Iron & Wine (The Iron World Series) Read online

  After the organizing was done and everything was packed, I stood up, looked at my wonderful packing accomplishment, and gave myself a mental pat on the back before heading out to spend the rest of the night with Tess. When I entered the living room she stood there waiting, holding out a glass of red wine to offer me.

  "What's the occasion?" I asked, although I already knew the answer. She just ignored me.

  "I made us a bunch of food, I rented a couple of chick-flicks and...," she sprinted towards the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of wine off the island. “I managed to get us a bottle of the finest wine you'll ever taste."

  I stared at the bottle. It was huge and was at least four litres for sure. The bottle itself was magnificent. It had no label, but the glass was a deep ruby red and had weird carvings and little symbols on it. It was definitely one of those bottles that you clean afterwards and keep as a vase or something.

  Tess noticed my admiration. "A beauty isn't it?"

  "Yeah, it's something else Tess," I agreed. “Where did you get it?”

  “I got it from a friend.” She handed me my glass and we both went to take a sip but she was looking at me funny, like she was waiting to see something.

  "Hey! I have had a drink before you know; don't look at me like I’m the freak," I claimed, and took a sip. I wasn’t prepared for my reaction to the wine. Even after I swallowed it I could still feel the tingly warmth on my tongue. It was kind of citrus-like with a honeysuckle after taste. I swear it was as if there were small beads of sunshine that exploded as the wine hit my stomach. Within seconds, my skin was vibrating with warmth, like it would on a hot summer day.

  "Kudos to your friend," I said. "This stuff’s amazing." I chugged the rest and headed over to the couch to start the movie.

  About halfway through the movie, and three quarters of the way through the bottle of wine, Tess got up and attempted to put on her jacket as she fumbled drunkenly to find the sleeves.

  "Where are you going? The movie isn't over," I asked. She was acting kind of weird, like she forgot something or had to be somewhere all of a sudden.

  "Let’s go out to the garden," Tess suggested as she grabbed my arm and ran out through the dining room doors. She loved her garden, and I don’t blame her, it's beautiful. Calling it a garden was an understatement though, it was more of a small forest. The enchanting landscape was just breathtaking. Large bushes, shrubs and other exotic plants that I have never heard of or seen before were everywhere. Flowers of every color and shape nearly took over the oasis and the subtle smell of lilac and Satsuma always hung in the air.

  She salvaged some large marble fountains of cherubs and other creatures from old houses that she helped restore and had placed them throughout the garden in a way that made them look like they had always been there. And, if I had to guess, there had to be about a million or so little white lights that were scattered randomly throughout the whole place that gave the same effect of, what I would assume, a million fireflies would give. Tess has even won a couple of awards for her garden.

  When I was a little girl she would fill my pockets with bread crumbs ‘to keep away the Pixies and Ly Ergs’ and take me out here at night. We would lie under the stars and she would tell me fairy tales of far away lands and magical kings and queens while we ate candy, until I fell into a sugar coma. Sometimes I would even come out here by myself and just sleep under the sky. I hate camping, but I always felt comfortable in Tess's garden under the stars, safe almost.

  We were two very drunk girls dancing about like silly kids as I followed Tess through the garden, wine bottle clutched in her hand, until we reached one of the many fountains. It was the one carved from a white marble into the shape of a large bowl big enough for at least three or four people to get in. In the middle of the bowl stood a statue of a man, at least I think it was a man. It was a male for sure, but he had a face too beautiful for a human man and an aura surrounded him, like maybe he was an important figure or something. Each one of the statues had stories and legends behind them, it was hard to keep track of them all, but this one I always remembered because of the look Tess had on her face each time she peered up at him.

  "Kheelan," she sighed happily. “Legend says that he was a ruler of the summer fairies once, maybe still is." She looked at the monument with a proud smile. Tess always talked about fairy folklore as if it were real, as if the legends weren’t legends but facts. She would always insist on turning my socks inside out, claiming that it would protect me from evil fairies, or insisting that, if I looked hard enough, I would see sprites dancing in the light of the moon. I always admired that about her, she believed in a lot of crazy things but it made her personality unique and her imagination helped me see the great artist that I one day hope to be. But that’s all if was for me, an imagination and nothing more. After spending endless nights staring out my bedroom window hoping to catch a glance of little sprite twirling in the moonlight, I just stopped believing.

