Page 56 of Crossroads Magic
“Actually, the expert you need to talk to about the Finger is Trevalyan,” Benedict said. “He is its Keeper.”
“Keeper?” Ghaliya asked.
“It’s an honorary title,” Trevalyan said dismissively. “I get paid a small annual sum by Parks and Recreation to keep an eye on it, and report in if there’s any vandalism, or if anything happens to the rock. It’s money for nothing.” He shrugged.
“Why?” Ghaliya asked. She was only picking at her food, for she had been ill all afternoon. Conversation was a distraction for her. “Hasn’t any kid ever tried to tag it?”
“Tag?” Trevalyan pushed his glasses back up his nose.
“Graffiti,” Benedict supplied.
“Ah. No, no tagging,” Trevalyan told Ghaliya with a smile. “There are too many stories. Kids don’t have the courage to face the power of the rock. Besides, what would be the point? No one would see their art.”
“I suppose,” Ghaliya said doubtfully. “What are the stories?”
“They are legion,” Trevalyan admitted. “Both the greenway and the rock share tales. Anyone trying to drive to the rock will lose at least one hub cap, and it’s said it’s the power of the rock, making the greenway heave at just the right time, to discourage visitors.”
“Cars don’t have hubcaps anymore,” Olivia said, with a light laugh.
“Just as well, because there is already a good truckload’s worth of rusting hubcaps lying along the side of the greenway, in among the weeds and the trees.” Trevalyan turned to Ghaliya. “But in the end, it’s simple science that explains the spontaneous nose bleeds and wheels that fall off cars.”
“It is?”
Trevalyan gave her a reassuring smile, his eyes twinkling. “The Finger is a lodestone.”
Ghaliya frowned. “I learned about them in school. They’re magnetic, right?”
“Very good. Yes, the rock is ferrous, which means it has metal in it, and the metal has become magnetized. And the greenway is full of corrugations that have formed from all the cars travelling over it, over the years. The corrugations are bad enough that any car that did happen to have hubcaps would find them coming loose…and possibly losing a wheel if their axle was not the strongest.”
Ghaliya looked disappointed. “That’s it? Magnetism and corrugations?”
“It’s just like a magician’s trick, isn’t it?” Trevalyan told her, with a sympathetic note in his voice. “Once you know how the trick works, all the fun evaporates.”
“Yeah, it does,” Ghaliya admitted. “Still, I’d like to see it.”
“I will take you there,” Trevalyan promised. “Perhaps when the weather is a bit warmer.”
“Best do it in the next couple of days, Ghaliya,” I warned her.
Trevalyan looked startled, then thoughtful. He nodded. “Yes, I’m sure I can find the time in the next day or so. We can walk there easily enough and spare Olivia’s axles.”
“Thank you,” Olivia said dryly.
Everyone laughed and the conversation moved on.
?
After dinner, Ghaliya chose to sit at the locals’ table in the bar and continue talking with anyone who lingered, which was nearly everyone, including Juda. Broch announced he was going home, and so did Harper. Again, neither departure surprised me.
I had already cleared the kitchen. I only needed to load the dishwasher and hand wash the remaining dishes. Then I turned off the lights and stepped out into the hall.
I heard the sound of low, hard voices, one of them a woman’s. Cautiously, I moved to the low edge of the stairs running overhead, and peered out from underneath them, toward the front door.
Benedict and Harper stood by the front door. Harper was dressed for the outdoors, including her flat brimmed hat and dark gloves. They were discussing something in low voices and both of them looked angry. Benedict’s face was flushed and his hands moved almost violently as he spoke.
Harper had a fist on one hip, her face working.
I had to go past them to go upstairs to the apartment. If they had been here since dinner had finished, they could linger there for a lot longer, and I was loathe to interrupt. There was no other way, though.
