Moonways pt2

To Lily's surprise, Amber didn't say much at all, let alone anything strange. She nodded to Lily, then leaned down and asked Mona about her doll, and her dress, and told her she looked lovely. For the way that Mona smiled, Lily felt a rush of appreciation for the other girl's presence. Her hair still looked like it needed a decent combing, and Lily had to resist the urge to pluck a small twig from the back, but she had a way with Mona, and that made her alright. Maybe.

Amber led them to a small wood at the back of the winding streets crowded with cheap housing. Lily didn't think much of the little reserve; she heard older boys went there and drank from sacks of two dollar wine, looking for trouble. But that day, there was no one else, or so it seemed. Amber began pointing out types of trees, and plants, and even flowers, as though it were some carefully tended garden and not a grubby little reserve between ghettos. Carefully moving aside a clump of ivy, she revealed a delicate collection of tiny blue flowers, each nodding their fluted heads as though dozing.
"Bluebells!" Lily exclaimed, impressed despite herself. Amber grinned, then held up a finger to her lips.
"Shh... they're sleeping." Gesturing sharply, she tiptoed away, around the base of a taller tree, and pulled back a screen of creepers. Behind the leafy curtains lay a small grotto, soft with moss, dappled and dewy in its shaded corners, hidden from the world by scrub and trees and held in the arms of the tall oak protecting it.

"This is my secret place," Amber whispered, as Mona looked about in awe. Even Lily wondered at the change. Then she noticed the small pile nestled away to one side. It was a collection of glass shards, and discarded, brassy earrings, and bottlecaps, and dried flowers and chains of leaves. Amber, noticing Lily's gaze, shuffled a little closer. "Gifts for the Gate Man... and a compass for the Moon Ways."
Lily was confused. "Where's the compass?" Amber merely nodded, then picked out an earring, three strings of daisies and a single, carefully dried bluebell. With deft movements she arranged it all, adding little knots here and there, until the earring was swinging between a spidery criss cross of threads. The bluebell helmed the strange contraption, and daisies ringed its edges. To Lily's eyes, it was simply a mess. But it had a strange beauty, and as Lily watched it, she thought the light caught it just so, sending shivering sparkles down each fine strand, like beads of water... Blinking, she looked away. "That's not a compass," she mumbled. But Amber's eyes had a strange glow to them. "You saw, didn't you! I knew you would. Tell me which way they went!" Her expression had become oddly hungry. Lily shook her head in confusion.
"I didn't... I don't.... well... sort of this way I guess?" She gestured down and out. Amber watched, her golden brown eyes hungry.
"Yes, yes I see it... I understand. Thank you." The tension of the moment was broken by Mona tugging on Amber's skirt.

"Show me boo-bells?" The hunger vanished from Amber's eyes and with a quick glance at Lily, her smile was back in place for the little girl as she took her to the other side of the grotto where all sorts of wildflowers were growing. Lily's head felt strange. It had been a surreal exchange, and her skin prickled from the warm stillness. But the moment passed, and they spent a pleasant afternoon wading in the creek, looking for turtles and little fish as well as Amber's "diamonds".

Day after day they slipped out early, away from their snoring mother and the cloying, musty heat of their broken down house, to go join Amber in the wood, or on the banks of the creek. After that exchange in the grotto, Amber mostly talked about fairly normal things with Lily, though questions about where she lived or went to school slid off her smile like drops of water. She would interject sometimes to offer a fact about some animal or plant, and sometimes she would tell Mona fairytales.

They weren't the fairytales Lily was used to; they spoke of dark halls and secret places, of the immortal King of Noontime and the eternal Queen of Midnight. How to talk with fairies, how to pass their doorways and paths unhindered. How to trick them with gifts and how to keep names secret. Mona always listened, wide eyed and open mouthed, but Lily frowned and became thoughtful. One evening, Lily and Mona's mother had gone out. She left no indication of where she was going; she just wasn't there when Lily brought Mona home. The rusty Camaro was not parked out the front, and the house was dark. Lily sighed with relief.

They ate toast with jam for dinner and Lily was sitting on the back veranda, fanning her face lazily in the dense, sticky air, when a pale face suddenly appeared in the darkness. It was Amber. Lily started; she had never come around after dark before. She was bathed in the blue light of the bright full moon, and her hair shone silver in the washed out twilight. Lily stood.
"What are you doing here?"
"Tonight's the night, Lily. Will you help me?" Mona, hearing Amber's voice, tottered out onto the veranda and then, like usual, dashed down the back stairs and through the yard. This time was different though. Lily leapt up, straining with sudden fear, and took bounding leaps to catch up but it was too late. Amber reached over and snatched up Mona, who, not understanding the danger, wrapped her arms around the older girl's neck happily.

Amber was off then, still fast and agile like a deer. Lily was long legged but for some reason, she simply couldn't keep up with the shorter girl. Mona wasn't crying. She just looked dreamy as Amber murmured into her ear. Lily ran faster, screaming, but her voice was hoarse suddenly, disobeying her desperation. The park was cast in stark whites and blues and blacks by the moonlight, but there seemed to be a glow developing around Amber as her strides ate up the grass.

Lily's head spun as she realised what was happening. Soon, each step Amber took splashed moonlight before her, and a glimmering path was forming. With strength she didn't know she had, Lily surged ahead, just as the darkness seemed to gather in an archway above the grass. Amber slowed down, and a shining figure stepped from the arch. The Gate Man! Finally, Lily caught up, chest burning and limbs trembling with fear and adrenaline. Amber was shining now, her hair floating in a wreath about her head.

She turned to Lily, as though in a dream, and her eyes were wild. "I'm sorry, Lily," she said dreamily, and sounded almost like she meant it. "But the Gate Man needs to be paid."
"What about your diamonds and jewels?" Lily tried to shout. Amber shrugged.
"She is a jewel. Precious, shining, beautiful. The Gate Man must be paid. I need to go home." Lily's limbs were getting heavy as the Gate Man stepped forward. Still she struggled, crying out her sister's name until she thought she might burst. Suddenly, Amber glared.
"Stop that!"

Lily found another tiny shred of strength, then another. A sweat was breaking out on the other girl's pale skin. Lily concentrated on her sister, on her fierce love, until it filled her up and spilled out between them. Amber stumbled, just as the Gate Man reached forward, and Lily stepped forward in that half a moment, snatching Mona's arm and hefting her bodily away. Now it was Amber's turn to scream, as the shining figure grew blindingly bright, his voice beautiful and deadly.
"You know the price must be paid for calling me, Ysoldir." Amber screamed and screamed as heat radiated from them both. Lily clutched Mona to her, screwing her eyes shut, wishing she could close her ears against the terrible sounds. But then suddenly darkness rushed back across her eyelids and she opened them cautiously, squinting in the gloom.

There was nothing of Amber left, and the Moon Way was fading into nothing. Lily stepped out of the way swiftly as it snaked away into the sky. She realised Mona was still sleeping, her tangled curls brushing over her cheek, and held her close, kissing her forehead. There would be no more secret bluebells and strange tales, but Lily didn't think she'd miss them.