Emily walked through the arbour, stepping aside so Tanis wouldn’t have to stumble over Ian’s legs.
“It’s weird that you don’t feel anything when you cross. Like a tingle or something.” Tanis glanced around. “And that Ian is half in the wall.”
He grinned, which was especially unsettling, because the wall cut perfectly down the center of his face. “Hey, I still have an ear on this side.”
Emily softly kicked him in the leg, then grabbed Tanis’ hand. “Did they show you the jump back? It’s in the room I stayed in.” She started to feel giddy as she led Tanis down the halls. “It’s a one-way, but as long as someone is sitting watch, it’s time-synched. I used to make the kids exit this way, because the approach is different.”
Tanis and Emily stood in the open doorway of Emily’s old room. The floor was scattered with shards of wood, spread in a wide crater of debris.
“You hop through the center?”
Emily nodded, “like you’re jumping off a cliff. Then you’re back on my porch.”
“Is that Miss Amelia?’ A soft voice called down the hall.
“Sure is!” Emily called back, her grin falling into a frown as she looked at Tanis, adding “gimme a second.” Leaning in close, she pitched her voice low. “Okay, baby, I want you to meet a friend of mine. But. He’s got the body of a spider.”
Tanis’ face went blank and Emily could feel everything tense beneath her hand on Tanis’ waist.
“He’s got the face of a person too, but that doesn’t help, does it?”
Tanis shook her head.
“Babe, I am so sorry I forgot. But I’ve known him so long I don’t think about how he’s a—y’know.” She brushed back a strand of Tanis’ golden hair. “Do you want to pass?”
Before Tanis could answer, the soft voice suggested, in careful tones. “I can go behind the screen, if that helps.”
Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Tanis nodded, then straightened her shoulders.
“Sounds good, friend.” Emily led Tanis slowly down the hall to meet her former neighbour. He’d tucked the web decorations and swing chair behind drapery that Emily hoped Tanis wouldn’t think to recognise as spider silk.
They exchanged a couple of polite words through a dressing screen painted with forested landscapes. Emily had given the spider a ‘learn to paint oils’ set for some solstice years before. Now he made his own paints and had taken to adding murals to everything. The newest ones moved, wind shifting daubed leaves, a flock of distant birds sailed across the sky, their suggestions of wings flapping and soaring.
Tanis remained composed, though her face was grim when they said their goodbyes and left. “I don’t even like to remember they exist.”
“I’m proud of you, hon. And I’m so sorry.” They held hands as they walked to the hare’s scrying lab. Tanis’ palm was clammy.
“If I freak at that, how will I handle worse things?”
“You’ll handle them just fine. It’s only those things that throw you and he’s the only one like himself I’ve met or heard of.”
Tanis kept quiet, but seemed more thoughtful and less terrified by the time they got to the lab. Her face brightened when she saw the hare and Emily felt relieved.
“Well, look at you two, packed up like you’re going somewhere.” The hare peered up at them, squinting.
“Did you lose your glasses again?” Emily chided.
“No. No I did not. I just did not feel like wearing them. Anyway, what are you two up to?”
“Well,” Emily shrugged, “we’re trying to get some word about Abby and I figured I might as well show my lady around.”
“She looks like she’s carrying more than needed for a social visit.”
Tanis beamed. “I’m field-testing gear for a longer trip.”
“A longer trip? Emily, dear, are you coming back to us?”
“No. Dude, you know I hate this place.” Emily felt both Tanis and the hare deflate at her bluntness, but continued. “I am responsible for Abby, so I’m going to find her. And, I only visit because of you.” Emily pulled the film out of her bag. “Speaking of which.” She held it out to him, but the hare folded his paws over each other.
Emily shook the packs at him. “Don’t be a dick. Take the damn film.” The hare turned his nose away with a twitch. “Or don’t.” Emily started to tuck the film back in her bag. “I was going to ask you to take this lady’s portrait, ’cause I thought a full human might be a nice addition to your studies, but if you’re going to be a jerk about it, then never mind.”
The hare’s ears, turning quickly, betrayed the casualness of his relenting. “Well, I suppose, yes. I don’t have a photo of an actual human in my collection, after all.
