Rhianna and the Magic Horse

Ch. 31 - A Grave Tale

Her grandmother's shoulders slumped. "You did hear that. Oh my dear, I'm so sorry. You misunderstood—it was out of context."

"What context involves calling me a thing!" Rhianna squared herself against her grandmother.

Gretch was glad to see her friend finally coming out of her shell and standing up for herself, but this was not the time. She said calmly, "What's important right now is Jenny."

Rhianna withered visibly.

"I will explain everything. First let's get Raisen to the couch where she will be more comfortable." Gran indicated for them to take Raisen by the shoulders and she scooped under her knees, trying not to jostle the injured ankle.

The fact that Raisen didn't even make a peep made Gretch worry more than if she had cried out.

They tucked her onto the couch and Gran soothed her hair back again. Her eyes closed—maybe some sleep would do her good.

She seemed like she was resting, so they took the opportunity to go back to the kitchen.

"What happened?" Gran asked, once they were sitting around the kitchen table.

"Darklings," Gretch said. She said it like she knew what she was talking about. But she didn't really know much. The book had described them. Black Fae. Their favorite form was guise of a horse. They flitted around the boundaries between their world and the human world, where they would woo unsuspecting humans to ride and then kidnap them.

"Grayson?" Gran asked.

Rhianna looked up sharply and Gretch nodded.

"He was your...sister's father." Gran wrung her hands in front of her on the kitchen table. "He stole Katrin's heart. She couldn't see that he as using her. No matter what I said, she wouldn't listen. I thought I was protecting her. My mother introduced me to the Fae when I was old enough to walk. I made so many mistakes with them when I was young. I was trying to save her from making the same mistakes. But I should have told her."

There was a long silence and then Rhianna asked. "Who was my father?"

"I'm sorry, my dear. Our fetches are born of magic. We are as close to family as you have."

Rhianna looked down at the table.

The kettle's bubble turned from an incessant bubble to a shrill whistle and Gretch leapt up to get it, for once not sure what to say.

She busied herself making the tea.

Gran let out a long breath. "Nobody has been able to cross the boundary since we buried your sister, but I knew it would be different for you. You aren't Fae, but you aren't human. You were born there, but you lived here for your entire life. You are like a boundary yourself. A line between their ilk and ours—their place and ours. The same rules don't apply to you. I didn't expect you would be able to bring others. Oh, what have I done."

Gretch stood by the tea cup, waiting for it to steep. This is why she hated secrets. Why her parents had divorced. Too many mistakes because people were holding back and not being honest about their feelings. "The grave was the spell that sealed them in."

Gran looked up and nodded. "I didn't tell them though. The barrier broke up families and I guess I got a certain amount of satisfaction from that, since my family had been ripped asunder. The only one I confided in was Barton, and I swore him to secrecy. He was trapped here too, but he had lived on this side so long it hardly inconvenienced him."

"Who cares about the Fae and what side they were stuck on, what about Jenny." Rhianna said, standing up suddenly.

Gretch knew the concern Rhianna felt was real, but she could tell that Rhianna was using it to hide behind, so she didn't have to deal with her feelings. Kind of like Gretch had pretended to be mad about the secret Jenny and Raisen had kept from her when she really just didn't want to think about being alone.

"Your right," Gran said. "We have to go back and get her. Only you can get us across the boundary. And we can't involve anyone else in this. We don't need to put anyone else in danger and also, most of the town are human and won't understand. They will just get in the way, like the first time your bother disappeared. All the dogs and people tramping through the woods calling her name were utterly useless and prevented me from finding her more than they helped."

"You're right." The last person who needed to be involved in this was her cousin the Sheriff. "No police. No parents."

Rhianna's eyes widened at the mention of police, as usual. And she nodded her wholehearted agreement.

"Let me see if Raisen will take a sip of this," Gretch said, picking up the tea. "Then we can talk about a plan. Maybe Teasel will come back with information." She bumped into the door with her backside and swung it open, transporting the steaming tea, carefully.

She entered the living room and almost dropped it on the plush carpet.

Raisen cradled the phone to her ear, curled up at the edge of the couch, blubbering. "Mama, Jenny's been kidnapped!"