Night of the Dark Horse (An Allegra Fairweather Mystery) (15 page)

All the unsaid endearments bubbled from my lips and were swallowed by a sound like banshees howling. A rush of wind whipped the riverbed into a maelstrom of dust. Casper was caught in the middle of it, spun around. I shielded my eyes from the dust and tried to cover my ears to block out the terrible noise. Casper screamed, the sound punching my heart like a giant’s fist.

Then everything went quiet.

I opened my eyes. Where was he? I raced into the riverbed screaming his name. Dust particles drifted lazily to the ground making a mockery of my frantic efforts to find him. I screamed out his name over and over but there was no answer. Casper was gone.

Chapter Fourteen

Rynar had been right about there being more than one rip in the border of Fairyland. I found one a few days later and made my way out and up to the ridge surrounding the misty valley. I followed the ridge east, then changed direction and headed for the road. I had no phone so I couldn’t call for Ronan to pick me up. No longer buoyed by the energy of Fairyland, I trudged on, slowly covering the miles until I reached his house. All I wanted was to collapse into bed, which figured, since I’d been gone over a week. But Ronan met me with the news that the pooka had struck again. Dr. Gallagher had been called to ride. He’d taken up the challenge to save his wife. Predictably, he’d been thrown. His old bones hadn’t held up well under the impact and he’d been hospitalized with a broken arm and leg.

Okay, sleep wasn’t going to feature in my immediate future. I had to stop the pooka—Lorcan—before he killed someone. I barely had time to gulp a long glass of water and slap some cheese on a sandwich before I was in Ronan’s car heading for J.J. Flanagan’s castle.

The Witches and Wizards conference had broken for lunch, which had been served in a Hogwarts style dining hall. I marched up to the dais at one end, shoved aside the lunchtime speaker and grabbed the mic. I caught sight of Wanda, who waved. I flashed her a thin, determined smile then got on with the task at hand.

“Is there anyone called Harrison in the room?”

Nobody moved. I scanned the room, searching for the gray-bearded guy I’d followed and lost. I didn’t see him. Was he hiding? Yep, that figured. He wouldn’t want to come out and face me. I clutched the mic. My hand was slick with sweat. This time I used Harrison’s full name. Yeah, I knew what it was—knew it as well as my own.

“Harrison Rafferty Fairweather, your daughter wants to speak to you.”

Silence. Except for a sudden gasp (Wanda’s), the thundering of heartbeats (mine) and the far away ticking of a clock (probably my imagination). Eventually I got tired of waiting.

“Come on, Dad. Man up. I know you’re here somewhere.” This time I didn’t have long to wait.

He came from the side of the room. Maybe he’d taken a bathroom break. Or maybe he was still avoiding his family. For the moment, I’d forgotten all about the case. I’d forgotten my dad might also be Lorcan’s dad. I was a kid again and mad at my daddy.

Hands on hips, I faced him and demanded, “What’re you doing at a Witches and Wizards conference?”

He spread his hands as though he didn’t know what to do or say.

I had enough words for both of us. “I saw you here just a few days ago. I know you saw me. Why did you run?”

Suddenly he found his voice. “Allegra...Allegra...” He moved quickly giving me no time to step back and escape the arms that wrapped around me. “Allegra, I’ve missed you so much.”

I was totally shocked. I didn’t know whether to push him away, punch him or hug him and never let go. Tears threatened to escape my eyes but I blinked them away. I stepped out of his embrace and demanded the explanation I deserved.

“Not here,” he said, leading me away from the mic. Honestly, we were the best lunchtime entertainment those witches and wizards ever had.

We found a chamber off the side of the hall. “Where have you been all these years? Why didn’t you come back to us?”

“I did. Right after I’d escaped from the prison of the bunyip shapeshifter. He kept me captive for almost a year. As soon as I got free I hiked out of the desert and flew back to Boston. But your mother was already involved with the politician, and Lily was happily dating his son. And you had Casper to look out for you.”

He’d known about Casper? I started to ask how, but he went on.

“It seemed cruel to insinuate myself back into your lives. Sondra and I—there’d been problems in our marriage for a while—we’d have ended in the divorce court even without Steven. I won’t say I wasn’t selfishly tempted to make contact, but I couldn’t do it. Leaving you—all of you—alone seemed the kindest thing to do.”

“It wasn’t.”

He said gently, “I think it was for Sondra and Lily.”

“Not for me.”

He touched my cheek. “I visited, often. I made sure you were doing fine. I celebrated all the important milestones. I was there at your graduation.”

