Eevie leaned against the garden fence, looking out at the beautiful scenery. It was breathtaking. The glorious sun poured over the landscape, making everything alive. Fields of bright yellow and green spread out like a patchwork quilt, with trees scattered everywhere. The smell of spring was in the air, overwhelming Eevie with memories of all the other springs she had had. Birds twittered in the trees, and bees busily went from flower to flower, hovering before each one as if it were deciding if it would be safe to disappear into the petals. Eevie didn’t think she had seen the sky so forget-me-not blue, or the clouds to white and heavenly. She looked up and saw birds swoop through the air, singing joyously as if they were celebrating that spring was finally here.

Eevie turned around and looked at the cottage at the end of the garden. It’s old thatched roof desperately needed repair, and it needed a fresh lick of paint, but that didn’t stop it looking beautiful. White and red roses grew up the walls, spreading out like the cracks in a shattered mirror, twisting around the windows and hiding the peeling paint. Vines of pure green and white flowers grew over the thatched roof and around the crumbling chimney, where smoke was trailing out of it and drifting into the sky.

The garden had pretty, colourful flowers, a lawn, and a gnarled apple tree opposite to wear Eevie was standing. White and pale pink blossom was sprinkled over its branches like snow, and the slightest breeze made the old tree groan and shiver, sending a shower of blossom to the ground.

Eevie sighed, kneeling back down on the grass to finish her chore of weeding the garden. But she didn’t mind, it was a nice day, one of the first nice days of the year, and Eevie wasn’t going to waste it. She had woken up bright and early, surprised by the bright sunlight that was on her pillow. It had been so cloudy recently that she had almost forgotten what it felt like to be woken by the sun shining through the curtains, and she immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the window, opening it and letting some cool air in. Midni, Eevies cousin, had groaned, rolling over and shoving a pillow on her head.

It was her own fault, she had been off somewhere again, on one of her nighttime walks that she often went on when she had to clear her mind, or so she told Eevie. Eevie had no idea where she went, and the thought of wandering off in the night in the dark countryside was terrifying to her, but Midni seemed to enjoy it. She was the same age as Eevie, thirteen, and even though they were best friends Eevie didn’t really understand why Midni did the strange things she did, like the wanderings at night or sitting on the windowsill all night and looking at the dark sky, looking for stars. Eevie kept waking up and asking what she was doing, but Midni always seemed to be in a world of her own when she looked at the stars, like she was wide-awake but dreaming, if you know what I mean. It was almost as if she needed something to do, because she hardly ever slept at night, she never had. So all day she was often in a mood because she hadn’t got a wink of sleep the night before.

Eevie other cousin, Markus, was fourteen. He was like the brother she had never had, and like her best friend and twin all rolled into one, and even if he was a bit overprotective at times she didn’t mind, it just showed he cared. Ever since she was small Eevie could remember Markus looking out for her, telling her jokes and making her laugh, hugging her when she cried and playing imaginary games with her in the garden on hot summer days, as her father had been away in the army when she was young so it was good to have a brother, even if he was technically her cousin.

He would walk with Eevie and Midni down to school in the village when they were young, as he was in the year above, holding their hands when they crossed the roads. But Midni would often get huffy at this, saying she wasn’t a child and she could take care of herself, thank you very much. Though Eevie remembered very clearly a few days after Midni had said this she was very keen to hold her brothers hand and cower behind him when a horse and cart came flying down the road and Midni hadn’t looked where she had been going, and she had nearly died of fright.

Eevie grabbed hold of a weed that had found its way into the flowerbeds. After several tugs it wouldn’t come free, and she almost toppled over when it finally parted from the earth kicking and screaming, and Eevie got a good whack in the face from its roots, soil flying everywhere. She shook her head, trying to get the dirt out of her blond hair, and brushed her clothes down with her hands, which were well-worn clothes that actually belonged to Markus and they were now too small for him. Eevie looked around and saw her grandmother chuckling at her from the kitchen window, and Eevie smiled grimly and sat back down on the grass, pulling a bit more gently on the next weed that was refusing to co-operate.

Eevie guessed that her cousins were cleaning the house, as tomorrow Dayona was coming and Brenna had ordered for the cottage to be spotless before the girl arrived, and Eevie’s grandmother was a very house proud old lady who could tell if you had just swept the dust under the rug. She always checked, that why.

Dayona was Eevies, Markus’ and Midnis’ other cousin who they had never met, who was coming to visit for the entire summer. She was ill quite a lot of the time, and had never been to school in case she might catch something. Her parents had disappeared when she was a baby, so she had grown up with Brennas’ brother, a kind, wrinkly old man who was fascinated by everything and talked a lot, mostly of how wonderful a flower was and explaining all about them to a uncomfortable stranger he happened to meet who didn’t really want to be there. Eevie and her cousins had never met him either, but that was how Brenna had described him. Dayona's father had worked for the army, just as Eevies father had once done, and had disappeared at sea and left a pot of gold to his wife, who was apparently "one of those people."

