SilverMoonLight (SilverMoonSaga Book 1) (10 page)

It
was cooler in the woods. I started to shiver a little, getting goose bumps.

»You
should have brought a jacket,« said Calum disapprovingly.

»You
should have told me we were going to the woods,« I answered petulantly.

»Hmm.«
He gave me an earnest look, then pulled a thick wool pullover from his guitar
bag. I slipped it around me, relishing its comforting warmth.

Had
I insulted him? Was he regretting his offer to practice with me? I looked at
him inquisitively, but was unable to read his facial expression. He certainly
seemed tense, which didn’t bode well.

»Come
on, don’t keep me in suspense. Is it far?« I asked, trying to break the
silence.

»There’s
a little clearing over there with a small pond—it’s really peaceful and
beautiful. I come here a lot, and I’ve never seen anyone else here. The people
from around here don’t go into the woods; they’re too superstitious,« he
answered.

I
shook my head in disbelief. »What do they think is in here? Trolls, elves,
werewolves?«

»Yes,
something along those lines I guess. There are many ancient myths in Scotland, Emma,
and you shouldn’t make fun of them. Most of these stories have some truth to
them. Even if you don’t believe in things like that...it can still be dangerous
to go into the woods.«

It
seems I had hit a raw nerve, for his lips were pressed into a hard line.

I
didn’t have time to answer, because we had reached the clearing. Silence
wrapped itself around me like a silken cloth. The wind, rustling softly through
the pale green leaves of the birches and firs, moved gently across the pond,
which lapped in small waves against the water’s edge.

Calum
watched me as I took it all in.

»Did
I build it up too much?«

I
shook my head. »You could almost believe that tiny fairies are about to come
fluttering out from between the trees. It looks like something from a fairytale,
like some enchanted place.«

We
looked at the water in silence.

»When
I was little, my mother used to take me hiking a lot,« I said. »When the
weather was good on weekends, and if she didn’t have to work, we used to drive
to one of the national parks. We would walk through the forests for hours on
end, then grill sausages and bake potatoes over a bonfire. I always used to
burn my fingers because I was too greedy to wait until the potatoes had cooled
down.«

Thinking
back to it now, I could almost smell the roasting meat and floury, charred
potatoes.

Calum
didn’t say a word.

»When
it got dark, she told me stories about elves, mermaids, fauns or watermen.
Legends filled with battles, love, jealousy and death. I loved them and could
never get enough; she seemed to have an endless supply of stories in her head.«

I
smiled at the memories and looked at Calum. He looked serious again now.

»Sorry,«
I stammered in embarrassment, »I haven’t thought about any of that in a long
time.«

»Tell
me more,« he said, his tone persuasive, almost insistent.

»Well,
when she was telling me the stories, her voice sounded much warmer than usual.
I used to be convinced I could see the elves dancing around the fire. I would
make her tell me the same stories over and over. Often she would have tears in
her eyes, which she discretely tried to wipe away. Back then I didn’t
understand why, but now I think it was because she was homesick. When we went
to sleep in the tent, I would snuggle up against her, because her sadness made
me nervous. As I got older, the trips became less frequent and so did her
stories. I haven’t thought about them in a long time. This place...this is how
she always described Scotland to me.«

Calum
nodded and sat down in the grass without saying a word, starting to unpack his
guitar and sheet music. To my relief, I saw that his expression was gentle.

»Come,
sit here with me. I’ve brought some music, so let’s decide what piece we want
to play.«

I
slowly sank down onto the grass next to him.

He
played a few songs so I could decide which I liked best. I would quite happily
have listened to him play the whole time. Together, we picked two folk songs.
He patiently showed me which grip to use, then we played the pieces.

»Let’s
take a break,« he said after a while, fetching two bottles of coke and
chocolate bars from his bag.

»You
brought a picnic!«

»Picnic
might be a slight exaggeration, but I’m sure you can do a better job of it next
time,« he responded with a smile.

I
bit into my chocolate bar and thought about the prospect of a next time. My
throat was dry, so I gulped down some coke. Then, with a contented sigh, I
leaned back to lie on the grass.

»I
can’t believe there’s ever been anything dangerous here,« I said. »It’s too
beautiful, too peaceful.«

Calum,
who had lain down next to me, rolled onto his side and looked at me with a
penetrating gaze.

»You
can’t count on that, Emma. Even though it looks beautiful, it can still be
dangerous. In nature, the most beautiful things are also the most poisonous.«

I
looked at him, astonished. Why was he being so intense about it? I shook my
head in confusion. His expression had darkened and he had edged farther away
from me.

I
took a long, deep breath.

»Tell
me something about you,« I asked, hoping for a smile.

»There’s
nothing interesting to tell,« he answered evasively, sitting up straight.

»Okay,
then I’ll ask you something,« I said, unwilling to give in.

»Well,
I won’t answer everything,« he warned me. But he smiled too, much to my relief.

»What’s
your favorite time of year?« I grinned.

He
looked at me in surprise, then answered earnestly: »Fall.«

I
raised my eyebrows in surprise.

»The
colors...« he added. I knew what he meant.

»Favorite
color?«

»Red.«

»Much
too garish,« I interjected. He furrowed his brow, so I hastily continued.

»Favorite
film?«

»That’s
a tricky one...Lord of the Rings?«

I
nodded in agreement.

»Favorite
game?«

»Basketball.«

»Dessert?«

He
grinned. »Tiramisu.«

I
carried on questioning him. It was great to see him so relaxed for a change.

