Page 45 of Fiendish Delights
‘We don’t know any elves – this is quite a rural area andthere aren’t any nearby, either low or high. Daisy’s birth mother lived up north and we were told she died. We don’t think she had any family to speak of, so we can’t look up any elven connections that way.’
Any second now she’d be telling Hugo that I’d wet the bed until I was seven, that my teenage diary was in a box in the loft and he’d be welcome to read it before he left.
Hugo looked at me. ‘I’m sorry about your birth mother,’ he said softly.
‘I was a baby,’ I said. ‘I don’t have any memory of her. I was lucky to be adopted by such a loving family.’ I reached across and hugged Mum. She hugged me back while my dad smiled proudly.
‘Daisy had a sad beginning,’ he said. ‘But I think we’ve made up for it since.’
‘She’s obviously lucky to have you.’ Hugo leaned forward. ‘Forgive me for asking, but are you sure that her mother was a low elf? Daisy has a lot of magic. It’s … unusual.’
‘Oh, we’re sure,’ Mum said. ‘She was left as a foundling at Freemark Hospital with a note stating that her mother had died and her remaining family couldn’t look after her. The note emphasised that Daisy’s mother was a low elf. The police tried to find her and double-checked the information they had, but no high elves knew who she could be and no elven babies were missing from any high-elf families. Neither were there any recently pregnant high elves who fit her mother’s profile. Obviously there are far fewer high elves than low ones, so it was easy for the police to confirm that Daisy didn’t belong to any of them, and we checked it out ourselves later. Unfortunately, despite everyone’s best efforts, we don’t know much beyond she was a low elf living in Edinburgh and she couldn’t look after Daisy. We completely understood when Daisy decided to moveto Edinburgh herself. Even though it’s very far away,’ she added with only a tinge of sadness.
‘When I first moved there,’ I said softly, ‘I wondered if I might bump into some family members – it’s not a big city. But I never found anyone – not anyone who wants to be found.’ I looked at Hugo, suddenly wishing the sympathy in his eyes wasn’t quite so intense. ‘I’ve long since made my peace with it,’ I said firmly.
Mum lifted a plate in Hugo’s direction. ‘More cake?’
Fortunately the conversation changed course and I stopped feeling quite so uncomfortable about Hugo learning so much about me. Before dinner, Dad hauled him off to his shed to show him his collection of model aeroplanes, which Hugo had made the fatal mistake of sounding interested in.
As soon as he’d gone, Mum couldn’t help herself. ‘He’s very handsome.’ Yep. Still stating the obvious.
‘We’re only friends, Mum.’
She pretended not to hear me. ‘He’s clearly smitten with you.’
I was a spider’s silk addict; friends or not, I was the living embodiment of Hugo’s deepest fears. ‘I think you’re reading too much into our relationship.’
‘So there is a relationship?’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Not the sort you’re thinking about.’
‘You look good together.’
‘We’re friends.’ And getting to that point had been a struggle. ‘But our differences are greater than our similarities.’
‘Opposites attract.’
I could feel a long, exasperated sigh coming on. ‘That’s not actually true.’
‘Well,’ she shrugged, ‘as long as you practise safe sex.’
Unbelievable. ‘Mother…’
She winked at me. ‘I’ll say no more, Daisy. My lips are sealed on the subject.’
I knew she was lying,sheknew she was lying – even Hester and Otis knew she was lying – but to call her out on it would only have extended the conversation. Instead, I pinned my mouth shut and helped her set the table. I knew she only wanted the very best for me, but she didn’t know about the spider’s silk and she didn’t know my days were numbered because of it. There were some things I couldn’t tell my parents, not because I didn’t love them but because I did.
It was late when Hugo finally said his farewells. I walked him to the door and waited while he shrugged on his coat. ‘It’s a long journey back up north,’ I said. ‘You can stay if you want to. You don’t have to drive through the night.’
The corner of his mouth crooked up, revealing his dimple. ‘Thank you for the offer, but I don’t mind the journey and I ought to get back.’
‘Okay. Drive safe.’
‘Anyone might think you cared, Daisy.’
I pulled a face at him and he laughed. He stepped towards the doorway then lifted his head as his eye caught something. I followed his gaze and frowned when I saw the sprig of mistletoe hanging there. Hmm. I was certain it hadn’t been there when we arrived.
‘Traditions are important,’ he murmured.
