Winter of Discontent (Four Seasons Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter Nineteen – The Meeting

Erik

As I took the long walk home, my mind wandered back to the previous Sunday afternoon; the phone had rung and Jared answered it. I’d hoped it was Sarah but it wasn’t.

Lorcan Thompkins, one of the Segans that had agreed to keep an eye on our mother had gone missing a few months previous. However, now he was calling to say that he had turned up earlier that morning. He had news and was getting in touch with as many of the line as possible to arrange a meeting. He didn’t say on the phone what it was about but we knew it must be important. Dad went in to work on the Monday but arranged to take the remainder of the week off. I was still pissed with him about not telling me what he’d said to Sarah but I decided to let it go. I didn’t know what was going on, but what I did know was, if there were problems in Canada, we would need to be strong as a family.

We landed in Ontario on the Tuesday evening and it was just a short drive to Schomberg. It was a small place, quiet, friendly, where not much happens. It had a couple of small boarding houses and a couple of decent restaurants. The Scruffy Duck was a favourite with the locals. After we had booked into the boarding house on Main Street, it was just a short walk to Maynard Drive.

Lorcan had lost his dad and his brother when he was just seventeen. It was in the early days, when the Tracers had first been given the order to hunt us all down. It had been Lorcan’s dad Peta and brother Ramon that had warned us all to stay hidden. They hadn’t enough time to call us all individually, so had Whispered to those closest to them and told them to pass it on. Warning so many people in such a short space of time had taken an immense amount of power and must have been like drawing a huge arrow in the sky for the Tracers to find them. Lorcan had been studying at a friend’s house the night they were taken – this was the only reason he survived.

When we arrived, it was clear he had managed to contact quite a few of us. It was getting on for 8 p.m. when the last Segan pulled up outside. Dad greeted him like an old friend; it wasn’t until he got closer that I noticed the resemblance.

‘Erik, Jared, this is your Uncle Leon, my brother.’

We had never met before and it felt awkward somehow calling him Uncle. Thankfully he sensed this and first names were agreed on.

‘So, Logan, what’s all this about?’

‘No idea. Got the call out the blue on Sunday.’

‘Yeah, me too. Guess we’d better go inside and find out.’

Lorcan’s house was quite large, which was fortunate, as there was probably the best part of two dozen Segans there; more, in fact, than I’d ever seen at one time.

It turned out that when he’d been taken in August he’d been told that The Council no longer wanted us killed. They did, however, want some of us rounded up. Apparently, their seer had had another vision; that the Segan they were looking for was still in school. Lorcan had been allowed to leave unharmed, on the understanding that he find out the whereabouts of those that fell into that group and report it back to The Council.

‘One other thing,’ he said, after he’d finished telling us this. ‘The Tracers have orders not to kill the Moirai when they find her. They want her alive.’

‘I don’t get it,’ said Dad. ‘I thought this witch posed a threat to them?’

‘Yeah, but it seems they now think they can use her in some way. If they get control of any child she has, then it will give them more power. The Moirai draw their strength from the Four Seasons and there is no stronger power than that. I’ve given this a lot of thought and I reckon that we should try to find her. Find her, bring her back here. I’ll question her to make sure she doesn’t know anything useful and then I’ll kill her! Once she is out of the way then we’ll all be safe, they’ll have no reason to hunt us then.’

The others, including Leon, all nodded in agreement. All except me. I looked across at Dad and Jared and they were nodding too. I couldn’t believe it.

‘
Why are you agreeing?
’ I Whispered to them angrily.

‘
Because if we don’t it might raise suspicions. Now nod for Christ’s sake!
’ Whispered Jared.

Nodding for all I was worth, I couldn’t wait to get out of there. These people were our friends, our family, but I couldn’t let them hurt Sarah. We couldn’t even be certain she
was
the Moirai; it was only a feeling we got. For all we knew she could be Grenae, another group of witches thought to be extinct. We knew she had something different about her but we could be wrong. Either way, I had to keep her safe.

