The journey back to New York was nothing at all like the miserable one I’d had leaving it. For one, I had Henry by my side. The stark ache of disappointed love was gone, replaced by the feelings of hope and anticipation for all the good things to come. I sat in the window seat of the bus, more appreciative of the view beside me than the rolling hills outside. There was something else though, and that something prevented me from having all the wonderful sensations associated with young love reunited—and that feeling was dread. I had a difficult task before me, and since more than my own happiness was at stake, it made it seem all the harder.
When I got especially nervous, I would squeeze Henry’s hand, and guessing something of what I was feeling inside, he would take up my hand and kiss it, wanting me to believe everything was going to be all right, and not to worry. As ever, he had more confidence in my abilities than I had.
Scar shifted uncomfortably between us under her blanket. Technically, no pets were allowed on the bus, but I’d smuggled her on with no difficulty, having whispered to her not to make a sound. She blinked her understanding, but we were close to our destination now, and I could tell she was growing restless.
“You’ll be able to stretch your legs soon,” I whispered.
Henry put his hand where the outline of her head was evident through the blanket and gave her a discreet stroke. None of the other passengers on board paid any attention to her. Nothing to do with the tiny concealment charm I’d invoked, I was sure.
Our plan was simple. Having discussed the options at length with Henry, we’d decided to just march into the Abbey where Henry would confront the General, leaving me free to sing his mother’s song. If he gave me any trouble, Henry would be there to calm his father down. We hoped Eleanor would be no problem at all, since we knew she would be more than happy to see us and could hardly object to hearing a simple ditty from her youth. Whether she would agree to seeing her father again was another thing entirely.
At long last, the bus neared the station, the driver made a few laborious twists and turns, and the engine noise grew louder while it maneuvered in low gear. All around us, the passengers gathered their belongings in anticipation of disembarking. I carefully lifted the blanket laid across the pair of us and lowered it gently into a large wicker basket Mom had given me for the trip. Anyone else peering inside would only see a basket of apples. Indeed, even I caught the sweet aroma of prize-winning Red Delicious, invoked by the enchantment. I handed the basket to Henry while I pulled on my poncho.
“Ooh, those look good,” said the woman standing by the seat next to ours, blatantly ignoring the Do Not Stand While Vehicle Is In Motion signs dotted strategically around the bus. Unfortunately, Henry’s enchantment was too good, and those apples just a little too tempting. She stretched her hand across, and for a dreaded second, I thought she was going to help herself to Scar. There was nothing I could do to stop her, but Henry saw the danger, and quick as a flash, he mumbled a confusion spell under his breath.
“Scamu!” As soon as the spell left his lips, the bus wobbled, and the woman’s focus veered away toward the back of his chair as she struggled to keep her balance. A vagueness clouded her expression. She shook her head, and forgetting all about the apples, she continued to collect her things.
“Well done,” I whispered to Henry as the bus came to a jerking halt. I also had to steady myself and then waited in my seat as the inevitable scramble to get off began. For Scar’s sake, I decided it would be wiser to sit down again and wait for the bus to empty before joining the mass exodus. One look at Henry confirmed he agreed.
When we did finally get off, I thanked the driver and then stretched my back, glad to be out of that confined space.
After lifting the concealment enchantment, we let Scar down on a grassy verge to relieve herself, but she scampered behind a tree. About twenty seconds later, she trotted back, much lighter on her paws and looking a lot happier. After scooping her up again and putting her back into her basket, Henry hailed a Magic Cab to take us up to the Abbey. I was a little disappointed not to see Wally in the driver’s seat; it would have been unrealistic to expect him, I supposed, but I instinctively looked for him just the same. This time our driver was a badly balding goblin with a greasy comb-over. As soon as we gave him our destination, he forgot all about us and focused on his driving. He zoomed along quickly, and I found myself wishing he would slow down, being not especially keen to reach our destination. All too soon he got to the Upper East Side, and I saw the familiar gates of the cemetery looming just ahead.
Since Henry still had hold of Scar’s basket, I pulled out my purse and paid the driver. I was midway through saying thank you when he drove off.
“Well, really,” I said, watching his rude butt zoom away.
The familiar unease hit me almost as soon as I stood on the sidewalk. I shuddered, wanting to get as far away from this place as possible. However, this time I was mentally prepared for it, since I knew it was just the enchantment working its magic, but what I didn’t expect was to see Henry turn deathly white. Then he staggered to the point I feared he might faint.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, taking the basket from him just in case.
“I’m not sure,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “I don’t feel too well at all.”
I took his hand and noticed his flesh was icy cold. “So I see. Quick, unlock the gates so we can go inside.”
Henry turned toward the gate, but though he raised a hand, he quickly lowered it. “I, um, I don’t remember the spell. I can’t do it.”
Something definitely wasn’t right, but there was nothing I could do, and Henry wasn’t looking good at all.
“Come on,” I said, looping my arm through his to give him some support. “You didn’t eat anything on the bus. Maybe you just need a drink or something.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
I led him along the sidewalk, but as soon as we passed the cemetery, he stopped in his tracks and his color returned.
“I can’t believe he did that,” Henry said.
“What?”
“Dad. He’s altered the enchantment. Now I can’t get back inside.”
“Altered it? Can you fix it?”
Henry shook his head. “Not easily. Dad found this specific enchantment during his research into the Elder Wars, or maybe the Fantastic Wars. I can’t remember which. We’d need the Necromancer Scrolls to lift or change it. There’s no other possible way.”
“So we find another copy of the Necromancer Scrolls,” I said optimistically. “Then we fix the enchantment, and we’re good.”
“There are no copies. We own the original, and as far as I’m aware, no copies were ever made.”
“You’re kidding me.” I said. “So our one and only hope is on the other side of that enchantment. Well, great. Now what are we going to do?”
“We could have Eleanor try, I suppose, but I doubt she’ll have any more luck than I did. If I could convince her to come over, that is. Song or no song, I don’t think she’ll be too eager to see him.”
So much for the easy solution. Still, if I was totally honest with myself, a part of me was a little relieved. I really didn’t want to see the General, and I certainly didn’t want to hum him a tune. But I also didn’t want to break my promise to Henry’s mother and wasn’t quite sure what Henry would think of me if I did.
“We’ll just have to switch to Plan B,” I said.
“What’s that?” Henry asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think of it. But two heads are better than one, and three and four even better than that. I vote we go to Sylvia’s now and ask for her advice. Maybe invite Eleanor over, if she’ll come. Between us all, we should be able to come up with something. What do you think?”
“Sure. It’s not like we have a lot of choices, do we?”
My head was throbbing with possible options, all of which I knew were useless. I needed to think and would do so much better with some homemade brew inside me. And Sylvia was wise. If anyone could help us, I believed she could. I stepped over to the edge of the curb, and with Scar held securely away from the traffic, I hailed another Magic Cab.