The Wild Hunt

"When the winter winds blow and the Yule fires are lit, it is best to stay indoors, safely shut away from the dark paths and the wild heaths. Those who wander out by themselves during the Yule-nights may hear a sudden rustling through the tops of the trees - a rustling that might be the wind, though the rest of the wood is still.

"But then the barking of dogs fills the air, and the host of wild souls sweeps down, fire flashing from the eyes of the black hounds and the hooves of the black horses"

Kveldulf Hagen Gundarsson (Mountain Thunder)

If Wishes Were Horses 25

On Saturday morning I forced myself to remain as calm as possible. I knew I was going to meet my friend’s new man that night – the one I believed was hurting her in revenge for the Artimis’s inability to hurt me. I could not afford to lose my temper with Dan, or even to reveal what I truly thought, in case I brought down more trouble on Minty’s head.  I couldn’t let the creature know I was aware of who Dan was, or how it used him as a weapon. I had managed to convince myself that I would give Minty the blue pebble to act as a protection. I couldn’t tell her it was a good luck charm; she’d laugh at me and call me gullible for believing such things. Perhaps if I had it turned into a piece of jewellery she would wear it, although I didn’t want to have it drilled or glued in case that damaged it and removed its protective powers.  The silver chain and its starling pendant at my throat glowed warmly all day, although I saw no sign of the red gold glow that confirmed the phoenix’s presence. Perhaps he was busy elsewhere, such as at Father Brendan’s church, where rebuilding work had already begun. The local news had said the new structure would be as close as possible to the old one. Although the art would not be original, the beauty would not be lost, and the congregation had agreed with the priest that was the best plan. I was pleased that I would be able to see the church’s glory again, and looked forward to seeing the phoenix window, although I vowed I wouldn’t go near the place until my curse had been broken, just in case the Artimis took another blow against it.

As the time of my meeting with Minty drew closer I dressed and got ready for an evening out. I wasn’t in the mood for a night at the pub, and I dressed more conservatively than I might normally have done. I’d never be able to outshine Minty and her sense of style anyway, so I opted for smart casual, and above all comfortable. I didn’t want to be distracted by pinching shoes or a hemline I had to keep adjusting for decency’s sake.  When I felt happy with my outfit I set out to meet Minty in the pub. We’d agreed to be there before Dan was due to arrive so we could have a chat about exactly what she wanted me to do. She had her hair swept elegantly back into a chignon and there was a row of bright hairpins holding it in place. Each had a sparkling diamond-like jewel on the end so they glinted in the light as she moved her head. It looked extremely classy, and I told her so.

“Thanks. I’ve gone for a darker colour too, it’s plummier than my normal shade. I’m still trying to get used to it really.”

I told her not to worry, she looked wonderful, and the colour suited her better than her more brassy choices of the past, only I didn’t say brassy because she’d have been offended. We were half way down a couple of beers when a tall, dark and very good looking man walked in and Minty looked up. “There he is,” she said, waving to him and beckoning him across to our table. He gestured that he would visit the bar and pointed at our drinks as if to ask if we wanted more, but we both shook our heads, and he disappeared into the queue.  I turned to Minty, “Well you didn’t exaggerate. He does provide a good view, doesn’t he?” I could see why she wouldn’t want to give him up, even if he wasn’t the nicest guy she ever knew. That kind of looks on your arm can do wonders for your self esteem.

Dan came across, carrying a pint glass, and sat down on a stool opposite us.

“Angela, this is Dan: Dan, Angela,” Minty made the introductions. Dan held out his hand in greeting and I took hold of it, only to feel my heart sink as he grinned to reveal a row of very sharp teeth. This was no weapon being used by the Artimis, this was the creature itself in yet another guise.  How could I have been so stupid?

