Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

T he only person who was displeased by the turn of events was Hester. As soon as we waved goodbye to Amy and got into the Jeep, she started to complain. Loudly. ‘You absolute bunch of bloody idiotic nincompoops!’

I clicked my seatbelt into place. ‘What’s wrong now?’

‘We have a decent lead on some real treasure and you handed it over to a teenager! When she gets rich and you’ve got bills that you can’t pay, don’t come crying to me!’

Otis sprang to our defence. ‘Hes, they’re already rich,’ he said patiently. ‘They can pay their bills – even Daisy can pay her bills. She’s not a hard-up delivery driver any longer. She’s a lady. With a mansion.’

‘That’s no reason not to guard against a rainy day! Or to grow those existing riches!’

‘You know there’s much more to what we do than money, Hes,’ I said. Being rich was not anywhere near my to-do list. Besides, as Otis had said, thanks to Lady Rose I was already more than wealthy enough for all of us. ‘Amy has done most of the heavy lifting. She’s the one who pinpointed the old witch’s cottage. If there’s any treasure to be found there, she deserves it.’

‘Plus,’ Hugo added, ‘we’re less concerned with the treasure that Athair wants us to find and more interested in what he doesn’t want us to find.’

‘Based on what?’ Hester asked sarcastically. ‘An old map with a blank space on it and the ramblings of an ancient giant spider? We don’t have any real information to go on. We don’t even know where to find information.’ She folded her arms, affected a pout and turned away. ‘It’s ridiculousness.’

‘Well, I think they’ve done a wonderful thing,’ Otis said. ‘Even without the immediate concerns about Athair, they’re inspiring the next generation of treasure hunters. They’re creating a wonderful legacy.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Hester grumbled. ‘At the very least, you should have negotiated a percentage.’ She looked out of the window at Amy’s departing back and her voice dropped. ‘I hope she’ll be alright. Treasure hunting is dangerous and I like her. I don’t want her to get hurt.’

I smiled softly. I suspected that was at the root of Hester’s complaint but, regardless of her youth, I reckoned Amy would be fine. More than fine, in fact.

Hugo’s phone pinged and he picked it up and glanced at the screen. A slow smile spread across his face. ‘The Primes have come through. They’ve found information that the woods near Hammerwich were not coppiced until just after the turn of the thirteenth century. That helps narrow down the time frame. Now we’re looking for something that could remove all fiends in one go that existed between the years of 1200 and 1345.’ In other words, long before Athair had been born.

Otis smiled brightly. ‘That’s only 145 years to worry about. Easy. We could get the golden skull back from Sir Nigel and time travel back. That’d be really interesting.’

‘Sure,’ Hester said. ‘I, for one, am incredibly eager to spend more than a century living in a world without antibiotics, sanitation and Google.’

Hugo intervened. ‘Unfortunately, even if we were allowed to use it again, the skull doesn’t work like that.’

‘But that doesn’t mean we’re out of options.’ I grinned.

Hester sighed. ‘You’re talking about books, aren’t you? Dusty, boring research. If there was anything to find in books, wouldn’t somebody have already found it?’

‘You have to know which questions to ask before you can find the answers. With enough time, I’m sure I can inspire an army of bookworms to help us,’ Hugo said. ‘We know more about what we’re looking for now, so we can hit every library and museum in the country that houses old books. It will take time but we’re bound to find something sooner or later.’

‘Or we can speed things up, narrow down our search and try something else,’ I suggested.

He raised his eyebrows. ‘Go on.’

‘Athair is hundreds of years old,’ I said. ‘That spider is hundreds of years old. It’s their lived history that has given them the knowledge we lack.’

‘Uh-huh.’ Hugo scratched his chin.

I grinned widely. ‘My old friend the Fachan is hundreds of years old, too.’

Smoo Cave was the last place in Britain I’d ever thought I’d return to. I wouldn’t have described my first visit there as a pleasant experience, even though without it I wouldn’t have had Gladys. But when we finally arrived at the familiar campsite after hour upon hour of relentless driving north, I couldn’t deny the warm fuzziness I felt upon seeing the familiar signs and the open campsite.

With no other tents and no sign of any camper vans, we had our pick of the spots. It took less than fifteen minutes to erect our tent, lay out our sleeping bags and get our equipment ready for the next day’s excursion into the cave. I was trying not to think too hard about that; the less mental space my claustrophobia could occupy, the less it would bother me when we entered Smoo Cave. If I could beat drug addiction, I could certainly overcome my fear of small dark spaces.

Hugo tidied up the loose items in the back of the Jeep then strode towards the centre of the campsite. He glanced around, side-stepped three metres to his left and planted his feet firmly on a particular spot, then put his hands in his pockets, turned around and eyed me with a knowing glint. Something tugged at my mind and an old memory rose to the surface; before I could stop it, a flush rose to my cheeks.

‘It’s as if we were here only yesterday,’ Hugo murmured. ‘You know, I was standing right on this very spot when you told me that you wanted a threesome.’ His gaze travelled up and down my body with a hot, possessive look. ‘The trouble is, Daisy, I’m not prepared to share you with anyone.’

