Page 24 of Box of Frogs
Morgan didn’t answer me, unless you count a tut as an answer. He took off while I trailed after him yet again. This was becoming mighty tiresome. At least this time he didn’t go far but stopped in front of a brick wall less than a hundred feet away. ‘Here,’ he said quietly. ‘Here it is.’
I looked around. ‘Here’s what?’ I couldn’t see anything noteworthy. I supposed it was a pretty area but the wall we were standing beside looked out of place. It didn’t fit any other architecture I’d seen and it appeared to have been randomly plonked in the middle of a field. Hang on. If this was Castlefield… ‘Is this a castle?’ It wasn’t very impressive.
Morgan gave me a look that suggested I was a total idiot. ‘It’s a Roman fort. Or,’ he amended, ‘it’s a replica of a Roman fort.’
I pursed my lips. ‘Morgan, if you’re trying to tell me that we’re time-travelling Romans then…’
‘Shut up, Maddy,’ he said, not unkindly. ‘The Romans were a lot more cultured than history gives them credit for.’
‘Roads,’ I said.
He cast me another glance, imbued with frustration. ‘How can you tell me you have amnesia but know that the Romans built roads?’
‘If I knew that then I probably wouldn’t have amnesia.’
He sighed. ‘Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, they were tuned in to their world. They felt the power of certain places. Places like this.’
I looked around again. In the distance, an ice-cream van trundled up, its kitsch tune playing loudly for all and sundry. ‘Mr Whippy feels that power too.’
Morgan’s hands tightened into fists. I grinned. This was fun.
‘Even with your supposed amnesia,’ he said with barely suppressed irritation, ‘you must be able to feel it.’
I nodded sagely. ‘That overwhelming desire for a chocolate ice cream.’
‘If you’re not going to take this seriously—’
I held up my hands. ‘Okay, okay.’ I paused. ‘I really don’t feel anything.’
Morgan frowned. ‘Rowan,’ he muttered under his breath. ‘It’s affecting you more than I realised.’ He beckoned me over and pointed at a spot on the ground. ‘Stand there.’
I eyed him warily. It was unlikely that there were landmines but, judging by the look on his face, I couldn’t be too sure. He gestured again impatiently and I blew back my hair. ‘Okay, okay.’ I ambled over and stood on the spot he was pointing at. ‘Nope. I don’t feel anything.’
Except all of a sudden I did. It was faint and I had to concentrate but it was definitely there. It was like all the molecules in the air were coalescing into a kind of magnet and pulling me forward. There was nothing to be pulled forward into, however, just empty space.
‘Now you feel it,’ he said softly, although there was an odd light in his eyes that suggested concern rather than triumph.
I raised my hands, stretching them out in front of me. There was a delicious tingle on my bare skin. It wanted me. And I wanted it. Deep longing sprang up inside me, a strange ache that spread along my veins and arteries, hooking into my heart as if it would never let me go.
‘I don’t understand,’ I whispered. ‘What is it?’
Morgan didn’t answer immediately. With great reluctance, I turned my head away from the invisible force and looked at him. He was slack-jawed and staring. ‘You’re telling the truth,’ he said. ‘You really don’t remember.’
‘As I have said over and over again,’ I replied.
‘Unbelievable,’ he murmured. ‘How did it even happen?’ He took a half step towards me as if to embrace me then he seemed to remember himself and his arms fell to his sides.
‘Morgan,’ I said, ‘this is not news. I’ve got amnesia. We know that. What we don’t know, or at least whatIdon’t know, is what this is. Wherearewe?’
He drew in a deep breath then blinked rapidly as if to recover from the shock of learning what he already knew. ‘This is a border crossing between this world and the Fey one. We’re not superheroes, Maddy, we’re Fey.’ I must have looked confused because he elaborated. ‘Faeries. We’re what the humans call faeries. The Wee Folk. Ten years ago, or thereabouts, something happened. We don’t know what or how, but the border closed, effectively trapping all the Fey who were on this side. We can’t get back home. We’re stuck here. You, me, Rubus, Vandrake. All of us.’
My mouth fell open. No way. ‘Let me see if I understand this correctly,’ I said. I wondered if I were no longer merely teetering on the brink of insanity but had fallen headlong into the chasm of crazy. ‘I’m a faery.’ He nodded. ‘Like Tinkerbell.’
A look of exasperation crossed his face. ‘Not like Tinkerbell. Do you have wings? Are you the size of a thimble?’
I ignored his sarcasm. ‘You can’t really expect me to believe that I’m a faery. I understand you dislike me intensely but playing around with someone who has a serious brain injury is plain mean.’
‘Mean? Madrona, you may have amnesia but you can’t keep thinking you’re some kind of wondrous superhero. You’re more like an arch villain.’ His eyes met mine; there was nothing but honesty reflecting back at me. ‘You are not a good person. I wouldn’t describe you as mean because it’s far too mild a term. You’re…’ he sighed as if casting around for the right word ‘…evil,’ he finished.
