A Bay of Angry Fae, page 14
“Nora, you have to focus very hard,” Sleet insisted in a stern teacher’s voice, shaking his finger as he spoke.
I took a slow drawn-out breath to calm my nerves. I’d managed to do it once. I had only lost track of things when I got carried away celebrating. Prematurely perhaps but it was nothing that I would let stop me a second time round.
“I can do this,” I told myself, out loud, because sometimes you really just need to hear someone say it, even if it’s you. The power of positive thinking went a long way; unfortunately I was born with a stout inner critic where my self-esteem should have been.
But I was determined to get this.
Once more I concentrated on the phone, and projected my will onto it. The phone vanished from view and I smiled. But this time I learned from my mistake. I reined in my elation. I wasn’t in the habit of making the same mistake twice.
Maintaining the illusion required all of my concentration and a steady stream of power. I quickly got the impression that trying to maintain a substantial glamour for a prolonged period of time would be limited by a combination of an individual’s focus and magical reserves. Which was good to know. Someone might hide for a moment but someone trying to evade me for a sustained period would find it exhausting.
As I focused on my phone, Sleet looked down at his own empty hands, only his vanished donut wasn’t an illusion. The little glutton had already polished it off. He truly was a black hole with the power to suck all confectionery in the galaxy into his tiny mouth.
Fortunately I had come prepared. I released my illusion, tucked my phone into my pocket and reached into my bag. It took me a moment of rooting around to find it, but rolling around the bottom of the bag was a cookie I’d thrown in at the gift shop.
Sleet’s eyes lit up as his favorite treat came into view. I carefully peeled off its plastic wrapper and held it up. Before he could reach for it, I made it disappear.
Unwilling to be so easily thwarted, Sleet leaned forward and sniffed the air. “I can still smell it,” he gloated. “For it to be gone you must get rid of the smell too. Eyes and nose, that’s how nasty things find you.”
I tried to maintain my focus, not wanting to let the cookie reappear.
“How do I get rid of the smell?” I asked.
“The exact same way,” Sleet replied, “Like the first time you have two choices. There are lots of ways to fool the nose.”
I didn’t recall having two choices the first time around and got the impression my little fairy had omitted some part of my education, but I let him continue. I wasn’t going to stop him while he was on a roll.
“You can try to will away the smell,” Sleet instructed, “which can be very tricky. Or you can replace it with something else, which is much easier.”
I considered Sleet’s words. Perhaps I was trying to show off, or maybe it was that stubborn Irish streak in me. So rather than take the easy way out, I set about trying to remove the cookie’s scent from the air. There was only one problem. I wasn’t exactly sure how I was to get rid of the smell completely. After all, what did nothing smell like? Not being able to answer that question made it all the more difficult for my will to manifest a result. So I reluctantly abandoned that attempt and opted for the more plausible second choice. I took a scent that was readily available. That of the salty ocean breeze and willed it into the illusion, hoping I could mask the more subtle scent of the sugary treat.
“How about now?” I asked, eagerly.
Sleet leaned forward and took a big sniff, recoiling almost immediately “Ew, too salty,” he concluded.
“But you couldn’t smell the cookie, could you?” I asked
He shook his tiny purple head. “You learn very quickly, Nora. You are very clever.”
I don’t know why, but the compliment made me smile more than expected.
Letting my illusion collapse, the cookie came back into view and I leaned forward and took a big bite out of it. Then I offered the rest to Sleet. “A well-earned treat for a job well done.”
Sleet pointed at my cookie. “For me?”
“Yes,” I laughed. “If you’d gone to school rather than terrorized one, you’d know that students often bring a treat for their teacher.”
I broke off a piece of the cookie and handed it to him. “Treats you say,” Sleet whispered. I could almost feel his mind working.
“But seeing as you’ve been such a good teacher, this is for you.”
Sleet squealed with excitement as he devoured his piece of cookie.
