Page 46 of Crossroads Magic
I realized I was staring at the blank curtain in the doorway, long after the two of them had left.
“You should let your daughter know that she shouldn’t get too close to Juda.” The observation was quietly spoken, and I turned to find Broch and Benedict standing with the group, now. They’d come over from their table by the fire.
It was Broch who had spoken. I focused on him. “Why not?”
“Juda is…different,” Trevelyan said. “Not in a bad way. Most of the time, his body is here with us, but his head is somewhere else.”
“Same could be said about you, Trev,” Benedict said, with a smile. “All that weed.”
Trevalyan rolled his eyes. “I like my pipe. That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
“He daydreams,” Benedict added with a little nod, and a glance at me.
“Here you go, lads,” Hirom said, and pushed two more of the glasses with a shot of his whisky in each close to our side of the counter.
“Much appreciated, Hirom,” Benedict said. “Just the thing for a cold day.” He picked up one of the glasses.
“Obliged,” Broch murmured, but made no move to pick up the glass.
“I can’t see that daydreaming is something to worry about,” I told Broch.
Broch moved his head. A mild shake. “I wouldn’t like to see your daughter pine from neglect, if she got entangled in Juda’s life.”
“She’s a big girl. That will be her decision,” I said stiffly. “And the consequences will be hers, too.” I felt ruffled. I had been going to warn her, and hadn’t. Now I felt guilty. Motherhood is like that. Often, you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
Broch gave a definite nod, this time. “Yes, Ghaliya is an adult,” he agreed. “Still, I thought I’d mention it.”
“I appreciate that.” I tried to add the same polite warmness to my voice, too. “Juda…doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of you,” I said carefully. “Is that from the daydreaming?’
“Juda’s a bit of a blank canvas,” Trevalyan murmured and sipped more of his drink. He was making it last.
“Where does he come from? He has an accent, but I couldn’t place it.”
“Somewhere on the Arabian peninsula, I think,” Benedict said.
“Sinai Peninsula,” Broch corrected.
“No, Turkey,” Trevelyan said. “I think.”
I swiveled my gaze from one to the other.
“That’s what I mean,” Trevalyan told me. “He can trace his family back to the medieval tribes that roamed the Sahara, but his family won’t have anything to do with him. Not for…damn, how long has he been here, anyway?” he asked the others.
“Fifteen years, about, isn’t it?” Benedit said.
“His family haven’t spoken to him for fifteen years?” I was appalled.
“Longer, really. It took him a while to find his way to Haigton and settle down,” Trevalyan said. “In the end, he came here as the friend of another…and just ended up staying. People do that, here.”
“Don’t let his manner fool you,” Benedict said. “Juda is mathematically and financially gifted. He day trades, on the days when he remembers to do it. That’s why he set up the internet for us. And he has made tidy fortunes for all of us.”
“You are all financially independent?” I felt a little ill, thinking about the lousy fifteen dollars an hour I had been paid. Now I wasn’t earning even that much.
“Well, none of us is hurting,” Trevalyan admitted. “Just as well. Employers are a little short on the ground around here.” He chuckled. Everyone else smiled. “But Juda is doing even better than us, by a long country mile.”
“I don’t understand,” I admitted freely. “How could his family not speak to him? He’s good looking, wealthy, successful by most people’s measure…”
“We don’t know,” Trevalyan said. “Not for sure. Juda isn’t a great sharer.”