Even though Bine was a human country, and always had been, magic folk from the north and strange creatures were sighted all the time, often in travellers inns were they kept their hoods up or in the dark forests were no one dared to go, and even a couple of dragons eggs had turned up at market places a few years ago. Brennas’ second son actually fell in love with a beautiful witch and married her, which had been the talk of the whole village for months, and they even mentioned it now when conversation was thin. They had Dayona almost immediately after the wedding, but she wasn’t right from the start as she had been born too soon so was small and weak, and apparently still was. She was now thirteen, the same age as Eevie and Midni, and was coming to stay for the summer because Brennas’ brother had finally got lucky in a game of cards down the pub and was off travelling with his winnings, even though he was now so old he had more hair coming out of his ears than on his head. Dayona was too ill to go with him, so she was going to stay with Brenna and her Uncle, which she was apparently really looking forward to.

Eevie gave up on a stubborn weed, which was a dandelion with long leaves and a bright yellow head. Eevie thought they looked like sweet, tough little flowers that were the same as all of Brenna’s foxgloves and pansies, and she didn’t really know why they had to be pulled up. What made a weed a weed?

“Eevie!” A voice called. Eevie turned around and saw her grandmother standing at the kitchen door.

“Yes?”

“Come inside, you cant work in this heat without drinking something,”

Eevie stood up and walked over the lawn, which was warm and springy under her bare feet. As she reached the cottage she could smell the roses that were growing around the door, the roses her mother planted when she was alive.

“Don’t dawdle Evemeer!” Brenna said impatiently. “I can’t wait around all day,”

Eevie hurried inside, stepping into the cool kitchen which smelled of freshly baked bread. Eevie sat down at the scrubbed table and Brenna poured her a drink of water. It was ice cold because it had just come up from the well.

“Thanks,” Eevie croaked. It was freezing and made her tongue feel numb.

Brenna was a large woman, with a very lined face that often turned red when she was cooking or telling someone off. Her long silver hair was tied in a neat bun at the back of her head, and at night when she would make hot milk she would let it ripple down her back, almost to the floor, all wavy and shiny. When Eevie was little she loved to brush her grandmothers hair, asking endless questions, because she was curios about everything. Brenna used to groan, saying Eevie was getting on her nerves, but she would always chuckle and answer Eevies questions, every single one. Eevie loved her grandmother, even if she was bossy sometimes. She was the best grandmother in the world.

Brenna began putting the pots and pans away when Markus strolled in. He was tall for fourteen, with thick untidy brown hair that flopped into his kind eyes. He and Eevie had exactly the same eyes, soft green, like the colour of newly born leaves in the morning light. He smiled at Eevie and ruffled her blonde hair, then sat down beside her and took a sip from her drink. He pulled a face and put it down again.

“Lunch will be ready soon. Do you want a drink, Markus?” Brenna said, beginning to sweep the floor.

“I’ve just had some of Eevies,”

“Alright.” Brenna looked at the clock on the wall, and muttered angrily to herself “Where is that girl? I called her five minutes ago. What is she doing Markus?”

Markus shrugged “I dunno. She probably fell asleep,”

“Midni! Where are you?” Brenna called into the hallway. There was no answer. “MIDNIYA!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Midni yelled. Eevie could hear her running along the landing and down the stairs. She walked into the kitchen and said “Sorry, gran, lost track of time. I’ve finished cleaning the guest bedroom,”

“Good girl,” Brenna said, passing her a drink. Midni sat down at the table and grinned at Eevie, playfully kicking her leg under the table. Eevie kicked back, smiling too, though she had bare feet and her toes hurt afterwards. Midni was a strange looking girl, with skin the colour of milk, and hair as black as the night sky and reaching almost her waist. She had bright silver eyes, that had something mysterious about them, something different to ordinary eyes, though Eevie could never quite put her finger on the reason why they looked so different, they just did. She also looked nothing like her brother, which probably had something to do with that they had never none who there father was and it was most likely that they didn’t share the same one.

“Right, you three,” Brenna said sharply. They all looked at her. “Now, there is a lot to do before tomorrow and I need all of you to help. First of all, I want you to clean out the chickens. You didn’t do them last week and I have only one pair of hands so you are all going to have to muck in,”

Her grandchildren groaned. The chickens were a nightmare, and arguments often broke out of who would feed them every morning. Cleaning them out was traumatic experience, as they were like a gang of thugs who would immediately attack anyone who went near them, and many times Eevie had been fought to the ground by a mass of squealing feathers and scratching claws and beaks just when she was holding the bag of seed to feed them with. She felt like she had been viciously mugged in her own garden. Markus still bared the scar of when the cockerel had been in a particularly bad mood and Markus had been innocently eating an apple by the chicken coop fence. Markus had said that his ankle had never the same again.

“But first you can have lunch,” Brenna said, and her grandchildren breathed a sigh of relief. She began making the sandwiches when Eevie said “Do you know when father will be coming home?”

“In a few days I expect. Don’t worry about it now, Eevie,” Brenna said. Eevie nodded, remembering all the other times her father had been away, fighting wars and loving every minute of it. For most of her childhood it had been that way, him only coming back to visit a couple of times a year, telling his family of all the wonderful things he had seen and done, all the near misses and all the battles he had won.