I licked my lips. My flush was deepening. ‘I was hallucinating at the time, as you well know. The threesome I envisaged was me, and,’ I held up two fingers to emphasise my point, ‘two of you.’

‘One of me isn’t enough?’ he teased.

‘There’s always room for improvement.’

A low guttural rumble sounded in his chest. ‘You can’t improve upon perfection.’

I laughed aloud as Hugo continued to smoulder.

I was vaguely aware of Otis and Hester looking at us, looking at each other and muttering about re-visiting the local pub before they hastily flapped away. If the bar staff were the same as last year, the brownies would be welcomed with open arms. I didn’t pay them much attention; it was nigh on impossible to drag my gaze away from Hugo.

‘Do you practise that look in the mirror?’ I asked him. ‘That“come hither so I can ravish you immediately”look?’

‘I don’t need to practise it. All I need to do is look at you and think of how good you feel in my arms.’

My attempts at humour vanished, replaced by a tightening in my belly with several delicious, anticipatory butterflies thrown in for good measure.

Hugo continued, ‘I remember the exact words you said to me.’

‘Oh, yes?’ I asked, with an expression of innocent curiosity.

‘You said“I want your hot skin against mine and your arms wrapped around me” . ’

I ran my tongue across my lips. ‘Did I?’

‘You don’t remember?’

‘I don’t remember it like that,’ I said. ‘In fact, I’m certain I said more than that.’

Hugo’s blue eyes danced. ‘What else did you say?’

I took a step towards him. ‘Well,’ I drawled, ‘as I recall I also said quite distinctly that I want to feel you inside me.’

‘Inside you?’

‘Mmmhmm.’

‘Me?’

‘Mmmm.’

He closed the distance between us, stopping only when we were toe to toe. He didn’t touch me but I could feel his hot breath on my skin. There were goosebumps all over my body even though it wasn’t a cold afternoon .

‘I like it when you blush like that,’ Hugo said roughly.

‘I like it when you flash your dimple like that,’ I replied.

His mouth curved into a deeper smile and his dimple became even more noticeable. My heart beat harder. ‘I think,’ I whispered, ‘in fact, I know , that I’m one hundred percent completely and utterly addicted to you. Who needs drugs when Lord Hugo Pemberville is around? The more time I spend with you, the more I want you. You’re already inside me, Hugo.’ I tapped my temple. ‘You’re in here.’ I touched the centre of my chest. ‘And you’re in here.’

His eyes darkened with satisfaction. ‘There’s no escape from me, Daisy.’

I leaned in until nothing was separating us beyond a sliver of air. ‘Why would I ever want to escape?’

Hugo groaned. A heartbeat later, his mouth claimed mine. ‘I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.’ He kissed me again and his hands tangled in my hair before moving down my body. He pulled me against him so tightly that it felt as if we were fused together.

‘I want to grow old with you. I want to spend the next decades of our lives together. I don’t care if we’re hunting for the world’s greatest treasures or staying at home watching Bargain Hunt . As long as I’m with you, I know I’ll be happy.’

And with that, we stumbled towards the tent.

The following morning I was bending awkwardly over the outdoor tap and brushing my teeth when Hester approached. I didn’t want anything to dispel the warm buzz of contentment that I’d woken up with, not yet. There were plenty of hours left in the day for doom-laden dejection.

I managed a vague nod in her direction, hoping she’d give me a sunny good morning then wander away again. Unfortunately, she simply hovered beside me with an expression that suggested she had something to say and that she wouldn’t let me escape until she’d said it. I briefly debated running away but instead I rinsed out my mouth and straightened up to face her.

‘Can I talk to you for a minute?’ she asked, twisting her hands together in an uncharacteristically nervous movement.

‘Of course, Hes.’

She nodded gratefully but she didn’t say anything. I waited for several beats then I tried to fill in the blanks for her. ‘You’re worried about going into Smoo Cave after what happened last time,’ I guessed. ‘It won’t be like that. I know it must have been scary for you when I fell into that hole, and I know you thought I was dead, but everything turned out fine in the end. This time it’ll be even better.’

‘I’m not scared about the cave. And if you die, it’ll be all your own fault anyway,’ Hester said, a bit too loudly.

I looked at her and she pulled a face. ‘Alright.’ She sniffed and dropped her head. ‘Maybe I’m a bit scared about the cave. In fact, maybe I’m terrified. Maybe the moment you let go and dropped into that black hole was the worst moment of my life.’ Her wings twitched. ‘But that’s not why I want to talk to you.’

I gazed at her. ‘Okay.’

She licked her lips and again she didn’t say a word. I was still supposed to guess what we were talking about then. ‘You’re still annoyed about what happened with Amy?’ She shook her head. ‘Uh, you think I should stop trying to find a way to defeat Athair and hide from him instead, like Lady Rose did?’

This time she scowled. ‘No. Daisy Carter does not hide from anyone,’ Hester said icily.

I grinned. True. ‘Then are you here because you want me to buy some more chocolate brownies before we head to the cave?’

