Susan's Summer (5 page)

“Where did you say we were?” I asked, looking Seth in the eye. He walked over and pulled out a chair for Mae, who happily accepted it. Traitor. Reluctantly, I took the chair he offered me as well. I was better at arguing on a full stomach anyway.

Seth had given Mae and me the chairs with the best view of the back of the grounds, and as I was starting to expect from this place, the view was stunning. It swept over a massive garden lining a gently sloping green field, inside of which I could see a gazebo, and stone paths stretched endlessly away to what could only be woods off in the distance. Seth was watching me closely as if he was trying to gauge my reaction, and just for that reason I tried to keep my reaction to a minimum. I didn’t want him to know how beautiful I thought it all was. Not until I was far away.

“What do you think?” he asked, offering Mae a plate of toast. She grabbed two pieces, plus some jelly and cheese, a special favorite combination of Mae’s. As she happily put jelly and cheese on her perfectly toasted bread, I watched Katie pour orange juice for all of us. It wasn’t hard to start feeling sad again. This was something I would have loved to do—last summer—with Holt. Now that time and that happiness had passed, and in its place I was upset and bitter. Not to mention getting really annoyed that Seth and Katie seemed to keep sliding away, effortlessly, from my requests for some information about why we were here.

“I can see you aren’t going to be happy until I explain,” Seth muttered, as if he could read my thoughts. He was casually buttering toast, his voice light, eyes averted, but I could tell he was very alert to my annoyance. Katie was too, because she set the pitcher down on the side table and came to join us.

“Just don’t be angry,” she said to me, pleading. “Seth didn’t intend for last night to go like that.”

Like what, I wondered but didn’t say out loud. If they were going to explain, I figured I should make an effort to soften my rising antagonism.

“No, I definitely didn’t,” said Seth dryly. I wondered that he told his little sister so much. She looked about sixteen, whereas Seth looked like he was twenty or twenty-one.

“We won’t be angry,” Mae said, giving Katie a reassuring smile. Katie’s shoulders slumped in relief and I sat back in my chair. Determined not to make Mae a liar, I nodded agreement while Seth’s eyes sparkled. Even if his sister didn’t realize how much I had instantly liked her, he did.

“And if she’s angry,” said Mae, pointing at me, “just ignore her. She got hit in the head last night.”

“So,” Seth began with an exaggerated air of coming clean, “the explanation is that I saw two ladies in distress and decided to help.”

Katie rolled her eyes. “Come on. Tell them who you are. I’m surprised you don’t know.” She said that last bit to me, and I looked up in surprise. I had the nagging feeling that there was something familiar about this guy, if not this place, but I had ignored it, assuming that I was just imagining things.

“Who are you?” I asked him. Now I was curious. If I was supposed to know, then he must be. . . .

“I’m Seth Arsenal. This is my sister, Katelin Arsenal.”

It was like someone had taken me and thrown me out of a plane. Without a parachute. Air whooshed around me and I stared in disbelief while I plummeted downward.

Before I could say anything, a tiny woman came bustling in. She was definitely a Fairy, one of the old school kind, because she was tiny. Without a word she deposited more coffee on the table and left.

An old school Fairy was basically a nanny to a royal. She did whatever the family required and stayed at a particular court for generations. Families who acted as nannies were completely free and paid very well. They typically had several family members working, so one or more could always be traveling or doing whatever they wanted. Still, the practice was going out of style. Very few kingdoms still had any, only the very old kingdoms and the very powerful.

She disappeared as quickly as she had come.

As I leaned backward in my chair I had the distinct feeling that I was on a movie set and that someone would be popping up any minute to refresh my makeup. I had thought that the Roths’ Summer Court in Castleton, Maine, was beautiful, but further north, here at Arsenal, the Fairies’ Summer Court rivaled and surpassed it.

Breathe, Susan,
I murmured to myself, staring at the two young Summer Fairies in front of me. I hadn’t realized where I was, but I should have. I had planned on having a quiet and relaxing summer, founded on the hope that driving through and lolling around in open fields surrounded by fragrant flowers would be a potent and pungent enough distraction to take away some of the pain of last autumn. And here I was, at one of the most famous gardens in all the Fairy Courts, and I had forgotten all about it in planning the trip.

