Flamethroat (11 page)

He did not speak, instead he pointed to the shop in front of us.

‘
What?
’
I asked, but as soon as I turned I saw exactly what Jack was pointing at.

It was indeed an apothecary and the sign that hung upon the door read
‘
Greenwood Apothecary
’
. Underneath these words was a picture of a mortar and pestle.

‘
Jack,
’
I breathed.
‘
You don
’
t think-
’

‘
Who knows?
’
said Jack. His voice was strained. I watched as he gulped audibly.

‘
Well? Let
’
s go in!
’
I said.

‘
No!
’
Jack grabbed my arm and stopped me.

‘
Why?
’
I said, staring at Jack in disbelief.

I suppose I did not know what he was feeling at this moment. Jack
’
s father had abandoned him almost ten years ago
–
and left him in the care of the manor staff. He had grown up working for the Forsythe family. His mother had died giving birth to him, I knew that much. So why didn
’
t Jack want to find out if the owner of this apothecary was indeed his father? Didn
’
t he miss him? Or was he still mad?

‘
Jack,
’
I said,
‘
if we leave Scyre without going into this apothecary, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
’

Jack did not respond, but merely stared at the apothecary in fear.

I touched his arm lightly.
‘
You know you have to go in.
’

‘
You
’
ll come with me, right?
’
he said looking down at me. His eyes were as round as dinner plates.

‘
Of course,
’
I took his hand in mine and knew that the warmth of my own hand would comfort him.

Together we walked to the apothecary door and I pushed it open. A bell clanged loudly as we entered, hand in hand. My own heart was racing as we stepped into the shop and I knew that Jack
’
s heart must have been beating twice as fast. His hand clamped down on mine so hard that I had to clench my teeth together to stop myself from gasping. The shop was currently empty, but we could hear footsteps from a storeroom beyond the counter. We walked to the counter and waited a moment, but no one came.

‘
Hello?
’
I said, after a minute had passed.

‘
Shh!
’
Jack hissed at me.

‘
Why?
’
I looked at him.
‘
We
’
re here for a reason, aren
’
t we?
’

‘
Hello!
’
The woman
’
s voice startled us.

Whipping around, I saw a woman of about fifty, standing behind the store counter. She was quite pretty for her age, with long golden hair.

She smiled at us.
‘
How can I help you?
’

‘
Hello,
’
I stepped towards the counter, dragging Jack with me.
‘
Um, this might seem like an odd question, but-
’

‘
Do you have any spine of lionfish?
’
Jack interrupted.

The woman raised her eyebrows.
‘
No, we do not stock that, I am afraid. I could order some in for you though, if you wish.
’

I looked up at Jack.
‘
What are you doing?
’
I hissed.

‘
This isn
’
t it,
’
Jack muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
‘
It
’
s just a coincidence.
’

Turning back to the woman, who looked quite confused, I smiled apologetically.
‘
I
’
m sorry,
’
I said.
‘
Do you … are you Mrs. Greenwood?
’

‘
Yes,
’
She said, looking first at Jack, then I.
‘
Um, what did you say was a coincidence?
’

Jack shook his head.
‘
It
’
s nothing, just a misunderstanding.
’

‘
My friend Jack thought that perhaps the name
‘
Greenwood
’
was -
’
I began.

‘
Drop it, Avalon, okay?
’
said Jack through gritted teeth.

‘
Jack?
’
the woman repeated.
‘
Jack Greenwood?
’

Jack looked at her and slowly said,
‘
Yes?
’

‘
My goodness,
’
she gasped and before we knew what was happening, she had stumbled from the room and up the spiral stairs in the corner of the shop. We watched as her feet disappeared.

‘
Where
’
d she go?
’
I said in shock.

Jack stared after her, speechless.

‘
She knows who you are,
’
I said to him.
‘
She
knows
you.
’

‘
I
’
ve never met her before,
’
he said, bewildered.

We heard hurried footsteps overhead, muffled voices and running. A moment later, the woman
’
s heels appeared upon the stairs and she came halfway down to say to us,
‘
Please, come up!
’

‘
Wh-What?
’
Jack stammered.

‘
Up!
’
she said before vanishing again.

‘
Let
’
s go!
’
I said tugging Jack
’
s sleeve.

‘
It might be a trick,
’
he said, holding his ground.