»Stop,
stop, that’s enough for today,« he cried out, far too soon for my taste.

I
pouted.

»I
still have a few questions.«

»So
I can imagine, but let’s play the pieces again. I have a really dry mouth from
talking and we don’t have any coke left. Clearly, we’ll have to bring more
provisions next time.«

The
thought of being alone with him again made my pulse quicken.

»That
was really good for the first practice,« said Calum after a while. »But I think
we should call it a day for now, I’m sure your family’s wondering what I’ve
done with you.« He smiled roguishly.

It
was only then that I realized it had gotten a lot darker. The glittering light
over the lake had disappeared and the trees had taken on a threatening
appearance.

I
looked at him with regret.

»I
had no idea how late it was.« I could have easily spent many more hours with
him here in the woods. I looked away quickly, afraid he would be able to read
the longing in my eyes.

»Did
you stay later than you meant to?« I asked.

»I
had a great time,« he answered with a smile, and I felt my cheeks starting to
burn.

»See,
that’s why I like red,« he said unexpectedly.

The
burning intensified and I had to avert my gaze.

»Shall
we carry on next week?« His voice sounded enticing.

»I’d
love to.«

Not
trusting myself to look at him, I busied myself gathering my sheet music
together. We were knelt in the grass, our heads just a few centimeters apart.
As we both tried to get the sheets in order, I accidentally touched his hand.
There it was again: the electric impulse coursed through my body. I recoiled in
shock, quickly pulling my hand back and looking at him.

He
stood up abruptly. »We should hurry,« he said.

I
bit my lip as we walked silently alongside one another.

»Calum,«
I asked hesitantly. I didn’t want us to part like this. »What’s wrong?«

»Nothing,
it’s not your fault.« He hesitated before continuing: »I’m just asking myself
whether it’s right, what we’re doing.«

I
didn’t understand what he meant. All we had done was innocently practice the
guitar with each other. Well, that wasn’t entirely true; there was something
between us that I couldn’t really put into words. I didn’t dare say anything
more, and he stayed stubbornly silent.

Back
at the house, he said goodbye curtly and coolly, not even turning around as he
set off back to the parsonage.

I
went into my bedroom and fell onto my bed. It had been such a wonderful
afternoon. But what had happened, why did I have such a strong reaction when he
was close to me? It was ridiculous that he could unleash such a response in me.
And he noticed it too, it was so embarrassing. And to make matters worse, he
was angry with me now. I had annoyed him; that much was obvious.

Noticing
that I was still wearing his pullover, I turned my music on and wrapped my arms
tightly around my body, inhaling his familiar scent. I was still indulging in
my daydreams when Amelie came storming into my bedroom.

»How
was it? Tell me everything! Did he try to kiss you?« She raised her eyebrows
questioningly.

I
answered defensively: »How do you think it was? We practiced guitar.«

A
kiss? What was she thinking? Judging by how I reacted to just his touch, a kiss
would probably make me pass out.

She
rolled her eyes. »You were gone for such a long time. Come on, you know you’re
going to tell me eventually. Is that his pullover you’re wearing?«

She
stared at me triumphantly, seeing all her wildest suspicions confirmed. »Come
on, dinner’s ready. We’re waiting for you.«

Chapter Eight

For
the rest of the week, I had to pull myself together in order to focus on my
lessons, even though I would have preferred to spend the whole time thinking
about Calum. We had tests again, in math, English and history, so I had my head
buried in my books every afternoon and had to really force myself to get
everything done. Luckily, I had already studied a lot of the topics in the
States, so I managed to do well despite my lack of concentration.

The
high point of the week was training with the swim team. Unfortunately, though,
I was only able to watch Calum from a distance, and we didn’t get past a brief
‘hello’ and a smile. Valerie was constantly by his side, and I couldn’t bear to
watch how adoring she was. From my perspective, he was much too friendly with
her and clearly keeping his distance from me. I wondered why, but tried not to
show I had noticed. The last thing I needed was for him to see me as the
jealous or needy type. So I kept my distance too. But his obvious reluctance to
spend any time with me eventually made me angry. Why was he so completely
different when we were alone?

The
first competitions were approaching, so Mr. Fallen was working us hard. I was
back in form by now. Shortly before the end of training on Friday evening, Mr.
Fallen asked Calum and me to race against one another. My heart sank; that was
the last thing I needed. The others were eager to see who would win and started
to make bets with one another.

Hearing
most of them wager on Calum, I bit my lip in frustration. It was obvious that I
wouldn’t be quicker than he, so I wasn’t sure what the point of this was.

We
went over to the starting blocks. I didn’t look at him and we dove into the
water at the same time. Without stopping to think, I set off into a crawl,
fifty meters, turned, then back and another fifty meters. I touched the side
and stopped, panting. Turning around, I saw that Calum was only just touching
the side at that very moment. I stared at him in amazement. At the edge of the
pool, Mr. Fallen was slapping his thighs and chortling.

»Well,
Calum, it looks like you’ve met your match. Emma was a bit quicker than you.«

Calum
smiled at him, unruffled. At the edge of the pool, everyone was talking
excitedly, while Valerie was giving me an even more hostile glare than usual.

We
swam alongside one another to the swimming pool ladder.

»You
let me win,« I said accusingly. He looked at me in amazement.

»Why
would I do that?«

He
smiled that irresistible smile of his, making me feel foolish. Indeed, why
would he? I grabbed my towel and hurried off to the changing rooms.