Hunting For The Sun

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Coasting

I was snatched out of sleep early that morning, a few hours before dawn. I worked my eyes open groggily to find the little man with the grey beard standing over me, shaking my shoulder.

`There are some people here,´ he told me urgently. `They´re asking questions about someone who sounds a lot like you.´

I was immediately awake, with dread gnawing at my stomach.

`What do they look like?´ I asked, sitting up sharply.

`Well, there´s two mighty pretty ladies and one rather beat up looking bloke. One of the girls has white hair, but she doesn´t look much older than you´ he mused.

`Skye, Persephone and Ori,´ I muttered. `Holy shit.´

I scrambled out of bed and flung my coat on.

`You can get out of the window and down the guttering,´ he told me, running over to the bay window to shove the sash up quickly. He held the curtain aside as I lifted a leg over the sill. `Be careful out there, the city´s not a place for a young lass,´ he warned me.

I shifted so that I was sitting on the ledge.

`Thanks, sir,´ I said politely. `We´ll settle up fees next time we meet.´

I dropped down a few feet, hands clinging to the wall. There was a ledge before a short drop to a corrugated iron roof of some kind of shed. I waved to the little man, and he slammed the window down, running out of sight. I crossed to the edge of the roof and put a hand on the mossy metal to support me as I jumped down. I tried for a silent landing and managed, but I twisted my ankle badly. I started to run off into the alleys. I could hear noises in the hotel behind me. I tried to ignore them and prayed that they wouldn´t see me. I knew I was out of sight after a minute or so, but I kept running. Skye knew me. She knew what I would do. I begged silently that she wouldn´t know me well enough to spot this.

I knew it was dangerous to stop. I could keep running, and then I would be safe, but these were superhuman animals, they would easily overtake me. I had been hiding all my life. Hiding was my speciality. Hiding from others and myself. If I could convince myself that I wasn´t somewhere that I was, then I could surely convince Skye.

All I had to do was think of somewhere that I normally wouldn´t hide. That meant reluctantly discounting roofs and alleys and hidey-holes. Too much my style. Not an option. All the while my breath was running out and my legs were pounding and aching. My chest began to burn, and I knew that I had to go somewhere.

Then I saw it. A back street strip club. That was an awful place to hide. So unreliable... perfect. I dived through the door and buried myself in the crowd, overlooking the catcalls that greeted me. I slammed my back against a wall and caught my breath. My limbs were shaking and my chest and neck were stitched beyond repair. I´m not much of a runner. I can go fast, but not for long.

Why Rae, what are you doing there?

Draco´s voice sounded amused.

Hiding

, I snapped shortly.

Sorry, sorry!

he replied, but he didn´t sound convinced. You know, I don´t object to this little secret of yours, in fact, I think it´s quite hot...

DRACO!

Sorry.

I´m not here for THAT. I´m hiding somewhere I wouldn´t think of hiding.

Explain.

Oh, yeah. Well, Skye´s with them... it´s Skye, Ori and Perse. They´re looking for me, and Skye knows me really well, so she knows where I would hide, so I chose somewhere I would never hide.

Simple, really,

he shrugged. Do you need to quit town?

Yes, I think so,

I replied.

Get your breath, take a pee, do whatever girls do, then I´ll get back to you.

Okay.

Oh, and it´s better if you´re outside. See if there´s an alley behind the loos or something.

Then he was gone.

Yeah, thanks a lot Draco.

I did wonder, however, why he didn´t ask why I was running. I was supposed to be with these people, but he hadn´t told me off. Oh well.

I moved to the back of the club and surreptitiously slipped into the toilets. They were probably the men´s, but no one was there. I slithered into a cubicle and locked it tight. I climbed onto the grubby loo seat and pressed my face to the bobbled glass, shading my eyes with a hand. There was a small alleyway or something out there, full of dustbins and broken chairs. I lifted the catch on the old window, breathing deeply of the night air. It had to be about three in the morning, but it was still really dark. It was winter, after all.

There was no way I was going to fit through the little top section of the window, so I leaned back, holding onto the walls, and kicked the glass through with my boot. I shouldered the rest out and hefted my body into the gap. My thick coat protected me sufficiently from the glass shards, so I dropped into the alley unharmed.

`Reparo,´ I muttered. All the glass threw itself back into the frame instantly. I smiled at my handiwork and paused to listen for the others before calling out to Draco.

Okay, I´m outside.

Well done,

he replied after a moment. Here´s the next place. I´m sorry you have to hop like this, but we can´t risk them tracking you.

I closed my eyes and a picture swam towards me, like a photo seen underwater. It cleared as it reached me, and I was looking at a little market town. A sign in about three languages said ´40 miles to the coast´.

Got it?

Draco asked.

Yep. I´ll get back to you when I get there,

I told him.

I love you,

he said. I blinked.