‘Where are you staying, Leon?’ I asked as calmly as I could. I didn’t want to give myself away. We sensed people’s feelings and fears so easily, I had to convince everyone there was no issue with finding Sarah.

‘Over at The Moorings. It’s a bit of drive but it’s better than the boarding houses round here.’

That was good; at least it wasn’t the same place we were staying.

When we got back to the boarding house, I wanted to stop up and discuss what had been said but Dad insisted we turn in for the night. I wanted to call Sarah, to tell her to run, but how could I? We were barely speaking as it was – there was no way I could explain all this over the phone. I couldn’t believe how things had gone from bad to worse so quickly. Yesterday it was just The Council and the Tracers I had to protect her from, but now it was our own people as well. I felt exhausted with it all and although I struggled to get my head around it all I finally dropped off to sleep around 2 a.m.

When I went down to breakfast, Dad and Jared were already there.

‘We need to talk about this, about what we can do,’ I said, before I’d even sat down.

‘Not here,’ said Dad.

‘
Too many ears
.’ Whispered Jared.

‘OK.’

I nodded impatiently. I wanted to get this sorted but I knew we had to be careful.

After breakfast, we all took a walk over to Schomberg Park. It wasn’t actually a park, it was a campground – it was closed to campers from the end of October but locals would often go to picnic, or just walk around the grounds. It was pretty deserted and the ideal place to talk privately.

‘I’ve given it a lot of thought, Erik. In fact, I did nothing but think about it all night. There is only one way we can keep her safe.’

I nodded. I knew what was coming.

‘Yes, I know Dad. I’ll give her up. I won’t see her again.’

‘You’re gonna have to do more than give her up, E. You’re gonna have to break her heart, make sure she wants nothing more to do with you. You are so connected to her; if she so much as raises a smile for you, you might not be strong enough to stay away.’

‘Jared is right, Erik. I know it won’t be easy, but you can do it. You
have
to do it.’

‘So what do I do?’

I’d never had a proper girlfriend before, let alone broken someone’s heart.

‘It’s easy, bro. You replace her.’

I felt sick to my stomach. The thought of looking at another girl was disgusting. I was seventeen now and as horny as hell, but I couldn’t bear the thought of being with anyone but Sarah. I’d managed to restrain myself with her when we were alone but it hadn’t been easy. My Warlock side became very vocal when I got aroused; I also underwent physical changes that I wasn’t yet ready for her to see. Not only was I worried it would scare her off but the urge to ‘release’ her at the height of passion would have been overwhelming.

‘Replace her with who?’ I asked.

‘Anyone. It doesn’t matter who. We’ll find someone here. I’ll take care of it,’ said Jared.

I couldn’t believe just how amazing he was being about all this. My infatuation with Sarah had put us all in danger.

We had arranged to go back to Lorcan’s that afternoon to discuss how we could all search for the Moirai. Ben Tillington was the same age I was. He and his family lived in Alaska. It was clear from the outset that he was keen to find and kill the Moirai as quickly as possible.

‘Won’t it be great if we can travel freely, practise as often as we want and not worry about being taken?’ he smiled gleefully.

‘Yeah, great.’ The words stuck in my throat.

By the end of the day, it had been decided that all those with sons still at school should be extra vigilant when they started to take an interest in mating. It was also decided that we would buddy up for visits with another Segan, to be sure that we didn’t get complacent about the people around us; to be sure the Moirai didn’t slip through the net. This part convinced us that we were doing the right thing; I had to find a woman, move her in and convince everyone that she was the one I would mate with. Perhaps if they were convinced, then they would leave us alone.

The following day Jared left the boarding house early while Dad and I stayed back. After the other residents had gone out for the day, we sat out back in the garden.

‘What did you say to Sarah, Dad?’

‘Does it really matter now?’

I didn’t answer, there was no point. He was right, my relationship with Sarah was over, it had to be. What was the point in dragging this up again? Whatever he’d said to her, it was clear he was as determined as I was to keep her safe and in the end that was all that mattered to me.