  When I was ten years old, Tess told me a story about a glorious immortal king who ruled a magical land of fairies and other creatures. She was so detailed in the way the king looked and the world he lived in that I painted the scene she developed in my mind. I won first place at the art fair that year and someone actually bought the painting! I had enough money that summer to buy my first bike. That's significant to a ten year old, especially one that was prone to car sickness.

  "He's magnificent," was all I could say. I took another swig from the bottle of wine and passed it back to Tess. At some point we stopped using the glasses, but I felt kind of weird, now that I realized it. My skin felt soft and mushy, like Jell-O, and my vision was sort of blurry. I tried to focus but was failing miserably. We both sat on the edge of the fountain and stared at the stars.

  "It’s a beautiful night tonight," I said with half a mumble.

  Tess sighed. "Yeah, it is." Then she looked at me sadly. "Avery, I'm gonna go crazy here without you. And I will be worried sick about you and Julie in the city."

  "Don't be silly, you'll visit all the time I’m sure, and we’ll come home when we can. It's only an hour away Tess," I reassured her. “What happened to the whole I’m-a-big-girl-and-should-be-feeding-my-thirst-for-knowledge theory?”

  She grinned. “Being smart doesn’t mean you have to be a smart ass too! If I do something strange will you promise not to make fun of me or think I’m crazy?" Tess asked randomly.

  "I'll think you’re crazy no matter what you do."

  She stood up, a little wobbly, from the fountain edge and turned to face me. She pulled a small box from her pocket. It looked like a jewellery box of some sort. She handed it to me and when I took it she pulled something else from her pocket, a tiny red bag that closed with a drawstring.

  "Tess, you bought me something else? This is ridiculous!" I started to protest but she shushed me with a finger to her lips.

  "Open the box," she ordered.

  I did, and inside was a beautiful bracelet made from strands of woven white suede and leather. There was a green, flat round bead about the size of a quarter attached to it. "Tess this is beautiful, where did you get it?"

  "I made it," she said proudly. "The bead is made of pressed Thyme. It's for protection."

  I was so touched and looked at her with watery eyes, I couldn't think of anything to say. Then I remembered she had pulled something else from her pocket.

  "What's with the little bag?"

  My aunt smiled, opened the tiny satchel and then dumped its contents into her hand. That's weird; it was just some sparkly dust. Tess then stood directly in front of me and lightly blew the powdery sparkles in my face. I coughed and tried to bat most of it away but the coughing only made me inhale more.

  "Tess!" I screamed, coughing some more. "You are a crazy drunk lady!' I grabbed her arm and pulled her down next to me on the slippery fountain edge. "What was that?"

  She grinned
nervously and looked into my eyes and for a moment it didn’t look like Tess. Well, it did, but it’s like she flickered or something and for a second she was...different. I blinked hard to make sure I wasn't just seeing things through the eyes of a drunken person, but she still looked strange, even the garden around me began to change. The flowers and trees appeared to sway and move as if alive, bending and twisting to get closer to us.

  Then, suddenly, I fell backwards into the fountain! I knew it was shallow, but my back never hit the bottom. Was I drowning? No, I could somehow breathe, but I was surrounded by water like I was dropped into the middle of the ocean and couldn't find the way out. I kicked and fumbled to try and find the surface but it was completely dark all around me as I started to panic, I felt like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole only I was sinking rather than falling. Finally, and abruptly, I stopped, like gravity just gave up. But I was still in the water, floating as if in suspended animation. My arms and legs slowly drifted out from my body. How was this possible? Where was Tess? What the hell was going on?

