The car shimmered into existence the moment I reached the platform, but I paid little attention to the sylphs carefully showing me what so many never glimpsed. Nicolas' gift granted me a ticket without the hassle of human money, and I spent only a moment at the counter before limping across the platform toward that glinting car. The train ride to Thurso would provide both warmth and safety while I decided where I wanted to go.

Of course, it also granted many others the option to travel as well—and apparently announced my location to the magical realm. A different nisse matched my slow pace before I could reach the train.

"Doctor Watson."

Torsten. A distant thought wondered what had brought him so far from home, but I saw no reason to force words where none would form. A silent nod served as a greeting.

"Strange tha big man hasn't mentioned yer visit," he muttered, the pointedly indirect question far too quiet for anyone to overhear. "Normally tha whole city knows days before your arrival."

Because Nicolas always set aside as much time as he could, I finished. He could not plan ahead this time, however. Unless chance had made him look at just the right moment, he would not know of my journey until I boarded the train.

As Torsten had suspected, by the frown now turning his mouth, but he silently followed me up the stairs and to a group of sofa and chairs almost hidden behind a table set for four. I chose the one that put my back to the wall, fully intending to ignore Torsten in favor of debating my options.

He refused. "Are ye going to tell me the danger?"

No need. I was not in danger—even of becoming homeless, since I could always take a room at the Gorfunkle once we reached Thurso. Nicolas had given me a permanent invitation to use the Family Suite reserved for born immortals and their guests. Torsten did not need to guard me.

"Why are ye here?"

Because I could not stay in London. Far too many memories permeated those gritty streets and shadowed alleys for me to stay there alone. When I factored the incoming weather, I much preferred a long train ride to a night or three in a motel I could not afford.

"Why are ye alone?"

"Go away!"

No. Concentrated effort firmly stifled the flinch and shoved the memory away. Torsten did not need to see that. Did not need to be here at all, though I had no way to let him return home. Nisse went where they wanted when they wanted. If Torsten had decided to follow me to Thurso, he would follow me to Thurso, scowling at every perceived danger all the while.

The thought sparked the faintest shot of amusement. Nisse were protectors. Guardians. As a rule, they spent their time helping families avoid the dangers presented by humans and magicals both, but they and no one else decided just what constituted "danger." Whatever Torsten saw, nothing but the danger's demise would send him away. I tuned out any further questions to scan the train car.

A dwarf, two elves, a nymph, and a tiny pixie occupied various seats in sight of my corner, and a young rabbit eyed me from behind one table leg. The two elves occasionally glanced in my direction, but most ignored me completely. Recognized for a friend of Nicolas' or not, all easily noted the magic in my pocket. Combined with the nisse currently scowling at my refusal to answer, no one would challenge my presence.

So where did I want to go?

Home, but home no longer existed. A mental shake shoved the longing aside. Where did I want to go?

North. Perhaps Thurso. Perhaps the Pole. Nicolas would have noticed me boarding the train, so continued acceptance would have booked the Family Suite until he could come for me. Just because Holmes had finally turned me away did not necessarily mean Nicolas would.

Probably. I hoped. I would try, at any rate. Further rejection would carry consequences I could deal with later. Did I have anywhere I could go besides Thurso?

No. I would not impose on Martha's home when Sophie already used her old bedroom, and I was better off homeless in Thurso than I was anywhere else. On finding myself unable to go to the Pole, Thurso had enough people that I could probably find a job there.

If I decided I wanted a job. I rather doubted my ability to diagnose, at the moment, but a deep breath shoved that aside to deal with later as well, and the window to my left provided something else to focus on for a while. From open fields to rolling hills, the Polar Line sped fast enough to change the view every minute or so. Fields of sheep. Low stone fences. Lines of trees. Even the occasional magical creature provided a moment's distraction at a time, each serving to hold my attention and prevent me from thinking.

Go away!

