Bridge of Mist and Fog (12 page)

***

The police and the dogs were back, their dour expressions saying it all. Fehin felt his heart drop and when he glanced at Grace she burst into tears. In the midst of this he heard Gunnar in his mind asking to meet him outside the house. He hurried through the front door and then around to the back to the privet hedge. Gunnar was waiting there, his expression dark.

“I can’t find Wolf.”

Fehin opened his mouth and closed it. “He has to be here! Why would he leave without getting what he wanted?” And then he was crying, the sobs hysterical as panic took over.

“Did you ever consider that Wolf’s motives may not be what you think?” Gunnar had no sympathy, the expression on his face as serious as Fehin had ever seen. “This is up to you now, Fehin. You know your brother’s methods. You need to put yourself inside his head. Where would he take her?”

Fehin was wild, his mind splintering off in several directions at once. “I can’t. I don’t know how he thinks! And I’ve never been here before—how would I know where he’d take her?” In truth he could tap into his brother’s mind but the sucking darkness he found there pulled him down, tempting him with the idea of unlimited power.

“Fehin, listen to me,” Gunnar said, grabbing his arm. “You conjured an island, you saved a thousand people from your brother’s evil. You know how to read minds. You can do this.”

“Why can’t
you
find her?”

“It’s isn’t up to me to find her. I’ve helped as much as I’m allowed.”

“Allowed by who?”

“Stop trying to wheedle out of this. You’re related to Wolf, you’re Brandubh’s son. Now tap into that part of you. It may be painful to look at the darker side of yourself but in this case it just may save Airy.”

“You think she’s still alive.”

Gunnar narrowed his eyes and then disappeared.

Fehin stared into the spot where the druid had been. He loved Airy. If she died he didn’t want to live. Maybe this would turn out like Romeo and Juliet after all. Without thinking he found himself wandering across the meadow and then into the forest on the other side. When he came to the oak tree Airy had shown him he stopped and looked up. “I’ve never spoken to a tree before but I would be most grateful if you could help me. I know you love her as much as I do. I have to find her but I don’t know where to look.”

The forest stood silent around him. He sat down in the mud and put his head in his hands and then looked deeply into his own psyche, into the part that could kill another human being without a second thought; his fury with Wolf made it easy. But if he entered that tangled morass he was afraid he might never find his way out. After all, he was a sorcerer’s son as much as Wolf was.

It was the vision of Airy’s pale face that made the decision for him, sending a jolt of adrenaline through every cell of his body. He sent his thoughts out through the ether searching for Wolf, and when he found him he wormed his way into Wolf’s thoughts, seeking the ones he needed. He could feel his half-brother’s depravity, his utter lack of compassion, mercy, or sympathy. As soon as he found what he needed he fought his way out of the rotting weeds, the mire and filth, bursting free and slamming a wall down between his mind and Wolf’s. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the life-giving oxygen coming from the trees. He knew what to do.

A fence ran around the Fitzhugh property with gates that mostly stood open; the sheep and other animals they’d kept were long gone. Fehin headed south from the woods, walking through one of these gates and following some inner voice that directed him that way. In the distance another copse of trees loomed dark and in the meadow in front was a derelict house. It was the perfect place to hide someone.

“Airy?” he called out once he reached the falling-down structure. There was no answer. It was then he noticed the footprint and the gouges in the mud leading to the entrance. He hurtled through the doorway coming to a stop in the dim interior. “Airy?” he called again, louder this time.

He could smell fresh sawdust. And then he saw it--the boards that had recently been nailed into place. He tore at them, cutting his hands as he tried to rip them loose. Finally he got another board and pried them up one by one. He couldn’t see a thing but he could feel Airy down there in the dark. He switched on his small flashlight before lowering himself down.

When he found her she was twisted into a shape that could only mean broken bones. “My gods, what has he done to you?” Tears ran down Fehin’s cheeks as he moved her gently into a sitting position and took the rag out of her mouth. Her face was pale as death, purple shadows under her closed eyes. Her head lolled to the side and when he felt for a pulse it was thready and weak—she was unconscious, barely alive.

