‘Do they all hate me?’ asked Dot. ‘For running away?’
‘No, no, of course not,’ said Archie, although he didn’t meet Dot’s eyes for a moment. ‘Your father was cross, I’ll admit. Your mother turned a bit sour. She is a quiet drinker, your mum. Your brother was the noisiest about it. I think they all blamed me, if I’m honest. I said to them a week or two after, “Patrick, Martha, Willard – I did the same. My Louise and I took a boat from Eyre to Calléum when I was barely twenty. Sometimes, we need to go somewhere new.” They’ll come around when you see them.’
Dot wiped her eyes. She was not so sure.
‘Does it hurt?’ asked Archie, nodding to her scales.
‘Only when they grow in,’ said Dot.
‘And this terrible timer,’ he said, glancing between Dot and Theodora. ‘The one that has been placed on your life. Are we quite certain?’
Theodora nodded. ‘The affliction, it seems, has been in Dorothy’s system since that night in the ocean when she was fourteen, but did not manifest until she came to Alliaster. Her life wanes as the afflictive magic grows. We know from the daemon Salamander that the ambergris that you have been collecting, Archie, comes from a spirit.’ The old man nodded. ‘Yet, we are no closer to understanding how Dot actually came by the affliction in the first place.’
‘Oh,’ said Archie. ‘That’s quite simple, love. That same spirit gave her the affliction.’
Theodora and Dot stared at the old man.
‘What do you mean “that same spirit”?’ demanded Dot.
‘What do you mean “gave it to her”?’ cried Theodora.
The old man glanced between them and rubbed his forehead. ‘Perhaps I should have told you the moment I walked in through the door.’
‘Perhaps,Grandad!’
‘Well, I wanted to know how you’d been—’
‘Tell us all of it,’ said Theodora. Belchamber stirred beside her. ‘From the beginning. Has Dot always had the proclivity for magic or did it come after that night in the ocean?’
‘Oh, no, she’s always had it,’ said Archie, and Dot gawked at him. ‘Her dad did his best to stamp it out of her, mind. Punished her something frightful whenever she cast a spell.’
‘WheneverI what?’
‘You wouldn’t remember love,’ said her grandad. His arms were folded over his belly, his short legs propped up on the foot stool. ‘You were so little when it weakened.’
‘Surely I would remember casting spells,’ said Dot.
‘Do you also remember learning to walk, love?’ Archie gave her a wise look. ‘And besides, your illness took a frightful toll on your memories. The last time I recall you casting a spell, you were perhaps three years old. There was an anglerfish washed up on the beach, and you were dreadful upset about it.’
‘I do remember the anglerfish,’ said Dot, softly.
‘You magicked it back in the water,’ said Archie. ‘But you started crying and you thought your dad would be awful cross with you. You were so confused, poor little thing. After that, I only ever saw you cast spells in your sleep, and only very rarely. You remember the cat, don’t you? Benjamin?’
‘What did I do to Benjamin?’
‘Oh, nothing terrible,’ chuckled Archie. ‘You had such a big heart, though I doubt Benjamin thought so. One night, I was on my way to the loo and I see the cat come whizzing through the air and into your room, and then there you were cuddling it. Poor Benjamin was struggling for his life, you had such a death grip on him.’
‘That cat hated me,’ said Dot.
‘I wonder why,’ said Theodora.
Archie patted Dot’s hand. ‘I’m sorry for the shock, love. Patrick and Martha knew how I felt about the Prohibition, and they hadme swear to never talk to you about magic. After what happened with your grandmother, I understood it. It wasn’t the influenza, Dot, like your dad told you. My Louise was a Magician.’
Dot’s hands flew to her mouth.
‘She tried to bespell a tablecloth and it went terribly wrong,’ said Archie. ‘Whole dining room exploded. I ran in, but it was much too late. Worst day I ever lived.’ He looked down at his hands for a moment, his fingers short with bitten nails. ‘But you were in your mum’s tummy then and I know Louise would have loved you. Anyway, your dad said he’d never let me see you again if I told you any of it or if I encouraged you. You were always asking questions – about the tonic, about my trips to the sea. I made up that nonsense about the South Sea cuttlefish.’
‘So, theyareextinct?’ asked Dot in a hush.