“Hello Angie,” it continued to grin and held onto my hand for rather longer than I would have liked. I wanted to run straight out of the pub, dragging Minty behind me, but the phoenix’s words about opportunities came back to me. We were out of my flat and the enemy sat immediately across from me. All I had to do was keep my eyes open and watch for signs of what its name might be.  This could be the night my troubles ended.

As the evening wore on we made small talk but the Artimis asked increasingly personal questions about my life as it tried to rattle my composure. I noticed that Minty’s responses were becoming barbed. She was clearly upset that he concentrated on talking to me and I hoped she wasn’t jealous. I couldn’t tell her the truth about what it was, I just had to keep watching for anything out of the ordinary, but I had no idea what it was I actually hoped to see.  The creature wore a suit again, this time in a dark grey with a narrow pink chalk stripe. Unlike every other man in the place he also wore a tie. As his questions became more insulting to me I wondered what I could say that would destroy his control of the conversation without hurting Minty.

“Tell me Angie, have you ever woken up with a total stranger in your bed?” I knew he was referring to the night he’d set me up with Paul, just to embarrass me and was just considering my reply when Minty spoke.

“You know, that was very impolite.” She emphasised the last word and I marvelled at her choice to use it.  Almost as if she knew what she spoke to.  “I suggest you apologise to Angela right now.”

It opened its mouth to reply but Minty broke in before it had a chance. “And don’t argue with me. You are being impolite and I will not allow it.” There was that word again. I looked over to her but she was staring intently at the creature and did not blink. I instinctively reached for the bird charm around my neck and toyed with it as I watched the conversation continue.  A glass collector hovered by our table and reached across in front of me to pick up some empties. I looked up, stunned, to see Ami by my side. He winked, picked up a glass, and moved away into the crowd. That was when I noticed Minty’s hand was in her pocket and she was turning something over and over. I reached into my own pocket and felt the blue pebble, which made me wonder exactly what was going on.

I heard the Artimis say, “I’m sorry Angie,” and I noticed he looked less polished than before. There were wrinkles in its suit.

“Her name is Angela. Apologise again. Properly this time.”  Amazingly it did, and I noticed the wrinkles increased, and there was a dark shadow appearing around its face, as if it needed a shave.

Minty continued her onslaught. “You know, I’m not really sure I want to have much more to do with you. You are a very cruel and insulting individual and I don’t plan to spend a moment longer with you than I need to. Do you understand?”

“Yes Araminta.”

“Minty!”

“Yes Minty. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. You know I love being with you.”

“You love hurting me, and others. You are not here because you want to be with me, you are here because you enjoy being cruel and you like to watch people squirm.”  The hand in her pocket gripped tightly onto whatever she had there.

The creature began to rise from its seat but suddenly Ami was there behind it and Minty ordered it to sit down.  She leaned forward and stared intently into its eyes. “I know your kind. You are a beast. A monster. And you will never be happy while you behave the way you do.”  She pointed at it and it stared at her finger. I could have sworn there was fear in its eyes. “There are a lot more creases in your suit now and even your tie is showing signs of wear. You are a lot less glamorous than you were.” Now I knew she understood what she had in her grasp, but I didn’t know how.

“Tell me something Angela,” she said without taking her eyes off the Artimis. “Have you noticed anything about the creases?  Check the tie, for example.” I looked hard and noticed that the creases seemed to make a word. “Now have a look at the shirt collar.” There was the same pattern. “And the jacket sleeve.” Unmistakably it was the same pattern repeating across the outfit. “Trouser leg. Shoe. Even the cufflinks. What can you see Angela?”

“It’s a word.”

“Take great care, but read what it says.”

“There’s an M, and an O and X and A. Over and over again.” Ami’s face lit up. “It says Moxa!” I looked into the creature’s face. “Your name is Moxa!”

It let out a shriek and ran toward the door. As it went there was a golden glow as if it was on fire and a few customers looked up in alarm but they returned to their beer when they realised they were not in danger.