He had been a great soldier, and was awarded medals for his courage and bravery. He would bring back exotic gifts, like real mermaid hair necklaces and a jar of real dragon fire, caught from a burning tree that had suspicious scratch marks that were so deep it went right through the bark. Eevie had loved these gifts, and loved her father being home for those precious few weeks a year, but it was terrible when he left again, off to fight for another war and win another battle. It was as if he thought no army could survive without him, that he was the glue that held all the soldiers together and without him the army would fall apart. He was the best in his class as a trainee soldier and was soon respected as a fierce fighter, soon training new recruits and teaching them all the skills he knew.

But that had all changed two years ago, when Brenna received a letter one cold winters morning over breakfast, telling her that her eldest son was gravely injured and it didn’t look like he would make it. Eevie had cried herself to sleep that night, wondering if her father was still alive or not, as he was many miles away near the western coast and the letter had taken two weeks to arrive on horseback. He soon returned home, his leg all mangled up because he had got into a fight with one of his fellow soldiers, and drinks were drank and swords were drawn and Thornah was too slow to avoid the other mans blade, probably because he was drunk (as he often was). Eevie remembered her fathers’ hansom thin face twisted in pain, and he was in bed for many weeks, not eating much and his leg taking forever to heal. It had been a dark time, full of fear that he might not pull through. Markus and Midni were devastated too, as Thornah was like a father to all of them, even if Midni and Markus were his late sisters’ children.

But Thornah recovered, but had to retire from the army because his leg was so bad. He still limped now, but he did a very good job of hiding it, and he still told Eevie and his niece and nephew about his days as a soldier, with the same enthusiasm as he did back then. But Eevie saw the sadness in his eyes when he looked at his old medals and his precious sword, which he had hung in his bedroom with all his other things, like his maps and old army books, whiskey bottles and cigarettes. He still met up with his old friends from those days, meeting every few months in the pub for a drink, exchanging news, telling jokes. It was almost as if he was trying to relive his old army days, not happy with the life he had now, at home with his daughter and family. It had depressed him so much that one day Brenna snapped, sick of him moping around doing nothing, drinking all the time and spending all the money on alcohol. She had told him that if he really wanted to join the army again, why didn’t he just ask for another chance? Eevie’s father had bluntly refused this, saying he was not going to beg, he was too proud a man.

But after a few days Eevie saw the old excitement in his eyes, and two weeks ago he had set off up north, determined to have some sort of job again in the army, anything, even though he could barely walk and his daughter had told him not to leave her again. But he still left.

“Are you alright, Eevie?” Markus asked. Eevie was startled out of her thoughts and for a moment. She had almost forgotten where she was.

“Oh, I’m fine,” She said quickly. Markus didn’t look very convince and said “Uncle Thornah is probably on his way home right now. You’ll see him soon, don’t worry,”

Eevie nodded “I know,”

Midni went over to help make the sandwiches, using the bread that Brenna home made in the ancient oven that was older than Markus and falling apart. Every morning Brenna had to prop a chair next to the oven door so the bread would bake, as the oven door had a tendency to open by itself every now and again. Eevie went over to help set the table, and Brenna put the sandwiches out. They were just normal butter and cheese but they tasted delicious.

“Mmm, fanks Bren,” Markus said through a mouthful of bread. He gulped down some water and said “I’ll just go upstairs and-”

“No you don’t! Your not getting out of it that easily, Markus,” Brenna said, standing up and opening the back door. “Chickens, now,”

Markus groaned and went outside, saying “I cant do it on my own! Eevie, you come with me,”

“I haven’t finished my sandwich yet,” Eevie said, slowly nibbling at her bread so she could buy some time before she was sent outside to her doom.

“Midni?”

“Go do it yourself! You were the one who was supposed to do it last week, and never bothered,”

Markus sighed angrily and disappeared from sight, and Eevie saw him go past the window, heading for the front of the house were the chickens were kept. Eevie grinned at Midni, taking some of her tomato because she knew Midni didn’t like them.

“Hurry up you two,” Brenna said “Finnish your food so I can wash up,”

Eevie and Midni ate the rest of their lunch, taking as much time as possible without making Brenna suspicious, and they headed outside. After the coolness of the kitchen it was boiling in the garden, the sun glaring down at them and the ground baking beneath their feet.

“Here,” Brenna said, handing them their shoes. Eevie and Midni sat down in the kitchen doorway and put them on, squinting against the scorching sun that made everything extra bright. Midni tied back her long hair and Eevie tucked her blonde hair behind her ears, both of them rolling up their sleeves and preparing to enter the territory of a fierce chicken gang.

“I’ll get the broom, and you distract the hens,” Midni said.

“No I did that last time, and they all jumped on me to make me drop the bag of seed,”

“The hens like you more than they like me,”Midni said, pointing at a large scratch mark on her bony arm from that mornings feeding.

