‘Why is anything anywhere?’
I rub my forehead. ‘So people who come here are often Travellers? And people who wander in by accident are outliers?’
She nods. ‘I’ve been apparating here for as long as I can remember.’
‘And if a Traveller dies here...’
‘...they die in real life. Yes. You have to be careful in the forest, you know. There are things there.’
‘The mares,’ I guess.
Ashley starts. ‘You’ve seen one?’
‘Just briefly,’ I mutter, fumbling the answer.
She shivers. ‘They’re nasty things.’
‘The one I saw didn’t seem so bad.’
‘Stay away from them, Zoe. You don’t want to wake up dead.’ She realises what she’s said and laughs.
I smile and we lapse into silence. Then I take a deep breath and ask the question that’s been burning inside me since all this began. ‘I’ve heard that there’s something called the Department. What’s that?’
Her eyes dart from side to side as if she’s nervous she’ll be overheard. ‘They’re in charge. The majority of us stay away from them.’
‘In charge of what?’
‘Everything,’ she says ominously. ‘They have our best interests at heart but sometimes their methods are, well, heavy handed.’
It’s interesting that no one I’ve met has had anything good to say about the mysterious Department. I’m desperate to ask more but I sense that Ashley wants to change the subject. I don’t want to ruffle her feathers so I oblige. ‘You mentioned that the Dreamlands are the constant.’
‘Yeah. The forest, the town, the Badlands.’
I decide I don’t like the sound of the Badlands at all. ‘What isn’t constant?’
She says thoughtfully, ‘It’s easier to show you.’ She clambers to her feet. ‘We can probably sneak in.’
I stand up and stretch. My feet tingle with pins and needles so I stamp several times. The huge animal in the river shakes its tail. I suddenly realise what it is and laugh.
‘What?’ Ashley asks.
‘That’s an ox, isn’t it?’
She grins. ‘Yes. This part of the river is what was known as the oxbow lake. Apparently it’s been here for over thirty years fuelled, no doubt, by the disturbed dreams of spotty geography students. Come on. Let me show you the Bubble.’
I give the bow-tied beast one last look then follow her down the street.
***
Ashley leads me round the edge of the town, pointing out various buildings as we go. She waves cheerily to a lot of people. Every one of them waves back; she seems popular. I sense that a lot of the Travellers want to stop and chat to her but they’re too wary of me. Ashley ignores their sidelong glances, but she’s not oblivious to them.
‘People aren’t used to newcomers as old as you,’ she says in an undertone. ‘They just need to get used to you, that’s all.’
Her optimism is heart-warming, even if I don’t entirely believe her words. I force a smile back and she continues to burble on. She knows an extraordinary amount about both the town and its people.
It’s not until we near a door at the far north-western edge of the town that she falls silent. A door in itself isn’t particularly strange but this one isn’t attached to anything. There are no walls. There’s no building. It’s simply a door. There is, however, a uniformed man standing in front of it.
Ashley pulls back her shoulders and strides up to him. Somewhat less confidently, I follow.
‘Hi Kev,’ she calls out in a voice that is higher and more girlish than I’ve heard her use before.
Despite his sombre expression, the man flushes. ‘Ashley.’
‘Can we go in?’
He looks unhappy. ‘You know it’s not allowed.’
‘Come on,’ she scoffs. ‘We’ll only be five minutes. Zoe here is new. I want to show it to her.’
He barely looks at me. ‘I’ve heard about her.’
I stiffen. From whom? Dante? Or Bron?
‘She’s not an outlier, you know,’ Ashley continues. ‘She’s a Traveller. Like us.’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ he sniffs. ‘The Department won’t like it.’
She places a hand on his arm. ‘I won’t tell if you don’t.’
His mouth turns down further. ‘I can’t.’
‘Yes, you can. You can even come with us, if you like. We won’t go through any doors. We’ll just ... take a quick peek.’
‘Ashley...’
She bats her eyelashes, actually bats them. I stare at her. This is quite a performance.
‘Go on then,’ he groans, his eyes flicking around nervously. ‘But only five minutes.’
Ashley beams. ‘You’re amazing.’ She reaches up and gives him a peck on the cheek, the top of her head brushing against his cap and knocking it slightly askew. She throws me a triumphant look over her shoulder. ‘Come on.’