Shimmer (9 page)

The boy was skinny with a bulging forehead covered in zits, and two thin, blond rat's tails that hung down his back. But the girl he had his arm around was pretty, with green eyes that matched her strappy top and brown curly hair that was pulled up in a ponytail.

Kora used her magic to eavesdrop on what they were saying.

‘Where have you been?' the boy asked David. ‘I've been calling you all weekend.'

David stared at the girl and then shifted his focus to the boy. She could see the cold blue glare David was giving him. ‘You can't answer a phone if you don't have one.' He poked the boy in the chest. ‘And thanks to you, Hammer, I don't have a job any more, either!'

‘Take it easy, mate.' Hammer unhooked his arm from around the girl and held his hands up in surrender. ‘I didn't mean to cause you any grief.'

‘You're not my mate!' David's glare shifted from Hammer to the girl. ‘And we only broke up two weeks ago, Tiffany.'

‘That's right,' said Hammer. ‘Broke up!'

David gave Hammer a hard shove in the chest sending him flying backwards onto the ground. The shopping bag in David's hand swung around wildly. ‘You deserve each other,' he spat.

Then he turned his back on them and crossed the road in quick angry strides.

Hammer picked himself up off the ground but didn't follow him. ‘Guess the camping trip is off, then?'

David spared them one last glance. ‘Get stuffed,' he said, and strode right past Kora and down the road.

David was walking away so fast that Kora could feel the tug on her bands. He must have noticed too because he finally stopped and waited for her to catch up.

‘So I guess that was Hammer and Tiffany?' she said when she reached him.

‘I don't want to talk about it.'

‘The girl was very pretty.'

David glared at her. ‘I wish,' he said, ‘not to talk about Hammer and Tiffany.'

She shrugged. What did she care about his stupid human friends? She looked instead down at the small bag he held. ‘So we walked all this way for that?'

‘Ty the Spy doesn't drink soy milk.'

‘Who the what?'

‘Ty the Spy. Rodney's daughter.' He let out a huge sigh. ‘She's coming for lunch today.'

That explained a lot. ‘You do not like her?'

‘Tyra's okay. It's the spy part that's the problem.'

‘A spy?' Kora frowned.

‘Yep, and she's got all the gear. Night vision binoculars, eavesdropping devices, voice recorders. It goes on and on.'

‘You will have to be careful that I am not discovered while she is spying on you, David.'

David raised an eyebrow. ‘You mean we will have to be careful.'

‘I am always careful.' Kora glanced at him. ‘Now that Rodney lives with you, does that mean she will be around a lot?'

David groaned. ‘I really hope not.'

Lapsing into silence, they made their way back toward home. After his earlier speed he now walked so slowly that for once her shorter legs could easily keep pace with him.

After a while David spoke again. ‘Do you think Vennum is still watching Panda Rock?'

‘He will not give up looking for me.' She frowned. ‘Rihando would do his best to keep me from Vennum, but because he is harnessed there is little he can really do to help me.'

‘Rihando, that was the big genie with Vennum?'

‘Yes, in the red coat. He was our most trusted and loyal genie.'

‘Vennum harnessed him?'

‘Yes, about five years ago. We are not sure how Vennum managed to do so. We were all devastated when we found out. My father has not been the same since.'

‘What about Amurru?' asked David. ‘Why is he here?'

‘Armourowls and genies have a long history and Amurru has served my family for many centuries.'

‘Was Amurru in danger, too? Is that why he came with you?'

‘All of Genesia is in danger.' She glanced at him, wondering if the questions were genuine interest or a way of distracting himself from his own problems. ‘His purpose for me here is his projection. Armourowls can project themselves to another place. It enables me to receive communication from home. Although I suspect my father is using it the other way around.'

They had reached the hill that led back up to the house and David slowed down even more. ‘But Amurru also has his own kind of magic.'

David's head whipped up. ‘Can he grant wishes, too?'

