Tattered and Torn

"Wow, look at this!"

"Oh, that's cool!"

"Neatsy!"

James smiled fondly at his daughters. They had taken rapidly to England. At the moment, the small family was roaming the streets looking for a house, but the girls were continually getting distracted by the sights and sounds of the country.

Jamie looked up at her father. "Is this where you used to live, Dad?"

"Nope," James answered. "Near as I can figure, though, the Evanses used to live around here...I'm sure the Dursleys still do. Dollars to doughnuts."

Jamie grinned at her father's use of the American slang phrase. "Who are the Dursleys, Dad?"

"Lily's sister and her family."

"Lily was your first wife, right, Dad?" Virginia inquired, dropping back to join her sister and father.

James nodded. "That's right."

Jamie hesitated. "Dad? What if she's still alive?"

James stared at his daughter. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "Tell you what, we'll burn that bridge when we come to it."

Little Erin frowned. "Why do you want to burn bridges, Daddy? What if you want to go back?"

James chuckled a little sadly. "Ah, Erin me lass, if only we could go back."

"Going forward isn't so bad," Virginia protested. "If you'd kept trying to go back, Jamie and Erin and I might not be here."

"I did try to go back, Virginia. Your mother dragged me forward kicking and screaming."

Erin giggled. "Hey, Daddy, that house over there is for sale."

"Okay. We'll go take a look."

~~~

Jamie and Erin were bouncing their basketball back and forth. Virginia was engrossed in her book. James was inside the house, talking things over with the realtor.

Jamie bounced the ball a little too high. It started bouncing down the street. Erin turned. "I'll get it!" She began chasing the ball down.

"Erin, no, the street!" Jamie shrieked, but Erin paid no heed, dashing on after the ball.

It bounced across the street, bounded over the curb, and would have gone into one of the yards--had someone not caught it. Erin stopped abruptly and looked up. It was a teenage boy with messy hair, sad green eyes, and big black glasses.

"Is this yours?" the boy asked her. His voice was soft and low, but kind.

Erin nodded. "Uh-huh."

"You might want to watch out for cars. They have a habit of cropping up unexpectedly on these streets." The boy gently tossed Erin the ball. She caught it and continued to stare.

"'Scuse me," she said in a small voice, "but...are you a morhodel?"

The boy raised his eyebrows. "No, of course not. What do you know about morhodel?"

"They're dark elves," Erin said, a little less nervously than before. "They're ruthless and evil. They attack without warning and never leave anyone alive."

The boy knelt down on Erin's level. "If they never leave anyone alive," he said seriously, "where do the stories come from?"

Erin frowned, confused. The boy raised his eyebrows again and straightened up. "You be careful, okay?" he cautioned her, before turning to the tall man he'd been walking with. "Anyway...you were saying..."

The two walked off, talking quietly. Erin stared after them, still struggling with the boy's question.

"Erin!"

Jamie's voice startled her out of her thoughts. She turned around. "Oh...hi, Jamie."

"Sweetie, don't run off like that," Jamie scolded lightly, taking her hand and hurrying her back up the street. "It isn't safe. You could've been run over. And remember that we don't know anyone here. If you talk to the wrong person you could get kidnapped."

She was right, Erin realised with a guilty start. She thought about the boy she'd talked to. He'd seemed nice enough...but what he'd asked about the stories scared her a little. Not to mention the fact that it confused her. "Jamie?"

"Hmm?"

"You know all those stories you told me about the morhodel?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Well...if they never leave anyone alive, where do the stories come from?"

Jamie was momentarily stumped, but only briefly. "From the ex-morhodel, the ones who chose to return to the path of good. They told their stories to the good side."

"Oh." Erin felt a little better.

James came out just as the sisters returned. "I've made an offer for the house, girls, so we'll probably be moving in soon," he announced."

"Yay!" Erin clapped her hands.