I turned to Minty. “What on earth just happened? How did you know what was going on? I don’t understand.” I turned to Ami. “Is that it? Is it really all over?” He nodded and smiled happily.

“The Artimis is defeated. Thanks to your friend you found its name.” But I still couldn’t understand how it had all turned out. I looked astonished at Minty.

“You really should have confided in me before, you know.  I told you I wasn’t quite as helpless as you think.”

I kept opening my mouth but no words came out, so she continued to tell me the whole story. The day we’d visited Madame Rosa she noticed the woman draw me aside to speak to me. She realised something serious had taken place and a few days later she went back to ask for help on my behalf. The Asterling woman had told her what she’d seen when we consulted the fake medium and explained that I wouldn’t be able to beat the curse without help.

“What the book didn’t tell you was that you can’t reveal the name by yourself. It’s forbidden for the Fae to reveal each other’s names because it’s a very powerful weapon. It’s a bit like every country has huge atom bombs but nobody dares to launch the first one or the entire world would be blown up.”

I didn’t like the analogy, but I stayed quiet.  “The first thing the Asterlings did was to give me amulets to protect myself. I have a blue egg too,” and she pulled her pebble from the pocket where she’d been holding it throughout the battle with ‘Dan’.  “Of course, that meant that I could see the creature’s teeth every time it smiled. So I knew exactly what I was dealing with.  Ami told me why it had started to visit me.”

“Ami?” I looked up at him.

“Minty has been under my protection. That was where I had to return when I could not stay with you earlier this week.”

Everything started to make sense. “You’ve known all along what my problem was,” I said to Minty. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Not allowed. I have no idea why, but the Asterlings were pretty definite about that.  Now, let’s have a drink to celebrate our success.  And hang beer – let’s make it a cocktail. My treat.” And she went off to the bar.

Ami leaned down to me and whispered in my ear. “I need to go now, but you will ever have the protection of the Asterlings, and the phoenix from this point. We will never be far from you in times of need. “

“Thank you,” I whispered back.

“And one last thing. Do not be afraid when the time comes. He was as powerless as you were in what happened.”

I turned to ask him what he meant, but he’d gone. “He, who?” I thought. “He can’t mean the creature or he’d have said ‘it’.”

Minty came back with two mojitos and sat down beside me. “Wow, doesn’t that look like Ami,” she said, looking across the bar. I looked up, straight at Paul, who was watching me. He smiled shyly and didn’t move until I smiled back. Then he walked over to our table.

“Angela. I never thought I’d see you again. I meant to call, but my mum was ill and I had to go and help look after her. By the time I got back I thought I’d left it too long so I daren’t get in touch. But now I’ve seen you I think maybe it’s fate?  Can you forgive me?” I smiled up at him and told him jokingly that I’d try.  “Can I call my pal over? Can we join the two of you?”

I looked over to Minty who simply said, ”Oh yes!”

As the introductions were made around the table I thought to myself. “Maybe life’s not so bad after all. Who needs three wishes?”

If Wishes Were Horses 24

Back at my apartment as I reached up to put the key in the front door a voice from behind startled me. I had heard no-one as I walked up the stairs and had no clue anyone was there until I heard it.

“It won’t work.”  I turned quickly to see who spoke and there stood the Artimis. Tonight it wore a very expensive business suit, clearly designed to impress me, but since I’d found out about glamour I knew that the suit was merely an illusion, like everything else it chose to show me.  The image was much less impressive once I knew the truth. I considered whether I should ignore its presence and I thought carefully. To buy time I turned the key in the lock and the door opened easily.

“It does work – see,” I couldn’t resist implying that life had changed, and that I was no longer powerless against it.

“Are you being deliberately obtuse, Angie? I didn’t mean the door key.” The familiar sarcastic tone was there, all part of the creature’s bluff.

“Then what did you mean?”

“I meant whatever you have done to your home in a misguided attempt to keep me away. It won’t work.”

