| |
Clara was roused from sleep by the heat of the day. The sun was shining in through her window and her room was boiling. Her fringe was clinging damply to her forehead, her nightie was sticking to her, and her duvet felt heavy. She kicked it off and rolled out of bed.
A quick shower made her feel a bit more awake, then she had a bowl of cereal and some toast. Her parents had left for work and Peter was nowhere to be seen, so she assumed he’d been dropped off at his friend’s house.
After tidying away her breakfast things, Clara went out of the back door and started to walk towards the Gypsy camp. As she did so, she remembered what had happened the night before. She recalled her fright when she flew over the hill and realised the attack was already under way, her fear for Luke when she searched desperately for him among the brawlers, and how she’d felt when he was threatened by the three men. And then he’d turned into an Alsatian.
Clara froze. How did I forget that’d happened? she thought. How did it happen?
She felt a rush of emotions. Her face flushed in confusion. Instead of going to the camp, Clara veered to the hilltop clearing. She needed to think.
At the hilltop, Clara sat and gazed down on the Gypsy camp while she tried to sort through her feelings. There were so many of them boiling away inside her – confusion, betrayal, anger, excitement. It was too much. Clara took a steadying breath.
Was it a one-off? Part of Grams’ defence strategy? Or has Luke been keeping this secret from me all this time? she wondered. But why? Why would he keep something like that from me? Clara hugged her knees and rocked back and forth. Of all people, I would be the one who’d understand. Possibly the only one who could understand. Clara frowned and shook her head. It explains why I can speak to him mentally, she thought, relieved that little mystery was cleared up. I wonder if his Uncle Simon knows? Is that why he keeps trying to kidnap Luke? Well, if he didn’t know before, he will now. Clara felt anxious for Luke all over again. Her fear for Luke’s safety overwhelmed her other feelings, and she got up and moved in the direction of the camp once more, desperate for news and to speak to Luke.
When she arrived, everything was calm and quiet. She guessed a lot of people were trying to catch up on their sleep after the excitement of the night before, so she trod lightly across the camp to Grams’ caravan, the door to which stood open.
“Good afternoon, Clara,” said Grams when Clara knocked lightly. “Come in, child. The kettle has just boiled if you want some tea.”
Clara helped herself to a mug of tea before sitting next to Grams. She glanced towards the bedrooms, noting the guard had gone.
“The prisoners have been transferred to Des’s caravan,” said Grams. “I checked them this morning and they were fine. They didn’t need my assistance any more.”
“Has anyone spoken to them yet?” asked Clara.
Grams nodded. “Briefly,” she replied, then smirked wryly. “They haven’t given anything away. Not even their names. But we have ways of making them tell.”
Clara’s eyes widened as she imagined what these ‘ways’ might be.
Grams chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to torture them,” she said. “As inviting as that thought might be. No, I’ve a special tea that’s very helpful in unsticking tongues.” She winked at Clara. “But I didn’t want to use it so soon after the one had a concussion, so Des thought he would question them without it first.”
“What happened last night?” Clara asked. “By the time I arrived the battle was in full swing. Did you have any warning?”
“Yes. Rob called us as soon as he realised they were heading in our direction. He told us how many there were, as well as their expected time of arrival. Their surprise attack turned out to be more of a surprise to them than to us.” Grams smiled smugly. “Rob even managed to rescue Riley and bring him home.”
“Really?” asked Clara. “What a relief.”
“Yes – they didn’t leave anyone to guard him when they left to come here so Rob just sneaked in and got him out. I bet they were fuming when they arrived back. Their attack failed and they lost their prisoner at the same time.”
“Is Riley okay?” asked Clara.
Grams nodded. “He will be,” she said. “No permanent damage, I don’t think.”
Clara frowned. “We haven’t seen the end of this, have we?” she asked.
Grams shook her head sadly. “We’re taking it to the council,” she replied. “We have the prisoners who we can use as evidence so the council will have to act – but, no, I suspect any action taken by the council will just delay things rather than make the problem go away. That Simon is dangerous...” Grams’ voice faded. She stared into her mug of tea and sighed wearily.
“Particularly now that he knows Luke is a shape-shifter,” said Clara, watching Grams closely.
Grams raised her head slowly and smiled sadly at Clara. “Aah,” she said. “Yes, that won’t help matters.” She peered down into her mug again, as if the answers to her problems were floating in the muddy liquid.
Clara tutted in frustration. She was clearly going to have to be direct with Grams if she was going to get any answers. “So, he didn’t know before?” she asked.
Grams shook her head.
“Does anyone else know?” asked Clara.
Grams shook her head again. She looked into Clara’s eyes. Clara gasped. It was as if Grams had aged ten years: the lines on her face seemed deeper, her mouth was thin and dragged down slightly at the corners. “The only other person who knew was me,” she replied. “Not even Des knew. Although he does now.” Grams sighed and stared through one of the unbroken windows in the direction of Des and Luke’s caravan. “Don’t blame Luke for not telling you,” Grams pleaded with Clara. “He couldn’t.”
Clara frowned.
“I mean, I put a charm on him that meant he couldn’t tell anybody. I couldn’t risk it, Clara. I’m sorry. The fewer people that knew, the safer Luke would be. ’Course, it’s all moot now.”
They were silent. Clara wasn’t sure she agreed with Grams that keeping Luke’s secret had been the best way to protect him, but she realised it was the same thing she’d said to Peter. Clara sighed. She didn’t like it, but she understood Grams’ motives.
