My father closed his eyes wearily. ‘Just … just do some sight seeing or something. Take your pet out for a walk. Anything.’
‘How does that help Helena?’ I demanded.
There was no answer. I waited for him to come up with another excuse, but he didn’t. Instead, he shook his head sadly and left the room, leaving the door open.
My mother stood in the doorway and heaved a sigh. I rushed up to her and asked. ‘What can I do? There must be something. I could … recruit members, or-’
She shook her head. ‘It is far too dangerous to speak of the group in public. No, we can’t ask you to do that. Hm, but there may be something.’
‘I’ll do anything,’ I said eagerly. ‘I want to help.’
‘Let me think about it over the day,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you go out and get to know the city? It really is beautiful at this time of year.’
I exhaled. ‘Fine. Maybe I’ll go to the Human market and-’
‘No!’ My mother said sharply, ‘Stay away from the Human market.’
‘All right, all right. I won’t go,’ I said, slightly alarmed.
My mother relaxed her shoulders and gave me a short embrace before kissing my cheek and leaving.
Turning to Hawthorne and feeling rather defeated, I asked him, ‘would you like to accompany me into town?’
Hawthorne’s bushy tail wagged excitedly, knocking a chair over and upturning a side table.
‘I’ll take that as a yes.’
~
I had to admit, it was nice having time away from Jack. The crisp morning air cleared my head and I felt as though I could think properly for the first time in days. Things had gotten out of hand between Jack and I over the last week, something that I had not anticipated.
But I had found my family, well and safe. There was only one piece of the puzzle missing and that was Helena. It was painful to think about her, so I tried not to. Instead, I occupied myself by wandering through the streets of Flamethroat Valley. The shops were quaint and Hawthorne was allowed to follow me everywhere, though he did have trouble fitting through some of the doors.
We walked into a shop called ‘Spirit Devine’ – the name was so corny I couldn’t help but go inside. The woman behind the counter squealed with delight at the sight of Hawthorne.
‘Oh goodness!’ She said, bustling over. ‘She is a mess, isn’t she?’
‘He,’ I corrected, before looking Hawthorne up and down. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘Oh, darling.’ The shop assistant looked at me with pity. ‘Look at her coat – it’s so long and matted!’
‘He,’ I repeated before running my fingers through Hawthorne’s coat easily. ‘It seems fine.’
‘Please.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘When was the last time you brushed her?’
‘Brushed him?’
‘When did you last bathe her?’
I stared, annoyed.
‘You’ve never washed her?’ She was absolutely flabbergasted.
‘Do I need to?’
She leaned close to Hawthorne and inhaled deeply through her nose, before recoiling. ‘Oh my! She needs a bath!’
I put my nose to Hawthorne’s fur and sniffed. ‘He smells fine.’
‘You’ve probably become accustomed to it.’ She waved a hand airily. ‘I can give her a shampoo, cut and brush for only one gold piece.’
I pulled a face. ‘Nice try.’
‘I’ll even throw in some fragrance that you can spray on her. We have lavender, rose, orange-’
‘No thanks.’ I took a step towards the door.
‘Wait!’ she called. ‘I’ll do it for half price, since I know you’re a regular.’
I paused. ‘What? I’ve never been here before.’
She looked confused. ‘But this animal, isn’t it … isn’t it Mister Martinez’s?’
‘What are you talking about?’
The shop assistant looked at Hawthorne carefully, walking around his body and analysing him. She lifted his tail. ‘No … wait, this one is a boy!’
‘Well spotted,’ I said coldly.
The shop assistant bit down on her bottom lip. ‘But they could be twins!’
‘Hawthorne looks like the Martinez animal spirit?’
‘Almost exactly!’ she exclaimed. ‘Yours is much bigger though! But how can you afford this spirit? I heard Martinez spent half his fortune on his own companion.’
I clenched my teeth together. I was getting rather sick of people asking me how I came to acquire Hawthorne.
‘I inherited some money, okay?’ I invented. ‘So you say they are exactly alike?’
She nodded fervently, ‘Oh my goodness. Imagine if they had pups. They would be worth a mint!’
I didn’t want to linger in this shop any longer. I had just discovered what Nicholo Martinez’s animal companion was – and I would bet all of my money that it had the same talents as Hawthorne.
I walked briskly to the lodge, with Hawthorn tottering along behind me. I was so intent on getting back that I walked through the marketplace and ran straight into a thin girl in a black. She stumbled, but caught herself in time.
‘Sorry,’ I said quickly, but I did a double take immediately.
Her hood had slipped off when I had bumped her and I saw the beautiful face of R?ven Blacklock.
Chapter Fifteen
Vulmessian