I had to think quickly about what this could mean. I usually found the creature already in my home when I returned, but today it was outside my flat. What had changed? Perhaps without the pendant it couldn’t actually enter.  If I just walked in through the open door would it have to remain outside? I put it to the test and began to step across my threshold.

The voice turned to pleading. “Listen Angie, I’m really sorry about yesterday. I was having a bad day and I lost my temper. I shouldn’t have shouted. Let me just come in and explain.”

I didn’t understand. Why was it asking to come in rather than just appearing in my lounge?  Then Ami’s words came back to me. The Fae can’t enter a home without an invitation. The Artimis had been able to come and go as it pleased because of my infection, but perhaps since the pendant had gone the power had diminished and it couldn’t actually enter unless I said it could.

“I’m very tired,” I said, “I don’t feel like talking tonight.”

“Oh please! Invite me in and let me make things up to you. You haven’t had a wish for days. You’ve got three left for today. We could talk it over and get you something really wonderful.”

Just then I caught sight of a reddish glow in the corner of the landing and I realised the phoenix was watching over me. Perhaps that was why the Artimis couldn’t enter. I didn’t care why, I was only happy that I might have another night safe from its evil. On the other hand, if I drove it away, what would it do to Minty in exchange?  The red glow shimmered.  Was the phoenix trying to tell me something?

“I don’t want to talk.” The red glow pulsed once. “I don’t want any wishes.” Another pulse. “Go away.” And the glow gave another, wide pulse, convincing me I’d made the right decision.

I saw the creature shrink and noticed that the expensive sheen on its suit had faded somewhat, and creases had appeared in the formerly immaculate cloth.  It stood glaring at me as I continued through the doorway and into my home, closing the door firmly behind me.

“Well done, you made the correct decision,” the glow now appeared ahead of me in the lounge.

“Are you telling me it can’t get in any longer?” I asked the glowing shape.

“It cannot enter while I am present.”

“Well I’m pleased about that, but I am a bit worried about my friend. I think it sent someone to hurt her after it left here last night because it was angry. I don’t want her hurt, but if I’ve thwarted it again who knows what it might do?”

“Your friend is protected. You need not be troubled.”

I should have known the Asterlings wouldn’t allow any harm to come to innocents, but it was hard to believe she’d be OK while I could remember clearly how she looked at work that morning. And something else bothered me.

“If I never come into contact with the Artimis again, how am I ever going to find out its name? I will have to talk to it at some time,” I said to the phoenix.

“That is true, but it would be best for you if the encounter was not in your home. Opportunities will present themselves.  Now rest and be content. All will be well.” And the glow faded gradually away.  

In spite of the phoenix’s instruction to rest, I went straight to the books and opened Professor Sturnus’s tome at the Artimis page. I hoped it would give me some clues about how I would discover the creature’s name, but even though I re-read the words several times I learned nothing new: ‘their names are written upon their bodies in some form, if the sufferer can but reveal the place’.

“Really helpful , Professor,” I said out loud. “How am I supposed to ‘reveal the place’?”

It was a genuine problem if I was ever going to discover my enemy’s name. From what I now knew about glamour I realised the creature’s appearance might change, but what I actually saw each time was its outer skin or shell. The reality didn’t alter, merely my perception of it. So the concept of revealing the place didn’t mean, as I’d first thought, that I had to get it to uncover part of itself.  Unlike real clothes, which could be removed, the creature’s outfits were actually its surface.

“Think Angela,” I told myself. “What does that mean in practice?” Then it hit me.  It was exactly like a wall with a crack in the plaster. It didn’t matter how often you painted it, or what colour, in the wrong light you’d still be able to see the crack. So what I needed was to bathe the Artimis in whatever kind of light would show its name. But what kind of light would that be? Ultra violet? Infra red? Candles? Spotlight? Disco colours?  What I needed was the light of truth, whatever that might be.