Clara and Grams sipped their tea. The camp was still and quiet, the only sounds the soughing of the breeze and the tinkling of a wind chime.
“What are you going to do now?” Clara asked.
Grams knew she meant to protect Luke. “I’ll need to go back to my books,” Grams said. “I’m sure there’s something in there that will help to protect him.”
Clara did not feel reassured by Grams’ response.
Just then, Clara saw Luke coming down the steps of his caravan. His hair was damp and his T-shirt was crumpled, as if he’d picked it up off the floor. He was wearing knee-length khaki shorts instead of jeans – clearly, he was also feeling the heat of the day.
“He’s worried that you won’t forgive him,” Grams said quietly. “You should go and talk to him.”
Clara left her mug of half-drunk tea and left the caravan. She met Luke in the middle of the camp.
“Want to go for a walk?” she asked. Luke nodded. In deference to the heat they walked slowly up to the hilltop clearing, where there was a light cooling breeze. They flopped down onto the hard ground, Luke looking down at his feet, rather than towards Clara.
“Grams told me why you couldn’t tell me your secret,” Clara started.
“I didn’t know,” Luke blurted. “I didn’t know she’d put a charm on me. I’d have found a way around it if I’d known.” He looked at Clara, his eyes pleading for forgiveness. “I just thought that I didn’t know how to tell you. I wanted to a few times. I just didn’t know how...” Luke’s voice trailed off and he waited for her condemnation. But any resentment Clara had still borne after her conversation with Grams had been dissolved by the desperation she saw in Luke’s eyes.
“It’s all right,” said Clara. “I understand.” She bumped her shoulder gently against his.
Luke peered at her hopefully. She smiled her forgiveness at him. “But now that I know, you must tell me all about it,” she said.
Luke beamed with relief then began to talk. “It started here,” he began. “After I met you. Of course, I didn’t know who you were then, or what you could do. But Grams thinks meeting you was the catalyst somehow. That maybe subconsciously I recognised you were different, and my abilities were activated – because of you. I don’t know, though...” He shrugged self-consciously. “One night I was really restless. I couldn’t sleep. I felt like I had a build-up of energy I needed to get rid of. I decided to go for a run, so I sneaked out of the van and ran to the woods. And somehow, between leaving the camp and arriving at the woods, I turned into a dog. I didn’t even feel it happening. I thought I was dreaming. I ran around for a while, enjoying the dream, but then it turned into a nightmare when I couldn’t change back. I didn’t know how to.” Luke shook his head. He gazed out over the landscape. “I thought that maybe somebody had put a spell on me, so I went to Grams’ caravan and scratched at her door until she opened it. It didn’t take her long to figure out who I was and what had happened. Turns out the story she told us once about her father turning into a dog was true. Her family are distant relatives to Dad and me. She calmed me down and I eventually changed back into myself, but I can’t tell you how scared I was.”
“Yeah,” said Clara. “Preaching to the converted, mate,” and she pointed to herself.
Luke grinned. “So then Grams took me under her wing. As the wise woman of the clan, she knows all the Gypsy myths and she knew enough to train me how to control my transformations. She explained to me about Gypsy history and how there were loads of Gypsies with special powers a few generations back, but because certain magics were outlawed after the Gypsy wars it’s not so common now. I’ve heard stories at some of the gatherings about Gypsies who can read your mind or tell the future, but I never really believed them. I do now!” Luke chortled. “That night, when I saw you shape-shift in the woods, I was in my dog form. You gave me such a shock. I went straight back and told Grams what I’d seen. She seemed surprised, but not, at the same time – do you know what I mean?” Luke glanced questioningly at Clara.
She nodded. That was the night Grams had glared at Clara, who was in owl form, and at that moment Clara had suspected Grams knew what she was.
“You left the next morning,” Clara remembered. “And I didn’t see you again for six months, while Grams checked out my background and figured out who and what I was.”
“Yeah. She didn’t share any of that with me, though.” Luke rolled his eyes. “I didn’t find out all the details until the morning after the kidnap attempt. When we were all in Gram’s caravan.”
Clara nodded. “So, can you change into any other animals?” she asked.
Luke shook his head. “No,” he said. “Just a dog. And just an Alsatian, at that.”
Clara grinned. “There are worse things to be,” she teased. “And can you control it now? Do you change at will?”
“Yep,” Luke replied proudly. “And I get to keep my clothes on. I mean, they disappear when I’m a dog, obviously, but when I change back I’m fully clothed.”
“Tch!” said Clara. “Lucky you.”
“Yeah,” said Luke. “Grams says it’s because my ability was originally from a spell – rather than it being a natural ability, like yours.”
Clara raised her eyes to look at the sky while she considered Gram’s theory. “Maybe,” she said. Then she grinned. “We can have so much fun, transforming together!”
Luke’s face fell. “Not any time soon,” he replied sadly. “Dad thinks we need to move on sooner than we planned. We’re leaving as soon as the prisoners are ready to be taken to the council. Dad wants to keep me close by. In fact, he thinks the whole clan needs to stick together for a while.”
Clara’s heart sank. She’d known the clan planned to move on in a week or so. She’d be back at school the following week. The summer was almost over. But now they were leaving even sooner. She took a minute to compose herself.
“In fact,” Luke said hesitantly, “I should probably be getting back to help take the camp down.”
Clara looked back at the camp. People were moving about in an orderly and well-practised fashion, checking under the bonnets of trucks and vans, attaching tow bars and packing boxes.
“Don’t go without saying goodbye this time,” she said to him.
“I won’t,” he replied.