‘I didn’t know Martin had moved on, I thought he was still teaching you?’
Scarlet felt the blood drain from her face. Her hands dug into the sheets and made great fistfuls of them, squeezing until her forearms hurt. ‘Mum, could you, maybe, I don’t know, be Skinny’s mum for a bit.’
‘Skinny?’
‘Sorry, um, Scarlet.’
‘Huh?’
Scarlet shuddered. It was never easy when she was reminded how similar the two of them were, but the look of confusion on mum’s face matched her own far too well.
‘Yeah, she’s me, from another dimension.’
‘Another dimension? Like in that Prodigy song?’
‘Huh?’
Mum did this weird dancing, head-bobbing thing that made Scarlet both cringe and giggle at the same time. Then she ran away.
Red came with her and the two of them raced down the stairs. The front door was letting a cool breeze in, welcome release from the warmth of the house. Summer was here, and it actually felt like summer. Which sucked.
Scarlet could list the ways in which summer sucked, but it always came down to clothes. She wore jumpers and trousers and stuff that was baggy and concealing. So she was looking at months of either sweating like a paedophile on a school bus, or never leaving the house. Neither choice filled her with glee.
She stopped at the front door and eyeballed the man standing there. He was wearing a black suit, with a black shirt and black tie and she giggled. ‘You guys really don’t live in the same house as subtle, do you?’
‘Hello, Joanna. Your mother was most confused when I asked if you lived here.’
‘Yeah, well, she’s confused most of the time. What can I do for you?’
‘May I come…’ He trailed off, his eyes fixed on Red. Scarlet grinned. ‘Yeah, that was my response too.’ He didn’t react and she thought just maybe he was thinking something other than ‘mmm, leather’. He finally raised a shaking hand.
‘Who are you?’
‘Red Riding Hood. A pleasure.’
For some reason, her stiff European tones seemed stranger here, back in real reality. The thump back into normality took a sudden turn to the left as Scarlet glanced at Red and saw someone completely at odds with the world around her. Then she saw the leather and turned hurriedly back to the council member.
The man’s mouth opened and closed, but only a vague sort of hissing sound emerged.
‘Um, were you going to say something?’
‘She is… that is to say… The Red Riding Hood?’
It was so rare to be on the knowledgeable end of things. Scarlet folded her arms, leaned against the door frame and grinned. ‘Yep. Cool, huh?’
The man blinked, eyes wandering now. When they settled on Scarlet she wondered whether he was about to faint. ‘You okay?’
He nodded, absently. ‘How did you find her?’
‘Um, I just went to another dimension, you know, as you do, and there she was. Killed the big bad wolf, too, very bad ass.’
‘You just went to another dimension, just like that?’
Scarlet’s grin turned sheepish. ‘Well, I kinda messed up the ingredients lay-out and ended up in one. But after that I just thought about going to a new place and there I was.’
The man shook his head, his full attention back on Scarlet. ‘My name is Banner. I have come to offer you a scholarship to the council. Following your success the last time we met, we have discussed your future and believe it should be with us. We can teach you a great deal and you will be in a place with like minds, where you no longer have to keep your clearly-exceptional talents a secret.’
She had at least fifty questions, not least of which was whether she had to wear black (bad for her skin tone) and talk in one of the silly low voices. But the first one that came out was more of a disagreement. ‘I have a master. I don’t need the council.’
The man glanced down at his hands as they folded and unfolded before him. ‘Yes, well, I am sure once you check your email you’ll discover that your master is unlikely to be back soon. Our people have spotted him in Australia, with a woman who bares a quite remarkable resemblance to his wife.’
Her mouth went dry and she tried to smile. The corners of her mouth did turn up ever so slightly. He’d found her! She wanted to be thrilled for him and was sure she would be, any moment now. ‘’Scuse me.’
She took the stairs two at a time, which left her ready to vomit when she shoved open the door to her room. Mum was on the bed, cuddling Skinny who’s sobs had become quiet sniffles. Go mum. Ignoring them, Scarlet grabbed her laptop and sat on the floor.
She checked her messages, ignoring the seven that informed her she’d won the lottery. The Belgians seemed to have a lot of lotteries and almost all for, like, eighty squillion euros. She imagined these warehouses filled with money from all the genuine emails that dropped into spam, or were ignored.