‘Do you think of nothing else?' She let out an exasperated sigh. ‘Armourowls' magic is very mysterious. They cannot conjure items but they can exert an influence over creatures and events. We call it “Creation Magic”. They have a way of making things happen.'

‘Does Creation Magic work on you?' asked David. ‘Can they influence you to do things?'

‘Unfortunately, yes. And it is most annoying that the same does not apply to them.'

‘What do you mean?'

‘Like you, David, armourowls are impervious to genie magic.'

‘He's such a funny little creature with those big, orange wings.' David smiled. ‘Can he actually fly?'

‘Not very well and not very far. But do not be deceived,' warned Kora. ‘Armourowls are not as fragile as they look. Amurru, though, is very old even for an armourowl, and I know his leg pains him.'

‘What happened to his leg?'

‘He was badly wounded protecting my grandmother when they were out in the Genesian wilderness. But that was very long ago when Amurru was still young.'

‘Just how old is he?'

‘He celebrated his 1173rd birthday two weeks before we left Genesia. At that point in time there was not any mention of the possibility that he would come to Earth with me.'

‘Do genies usually come to Earth alone?'

‘If they are banished to Earth as a punishment they come alone, but a royal genie would always bring an armourowl.' She smoothed a hand along her sleek hair. ‘Amurru's nephew, Tarru, was meant to travel with me.'

‘So, why didn't he? Surely a younger armourowl would be better protection for you?'

‘That is a very good question and it makes me suspicious, because armourowls always have a reason for everything they do.' She sighed. ‘But no matter how much I think about it, I have not been able to imagine any reason for Amurru to have chosen to risk what might be the last years of his life stuck here on Earth with me.'

She could see David putting it together. ‘So if something happens to Amurru while you are on Earth you won't be able to communicate with your family?'

‘Correct.'

‘I can't believe your parents allowed that. You could be here for years.'

‘They trust him.'

‘How about you?' asked David. ‘Do you trust him?'

‘He is secretive, sneaky and manipulative, but for all that, yes, I trust him.' She sighed. ‘But that does not mean I will always like what he does or how he does it.'

‘Are there a lot of armourowls on Genesia?'

‘Their numbers are growing. Like us, they usually live to be around a thousand years old. And they can have more children than genies can.'

‘What do you mean?' David looked surprised. ‘Can't you have many kids?'

‘We can only have children during a very short period of our lives. Most genies are happy if they are able to have two children.'

The wind had picked up. She could see it in the way it made David's shaggy hair blow across his face. It was nearly midday but the dark sky made it feel much later. She saw him glance at his broken watch.

‘You know I could fix that for you.'

‘No, thanks.' He smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. ‘I like it the way it is.'

She shrugged. ‘Suit yourself.'

They had reached the fence outside the house. David groaned as they spied Rodney's bike leaning against the house alongside a smaller bike with a pink and white spotted helmet hanging from its handlebars. White lace curtains flapped out of the open kitchen window. As they watched, a small, blond head poked out the window under the curtain and trained a pair of binoculars down the street.

The wind carried the scent of something that didn't smell like anything anyone should have to eat.

‘Mum's cooking nut roast,' said David.

She wrinkled her nose. ‘I bet I can guess your next wish.'

David rubbed his hand across his broken watch and when he spoke his voice was serious. ‘Actually, I've been thinking a lot about wishes and there is something I want to talk to you about.'

The sky was very black now and thunder rumbled around them. ‘What is it?'

A bolt of lightning cracked overhead, the bright flash making them both jump, and then big fat drops of rain began to fall.

He lifted his face toward the sky and let the rain run down his face. They both turned to the sound of the kitchen door banging and saw Rodney on the verandah peering out into the rain.

David sighed. ‘Guess it'll have to wait.' He was getting wetter by the second while she stood dry inside the cocoon of her weather shield.

A wicked grin flashed across his face. ‘I wish for you to get wet,' he blurted out with a laugh and then ran off splashing through the mud, leaving her soaked through, her hair plastered to her face, and a long string of profanities running through her head.