  Then magically, I was surrounded by tiny lights, millions and millions of them. They made me think of fire flies, only I knew that was impossible. But then again, so was this. They seemed to grow in number and illuminated the space around me as they swarmed in circular motions, forming tornados and leaving bright colors of light in trails behind them. The living lights hummed peacefully like an idling engine and I almost immediately I felt calm, even though I knew I shouldn't be. Maybe this is what it was like to drown. They twirled in and out between my finger and around my face leaving a tingling sensation crawling over my skin. Their luminous glow began to spread and grow to the point where I was blinded. I tried to squint through the blinding light but failed, the tornado of fireflies became too much for me and I could no longer see through the brightness of it all, so I closed my eyes and drifted, waiting for myself to either sink to my inevitable watery death or wake up from this seriously disturbing fit I was having.

  Chapter Three-Home Away From Home

  I awoke in my bed. After one look around my much too bright room, I moaned in agony. For once, the morning sun was not welcome in here. I pulled the duvet up over my head and attempted to get back to sleep. But, the smell of banana pancakes and freshly brewed coffee filling my bedroom was enough to get me up. Slowly and carefully, I emerged from my cocoon and made it for the door. The rest of the house was even brighter. Damn windows, stupid open concept. I moaned and plunked myself down in a chair at the table. Tess looked at me and chuckled a little.

  "Coffee, please," was all I could manage to mutter. She poured a mug and placed it in front of me. Inhaling the wonderful, rich aroma, I sipped cautiously. I didn’t know how this would react with my stomach. I seemed to be fine so far, so I continued. Then I remembered the fountain dream.

  "Did you push me in the fountain last night?" I asked accusingly. "And what the hell was with the dust?"

  Tess looked at me nervously, examining my face. "I didn't push you in; you fell backwards off the edge." She was such a bad liar; it literally looked like it was painful for her to say. "And the dust was an old legend. I got it from the same friend who makes the wine. She said that it was for protection or something. Sorry, I didn't mean to get it in your eyes," she apologized while placing the pancakes in front of me hesitantly. " It wasn't last night either. You slept the whole day and night yesterday, it's Sunday."

  "What? How drunk was I?" I cried. "Tess, I can't believe I wasted a whole day, and I can't believe I fell in the fountain! How could you let me do that?" I stopped yelling and tried calm down; my head was suddenly spinning like crazy. "I’m sorry, it must have been pretty hard to carry me all the way back to the house," I apologized.

  "Nah, it wasn't so hard," Tess claimed with a smile. "You could afford to lose a couple of pounds though," she teased as she sat to join me for breakfast.

  We ate while planning my moving strategy. I was going to take the Vespa while Tess led the way in the Mustang with all my belongings. I would go and wait at the park while she dropped everything off at the apartment.

  "It's not fair that even you got to see the apartment before I do," I complained as we left the house. “Julie wouldn't even tell me the address. All she said was that it was close to school.”

  "It's a surprise Avery, accept it. You worry way too much, Julie has everything under control; it'll all be worth it tonight, trust me," she assured.

  Tess led the way on our drive into the city, as I did not know where to go. I eyed my school coming up on the left, so I knew we were close. Soon enough, we stopped at a park barely five blocks away. Tess got out of her car, came over to me, and told me to stay there while she brought my things to the apartment

  "I'll be back in fifteen minutes," she promised.

  I leaned against my Vespa and listened to music while I waited. My skin was a little chilly from the cool night air and the warmth from my bike engine felt nice against my side. As I glanced around, I realized that the park was something extraordinary. I examined the acres of thick forest ahead, and the winding multi colored stone paths that intertwined and eventually led into the trees. The tall sky scrapers and blurry buildings far in the distance created a halo of iron, glass, and lights above the trees, in a contrast to the magnificent park in front of me. The scenery felt as though it didn’t belong here in the center of the city. Old twisted trees lined the perimeter and their soft green leaves filled in the spaces like strategically placed draperies. It was absolutely magical, and I was excited to know I would be living near it. As I continued to admire the dark forest, I noticed a strange shadowed figure. It seemed strange because it was not the form of a person. It had the height correct but the shape was all wrong. I walked towards the tree line to get a better look but the figure disappeared before I could even blink. I shook my head in disbelief, blinked twice, and looked again but it was gone. I'm not sure what just happened, but it still felt like I was recovering from my night in Tess’s garden. It must have been that, that’s all, I assured myself. But, then I heard a slight whisper come from woods.

