Phoenix and Ashes

But that meant that at long last, she was going to be able to run down to the meadow at teatime—and hope against hope that Reggie Fenyx was the sort of fellow who kept his word.

The lot of them were finally packed up and gone by luncheon, a meal that stretched on interminably so far as she was concerned. She had to keep her mouth shut and her eyes cast down meekly the whole time, as the foursome pretended she didn't even exist while she waited on them.

Finally they packed up the big motorcar and all four of them drove away, with no more clue as to where they were going than Alison's careless, 'Keep the house neat and clean, Ellie, and don't expect us back before Saturday.'

When she was utterly certain they were gone, she could scarcely believe her luck. And the first place she went—since, of course, she had not had time or opportunity to snatch more than a bite of bread for luncheon—was the pantry.

This time she packed a basket with a real tea, recklessly plundering the stores she wasn't supposed to be able to get into for the making of a meal that even Reggie Fenyx would find appealing. Sarah walked in on her in the midst of her preparations.

'Well, what's all this, then?' she asked, hands on hips, surveying the state of the kitchen. 'I thought we might do some work, with Alison gone—'

'I—' Eleanor found herself flushing. 'I was going to take a picnic to Round Meadow.'

Sarah blinked her deceptively mild eyes once or twice, then a slight smile curved her lips. 'So that's the way the wind blows. No wonder young Reggie's been there every afternoon.'

'He has?' she gasped. 'But—how do you know?'

'He leaves his auto parked below it,' Sarah said dismissively. 'It's his meadow, after all, and it's part of the field his aeroplane used to be in, I doubt anyone thinks anything at all about it. I just wondered, why does he always come at teatime?'

'Because that's when I met him there the first time.' She looked around distractedly for something to take with her to drink. 'Does wine go with tea?' she asked, rather desperately.

'No, wine does not, and moreover, you're not used to it, you'll be tipsy in no time,' Sarah scolded. 'There's the stream running through there; drink water. But go, go now, before he gets tired of waiting and goes off to his cronies at The Broom.'

She caught up the basket, and ran.

The few people on the street did not seem to notice her as she ran; that was something that seemed to happen a great deal. Unless she was actually in the way, no one in Broom paid the least bit of attention to her no matter what she did. Today that was all to the good.

Her heart lifted as she saw in the distance that there was an automobile—presumably Reggie's—tucked off the road down near Round Meadow.

Her feet felt lighter at that moment too, but she was struck with a sudden feeling of shyness, and instead of speeding up, she slowed down to a walk. And then the doubts began.

After all, why should Reggie care if she turned up? He was probably just down here to enjoy the solitude of his own meadow. She'd be an invader, as she had been the first day. Oh, he'd be polite, but he wouldn't want her there, surely—

She almost turned back at the stile; almost didn't climb it to get into the wooded end of the field. But she'd come this far—and she had a lovely tea with her. He'd surely appreciate that. And she wouldn't chatter like the girls his mother was inviting for tea.

I don't have to stay very long, she told herself, as she clambered over the stile. The minute it seems as if he wants to be alone, I can go.

After all, what did they have in common? She hadn't been to university, she didn't drive a motorcar or fly, she knew nothing about the war except what she read in the papers, and besides, he wouldn't want to talk about that. She was years his junior. She couldn't even talk to him about magic, which was probably the only thing they had in common. He probably was only being polite the last time—

And what happened last time? A voice like cool flame in the back of her mind said, in a reasoned town. You didn't talk about anything. You listened. He did the talking. Just go. See what happens.

By that point, she was among the trees, with the meadow just beyond her, golden sunlight pouring down before her at the end of the corridor of trees. I might as well go as not, she thought, and tossed her head. He did ask me to come back, and if he didn't mean it, he shouldn't have asked me.