Bones of Faerie - Janni Lee Simner [56]
“That won't make her well,” Allie said. She kept holding my hand.
I looked down at Rebecca. The baby breathed softly in her new sling, as if asleep. “I don't care. I'll do it anyway.”
Matthew looked up and saw us. He handed the cup to Kate and headed toward the kitchen, his shoulders hunched. He didn't speak as he walked past us toward the buckets and soap.
“I hate this,” Allie said. “Hate it, hate it, hate it!” And then, “I wish Caleb were here. He'd know what to do. He'd know how to heal this, or whether it really was too late. He'd know.”
I bit back a sharp retort. I wished Caleb were here, too.
“How far apart do you think our towns are, Liza? Maybe we can get him. Maybe if we leave right away—”
“A day apart,” I said, remembering the map and thinking how we'd have to get there and back both.
“Oh,” Allie said in a small voice, and I knew that was too far. “It's not fair!” she shouted. Kate looked toward us. “I wish Caleb wasn't so far away. I wish you could just call and make him come!”
“Allie!” My heart started pounding. “Maybe I can.”
I bolted across the living room, knowing better than to hope, hoping anyway.
“What is it, child?” Kate asked, but I ran past her, to the mirror.
Swiftly I untied the sling and set it down beside me. In the glass my hair was streaked pale, but I didn't care. I grabbed Caleb's quarter in both hands as I looked into the mirror. “Caleb!” He was too far away to call by voice alone, but maybe in visions I could find him. Mom had seen me, after all, through glass and through water.
Maybe Caleb would see me, too. Maybe the time we saved, if he answered my call, would be enough.
The mirror turned to silver, my reflection fading into the brightness. I kept staring, kept calling until I saw—
Caleb and Karin walking through our ruined city, the Arch growing small behind them, grief clear enough on both their faces. Karin leaned on Caleb as if she'd been hurt, though there was no wound that I could see—
Caleb guiding Allie's hands over a goat's wounded leg. Allie laughing as the leg mended. Caleb smiling, a different smile than Before, older and sadder, for all that his face remained young—
I pushed through the visions. They were in the past, and I needed the present. “Caleb!”
Samuel and Caleb hunched over a late-afternoon fire. A small pot sat on the coals. Samuel stared silently into the distance, while Caleb's face was grim and hard as stone.
They weren't in Washville. Of course they weren't. They'd gone out looking for Allie.
“Caleb!” I called, even as I wondered—why hadn't Father gone looking for me?
Caleb reached out to pour something into the pot.
His glance caught on its metal surface, and his hand froze in midair. He looked right at me and opened his mouth as if to speak—
I heard footsteps behind me. Caleb faded away, and in the bright mirror I saw—
Father approaching one slow step at a time. With a sick lurch I knew this was no vision. I watched him, knowing better, always knowing better than to run.
Father's hand came down on my shoulder. He turned me firmly about.
“Liza,” he said, and his voice was hard as metal that refused to give way, “where have you been?”
Chapter 16
Words froze in my throat as I stared up at my father. Maybe I needed only to explain. Maybe once he understood—
“Have you grown too stupid to speak?” Kate stood and moved to my side. “Let her be, Ian.” “Stay out of this. I asked my daughter a question.” “M-mom,” I managed to stammer. “Mom was ill. We found her, and we brought her here—”
Father slapped me. I staggered back. “I can see that much! Tell me how it happened. Tell me where you've both been.”
My throat tightened. I hated the way my words came out, my voice close to breaking. “I went looking for her after she left.” That was close enough to truth. I didn't know whether he'd guessed at the magic in Kate's mirror—though surely he could see my hair if nothing else—but the rage in his face was enough to tell me I still didn't want to talk to him about magic, no matter whom it healed or failed