Coombe's Wood (26 page)

Izzy watched him, again surprised at how familiar the old man was, and still unable to explain why.

“I believe you saw Joseph in Pangbourne in September.”

Izzy stared at the old man. “How the hell do you know about him?”

“He’s my grandson.”

Joe looked out across the road, where a large house hid behind a thick frontage of trees.

“But
…
if Joseph’s your grandson, that would make Connor
…
”

“My great-grandson. Yes.” He turned to her and smiled. “You’re surprised.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “Don’t go any paler. You risk turning into a ghost.”

“Your
…
grandson
…
” She felt dizzy trying to work it out. “Are you really an elf?”

Joe chuckled, and patted her knee. “I’m afraid I am.”

“But that would make Connor
…
He can’t be! Elves don’t exist, this is all impossible!” Izzy leaned over, and put her head between her knees. “None of this is possible,” she whispered.

“He takes after the paternal line.” Joe tapped on the end of his cane. “That’s why I looked familiar.”

Izzy sat up, and looked at Joe. He winked at her.

“Okay, I can just about accept you are Joseph’s granddad. The resemblance is too great. And there was me trying to work out where I’d met you. Since you’re in the family, maybe you can explain why Joesph left me?”

“He didn’t have a choice. I recalled him to Cedham. I sent word his Aunt Celia has passed away. I was furious, you see. We have unwritten laws. The first is to not have relations with humans. He thought he could hide from me, conceal his relationship with you. That I would not see so far as Chester. I did find him. But I didn’t see the child. I might have dealt with his indiscretion differently, had I seen Connor.

“I ordered Joseph back, and tied him to the land. I ruled that he could not again make contact, that the relationship would be severed. Then after three years passed, I felt your son.”

“I don’t understand,” Izzy said. “What do you mean
felt
?”

“We elves are now few in number. When the day is old, and the animals are quiet, I can feel our number. One day I felt an extra life. I travelled to Chester, and observed for a while. When I was sure young Connor was being well taken care of, I returned to Cedham.”

Izzy gasped. “He saw you – he knew you were there!” She pointed at Joe. “You were his invisible friend!”

Joe smiled. “Joseph ran from you last month for many reasons. Possibly he feared my wrath.” He gazed off into the distance. “Or maybe he feared yours.”

“I wouldn’t have shouted at him
…
too much.” A blast of air hit them from the side, and Izzy zipped her coat to the top. “You could have let him write and tell me he couldn’t come back. I thought he’d died.” Tears welled behind her eyes, and her face flushed, hot, despite the wind. “For years, I searched the newspapers for anything. I went to the library everyday for at least a year, hoping there might be an article, something that might mention Joseph. I read the obituaries, the stories on unidentified bodies
…
all because you wouldn’t let him send a post card!”

Joe sat silently, his eyes on the approaching rain clouds.

“You seem to be a sweet old man, but you have a cold streak running through your veins.” Izzy reached in her bag for a tissue, and dried her face. “I’ll bet you orchestrated my coming here. It always seemed too much of a coincidence. Just keeping an eye on young Connor and me. Right?” Izzy sniffed. “Making sure I’m treating him right. Are you going to spirit my son away next?”

Joe waited a moment, then cleared his throat and said, “Celia kept the flat open for a long time, after Donald Jones left. We can see into the future with varying degrees of success, and Celia was sure the flat would be needed. When you walked in the door and sat down, she recognised Connor, and knew the flat was for you. Sometimes things are meant to be. Fate orchestrates, we elves simply massage it from time to time.”

“Celia? As in Aunt Celia?”

“Yes.”

“She works for the council?”

“Likes to keep busy. Besides, she can keep an eye on the humans from there.”

“So you didn’t make me come here.”

“Oh no. How could I possibly do such a thing?”

“I don’t know
…
” A sharp pain flared at the back of her head. This was all too much. “So what happened to Donald? Cathy told me he went missing and was never found.”

“Poor Donald. He developed an unhealthy obsession with Bodu and the woods. One day, he ventured within the prison, and never came out. They’ll find his bones one day, left at the tree line. They always end up there. Sooner or later.”

Izzy watched the old man, his hands resting on the handle of his cane, his attention on the wind as it blew through the trees.

“What about George? You know so much of what goes on in the village, do you know where he’s hiding?”

“He’s closer than you think,” Joe said and put a finger to the side of his nose. He stood up, and moved the hand to the small of his back. “Those wooden benches play havoc with my back.” He took his walking stick, and leaned heavily on it. “Don’t go in the woods,” he said, and stepped down off the grass, and onto the road.

“Where is he?” Izzy asked.

Joe looked back over his shoulder, and touched a finger to the side of his nose again, and crossed to the other side.

“I want to know,” Izzy said, and jumped off the bench to follow as a lorry rumbled up the street. She stood impatiently, waiting to let it pass. Just as it started to drive by, it stopped with a deafening squeak of brakes.

“Excuse me, love. You know where Chalk Road is?”

Izzy peered around the cab. She couldn’t see Joe.

“Sorry?”

“Chalk Road, got a delivery for domestic fuel.”

“Oh, yes. Keep going to the crossroads, and take a left, drive past three lefts, and take the fourth. That’s Chalk Road.”

“Cheers, love.” The fat man behind the wheel gave her a wave, and drove off. Joe was nowhere to be seen. Izzy picked up her bag, put the torch away, and set off for the next notice board, shaking her head as she went.

The heavens opened three stops later, and Izzy decided the rest of the adverts could wait, donned her hood, and ran home. She arrived at the flats, soaked and miserable.
Connor was half elf.
This kept repeating, like a stuck record.
Connor was part elf.
Did that mean he could do special stuff like them? What if he figured out that ‘
Make them forget
’ trick? He’d get away with murder, and she wouldn’t have a clue.

