Read Online Shared Skies by Josephine O Brien - Free Book Online

filling up on coffee and pastries.”
    Soon they were all walking
around the forecourt of a country garage. A sense of un-reality hit
her as she breathed in the cool, gusting, Scottish air, laden with
rain and the scent of trees. How can any
of this be true? What am I doing here? I’m in the middle of
nowhere. I’m miles from home, miles from Dad. Panic started. First in her stomach, coffee and pastry
threatened to return and her mouth filled with saliva. Her palms
became damp. Two warm arms wrapped around her and pulled her
tight.
    Alasdair's voice came from above her head.
“Gaiah, darling, you are safe. Don't worry, you are with us, where
you belong.”
    She stiffened in his embrace, but the warmth
and strength of his hug, the love in his voice banished her panic.
This was real, her grandfather was solid, Kaley standing next to
him, was real. Gaiah hugged her grandfather back. “I know.” She
stepped back and smiled at them both. For the first time in ten
years she could smile at her grandparents. The thought made her
light up inside and her smile became a full-grown grin. Kaley and
Alasdair matched her grin as they headed back to the car.
    The wind snatched long tendrils of her hair,
whipping them across her face, every time she tried to pull it
back, more escaped.
    Kaley caught it and smoothed it down gently.
“Troublesome, isn’t it? But it’s always a wonderful occasion when a
young Gaianan girl’s hair grows to its adult length. Within a year
from that date, their abilities begin to appear and they start
training. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I wasn’t there when
it happened to you.”
    “ Oh, God, I wish you had
been, it was awful. I was so scared. It’s hard to believe it should
have been a happy occasion.” Gaiah took a deep, self-pity banishing
breath.
    “ Here,” said Kaley, “this
is what we use at home.” She handed Gaiah what looked like two
small, normal hair bands but made of a shimmery, soft, elastic
material. They were both connected by two long thin silver ribbons.
She showed Gaiah how to unhook one elastic, gather her hair into a
pony tail and secure it in the elastic with the ribbons
attached.
    Kaley then plaited Gaiah’s hair, bringing
the silver threads around and through each turn. As she worked at
the long hair, Kaley explained that all Gaianan women, when they
reached maturity had hair down to, or just below their waists. That
was the way it was and no amount of shaving or chopping could
change it for longer than a few hours.
    Gaiah sighed as she nodded. This part at
least was easy to believe. Kaley pulled the finished plait around
over Gaiah’s shoulder for her to inspect. The ribbons seemed to
spread and hold the hair. At the end of the plait, Kaley used the
second bobble and reattached the ribbons. Now Gaiah’s hair was
firmly in place and the ribbons shimmered and glowed through her
hair.
    “ Wow. That’s fantastic, it
looks so…so…”
    “ Medieval?” suggested
Kaley. “I did mention Guinevere; she started quite a fashion.”
    Gaiah shook her head. “This is all crazy.
Very crazy.”
    Before they got into the car, Kaley put her
arms around Gaiah. “Look, I know this all seems way too much for
you now, you need time for it to sink in, to understand what it is
really like. So no more serious talking till we get home, there’s
so much more and not all as pleasant.” This time Kaley sat into the
front passenger seat.
    A black motor bike drove past slowly and
Gaiah could swear emerald eyes looked at her through the visor of
the helmet. Her skin prickled with unease, but given everything
she'd been listening to, unease was to be expected.
    As they sped through
darkening countryside they chatted easily, about whether the
final Harry Potter movies did justice to the books. Gaiah thought they had
captured the spirit perfectly, Kaley thought they had left out too
much and Alasdair said he refused to watch movies of books that he
loved.
    Kaley and Alasdair