Page 42 of Witch You Weren't Here

She nodded. Were his friends witches or non-magical? She should probably ask so she should probably ask, but, equally, she was beginning to feel a little exhausted by all the revelations about Harry and his life and his magic – not to mention how they seemed to spark revelations about her own – and she wasn’t sure she could face mingling with his friends and rearranging more of the puzzle. Some space would really be good.

‘Why don’t you go sort that out and I’ll do some sightseeing, until you’re ready with the car and it’s time to go? I might go get myself some clean clothes as we’re going to be stuck overnight again.’

Harry frowned and she knew he was entitled to look a little miffed about that. You go sort everything out, and I’ll go have a jolly. It wasn’t a good look, admittedly. But she felt like her emotions had been siphoned off into a cocktail maker, several scoopfuls of crushed ice and bitter lemon added, then given a violent shake.

‘Come with me to Leon and Alex’s,’ Harry said, after a moment, in a tone that was half request and half persuasion. ‘You’ll freeze out in the snow and all this travelling is exhausting.’

‘I could go to a museum, as well as the shops, and get some early dinner? By the time I’ve done all that, it’ll probably be time to head off.’

‘Maybe, but that’s going to cost you and doesn’t exactly give you rest time. We can figure something out with the clothes if that’s bothering you. And they run a café; Leon is an amazing cook. We’ll be comfortable there, honestly.’

Kay sighed. ‘Why are you pushing this so much?’

‘Because …’ He dropped his gaze from hers, seemingly settling it on her tote bag for a moment. ‘Because I’ll be worried about you otherwise, Kay. Once it gets to the evening, there are some parts of Amsterdam that aren’t great to walk around by yourself. The closer you get to the station in fact.’

It sounded so close to what Joe had been saying that it niggled painfully. Not because she minded people wanting her to be safe – but because it was big-brotherly. ‘That’s true of any city, Harry. I live in London.’

‘Exactly. You know it.’

‘I’m not a kid.’

‘Believe me, I’m aware. But … what if you get lost? And we struggle to meet up on time? It just makes sense for us to stick together. I’ll come with you if you really want to see the city that much. Forget borrowing the car, we’ll get the rental.’

Now she was facing him tagging along with her anyway, there was really no point in objecting. She shook her head and grabbed her bag. ‘No. It makes sense to go see your friends and ask for a favour. Let’s do that. I’ll come with you.’

‘Great.’ He gave her a big smile and picked up his duffel bag too, turning to lead the way.

They walked through the station again, the low ceilings and artificial lighting at the centre giving way to doors out onto a wide pedestrianised square, made all the brighter for the carpet of white hiding the pavement.

In contrast to the modern, clinical feeling inside the train station, Kay was shocked to turn and see it was housed in a grand old building of red brick, three or four storeys high and stretching out far past where she could see. There was a crest with lions looking down on the square and pointed dormers.

‘Are we going to get a tram there?’ she asked, cinching her collar together as snowflakes drifted down onto her hair. The tram stops were a lot more obvious than the ones in Prague had been and the rails were right there in front of them.

‘Only if you really want to. Amsterdam isn’t massive, and I could do with stretching my legs. Do you fancy seeing some of the city?’

‘Sure.’ Considering that she’d just been suggesting she go sightseeing without him, she could hardly say no. And besides which, as she looked out and saw the first canal, reflecting the warm colours of the buildings and the Victoria Hotel on the corner, the city stretched out before them, dusted white on its gabled roofs, she did want to walk through the streets and see what it was like.

Harry pulled out the umbrella but didn’t put the spell on it again for some reason. Perhaps he needed to recoup after all the drawing with the little boy on the train. As they walked down the main thoroughfares, passing big shops, cars, bicycles and trams eased past them, forcing the snow into slushy grey piles at the edge of the pavement. Then they turned off onto some quieter streets, which only one or two cars ever drove through. The bridges over the canals were gently curved affairs, barely noticeable until you were on top of their cobbles, looking down to see long canal boats gliding beneath their arches.

Kay nudged the handle of the umbrella and Harry obliged by tipping it back a little so she could look up properly, loving the way the buildings were narrow and tall, their roofs like milkmaids’ hats, as they huddled either side of the roads. There were shiny black bollards to prevent cars driving through, capped with snowy hats, and places for bikes every couple of houses. Because there wasn’t as much traffic, the snow was settling more and it crunched beneath her feet, making her toes numb. As they turned the corner, she slipped and skidded and Harry reached out to grab her arm, steadying her.

‘Thanks,’ she said and swallowed, trying to stop her heart from galloping up into her throat. Telling herself it was because she’d nearly landed on her butt – not because he’d pulled her close to him and his eyes looked bright and beautiful against the neutral backdrop of the brown town houses with the cream and white lintelled windows.

Those blue eyes. To make him more attractive to her. His magic must be as on the fritz as her own if it thought she needed any more convincing to find him attractive.

And that, right there, was what lay down the path she was too scared to travel.

Chapter Eleven

4.30 p.m.: saturday 30 october

Nr. Rembrandtplein, Amsterdam

330 miles and 22(+1) hours and 30 minutes until the wedding

The alleyway was too narrow for even one car to pass down. They stopped before a single shopfront, with vibrant purple and yellow writing spelling out the word ‘Abracadabra’ over the window. Kay flicked a glance at Harry and wondered if she was about to walk into another place like Madam Hedvika’s, set up to hide in plain sight. She still hadn’t asked him whether his friends were witches or not. She’d barely said a word in fact, like her brain had grounded her tongue for its terrible behaviour of late and wasn’t going to give it free rein again until it was very sure she wasn’t going to say something stupid.

Now they were here, she no longer had an excuse to cling on to his arm and unwound it as they stepped inside. What she was not expecting, when they walked through the door, was to find out it was more of a coffee shop than a café. And not the latte, Frappuccino kind – although they obviously did serve beverages – but the kind Amsterdam was famous for. The aroma of nutty coffee was undercut with an earthy scent and the room hazy with smoke, even though it was only about half full.

---