The Stolen Child (16 page)

“
T
his place, where she lives...”

“It's
somewhere called the Deep Wild
.  Past the Borderlands, so far out that no one has gone there in... In a
really
long time.”

“
Wild
?  Borderlands?”

Rachael scrunched up her forehead.

“It's how they talk about it.  
The worlds they come from out there.
 
E
ach one is part of this endless space
called the Dreaming
.  They're connected
by these pathways
that you can only see if you know how to look for them.  Like, roads that aren't on a
ny
map.  Here, where we are now, it's right at the centre of it all.  It's like a safe space.  A world where none of this stuff can get in.  
They call it the Hearth.
  But
t
he further out you go,
the more the rules start changing.
  The Guild controls the lands around th
is
world,
what they call
the Borderlands.  
Or at least they try to.
  But out in the
Deep Wild
... That's where the Guild doesn't go.  No one goes there.  No one except for people like her.”

“Why?”

“Because she's not like us.  
She's powerful, in a way that they can never understand
.”

“
Like, a... A sorceress or something?
”

“
Or something like that," he nodded.
  "The p
art of the Wild
where she lives, she created it herself.  She didn't have to find a world, she just imagined one and it came into existence.”

“You're saying people can just create new worlds?”

“She can.  I suppose that means maybe you could too.”

Rachael considered this for a moment.  It seemed like too much to even think about.
 

“
Can you t
ell me about
it?
  The world she made?”

He nodded.

“It's always autumn.  But, just before the leaves fall, when the grass is wet from the rain and there's that smell in the air, like the world is holding its breath.  There are forests where you can walk for
days, and t
here are
wild horses
...”

“Horses?  Did you learn to ride?”
she said.
 

“Yeah.  And dance, and recite poetry and fight with a sword.  All the things a knight should know.”

“Knights should know
dancing and
poetry?”  She laughed.  He shrugged, but she saw the faint hint of a smile.

"
Well, that's what I was told," he said.
 

"
Tell me more."
 

“She has a castle.  An actual castle.  You can see it from any part of the land.  It's called the Bower Castle.  
I
t's built right into the arms of a tree...
But,
I mean, a tree that's taller than anything
you've ever seen
.  
Taller than any of the towers here in London
.  The arms spread out like an old oak, and the castle sits right there.”

“I'm going to live in a castle?”

“You're going to live where-ever you want.  Rachael, all of this... It's just a tiny little bubble in the
Dreaming
.  It's just...
Like a
passing thought.  You're going to see whole worlds.  Anything you want.”

“I think...
I think
I'd like that.”
 

She saw a flicker of a smile play around his lips.
 

"So what happens now?"
s
he said.

The smile faded.

"That's the tricky part,"
h
e said.

"Tricky how?"

He hesitated,
drawing a slow breath
.

"Because I don't know
how to get there
."

"You what?"

"
It takes a lot of power, to reach her lands.  To go out into the Deep Wild.  Even the Guild don't know how.
"

"
So what was the plan, genius?"
 

"
She told me about something called a Seed.  There are several of them, scattered across this world, hidden.  They're ancient, and very powerful.  Something that her people created a long time ago.  And there's one right here in this city."
 

"
And this helps us get out of here?"
 

"That's the idea.  But first we have to find it.  Even with all that she taught me, there's no way that I could ever find it.  It's more than hidden, it's... Buried... Under the skin of the world.  It can only be found if it wants to be.  But you can find it.  You're her daughter, and that means you have her power in you.  It knows you.  It was made for you."

"So that's it?  I'm supposed to find some magic seed, and take us both out of here, because, what?  
D
umb luck?  Did you at least bring me a
flipping instruction
manual or something?"

She jumped to her feet and stalked past him.  He whirled to face her, leaping up from where he sat.

"Rachael, please.  This was the only way.  
This thing... It belongs to you.  It'll call out to you.  It has to.
"

"Yeah, great plan you got there,”
s
he said.

"Where are you going?"
h
e called after her.

"Outside.  Get some fresh air.  Try to listen for this seed calling,"
s
he snarled.

She stepped out into the narrow street behind the building
and
 sat
herself down
against one side of the doorway.  
The sky above was thick with clouds, and the air felt
heavy
and
damp
, the pressure of the storm swelling invisibly around the whole city.  It couldn't be long now before it broke.
 

She couldn't really say how long she'd been sat there when she heard the sound of footsteps.  He sat down on the step beside her,  pulling his coat around himself.  She couldn't help but notice how he left a space between them.  
She turned to glance back into the building behind them, walls blackened with scorch marks and smoke.
 

"I suppose we can't stick around here for too long,"
s
he said,
knowing full well that she was avoiding his eyes.
  "Whoever dragged that couch in there and all that... They'll be coming back soon, right?”

"They already did,"
he
said.

She gave him a sharp look.
 

"And you..."

"Told them to leave.  That's all.  They didn't argue.”

His expression was calm, sincere.
 

"
That's all?
"
she said, not quite sure that she believed him.  He just nodded.  
The silence hung between them,
like a prickling sensation on her skin.
 

"You know it's funny,"
s
he said.  "I...
I
hid out in a place like this.  Just after I left home.  It was just after the riots.  I was so scared.  I just kept thinking it'd all start up again, and there'd be police, and people setting stuff on fire
and all
, and I'd just be there in the middle of it.  But nothing happened.  I stayed there for three days.  Then the people what owned the shop came back, and I had to move off."