There was one from Martin.
Dear Scarlet
I hope you are well and not suffering too much from your lack of lessons. (was he being sassy? He was, just a bit.)
I’m thrilled to inform you that I have found my wife. She fled here a couple of years ago in fear of her life and couldn’t risk exposing herself. I’m going to stay here with her for a while. It may be a long time before our next lesson.
I would advise you to stay safe and be careful. I will be in touch when I have a better idea of how long I intend to remain here.
Yours
Martin
Scarlet stared at the screen, one finger nail tapping gently against the side of the keyboard. Something wasn’t right here, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Maybe it was that her master had buggered off to the other side of the world and wasn’t coming back. She put her head back against her bed side table and closed her eyes.
Mum tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Everything alright, love?’
‘Martin’s staying in Australia.’
‘Oh goodness. What did the man downstairs say?’
‘Wants to offer me a scholarship.’
‘So they’ll pay? Do they do A-levels?’
‘It’s not that kind of school, mum, but yeah, I think that means they pay.’
‘Well that’s nice then.’
‘Yeah.’
She pushed the computer off her lap and headed down stairs, considerably slower than the previous time. The man waited in the doorway, but Red was gone. Scarlet poked her head in to the kitchen. Red froze, one hand gripping a jar of peanut butter, the other holding a spoon midway between the jar and her mouth.
‘You alright?’
Red nodded, eyes flicking down to the jar and back up to Scarlet. ‘Knock yourself out, really.’
She left the room, trying to decide whether the day could get any more surreal and went back to the front door. ‘So, a scholarship, yeah? Do we have to pay anything?’
He shook his head. ‘Not a penny. You have extraordinary powers, Joanna, quite extraordinary.’
‘Well you know, they aren’t actually mine, I’m just the con-thingy to bring them through from the Shadows.’
His eyes widened again and she sighed. It really was one of those days.
‘Conduit, you mean conduit.’ His voice was faint and flat and this time she was sure he was going to pass out. ‘Do you wanna come in and sit down?’
He nodded, staggering gratefully past her and slumping into a seat in the lounge. She sat on the sofa and rested her elbows on her knees. ‘So tell me. Last time I was in the council you captured and tortured my master, and set me some crappy, unfair test. Why the hell would I want to come to the Council?’
He blinked and cleared his throat. His voice started out sounding strained but he soon got into his stride. ‘Yes, well, that was a series of most unfortunate incidents, wasn’t it? However, you are invited this time, and not by some common thugs. Those watchers who brought you really are the lowest form of scum.’
‘Powerful though.’
‘Yes, one of them did carry some fairly impressive power. But he chose to work outside the auspices of the council and that will always put him at a disadvantage. When you become part of the Council, you have our full support in anything you do. You are never alone again.’
She found herself nodding. That sounded good. Something was niggling, burrowing into the soft bit beneath her ear but she shrugged it away. ‘What will I do?’
‘You will learn. You will learn the history of magic and how it came to be in today’s world. You will learn about some of the greatest magic users the world has ever seen—’
‘Okay, so far? Not really selling it. I’m hearing writing and history and dull stuff. Where’s the fun?’
He nodded, a ghost of a smile lifting the corners of his mouth. ‘You will have practical magic lessons six days a week in which you will have the opportunity to learn every spell known to man. You will take part in weekly casting contests and specialised workshops for your chosen area of focus. You will learn combat and self-defence.’
She nodded harder, eyes alight. That sounded amazing. ‘Okay, when do I start?’
The man waved a hand at the door. ‘You may come with me now, if you desire. If not, any time in—’
‘I can be packed in, like, five minutes. I’ll just grab my laptop and a few clo—’
‘You may not bring your computer.’
The world closed in and her breathing grew ragged. No computer… that meant no Tumblr. She knew, now, how soldiers felt when offered an honourable death or life as an cursed outcast. This was no choice.
There’ll be a brief interlude in Scarlet’s Web on Monday as I’ll be blogging about my current writing project and my writing process. It’s a bit different from the normal way of things here, but hopefully you’ll find it interesting. 🙂
Next Installment Wednesday 7th May