“Sleet likes teaching!” he exclaimed, “and cookies.”
Like that was news to me. As he reached for the second half, I held onto it.
“How do I see through someone else’s glamour?” I asked. “What if I’m not trying to hide, what if I’m trying to find someone or something that is hidden?”
Sleet pondered the question for a moment.
“First you need to know that there is something to find. So, look for things that don’t make sense. Things that might be lying to your eyes. A smell where there shouldn’t be. Tracks when you can’t see your prey. Many things can warn you that something is hiding. Once you find it, you look with your magic eyes.”
“My magic eyes?” I replied. That was a new one.
“Yes,” Sleet nodded eagerly. “Your magic eyes help you see the power that is around you.”
Sleet closed his eyes and when he opened them, this time they glowed with a faint blue luster. It reminded me of how I had found Conor.
“Magic eyes,” Sleet concluded as if that was a complete explanation.
Sleet started moving his hands back and forth in front of him. “Can you see it, Nora?”
I shook my head.
“You have to use your magic eyes, Nora,” he replied swiftly. “Human wizards aren’t very good at it; they call it wizard sight. Others call it the third eye. It helps you see what your eyes might miss.”
I closed my eyes and imagined for a moment that I could see the currents of power that I could feel in the air around me. I pictured what they might look like if I could see them as readily as I could feel their caress and call to them with my gift. I willed myself to see things as they truly were. I opened them and suddenly the world was alight. All about me faint wisps of power flowed through the air. I looked down at my feet and could see the magic of the island itself pulsing with a steady hum of emerald green power. It was surprisingly vibrant in contrast to the soft white sand.
Then I looked at Sleet. Between his hands, currents of magic ebbed and flowed. Tiny little bursts of blue, silver and purple. His eyes glowed more brilliantly now that I could truly see. He looked up at me, his eyes finding mine.
“There you are,” he whispered giddily. His words stirred a feeling deep within me.
For the first time, I felt like I was truly seeing and being seen as I really was. It was exhilarating.
“Now when you think someone is cheating and hiding so you can’t find them, look with those eyes. They might hide themselves, but they can’t hide their magic. That is much more difficult. Only the truly powerful can do that.”
I lifted my gaze and took in the world around me. Reveling in the sight of my world as it revealed itself to me. The brilliant currents of power through the sky; the steady answer of the thrum beneath my feet. It was an intoxicating, brilliant kaleidoscope of color.
Right up until stabbing pain tore right through my skull. I closed my eyes, grabbing at my temples as I felt an immediate headache coming on.
“You must pace yourself Nora,” Sleet chided. “Magic takes energy. Too much and you get a very sore head.”
It seemed like using my Sidhe sight—at least that’s how I thought of it—required more power than I had anticipated.
Rubbing vigorously at my temples I risked opening my eyes. The world appeared normal once more.
“You couldn’t have told me that, sooner?” I asked.
Sleet shrugged. “Some lessons are best learned the hard way. So you don’t forget. That’s what my dad told me.”
Hearing Sleet speak of his father sent a jolt of sadness through me.
Sleet’s family had helped my mother escape the Winter Court and when their actions had been discovered, his parents had been executed for defying my father’s will. To make matters worse, Sleet had been given to the Red Cap. My mother gaining freedom from my father had cost him his.
I knew it wasn’t my fault, but it didn’t make me feel any better.
Sleet worked on what remained of his cookie and didn’t elaborate, so I let the matter go. There were some things you couldn’t fix, but I liked to think that by taking care of him I was helping do what his parents would if they were here.
We walked in silence for a few minutes, reaching a promontory that brought us as close as I figured we would get to the southern-most shipwreck. Barry had counseled against swimming out to the wrecks, citing the strong tide, but after yesterday I had to wonder if that wasn’t him attempting to conceal the presence of the new shipwreck from us.
At least three boats were moored between the wrecks and the beach and none of them seemed to be straining too hard at their anchors. Having spent my life at the beach I knew well the dangers of rips and tides, but felt confident enough that I could swim out of one if the need arose.