Jared came back around noon with a pretty young woman called Jess. She’d been working as a waitress at The Scruffy Duck. It was clear from the way she reacted when she saw me that Jared had done one hell of a memory job on her.

‘She has no family around here. Her father passed away when she was a little girl and her mom died last year. She has no siblings. She’s perfect for what you need.’

‘She’s a bit old!’ I protested.

‘Don’t be so picky,’ said Dad. ‘She’s twenty-five – that isn’t that old. There’ll be a few sceptics but you should be able to convince people the age gap doesn’t matter.’

I just shrugged my shoulders. To be quite honest, if he’d bought home a supermodel I still wouldn’t have shown any enthusiasm.

We landed back home just after lunch on the Friday. Once I’d settled Jess into her room, I took a walk over to Sarah’s. She wasn’t due back for a couple of hours but I needed some air, and I needed some courage. I had no idea how I would pull this off. I loved her so much and the thought of hurting her tore me apart. I had to keep reminding myself that I was doing this to keep her safe, which did make it a little easier. When I saw her turn the corner and I realized she’d seen me, I knew in that moment that I had to do this. I had to stay strong.

Chapter Twenty – Who is that?

Sarah

When Monday morning came around, I just couldn’t bear the thought of going into school. I’d never played hooky before but the thought of seeing Erik, of telling Kacey and girls what had happened, made me sick to my stomach. Aunt Suze had come in to wake me just before she left for work but I didn’t want to get up.

‘My stomach is hurting – period pains. Can I go in a bit later when I feel better?’

‘Will you be OK on your own? I can ring in and take the day off if you need me here?’

‘No, I’ll be OK. I’ll just sleep it off.’

I wanted to be on my own. Company was the last thing I needed. Aunt Suze left a few minutes later and as soon as the door shut behind her I got up. I didn’t bother to dress; I just put a cardigan on over my PJs and made my way downstairs.

Having made myself a cup of coffee I curled up in a ball on the sofa and turned on the TV.
Jeremy Kyle USA
or re-runs of
Little House on the Prairie
? No contest really – Jezza it was. I was miserable enough without crying over some Ingles trauma in Walnut Grove! By 11 a.m. I had fallen asleep, the next thing I knew Aunt Suze was waking me up.

‘Hey there, I tried to call and you didn’t answer. Are you OK?’

I looked up at the clock; it was just before 2 p.m.

‘I’m fine. I just fell asleep. I’m sorry.’

‘No problem. I hope you’re better for when your dad gets back tomorrow.’

The thought of seeing my dad made me feel a bit brighter. He was due into base today and was flying into town tomorrow morning.

‘Can I come to the airport to meet him? I’ve missed him so much.’

‘Well, you shouldn’t really. But I guess this once wouldn’t hurt. See if you can get notes from one of your friends, though. I don’t want you falling behind.’

I was over the moon. I could meet dad and I didn’t have to run into Erik.

It was just before tea when Kacey called.

‘Hey, Trump, you thrown a sickie?’

I tried to sound genuinely ill but she saw right through me.

‘Look, it’s understandable after what’s happened with Erik but you can’t avoid him forever.’

I couldn’t believe he’d told everyone already. What a bastard.

‘Yeah well, it does sting a bit. Who told you?’

‘Well. He turned up at school this morning with her. She dropped him off in the lot. We couldn’t believe it – he was all over her, and she is really old. I mean she must be twenty-six at least!’

I felt wretched. How could he do that to me? He didn’t know I wasn’t gonna be in today, so chances are he expected me to see him with her. I couldn’t believe just how hurtful he was being.

‘The arrogant bastard even came and asked me where you were!’

‘What did you tell him?’

‘Nothing. I didn’t know anything. You didn’t even text me to say you weren’t coming in.’

‘Yeah, sorry. I just felt like shit. My dad is flying in tomorrow so I won’t be in then either. The more time I can get away from having to see Erik the better. Don’t tell him anything, though. Don’t let on why I’m not in.’