“Fine, I’ll distract the hens,” Eevie said grumpily. They walked around the cottage along the path, Eevie’s shoes pinching her toes slightly because they were getting too small for her feet. Around in the front garden stood the chicken coop, surrounded by a tall wooded fence that a clever fox could easily jump over. But only the bravest ever did. The last one that did had a nasty surprise, not realising that the chickens were very capable of looking after themselves. The fox ran off into the night with its tail between its legs.

Eevie and Midni made their way over to the outbuilding, that was in the shade of a large oak tree across the lawn, Markus already trying to open the door but the hinges too rusty so it wouldn’t budge. Midni and Eevie had to force their way inside, a couple of spiders falling onto them when they stepped into the gloom. Thick cobwebs hung from the ceiling and everything was covered in dust. It was were the gardening tools were kept along with a lot of other junk that was either broken or so old it didn’t work any more. Eevie used to love to explore this place, pretending it was a cave full of treasure, or a haunted house, Markus and Midni joining in, having hundreds of adventures together when they were young. Eevie grabbed a broom and Markus quickly got the dustpan and brush, Midni scowling because she wasn’t quick enough.

“Hey!”

“You weren’t quick enough, Mid!” Markus grinned, stepping out of the outbuilding and brushing the spiders and dust off his hair. Eevie walked over the lawn towards the coop, dragging the broom. She could hear the chickens scratching and clucking softly, sounding so innocent. Markus and Midni followed her, Midni holding a bag of seed.

They gathered around the door, Markus’ hand holding the handle, ready to fling it open. Eevie heard the chickens inside go very quiet, listening to them, waiting.

“One,” Markus breathed. “Two....THREE!”

He wrenched the door open and they ran inside, the fat chickens launching on them, feathers flying everywhere, pecking and scratching and flapping their wings. Eevie screamed “DO IT NOW!” and Midni sprang into action, opening the bag and throwing a huge handful of seed into the air. The hens immediately went still, their small eyes wide. The seed fell to the ground, and completely ignoring the humans the hens hurried over to the scattered seeds, clucking excitedly and pecking at the ground. Markus, Eevie and Midni let out a long sigh, knowing that the danger was over as long as the hens were distracted. Midni walked over to the chickens, who were too busy to notice her, and she threw some more, sending the hens into a flurry of excitement, flapping around as quickly as they could to peck up the rest of the seed.

Markus and Eevie hurried across the grass, heading for the large chicken coop. They went around the back way were the small door was and they stepped inside, holding their noses. It was relatively light inside, the small window letting in a huge beam of sunlight, as hens couldn’t lay if they were in the dark. Eevie and Markus quickly got to work, knowing that they didn’t have much time before the chickens would get bored and they realised someone was in their coop. Eevie began sweeping up the droppings and feathers that littered the floor, and Markus cleaned out the hen boxes where they layed their eggs.

“Midni didn’t collect them all this morning, look,” Markus said, holding up a stray egg. He pocketed it and carried on cleaning, frequently peering out the window to see if Midni was still with the hens.

“There getting restless, Eevie,” he said, and Eevie quickly scooped up all the mess with Markus’ dustpan and carried it outside. She passed Midni, who was surrounded by the excited chickens, all pecking furiously at the ground, and the old cockerel was there now, standing by Midnis’ leg and pecking at her shoe. Eevie went out and ran across the garden towards the compost heap, throwing the droppings and feathers on it and running back across the lawn. She went back inside and carried on cleaning, putting fresh hay in the nest boxes and changing the water in the drinking bowls. It smelled much fresher now and Eevie hoped the chickens would be happy with it.

“Come on,” Markus said, and they stepped out of the chicken coop into the bright sunlight. The chickens weren’t as interested now in Midni, choosing instead to inspect their new clean home, plodding up the ramp and through the small chicken door into their coop. Eevie heard them clucking happily from inside. They were quite sweet when they weren’t trying to peck your fingers off.

Eevie, Midni and Markus spent the rest of the day cleaning, changing the beds and sweeping the floors of all the bedrooms and the rooms downstairs. Markus had to stand on a chair and get the cobwebs down from the ceilings while Eevie and Midni cleaned the windows, which they hadn’t done in ages so they were shocked to realise how filthy they were.

“Well that’s better!” Brenna beamed when she went into the sitting room, everything tidied up and cleaned, the ornaments free of dust and the floor swept. “Carry on!”

Eevie then went outside with Markus to the outbuilding again, pulling a dusty ladder from the jumble and carrying it back to the cottage, through the kitchen and into the hallway. They carried it up the creaky stairs, careful not to drop it, and propped it up against the wall on the upstairs landing.

“Make sure you hold it tight, Eve,” Markus said, beginning to climb. Eevie held on tight to the bottom as Markus hit the ceiling with his fist, wobbling all over the place because the ladder was so unstable.

“Eevie!”

“I’m holding it I’m holding it!” Eevie said, putting her knee on one of the rungs near the bottom to hold it steady. After another thump the trapdoor swung open, narrowly missing Markus’ head, a cloud of dust falling on both of them and making them cough. After the dust had settled on the floor Markus heaved himself through the trapdoor, crawling onto the rafters and calling down “I cant see a thing!”