“What are we doing?” Sleet asked, staring out at the water.
“I’m going to go for a swim,” I replied, setting down the bags.
“But I don’t like swimming.”
“I know. You think I haven’t noticed you always seem to disappear at bath time?”
Sleet blushed, his little cheeks growing a deeper shade of purple.
“But I have to go in there. So if you could keep a lookout while I swim, that would be great.”
“I can do that.” Sleet leapt off my shoulder and gave me two thumbs up. The kids were wearing off on him.
I peeled my summer dress off and placed it in a pile with my thongs. I didn’t have anywhere for my phone so, looking around and spotting no one, I buried it in the sand beneath my dress. It didn’t look like many people were out, so I hoped it would still be there when I got back.
A waterproof pouch would have been swell but I’d had a lot on my mind this morning.
Lifting the snorkel and goggles out of the bag, I fit them over my head. I tucked the knife into the sheath on my belt and grabbed the flippers before wading out into the water.
Putting on the flippers, I gave Sleet a thumbs up and waded out a few more steps before diving into the water.
It was cool, a welcome contrast to the summer sun beating down overhead.
Now I just needed to find the shipwreck the couple on the beach had been talking about. The more I thought about it, the more suspect it seemed. And I certainly wasn’t ready to treat anything on the island as a coincidence. I just hoped the wreck held the answers I was looking for.
The lake the warlocks had ambushed me at was only about a half-hour’s walk away, perhaps a little more. The proximity wasn’t lost on me.
As I surfaced, I blew the water out of my snorkel and started powering through the water toward the wrecks.
With each stroke, I couldn’t help but wonder what secrets waited for me there?
Chapter 14
The cool water was heaven on my skin as I powered across the surface of the bay. Here, the waves were almost non-existent due to the man-made barrier created by the sunken ships I was swimming toward. Some of them had settled, and become submerged in their entirety. Others loomed up out of the water, their rusting superstructure towering over the waves.
In time they would gradually sink into the soft sand, their steel hulls rusting and giving way to the relentless salt and sea. The water here was clear, and the snorkeling mask allowed me to see everything. The soft sand sloped gradually down to deeper depths. Schools of vibrant-colored fish darted about the bay.
It was always a relief to be able to see what was around you. While only a few people died from shark attacks each year, the statistic was poor comfort should you be the unfortunate soul who did come face-to-face with a great white shark. I certainly wasn’t willing to bet on it, as luck had not been on my side this week. So snorkeling alone as I was, I tried to be vigilant and remain wary of my surroundings, all the while powering toward the wrecks with slow steady kicks as my flippers did their job to perfection.
It had been a good two or three years since my last snorkel, so I took the time on the journey out to acclimatize myself once more. I was in no particular hurry, though I was driven by a curiosity for what might lie amid the rusting wrecks. For practice I dived down beneath the surface, closing my mouth as water filled my snorkel and pushing myself deeper with steady kicks. As my oxygen reserves grew low, and my lungs started to protest, I kicked back to the surface. No sooner had my snorkel broken through the water than I exhaled, the plume of breath forcing the water out of the tube in a burst of salty sea spray.
My lifeline clear once more, I swam along the surface, breathing through the snorkel as I searched the depths.
Some things were just like riding a bike, you never really forgot how to do them. I passed the first boat at anchor. Pausing, I checked its deck but couldn’t see any people moving about the ship. It was a modest vessel, perhaps thirty feet in length, with an enclosed cabin. I swam on toward the first of the wrecks, at the southernmost point of the man-made barrier.
The submerged ship had become home to a dozen varieties of fish, some I recognized. Others I had no idea about. I passed schools of bream swarming about the wreck. There were also trevally and yellowtail kingfish. All in all they were spectacular. If I didn’t have work to do, I might have dawdled here enjoying the sight of them darting in and out, through the rusted holes in the ship’s hull.
