Wormwood Gate by Katherine Farmar

Author:Katherine Farmar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little Island

7

Before Aisling had even finished shaking Molly Red’s hand, Molly Red was looking around them and gesturing that they should leave the alleyway. Aisling followed her out into the open streets, her heart pounding. ‘You didn’t leave, then?’ she said. ‘They said you left. I mean, Jo Maxi and his friends. They said you must have left for mortal lands.’

‘Don’t believe everything you hear,’ said Molly Red, ‘especially in the Realms Between. Even people who don’t tell lies can make mistakes, and what you tell them may not be what they hear.’

‘But the horse – was that you?’

‘The white horse with the red mane?’ Molly Red tugged at her hair and smiled ironically. ‘Of course it was me. And that means it’s my fault you and your friend are here, and I’m sorry for that. I had the Queen-that-will-be on my back and the mad queen’s hounds chasing me. Well, since I brought you here, I’ll bring you back, or find you a way to go back by yourselves. Though that’s easier said than done now that the gates are closed.’

She sniffed the air experimentally and then, without so much as a twitch for a warning, transformed into a white dog with red ears and a red tail. As a dog, she was large and bulky looking, the kind of dog that takes its owner for a walk rather than the other way around. She sniffed the air again, several times, then transformed back. ‘Yes, this is the place,’ she said. ‘We need to obscure the scent. Do you have anything strong-smelling?’

‘Give me a minute.’ Aisling fumbled in the pockets of her coat. It had a lot of pockets, which was one of the reasons why she loved it, and in those pockets she had tucked away a lot of things that might prove useful: lipbalm; tissues; a multitool that might actually have been illegal, since the longest blade was pretty long (though she figured if she didn’t take it out in public she wouldn’t get into trouble); a spare pair of headphones that were smaller than her usual pair and not as good; wet wipes; a tiny little pad with a pencil attached and a packet of clove cigarettes she had bought in Paris and brought back to show to Darren.

‘Here,’ she said, proffering the packet. ‘These things stink. And they’re even worse for you than normal cigarettes. They’re a goth thing, you know, a sort of a … Not that I’ve ever smoked, I just got them out of curiosity, really, after I read they’d been banned in America because supposedly they encourage …’

She trailed off. Oh, stop babbling, she thought furiously at herself, watching Molly Red turn the packet over and over in her hand and lift it to her nose to sniff it. When she finally smiled, Aisling felt glorious relief.

‘Perfect,’ said Molly Red. She took one cigarette from the packet and held it aloft, staring at it with a frown of concentration. The tip of the cigarette burst into flame, then died down to a steady smoulder.

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