Fathomless (36 page)

Glass really looked at Eddy for the first time. Just like Elspeth, he said, “That girl?”

“Eddy Rosenbaum,” Daniel said. “Remember I told you about her, Dad, when we talked after the harbor accident?”

Glass had apparently assumed that after learning his son's secret, Eddy would be long gone, at least as Daniel's girlfriend. He shook his head, then gave an exaggerated shrug. Helen took Daniel and Eddy by the elbows and went into the house. Glass followed.

That left Marvell to deal with Sean. During the confrontation between Daniel and his father, he had moved to block the driveway behind Sean's car, as if Sean might make a run for it in the Civic. Sean had considered it. But if Daniel could stand up to his father, he could stand up to Marvell. First step was getting out of the car, which he did. Helen would've met him halfway. Marvell's only move was to fold his arms across his chest as Sean trudged up to him. Then he said, “Solomon Geldman didn't see fit to inform us of your plans until after your curfew last night.”

Good for Geldman.

“Right afterwards, of course, I called your father.”

“What did he say, sir?”

“He told me to take your car key as soon as you came back.”

“For how long?”

“Until he decides you should have the option of driving people into dangerous situations.”

Sean detached the Civic key from his ring and handed it over. “What did he really say, Professor?”

“Until he comes to get it himself. He hasn't finished work on the church, but he's willing to fly back early if he has to.”

“Why should he? I'm okay. We're all okay.”

“He might have to come if the Order dismisses you as its student. I warned you under what circumstances we'd do that. Do you remember?”

“I remember that taking Daniel to Innsmouth wasn't one of them, sir.”

“So you're telling me that's all you did. You didn't do any practical magic? You didn't have any contact with Orne's familiar or Orne himself?”

On their ride in from Devil Reef, he and Daniel and Eddy had agreed that they'd keep Sean's involvement in their adventure to a minimum and not mention Orne or the seed world. Instead of learning about his grandfather through the spy-hole, Daniel had gone to Innsmouth on the mere chance he'd find relations still living there. It was Old Man Marsh who'd lent them the boat. When they were harassed by the anti-Order Deep Ones, it was Marsh and Abel who'd driven them off. That was their story, and they were going to stick to it, mainly for Sean's sake, as he realized now. The only point that would get Daniel in trouble was how he'd spied on the Order meeting.

From where Sean stood, he could see the
Founding
's Plexiglas shield and the stained glass beneath it, dark in the early morning shade. The only lies he
had
to tell were the ones that would protect Daniel and the seed world, and those were actually one big lie of omission—

Impatience and suspicion ground together into Marvell's voice: “Sean, those weren't hard questions. You used practical magic, yes or no. You had contact with Orne, yes or no.”

When Daniel had faced down his father, it had been with the truth. Suddenly, maybe stupidly, Sean wanted to hit Marvell with some of the same. “Yes and yes,” he said.

The truth punched Marvell's jaw slack. While he was recovering, Sean laid a hand on the whistle under his shirt, pressing its coolness into his skin. “Daniel's going to say his grandfather lent us a boat to go to Devil Reef. He's going to say Marsh's patrol cutter ran off some Deep Ones that wanted to kidnap him. All that's to keep me out of trouble. What really happened is Orne was watching us through his newt, and he had it invite me to meet him in Newbury. I did, and he offered to help. He got the boat for us so Daniel could go meet his mother. He gave me this.”

He pulled the chained whistle over his head and dangled it between them. As it spun, the sun climbed over the Arkwright House and bounced light off the spiral of alien script, making its toothy characters glow like embers.

Marvell stepped back from the whistle. He stayed back while Sean told him how he'd used it to impress and intimidate the hostile Deep Ones. The first thing he said after Sean shut up was, “Why admit to all this?”

Why was he screwing himself, in other words. Great question, and to Sean's own amazement, he had an answer. “I don't want to get thrown out of the Order, Professor. I want to stay, and I want to come back next summer, and then I want to go to MU.”

“So you confess to the very things that could get you thrown out?”