Coral and other marine vegetation was growing all over the vessel, turning the rusty wreck into a vibrant reef swarming with life. It was even more vivid than I remembered as a child. Funny how the water had seemed so deep back then. Now it didn’t bother me at all.
I remember thinking these wrecks must have been the size of the Titanic, in my childish imagination. Now I looked at the back of the submerged fishing trawler and smiled as I swam past it. Only the very tip of the prow stuck up through the surface of the water.
Making my way north along the man-made tidal break, I found a cluster of shipwrecks close together. Two of them were wholly submerged, while the third loomed up out of the waves. Taking a deep breath, I dove beneath the surface, eager for a closer look. I rounded the bow of the first ship so that I could see behind it. Fish by the thousands played through the wrecks but I saw no life of the human variety out here.
It would seem that closing down the resort’s attractions for the quidditch finals had given me an excellent opportunity to explore the wrecks unmolested.
I kicked back to the surface and broke through, filling my lungs with fresh air as I let the snorkel dangle free. I kicked over to the deck of the ship that was jutting out of the water. I figured it was the perfect chance to catch my breath. There was no need to push myself and fatigue was not a friend for anyone caught in a rip.
The ship was sticking out of the water, its sloping deck rising away from me. It dwarfed the other ships around it. I felt about on the deck, testing to be sure it would take my weight. The edges were a rusted mess, but the main deck hadn’t rusted through. So I pulled myself up onto it and rolled onto my back, catching my breath and resting my muscles.
I’d always been a confident swimmer, but I had no intention of treading water for my entire exploration. Just the thought of that was exhausting. I lay on my back on the deck for a minute, massaging my legs. The swim out had certainly been a thorough workout. I took advantage of the raised deck to survey the vessels in the makeshift bay. There were three other functional vessels moored in the shelter of the shipwrecks. One of them was at the far northern part of the break, while the one I had passed bobbed deserted on the water behind me. The last vessel lay about a hundred meters away, still at anchor. It was a larger vessel, perhaps fifty feet long and looked like it cost about the same as the house we lived in. The yacht had two decks, and a jet ski tied to the back deck. Which should mean the owner was still on board. Unless of course they had a smaller launch to ferry them to shore. Which was always a possibility.
“Oh, to have dumb money.” I laughed as I shook my head. The jet ski, a recent model Sea-doo, was probably more valuable than my car. If its owners were aboard, they seemed far more intent on lazing about in their cabin rather than enjoying the magnificent vista nature was providing for them out here. Staring at all this through tinted windows just wasn’t the same. Or so I thought. I’d never been on a yacht, so I guess I had nothing to compare it to.
I turned my attention back to the shipwrecks around me. They had been sunk in a line running roughly parallel to the coast. They’d been sunk a few years apart, so they suffered from different stages of rust.
Looking along the line, I spotted something silver amid all the red rusting metal. From its polished sheen it looked like the aluminum hull of a submerged ship. Though that only made sense if it had capsized. Unless the whole hull was silver. From here it was hard to tell as it rested between two of the other ships.
It obviously hadn’t been here nearly as long as the others. My heart skipped a beat. Was it the shipwreck the couple on the beach had been talking about?
Easing myself off the deck of the ship I was resting on, I slid back into the water and pushed off. I eased into a steady freestyle stroke as I made a beeline for the new shipwreck.
My fatigue forgotten in the excitement of finding the ship, I powered through the water. Schools of fish parted, darting away as I plowed unapologetically through their midst. I passed the rusted-out hull of a ferry. The closer I got the better I could see the new shipwreck. It was a small yacht, perhaps thirty-five feet long with an enclosed cabin, but it was resting on its deck in the sand, the hull pointing up toward the surface.
A giant gash was readily visible in its ruined hull. Perhaps the pilot hadn’t been a local. Had he struck one of the submerged ships by accident? Or perhaps drifted into it during the night?
