I have burned my tomorrows
And I stand inside today
At the edge of the future
And my dreams all fade away
Burn my Shadow—Unkle
For most of the time they spend in the village, Julianne has stayed indoors wrapped in blankets and only leaving her bed when necessary. She and the TV have become great friends and she'd be friends with the free WiFi if she had a phone to access it. Late into the afternoon on the day Elinor left, Mo decides he's had enough of Julianne hiding out and forces her to go with him and Meggie to supper. Dressed in a simple dark red skirt, an off the shoulder white sweater, and sequined flats, Julianne walks out of her room and meets her family in the lobby. Mo reaches out and tugs the hair tie free so that Julianne's long hair spills over her shoulders again.
"To keep you warmer," he explains with a smile. He seems to be in a good mood now that he knows where the author lives. Julianne expects they'll make that trip soon, but at least this time they'll be able to drive. Dinner is nice and the restaurant is small enough that it doesn't seem too crowded as the people favor the larger places.
"There is one good thing that came out of this vacation," Julianne says as they walk out. "I didn't have to stress over my term paper." Meggie giggles at that and Mo cracks a smile. "Crap, now I'm stressing about it."
"Don't, you always do your best work when you're under pressure. That you got from me." Julianne follows the happy pair through the crowded streets, looking around and enjoying the feel of the cool air on her overheated skin. The crowd grows thicker the farther they go, Meggie leading the way to a large group of people and pushing politely towards the front.
In the center of the mass is Dustfinger, playing with his lit torches and carefully letting the flames lick his bared arms. The fire doesn't obey him here quite like it does in his story, but just occasionally it will be tame enough to let him do these types of dangerous tricks. On nights when magic is crackling in the air and the large orange moon is full over their heads. Julianne's always called it a Halloween moon, though it won't be Halloween for a few weeks yet.
Dustfinger bows to the crowd as his little assistant walks around with a small silver bowl, blending in nicely with the people surrounding him thanks to his tanned complexion and dark hair. Farid is dressed in jeans and a plain tee now, the robe he came here in nowhere in sight. He certainly doesn't look like he just got read out of a book, so that's a good thing. He walks tenderly in his new shoes, the laces loose enough to slip the sneakers on without untying them.
Julianne's eyes leave Farid, moving back to Dustfinger and what he's doing with the fire. He meets her gaze for a moment as he brings a bottle up to his lips, but then the startling blue eyes move back to his torch as he spits the liquid at the fire, a large ball of it shooting into the night air and making a few of the spectators take a step back. Julianne stays right where she is in the front, knowing Dustfinger wouldn't purposefully hurt someone while performing.
Dustfinger lets the torch drop to the ground to extinguish on the cobblestones as he begins to juggle, the little balls soaring high up in the air. He controls them easily, his face a mask of concentration as he does little tricks with them. He sends them rolling up and down his arms, bouncing off his knee, and back into the air again. It's a wonderful distraction, something to keep Julianne's mind off of term papers and evil villains that could be lurking in the shadows.
As she watches those little balls dancing, she's a child again with no cares in the world and two parents who love her. Their colors seem to mix together as they spin, blues and yellows and reds becoming one constant shade that draws her eye.
Just as quickly and gracefully as the show had started, it's over, the crowd dwindling until only the Folcharts are left to watch the clean-up. Julianne blinks a few times, ridding herself of the visions of spinning balls and fire before joining the others. She smiles when she spots Farid happily counting out the money he had collected. He didn't have to steal or beg for it like he would have in his story.
"How much did we make this time," Dustfinger is asking. Farid jumps at Dustfinger's words, bashfully putting out the matchstick he was about to stick in his mouth. Julianne smiles a little wider, already seeing the adoration in the boy's eyes when he stares up at Dustfinger. She also sees the way Dustfinger has to twist his mouth in order to keep a smile away.
"Having fun," Julianne asks.
"Farid is on learning how to play with fire and I've taught him how to make small practice torches, but he's too eager. He's got blisters all over his lips." He's proud to have a child that adores him and aspires to be like him. That's when she remembers that Dustfinger is the father of two daughter that adored him when they were small. Do they think he died or just ran away? She's brought out of her thoughts when she hears the sound of glass clinking against the stone, watching Farid blush as he puts one of Dustfinger's bottles in the bag. "Be careful with that," Dustfinger snaps at him.