“Have you completely missed the point? I didn’t
know
you were there.”

He looked confused and deflated and lost. “Looks like I really stuffed up.” His tone reminded me of me, which felt weird and right all at the same time. “I’m so sorry, Allegra. I genuinely believed I was doing the best thing for you.”

I snorted. “You seem to have a habit of abandoning your children.”

“Once is not a habit.”

I used my next words like a fist, driving them into his heart. “What about your
son
? My half-brother.”

“Pardon?”

“His name is Lorcan.”

“Lorcan?” He was genuinely confused. “That name means nothing to me.”

“How about the name Sharina Levara?”

He took a step backward and caught hold of a chair for support. “Sharina? She had a child? Wait a minute, how long ago was this?”

“Are you hoping the kid isn’t yours?” There was no way to prove it conclusively. There’s no test for fairy DNA.

“Allegra, I need to know. How old is he?”

I studied my nails. I looked at the ceiling. I hummed a little tune. When I’d made him wait long enough, I said, “Lorcan is eight years old.”

Dad went silent as though he was doing the math. Suddenly his face lost all color. “I have a son.”

“Yeah, much more important than two daughters.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said sharply. “I have to see him. Is he fostered nearby?”

“Well, here’s the thing. Sharina refused to foster him. She raised him herself.”

“In our world? But she couldn’t. She’d be—is she very old?”

“Worse than old.” I watched him put two and two together. His grief caused a lump in my own throat. “I can take you to her grave if you like.”

“Yes,” he whispered. “Now, if possible.”

On the way back to Dingaleen, Dad said, “Why would Sharina raise him herself? She could have fostered the child.”

“The
child
? His name is
Lorcan
.”

“Lorcan,” he repeated, testing the name on his tongue. “If Sharina had fostered Lorcan, she could’ve saved herself.”

“I guess she wanted him to have one parent who refused to abandon him.”

“Her death was also an abandonment. She could have chosen to live and make regular visits to Lorcan.”

“Okay, my bad. You both abandoned him.”

“No, you’ve got it wrong. If only she’d told me she was pregnant I wouldn’t have left. I’d have stayed to raise her child.”

“But not to be with Sharina?”

“Sharina deserved to have a relationship with another Fae. Not with a human who could only be with her part time. I left to give her the chance of a normal life. But the child would’ve changed everything. If only she’d told me.”

My hands gripped the steering wheel. “She didn’t know until you’d gone.”

“She could’ve come after me.”

“She couldn’t find you. You’d gone back to Australia. Well, I assume that’s where you went, but how would I know? You weren’t exactly a part of my life either,” I snapped, losing concentration and almost running into another car. I spun the wheel, headed for the side of the road and screeched to a halt. Too angry to sit still, I sprang out of the car and marched up and down beside the road until Dad got out too.

He stood by the car, unmoving. When he spoke, his voice was annoyingly calm. “Stop it, Allegra. This isn’t about you.”

“The hell it isn’t. I lost you, Dad. For years I didn’t know whether you were dead or alive. When Casper told me you
were
alive—that was almost worse than you being dead. It meant you didn’t care enough to come back.”

“I
did
care and I did come back.”

“Yeah, to take one quick look at us and decide we’d all be better off without you. What right did you have to decide
my
life?”

“I’ve explained why I didn’t make contact.”

My head understood, even if I didn’t agree with his decision, but my heart—torn to shreds. I kicked at the ground, sending up a shower of dirt. Too bad it didn’t go in Dad’s eyes. His hands fell to his sides, defeated. “I wish I knew how to make it up to you.” He wasn’t crying. His emotion was too big for tears.

I could feel his grief and, oh bugger, it matched my own. Dad might have made the decision to walk away from his family, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t suffered. What must it have been like knowing where we were and forcing himself to stay away, always believing he was doing the best thing for us. One dumb decision had led to a world of hurt. I felt sorry for him—sorry for all of us. But I wasn’t ready to forgive him.

We got back in the car. As we drove south again, Dad asked, “Where is Lorcan?”

“Living in the woods near a village called Dingaleen. He’s having a hard time right now. He needs a parent who will stay.”

“You’ve met him? Spoken to him?”

