Watford Tales

Purple Ink and Honey

Simon

By the time we get back to Watford on the train we've missed dinner. There's a tiny pub in the village that sells food and we stop in there for sandwiches and chips. We get a booth in the back where we can talk and Baz orders us pints without asking if we want them. Penny takes a sip of hers and grimaces, but the foamy bitterness actually tastes kind of good to me tonight.

We tell Penny all about Fiona and Nicodemus and the vampire camp, and we all try to figure out what it means, though there isn't really much of a mystery. It's bad. The vampires don't want to ally with us. That's clear. Probably they've all ready got some kind of deal with the Mage. They certainly didn't deny it when I asked them.

Baz has the pale drawn look he gets when he needs to hunt. He drains his beer, but just picks at the food when it comes. He's distracted, half listening, while Penny goes over everything again to make sure she hasn't missed anything. He's tapping his long white fingers on the table and he has that little line between his eyes. Finally I can't stand it anymore.

"Go," I tell him. "We'll finish up here and meet you later."

"Where will me meet?" he says. But he's already standing. Checking his wand. Reaching for his cloak.

"The rabbit gate," I say. "I have the key. We'll wait for you there."

"When?" he asks, fastening his cloak.

"You tell me," I say, looking at him.

"Forty five minutes," he says, throwing some money on the table. He looks at me, and for a moment I think he's going to kiss me, right there in the pub. Instead he turns to Penny. "Cheers, Bunce," he says and he's striding towards the door, tall and elegant, his black cloak swirling around him.

Once he's gone, Penny shakes her head and just starts giggling.

"Stop it," I say. I reach over and take a sip of her undrunk beer.

"Can't help it," she says, picking at the chips on Baz's plate. It's cozy in this booth, and warm. We have some time to kill, and I miss Penny. With everything that's been going on we haven't been hanging out as much as we used to.

"What's so funny?" I say now.

"Oh, I don't know, Simon. You. Baz. The whole situation."

"Ha Ha."

"No, it's not ha, ha funny. It's more like, who would have ever thought funny. You know?"

I do know. I know exactly. I think it every day. Every hour practically.

"You seem happy," she says now, looking at me. I shrug, then smile. I can't help it. I am happy. Even with all the shit that is happening, and the past twenty four hours have been off the charts intense, I feel good inside. I feel good, sitting here with Penny. I feel good that Baz is out in the woods, hunting, getting what he needs. I feel good that soon we'll be together in our room, not fighting. On the same side. Holding onto each other. I feel my cheeks get hot, and Penny just smiles at me. She gets up and returns from the bar with two mugs of tea. I'm polishing off her beer and Baz's chips.

"The Mage is your dad," she says now, handing me a mug and sitting down opposite me. Her eyes are intense behind her glasses. Her mass of curls is pulled back in a messy ponytail.

I shrug. I don't know what to say. I've been trying not to think about it, but of course, there it is. Can't get away from the facts. She pulls out her mobile and stares at the picture she took of my birth record. The image is there, blurry but legible. I wasn't sure you could take a picture of a magickal book like that and have it come out, but apparently I was wrong. We both sit there and look at it.