Page 20 of Tattered Huntress
I stared at the pair of them. Hester rolled her eyes. ‘Hello? It would be polite for you to tell us your name – or are you as dumb as you look?’ She nudged her brother. ‘What kind of grown woman wears night clothes with bunny rabbits all over them?’
I looked down at my pyjamas. ‘They’re very snuggly and warm. Besides,’ I retorted, glad that I’d found my voice, ‘you can hardly talk. You’re dressed like an emo teenager.’
She frowned. ‘What’s an emo?’ She nudged her brother again. ‘She might talk like a fool but at least she’s got attitude. Maybe this one won’t be too bad.’
I glared at her. ‘Who the fuckareyou?’
Hester sighed impatiently. ‘I already told you – I’m Hester, this is Otis. I take back what I said. You might be the worst one yet.’
Otis shook himself and pulled himself up to his feet. I caught a glimpse of tiny wings attached to his back as he took off his cap and bowed. ‘Don’t worry about her.’ He smiled at me and tiny dimples appeared in his chubby pink cheeks. ‘We’re brownies. It’s a real pleasure to meet you, uh?—’
‘Daisy,’ I said faintly. ‘Daisy Carter.’ My eyes flicked to the necklace and locket, still in its original wooden box on top of my bedside table, and my shoulders sank. I hadn’t understood what Sir Nigel had meant when he’d called it a pùca necklace but I was starting to. Brownies were also known as pucks – or, presumably, pùca.
Bugger. ‘You were in the locket.’
‘Well,’ Otis demurred, ‘yes and no. Our essence was in there so when you opened it, in effect you called us back intoexistence. We were dormant souls but now we’re awake and ready to serve you.’
I sat on the edge of the bed. This was unexpected, to say the least.
‘I don’t understand why you look so surprised,’ Hester said. ‘You’re an elf. All elves know that they must check over any object very carefully before opening it. A simple burst of water magic would have told you everything you needed to know.’
‘I was adopted when I was a baby and brought up as a human.’ I rubbed my eyes. ‘I didn’t grow up in the elvish community. There’s a lot I don’t know.’
She snorted. ‘I’ll say.’
‘Look,’ I said, ‘it’s lovely to meet you and all that, but you don’t have to hang around here. You’re free to go. Enjoy the big wide world and all it has to offer. I’m not looking for anyone to … serve me.’
Otis wrung his little hands. ‘That’s not how it works. We’re brownies – we live to serve. And we now serve you.’
Hester nodded. ‘You’re our person. You’re not the person I might have chosen but you’re what we’ve got. We’re going nowhere.’
‘What happened to your last person?’ I asked, still befuddled.
‘Murdered,’ she said cheerfully.
‘Not by us,’ Otis added, with a quick worried glance in my direction.
Hester sniffed. ‘The sorcerer who killed her conjured our essence into the necklace to stop us from taking revenge.’ She pouted. ‘Which is a shame because I excel at revenge.’
I was starting to think that I had a lot to learn. I pushed my hair away from my eyes. This was too much to take in and I still wasn’t convinced that it wasn’t a dream. The urge to burrow under my duvet and hide from the two tiny absurdities wasoverwhelming. They obviously didn’t present any danger, but that didn’t mean I wanted them in my bedroom.
‘I’m going to sleep,’ I announced firmly.
‘Good idea,’ Otis said. ‘You need your rest.’
‘You can sleep when you’re dead,’ Hester protested. ‘Let’s go out and see what this place has to offer. We’re in Edinburgh, right? There must be some decent parties to go to. What year is this?’
‘2024.’ I got into the bed and pulled the duvet over me. ‘Go and party, if you wish. If you’re not here when I wake up, then good luck with your new life. Have a great time and enjoy the twenty-first century. The door is over there.’
I gently shooed them off the pillow and lay down. ‘Good night,’ I said, then more firmly, ‘Goodbye.’ I closed my eyes.
For some ridiculous reason, I thought that would be last of them.
‘Get one of those taxis,’Hester said in my ear when I alighted from the train at Morpeth a week later.
‘I can’t afford a taxi,’ I muttered.
‘Yes, you can. You’ve got more than enough money to pay for one.’
