Read Online Wayfarer by R.J. Anderson - Free Book Online Page B

on, while Timothy stared at her. The attendant shrugged, leaned his mop against the wall, and ambled behind the counter. “So what’ll it be?”
    Reluctantly, Timothy got up and took out his wallet. He paid for two Cokes and a large order of chips, while Linden edged into the booth and sat there looking around uncertainly, as though she’d never seen a restaurant before. Their food arrived; he carried the tray to the table and thumped it down between them. “All right. It’s time you told me who you are. Where you came from. What happened back there—”
    â€œI told you, my name is Linden,” she said. “I’ve been with you ever since you left Oakhaven.” She leaned forwardand added in a husky whisper, “I’m a faery.”
    â€œA what ?”
    â€œA faery,” she repeated. “And so was that Veronica—only she’s a bad one. Very bad.” She put a hand to her forehead as though it pained her, and the corners of her mouth pulled down. “I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself to you back at the House, but I didn’t know if I could trust you yet. I was just working up the nerve when I realized you were going away, and then all I could think to do was hide in your pack and hope for the best.”
    Timothy regarded her blankly for a moment. Then he jabbed the straw into his Coke and took a long, deliberate sip.
    â€œYou don’t believe me!” Her face darkened with indignation. “How can you be so stubborn when you saw for yourself back there—”
    â€œSaw what?” It had all happened so fast, he couldn’t be sure what he’d seen. Maybe Veronica had drugged him, and he’d been hallucinating. Maybe she and this girl were a team, trying to trick him into saying he believed in faeries as part of some hidden-camera television show.
    â€œOh, this is impossible,” the girl said with a huff. She folded her arms and sat back, her brows an angry line. “How am I supposed to explain when you won’t even believe the first thing I say?”
    â€œLook,” said Timothy, trying to sound reasonable; there was no point upsetting her, especially if she was mentallyill. “You got me away from…whatever Veronica was going to do to me, and I appreciate that. But Linden—” All at once he stopped. “Linden,” he breathed.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œPaul and Peri. I overheard them talking about you last night, when they thought I was asleep. But if you really did come with me all the way from Oakhaven…” His mind flashed back to all the places he’d been since he left the house: the road to the village, the station, the train carriage. “Why didn’t I notice you before?”
    Linden’s lips pursed. She leaned out into the aisle and looked around, as though to reassure herself that no one was watching. Then, quick as a blink, she disappeared.
    Timothy jumped, heart jarring against his rib cage, and then he heard a high-pitched voice coming from around knee level, “Look under the table.”
    Dry mouthed, he leaned sideways and peered under the table’s edge to see a tiny version of Linden sitting across from him, balanced on the edge of the plastic seat. Spread out behind her back were a pair of delicate-looking translucent… wings ?
    â€œHave you seen enough now?” she demanded.
    Numbly, Timothy nodded.
    â€œIs anybody looking at us?”
    He shook his head.
    Immediately Linden flashed back into view on the other side of the table, human-sized and wingless again. Shelooked tired but triumphant. “So now you have to believe me. Right?”
    Timothy grabbed a forkful of chips, just to have something to do with his hands and his mouth while he struggled for composure. When he tried to speak again his voice sounded squeaky, and he had to clear his throat: “Do they know that you’re a…er, I mean, Paul and Peri, if you know