  "Avery..."

  The quiet voice was just barely loud enough for me to hear, but there was no doubt that it said my name. I stood frozen in fear and disbelief as I stared unblinkingly ahead.

  "Avery!" cried Julie from behind.

  I nearly jumped out of my skin and turned around to find Julie running towards me, who then embraced me in a tight hug. Her long blonde hair overwhelmed me, if felt like I couldn’t breathe, giving me a brief flashback of my nightmare. I quickly recovered, and pulled away to look at her. We had a tight bond, closer than most friends. We were more like sisters, able to look at each other and know exactly what the other was thinking. Right now she was beaming with excitement over showing me our new apartment.

  "Okay, lead the way, you two. I have been waiting long enough," I ordered as I started putting my helmet back on and trying to forget the creepy voice from the woods.

  "Alright, see that coffee shop across the way?" Julie pointed. "The parking garage is in that building, so just meet us there," I gave thumbs up in acknowledgement as she and Tess climbed back into the car.

  The building was a two story walk-up, made with old bricks of different sizes and colours, and housed a coffee shop and an art supplies store. Coffee and art, my two favorite things! The coffee shop was just as mesmerizing in beauty as the park across the way. It had miss-matched wrought-iron bistro seats out front, and a rich, heady aroma that made my mouth water. Julie and Tess were standing by the entrance to the coffee shop, ready to go in.

  "No, no coffee right now, let’s just get to the apartment already. We'll come back and grab some java after," I pleaded. They exchanged a funny look.

  "Avery, this is where we live," exclaimed Julie, practically jumping up and down in excitement. I stared at her with a confused expression, my jaw nearly touching the ground. Appare
ntly, the man who previously owned this building was one of her dad's clients who wanted to sell it before he retired. Julie’s dad got an amazing deal, and I can't believe that he bought it for us.

  I don't think my eyes could have widened any further as I looked around again with my new knowledge. "Are you serious? We live above a coffee shop? And an art supply store? And you own it?" I asked, trying to ignore the increasingly high squeal entering my voice.

  She just nodded and grabbed my arm, hauling me inside. Tess laughed softly behind me as she put her hand on my shoulder while I looked around in wonder. The old coffee shop felt as if it were ripped from the set of a movie. On the walls were framed clippings from old, yellowing newspapers. There were torn red velvet curtains draping around the large windows and door ways. None of the dozen or so tables matched, and the lighting was dim and intimate. Tranquil cafe music played lightly in the background. I could see myself spending way too much time here.

  "This is awesome Jules! I can't believe you both managed to keep this a secret all summer!"

  "Actually, Julie only let me in on it about two weeks ago," Tess sighed, seeming like she was disappointed that Julie didn’t think she could keep a secret.

  Julie winked at me. "I knew better. Now come on! Let’s go upstairs."

  She led us towards a large staircase in the back corner of the shop. How I missed the stairs in my initial wonder I can’t say. The dark wooden stairs were wide and worn with character and lined with a faded, yet rich, purple runner. The banisters were carved from the same dark wood as the stairs and were followed by thick and beautifully carved spindles. At the top of the staircase was a huge, heavy door that appeared to be ripped right from the entrance of a small castle. Julie pushed it open with ease and we entered the apartment that was now my new home.

  I gazed around in amazement much the same way as I did downstairs. I was so confused and scared about moving to the city that I hadn’t even given any thought to how the apartment would look, or the area around it. So far, I’ve been unexpectedly impressed. The apartment reminded me of Tess's place and how it felt cozy and warm. Instead of stone walls, it had old brick ones like the exterior of the building and were painted white. Large beams were strategically placed and ran up the vaulted ceiling. Julie had placed beautiful crawling ivy's and other plants around the room. They nearly took over the space, but it looked spectacular. The living room was in the center of the large apartment with large white furniture and a big television and backed by a set of glass patio doors. The kitchen, with white cabinetry and a large island with black granite in place of a dining table, sat to the left as soon as you walk in.