David stretched out in Kora's globe, a large bowl of hot chips cradled in his lap. ‘Ah, peace and quiet, at last.' He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

Kora studied David as he rested. He looked tired, his face pale and drawn. But she had no intention of letting him fall asleep in her globe. She had only brought him in here so they could talk without risk of being overheard. She pursed her lips thoughtfully and waited to see if his eyes opened again. But his breathing only grew deeper. The bowl of chips on his lap tilted precariously, forgotten, and she waved it down to the floor beside him.

She let her eyes travel over his face. It seemed softer somehow, the hard lines of his mouth and forehead gentling as he relaxed against the cushions. She breathed out a long sigh. The last few days had been a stressful time.

David's thick black lashes quivered unexpectedly against the paler skin of his cheeks, drawing her gaze, and she knew he was falling asleep.

‘So, David,' she said loudly, leaning back against her own cushions, ‘Ty the Spy finally went home?'

‘Yeah, and not a moment too soon.' David pushed himself back up into a sitting position. ‘You must have noticed the silence in the house after she left?'

Kora laughed. ‘She did have a lot of questions for you today.' She thought of the girl's cute freckled face as she had rattled off question after question at David, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder and pouting while she listened to his answers.

David only grunted and shook his head.

Kora was growing used to David's grunts. That was the way he had answered most of Ty's questions today. Especially after the first fifty or so. ‘She reminded me a little of my brother, Atym. I think they would be about the same age.'

‘At least Atym is your brother,' he said. ‘Ty is not my sister.' His eyes narrowed and he scowled darkly. ‘She's not even my stepsister. She is nothing to me. And neither is Rodney.'

Kora watched the emotions flow over David's face. ‘Why do you say that?' she asked. ‘Do you not like Rodney?' With his kind face and strange eating habits, Rodney had seemed harmless enough to her.

David just grunted again, and she thought that was all the answer she was going to get. Then he sighed and lifted his gaze to look at her. She could see he was angry and defensive, but there was also sadness in his eyes. ‘He's okay, I suppose,' he said. ‘But he's not my dad. Mum thinks I need a father-figure, but he's nothing like my father.'

She waited for him to continue, but he fell silent.

She leaned forward on her cushions. ‘David? Earlier today, after we had walked to the shops together, you said you wanted to ask me something.'

He nodded. ‘I did. I mean, I do.'

‘Is it about your father?'

‘Yes.'

He leaned back into the cushions. ‘It's a long story, Kora.'

She shrugged. ‘But not boring, I think.'

‘Perhaps not,' he sighed. ‘But it is sad.' He toyed with the broken watch on his wrist for a moment. ‘He was a good father,' he said. ‘The best. We did everything together.' He glanced up at her. ‘You know, camping, fishing, hiking. We had an old motorbike we were fixing up together. It was going to be mine.'

She could see the pain in his eyes as he remembered. ‘What happened to him?'

David's brow creased. ‘War broke out. Dad was in the Army. He was a soldier.' He shrugged. ‘He was sent off to fight in that stupid war.'

‘Was he killed there?'

‘No!' David's eyes blazed at her for a moment. Then he said more softly, ‘No. No one really knows what happened to him. They were out on patrol in Afghanistan one day and he went missing.' He shook his head, disbelievingly. ‘One minute he was there, patrolling with the rest of the men. And then the next minute he'd vanished. They searched the whole area for him but found nothing.' He sucked in a long breath. ‘Apparently no shots were fired that day, and the Army is convinced that no prisoners were taken, either.'

Kora raised her eyebrows. ‘And then?'

‘Because no body was ever recovered he was listed as “missing in action, presumed dead”.' His eyes flicked back up to Kora's face. ‘But they can't be sure he's dead, Kora. Maybe he was taken prisoner, after all.'

Kora nodded. She could hear David's pain as he spoke about his father. His eyes dropped back to the broken watch he wore on his wrist. ‘This is … was … my dad's watch, you know.'

‘Did he give it to you before he disappeared?'