Changeling's Island - eARC by Dave Freer Read Free Book Online Page A

expecting you.” Molly also got on, her face as red as her hair, and promptly got called to “come here, Molly” by the two younger children in uniform. She did. Tim had already sat down near the front. He’d been hoping to find out a bit more about what he was in for, but he never got a chance. The driver did chat with him, however. “So old Mary Ryan’s your nan, is she?”
    “Yes.”
    “So your parents are in Melbourne, then? I remember your father. Hasn’t been back for a long time.”
    He felt like it was a police questioning or something. “Mom’s back in Melbourne. My dad”—his voice shook briefly and he was ashamed of it—“is in Oman. In the Middle East.”
    “Ah,” said the driver, nodding. “Explains it.”
    He said no more, and Tim wasn’t too sure what it explained. They drove on over the hill and past the airport and some scattered houses, set in fields with sheep, and cows…and a flock of turkeys wandering around as if they owned the place. Onwards towards the mountain. And then they arrived at a cluster of red-roofed buildings.
    “Well. Here you are,” said the driver. “Better go and see the headmistress, son. She’s expectin’ you.”
    Inwardly Tim groaned. What had his grandmother said about him?
    * * *
    Áed had been amused by the dog. It hadn’t known what to do with him, or quite what he was. He’d been tempted to tease it, just for the mayhem he could cause. He’d been a lot less pleased to see the selkie, when he’d explored and his master slept. The seal-woman was still in her natural place, the sea. She sat on a rock sticking out of the water, and combed her long wavy hair in the moonlight. She’d seen him too. She’d smiled. It was not a nice smile. Predatory…and pleased.
    It was the same fae he’d glimpsed from the flying device. Áed knew there could only be one reason the selkie was here. She was following him, or perhaps his master. In the water the seal shape-changers were dangerous. On land, less so, but they were not confined to the water, the way the lords of the hollow hills were confined to the land by the salt water. Like Áed’s kind, the selkies could go anywhere, even if they did not enjoy it.
    She’d beckoned to him. “Come here, little one.”
    Áed, sensibly, had fled as fast as he could from even the sight of the sea. He’d sought out the other creature of air and shadow, the one living around the farm, one whose scent he’d recognized. The one who came to the kitchen and the barns and sheds, but no further.
    The hairy creature was at work in the barn, no longer moving the beasts, as he had been earlier. It was a small fenodree, as suited the agricultural nature of the place. Hardworking, and not very bright, and a little wary about Áed. “You make trouble, I hurt you,” he said slowly, nervously fondling the wooden shaft of an old two-handed scythe.
    In the hierarchy of those of the hollow hills, of the creatures of air and shadow, the fenodree was low, below Áed. But they were strong and determined. “I don’t wish to fight,” said Áed. “I just saw a selkie.”
    “She’s back, then.” The fenodree seemed unsurprised and relatively unworried. He’d stopped clutching the scythe and was back to untangling his long fur with his blunt fingers. “She won’t come out of the sea.”
    That was a comfort. “Why not?”
    “She’s afraid of the others. The old ones.”
    Áed had sensed them, caught the shimmer of them. But they had kept their distance. “What does she want here?” he asked. If the fenodree could live with these others, so could he.
    The fenodree shrugged. “The boy. The key.”
    “What key?” asked Áed. The word in the old tongue they spoke had many meanings.
    The fenodree shrugged again. “I do not know. She has looked for it for a long time. She is from Finvarra.”
    That was enough to frighten Áed even more. Finvarra was a king of the Shee and a great power still, in the hollow hills.
    Áed would have to