The History of The Other One (Astra Davies Book 1)

Look Both Ways

"Look both ways before crossing the street. You don't want to get run over now do you?"

An older girl says to a younger boy. 

The girl is in her late twenties; she has medium length curly hair, as dark as a stormy night. Her eyes, however, are the colour of grass after a spring shower; bright green and full of life. Freckles dance across her face and arms like dirt; it's a shock you can see them on this gloomy day. They always seem to shine like the stars in the sky. 

The boy is about eleven; he's the girl's younger brother. Adoptive brother, but that never changed her feelings about him. She still cares for him just as she cares for her adoptive parents. After all, they didn't HAVE to keep her; they could've taken her to a local orphanage all those years ago. But they love her as their own. 

The boy has shaggy blond hair; you'd think he never brushed it with the way he wore it. The children's mother made sure that they always looked presentable though. His eyes matched his sisters down to the gold flecks around the iris in the left eye. 

"Yes Astra, I know. I don't want to become a puddle."

The girl's name is Astra Davies, her brother being Callum Davies. 

Astra wasn't sure of what her family name was. She asked her adoptive parents about a dozen times. The story was always the same,

"We're not sure where you came from or who you came from. All we know is that a mysterious person in a hooded cloak dropped you off one night in a basket on our front porch. They didn't leave so much as a note of why or anything. All the note they left was with your name 'Astrila.' We've had you ever since."

The story got boring after a while, so Astra just stopped asking. Besides, she liked Charlie and Joanne. She didn't want to bother them by asking more and they suddenly change their minds about keeping her. Astra thought for sure she'd be shipped on the next boat to the United States once Callum was born. 

"I'll turn you into a puddle if you don't quicken your pace. We're going to miss the festivities!" 

Astra pulled on Callum's hand, tugging him a bit further. All of a sudden, Callum stopped in his tracks, staring into the gathering crowd. 

Astra was about to tug on his hand again before remembering why he stopped. Callum isn't a fan of loud noises and that's what a crowd is full of. 

She pulls him into a side alley, quickly looking around before pulling her wand (cedarwood with a unicorn hair core, about 10") out. 

Pointing the wand at Callum's earmuffs, Astra whispers an incantation,

"Molliare (mul-lee-AR-ray)."

Within an instant, there is a soft silence over the earmuffs. Callum grins, nodding his thanks to his sister before taking her hand again. 

The incantation tends to be used to cushion objects to make them more comfortable but Astra has found doing the incantation on Callum's earmuffs helps make him more comfortable in situations where he isn't. 

The two walk back into the crowd, Callum not as glued to Astra's side. They made it just in time, as the festivities have just begun. 

The event the two are attending is more of a Muggle market, not a festival. Callum calls it a festival because there's at least one carnival person each time the two show up that is very entertaining. They always attend the festival each month on behalf of their father; Charlie is a magic zoologist and one of the creatures he's taking care of likes Muggle fruit that they can only seem to find at this Muggle market. They buy the fruit (and seeds if they can) for a month's worth; enough to last until the next market. The market happens every weekend but their dad only sends them out for the fruit once a month.