching Lone Star, a movie that Pam had raved about over dinner the night before. Carla came in halfway through the film, helped herself to what was left of the salad and joined them. By the time the movie was over, Holly was yawning.

  “Bed for you, kiddo,” Madison said. “Gotta get up early tomorrow to get you to the airport.”

  “I will not be getting up early,” said Sheila, “so I’ll say goodbye now. It was great having you visit, Holly.”

  Holly accepted hugs and farewells from Mad’s roomies, and promised to visit again the next time she was in the area. Sheila grinned as she started up the stairs.

  “Bed and breakfast. You make the breakfast, we’ve got the bed.”

  Holly laughed. “Night, Sheila.”

  Madison stayed to talk about when they should leave, reminding Holly to check in online and print out her boarding pass. While she fetched the printout from her room, Holly grabbed her bag from the kite store and pulled out the rainbow feather, which she gave to Mad when she returned.

  “This is for you. Thanks for putting up with your tag-along baby sister.”

  Mad held up the feather and smiled as it twirled on its ribbon. “Thanks, Hol. It was good having you here.”

  They hugged, and Mad went upstairs while Holly bedded down for the night. She fell asleep almost at once, and woke with Mad shaking her shoulder.

  “Time to go.”

  Holly jumped into her jeans and put on her last clean shirt. Going home! Her flight would get in to Albuquerque around midday, and the drive home would take a couple of hours. With luck, she’d have time to see Ohlan.

  That desire burned in her now, so much that she had trouble thinking about anything else. She tried to pay attention to Mad on the drive to the airport, but her mind kept going back to the spring. Fortunately Mad’s good mood had continued, and she chatted happily without needing much encouragement.

  She dropped Holly at the curb and got out to give her a final hug. “Stay well, kiddo.”

  “You, too. Thanks for the hospitality.”

  “Any time.”

  Holly watched her drive away, then went into the terminal, breezed through security, and found her gate. She had half an hour to kill before her flight, so she took out Amanda’s memoir and read a bit more, but she’d lost interest. It was the stuff about Enchantment Spring that intrigued her. She went back and reread the “village maid” story, which really did sound like a thinly disguised love story.

  Curious whether Amanda had been interested in other men—like, human men—Holly skimmed through the rest of the book, looking for references to dating. She found none. There were a couple of mentions of big parties, with dancing and so on, that Amanda had attended, but she didn’t talk about specific men at all.

  So that in itself was something. Amanda must have continued to see Ohlan, or she would have shown more interest in other guys.

  At the end of the book was a short author’s note: “With thanks to my husband Robert for his patience and support, and to all the friends I knew in Las Palomas, a place with its own wondrous magic.”

  Magic. Right.

  Holly really wished Amanda wasn’t dead. She wanted to talk to the woman.

  The boarding call for her flight came over the intercom. She put the book away and got on the plane, and spent the flight musing, gazing out of the window, watching the landscape gradually change to the familiar contours of home.

  Mom was waiting for her at the gate, and whisked her away to the Frontier for a lunch of green chile cheeseburger and fries, topped off with Holly’s favorite cinnamon-and-butter-drenched sweet roll. Holly answered all her questions about CU and Boulder, and even mentioned the lake, but didn’t talk about her nighttime adventures there. No sense in freaking Mom out.

  She saved the glass pendant, figuring Dad should have the pleasure of watching her give it to Mom, since he had paid for it. On the drive home she ran out of things to talk about. Fortunately Mom picked up the slack, bringing up school.

  “You’ve only got a week to get your supplies. Shall we stop at the office place in Santa Fe?”

  Holly bit her lip. She didn’t want to stop, she wanted to go up to the spring to see Ohlan, but she knew Mom’s suggestion made sense. The big office store was cheaper and had more selection than the stores in Las Palomas.

  “I don’t have the list with me,” she said.

  “I found it on your desk, and brought it along just in case. Shall we?”

  Mom’s smile did her in. Holly couldn’t disappoint her, and didn’t have any reason not to shop that she could talk about, so she caved.

  It took an hour to collect everything on the list and check out, despite Holly’s attempt to move as fast as possible. Mom liked to browse, and she kept getting distracted by colored sticky notes, cute magnetic list pads, and a whole aisle of scrapbook stuff. Holly bit down on her impatience and tried to resist checking her watch.

  By the time they were back on the road, she knew it was too late for her to get up to
the spring before dinner. She didn’t want to wait until the next day to see Ohlan. She kept her frustration to herself.

  At home, she dumped her gym bag, computer, and school supplies in her room and offered to help fix dinner. Mom was pleased, and put her to work cutting up vegetables. Holly spotted a pineapple upside down cake—her favorite—on the counter, and resigned herself to staying through dessert.

  “I made dinner for Madison’s roommates,” she said. “They don’t cook, so they were all impressed.”

  “You liked them?”

  “Sure. Nice folks.”

  “Maybe you could hang out with them some, until you make your own friends, if you decide to go to school there.”

  Holly finished slicing a zucchini and put down her knife. “Mom, I’m not going to school there. It would bug Madison having me around, and I didn’t like CU that much.”

  “Oh. Well, if you don’t like it, then of course you shouldn’t go there. There’s always the college fair.”

  Holly didn’t answer. More and more, she felt she didn’t want to go away to college at all. She’d have to figure out how to get her folks to agree to it. Dad wouldn’t like it, but Mom actually might.

  Dad got home from work just as the chicken casserole was done. He grabbed Holly in a bear hug.

  “Missed you, hon. How was Boulder?”

  Holly grinned and disengaged, getting out plates to set the table. “Tell you about it at dinner.”

  She went through the whole story again as they ate. Just the three of them again, at the table. They were used to it by now, but after having Mad home for a couple of weeks it did seem a little lonely.

  “So, did you like the campus?” Dad asked.

  Holly shrugged. “Not really. Not enough to want to go there. Thing is, I think Madison and I would get in each other’s way.”

  “I thought it would be nice for you to have some family nearby.”

  “If I wanted that I might as well stay here.”

  She glanced at him to see his reaction. Frowning. Not great.

  “You know it’s important to get a good education,” he said.

  “Yeah, I know.”