I love you too.

Good.

I smiled and wrapped my hands together, focusing on the picture with all my might. I got that funny melting feeling again, and when I opened my eyes I was standing in that little town, with the silent houses staring down at me.

This was certainly a prettier place. The houses were timbered and the second storeys overhung the street. There were several little wooden carts outside various houses, and leaded glass windows showed old displays of sweets and brooms. It was snowing lightly, like icing sugar sifting down onto a cake. I smiled, folding my arms around myself and tucking my hands under my coat. This was the sort of place in which I had always wanted to live. I just had. I even recognised some of it from dreams. Shame I don´t speak Russian. I wonder if that town´s still there...

You´re looking for the inn

, Draco informed me. I have to go. We´re almost there, and we need to use magic on Alethea the moment we cross the line.

Okay, send everyone my love,

I told him

I promise.

I looked up at the swinging signs of crude paintings in bright dyes on old planks. It was so sweet. Little gas lanterns burned every few houses, casting a haze of gold through the sparkling sifting sugar-snow. One sign depicted a bunch of grapes and a bed. The leaded windows spilled flaxen radiance over the snowy cobbles. It looked like a wonderful place. I hurried to the door and knocked.

A little old lady with a face like a withered apple and rosy little cheeks and hair like a coil of spun snow opened the door.

`Do you have a room for the night?´ I asked her.

She beamed at me. `Course, course,´ she said, ushering me in. I smiled gratefully.

`You all skinny,´ she accused. `Need fooding up.´ She took my hands. `Cold!´ she exclaimed. `Need big hot soup.´

She led me into the main room. It was nearly empty. There were wooden chairs and a squashy sofa in front of a massive hearth. The beamed ceiling was hung with pots and pans, and a huge white dog was sprawled on the rug. It looked more like a house than an inn, and I loved it straightaway.

She guided me into a little kitchen with another fire and a scrubbed wooden table. A man who looked like a gnome was snoring in an armchair.

`Don´t mind him,´ she muttered. `Silly drink too big from barrel.´ She gave him a stern look. `Sit down,´ she gestured.

I pulled out one of the mismatched pine chairs and sank down gratefully.

`Like mushroom?´ she asked, stirring the pot hanging over the fire.

This place couldn´t be real.

`It´s my absolute favourite, ma´am,´ I answered politely.

`Please, call me Lyudmila,´ she smiled, smoothing down her pristine apron over her chubby belly. `You name?´

`I´m called Rae,´ I told her.

`Pretty name,´ she smiled. She bustled around, fetching a terracotta bowl and a beaten brass spoon. She filled the bowl to the brim and placed it down in front of me, then a cup of tea the size of a bucket.

`Thank you so much,´ I said right from the bottom of my heart.

Needless to say, the soup was the best I had ever tasted, and ever have since. She snapped her fingers and trotted over to a clay oven beside the fire. I glanced over, but then went back to my soup. She snatched a pair of over gloves patterned with teapots from the back of a chair and slid a steaming loaf of white bread from the little oven. She ripped it in half and plonked a huge piece down in front of me, putting the rest on the mantelpiece. I tore off a great chunk and dipped it in my soup, pigging for all I was worth.

When I was finished, she offered me some pie, but I had to decline. She shrugged. `Save for morning.´

I remembered that funny time lapse thing Draco had mentioned, and looked up. `What time is it?´

`Oh, about midnight,´ she answered. `Time for bed.´

I still didn´t really understand the thing with the time, but at least I got extra sleep. She cleared my plates away so quickly that I hardly saw her move.

`Ssh,´ she muttered, pointing to her dozing husband.

There was a twisting staircase at the back of the kitchen, and she snatched a candle from a holder before leading me upwards. It was so dark above that little inn that I could hardly see my hand in front of my face. She pushed open a door and moved around, lighting candles.

`I wake you for breakfast,´ she whispered, then backed out and closed the door.

The room was tiny, but I could tell it was at the front. There was a bed under the window with a patchwork quilt. I removed my shoes and coat before sitting down and wrapping the covers around my shoulders. I looked out at the snow falling for a while before I fell asleep and the candles burned out.

Light had filled the little room when I woke up, sated for once. Like a little child, I immediately pressed my nose to the window, gazing out over the snowy streets and the biscuit box houses with a delight that was new to me. I had never loved snow. Ever. Now I could enjoy it. I dressed quickly and ran downstairs to the kitchen.

Lyudmila grinned at me toothlessly and patted the table where I was to sit.

`You miss official breakfast,´ she told me. `But I had to let you sleep because you are sleeping like baby. I save food for you. Porridge?´

`Thanks,´ I smiled, sitting down. `I really needed some sleep.´

She dumped a bowl of steaming porridge before me and then a pot of honey. I ladled the sugary goodness onto my breakfast and ate greedily. She smiled all the while.

