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sat above a glass door with a Venetian blind hanging behind it. I took hold of the handle and held my breath. Slowly I turned it and the door opened to reveal an almost-empty room. Empty but for a figure in a familiar dark coat, hunched in a seat, his long legs resting on a low table in front of him. His face looked paler than ever, but the sight of it, and his soft, green eyes regarding me where I stood, made me curiously calm again.
    ‘You helped us …’ I whispered, tears coming quietly. ‘Thank you.’
    ‘You’re welcome.’ He gave me a weak smile, keeping his arms wrapped around him, his hands lost in the folds of his coat. I moved to sit next to him, but he shook his head.
    ‘No … Jane,’ he said, his voice strained. ‘Now is not the time. I will explain this to you. I promise.’ I noticed he was trembling.
    ‘What’s the matter with you?’ I looked down, noticing the whole of his body seemed to be in spasm.
    ‘I … I’ll explain that, too …’ Luca’s voice juddered. ‘But you have to leave now, you understand. Go back to your father.’
    ‘But I …’ I took another step closer, reluctant to leave him like this.
    ‘Please leave,’ he said. And his tone was hard now, his eyes growing wide and aggressive. I stepped back, shocked, and Luca swallowed, speaking again with effort. ‘Believe me, this will be too much for you. Go.’
    I nodded, turning back – and then I heard it. A sound, low and hoarse, behind me. I swallowed and ran through the door, shutting it firmly. Then, not wanting to hear what was happening inside, I walked quickly back to where I needed to be.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    G reek myths and legends, I’d studied them. I’d drawn the parallels with feelings and behaviour and all the dilemmas and challenges people face today. But elves and goblins, complicated labyrinthine worlds where dragons speak and quests are embarked on? I’d never taken them seriously. I knew that it was strange, given my alienation from a world full of social networks and fashion magazines and cliques, that I hadn’t lost myself in these worlds, loved them and believed in them – but I hadn’t. My dad always said I was born seeing black and white and nothing in between, but I didn’t think that was true. I guess deep down, I never dared believe that magic existed. Until the day Dad ended up in hospital.

    I picked up the box of cereal I’d been staring at for five minutes and added it to my basket. I checked Mum’s list. Soap, dog food and a copy of the local newspaper.
    I found the soap further along. Unperfumed. Typical of my mother.
    Then I moved up the second aisle in our cramped little grocer’s, picking up two tins of fancy dog food. Again, typical. Bobby was the only recipient of luxury in our family.
    The papers and magazines were kept in front of the counter and as I headed towards them I could see the headline of the Hassock Gazette . You couldn’t miss it. WHERE DID THE MYSTERIOUS HERO GO?
    I took a sharp breath, frowning. I couldn’t think about this any more.
    Him.
    Nearly a month had passed since the accident. I’d spent weeks going over every detail, and I still couldn’t make sense of it. I’d just stayed in my room, reading old historical romances of my mother’s and moping about with Dot. The whole family was in shock as Dad convalesced at home, slow and fragile. He was getting better now, but it had shaken us all up. My mother had stopped going on about sending me to school, at least. But she seemed permanently stressed, snapping at me and Dot over the slightest thing, telling us to get out from under her feet. But I didn’t want to go anywhere. My dreams had stopped. Luca had gone. And though I should have been relieved, all I felt was let down. Crazy. I didn’t know him.
    Taking a copy of the paper and dumping my basket on the counter, I nodded at the boy working the till. He’d been at my school, a couple of years above me. Eric. One of the few people at Hassock Academy