I slide my hand away and get up. I move to stand by the fireplace. ‘Perhaps there is something else you might accept instead.’
She surveys me. ‘Perhaps.’ She gets up and comes to me and strokes her finger over the tattoo on my neck. ‘Yes, perhaps there is something else. Your services for a year.’
‘Services?’
She screeches her laugh out again. ‘I am always in need of assistants.’
I don’t know if I can stand being with her for a week, never mind a year. I don’t like this at all, but what did I expect? I’ve nothing else to give her.
‘I won’t kill people, if that’s what you want.’
She steps back and spreads her hands out a little. ‘Well, I understand you feel like that now.’ Her dress flutters. ‘But in time … your attitude will change.’ And as she says it I look in her eyes and I see Kieran on his knees in front of me, a gun in my hand. I blink and look away but I’ve already felt my finger pull the trigger.
She screeches her laugh again. ‘Killing is in your blood, Nathan. It’s what you are made for.’
I shake my head at her. Besides, if I’m going to kill people, I’ll choose who they are.
‘Perhaps you don’t want three gifts after all.’
‘I’ll work for you for a year. I won’t kill people.’
‘I shall be delighted to remind you of those words in a year’s time.’
‘Do. And I’ll tell you what you want to know about my tattoos on the morning of my birthday.’
A chilly gust slaps my face. ‘We are alone … now is a good time.’
‘I’m sure we can find time to be alone on my birthday.’
There’s a lull, no wind, nothing but chill in the air. I wonder if she could freeze me to death – probably.
And I’m not going to tell her all I know about my tattoos and certainly not about Mr Wallend. But I need to work out how much I can reveal to satisfy her.
She goes to the door and without turning to look at me says, ‘Pass a message on to Gabriel. There is another young person seeking my help. Gabriel must go to the meeting point in Geneva tomorrow.’
the eagle and rose
It’s a week until my seventeenth birthday. I’ve found Mercury and she will give me three gifts. Why do I not feel good?
Gabriel has gone to Geneva. He said he’d be back in the late afternoon. It’s hot. The sun is dazzling. A great day for a swim. The hike to the lake takes an hour but I stop along the way to sit and look at the valley. I’m trying to work out what to tell Mercury about my tattoos but I’m not making any progress.
I lie back and look at the sky. The roar from the river seems loud. High above a bird soars. It’s an eagle. A big eagle. I watch it for a long time then get up and run to the lake. I’m dizzy, almost stumbling on the path. A swim will wake me up. The lake is nothing more than a large pond really, surrounded by forest, and a patch of tall grass on one side. I strip and plunge in.
I swim out a few strokes and am numb. The lake water comes from the snow melt. I roll on my back and look at the uninterrupted blue of the sky and see the eagle again, not so high now.
I watch it for a while, circling higher and higher and then dropping down lower, and then circling higher again, dropping down much lower so that I can see the individual feathers at the ends of its wings. It looks black with the sun behind it. And I sink beneath the surface and realize I’m cold inside, really cold. It’s murky underwater and there’s mud and weeds. I can see the surface above me. I can see it but it seems way above me … further and further away. I’ve stayed down too long … I fight back up but swallow some water.
I’m at the surface again. Water in my nose but gulping air.
‘Relax.’ It’s Rose. She’s behind me in the water. ‘Relax!’
I look up to the eagle. He’s back, low, still there hanging above me. I spread my arms out, floating.
‘You’ve been in here too long. I’ll tow you in.’ Rose pulls me back to the shore, rhythmically and slowly, by my hair.
By my hair!
‘I don’t think that’s the right technique.’
‘Stop complaining. I’ve always wanted to do this … to rescue someone.’
I smile and water goes in my mouth but I spit it out. I’m numb but I can feel Rose’s body with my shoulder. A small patch of warmth.
‘You can stand now.’
‘No, take me all the way in.’
She yanks on my hair, towing me a bit further and then splashes a few drops of water on to my face. ‘I think that’s far enough.’
I find my footing in the mud and stand up. The water is below my waist.
Rose stands too. Her dress clings transparently to her curves and I have to look away.
She giggles. ‘Are you blushing, Nathan?’
I walk out of the water and let her guess.
I drop down on the grass on my stomach but I’m shivering.
‘You need to get dry. Can I use your T-shirt?’ But she is already using it to brush the water off my back.