I changed the subject and asked Kacey to take notes for me. I fully intended trying to take the rest of the week off, so I’d need to catch up at some point.

The following day Aunt Suze and I set off for the airport just after breakfast.

‘So no chance of you and Erik making up yet then?’

Aunt Suze never pried, never stuck her nose in where it wasn’t wanted, but she cared about me. It was only natural she would ask eventually.

‘He dumped me. He has another girlfriend.’

‘Already? Christ, that was quick. He didn’t let the grass grow did he?’

I just shook my head. I didn’t really want to talk about it. I’d cried my tears and didn’t want to cry any more. Unfortunately just the thought of him made me well up. I wasn’t taking the break-up well, not well at all.

‘Never mind, sweetheart. Give it a couple of weeks and you won’t even remember his name.’

I tried to smile. I didn’t want her feeling guilty about raising the subject.

We got to the airport just as the plane was landing. Dad looked great. He had the most fabulous smile and he looked really relaxed.

‘Hey there,’ he said, as he picked me up and swung me around. ‘I’ve missed you, baby girl.’

‘I missed you too, Daddy.’

I hung onto his neck so tight I thought my arms might break.

The journey home was pretty loud, the three of us all trying to talk at once, trying to cram two months catch up into twenty minutes.

By the time we got back, I felt brighter than I had in days. I’d convinced dad to let me stay home tomorrow on the understanding that I went in on Thursday. Not what I wanted but better than nothing.

The following day he took me shopping. He insisted he buy me some new clothes and I saw no reason to argue with him. He was actually pretty great when it came to girls’ stuff. I was never much for discussing girls’ issues willingly but he was always ready to listen. I very nearly told him about what had gone on with Erik but I wasn’t really ready to talk about that with anyone just yet. In the end, I just said ‘no one special’ when he asked about boyfriends.

We shopped for hours, then had lunch at a quiet little restaurant in town. By the time we got home I had three new dresses, two pairs of shoes, a handbag, the latest Killers CD, and feet that could burn for Texas. Could it be that shopping really was the best cure for a broken heart? I might have thought that for a short period before we turned into our street – however, when I saw Erik stood by the wall opposite the house, my stomach turned over. It wasn’t just the thought of talking to him that concerned me; it was the look on his face. He looked livid. As we got out of the car he came storming over to us, his face was almost contorted in anger. As I walked towards him I thought he might explode. Dad seemed oblivious to him and just took some of the bags from the back seat and took them in the house.

‘Who the hell is that?’ he spat angrily at me.

‘What? It’s my dad. And what the hell has it got to do with you?’

‘Your dad? You’re kidding me right?’

‘No I’m not and you need to leave. Who I choose to spend time with is none of your business. Now piss off!’

I didn’t swear that much, certainly not like Britney, but this seemed an appropriate time to do so.

‘Sarah. He is … he …’

‘Yes, he’s my dad.’

I took the remaining bags out of the car, closed the door and walked away. I liked the fact that he’d been jealous but it
was
a bit weird. Who the hell would think my dad was my date? The very thought was disgusting. Erik might like older women but I sure as hell wouldn’t date someone as old as my dad.

As I closed the front door behind me I realized that Erik was stood back over by the wall. I pretended I hadn’t noticed. I didn’t want to get into another stupid fight with him. He’d made his choice and he’d have to live with it.

There was no way I was gonna take him back, especially now he’d turned into some kind of jealous freak. I’d had enough heartache and I certainly didn’t need any more.

When I finally went up to bed, as I shut the blinds I could see he was still stood there. It unnerved me a little. Erik was a Warlock and although he’d never showed signs of violence, he’d told me once that he was capable of it. But why would he be violent? He’d dumped me, not the other way round. I turned it all over in my head but in the end I let it go, I hadn’t slept much over the last few days and I was pretty shattered. I doubted he’d be there for long once I turned my light out, so I just pulled the quilt up around my neck and fell fast asleep.