The first time I’m away by myself I lie on the ground. Lying on a Welsh mountain is special. I try to work it out: I am happy when I’m with Arran, just being with him, watching his slow and peaceful nature. That’s a special thing. And I’m happy with Annalise, really happy, looking at how beautiful she is and forgetting who I am for the time she’s with me. That’s pretty special too. But lying on a Welsh mountain is different. Better. That’s the real me. The real me and the real mountain, alive and breathing as one.
My twelfth birthday and another Assessment comes round. I hate them but I control myself, make myself put up with one day of the Council, the Councillors, the weighing and measuring, so that I can be free again. At the end of this Assessment they question Gran about my education, though it is fairly obvious that they know I have been expelled from school. Gran tells them little and doesn’t mention the field trips. The Assessment seems to go OK. My Designation Code is still Not ascertained.
A week later another Notification arrives. We are sitting round the kitchen table and Gran reads it out.
Notification of the Resolution of the Council of White Witches of England, Scotland and Wales
In order to ensure the safety of all White Witches it was agreed that any and all movements of Half Codes (W 0.5/ B 0.5) away from their recorded place of residence must be approved by the Council before journeys are undertaken. Any Half Code found in a place that has not been approved will have all movements restricted.
‘This is too much. He’s going to end up under house arrest,’ Deborah says.
‘Do you think they know that Nathan is going to Wales?’ Arran looks worried.
‘I don’t know. But, yes, we have to assume that they do. I thought they allowed it because …’ Gran’s voice tails off to silence.
I know the rest of her thoughts. The Council may be using me to lure Marcus in, to tempt him to see me, and if he does appear they will swoop in and kill him … kill us. But now they seem to want to restrict me.
Deborah has obviously been thinking of Marcus too. She says, ‘It might be something to do with the family that Marcus attacked up in the north-east.’
We all look at her.
‘You haven’t heard? They were all killed.’
‘How do you know this?’ Gran asks.
‘I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground. We all have to, don’t we? For Nathan’s sake … and our own, for that matter.’
‘How exactly have you kept your ear to the ground?’ Arran asks.
Deborah hesitates but then holds her chin up and says, ‘I’ve made friends with Niall.’
Arran shakes his head.
‘I just hang on his every word and tell him how handsome and clever he is and … he tells me things.’
Arran leans towards Deborah to warn her, I think, but before he can say anything she insists, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong. I talk to him and listen to him. What’s wrong with that?’
‘And when he says bad things about Nathan? What do you say then?’
Deborah looks at me. ‘I never agree.’
‘Do you disagree?’ Arran is as close to sneering as he can get.
‘Arran! I think it’s a great idea,’ I interrupt. ‘The Council uses spies all the time, Gran says. It’s OK to use their own tactics against them. Besides, Deborah’s right, she’s not doing anything wrong.’
‘She’s not doing anything right.’
I go to Deborah, kiss her shoulder and say, ‘Thank you, Deborah.’
She hugs me.
‘So, Deborah, what did you find out?’ Gran asks.
Deborah takes a breath. ‘Niall said that Marcus killed a family last week, a man, woman and their teenage son. Niall’s father had been called to an emergency Council meeting about it.’
‘I can’t believe he told you all this.’ Arran is shaking his head again.
‘Niall loves bragging about his family. He must have told me ten times that Kieran is training to be a Hunter and coming top all the time in the trials they have – unless Jessica is beating him, of course. Apparently Kieran is desperate to be sent on this investigation as his first assignment.’
‘Who were the family?’ Gran asks.
‘Niall said they were called Grey. She was a Hunter and he did something for the Council. Do you know them?’
Gran says, ‘I’ve heard the name.’
‘Niall said that the Greys were custodians of something called the Fairborn, and the Fairborn was what Marcus was after. I don’t know what the Fairborn is; I’m not even sure Niall knows. When I asked him I think he realized that he’d said too much and he’s hardly said a word to me since.’
I don’t say anything. For whatever reason, my father has just killed three more people, including a boy only a few years older than me. Was this a misunderstanding? He was trying to explain to them that he wasn’t really evil, he didn’t want to hurt them … He just wanted the Fairborn. Maybe he needed the Fairborn, whatever it is, but they wouldn’t give it to him, they wouldn’t listen … They attacked him and he was defending himself and …
Gran says, ‘I’ll write to the Council and request permission for you to travel to Wales.’
‘What?’ I’d not really been paying attention.
‘The Notification says you’ll need approval to travel. I’ll write to the Council and get permission.’
‘No. I don’t want them to know where I go. I don’t want their permission.’