I thought over what else I knew about my challenge. The very first time I’d seen the Artimis it looked like a small, hairy animal. I’d been half asleep and not even convinced it was real, so I’d taken very little notice, but if that was its true shape, had its name been clear then? If I could recall a clear image of what I’d seen that afternoon, would I be able to read its name? I didn’t even know if it would be in English. Why would it be in English? I’d heard Ami speak his name in his own language. I couldn’t even think of that as a word, even though he told me it was. So why would this be any different? It might be in Arabic or Hebrew, or Chinese, after all, the marks around the pendant had looked Chinese, that was why I liked the look of it. I love Oriental things and fell immediately for the sinuous, dragon-like pattern, but I can’t read Chinese. What would I do if I saw pictograms but still couldn’t translate them? I’d never be free of this curse.

Far from helping me prepare for my forthcoming challenge, all this thinking had simply depressed me.  I felt completely inadequate to face such a battle. All this was my fault. If I could just keep control of my spending urges I wouldn’t be in this mess, but every time I had a bad day I hit the shops and that’s how I caught the infection in the first place. Now I was sliding further into hopelessness and I couldn’t even take my usual remedy for fear of picking up another curse. I could see no way out of my dilemma and the realisation that the rest of my life might be like this had started to take its toll. I tried telling myself to stop being ridiculous, I wasn’t on my own in the fight, but my inner voice kept telling me that in spite of all the magical characters around me the end battle would be mine alone. And I didn’t think I was up to the task.

Just then I heard a knock at the door and feared the creature had returned. The phoenix told me it couldn’t get back in while he was there, but I could see no glow and I believed I was alone.  I didn’t feel like fighting right now, I didn’t even feel like talking particularly. I just wanted to sit and cry. But there was a second knock and I forced myself to walk to the door and look through the spy hole. Nothing there. Of course not, the Fae can’t be seen through lenses.

“Who is it?” I called, not really wanting to hear the reply.

“It is Ami. May I come in?” I opened the door quickly and gestured for him to cross the threshold.  “Thank you. I may not remain for long, my protection is needed elsewhere, but I understand you are falling into despair. You must not. You must stay strong.”

“That’s all very well for you. You have magic powers and things to protect you but I’ve got nothing but myself to rely on and I’ve brought danger to my friends and I can’t see how I’m going to help them. How can I find out this thing’s name if it’s in Chinese or something?  How will I manage?” and the tears I’d been fending off finally broke through.

Ami spoke quietly and gently. “Angela. I am told you have great courage and inner strength. No-one among the Asterlings doubts you. Why do you doubt yourself?”

“Because I’m useless, that’s why. “

“The phoenix says otherwise, and he is a very wise bird.”

I was still shaking with sobs and Ami very carefully put his arms around me and held me gently. It felt as if a fortress had been constructed around me. Nothing could touch me while he was there, but in the end I knew he wouldn’t be. I had to win this battle for myself.

“Now what is this nonsense about Chinese?”

“The pendant was in Chinese or something like that. I won’t be able to read the thing’s name if it’s written in a foreign language.”

He laughed, and it was like the noise of a woodland stream in spring. He took my shoulders in his hands and looked down into my eyes, almost into my soul. “But you are infected by the creature. That means there is a bond between you. Once you have broken its spell all will be revealed to you. It will not be able to hide behind a foreign language. Now stop crying. This despair is a symptom. Those who are infected may fall into despond, but you must guard against it. You are merely tired because you have already fought greatly against this pest. You have much of which you can be proud. Do not belittle yourself.”

When he spoke I believed him, but I didn’t know how long the confidence would last after he went.  “Can you stay a bit longer?” I asked him, but he shook his head and let go of me.

“I must go. I am needed to protect another. You do not need me here, believe me. You are blessed to have the protection of the phoenix. He is far more powerful than I. Now please allow me to go. I promise it is important.”

So I escorted him to the door and he left. Then I took the phoenix’s advice and went to bed, where I fell almost immediately into a deep sleep.