“So I'm telling you the truth. Like, just because Daniel went to see his grandfather and mother, he's not jumping into the ocean and Changing. Well, just because I met Redemption Orne doesn't mean I'm going to side with him against the Order. If he even is against it. I kind of don't think he is.”

“‘Kind of don't think,'” Marvell echoed.

Sean ignored the sarcasm. “I'm giving you the whistle to keep until I can use it better. To prove I trust the Order.”

“And you do? You choose us over Orne?”

Another great question. “I'm not choosing anyone yet. But I want to stick to the Order for now, and I won't do anything to harm it. I can totally promise that.”

Marvell took the whistle. He turned it in every direction and even pulled a tiny magnifying glass out of his pocketknife to scrutinize the script. He didn't try to blow the whistle, however. “You can promise not to harm the Order
knowingly,
perhaps.”

“Can anybody do more than that, Professor?”

Marvell wrapped the whistle in a clean handkerchief before putting it in his breast pocket. “Well. I have to admit I'm impressed by your honesty, and by the pledge of Orne's whistle. You realize it's a hugely important artifact, worth a great deal of money?”

To tell the truth, Sean was starting to feel sorry he'd let the whistle go, but not because it was a priceless museum piece. Orne had given it to him, and look how it had saved Daniel. Still, he had something else from Orne, something he
wasn't
giving up. “I figured. That's okay. I know you'll take care of it for me.”

“I'll get the archival process started at once. But before the Order can formally accept a loan like this, from a minor, I'll have to get permission from your father.”

Hell yeah, Dad. “Could you let me talk to him first, Professor? I better call him right away, anyhow.”

“Yes, you'd better.”

He took a deep breath. “Should I, like, tell him anything about coming back early?”

Marvell touched his breast pocket, then the trousers pocket where he'd stowed the Civic key. “No. I'd hate to interrupt his work. And as long as your wings are clipped, I think we can wait until the Order meeting in September to decide about your position with us. Barring any further troublemaking, of course.”

It had worked? Marvell wasn't going to be a complete dick? “Thanks, Professor. No troublemaking.”

Marvell had to be just a little bit of a dick. Though at first he hadn't been able to hide his excitement over the whistle, he'd slowly worked his way back to a stern glower. “We'll see. Well. Would you tell Helen about the artifact? She'll want to come to the Archives and have a look.”

“Sure, Professor.”

*   *   *

Like
Marvell, Mr. Glass avoided being an absolute complete dick. Relieved that Daniel would continue treatment with Geldman, he gave him permission to go on living at the Arkwright House. In fact, he decided to stay a couple days himself. That he wanted to hang out with Daniel was great; that he probably also meant to scope the hell out of Eddy, not so much. Sean's call to England went as well as could be expected. First Dad yelled about Sean endangering himself and his friends. Then he yelled about Orne interfering again. It took an hour for Sean to calm him down to the point where they agreed to discuss everything when Dad got home, and then that they loved each other et cetera. Sean didn't say a word about how Orne and Mom had known each other. That would have to wait until they had a lot of time, face-to-face.

At first Eddy and Daniel were pissed that Sean had changed their cover story in midstream. Then Daniel said that maybe the truth—how Sean had been able to use the whistle—had impressed Marvell so much, he was afraid to let Sean out of the Order's sight. And Eddy said that giving Marvell the whistle was freaking brilliant. It had to be the most lustworthy artifact the Order had gotten in forever, and so they wouldn't want to risk an expelled Sean withdrawing the loan.

The two of them went upstairs to nap because Mr. Glass was threatening to take them out to dinner. Eddy leaned over the banister to fake-strangle herself at Sean. She'd better be careful. Daniel didn't
see
her miming anguish at the possible family party, but what did he
feel
? Hazards of dating an empath.

Helen went to the Archives as soon as everyone was settled. That left the first floor of the House, and the library, all to Sean. He was aching for sleep, and there were ominous rumors that Mr. Glass might invite him to dinner, too, but man up. He had one more thing to do before he crashed.