Hiding her smile, Emily handed the film down. One of the hare’s ever-present assistants buzzed over to take the packs from him and added them to a towering pile in a cupboard.
“Running out of things to photograph?”
“What?” The hare climbed up the portable stairs Michael had built him so he could look through the viewfinder when the camera was on a tripod. “Bring your young lady over here.”
Tanis, wide-eyed, slipped off her backpack and stood in front of the plain grey backdrop. The hare’s assistants flew up, holding reflectors to bounce the light from a fire hazard’s worth of lanterns and candles more evenly across her face. She grinned, making Emily smile in response.
“Don’t make faces.”
“Oh.” Tanis composed herself.
There was a click and a whir. Reaching precariously around the camera, the hare grabbed the undeveloped print. Emily stopped herself from stepping forward to help him.
“While I’m up here, let’s get one of you too, Emily.”
Surprised, Emily traded places with Tanis and gave the camera her best government-issued state identification face. She stepped forward after the shutter clicked to pluck the photograph from the camera.
“I had it!” The hare grumped as he climbed down the stairs.
“And I almost had a heart attack watching you reach for it, so deal.”
He brought the photo of Tanis to a low-slung table, motioning Emily to bring the other shot. Tanis followed her, quietly peering over the hare to see the picture of herself. She started to bend down to pick it up, but hesitated.
“May I?” The hare waved his paw absently as he watched the photograph of Emily develop.
Tanis made a face at the image. “It’s just me.”
“Well, you’re just human.” Emily took the photo from Tanis, smiling. “Nothin’ extra to worry about.”
“I suppose I was hoping.” Tanis shrugged.
“That you had secret magic powers? You don’t want those.”
Tanis frowned. “You’re biased. What does yours look like anyway?”
“That’s right, I didn’t keep any of the shots of me.” Emily pulled at thick book down from a shelf, ignoring the hare’s annoyed “please” for her to be careful. “The hare kept them.”
Emily thumbed through the thick pages, past photographs of animals, monsters and people who looked human but wore their true selves in glowing cloaks. She found her face and turned the book so Tanis could see.
“This is the first one I took.” Emily slowly flipped the pages. “After a while, the hare just started taking them of me. You can sort of see me age.” In every photo, Emily’s face was mostly obscured by a multi-coloured blur, so it was the clothing that showed the passage of time, not her features. The hare held up the latest photograph and Emily slipped it into photo corners on a blank page.
Tanis glanced from the picture of herself to the pages of Emily. “What’s up with your face?”
“What’s up with your face?” Emily retorted automatically.
The hare reached up with grabbing paws and Emily gave him the album. With a heavy exhale, he dropped it onto the low table. Unprompted, Tanis handed back the photograph of herself.
“Amelia is something of an unknown quantity.” The hare slipped Tanis’ picture into the book deftly, though how he managed it with paws, Emily was uncertain. “We don’t know who her parents were, so exactly what kind of Folk she is remains unknown.”
“Yeah, it’s just potential, nothing concrete. When the kids’ parents went through the arbour, the hare kept note for me. So, when I made everyone spend time here, they had somewhere to start.”
“Ian, Michael and everyone’s parents are all still in the Sidhe somewhere?”
Emily and the hare shared a glance.
“Something like that.” The hare closed the photo album and handed it to Emily to put back on the shelf.
Tanis raised an eyebrow at Emily. “Something like that? Like what?”
“Later, I’ll tell you, but not right now.”
The hare looked up. “Do you think that’s necessary?”
“Of course.” Emily put her arm around Tanis. “She’s my girlfriend, I tell her everything.”
Tanis snorted sarcastically.
Emily blushed. “Well, I do now.” She started to say something else when Ian walked through the door.
“Ian!” Tanis smiled at him.
Emily measured her words. “Tell me Michael is sitting watch.”
“I fell asleep.” He rubbed his arm, looking away. “And I must have fallen in.”
Tanis’ face fell and she glanced at Emily. “Wait. That’s bad.”
“Yeah, baby, it’s bad. If we go back now, we won’t know when we’ll be back.”
This post is part of The Consoling Divide – Serialised. See the archive and overall content warnings here, and find more of my writing here. I’m over on both Comradery and Patreon, if you feel like supporting my creative endeavours. If you’d like to subscribe to this story, here’s a handy email box for you: