Maybe university would still be the best thing for him. It would get him away from Tillingham, away from what had happened here. And it wasn’t like Merry needed him any more.
He changed gear and accelerated, wondering whether Merry would ever learn a spell to see into the future, wondering what it would show. Him as a doctor, an overworked GP in some suburban practice? Merry still in Tillingham, running the coven? And would either of them be happy?
Leo pulled up in front of the house. The lights were on in Merry’s bedroom, which meant she was still awake, probably waiting up for him. Thankfully, Mum was on a yoga retreat with a work friend until Friday, so at least there wouldn’t be any awkward questions. But lately, Merry had been watching him closely, badgering him to ‘open up’ to her. Which wasn’t going to happen. A tiny part of him had somehow become convinced that, eventually, Dan would have loved him back. But there was no way he could admit that. Not even to his sister. So instead he’d made even more of an effort to try to act normal. But tonight …
Tonight, he’d messed up. Even if he’d stayed out for a couple of drinks after the cinema, he should have been home ages ago.
The moon emerged briefly from behind the clouds, and silver light flooded the landscape. Leo got out of the car, locked it and stood for a moment, gazing through the branches of the willow that grew next to the garage, out across the lawn.
Somebody was there. Someone was standing right at the edge of the garden, just beyond the overgrown rockery, looking up at the house.
FOR A FRACTION of a second Leo was paralysed, staring at the figure on the other side of the lawn. Then the clouds came over, the figure disappeared and, just as though a spell had been lifted, Leo was running: tearing round the back of the car, sprinting across the garden until he got to the rockery and found –
No one.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket – noticing that his hands were trembling, that all of him was trembling – switched on the torch and shone it around. There was the hedge that separated the garden from the road and the neighbouring houses. There was the unused, partly boarded-up greenhouse that Mum could never afford to get repaired. There was the back of the house, all in darkness apart from a faint glimmer coming from the bathroom. The whole garden was still, not even the whisper of a breeze to break the tranquillity.
Perhaps it had been Merry. What he’d taken for short, darkish hair could have been a hat. Or …
Leo reached the edge of the patio and the security lights snapped on, their yellow beams illuminating the entire garden.
He was being ridiculous. If there had been someone in the garden, the lights would already have been on. And why on earth would his sister be wandering around outside at this time of night? A car sped along the road in front of the house. After it had passed, the silence rolled back again. Leo yawned and squeezed his eyes shut. He never seemed to get enough sleep these days – maybe it was all messing with his head.
Just to be sure, Leo did a complete circuit of the house before going back to the car to get his bag. He walked up the path to the front door – ran a hand through his hair, trying to dispel the fog clouding his brain – and fumbled in his bag for his house keys. He was just about to fit the key into the lock when the front door swung open. Merry was standing there in her pyjamas, frowning.
* * *
Leo didn’t look especially pleased to see her. ‘Oh. I mean, hey. Were you waiting up for me?’ He shut the door behind him, locked and bolted it, put the chain on. ‘You didn’t need to.’
He sounded really tired. And tense. He didn’t look good, either. There were dark circles under his eyes.
‘I wasn’t waiting up for you,’ Merry lied, trying to make her voice light and casual. ‘It’s just that … I heard your car pull up, about ten minutes ago. I was wondering what was taking you so long. That’s all.’
Leo picked up the post from the hall table and flicked through it, but he didn’t respond.
Merry knew she should probably go to bed and leave him alone. But, after what she’d seen earlier, in the scrying water …
She tried again.
‘Leo, is everything OK? I mean … was the film good?’
He turned and looked at her. For a split second he seemed to waver, an expression Merry couldn’t quite identify flitting across his face. Then he shrugged.
‘It was OK. Probably not something I’d bother to see again. But the others enjoyed it.’ He brushed past her and walked into the kitchen, stopping at the sink to fill the kettle. ‘You want some tea?’
Merry’s insides began to knot up as she followed Leo into the kitchen. She knew where her brother had been this evening. But how was she supposed to bring it up without accusing him of lying, or without admitting that she’d been using her powers to spy on him?
‘No, thanks. If you’re hungry, there’s some leftover lasagne in the fridge. I could heat it up for you, if you like?’
Leo shook his head.
‘I ate already. Went for a kebab after the film.’ He smiled at her, but the anxiety didn’t leave his eyes. ‘Sorry I’m back so late, by the way. Lost track of time.’
‘No worries.’ Merry sat down and watched her brother as he made tea. He was fidgety, tapping his fingers on the kitchen counter, glancing out of the window every few seconds.
‘So, why were you outside the house for so long?’
‘Geez, Merry. Why don’t you just get me microchipped and then you can track my every movement.’ He opened one of the drawers, took out a teaspoon and slammed it shut.
‘Calm down – I’m only making conversation. You’re always out, I’m always training; I – I miss talking to you. Remember us talking? Remember when we used to tell each other stuff? It wasn’t that long ago.’
‘Fine,’ Leo muttered eventually, turning round to face her. ‘If you really must know, I thought – I thought I saw …’ He closed his eyes for a moment. ‘Forget it. It doesn’t matter.’
Merry looked at him steadily.
‘Leo – it’s me, Merry. You can tell me anything. Right? Because after everything we’ve been through these past few months, I wouldn’t be fazed if you told me you’d found a secret way into Narnia through the bottom of your underwear drawer. Trust me.’
That brought a genuine smile to Leo’s face.
‘OK. Well, it was probably nothing. But when I got home I thought I saw someone outside the house.’
‘Oh.’ That wasn’t what she’d been expecting. ‘You mean, a prowler?’
‘Yeah, exactly. It was only for a second, but I could have sworn I saw … someone, standing in the garden. So I went after him. But there wasn’t anyone there.’ Leo went to the cupboard and got out a packet of biscuits. ‘There’s nothing else to tell. I must have imagined it.’
Merry shivered. The last time there had been an intruder in the house, it had been Jack. That night he’d crept into her room and threatened her with a knife – it was one of the times she’d spent in Jack’s company that she really wouldn’t mind forgetting. ‘I dunno, Leo. Maybe … it was an animal that you saw? Like, a really big fox?’
Leo raised his eyebrows.
‘Seriously? A really big fox. A giant mutant fox, in fact, stalking round the garden on its hind legs …’ He shook his head and sat back down.
‘Well, I don’t