Copyright © 2011 Molly Dean
All rights reserved, Wild Child Publishing.
He found himself at the old arbor fronting the entrance to the twilight garden. The arbor was swamped with a plant with green tendrils, reminding him of a giant sea monster. If his dad were around, he would say that everything needed a good pruning.Daniel walked into the garden, thinking what a special place it was. It’s because of the hill and the giant trees along the back, making the space seem enclosed, like it’s cut off from the rest of the world, he thought. The pool lay at the center, and the beds rose up around it, giving the effect of a giant green bowl. As he watched, he saw the dark silhouette of a figure rise and slowly climb the hill, vanishing behind a clump of bushes. “Who...?” he asked.
“What’s up?” Kat’s voice trilled in his ear.
“Good grief!” He whirled around. “You scared the living daylights out of me.”
“You’re just too jumpy. City kids always are.”
“I think I just saw one of Great-Aunt Delilah’s people.”
Kat caught her breath. “Maggie Dell?”
“Nope. It was a guy.”
She brushed past him into the garden. “Which way did he go?”
“Up there.” Daniel gestured to the hill, following her. He was surprised she didn’t ask more about the figure, what he looked like or how old he was.
“It’s wonderful, ain’t it? I mean stuff is always happening here.”
“I guess.”
“Look,” she exclaimed, pointing to a patch of sky above the hill.
Following her finger, he caught sight of a pinkish trail of light moving in an arc. “What was that?”
“A shooting star. Ain’t you ever seen one before?”
“No, but I always wanted to.”
“My mom says when you see one it means something good’s about to happen.”
“Well, my dad said that shooting stars are really chunks of space stuff, you know, rock or metal, falling down from the earth’s atmosphere.”
“Well, that’s logical, I guess,” Kat said with a slight frown.
“There’s nothing wrong with logic, is there?”
She gave him a considering look. “No. But, you see, things are different here. More magical and less scientific. That’s ‘cause your great-aunt D’lilah isn’t logical. And her garden isn’t logical.”
“And you’re not logical,” Daniel said. He felt something brushing against his ankles. Glancing down fearfully, he saw a gray cat with eyes and fluffy ruff way too large for its small squirrel-like body. The creature gave a chirp and strode ahead as if to say, “Follow me.”
“Well, that’s strange,” Kat said. “I could swear that was your aunt’s special cat. Number Eight. The one she was gonna take with her across the ocean.”
“You can’t take cats across the ocean. At least not to England or Ireland. They have to be put in a sort of quarantine for six months. I heard Dad talking about it.”
“Then maybe that’s why she got left. Here, kitty. Here, Queen Mab.” Kat knelt down and held out her hand.
Daniel stooped beside her. “Queen Mab. That’s a weird name.”
“It’s a fairy name,” Kat said over her shoulder. “Yep, that’s definitely little Mab. I know you miss D’lilah.” She addressed the cat.
Queen Mab gave a disdainful twitch of her tail and marched off into the shadows as if she were on an important mission.
At that instant, Aunt Margo’s voice resounded shrilly from the back door. “Dan-ny!”
“God, she’s like a foghorn.” Daniel looked at Kat, rolling his eyes.
“She keeps you hoppin’, don’t she? My mom’s the same.”
The two started drifting back toward the house, and Aunt Margo’s voice boomed again. “Glen’s on the phone. Get your tail in here.”
“So that’s it.” Daniel felt his body tense.
“Who is Glen?”
“My dad.”