‘That’s a lot of rules, eh.’ Annie took the book from Faye.
‘Hmm. Whoever wrote that really believed in the fae,’ Faye said thoughtfully. ‘Maybe, in years gone by, they were more present. Different times.’
‘Aye, maybe,’ Annie said, and flicked further through the thick, handwritten pages, absorbed. ‘Things’ve moved on.Wouldn’t blame the faeries fer retreatin’ back tae their lands, what wi’ all the chaos humans have brought tae the world.’
‘Impregnating witches. That’s kind of intense.’ Faye’s eyes widened. ‘Do you think that ever happened?’
‘Naw. Old legends. I’d say all that’s a code ferrespect nature, ’cause she has no respect fer you.’ Annie made a face. ‘Good advice.’
‘I guess. Still, it seems kind of…like this person thought that was real.’ Faye stared out to the black night sea.
‘You don’t know who wrote that. How they saw the world would be different to how we do,’ Annie said distractedly. She was still flicking through the pages, until she exclaimed and jabbed her finger down on the paper. ‘Ha! Knew it. Spell for love. To summon passionate love, aye, that’s what we want! Good on ye, Grandmother Morgan.’ Annie pulled out her glasses and slid them onto her nose. ‘We’re gonna do this.’
‘Why?’ Faye replied. ‘Love is…’ She trailed off, frowning.
‘What?’ Annie poked her.
‘Disappointing. Leads to heartbreak and pain. Pointless.’ Faye shrugged, trying to seem unbothered. That was what Moddie had taught her.Never trust a man. They will break your heart. Your father broke mine.‘I don’t want to do a spell for love.’
‘Oh, come on. Don’t be such a stick in the mud.’ Annie held her torch up to the book again. ‘Says here that the first step is to make dolls.The object of your desire is to be rendered as dutifully as possible, with the hair and fingernails if it is to represent one person in particular.’ Annie read it aloud in her actress voice, as if she were a television announcer from the 1950s. ‘Wow. D’ye think Grandmother Morgan was out and about, picking toenails out of people’s bins, aye? Not for me. But it says here ye can just make one up that represents your idealpartner. I’d be well up for that. Why not? We could ask Aisha to do it with us, she’s single.’
Aisha worked part-time at the shop with Faye.
‘I don’t know. I’m not sure I want that. It’s…I dunno. More trouble than it’s worth,’ Faye protested. But the truth was that even though she had been raised to fear love – even though Moddie had schooled her in all the ways that a man would betray her and break her heart – Faye was lonely. And her heart yearned for love.
‘Course ye do. You’re always moonin’ around like a lost faerie, Faye. Look at ye. Made for romantic hair-whippin’ in the wind, moonlit seaside rendezvous.’ Annie shone her torch into Faye’s face. ‘Look at that face, aye. If no one takes ye soon, I’m going to try and convert ye to a lesbian.’
Faye shrugged. ‘No offence, but I don’t think I’d be a very good one.’
‘Aye well, don’t rule it out. But the spell? Come on, Faye. What d’you have to lose? I know you’re shy. I know ye don’t want to get hurt. You’re afraid. But it doesn’t have to be earth-shattering, okay? Ye could just have a little fun. Ye need some fun, sweetheart.’ Annie put her gloved hand on Faye’s shoulder and looked into her eyes in the dim light of the torch. Their campfire was burning low, and the coals were only a dim glow in the dark.
‘I am having fun. I’m here with you on a sub-zero beach, waiting for the sunrise. Honestly. Who else is doing this?’ Faye argued, but she knew Annie was right. And that Annie normally got what she wanted, one way or another.
‘Promise me, sweetheart. You need this. I bloody need it, too.’
‘You get a new girlfriend every other week.’ Faye rolled her eyes.
‘I know, I know. But I want someone I really like. That I can trust.’ Annie looked at Faye out of the corner of her eye. ‘Not just to sleep with. I want someone to love.’
‘Are you being serious?’
‘Aye. Why not?’ Annie looked away wistfully at the black sea. ‘I’ve only been in love once, and that was a long time ago.’
Faye narrowed her eyes at her friend; she was an actress, so she could roll out the drama if she wanted to. But Faye knew her well enough to know when she was being real or not, and she thought that in this case she was.
‘Fine, fine. We’ll do it. Anything to stop this emotional blackmail.’ Faye took the grimoire from her friend. Grandmother’s handwriting was so familiar; neat copperplate, spidery with time. She felt the tears spring to her eyes as the memory of the woman she had loved so much came back, breathing and vivid. ‘Let’s see what we’ll need.’
As she peered at the book, Faye noticed the light had changed, and she could see the page better. She looked up and saw the first faint rays of the sunrise reaching out over the horizon, and nudged Annie.
‘Come on. We’ll look at this later,’ she said, holding out her hand for her friend.
They walked down the beach together, foil blankets tied around their shoulders like magicians’ capes.
‘Happy solstice.’ Annie hugged her and they stared up at the sun, blanketed by dawn-pink clouds, glinting on the grey-green sea. ‘May all our wishes come true this year. Make a wish on the new sun.’ She raised her flask to the sun and closed her eyes. Perhaps Annie really was wishing for someone she could love.
Faye held up her own flask and made her own wish on the new sun before taking a drink and pouring a small libation of the wine into the sand by her feet. She had, in previous years, wished for her health and for the shop to be successful. She was about todo the same again, but as she closed her eyes and felt the faraway warmth of the new sun caress her skin, a sense of bravery overtook her.I too wish for love. True love to come to me, she thought, and was surprised at how much she truly meant it.
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