“Do you want a candle?”

“No, it might set fire to the rafters. What did Brenna say she wanted again?”

“The fancy plates she had at her wedding,”

“What does she want those for?”

“Dunno,” Eevie said “For when Dayona comes I suppose,”

“She never gets the fancy plates out for us!”

Markus began to look for the plates in the dark. Eevie could hear him blundering about above, knocking things over and stumbling.

“What are you doing?”

“I can’t see where I’m going! God, can’t Brenna just use her ordinary plates like she always does?”

“I don’t see why not, but I think Brenna is making a special meal tomorrow,”

Markus looked around for a few more minutes, looking through boxes and crates. He almost fell through the ceiling at one point, as he had accidentally stepped off the rafters whilst looking for the plates.

“Careful!” Eevie cried.

“I am I am! I just tripped, that’s all. Ah ha! I think I’ve found them!”

His head appeared over the trapdoor and he was holding a very shiny expensive looking plate with pink flowers painted on it.

“How many are there?”

“Half a dozen,” Markus said, flipping it over to look at it more closely “I’ll pass them down to you one at a time, ok?”

Eevie nodded and Markus climbed halfway down the ladder, the top half of his body still in the attic. He passed down the plates one by one to Eevie, who placed them carefully on a side table in on the landing.

“There’s loads of other stuff up here you know,” Markus said, peering around “There some jugs and stuff that has the same pink flowers on it, I’ll get them as well,”

After he had shut the trapdoor and climbed down, Eevie was clutching several other expensive looking plates and jugs and cutlery, as the small table in the landing was already overflowed with lots more that Markus had found. He helped her carry them downstairs, and when they put them on the kitchen table Brenna looked close to tears when she saw them, which was very strange. Brenna was not the kind of woman to starts crying, especially if she was with company.

“Are you alright Brenna?” Eevie asked worriedly. She had never seen her grandmother cry before.

“Oh, I’m fine!” Brenna said, wiping her eyes on her apron “I just haven’t seen those plates in over forty years! When my Jack was alive he spent all his savings on our wedding day, and everyone who came brought gifts. We were only young and had little money. My mother bought me those plates, and I haven’t used them for so many years! Oh, me being a silly old woman, just ignore me!”

Markus and Eevie awkwardly patted Brennas’ arm as she blew her nose. Brenna soon returned to her old self when she saw the mess they had left in the upstairs hallway. They had to sweep up all the dust that had fallen from the trapdoor and take the ladder back outside, where Midni was collecting water from the well.

“Hey, is Brenna alright?” Midni asked “She came over to me a minute ago and started going on about grandad Jack, almost sobbing,”

“We’ve just brought down the fancy plates she got for her wedding,” Eevie said “I’ve never seen her cry like that before, do you think she will be alright?”

“What do you mean?” Markus said “She’s just yelled her head off at us, just because we got some dust on the floor upstairs. She’ll be fine,”

Eevie, Markus and Midni finished their chores just as the sun was beginning to set, all of them exhausted and hungry. Those sandwiches felt like a lifetime ago.

“It’s going to be another ten minutes before the dinners done,” Brenna said, stirring the carrot soup that was bubbling above the fire. Eevie smelled the delicious soup and felt her mouth water, and Markus’ stomach rumbled.

“Look, go outside until it’s finished. I’ll call you when its ready,” Brenna said impatiently. They went outside, a gentle breeze cooling Eevie’s face. She looked out at the horizon and saw that the sun was slowly setting in the distance, bathing the countryside in glorious warm light, the sky a fierce orange and red, the clouds almost purple. Dozens of birds swooped through the air high above them, catching the insects, the air relatively cooler than it was before but still pleasantly warm. The trees in the garden whispered to each other, the soft breeze gentle and cool, the leaves rustling to make a soft shushing sound. Dark shadows were already creeping into the garden, growing longer and longer as the sun began to set behind the rolling hills in the distance.

Eevie and Markus walked over the cold ground towards the apple tree, where Midni was sitting under its branches with half a dozen books scattered around her on the grass. Eevie sat down, the blossom falling on her like snow, and she rested her chin on her knees and gazed out at the beautiful horizon. She listened to Midni turn the pages of her book, and listened to the sounds of the garden all around her, the soft rustling of hidden animals and insects, the tired twittering of the birds in the trees.

“I can’t decide what book to read next,” Midni said, picking up another and flicking through it “I’ve read them all, even though I don’t really like reading that much, but there is nothing else to do around here so I might as well start another,”

“How about this one,” Markus said, pointing to a blue book that was one of Eevie’s all time favourites.

“I’ve already read that one. It was a bit boring,”

“No it wasn’t!” Eevie said, outraged “It’s brilliant! What’s boring about vampires and dragons and mermaids and true love and-”

“-Knights in shining armour?” Midni interrupted sarcastically “It’s just too predictable. Actually, come to think of it, most books are too predictable, about the same thing over and over. Why do all books have to be about a hansom stranger saving a stupid princess from a fire breathing dragon guarding a mountain full of gold? Or a prince with loads of blonde hair slaying a monster and saving the day? Why can’t people write something else?”