‘
Jack! She knows who you are, her surname is Greenwood and she is married. Put two and two together, will you?
’

I tugged on his sleeve again, pulling him into a slow walk. I shoved Jack up the spiral staircase in front of me so he could not turn around and leave.

We ascended slowly. I could feel Jack
’
s body trembling as we wound our way up the staircase to the upper floor of the apothecary, where this woman clearly lived.

As we stepped onto the landing, Jack took my hand again and held it tightly as we looked around the modest living quarters. It was nice here, bright, airy and open. The space smelled of flowers and various other herbs and spices. I inhaled deeply and was immediately calmed by the scent. Mrs. Greenwood stood in the empty space of her living room, watching us quietly. It took me a moment to notice that the three of us were not alone. There was a man here. He was behind Mrs. Greenwood, with his back to us. He rested his hands on the mantelpiece of a fireplace. Jack
spotted
the man and his hand tightened around mine when the man turned to face us.

It was as though I was staring at a fifty-year-old Jack. The man resembled Jack so closely that there was no mistaking it. That messy black hair and those bright blue eyes told me exactly who I was looking at.

Mrs. Greenwood stepped aside so our view of the man was clear. Jack and his father stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before either of them moved. It happened suddenly; Mr. Greenwood made to move forwards
–
perhaps to embrace his son, but Jack crossed the threshold in three long strides.

At first I thought Jack was going to hug his estranged father, but I was sorely mistaken. Jack launched himself at Mr. Greenwood, sending him crashing to the floor with an almighty bang. Jack
’
s fists flew, punching every inch of his father that he could get his hands on.

‘
No!
’
Mrs. Greenwood and I cried in unison, running forward to disentangle the brawling men.

Mr. Greenwood did not hit Jack, but tried to stop the blows that crashed upon his body. They rolled around on the floor like animals, knocking over tables and knocked vases off shelves.

‘
Jack!
’
I cried, trying to wrench my best friend from his father.

‘
No!
’
Jack growled at me. Before I could help at all, he had pushed me aside and sent me crashing to the floor too.

Mrs. Greenwood hurried over and helped me to my feet. As I rubbed at my sore backside, I said to her,
‘
what do we do?
’

‘
There is no point trying to break up a fight between healers,
’
she said, her eyes round with fear.
‘
It could last for hours.
’

‘
Not if I can help it,
’
I said and before I was aware of what I was doing, I had jumped into the fray. I wrestled Jack and though I was not stronger than him I hoped that my presence in the fight might make him come to his senses.

‘
Avalon,
’
Jack said through gritted teeth, trying to get me off his back.
‘
Get off! Get
off
!
’

I had Jack
’
s head in a vice and he flailed, trying to remove me.

We grappled furiously for a few minutes, which gave Mr. Greenwood enough time to disentangle himself and stand beside his wife, panting. Of course, Jack did not wish to hurt me, so he was forced to succumb. In the end, I sat on his chest and he lay flat on the ground. Jack was unharmed, but I had a few bruises on my arms and legs from the tussle.

‘
All right, all right,
’
said Jack.
‘
I
’
m calm!
I
’
m calm
!
’

I glared at him for a moment before releasing him and standing.

Jack got to his feet, very pink in the face. He stood, staring at his father with utter dislike.

‘
Jack,
’
Mr Greenwood breathed.
‘
Please, Jack.
’

‘
There is nothing you can say to me,
’
Jack spat.
‘
Nothing!
’

‘
Dad? What
’
s going on?
’
A small voice came from behind us.

Jack and I whipped around and saw a small boy no older than eight standing on the landing. His hair was black and his eyes were blue.

‘
Go to your room, Jamie.
’
Mr. Greenwood said thickly.
‘
Now.
’

The boy, Jamie, crossed the room and ran to Mr. Greenwood.
‘
I saw you fighting, Dad. Are you okay?
’

‘
Yes, I
’
m fine. Please, Caroline, will you take Jamie to his room?
’

‘
Come on dear,
’
Mrs. Greenwood took the boy
’
s hand and hurried him down the hall.

‘
What
’
s going on, Mum? Is Dad hurt?
’
Jaime was saying as he was taken to his room.

When we heard the door close, Jack rounded on his father.

‘
I see how it is,
’
said Jack, anger blazing in his eyes.