The Wand & the Sea (33 page)

First, Everett said—and everyone agreed that he was quite right—they needed a bath, a nap, and a cup of tea.

Holly did have a hot shower and she donned fresh clothes, but the nap, she decided, could wait. She knew where to go for the cup of tea.

Indeed, it was ready for her before she even knocked on the door of Number Seven.

Mr. Gallaway smiled and beckoned her inside. He set the tea in front of her, and wrapped and iced her ankle. He set it gently on the chintz-covered ottoman in his front room while Holly nestled into the comfortable chair. The day was so damp, he had lit a fire in the grate.

“You just happened to have all this stuff ready?” Holly asked, sipping her tea.

“I find it best to be prepared for any contingency.” The old man settled back into the cushions of his settee. “Are you going to show him to me?”

She reached up to her shoulder, and Áedán crawled into her palm. He turned his golden eyes to hers questioningly, but when he saw Mr. Gallaway's lined hands, he crawled into them willingly. Mr. Gallaway turned him this way and that, the glittery scales reflected in his deep-set blue eyes. “He is quite wonderful,” said Mr. Gallaway at last. “Would he like a warm-up in my fire, do you think?”

Áedán crawled happily into the burning hearth and turned around three times before settling down with his tail curled around his feet. He snoozed while Holly told Mr. Gallaway everything that had happened, though she had the oddest feeling that he didn't need telling at all.

“You learnt quite a lot this time,” said her host, when she had finished.

Holly nodded. Her heart trembled as if it had slipped its mooring in her chest, and her palm ached. “I've just left them in a really bad way. Again. Worse, even. The kingdom's underwater. . . .”

“But you heard your magician friend. That was temporary magic. Even the animals in the forest weren't affected.”

“I guess that's true. But what about the sea monster? And Morgan and the others on the
Sea Witch
?”

“Well . . .” Mr. Gallaway fetched a shortbread from a tin decorated with a tartan print. “It sounds as if the prince—what was his name?”

“Avery.”

“It sounds as if Prince Avery had the monster finished off, in any case. Perhaps he's changed his ways. Or his loyalties.”

“I doubt it,” said Holly dryly. “He was in as much danger as the rest of us. I don't think he was trying to save anyone but himself.” She thought of the last sight she'd had of him, grinning as he plunged the sword into the sea monster's neck. “Still. I hope he's okay.”

“His kind usually are,” said the old man. “They find a way round most consequences. Not really fair to the rest of us, is it?”

“It's Ben I can't get over,” said Holly. “He used to panic in water, and he was the bravest of all of us when we went back to the portal. Somehow I was able to get some power back into the wand, but if he hadn't helped me . . .” She shuddered.

“People will surprise you. None of us knows what we're made of till we're tested.” Mr. Gallaway tottered off to his kitchen and returned with a fresh ice pack for Holly's swollen ankle.

At some point Holly would sit down with Ben and with Everett, and the three of them would talk about what had happened. She would think of a way to explain Áedán to her parents and devise a plan to get him onto the plane back home. Ben would join the fencing club, which pleased his mother, who attended every tournament. Everett would congratulate Ben for his bravery at the portal, and contemplate whether Raethius's talons would regenerate like a halved earthworm, and he would force Holly to spend time with him and not wander off by herself into the woods every day.

The village of Hawkesbury withstood what went on record as Britain's coldest, soggiest summer, but it gradually warmed as August waned. The stream slowed down, and the beech trees and the oaks and the silver birches rewarded a sodden, weary nation with brilliant hues and an uncommonly dry autumn. Holly and Ben returned to America as the fall drew near and thoughts of school supplies and the subtle dance of lunchroom socializing filled their heads. But part of their minds—and part of their hearts—stayed tucked away in the heart of a British wood, warm and safe until their return.

The Wand & the Sea
is the first book I've ever written on a deadline, which creates a unique vortex of madness that can only be tamed with the support of others. And so I thank—

Marjorie Caterer-Clark, my pal at ALA Chicago and my sister everywhere else.

Sally Caterer, who tells all her friends about me, whether they want to know or not.

Ruta Rimas, who edits my work and helps make every scene count and every word better.

Tracey Adams, the kind of agent who makes you feel you won the lottery when she signs you up.

Mary E. Kelly and her tireless extended family of Wrights, Werps, Hazlewoods, and Hertzes. My own family isn't large, but you've always made me feel welcome in yours.

Jennifer Ann Mann, a fine writer who always reminds me that I'm not a freak, just a debut author.

And as always, Chris and Melanie Bohling, who put up with mood swings and piles of laundry and too much takeout food. I love you.

Also by Claire M. Caterer

The Key & the Flame

MARGARET K. M
C
ELDERRY BOOKS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2015 by Claire Caterer

Jacket illustrations and hand-lettering by Karl Kwasny/The Jacky Winter Group

Excerpt from the poem “Sea-Fever” by John Masefield (1878–1967), originally published in
Salt-Water Ballads
(Macmillan, 1902).

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

M
ARGARET
K. M
C
E
LDERRY
B
OOKS

is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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The text for this book is set in Impressum Std.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Caterer, Claire.

The wand & the sea / Claire M. Caterer.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: A year after their first visit to a parallel universe, Holly and Ben Shepard and friend Everett return to find that much is changed, and the fate of Anglielle is at stake unless Holly can master Water Elemental magic in time to save the Adepts.

ISBN 978-1-4424-5744-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4424-5746-1 (eBook)

[1. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 2. Space and time—Fiction.

3. Magic—Fiction. 4. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 5. England—Fiction.

6. Science fiction.] I. Title. II. Title: Wand and the sea.

PZ7.C2687916Wan 2015

[Fic]—dc23 2014032582