Timothy regarded her helplessly for a moment. Then with sudden decisiveness he took Linden by the elbow and marched her along with him until they reached the train station. He steered her inside and made her sit down on one of the benches before taking both her hands in his and saying in the low, firm voice he used to calm his little sister, “All right, yes, it’s a bad situation. For both of us. But we’re still alive, and we’ve made it this far. That’s good, isn’t it?”
Reluctantly, Linden nodded.
“So we’ll get you on the next train to Aynsbridge, and you can go back to the Oak and tell the others what happened. At least now you know that there are other faeries out there. Male faeries, even. That’s got to be worth something.”
Linden rubbed at her reddened eyes. “But if all the other faeries want nothing to do with us, and all we can do is sit in the Oak and wait to die-”
“Who says that? Maybe the faeries here in London won’t help you, but you can always go to some other city-or another country, if you have to. All you have to do is hide in the Oak for a few days until the Empress gives up looking for you, and then try again. What about these Children of Rhys that Rob mentioned? They’re faeries, too, aren’t they?”
“Yes, but we don’t even know where to find the Children, let alone whether they’d be willing to help us. And we’re running out of time.” Her expression was desolate. “Even working together, Valerian and I can’t protect the Oak the way the Queen used to. If we’d done the wards properly, you’d hardly have noticed the tree at all when you came-but you walked right up and touched it. We might be able to hide from the Empress, but what good will that do us if we just end up being found by the humans instead?”
Timothy let her go and stood up, shoving his cold hands back into his pockets. “I don’t know. But I can’t see you’ve got any other choice.”
Linden was silent, her gaze on the floor. Then she said, “You’re not going to come with me, are you? You’re going to keep running away.”
She didn’t sound accusing, only resigned. Timothy hunched his shoulders uncomfortably. “Look, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. I just don’t know what use I could be, especially if the Empress and her people do come after us. You might be safe in your Oak if you can keep up those spells long enough, but all they’d have to do to find me at Oakhaven is look through the window. They might even figure out that Peri used to be one of your people and decide to punish her, too. Is that what you want?”
Linden looked stricken. “No!”
“Right. So if you ask me, it’s better for everyone if I don’t go back to Oakhaven. Besides”-he tried to keep his voice light, but somehow the old bitterness crept in-“Paul and Peri already made it pretty obvious they didn’t want me around.”
“Only because they were afraid you’d find out about the Oak-”
“Because they don’t trust me, that’s why!” The words came out louder than he’d intended, and Linden flinched. With an effort Timothy controlled his temper and went on, “By now they should know what kind of person I am. But apparently they think I’m the kind who’d smash up a five-hundred-year-old tree for the fun of it, or stuff faeries into specimen jars and sell them for pocket money, or-”
“Or hit someone and get yourself sent away from school?” said Linden.
That stopped him. Timothy’s bruised mouth twisted in frustration, but he couldn’t think of anything to say.
“I know you’ve been hurt,” Linden told him quietly. “But you should know something else, too. Ever since the first time you came to Oakhaven, Knife-I mean Peri-has been telling me about you. She always said how clever and funny you were, and how much she enjoyed having you stay. But she also warned me, whenever you came, that I mustn’t come to the House until you’d gone. It’s not just you, Timothy-she doesn’t trust anybody with our secret. Because the secret’s not hers to share.”
Timothy hesitated. Then he dropped down onto the bench beside her, staring at the floor.
“I can’t go back,” he said heavily. “Not yet. Just…I’m not ready.”
Linden didn’t say anything for a long while, and he wondered if she was angry. But when she spoke, her voice was calm:
“Then you’ll just have to come to the Oak with me.”
Seven
Timothy seemed so cynical and world-weary at times, Linden had almost forgotten he was only a little older than herself. But now the eagerness in his face made him look truly fifteen again. “You mean it?” he said. “But I’m…Can you really do that?”
“I think so. It would just be a temporary change, of course, and I’ll have to keep renewing the glamour so you don’t go back to your proper size. But…” Linden’s brows furrowed as she considered the problem from every angle. At last she said with more confidence, “Yes. We’ll have to try it. It’s the only way.”
“I don’t know,” said Timothy, though he sounded reluctant to admit it. “Bringing a human into the Oak-isn’t it going to get you in a lot of trouble? It might be easier if I just took a train to France or something.”
“I’ll hide you from the others,” she said. “At least until we’ve had a chance to talk to the Queen and tell her our story. She’s very wise; I’m sure she’ll understand. Especially once she hears about the Empress wanting to kill you.”
And perhaps, if the Oakenfolk did Timothy this favor, he might even be willing to repay them by helping Linden search for more faeries. After all, two travelers were safer than one, and surely the Empress wouldn’t keep hunting for them forever?
Timothy looked out across the station, eyes distant as he considered her offer. Then he stood up, reaching for his guitar case.
“All right,” he said. “Hop into my pack, and we’ll go.”
By the time Timothy stepped off the train at Aynsbridge, the sun was just visible over the treetops, like a white hole punched through the sky. The air smelled clean here, damp and earthy, and as he walked down the steps from the platform into the parking lot the breeze that chased him felt surprisingly mild. Still, he was glad for his extra layer of clothing, and he could only hope that the Oak would be warm.
“Linden?” he said. “You can come out now.” But she didn’t answer. Carefully Timothy slid the backpack off his shoulders, lifted the flap to look-and there lay Linden, fast asleep. Her wings were folded against her back, and she had curled herself up in a nest made from one of his shirts.
So small, thought Timothy. Even now, it seemed impossible that the girl who had rescued him from Veronica could also be a faery tiny enough to stow away in his backpack. Not to mention how strange it was that in the space of just one night, this same faery had somehow become a friend.
Yet Linden was so different from anyone else he’d met in the last few months that Timothy couldn’t help liking her. She didn’t judge him by the shoes he wore, or what music he enjoyed, or who his parents were; she hadn’t insisted that he share her beliefs or live by certain rules to please her. She’d just accepted Timothy as he was-even more than that, she’d risked her life to help him. How could he not be grateful for that?
Timothy slipped his arms back through the straps of the backpack and set off again, treading softly so as not to wake Linden. Aside from the occasional passing car the road before him was deserted, and he dared to hope that Rob had been right: They’d escaped the city before the Empress and her servants could find them, and if they could just make it to the Oak, they’d be safe.
Half an hour later, Linden was still asleep, and Timothy had left the village well behind. The familiar wood rose up on one side of the road as he walked; he came around the bend and there, in the near distance, stood Oakhaven.