Page 47 of Earth-Bound

Dum pressed harder. “I need to protect my mate, right? Like, if there’s a bad spell down there, I can burn it up, right?”

“You want to set light to Randall’s house?”

Dum pouted. “Only if it’s hurting my mate. It’s not fair to ask me to stand outside and let Matty go in there all alone to work magic without me.”

Matty said, “You don’t think I can work magic without you?”

“I know youcan, I just don’t like you being in danger without me.”

“You probably meant that to sound more comforting than it actually did.”

I turned back to Terrund. I was going to ignore the rest of them. That was how you dealt with bullies, after all. Let them say what they wanted until they grew tired of it. Don’t give them the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of you.

I asked, “What are you doing tomorrow?”

It wasn’t my best line but I was a bit distracted by the rest of the people in the café and the jangling uncertainty inside me from suddenly being surrounded by people talking about magic again after so long without anybody suspecting that I’d once believed in that shit.

If I’d been hoping to get away from whatever-the-fuck this was, though, I was in for a bad surprise.

Terrund said, “Um, actually, I was going to check out the house with Matty and Anthony. I knew Mulgrave and I might be able to identify some of the spells.”

My body turned cold. It was as though I’d jumped into an icy stream. The absolute cold feeling was instantaneous and I found myself retreating back inside my head, suddenly fifteen again, looking at a gang of people who thought it was hilarious to mess with me.

“Sure,” I said. I put down my cutlery carefully and pushed my chair back. “See you around. Thanks for dinner, Randall.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a couple of notes, dropping them onto the table. Until then, it had felt as thoughI’d been invited round for dinner by a friend, but I was just a customer. Of course I was. And these people had got to me faster than anyone had in a long, long time.

Terrund leapt up. “Where are you going?”

“Home.”

As I said it, I got a lump in my throat. I never really called my camper van ‘home’ because it wasn’t that. Nowhere was home for me. That was the point of having the van. I could go anywhere. But I needed to get out of here, so I said it anyway.

“Perhaps I could walk you?”

I looked at Terrund, studying him. He didn’t look like he was laughing at me. On the other hand, he had joined in the hilarious jokes about magic and spells.

No, I wasn’t in the right headspace to have him around. I wanted to be alone, to sort through this.

“No.” I realised that came out too bluntly when he flinched. “Not tonight. I have to be up early.”

He nodded and attempted a smile but it was a poor thing and I felt bad that I’d hurt him, confused as to why he’d be hurt when he’d been the one making fun of me.

I left, carefully closing the door behind me. There was absolute silence as I stepped into the street, and then I heard Dum ask, “Is it me or is he weird?”

I didn’t hear the reply. I didn’t need to. It was me. I was weird, and even the weirdos had noticed.

I walked quickly, trying to get away from my thoughts, but they followed me around. The word ‘weird’ echoed in my mind.

No, I told myself.You’re not weird. Not anymore.

It took me nearly five minutes to even notice that the fox was following me again. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t convince myself that it was a coincidence.

By the time I’d walked back across the fields, I’d calmed down a bit. I was steady enough to pick up all my things from where I’d left them around my camper. The stool I sat on outside in the evenings, I tucked that back under the table, and the shoes I’d left outside so I didn’t trek mud inside, I threw into the cupboard I used as a wardrobe. It took me ten minutes to clear everything up and then I was all packed, ready to go. Ten minutes and I could drive off without leaving a trace of myself behind.

I actually got into the driver’s seat and started the engine. I drove fifty yards before I pressed the brake and paused.

Did I really want to go?

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