Eevie did agree a little bit, even if she was annoyed that Midni had said her favourite book was rubbish. You see, the people of Bine had always had a strange fascination with the world beyond, even if they were terrified of it. The humans had always written books on the magic lands and their creatures, and many people read them, but if a vampire or goblin actually strolled into a village a riot would break out, and soldiers would make the strange newcomer leave immediately, not getting too close to it because they themselves were petrified. In story books the humans would always defeat the monster or dragon or wizard, and even though Eevie knew that this would never happen in real life the books were still wonderful to read, full of detailed descriptions of the beasts and creatures that lived in the magical lands, as so many humans had sighted them before.

“Look, I’m sorry Eevie,” Midniya said “But I just want to read something new, something a bit more exciting,”

Eevie smiled and said “I know,”

“Its starting to get cold,” Markus said, shivering. Eevie looked up through the branches, sensing that something was different in the wind, it becoming more urgent and chilling. She saw through the blossom a great dirty black cloud, spreading darkness across the skies like a hungry beast, sucking the light and warmth from the world as it moved through the sky.

“Bloody hell! Where did that come from?” Markus gasped. The cloud was as big as half the sky, moving slowly but incredibly fast for something so big, like a giant stirring from its sleep.

“Quick, get inside before it starts,” Markus said, pulling Eevie to her feet. She looked towards the horizon and saw the sun finally dip below the clouds, as if to say, “Christ, I’m leaving. You can deal with that thing on your own,”

Eevie and her cousins ran towards the cottage, the garden suddenly thrown into darkness. They hurried inside and slammed the door behind them, Brenna still stirring the pot.

“‘Looks like a storm’s coming, Bren,” Midni said, sitting down at the table and picking up her spoon, Markus doing the same. They both eagerly looked at the soup bubbling away, the smell wonderful and filling every inch of the kitchen, just like when fresh bread was baked.

“You haven’t left anything outside have you?” Brenna said, peeing out the curtains “Thornah’s books! They’re going to be ruined out there!”

“I’ll go get them,” Eevie said, who hadn’t sat down yet. She ran to the door pulled it open, stepping out into the dark garden and feeling raindrops on her skin, a warm, strong breeze blowing into her face. She saw the leather books that Midni had left under the tree and ran towards them, terrified that it was too late and they were already ruined. As Eevie ran the garden began to change, going from calm to scary in a matter of seconds, the sky growing darker and darker and the rain coming down faster, hitting Eevie like wet fingers on her skin. The wind began to roar in her ears, and as she reached the apple tree the blossom was being stripped from its branches, swirling around Eevie like horrible confetti and hitting her face so she had to squeeze her eyes shut. She tripped over one of the books and fell to the ground, her knees in agony as she tried to stand again, the rushing wind whipping her skin and her clothes soaked with cold rain.

She hurriedly gathered up the books, trying to protect their precious pages but in her hurry some of them got rumpled and wet, the wind tearing the pages from the bindings so they flew away into the night, and all Eevie could do was watch and feel her heart sink. Her father had said to her to look after his books while he was away.

“Eevie!” Brenna yelled “Come inside now! Forget about the dam books!”

But Eevie knew how much her father loved these books, and she quickly tried to grab some more off the ground but accidentally dropping the ones she was holding. Once she had got them all in her arms she made her way towards the cottage, slipping and sliding on the grass that was slowly turning to mud beneath her feet, squinting her eyes against the rain and wind. The skies began to thunder and a sudden flash of lightening lit the skies, illuminating everything in sight in a second of brilliant light, the crack of the electricity in the air so load and terrifying that Eevie screamed, running as fast as she could across the grass and through the downpour of rain, that hit her like a thousand slaps on her skin, the raindrops as big as her fists and creating puddles that reflected the dark sky above. Just as Eevie ran indoors another roar ripped through the skies, followed by a bolt of lightening that seemed to be loader than anything else Eevie had ever heard in her life.

“Why don’t you ever listen, girl!” Brenna shouted above the hammering of the rain outside, “I told you to leave the retched books! But did you listen? And now look at you! If you catch a fever It’ll be your own fault!”

Eevie nodded miserably and dropped the books into a chair, the stupid things ruined and caked in mud. Eevie was soaked to the skin, shivering violently, her heart pounding because the crack of the lightening had scared her so much. She was completely drenched, her hair and clothes dripping onto the floor and creating a puddle, and her skin was still prickling horribly, like invisible rain was still falling on her.

Brenna began boiling some water for the bath as Eevie sat down at the table and gulped down some hot soup, it burning her tongue and making her eyes stream but the flavours warming her up and making her head clearer. Markus lit some candles because of the sudden darkness and Midni began to rub Eevie’s hair with a towel to dry it off.

“The bath will be ready in a minute,” Brenna said “But get out of those wet clothes quick, before you catch a chill. Thank goodness I boiled some water earlier, or else it would have taken forever to heat up. Now get going! Hurry!”

