“I know we must make a journey daily, but do ye mind making it a verra short one? I wish to be back before Grace returns from her work.”
“Oh, do ye now? I expected ye to say as much. Aye, verra short. Now, lay back so that I may begin.”
He did as she asked, placing his left hand behind his head to prop himself up a little as Morna began her spell. As always, his head began to split first, the pain shooting down his spine and shaking him all over. Vision blurred quickly but, just before he evaporated entirely, he caught movement in the doorway and directed his focus just long enough to see Cooper peering inside with wide eyes.
Chapter 7
“Oh. My. Jiminy. Cricket. That is sooo much cooler than a spaceship! It’s magic, huh? You used magic on him. Where did he go?”
Cooper’s voice filled the room, and Eoghanan struggled against the fog consuming his brain to stay present. He no longer wished to make a travel today, not now that the boy had seen him. Why wouldn’t Morna cease her spell? She saw the boy but continued her low chant, sending him further into oblivion.
Speech eluded him. He couldn’t answer Cooper with his physical body already gone from the room. Only his hearing and sight remained, although his vision remained blurred. He could hear Cooper’s voice calling after Morna, but he couldn’t see the room clearly, only making out the faint edges of the young lad and the witch.
Morna’s words grew louder and with it his consciousness weakened. He couldn’t be certain, but Morna’s words seemed to change, different from the ones she usually spoke. Suddenly everything went black.
*
In the next instant, he was back in the room, his eyelids fluttering open to find Cooper sitting on the bed next to him, his little hands cupping both sides of his cheeks.
“Wake up, sleepy. I knew it, E-o. I knew you were the same person that was in the park and at the airport. You’re magic!”
His head throbbed even worse than usual, but he pushed the pain aside, attributing it to the fact that his journey had been interrupted. He couldn’t tell how long he’d been out, but he’d not arrived anywhere in the past. He simply remained in the space between until Morna called him back to the present.
Eoghanan propped himself up in the bed as Cooper released his face. Looking around the room for Morna, he addressed her first. “How long was I gone?”
The witch made her way to him, extending a cool rag to press along his forehead. “Ach, no more than a few minutes. The second the lad walked into the room, I started the return spell. I’m only pleased that all of ye arrived back here.”
“Ye dinna know if I would?” The notion unsettled him. The travels were frightening enough without worrying about the possibility of his legs ending up in one century and his head in another.
“No, I couldna know for sure. This has never happened before.”
“Did ye tell him?” Eoghanan glanced over at Cooper who nodded emphatically at his question.
“Yes, she did. I know everything. She’s a witch and you’re from like a million years ago. It’s awesome!”
Morna shut the door to the bedroom so that the three of them could speak more freely. “Aye, I dinna have a choice. I doona believe he would have ever silenced if I hadna done so. But ye needn’t worry, I shall make him forget it. I was just waiting for you to wake up first.”
“No way.” Cooper kept his voice calm, but reached out latching hard onto Eoghanan’s hand. “Don’t you let her put those witchy hands on me, E-o. I won’t tell anybody. I promise.”
Morna laughed in response, waving a hand in dismissal. “Doona worry, lad. I willna place a hand on ye. I’m no bad witch, surely ye can see that. I’ll just say a few words, and ye willna know that ye are missing the memory.”
“No.” Eoghanan spoke, settling the matter in his mind. He trusted Morna completely, but it didn’t mean he wished her to use magic on the lad. If knowing that magic truly existed in the world would bring the boy joy, he didn’t wish to take it from him.
“Ye know that we doona have a choice, Eoghanan.” Morna reached to take the rag from him, walking across the room to hang it over the basin.
“Aye, we do. Ye have told me yerself that too few people know of the existence of magic in this present world. Now that the lad knows, doona rob him of it. I believe we can trust him. Why doona ye give me and Cooper a moment alone?”
Morna eyed him speculatively, one eyebrow raised astonishingly high as she relented. “Aye, I willna spell him if ye doona wish me to. ’Tis yer secret, I suppose.”
Eoghanan waited until she’d shut the door behind her to shift toward Cooper. “Now, if we doona wish for Morna to take this knowledge from ye, ye must promise me that ye willna say a word to yer mother. Such a thing is difficult for most to understand. I doona think she would believe ye.”
Cooper stuck his littlest finger up by Eoghanan’s nose. “I promise, promise, promise. I won’t say a word to anyone.”
“What is that, lad?”