"Hey!" Julianne punches his arm, glaring up at him when he stares at her like a puppy that's just had its tail stepped on.
"What was that for?"
"Don't snap at him. He's only human and we make mistakes." Meggie smiles a little, giving Dustfinger a smug look that says you just got chewed out by a woman half your age. "Now, why are you still here? Normally you'd be gone by now to avoid you-know-who's wrath." Oh great, now every time I read Harry Potter I'm going to think of Capricorn as Voldemort, though it would be funny to see what he'd look like being beaten by a twelve year old.
"What, do you think I'd go back for that book?" That's exactly what she thinks. He scoffs, shaking his head. "I'm a coward, remember? Don't overestimate what I'm capable of."
"I've seen what you're capable of, you oaf. If anyone can sneak into that village undetected and steal the book right out from under Voldemort Junior's nose, it'll be you." She pauses a moment, reconsidering her words. "Don't actually do that, though, because I'll find out about it and then I'll have to kick you for being so reckless."
"I swear not to steal Inkheart from…. He-who-must-not-be-named. Are you happy now?"
"Honestly, I'm just glad you know about Harry Potter." He smirks, just a small tilt to one corner of his mouth, but it's better than his usual not-smile. Mo raises an eyebrow at the exchange, looking between the two of them but not commenting on it.
"I thought you should know that I'm going to visit someone tomorrow," Mo says, looking around him at the buildings surrounding the square.
"Who do you know here," Dustfinger asks, buttoning the Hawaiian shirt he has on. It's bright with flowers all over it, the complete opposite of the man's personality.
"A man who might still have a copy." There's no change in Dustfinger's expression, but suddenly he has some difficulty working the buttons on his shirt. His voice is hoarse when he speaks up next.
"That's not possible, Capricorn would have known."
"The man I'm speaking of doesn't sell books at all, he may have overlooked it." Dustfinger takes a moment to compose himself and think of something to say, his keen eyes moving around them and taking everything in. Briefly, his eyes land on the Hummingbird necklace that Julianne's wearing, torchlight flickering in the small gems. She covers it with her hand, afraid he'll want it back if he stares too long.
"So, who is this mysterious stranger?" To keep his voice from sounding hoarse this time, he speaks in a whisper.
"The man who wrote the book. He doesn't live too far from here." Farid walks up to them, carrying the little bowl that holds their money.
"Gwin hasn't come back yet," he tells Dustfinger. "Should I go buy something to tempt him?" He already knows how to get Gwin to do things? Julianne looks the boy over again, pleased with what she sees. An intelligence burns in those beautiful eyes of his.
"No, he can look after himself," Dustfinger says distractedly, one of his hands rising to rub the scars on his face. "Put our money in the leather bag, you know the one I mean." The impatient tone is back, but now Julianne realizes it's because he's trying not to get too close to the boy. He doesn't want to get attached. Farid runs off like a man with a mission, not looking put out at Dustfinger's harsh tone.
"Are you okay," Mo asks.
"I didn't think I had a chance to get back…." Dustfinger trails off, pushing his long hair off his face. "If there really is another copy, if there really is a chance, will you try to read me back just one more time?" The longing in his voice makes Julianne feel wretched, like it's her fault that he'll never get to see his wife and daughters again.
"I know you don't want to hear it, but I can't. I've tried several times to get my wife back, but it never works." Dustfinger's eyes are like ice, hard and unforgiving, just like his voice.
"I'm coming. I'm going with you when you visit the man and then we'll see." Laughter breaks the tense silence and all of them look past Dustfinger to where Farid is standing with Gwin climbing up onto his head. Julianne's never seen the marten so playful around someone that isn't Dustfinger. "Well, at least he isn't homesick. I asked him, he says he prefers this world to his own. You did him a favor." The cold look he sends in Mo's direction could freeze water. "So, where does this author live?"
"An hour's drive from here." Dustfinger is quiet for a little while, his eyes going back up to another plane that's soaring overhead.