Eevie and Midni took a candle each and went upstairs, Eevie’s legs shaking every time she heard the deafening thunder outside. Hard, fierce rain was hammering against the windows and making them rattle, leaking in through the gaps and making small puddles on the windowsills. The howl of the wind was like a high-pitched moan, along with all the other sounds of the storm that made the cottage creak around them. Eevie went along the hallway and into her and Midni’s room.

“Your shaking, Eevie” Midni said worriedly, putting some pots and pans down for the leaks that were dripping through the ceiling “You look as white as a sheet,”

“I’m alright,” Eevie croaked, her throat sour from screaming. She began to shiver again and Midni gave her some privacy as she unchanged.

“I’m going back downstairs,” Midni called through the bedroom door.

“Ok,” Eevie said, and she heard her cousin walk down the hallway, her footsteps slowly drifting away. Eevie quickly got a clean towel and wrapped herself in it, sitting down on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands. She listened to the sound of the rain outside, the rumbling of the thunder and the wind rushing through the trees in the garden. The rumbling of the thunder made her think of her own rumbling stomach, that was groaning for food. She wished she had eaten more of the soup downstairs before she was ordered to her room.

She had her bath and washed her hair, getting the rain and sweat off her skin. She felt dreamy and faint when she stepped out of the hot water, her head spinning, and she quickly stumbled back to her bedroom and sat down again, as the bath had been so hot she thought she was going to pass out. She could hear the rest of her family eating downstairs, the clink of cutlery and bowls, and her stomach rumbled again. She quickly dried off and got changed into her nightdress and dressing gown, making her way downstairs, clutching a candle in her hand. It’s hot wax dripped onto her wrist. At the bottom hallway she peered through the window and saw a dark world outside, it still raining heavily and the thunder and lightening only just beginning.

Markus, Midni and Brenna were just finishing washing up when Eevie walked in, and the room was lit with dozens of candles all around, the shadows and warm glow of the light flickering on the walls. Eevie ate her soup, a towel still wrapped around her head to dry her hair. It was peaceful for a while, just Eevie and her family chatting as they cleaned up, the cottage lovely and warm because Brenna had the fire going still. Soon Eevie began to feel sleepy and starting yawning every two minutes. It was only when Markus had fell asleep with his head rested on the table that Brenna ordered them to bed, even though Midni moaned that she wasn’t tired at all. As a matter of fact she looked wide awake, and literally ran up the stairs when Markus and Eevie were dragging their feet up them, clutching the handrail because they were so exhausted.

“I’m sure the books will be ok,” Midni said brightly at the top of the stairs “They just need to be cleaned a bit, that’s all. I’ll do that tomorrow, since it was my fault that they were left out there in the first place,”

Eevie nodded, not really listening, and Markus hugged her sleepily and kissed her forehead before going into his own room. Eevie shuffled into her bedroom, placing the candle down on the floor as she got into bed. Midni carried on talking, but Eevie was barely listening by now, too tired to even think, just wanting to drift off into a dreamy sleep. Midni got into her own bed and Eevie blew out her candle, rolling over and closing her eyes, the roar of the wind outside almost peaceful, the rain a beautiful background noise, beginning to fade away as Eevie felt herself begin to fall asleep.

“Eevie? Are you listening?”

Eevie blearily opened one eye, as she had completely forgotten that Midni was still talking to her. Eevie mumbled “I’m too tired now, Mid. Talk in the morning,”

“But I’m always so tired in the mornings, that’s why I take the longest to wake up, I’m in dreamland,” Midni said “I can never get to sleep at night, my head is just buzzing, I just want to run somewhere, to burn off all my energy, that’s why I like to get out of the house at night, just to have a stroll across the fields. I know what you and Markus are thinking, I’m going to meet someone or I’m going somewhere, but I’m not. I just need to clear my mind, to walk somewhere, to look at the moon and the stars. I never feel tired at night, even if I have just had a hard day and I’ve been tired all day. Why is that? What the hell is wrong with me? Am I turning into an owl or something?”

“No,” Eevie’s laughed.

“Maybe it’s got something to do with my father,” Midni said quietly. Eevie propped herself on one elbow and looked across the room at her cousin, who she couldn’t exactly see as it was so dark but she knew where she was. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, come on Eevie,” Midni said “You and I both know that me and Markus are not full brother and sister, we just can’t be. I bet my father was just a passing stranger, someone who my mother happened to meet one day... she was living in a travellers’ inn, wasn’t she? She worked as a bar lady so I bet she met all sorts of characters, from all over... maybe even a wizard...”

“What are you saying?” Eevie said “You think your father was a wizard! No, he can’t be! Your not magic, your just like me, and everyone else at school-”

“But I’m not like anyone else! Have you seen how people look at me? They think I’m a freak, because I don’t look like everyone else. Markus doesn’t have pale skin and silver eyes and black hair! He looks normal, like you, you two look like twins except that he is about a foot taller. For so many years I have just been the weird one in the family, the one who looks a bit odd and looks like they haven’t seen sunlight in months! ...Do you know what I heard?” Midni added mysteriously

“What?”