`Look like Agafya, you do,´ she told me. `Daughter,´ she smiled. `She went to war.´

`I´m sorry,´ I said. `I lost my mother in the war.´

`We all lose,´ she shrugged. `No winners in war.´

`You´re right,´ I nodded.

`Agafya was so beautiful,´ Lyudmila sighed. `She had gold hair and eyes like the sun. Lovely girl. Miss her.´

I put my spoon down and took Lyudmila´s hands across the table.

`Did she go to fight in England?´ I asked.

`Yes, rebel cause, she said.´

`There were a lot of survivors,´ I told her, hope flooding through me. `She could still be alive!´

`Really?´ The wrinkled old face was streaked with tears, but she batted them away. I gave her hands a squeeze, noting how much they felt like warm, crumpled brown paper.

`It´s really likely,´ I replied. `I´m going back to England at the moment,´ I told her. `I´ll ask around for you.´

`Thank you!´ she cried, her face crinkling up like a paper bag.

`It´s nothing to how wonderful it feels to make someone feel better,´ I replied truthfully. `Thank you so much for your hospitality, but I must get moving. How much do I owe you?´

`Nothing,´ she shook her head. `No charge, as long as you promise to look for Agafya.´

`I promise,´ I swore, tears coming to my eyes.

`Anything you need?´ she asked.

`I hate to ask for more,´ I said reluctantly, `but I need some changes of clothes and some food.´

`No problem,´ she answered, getting up to fetch the things I would need.

~*~

I hated leaving that place, I really did, but it had to be done. I walked out of town along a snowy lane until I was out of sight.

Draco?

Yes, Oh light of my life?

Shut up. I´m out of town. Where´s the next place?

I bet you liked that place, huh?

Yes,

I snapped. I wasn´t feeling very charitable at that moment.

Well, the next one´s about twenty miles to the coast. There won´t be any time lapses to there.

I nodded. I realise that.

Here you go, then.

I nodded and focused again.

~*~

I had to slow down my town skipping as I got closer to the coast, and eventually just walked between towns. I won´t detail all of it. It was pretty dull.

I walked into the coastal city of St Petersburg and caught a bus to the harbour. In those days it was mostly destroyed and more of a town than a city. I don´t know, but it was said to have moved closer to the sea. I never knew where it had started out, but New St Petersburg was right on the water. Death Eaters packed the streets and slaves scooped the snow into huge trucks. It was a far cry from the little town where Lyudmila lived.

But then I was home in these places, so it was almost a relief. I didn´t think small town life would really agree with me too well.

The harbour was the busiest I have ever seen, and probably the most dangerous. The Death Eaters guards stood every few feet, armed to the teeth and looking evil. I ducked my head as I walked past them and prayed that they hadn´t noticed. No one said anything, so I kept going. The water was still icy, and it sloshed against the harbour stones like blue milk. I looked down at it, feeling slightly sick. It was a long sail through the Baltic Sea and around the southern tips of Sweden and Norway to get back to northern England.

`Next ship for Scotland now taking bookings!´ cried an uncouth voice. I ran towards it, pushing past people and coming up to a booth.

`Scotland, please,´ I panted.

`Certainly,´ the young man said. I paid him as much money as I could afford and he slammed the ticket on the table. I snatched it and looked to where he pointed.

`That one there. It´ll leave in an hour. I would be nearby,´ he recommended. I nodded and pulled my hood up before crossing the swarming wharf to the tanker.

I sank down to sit on a small stone pillar and waited for the hour to end, spending the time people watching. It was quite amusing, and I saw so many different stories. I think that´s kind of what´s shaped my view of the world. I´ve spent so much time in my life just watching people live. I´ve never been able to live properly, not yet. I have to settle for taking time out to see what I´ve missed, but that´s how it´s meant to be. Everyone has a purpose, I suppose. Just my bloody luck to be born with one that means I don´t get to live a normal life.

Well, I suppose that I never really had a normal life. Not even before the wars. It was suspicious and filled with prejudice. Then there was all the fighting, and all the things I have found out about since then, and most of that wasn´t even prophecy. Harry did all this to me. Without Harry, I could have had my mother with me all these years. I wouldn´t be some detached kid floating around in a sewer all my childhood. I wouldn´t have to go through everything I have. It´s all because of him, but now I´ve already killed him and it doesn´t make a difference. It just means that he can´t do anymore, but he´s set it all in motion. He´s made everything go wrong, and all by trying to do the right thing. It should be a lesson to us all. I decided in that moment that Apate was right. She knew that I would or had done something that didn´t change a thing if not make things worse. She knew those things.

So I had screwed myself up, stolen my own revenge from underneath my own feet. I buggered myself and there was nothing I could do.... Technically. However, I was never much of a girl for technicalities. If I couldn´t do it in life, I could always do it in death.