If Wishes Were Horses 23

Today’s word count: 1826  total word count:  46,515

Some time later I began to worry about precisely how the Artimis planned to take revenge on me for defying him. It was all very well being told by a phoenix that I could sleep soundly, but I knew people around me had already been caught up in this battle and suffered for it, and I feared for my friends. I was specially concerned about Minty. The creature had already set her up with a man who I’d been told would hurt her.  When my nemesis left here in a bad temper he could have forced the man to do something dreadful to my friend. I could only hope that the Asterlings were keeping an eye on her too, but I wasn’t sure whether their protection stretched so far. Did someone have to carry one of their amulets to have protection? I promised myself I would look out for her at work and the next time I spoke to Ami or one of his people I would ask for them to protect her if they could. There was nothing else I could do, so I decided on an early night because standing up to the Artimis had exhausted me.

Next day at work my anxiety over Minty increased when I saw her. Unlike her normal styles, she had pulled her hair straight back into a single pony tail, tied with an elastic band that had basic wooden bead toggles on it. The simplicity stunned me. Without an elaborate concoction on her head she was far more attractive, although the dark circles below her eyes were a worry. I immediately went over and asked what was wrong.

“What makes you think anything’s wrong,” she asked in return. “I just overslept that’s all.  I didn’t have time to do anything special with my hair this morning, so I had to do a pony tail. I do go for the easy option sometimes, you know.”

She looked down as she spoke, apparently unable to look me in the eye, and it felt as if she was avoiding telling me something.  My concern grew with every word.

“Minty, you know if you ever need to talk about anything I’m here to listen, don’t you? I’d hate to think of you going through anything awful on your own.”

She gave me a strange, sideways look and she sounded as if she chose her next words with care. “I promise I’m fine. I had a late night and I overslept. If it was anything more than that I’d tell you. Besides, you’re a fine one to talk about sharing problems. You’ve been keeping something to yourself for weeks now, in spite of saying all’s well. That was what the trip to Madame Rosa was all about. That was a total wash out, but you never told me how else you’d dealt with whatever troubled you.”

That was true, of course, but I could hardly let her in on my secret while she faced such potentially serious trouble of her own; trouble I’d caused through my careless actions. I wondered if I could offer her one of my protections. I couldn’t think of a way to persuade her to take either of the books Ami gave me. They were hardly her style. She’d think me insane if I told her to carry a small blue pebble with her. And I didn’t want to relinquish my starling necklace because of the strength it had given me in the fight with the Artimis. I dare not face my enemy again without the amulet, even if the phoenix had promised to stay close to me, because I suspected any future meetings would be increasingly difficult as it determined to beat me.

I nodded agreement to Minty. “I know I’ve been a bit withdrawn over my problems, but I promise you they are nothing you can help me with. “

“You don’t know that,” she shot back. “I’m not as useless as you think, if only you’d trust me.”

“But look at you Minty. You’re clearly worn out. Even if you could help me I wouldn’t want to load anything else on top of whatever you’re going through. “

“OK, have it your own way. I know you’re trying to be kind, but I still think you’d be surprised if you just confided in me.” And we went our separate ways to work, but I continued to worry all morning. I wondered if I could get a message to Ami somehow. He knew before when I was looking for him, but it took a long while before he answered the call.  Any help he might bring could be too late. If anyone was going to help my friend it would have to be me, and I determined I would try again to get her to talk.  At lunch time I asked her if she would like to go for a drink after work and she seemed keener than I anticipated.  She also looked less stressed than when I’d seen her earlier in the morning. Perhaps all would be well after all.

After we finished work we went to a little bar close to the office. We avoided anywhere that our colleagues might go because I didn’t want Minty to be scared to speak in case she was overheard.  She settled into a corner table while I went to the bar and fetched a couple of bottled beers, nothing too strong, but something that might loosen her tongue a little. We had a short conversation about how our day had gone before I broached the subject that was really on my mind.