One big reason for that was that Arsenal was also famous—one might even say infamous?—for its reclusiveness. For years no one I knew had visited Arsenal, and I knew everyone. Periodically it was a topic of conversation at parties: Had anyone seen the Arsenal family? Where was the King? How did they look? Had that gorgeous son of theirs married yet? But of course he hadn’t married, because no one had seen him. It was strange, because I had once known the Arsenals; we had spent time together as small children. But Mrs. Arsenal had passed away under mysterious circumstances, and Mr. Arsenal, unable to deal with his grief, had reportedly absconded to Europe a few years later, leaving Seth not only the heir to Arsenal, but parentless. It was something we had in common, but ironically we hadn’t seen each other in later years so we had never talked about it.

“Wow,” said Mae, looking around. Her face had transformed from passive curiosity to blatant respect. “You know, now that you mention it, that makes perfect sense.”

“What?” I sputtered. I could barely get the word out, but that was my basic point. My friend was crazy for being so calm. This was not a time for calm. This was a time to freak out!

“At least we weren’t kidnapped,” said Mae, shrugging.

“You thought you were kidnapped?” said Katie, aghast. “That’s awful! I’m so sorry.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” I yell-shouted at them, ignoring Katie’s apology. My body had gone hot. I should have known who this was and where I was. We had been near their territory, after all, but most Fairies had stopped thinking about the Arsenals years ago. Nobody ever saw them or talked to them, so there was no reason to think they would be at random country bars saving stupid drunk girls. That definitely wasn’t a scenario I had envisioned. I had closed off my Glamour, so I hadn’t sensed their power—much—but there was protocol for me to follow! This was a Fairy Prince and Princess!

“Are you okay?” Mae asked me. “Your eyes have gone all glassy.”

“No,” I said. “I’m not okay. This is crazy! We have to curtsy, at least!” I got up and started to bend into a deep curtsy, but then caught Katie’s giggle and paused.

“No one has done that in a long time,” she said, with a hand politely covering her mouth.

I sat back down and tried to get my bearings.

There was no short explanation for the Arsenals. They had once been the royal family of one of the strongest Summer Fairy Courts. They had vast amounts of land that stretched through both towns and wilderness. Since they were Summer Fairies, much of their power came from surrounding themselves with nature, and unlike in the normal people world, where the coveted land is in cities—see New York’s exorbitant rents—coveted land for Summer Fairies was exactly where we were now: all of Vermont, Vacationland Maine, etc., and the Arsenals were the cream of the crop. My parents used to visit the Arsenal King and Queen, albeit at a far grander one of their homes. My dad had grown up with their mom, or something.

But then something had changed. There had been all sorts of rumors: that the King had had an affair and run off, that the Queen no longer loved her husband, or had never loved him, or had tried to kill him, or he her. Of course, no one knew the truth, all anyone knew was that the wonderful parties, even better than the Roths’ Solstice Party, stopped. I was very young when this happened and couldn’t have begun to care; I was more concerned with the latest Barbie and how her clothes fit. But my parents had known something about it.

I had once heard them talking about the King and Queen, and they had sounded worried. The Queen had never been strong, and after a particularly brutal winter she had died. My mother, I knew, had thought there was more to it than death from illness. There were, after all, many things that could go wrong with powerful Fairies. The magic was sometimes tenuous, and strength was hard to find.

My eyes had gone unfocused, but unfortunately they went unfocused on Seth Arsenal. He looked like I dimly remembered his father looking: a younger version of breathtaking.

“How couldn’t I have seen it?” I asked myself in wonder.

I tried to remember their love story, but I couldn’t. I could have asked my mom if she were still around, but I had gotten used to not being able to ask her questions a long time ago. I could have asked Mrs. Roth, but she no longer believed in love stories.

Seth didn’t look upset, merely slightly amused and a little curious. Well, that made sense. He and I had met before. Long ago and in what felt like another life, Seth and I had run around fields together and laughed. Not often, but it had happened. Or at least, I had laughed. Seth had been a serious child, I remembered that. He was a little older, and as with Holt the responsibility of his future had weighed heavily on his young shoulders. I wondered what that was like, having a future planned for you. It must color your life in every way and affect every decision you made. I remembered feeling bad for the boy, but now I felt nothing but irritation for the man.

And now I had a different mystery to puzzle out: What had happened to the Arsenals? No one really knew, but surely an old friend of the family could be told.

Seth read the question in my face.

He shrugged. Obviously he wasn’t just going to come out and tell me. Katie now looked uncomfortable and said, “Maybe you’d like to see the grounds, Mae?”

“Why?” Mae asked. “This is fascinating.” But when she caught the look on my face, she jumped to her feet. “Yeah, I’m sure I can hear more later.”

Mae had grown up in California, far away from the intricacies of the Fairy Courts of New England, and had only recently adopted into the Roth Court. I was sure she had never met an Arsenal before and would know nothing of the history I had just run through in my mind. I would have to tell her later, but for now Seth and I definitely needed to have a chat.