Connor, an elf.

Izzy let herself into the lobby, and pulled down her hood. She had placed one foot on the stairs, when one of the doors burst open, and Poppy ran out.

“Izzy, I’m so glad it’s you.” Her face was red and puffy. As she spoke, fresh tears started to fall. “Sidi’s gone missing. I had him in the garden. Romeo was playing around inside, and fell over. I went to pick him up, and when I came back, Sidi was gone!” she wailed. “I can’t find him. Romeo loves him so much. I’ve got to find him. He’s only little, he’ll die out there. He could be on the road, and no one will see him. He’s only little!” She burst into tears, and fell into Izzy’s arms.

Izzy sighed. Some days it poured.

“Let me look.”

Poppy took her back through the flat, and into her garden. It wrapped around the side of the building, and all was contained within a sturdy four-foot fence. There were no gaps for Sidi to squeeze through, and he was still too small to jump over.

“Was your front door open?”

“Of course not! I ain’t stupid, Izzy.”

“And you’ve searched the flat.”

Poppy looked blank.

“You know, checked under cupboards, under the beds, anywhere Sidi might squeeze. Sometimes puppies do that.”

“They do?”

“Yes.” Izzy gave the girl a hug.

“If you find him, come let me know. If you don’t, I’ll take you out in the car, and we can drive around, and see if we can’t spot him. Okay?”

Izzy walked to the door, Poppy a step behind her.

“Oh, Izzy. You’re a star. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Ta.”

Poppy slammed the door. Moments later, Izzy heard the girl rummaging about, calling over and over for Sidi. Izzy shivered, her wet clothes clinging to her skin. She climbed the stairs, already forgetting about the missing puppy, and thinking about Connor. He was half-elf.

Izzy stripped, towelled off, and redressed. Still cold, she climbed under her duvet, and picked up her book. She was reading Dolores Claiborne, by Stephen King. The husband gave her the shivers. Too much like her George. Maybe if she’d stayed, she’d be in the same place, trying to explain how George disappeared without a trace.

Connor’s an elf.

She read a few pages, and put the book down. Connor. She forced another topic into her mind, and thought of Feathers. She’d been avoiding him since Sunday. No doubt he’d be back tonight, pounding on her door. He hadn’t knocked for long yesterday. But he might think something had happened if she kept ignoring him.

She groaned and got out of bed, warmed up now, and went to make a cup of tea. Feathers would be getting home in a couple of hours, and maybe she should go there, and apologise. Izzy sat down and waited.

A knock sounded, and Izzy glanced at the clock. Connor was due soon, it was almost half three, but he had a key. Even if he forgot it, he’d have to be buzzed in on the ground floor first.
Connor’s an elf.
Should she tell him? Maybe not straight away, she needed to come to terms with the idea first. Someone rapped again. Izzy put her mug in the sink, and tiptoed out of the kitchen and down the hall. She put her eye to the peephole, and frowned. A man she didn’t recognise stood a pace away from her door.

Izzy opened the door a crack, and examined him. He took a step forward as she appeared, and stood on the threshold, in the space where her
Welcome
mat had once sat. Tall and slim, he had shoulder length, silky blond hair, and was dressed as if for the woods, in khaki trousers and a waterproof green jacket. He clutched a wide brimmed hat between his hands, and glanced shyly at her. Then looked away. She thought he looked remarkably like her Joseph, but as she remembered him from years ago.

“Izzy?” he asked. “I am Amras. Joe sent me.”

Izzy stared unblinking, and opened the door a fraction wider.

“I’m also a friend of Feathers,” he said, jerking a thumb towards the door behind.

“Oh,” Izzy said. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Why did Joe send you here?”

Amras coughed, apologetically, and shuffled his feet. “May I come in? I can explain more easily inside.”

Izzy considered this, looking him over again. Then she stood back and waved him in. “Kitchen is on the right...”

But before she finished speaking, Amras had walked down the hall, and ducked into the kitchen, as if he knew where to find it.

“You are curious as to why I’m here,” he said as she entered the room behind him.

Izzy nodded and moved to the kettle. “Cup of tea?”

“No, thank you.”

“Biscuit?”

“No. We won’t be staying long.”

Amras stood in a corner of the kitchen, turned towards the window. Izzy glanced casually over at him, as she waited for him to explain. She noticed the way his nose swept, like Joseph’s, long and slim. Also his ears had that slightly angular shape. Izzy froze. She’d always teased Joseph about his Spock ears, and they’d laughed when Connor was born, and his ears also ended in a gentle tip. The truth hit her hard, and she staggered into one of the kitchen chairs.
Connor is an elf.
Amras lifted one hand, and swept the hair from his forehead nervously. Izzy looked away at from him once. Had he read her thoughts?

Trying to empty her mind. But she couldn’t rid herself of that single idea, the one repeating ad infinitum, it seemed.
Connor is half-elf.
She gave Amras a weak smile and gestured for him to sit down – and then his words sunk in.

“What do you mean
we
won’t be long?”

“I am to teach you some of the elfin ways.” He fiddled with the brim of his hat.

“Why?”

“Because you refuse to stay out of the woods, and Joe is worried.” He began spinning his hat again, round and round between his delicate long fingers. He kept his eyes fixed on the floor.

“Just excuse me a moment,” Izzy said. She raced into the bathroom, and stared at herself in the mirror. She’d not really recovered her colour after Joe surprised her that morning. Now, with so many new ideas, new views of the world, she might never look healthy again. If there were elves, were there brownies, pixies, and other mythical creatures rubbing shoulders with humans? All unnoticed? What about the beasts, the scary legends, were they all real? Izzy splashed water on her face, and rubbed her skin dry with the towel. Elfin ways
…
She hurried back to the kitchen. “Where do we start?”