He’d once had a special, secret place inside his imagination, like the one Ibrahim had suggested, a place that had always made him feel at peace and alive, but it was gone now. Bulldozed. He tried to go back there with Ibrahim’s help, but it had been worse than he’d remembered: barren trees and scorched earth. He’d still recognized some of the landmarks, though. He realized he could have persisted walking through that once gentle meadow with the copse at the end if he’d wanted to, but the air had been thick with fear because he’d known what lay at the end of the path he was treading.
The pond. He couldn’t even think about the pond. So he’d run away from that place, locked the gate on it in his imagination. Buried the key.
The woman came to ask Moji a question. Brody didn’t hear what. It sounded as if she were talking underwater. Moji laid the wooden figure she’d been holding on the counter and went over to help the woman find the particular book she was looking for.
His Not Elf.
Anna.
He thought about her. He thought about the photograph on his phone, about the expression in her eyes, at once curious and open. She’d been outside when it had been taken. There’d been blurry woodland in the background. He imagined her somewhere else near woodland – on his terrace overlooking his garden, sitting at the little table and chairs. She wore the grey scarf from her photo and the purple hat with the flower on it. Her breath was coming in pure white clouds as she stared into the distance, and he realized she was looking out for someone, waiting. And then she turned and smiled at him.
Brody’s heart rate slowed, settled into a steady thump.
Even though she hadn’t been smiling in the photo she’d sent, he could see it so clearly in his imagination. The way her mouth curled and creased felt real, felt true. She was looking at him as the sun rose behind her head, its pale golden rays making the frost on the twisted, barren wisteria that clung to the side of the house sparkle.
‘Are you okay, Brody?’
He turned to find Moji looking at him. The shop was empty, the memory of the bell over the door an echo in his ears. He was still breathing methodically and slowly, his unconscious brain counting beats of three even as his imagination had drifted elsewhere. ‘Yes,’ he said, a smile threatening to curve his lips. ‘Yes, I think I am.’
Moji looked at the Not Elf. Brody was holding it tightly in both hands. ‘Are you sure she’s supposed to be in the box?’ Moji asked. ‘I mean, I’ll take her. She’s lovely. But she’s not the usual sort of thing you bring me.’
‘No,’ he said, staring down at the determined chin, the faraway eyes. ‘You’re right. It was a mistake. She shouldn’t have been in there.’
Chapter Forty-Two
ANNA LEANED BACK in her office chair at Sundridge Plumbing and Heating and rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. She’d just got off the phone with a customer, irate because their hot and cold tap labels were on the wrong way around. Not ideal, obviously, but you’d have thought from the fuss they made that raw sewage was pumping through their otherwise perfectly installed new bathroom.
Her mobile buzzed on the desk, a message from Gabi.Meet me outside The Book Corner at noon.
Hmm. That was a bit cryptic. And not the sort of message she’d become used to receiving from her best friend since the split with Lee. They usually alternated between ranting about Lee or crying about Lee and who he might be seeing now (there were rumours about Miss Ponytail, apparently).
Ok,Anna had texted back, ready for anything to get her out of the office for a bit.Why?
I will tell you when you get here, had been Gabi’s mysterious reply.
Which is why Anna took an early lunch break and found herself standing outside a bookshop in Bromley High Street one drizzly October day.
‘Please don’t be angry with me,’ Gabi said when she arrived and opened the door so they could both go inside out of the rain.
‘Why would I be angry with you?’ Anna asked as she folded up her umbrella.
Gabi glanced around the shop, then motioned for Anna to join her behind one of the bookshelves further to the back of the shop. ‘I have been digging,’ she said, looking very serious.
‘Digging?’
Gabi nodded. ‘Concerning your mystery man.’
‘My mystery…?’ Anna stopped. She frowned. ‘Brody?’
‘Sorry,’ Gabi replied, looking torn. ‘I wasn’t going to, but once I got the idea, I couldn’t stop myself. I have too much free time now – especially early in the morning, when I can’t sleep.’
Anna looked back at Gabi and then she sighed and nodded. Gabi seemed to have two states of being since she’d split up with Lee – sad and floppy, or intense and hyper. ‘And?’
Gabi led Anna even further into the depths of the shop, where they were surrounded by the bright colours and illustrated characters of the children’s section and pulled a book from the shelf. ‘Here,’ she said, handing it to Anna. ‘This is him.’
Anna looked at the hardback titled:The Moon Dragon.‘Gabi,’ she said slowly, starting to fear for her friend’s sanity. ‘This is not Brody. It’s a book.’
‘Byhim,’ Gabi said, her eyes boring into Anna’s, waiting for Anna to catch her meaning.