Mostly. Peripheral vision noted Torsten's frown deepen with every memory I shoved aside, and more than once he tried to convince me to eat some of the supplies spread across the table. I ignored him. My appetite had faded days ago. I did not need to eat the food better saved for someone who wanted it.

Nor did I need the sole human-sized bed in the corner. A gesture let the nymph claim it, and I watched the night trickle by one mile at a time.


Human rail lines needed a full twenty-four hours or more to reach Thurso from London. With a born immortal's magic in the mix, however, the Polar Line needed barely half that, and late the next morning saw my car slowing on the outskirts of town. The alarm would sound for me to get off soon, and I would have to wait for Nicolas to have a chance to make the trip south.

Unless I did not want to get off the train?

The idea struck me, prodding me to consider a path I had not acknowledged before. Did I even want to get off the train? Just because the final leg from Thurso to the Pole had not been designed with humans in mind did not make me unable to take the journey—provided I accepted the consequences. Could I stomach never going home?

I already could not return to Baker Street. That hardly qualified as a consequence, so what else did it mean?

I could not go to the Pole again. Nicolas might have wasted a trip, but probably not. He never beat the train to Thurso. I would not need to find another house. Or a job. I would never worry about forcing my presence again, nor would I—

Torsten's bony elbow firmly impacted my ribs, almost frantically noting the increasingly urgent alarm and forcing me to acknowledge the choice I debated rather than listing its more positive results. If I stayed on the train…

I would break a decades-old promise to Meredith. Grudging movement slung my bag over my shoulder and limped to the platform. Now what?

The Motel. Right. I barely noticed the small footsteps keeping pace with me through the crowd and across the bridge. Nicolas had given me an open invitation to the Family Suite in Gorfunkle, and that room proved as good a place as any to stay for a day or two. Several long minutes took me past the arch and to the reception desk, but I waited only a few seconds before Melai acknowledged my presence.

"How may I help you?"

"Is the Family Suite available?"

She frowned but flipped through her reservation book, eventually shaking her head in regret. "I'm sorry. Someone else booked the room right before Mr. Kringle's message arrived. I do have a room on the first level available, though. Would you like that one?"

I barely stifled a flinch. Any room on the first floor shared with at least one other guest. They must be completely booked to offer such an arrangement to a human traveling alone. A murmured thank you sufficed for pleasantries, and I dodged a group of young elves on my way out the door. Better to sleep outside than deal with a surly magical.

Or any company, really. At least Torsten had taken the hint to stay quiet. I only faintly noticed him trailing two steps behind me.

"Where are ye goin' now?"

Or mostly quiet. I pretended not to hear, eyes on my feet as I carefully left the path. Nicolas had once taken me to another magical place on this hill. That small cave would work perfectly, if only I could—

There. Two steps left prompted a sylph's congratulatory giggle, and four small creatures moved just enough for me to glimpse a worn path headed straight over the hill. Torsten tried only once to prevent me from going further before something like resignation found another way to keep up. Apparently unable to use the path without Nicolas' help, every few feet saw him vanish mid step to reappear next to me.

Not that I intended to comment. The path looped around the hill and through several large rocks, skirting just out of reach of the high tide, before ending at a low overhang. I ducked beneath the ivy with a sigh of relief.

Water dripped from a stalactite in the back. Several cots, trunks, and crates in a variety of sizes occupied the drier side of the space. Various crystals in the walls reflected the light from outside—and created some of their own, apparently. Rather like Holmes' experiment last week.

"Go away!"

My bag landed on the human-sized bed with a thump as I shoved the thought from my mind. Better a damp cave than a hostile flat—or an uncomfortably gruff motel room. If Nicolas truly meant his invitation, he would find me soon enough, but even if he did not, I doubted he would mind me using the cave for a few days. I could stay here until something else came up.

"Do ye intend t' eat somethin'?"

No. My bag held a few cans of what passed for soup, but I was not hungry. Silence ignored the question as I started inventorying my supplies.


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