“Want to see more of the house?” he offered once Mae and Katie had made their retreat. I nodded, my mind racing. The Arsenal Queen had died, but what of Seth’s father, the King? Rumor said that he had become a recluse after his wife’s death, and/or that he had gone to Europe, but no one really knew, least of all me. Neither of those choices was evidence of a man who didn’t love his wife, but where was he now? My parents had reached out to him, but there hadn’t been much time before they were gone too.

Now that I knew this was an Arsenal home, I definitely wanted to see more of it. Earlier I had been wary of Seth, but now my curiosity had come to the fore and I wanted to find out the story behind the mysteries that surrounded this family.

At least I knew I hadn’t been kidnapped. Then again, as far as I knew the Arsenals still had all their land, so even if their Court was disbanded or on hiatus or whatever had gone wrong, they were still a very powerful family. And given that my protection from anything unsavory was the Roths’ responsibility, I really did need to be careful.

“You don’t have to be afraid, you know,” said Seth. He was walking next to me but keeping his distance. “I know you thought you were brought here as part of some wicked plot to kidnap you or something, but you are free to leave at any time.” He paused, but when I didn’t say anything he continued in a soft voice. “I think my sister would like it if you stayed a bit longer.”

I wondered if that meant he would like it too or if he was just being nice.

I had to admit to myself, even though I didn’t want to, that he had been nothing but kind, even a little flirtatious, and I hadn’t minded. Well, maybe I had, but that wasn’t his fault, and to be honest, his family’s story really wasn’t any of my business. I had my own problems to worry about.

“You can leave anytime,” he repeated, waiting for a response.

“We’ll see,” I said. “In any case, I deeply appreciate your and Katie’s hospitality, and I’d like to hear more about Arsenal and your life here.”

He ignored that last comment effortlessly. We were now in what could only be described as a massive living room, complete with huge TV and comfortable chairs, a place I could see myself spending hours in. But instead of saying anything about the room we were in or continuing on through the house, Seth simply sat down. He moved gracefully, like he wasn’t even thinking about it. There was nothing heavy or slow about him, and I could easily see how two drunk guys in the dark would have no chance against him.

“Let’s sit,” he said, when I didn’t immediately follow suit. “This is where we hang out and where we used to watch family movies.”

He rested his suntanned hands in his lap. I focused anywhere but on those clear blue eyes.

“Why’d you bring us here?” I asked. I just couldn’t help myself. “The Arsenals . . . nothing has been heard of your family in so many years, I had honestly forgotten about you.”

That wasn’t entirely true; I had always been curious about what had happened to the family, and I had never met Katie. Now that I thought about it I wasn’t sure why.

“My father is in Europe,” said Seth. “Indefinitely.” And of course his mother was dead.

Startled at such a bald statement, I asked, equally directly, “Why wouldn’t anyone have heard from him, or seen him?”

“Because he insisted we shut ourselves off from everyone,” said Seth. “I couldn’t leave, because someone had to take care of everything here, so we’ve just stayed on our land. But I’ve been thinking that it’s time for us to come back into the fold of Fairies; it’s not good for us to be reclusive and distant any longer. Katie is young. She needs more friends, she will want a family one day, and she has already lost so much time.”

There was something strange about what he was saying, as if there was more to the story but he wasn’t adding it now. That was fine. There were things in my life I couldn’t bear to share either. Even now I could barely think of Holt without crying, just as the most obvious example. Seth had clearly warned me away from asking about his family, and he was right, it wasn’t my business. So I tried to steer my own curiosity into another path.

“So, you brought Mae and me here. Why us?”

“Because I could,” said Seth, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. “I had been trying to figure out how to reach out to old friends, but I wasn’t sure how, and after there was so much turmoil in the Fairy Courts last year I didn’t want to add to the difficulty.” Turmoil was apparently what he called Holt’s falling in love with Samuel’s intended, and her falling in love with him.

“And now?”

“I didn’t know you’d be there, obviously. It didn’t really look like you two had a . . . plan. For leaving.” He was referring to my drunken antics, which luckily hadn’t been as bad as they sometimes were. It was the first time I had gotten drunk and not cried; I was too busy trying to beat up Kid or was it Larry? Of course, I had been unconscious at the end of the evening, which was certainly one way to make sure I didn’t cry, if not a great option in other respects. Anyhow, I was glad I hadn’t cried in front of Seth, but now I was feeling a buildup of emotion. Maybe it was the hangover and the fact that my head was starting to hurt again. But I tried to push through how I was feeling and just keep a normal conversation going.