He untied her arms and then picked her up, hoisting her partially out before climbing out himself. He put his arms gently around her shoulders and legs, cradling her body against his chest and began the trip back to the farmhouse. His tears fell onto her face as he moved through the snow. There was no sign of life from her aside from the slight rise and fall of her chest. This was his entire fault.

***

“We’re forever indebted to you,” Hank told Fehin, glancing at Grace beside him. She smiled weakly, her pale face registering the extreme stress she was under.

The three of them were standing together outside Airy’s hospital room. She was back from surgery but hadn’t yet come out of the anesthesia.

When Fehin reached the farmhouse hours before, he’d been met with confused hysteria and frantic calls to the hospital and the ambulance company. It hadn’t been long before the shrill sound of sirens blared, and then the MT’s were placing Airy’s limp body on the stretcher and carrying her out to the waiting vehicle. Fehin watched them leave, a feeling of utter futility washing over him. No one had said a word but he knew there was a good chance she wouldn’t make it.

Fehin gazed into the older man’s eyes, noticing the shadow of untruth that lay behind that statement. He sensed distrust and when he probed further he saw that Hank believed that Fehin was involved in his granddaughter’s abduction. Both Hank and Grace believed that he and Wolf had conspired together. How else could Fehin have found her so easily? There was no explaining what had come over him, the ability he had that put him inside his brother’s head.

Airy’s parents and grandparents had been on the phone for a long time after the ambulance whisked Airy away. And when Fehin left the room to go back upstairs he’d heard Hank mention Brandubh. Harold and Maeve were now on their way to Halston from the Otherworld, due to arrive at Boston airport this evening. He dreaded meeting them.

***

It was another hour before the doctor allowed them into Airy’s room. “She’s very weak,” he told them. “It was a compound break and with her severe dehydration and blood loss we were lucky we didn’t lose her. Please keep it short—she needs to rest.”

When they entered the room Airy was propped up on pillows, her eyes red-rimmed and shadowed. Her gaze went to Fehin first and she held out her hand. But when Fehin moved forward Hank muscled by him, taking her outstretched fingers in his. “Sweetheart, I can’t tell you how worried we’ve been. What a terrible ordeal you’ve been through.”

Airy tried to smile and then winced. Her leg was in traction waiting for the swelling to go down. Once it did the doctors would put on a cast. “I owe it all to Fehin,” she said, gazing at him over her grandfather’s shoulder.

“Yes, well…” Hank turned to his wife. “Grace and I love you very much, sweetheart. We feel terrible that this happened on our watch. Your parents are on their way. They should be in to see you tonight.”

Grace moved to the other side of the bed, taking Airy’s other hand in hers. “My dear, sweet Airy. You look so pale. I’m so glad you’re in one piece.”

“Time to go now,” the nurse called out from the doorway. “She needs her rest.”

“Of course she does,” Hank said, moving toward the door and gesturing to his wife.

When Fehin took a step toward the bed Hank grabbed his shoulder. “You heard what the nurse said.”

“Fehin,” Airy called out, but Fehin had already been dragged from the room.

***

“Don’t you need to get back to school?” Hank asked once they were in the car.

“I don’t want to leave her.”

“You can’t expect to stay with us while Harold and Maeve are here,” Grace added. “It would be better for all concerned if you go back before they arrive.”

Fehin was barely able to control his anger. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to Airy yet, and apparently he would not be granted that privilege.

“There’s a bus leaving in an hour. I think you should be on it,” Hank said as they drove into the driveway. “I’ll give you a lift down to Halston.”

“Thank you, sir,” Fehin answered through gritted teeth. In the house he went upstairs to collect his things.

22

“Where’s Fehin?” Airy asked, looking around.

Harold shook his head and then glanced at Maeve. “We haven’t seen him since we got here. He must have gone back to school.”

“But he didn’t even say goodbye!”

“I’m sure he was anxious to get back to Milltown and classes, Airy.”

Airy stared at her father’s impassive face. “He’s not like that. Do you realize that I’d be dead if it wasn’t for him?”

