And most of the farms and orchards on the island had identical white Japanese mini-trucks in constant use.
“What did you find?” asked Wes.
I fished out the trinkets and handed one to Wes and one to Christoph. “These were attached to the zippers on their backpacks. They don’t look like commercial zipper pulls to me. They look handmade.”
Wes snapped a photo. “I’m sending this to a friend who makes trinkets used for spells.”
“I sent a photo to James. He’ll share it with Mal,” I said. “Also, I told them about the boys and Doug.”
“Leave the trinkets in the boys’ car, Calliope.” Christoph worked his thumb over the surface of the little sword. “Otherwise, whoever was tracking them will be able to follow your movements too.”
I took the deepest breath I could and let it out. “I think Harper and Thatch went with Doug willingly. Either that or Doug used a spell that worked very fast.” I described what I’d read in the ground. “I don’t see any sign of resistance. Not here.” I gestured to where we were standing. “Or from the way the kid in the bakery described what he saw.”
“Doug could have used glamour to cloak what he was really doing,” Wes pointed out. Christoph agreed.
“If we’re done here, let’s go to the farm,” I said. “Standing around waiting makes me nuts.”
I leaned over the driver’s seat of the Jeep and dropped both swords into a side pocket of Harper’s backpack.
“If we don’t learn anything new, I suggest we go to Cliff and Abi’s and use their house as our base. There’s at least one portal on the property that we know of, and I wouldn’t mind checking the burial mounds again. They reeked of magic,” Wes said. “Druid and fairy magic.”
I agreed with a nod and buckled my seat belt. The Pearmains’ was where I had first met Tanner and where the Apple Witch had been able to manifest both her human and tree forms. Plus, the bag of trinkets River had collected off the gate was sitting on the floor behind my seat and one of these days I was going to go through it and figure out which of the bits and baubles were magic.
Those early days of this protracted adventure felt like a lifetime ago. I pinched my forehead. Two weeks, three at the most. I punched the ignition and waited for Wes to move his car.
Christoph elected to stay in Wes’s car and travel with the druid—his wings would never fit in my tiny electric vehicle—and they followed me to the Brooks family’s farm. My grandfather stayed in the passenger’s seat, wrapped in a blanket of sorts. Wes and I talked to the farmer in charge of summer help. She had neither seen nor heard from my sons that day and was slightly put out they hadn’t contacted her. I gave her my cell phone number and asked if she would please call or text if the boys showed up.
“They’re such goofy guys,” she said, squeezing my upper arm gently, “and they manage to work really hard. I hope you hear from them soon.”
Our two-car caravan pulled up to the Pearmains’ gate. I opened it so we could park close to the house and wavered on whether to leave the gate open or shut.
“Leave it open,” said Wes. “Anybody wanting entry to the property will have the means to run right over the gate and the fence. This way, if we have to get out in hurry, it’s one less thing to worry about.”
My phone had been silent on the drive. I gripped it tight, willing some piece of good news to set off a musical alert as I waited for signal bars.
James and Rose had both texted. His message was a terse show of support, and hers said she’d picked up the sample kit and was bringing it to L’Runa. I blew out a quick breath.
A loud fluttering pulled my attention off my phone. Christoph had extended his wings.
“I need to stretch,” he said. “I told Wes I wanted to head to the burial mounds and poke around. Unless you need me to stay with you?”
I stared at my grandfather, standing a couple inches taller than me, with silvery-white hair flowing down his back and his wings agitating. A little girl-like part of myself wanted to trust him simply because he was my grandfather. Adult me drew her close and voiced my hesitation.
“Christoph, the truth is I’m uncomfortable that there’s no one at the house, and if the boys end up there for some reason, they don’t even have cell phones to call for help.” I bounced the toe of my boot against the car’s rear wheel. “The best thing you could do for me right now would be to portal back to the house. Someone responsible—and capable of magic—should be there for Harper and Thatch if they show up.”
“You got it, Calli-lass.”
“How can I reach you though, if something happens here?” I asked.
Christoph plucked three smallish feathers from different places on his wings and handed them to me. “Slide the feathers between one of the rings and your thumb like this,” he said, demonstrating. “The calamus and shaft will glow. Three feathers mean you three are safe. Two feathers means the boys are on their way to me. One feather means you need my help. You will feel the metal go cold. When it does, drop the feather to the ground and try your best to bury it. If it’s help you need, the hard part will be the wait between sending the signal and my arrival.” He coughed and smoothed the front of his vest. “I’ll take the portal from here. It’ll give me a chance to exercise these old wings.”
“Thank you.” I tucked the three feathers into the outer pocket opposite where I kept my wand and hugged Christoph.
We separated, and he gave me a thumbs-up and