Onto the dais, up the stepladder, hand to the glass crow, and nothing went wrong: Sean entered the seed world flying. He flapped above the trees for the joy of using his wings again. South marched the cliffs and coves that weren't Kingsport yet; north lay the mouth of the Miskatonic but no Arkham, and farther north, the mouth of the Manuxet and Plum Island and a dragon spine of black rock the human settlers of Innsmouth would name Devil Reef. The Deep Ones themselves wouldn't call it that. They had to have a tongue-twister of a name for it. Maybe Daniel knew. Maybe Aster had told him already.

He could fly to the reef and see who'd lounged on it back in the day, but not now. Now he spiraled down to the minister and perched on his shoulder. Several minutes passed, enough to make him anxious. Then Orne animated the construct and took Sean-crow on his wrist. “Raphael told me about your battle.”

“Yeah, well, Raphael helped, too. Reminded me of the whistle.”

“You did very well. So did your friends. I'm glad Daniel's staying with the Order, and you and Eddy. I'd hate to see such a natural team broken up.”

“I guess the wards kept Raphael from telling you about how Marvell chewed me out this morning.”

Orne sobered. “Are you in trouble, Sean?”

“I don't think so. We'd made up a story to tell him and Helen, but then, I don't know. I felt like I had to tell him most of the truth. How I met you at the marina. How you helped us.” With a caw, Sean cleared his throat. “I gave him your whistle to hold for me. Eddy says it got him so excited, he forgot about kicking my ass out of the Order, but that wasn't what I was trying for. I wanted to show I trusted the Order. I hope you're not mad—I can get it back. Marvell called it a loan to the Archives.”

Slowly Orne's frown gave way to the ironic quirk of the lips Sean had seen on his true face. “Intentional or not, that was a masterstroke. You delivered one of the treasures of his enemy into Marvell's hands. How better to mollify him?”

“So it's all right?”

“Yes. As you say, we can get the whistle back if we need it.”

“Anyhow, I'm still an Order student.”

Orne lowered him gently to the grass. “I see.”

“Maybe you don't. Because I didn't make any more promises I'd have to break, like I wouldn't have any more contact with you.” Sean fluttered to Orne's shoulder. “Plus I didn't tell him about the seed world, and I'm not going to. We can keep talking in here. The only difference is I won't use the peephole to spy on the library. Since I
am
part of the Order, that'd be wrong.”

Orne's shoulder shook, like he simmered with suppressed laughter. “I'm sure your place as student is secure, Sean. Marvell would never give up so promising a magician.”

“That's what Daniel said.”

“Then he's as acute as Eddy. Well, do you want me to close the tree trunk up, or do you want to test your will against opportunity?”

“I should probably test my will, huh?”

“An interesting question to ask a former minister. Is it better to remove all temptation, or better to withstand it?”

“Did you Puritan guys used to give out points for resisting stuff? Like, you got one point for not stealing something right in front of you, and two points for not stealing it if no one was watching, and three points for not stealing it if you really wanted it?”

Orne's simmer came to a boil, and he laughed aloud. “Let's leave open the peephole, the temptation, for now. We can worry about points later.”

“Okay. Probably won't be any Order meetings before I go home, anyway.” Going home. “I'll miss the window. I won't be able to talk to you without it.”

“In an emergency, you could call on Raphael to bring me a message.”

“Raphael will stay with me?”

“Unless you don't want it to.”

“I decide?”

After a moment, Orne nodded.

“Then maybe it doesn't have to hang around
all
the time. Maybe it can just drop in once in a while so you know I'm okay.”

Orne took longer to nod this time. Then he said, “The last time I saw Kate, when I told her about the Communion?”

Again, Sean wasn't going to blame Orne for not convincing Mom. He must have done all he could. “Yeah. I've been thinking about that.”

“She wanted to know if you'd inherited our ability. I told her you had, and that you'd be strong. Then she asked me to make sure you had every chance to use your magic.”

A shudder ruffled Sean's feathers from crown to tail.

“So you see, Kate wanted you to have the option of taking the road she hadn't. I'm going to keep my pledge to her and help you as far along it as you want to go. Whenever you need me to. As long as you need me.” Orne set Sean on the ground and smoothed back his feathers. Then he said, “Nevermore.”