“About that,” Maeve began, darting a glance at Harold. “Your grandparents and we agree that there’s something very fishy about what happened to you. It wouldn’t surprise me if Fehin were involved. You do understand who his father is.”

“What?” When Airy leaned forward, pain shot through her calf and thigh. She fell back against the pillows trying to catch her breath. “There’s no way Fehin was involved in this. I told Grandma all about Wolf and what Fehin told me. Wolf hoped to get his powers back.”

“So why did he kidnap you and then not contact Fehin? We both think your trust in Fehin is commendable, sweetheart, but the facts are there. He found you when no one else could. Wolf doesn’t exist. You have to understand that this boy’s father is a sorcerer.”

“I don’t care who his father is. Wolf is the one who dragged me there and threw me in that pit. I saw him. I already told you that!”

“Maybe you were hallucinating after all the trauma. You said there was a resemblance.”

Airy shook her head and turned to stare out the window. Fehin was gone and she was stuck here until the cast came off--a good three months. And the doc had said she might need physical therapy after that. “When can I go home?”

Harold looked surprised. “You mean to the Otherworld? We aren’t taking you back with us, if that’s what you mean.”

Airy sighed heavily. “I meant to Grams.”

“The doc said in a couple of days.”

After her parents left Airy tried to contact Fehin telepathically, surprised when he answered her.

Are you all right?
he asked.

I’m fine but I miss you. Can you come back up?

There was a long pause and she thought she’d lost the connection, but then she heard:
I can’t, Airy. Everyone thinks I did this to you
.

Airy wanted to tell him that wasn’t true but he was right.
I’m sorry
, she finally answered. There was no response after that.

Harold and Maeve spent three days in Halston and then said they had to get back. “I want you to promise that you will have nothing to do with this boy ever again,” her father said sternly. “I don’t want to worry about you when we get home.”

Airy had always trusted her father, had known that in a pinch he would take her side. What she saw on his face was a resoluteness that refused to be budged. “But, Da, he…”

“Airy, I’m serious. Your mother and I have been through a war caused by this boy’s father. You cannot expect to continue with this friendship.”

Airy nodded and looked down.

***

Christmas had come and gone, the New Year as well and Airy was still lying around the farmhouse in Halston and bored to tears. Her grandparents had set up a bed for her on the first floor so she could avoid the long climb upstairs. The cast was due to come off in another month but until then she had to find a way to catch up on homework. Now she needed to speak with her professors and find out what to do. The entire ordeal in the pit seemed fuzzy in her mind, as though she’d made it all up.

Over the course of these past months she’d heard nothing from Fehin, even though she’d reached out to him many times. On the phone her parents had gone on and on about Brandubh’s sorcery, relaying in graphic detail the horrible things he’d done in the Otherworld. He’d killed many and hurt many others with no remorse whatsoever. Her grandparents had backed up their position, rehashing her ordeal and how strange it all was. Fehin was not who he pretended to be.

What she remembered of that November day had softened around the edges, making her wonder if in her shock it really had been Fehin who put her in that pit. What did she really know about him other than what he’d shared, which was not much at all? Maybe there wasn’t a Wolf; maybe in her panic she’d made Fehin into a monster in her mind. The only other time she’d supposedly come into contact with him had been in the library and she hadn’t seen his face. In the darkness it could have been Fehin who hit her on the back of the head. Having someone you trust do such horrible things was enough to cause hallucinations. She’d read about this sort of scenario in her psych class.

***

“You’ve missed so much school now there’s probably no reason to go back,” her grandfather said in early February when she brought it up.

“I’m going back, Grandpa. I’ll repeat the classes if I have to. I can’t stay here forever.”

“Your grandmother and I have enjoyed having you here so much, Airy. We both worry about Fehin being there. We don’t want you getting involved with him again and neither do your parents.”

Airy looked up. “I get it, Grandpa. You and Mum and Dad have finally convinced me. I plan to stay away from him.”

Her grandfather smiled. “I’m so glad to hear that, sweetheart.”

When he bent to kiss her she smelled his distinctive aftershave, basking in the familiar comfort of his arms around her.