The Longest Day Of Summer

Chapter 9

Cait woke the next day with an agonising crick in her neck. She couldn't believe she'd actually fallen asleep on the floor! She groaned as she stretched out her legs. Oh god! Pins and needles! Pain spiked its way across her feet as blood rushed back in to her veins. Her butt cheeks felt numb.

After five minutes of rubbing her eyes and complaining to herself, Cait finally crawled up from the floor. She avoided her bedroom mirror as she trudged towards the bathroom. The reflection she might see would be enough to induce a heart attack.

Cait massaged the back of her neck as she stepped in to the shower. The scalding water did its job of driving the last tendrils of fog from her mind, not to mention easing the tension in her aching muscles. Why did I have to fall asleep on the floor? The answer to that question drifted in to Cait's mind in a lazy manner. She had been tired and stressed at the prospect of going to Avalon. Tomorrow she would rescue Kieran. Cait's stomach lurched. She felt sick with anxiety.

....................................................................................................................................................................

Cait didn't bother taking the bus in to town for swim practise that day. She didn't even bother turning up at school. She needed to focus on the more important things at hand like apologising to her grandfather. So George had been the one who started the argument, but there was no way in hell Cait was going to go in to Avalon with the chance that she might die, on bad terms with her grandfather. She couldn't allow him to spend his remaining years in misery because he believed his own granddaughter hated him. That would be too cruel.

And that was the very reason why, once again, Cait found herself standing outside the front doors of Kilentully manor in the freezing cold. Thankfully it didn't take long for George to open the front door.

"Cait," he said, his purple lips slack in surprise, "I didn't think you would want to see me again after...I'm sorry,"

Cait inhaled her grandfather's familiar musk of old books and dust. The smell of the manor was imprinted on his skin.

"I'm sorry I got mad at you. I was rude and you were only trying to warn me," she said in a small voice, "can I come in?"

George blinked, "Of course! Of course! Come in out of the cold,"

Cait soon found herself sitting at the coffee table with a steaming cup of herbal tea in her hands, surrounded by stacks of books. Opposite her, George sipped his tea. The swollen joints of his fingers prevented him from gripping the teacup by its handle, forcing the old man to hold the whole thing in the palm of his hand. Thankfully he hadn't quizzed Cait as to why she wasn't at school. He probably doesn't even know I'm supposed to be there.

"Granddad," Cait wasn't really sure where to begin. To distract herself she stared up at the cobweb coated lampshade above her head. She could just make out the shrivelled corpse of a spider, curled up behind the light bulb.

"It's obvious you came here to discuss something of importance Cait. Now, stop dilly dallying and tell me what's on your mind," George gave a kind smile.

"It's Kieran, granddad. Something bad has happened to him," Cait started, "Ruarc - his brother - seems to think it's my fault the queen is angry with him. She's hurt him and I know she would like nothing better than to hurt me too. So, I've made up my mind to go to Avalon and save him,"

George pinched the bridge of his nose in a despairing manner.

"I didn't realise how involved you had become. I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner. Perhaps then I could have helped. You've dealt with them for so long on your own...I just don't understand why you didn't tell me," he said.

"The same reason you never told me what really happened to Ivy. I was too afraid. What if you'd stopped me from seeing them?"

"Then this might not have happened," George snapped in a bitter voice, "tell me, how do you plan to save Kieran?"

Cait frowned. This was the part George really wouldn't like. The part where he was liable to get so angry he might brain her with one of the many books from his extensive library. Cait glanced at the thesaurus resting by her knee. It was easily twice as thick as her forearm 

"The queen is going to be overthrown. Ruarc is leading the rebellion and in the midst of that confusion, he'll help me get in to Avalon. I'm going tonight," she said.

George was silent. He didn't scream. He didn't yell and he didn't attempt to brain her with the thesaurus.

"The Isle of Apples, eh?" a dream like expression crossed his face, "I've been there before. It's a strange place Cait. You take care, you hear me?"

Cait nodded, relieved her grandfather hadn't kicked up a fuss.

"I'll grab Kieran and we'll run," she laughed at the vagueness of her plan. She really didn't have a clue.

"And Ide will be over thrown...I wondered how long her power over Faery would last," George murmured.

"You know about her?"

George grinned and took a swig from his teacup.

"I know more about faeries than you might think," he said, wiping his lips.

"How?"

"I have my sources," the old man tapped the side of his nose.

"I want details," Cait smiled, feeling slightly bewildered.

George reclined in his chair, "After Ivy was taken I grieved like a madman. I grieved more than either my mother or father because I knew what fate had befallen her and had been helpless to stop it. I would wander through the forest calling her name and crying out to the faeries for mercy. After a while, the king of the Seelie court took pity on me. Though he would not let Ivy leave Avalon, he allowed me to visit her - just once. There I met Siofra who agreed to pass on information of my sister to me, along with the latest news of the faery realm," George smiled.

Cait's eyes widened in sudden realisation, "That's who you were talking to isn't it? That day I found you out by the ruins? And she was watching us in the forest, not you!"

George gave a short nod, "She's my eyes and ears. The only faery I trust,"

"Maybe she saw what else was in the forest that night..." Cait trailed off. 

Cait spent the rest of the day at Kilentully manor with her grandfather. It seemed George had no end to his information and stories about the fae. Cait sat listening, quiet and enraptured as he told tale after tale. Just after lunch, George had vanished among the stacks of books, searching for a small carved box. It took him the best part of an hour to find it. When he did he let out a shout of glee.

"Got it!"

George handed the box to Cait and gravely told her to open it. inside was an ornate and wickedly sharp hunting blade, nestled in a bed of blue satin. The polished silver of the blade winked at Cait under the glow of the overhead light. The knife was warm to touch. 

"I only hope you don't have to use it," George said.

Cait continued to stare at the knife, "So do I," 

................................................................................................................................................................

Just so you know... Ide means thirst