“Sort of.” Dad didn’t speak, he just waited for me to go on. “Turns out, Lorcan inherited a bit of Fae magic from Sharina. He’s a pooka. I’ve seen him in the incarnations of an eagle and a horse. As the eagle, he attacks anyone who goes near Sharina’s grave. As a horse, he calls on the villagers of Dingaleen to ride. It’s not random. He mostly targets people who have attacked his eagle incarnation, while the eagle is scavenging for food. He hasn’t killed anyone yet, but Ronan, the guy who hired me, suffered an injury that ended his career. Or would have if I hadn’t had those leprechaun’s wishes.”

“You charmed wishes from a leprechaun?”

“Charm had nothing to do with it. And you can lose the excitement—the wishes have all been used.”

But his excitement didn’t diminish. “Charming wishes from a leprechaun...” He shook his head and actually chuckled. “I’m proud of you, Allegra.”

I found I was unable to speak, so I just parked the car near the triple fork in the road. Before we entered the wood, I handed him my phone, which displayed one of my favorite photos of my niece.

“What a lovely child,” he said. “Is she—?”

“Your granddaughter? Yeah, Lily’s kid. Her name is Allegra.”

“I have a grandchild,” he murmured. “You have more pictures?”

“Later, Dad.” I retrieved my phone. “This doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you or anything.” I stomped into the woods, expecting Dad to follow. For once he didn’t disappoint me.

We moved past the Maguires’ graves and into the thicker foliage that sheltered Sharina’s grave. I thought Lorcan would appear immediately, armed with those lethal claws and beak. Nothing but a squirrel moved in the trees above. Everything was peaceful.

“Where is he?” asked Dad. “You said he’d be here.”

“Usually he is.”

Dad caught sight of Sharina’s headstone and forgot all about Lorcan. He moved forward as though enchanted. He ran his fingers over the beautifully carved birds and leaves and flowers. He touched the Fae script.

“I can’t read it,” he murmured.

“I says,
Sharina
Levara
beloved
mother
of
a
devoted
son
.”

He dropped to his knees. The damp ground must’ve been cold, but he didn’t seem to notice. He leaned against the headstone. Tears trickled down his cheeks speckling his beard with diamonds.

I moved away to give him privacy. While I waited, I swept my eyes over the branches far above. Where was the eagle? Maybe he was planning to mix it up a bit and appear as the horse. Who knew which incarnation the pooka would choose to confront his father.

Dad picked up the posy of now-brown and mildewed flowers.

He called out to me. “Did Lorcan leave these?”

“No. A woman from Dingaleen.”

“She knew Sharina?”

“Siobhan wanted to pretty up the grave. Some sort of artistic thing, I guess.” All at once, I remembered something. “Oh crap, the art prize.” My watch had started to work as soon as I’d left Fairyland. I checked the date and time. The prize giving was due to commence in an hour. “I promised Liam I’d be there. Come on, Dad, I’ll explain on the way.”

* * *

Instead of heading straight to the community hall, I swung by Liam’s parents’ house. Yep, just as I expected, the lights were on. Both parents and the golden-haired twins were at home.

“Do you know where Liam is?” I demanded.

“He’s run off again,” said Mrs. O’Reilly.

“No,” I corrected her, “he’s at the hall. They’re announcing the art prizes. He could use a little support.”

“Art prizes?” parroted Mrs. O’Reilly. “Liam hasn’t—he never told us he’d entered.”

“Can you blame him? You’re not exactly the poster parents for artistic kids.”

“If Liam had wanted us there, he’d have told us,” she said. “Siobhan must’ve talked him into it. He’s probably embarrassed.”

Yeah, but only by his parents. Anyway this was getting us nowhere and time was moving on. I turned to Dad.

“I gotta go. I promised Liam I’d be there. Here’s where you get to make amends for your ten-year absence. Convince these people that they need to attend the prize-giving. Tell them why they can’t let their kid down.”

As Dad started talking, I ran back to the car and floored it to the hall. Liam was sitting beside Siobhan. They had saved me a seat and Liam beamed as I sat down.

“You came.”

“Sure, wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”

“Ssh,” said Siobhan, “they’re starting.”

I glanced away from the stage, checking the door for a late appearance by Mr. and Mrs. O’Reilly. Looked like Dad hadn’t convinced them to come.

There were several sections with prizes—Landscape, Portrait, Best Overall and Artists of the Future. The prizes were announced in that order and the winners in the first three sections were all adults making me doubt that Liam had a chance of winning even if his section was Artists of the Future.

When the clapping had died down and the acceptance speeches had bored everyone senseless, the MC moved on to announce the winners in Liam’s section. I glanced at the door hoping to see the O’Reillys. Nope, no late arrivals.