“So tell me more about Dan,” I started. “How did you meet him?”

She looked startled by the change of topic but soon relaxed and smiled. “I should have known you wanted to try the third degree when you invited me here.  Angela, you are sweet. You could just have asked at work, you know.”

“Yes, but you might not want everyone at work knowing about him. I thought here were could chat happily without anyone overhearing and you can tell me the whole story. I want to be well prepared for when I meet him at the weekend.”

She took a sip from her drink and began telling me about her new man. She had met him while she was out shopping in a supermarket. I’ve heard tell that lots of singles meet that way, but frankly I’d never believed it before. Finding love over the deli counter seemed a bit far fetched to me.

“I’d spotted him in there a few times before actually and I couldn’t help noticing him. He is very good looking and I guess I watched out for him eventually. I smiled at him once or twice but even though he smiled back I didn’t think it would come to anything.”

Apparently they had ended up in the same queue at the checkout and he’d started talking to her as they both unloaded their items onto the moving belt. They had a surprising number of similar items and he’d joked about it. I suspected he’d chosen the same things just to have an excuse to strike up a conversation, and it was no coincidence that he stood behind her in the same queue, but I kept quiet. She’d just think of that as romantic. As they got to the till he asked if she’d like to grab a coffee with him and she’d agreed.  They had been seeing each other ever since.

“He’s huge fun to be with but I don’t think it’s going anywhere. To be honest I think he might be gay!” And she laughed.

“But he isn’t, I assume.”

“Well I don’t know for sure about that. I mean we haven’t.. erm...” she lowered her voice and leaned towards me across the table, “He hasn’t even kissed me yet. He just holds my hand. Not so much as a peck on the cheek.”

“He wouldn’t be chatting you up in a supermarket if he was gay, surely? “

“One would assume not.....” she hesitated, “but you don’t really know about people these days do you?”

She looked down at her drink and my fear returned. “What do you mean by that?” I asked as gently as I could. “What do you really suspect?”

“I don’t suspect anything really. It’s just....” I didn’t reply in case she ended her story there. I let the silence stretch for a while and she continued.  “He can be a bit moody sometimes.”

“Moody. Sometimes. How many times have you seen him?”

“Only four.”

“And how many of those has he been moody? And what exactly do you mean by moody?”

It turned out that three out of the four times they met he had been at best morose, and once he’d seemed angry. I didn’t like the sound of that at all and asked her to give me more details.

“Well, take last night, for example.”

“You saw him last night? Is that why you looked so tired this morning?”

“Yes,” she had the decency to look contrite. “He came to see me last night and he was obviously in a foul mood. He wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. Kept pacing up and down and saying someone had let him down badly. I tried to calm him down but he wouldn’t. He just kept stomping about and talking nonsense about lots of things I didn’t understand. He didn’t leave till the early hours. That’s why I didn’t get much sleep.”

“He didn’t hurt you did he?”

She looked up at me, shocked at the inference. “No. Nothing like that. I mean I wouldn’t even be thinking of seeing him again if he’d done anything like that. He just unloaded all this anger onto me and then left.”

I couldn’t get the idea out of my head that this new man in Minty’s life was there at the Artimis’s bidding and would hurt her badly if I couldn’t get him away. It was too much of a coincidence that I’d overcome the creature’s threats last night and it had gone away vowing vengeance.  At least she didn’t seem to be physically hurt, but too many nights without sleep would damage her and would weaken her against future assaults. I had to find out my enemy’s name and drive it out before she suffered anything permanently.  I tried to reassure her that all would be well, but I doubt if her idea of everything working out OK would be the same as mine.  She thought she had started a new relationship, and in spite of her denials I thought she hoped it would lead to something long term. I knew it was doomed from the start but I couldn’t say so. Instead I told her I’d see what I thought of ‘Dan’ on Saturday, then I changed the topic to something lighter.