"Sometimes when I went to wash early in the mornings," he says softly," there would be small fairies skimming above the water, barely larger than your butterflies in this land. Blue as violet petals. They would fly into my hair, sometimes they'd spit in my face. They weren't at all friendly creatures, but they shone like fireflies. If you catch one and let it out before you went to sleep, you had beautiful dreams."
"Capricorn said that there were giants and trolls," Meggie says from her spot beside Mo.
"There were, but Capricorn hated them all. He hunted everything that could run, people included." He's hunting us now. Abruptly, he shoulders his backpack and then waves to Farid. The boy picks everything else up hurriedly, eager to please Dustfinger. "Don't tell that man about me. I'll wait in the car until you're finished. I just want to know if he still has a copy."
"Fine by me," Mo shrugs, not caring one way or another.
Dustfinger looks down at his fingers, feeling the taunt red skin before muttering," He might tell me how my story ends."
"You don't know," Meggie asks in surprise. Dustfinger aims his strange not-smile at her and Julianne can tell that it makes her uncomfortable.
"Does that seem strange to you, princess? Do you know how your story ends?" Meggie doesn't answer, all of them watching as Dustfinger winks and begins to walk away with Farid following after him. "I'll be at the hotel tomorrow morning."
Later that night, after the moon has disappeared and the stars have come out to play, Julianne sits in a chair next to the window with The Hobbit opened on her lap. Elinor had tucked it under Julianne's pillow when she was distracted, and she'd just found it a little while ago after she woke up from a nightmare in a cold sweat. She can usually get lost in this book, but not tonight. No matter how much she loves Bilbo's interaction with Smaug she just can't make herself focus.
Dressed in a simple white nightgown that falls just slightly past mid-thigh, Julianne is cold in the room without her blanket wrapped around her, but she doesn't want to sleep. With a huff, she sets the book down on the floor and looks out the window towards the beach where she can make out a fire.
Dustfinger.
She watches him juggle torches before getting the nerve to throw on a robe and her converse before running outside to join him. He doesn't notice her at first, too absorbed in what he's doing until his arms grow tired and he shoves the torches in the sand to extinguish them.
"You get better every time you do that." She keeps her voice low to avoid waking up Farid where he's sleeping a few feet away. Gwin is curled up next to him, his tail twitching in time with the wind. "It's almost like magic."
"Almost," Dustfinger nods," but not quite. What are you doing out here?"
"I had a nightmare, and then I saw you out here. Figure I'd rather talk to someone than stay in that room by myself." Julianne shrugs, watching as he washes the soot off his hands in the calm waters of the sea. He sits down on his bedroll, tugging her wrist until she sits down beside him with her legs tucked underneath her. "You're so warm." She turns her hand, resting their palms against each other. "It's like you carry fire inside you."
"I wish I did, a little piece of home." They fall into a silence, a comfortable one this time, one formed by shared trauma. "Sing for me."
"What?"
"Please, it's too quiet here at night." She smiles, gesturing for him to lie down first and carding her fingers through his hair.
"Help, I lost myself again, but I remember you. Don't come back, it won't end well but I wish you'd tell me, too. Our love is six feet under, I can't help but wonder if our grave was watered by the rain. Would roses bloom? Could roses bloom again? Retrace my lips, erase your touch, it's all too much for me. Blow away like smoke in air. How can you die carelessly?
Our love is six feet under, I can't help but wonder if our grave was watered by the rain. Would roses bloom? Could roses bloom? They're playing our sound, laying us down tonight and all of these clouds crying us back to life, but you're cold as a knife six feet under. I can't help but wonder if our grave was watered by the rain. Bloom…. Bloom…. Again. Help, I lost myself again, but I remember you."
Suddenly Dustfinger is pulling Julianne down beside him, his lips finding hers and moving heatedly against them. She doesn't question it, just enjoying how gentle he is as he wraps his arms securely around her and pulls her against him. She stays in his arms until morning, doing nothing more than kissing and sleeping as the fire turns to embers and then to ashes.
When dawn breaks, she kisses Dustfinger goodbye before returning to her hotel room to shower, change and pack. It's hard to tame her hair after a night sleeping out in the wind, but she manages eventually before joining the others in the lobby. Her cheeks are flushed a light red, but it's more from the fire-eater giving her impish looks a few feet away rather than her shower.
Smug little asshole.