Justin said nothing.  She could tell he was watching her, quiet discomfort radiating from where he sat.  She could feel him holding back whatever else it was that he wanted to say.  
 

“
I don't get it,” she said.  “Why'd you do all this?  Why'd you want to find me, protect me... What makes you think I'm worth all this?”
 

There was a sadness in his eyes, as he reached out to squeeze her hand.
 

“
You are worth it, Rachael.  Trust me.”
 

She looked away, swallowing nervously.
 

“
But even... Even if you think that now... You spent years training... And you came so far...”
 

“
When you meet her, you'll understand.  Your mother, I mean.  Rachael, she's incredible.  She saved me.  Saved my life.  Or saved me from it, I suppose.”
 

She turned to look at him, searching his eyes for some sign of his meaning.  He seemed nervous.
 

“
What do you mean?”
 

“
It's...” he faltered.  She said nothing, gave him time to find the words.
 

“
I got moved around a lot,” he said.  “Lots of different families.  Foster homes.”
 

She nodded.
 

“
It'd be maybe six months, or a year, that I'd be in any one place, you know?  And I tried to fit in, I really did.  But it just never seemed to work out.  After a while, I didn't even bother unpacking my stuff.  It's like... It's always good at first, you know?  When you arrive, they're always nice.  They give you a good meal, and they hug you, and buy you presents, and tell you everything's going to be better now.  But it's not, because sooner or later you see the look.  The disappointment.  Because you're not what they wanted.  You're not right.  And eventually they get tired of waiting, you know?  Waiting for you to get better.  To turn into the person they were wanting.  And that's when it starts falling apart.  And you don't know how to stop it, because even if you wanted to be the person they were looking for,
it's like... Like you're staring at something on the other side of this big ravine.  And you can see it, but you don't know how to get there.  So you just let it go... You know what's coming, and you can't do nothing to stop it, so you just wait.  And then it starts all over.”
 

He looked up at her, and just for a moment she glimpsed the pain in his eyes.

“Does that... Does that make sense?” he said.

“
No, it does,” she said, nodding.  “Like, you keep trying to be different, but... It's like gravity, isn't it?  It don't matter how high you jump, cause you always fall down.”
 

He nodded.
 

“
But you see, then she found me.  At night, I started dreaming.  Dreaming of her forest, her castle.  And she told me that she'd been searching for someone like me... Someone who needed a place to belong.  She told me about her daughter... About how you'd been stolen away from her.  She told me that it was up to me to find you, to bring you home.  That she would teach me all the things I needed to know.  That no matter what happened, no matter how many families gave up on me, that I would always have a home in her castle.  That she would always be there for me.”
 

He looked at her with a burning intensity.
 

“
That's why.  Because she's the one person who never gave up on me.  She's the only real family I've ever had.  I'd do anything for her, Rachael.  Anything for you.  I've been preparing my whole life for this, to find you, to bring you safely home.  I know everything about this seems crazy, but it's what we have, and I
know she wouldn't have sent me out to find you if she didn't believe it would work.  She knows what you're capable of, Rachael, more than anyone else possibly could.  She believes in you.  And so do I.”
 

Rachael turned away from him, unable to hold that earnest gaze any longer.  She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, cold sweat prickling her skin.  The word 'mother' seemed to echo through her thoughts, over and over.
 

“
You don't think she'll be disappointed?  In me?  After all this time she spent... After everything she's done...”
 

“
It's not like that, Rachael,” he said, reaching out to touch her shoulder.  “You're her daughter.  It doesn't matter what it takes, what it costs... She just wants you back.  You're the only thing that matters to her.”
 

She
looked
away again
,
letting
her eyes roam the skyline.  Eventually she
settled on
one building in particular, dominating all of the others.  
A strange thought occurred to her.
 

“
Why do they call it the Dreaming, Justin?  This place that's outside our world?” she said.
 

“
Because it's where our dreams come from,” he replied.  “These worlds, they're like bubbles, but the bubbles are all a part of this endless place called the Dreaming.  It's... Everything.  Anything.  It's like... Possibility.  Pure possibility.  That's what we see when we dream.  Glimpses of all those impossible worlds.  Even the things she taught me to do... That's what magic is really.  Dreams, that you make real.”
 

"
Could that be how this thing is calling to me?  In my
dreams?
"

He nodded, his eyes nervous, but sharp.

"
Then I think...  
I think
maybe
I know where it is,"
s
he said.  "Th
is
seed...  I think I know where to find it."
 

A pair of wooden covers had been lifted open
on huge steam driven arms
in the middle of the Triskelion's deck, to allow the skiff to be raised up from the hold below.  It was a slender little ship, resting on iron
runners
that looked like insect legs.  From prow to aft it was maybe thirty foot long, and
the twin
propellers, mounted on long outriggers, accounted for most of its width.  
At some point
Arsha had taken to calling the little boat
'T
he Zephyr
'
, thinking it sad that it didn’t merit a name of its own, and
it
had
quickly
caught on with the rest of the crew.  Eventually Abasi had paid for the name to be painted across the
ship
’s prow in letters of bright gold.