She huffed with obvious irritation. Not that, then; definitely not that. I squinted at her more carefully. There was real misery etched on her face and I felt a blast of cold fear. ‘What is it, Hester? What’s wrong? Are you ill?’ She shook her head. ‘Is Otis ill?’

‘No.’

I crouched down and tried to meet her eyes. ‘Then what is it,’ I asked as softly as I could.

She flew towards the tap, settled on top of it then wrapped her arms and then her wings around her body as if she were trying to cocoon herself from the world. My alarm grew tenfold; this was not like Hester at all.

‘You and Hugo are really happy together, aren’t you?’ Her voice was small and I had to strain to hear her words. ‘Even though you lurch from problem to problem, you truly love each other. I see the way you look at each other. It’s not just the sex stuff, it’s nothing to do with that. It’s the light you both get in your eyes. You smile at him in a different way to the way you smile at everyone else.’

I blinked. The last topic of conversation I’d expected was my relationship with Hugo. ‘I’m in love with him,’ I said.

Hester exhaled. ‘I know. That’s obvious to anyone with eyes.’ She pulled her wings even more tightly around herself. ‘That other brownie we met, the one who works for Athair. The pretty one.’

‘Eloise? What about her?’

Hester bit her lip. ‘Otis really likes her.’

I was starting to get a sense of where Hester was leading with this, but I realised I’d have to wait for her to say it. ‘He seems to,’ I said cautiously.

‘Oh, he definitely does.’ Her mouth turned down. ‘He doesn’t know anything about her, except that she works for the most evil creature in the entire country, but he still really likes her.’

‘It didn’t sound as if she had much choice in her employer,’ I said.

Hester sent me a baleful glance. ‘Otis found her attractive, Daisy. He wanted to help her – in fact he still wants to help her. When we were in the pub last night, he was talking about how he could storm Culcreuch Castle on his own and try to rescue her.’

My eyes widened with alarm. ‘That would definitely not be a good idea.’

‘I know that. He knows that too.’ She allowed the tips of her wings to unfurl and flicked them upwards in a shrug. ‘It was only talk. Even Otis realises that would be stupid.’ She sighed. ‘But if he meets her again and he’s still attracted to her and they end up falling in love…’

She didn’t finish her sentence. She lifted her head to reveal a miniscule glassy tear rolling down her cheek. ‘What will happen to me?’ she whispered.

My heart went out to her. ‘Hester?—’

‘You’re in love,’ she burst out. ‘He’ll be in love. And I’ll be all alone. I’ll never meet any other brownies who I might fall in love with – there are hardly any brownies around, for one thing. For another, even if I did meet a handsome brownie, he wouldn’t like me back. I’m not kind like Otis. I’m bitchy and opinionated and mean and…’

‘Brave and clever and absolutely wonderful,’ I said, meaning every word. ‘We love you, Hester. I love you. Otis loves you. I’m pretty sure Hugo loves you. All of the Primes love you. Why wouldn’t this mysterious brownie love you, too?’

‘It’s not the same, Daisy, and you know it’ Hester said. ‘I don’t even know why I said all that. I’m never going to meet a brownie I could like in that way. I’m going to be alone.’ Another tear fell. ‘Forever.’

She didn’t want platitudes; she didn’t want me to tell her that Mr Right was around the corner and that he’d sweep her off her feet at any moment. She didn’t want me to make up stories, she wanted me to speak to her truthfully. It was probably the first time I’d seen this sort of vulnerability from Hester and it might be the last. She deserved the sort of honesty she’d always given me.

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘First of all, Otis has only met Eloise once and it was a short meeting, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Second of all, it’s true that you aren’t for everyone – you’re more special than that. You know who you are. You’re not afraid to say exactly what you think. It will take a special brownie to appreciate your inimitable fabulousness.’

I gazed at her. ‘Don’t ever think that you don’t deserve love and happiness, Hester, because you do. You absolutely do. The right boy might show up out of the blue when you least expect it. Or,’ I added seriously, ‘he might not. If he doesn’t, we will always be here for you. You will always have a place with us and we will always love you because we’re your family. However, if you want to go searching for someone to share romance with, I’ll be thrilled to be your wing woman. As soon as this business is over, we can go on the hunt for other brownies.’ I smiled slightly. ‘You know I enjoy a good hunt.’

Hester unfurled her wings, wiped away her tears and dropped her arms. ‘As soon as this business is over?’ she asked with a familiar edge of arch sniffiness. ‘When will this business ever be over? When will you ever finish Athair for good?’

I answered as honestly as I could. ‘I don’t know, Hes, but I have to believe that it will happen. And if you want to fall in love with someone, you should believe that will happen too.’

She inhaled a ragged gulp of air and nodded. ‘Thank you, Daisy.’

‘You’re welcome.’

‘If you ever tell anyone about any about this – even Hugo – I swear I will?—’

I held up my hands. ‘I won’t breathe a word to anyone. I’ve got your back, Hester. Always. I love you.’

This time Hester’s smile lit up her entire face. ‘I love you too, Daisy.’