Two – 06

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.]

The world was still strangely silent as he paused near the Shakespeare Garden, staring down through the mists toward the barrow. From here, it seemed Marin was right; the wards protecting the barrow were intact—at least for now.

At least they seem like they are from this distance. What are they going to feel like when I get down there, though?

He exhaled through his teeth and started down the hill. Something brushed against his cheek. For a second, Phelan’s heart seized before he caught a glimmer of blue and green and brown out of the corner of his eye.

“Longfellow,” he muttered, shaking his head with a rueful smile. “It’s not nice to scare me like that.”

The faery made no reply, though Phelan knew he’d stick close. For a second, he wondered if his presence was Carolyn’s doing, but he discarded the idea quickly. She didn’t have any reason to send any of the faeries out this way, certainly not after him. No one knew he’d left—not so far as he knew.

Besides, the garden used to be their home. Maybe they’re still trying to reclaim it. Maybe.

If they were, he’d take it as a good sign. That was the kind of thing they could certainly all use.

One hand tightening around the strap of his satchel and the other firmly locked around the carved wood of his staff, Phelan resumed his trek downhill toward the expanse of grass that was the place where his friends had buried their dead nearly a year before.

If anything, the mists felt thicker as he came to the bottom of the hill, heavier and colder. Something plucked at his senses, pricking at the back of his mind, just elusive enough that he couldn’t quite grasp it.

A shiver crept down his spine.

I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

He crouched at the edge of the barrow, his hand hovering over the broken earth without quite touching it. His heart beat a little faster.

Matt’s got good instincts. Smart of him and Marin to come out here to take a look. Phelan stared at the open ground for a moment.

You need to touch it, he told himself.

His hand shook a little as he slowly lowered it toward the turned dirt, bracing himself for whatever might come.

The sensations hit like a truck.

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One Response to Two – 06

  1. shadocat says:

    And… …why didn’t he try to see if Longfellow was trying to warn him about something? The little guys can’t do much but they are a bunch of eyes and ears. Maybe ask them what did the digging?

    “You need to touch it, he told himself.” – I get it now. Phelan is Fargo from Eureka.

    Next winter, someone needs to ask him what the fence post tastes like.

    Seamus needs to send him back over the ravine the fast way (won’t need the bridge).

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