“There are people who live up north, magic folk, but they are not like witches and wizards we hear about all the time. They are different somehow, like a different species or something, and they all live in huge underground cities, all built in stone, and they hate the sunlight and only come out from underground at night, when the moon and stars are out. Maybe my father was one of those... maybe mother fell in love with him when Markus was just a baby and then she had me? Maybe I’m just like Dayona, half human, half magic folk, and maybe you have to be taught magic first, so that is why I have never done any. What do you think, Eevie?”

Eevie didn’t know what to say. She had always secretly had her suspicions about Midni, but she had never really thought about it before, only ever having the slight feeling that Midni was a bit different to herself and Markus, just because it was so obvious that they didn’t share the same father. Eevie always just assumed that Midni’s father was probably just a pale black haired silver eyed stranger who Eevie’s aunt Zinnia happened to meet, but she had never guessed that he may be magic, it was just so unusual. When Dayona was born it was big news, it had never happened before, and if it had it was normally kept a secret. Everyone thought that the reason Dayona was so ill all the time was because being half human and half witch had made her weaker than other children, it had done something to her that meant she wasn’t as healthy as everyone else. Eevie tried to figure out what her cousins’ expression was, but it was too dark and the moon that sometimes provided ghostly pale light for their hand puppet shows on the walls was hidden behind the clouds that thundered angrily outside.

“I really don’t know, Midni,” Eevie said slowly “I really don’t know,”

Midni was quiet for a moment, lost in thought. Eevie was about to ask if she was alright when Midni said “I’ll ask Uncle Thornah about it when he gets home. He must know something, I mean, she was his sister after all,”

“Hmm,” Eevie said, not really knowing what to say. She thought about her father, what he must be doing now, if he was travelling back to see her or he was still begging his old army general to give him a job. Or he could be drowning his sorrows in a inn somewhere, because he hadn’t got the job, and he drank a lot anyway so Eevie could easily imagine her father slumped over a bar, flirting with the bar lady with a slurred voice and saying he could make all her dreams come true. He was a real charmer, Eevie’s dad, a real ladies man. He went to the pub almost every day of the week and all the times Eevie had gone with him on summer evenings to play in the pub garden her father would always be chatting up someone, so all Eevie wanted to do was go back home and cry in her pillow because she hated how ridiculous her father looked. She actually did that he last time her father had made a fool of himself, she had gone home by herself along the dark lanes and left him to throw up in the pub garden. Yes, her father was a real charmer alright.

“I bet Thornah will be home tomorrow,” Midni said. Eevie nodded, not really sure if she wanted to see him. Of course she missed him terribly, but it was nice to have a peaceful life without her father making her worry about him all the time. Though that wasn’t technically true. She was worrying about him now.

“I wonder what Dayona will be like?” Eevie said quietly, wanting to change the subject.

“Dunno,” Midni sighed “She’ll be a bit weird though, having never been to school or anything. God, I’m so glad that the holidays are here, only two more years to go before we never have to set foot at that school again.”

Eevie, Midni and Markus went to the local school down in the village, where they were very strict about learning and homework but literally let the children get away with anything. Paradise really. Though Eevie had never really liked school. Everyone in the class so noisy and annoying, ignoring her and Midni because, well, lets just say that their parents talked and all the kids had heard stories about the Barley family, like how Thornah Barley was an alcoholic and he had left his own mother to look after three babies, and how his brother married a witch and his sister never married before, ahem, having children. Yes, the Barley family are a strange bunch, parents would say to their children. Eevie had to put up with being ignored and avoided like the plague ever since she stepped foot into that school. God she hated it.

“Let’s get some sleep,” Eevie mumbled, wanting to fall asleep quickly before she began to think about things too much. She lay back down and listened to the rain once again, and in the distance she could hear thunder. She didn’t get to sleep for a very long time, and by the sounds of it, neither did Midni. Eevie could hear her tossing and turning for hours, but all Eevie could do was stare at the ceiling with a blank expression on her face, thinking, thinking about her life and if it was any good or not. Brenna had always been there, her grandmother, but was it enough? What about a father for a change? A real father, not one that embarrasses you because they are still torn up inside about losing their wife all those years ago, and drinking is the only way to numb the pain. Eevie rolled over, thumping her pillow to make it more comfortable. She wished she had a mother, she wished so hard that she bit her lip until it hurt, as her mother Rose had died tragically when she was born, due to complications. She wanted a father too, one that will not wish that she wasn’t there. Because Eevie had heard her father sobbing in the night, wishing for his wife back, his childhood sweetheart to return to him. Eevie sometimes thought that if she had never been born then her father would still be happy, with his beloved wife who he often talked about, who had hair as gold as the sun and eyes as blue as the sea. Eevie understood why her father left her all those years ago to join the army. He was trying to escape his awful life at home, the baby he didn’t want and the hole in his heart. A tear rolled down Eevie’s cheek, and she closed her eyes and fell asleep.