Through the Door (7 page)

“Serious!” Oscar exclaimed. “Here, I’ll show you.” He held out his arm as if he expected Cedar to take it. She stared at the proffered arm for a moment. Then she sighed and placed her hand in the crook of his elbow.

Despite herself, she tightened her grip, as a staircase suddenly appeared in front of them where before there had been only concrete. The staircase led down into the ground, and at the bottom was a large wooden door. Cedar swore, and Oscar’s grin grew wider. “It’s always there, y’know. You just can’t see it unless you’re with me, or someone like me. Crazy,
eh? I mean, I imagine it would be. I’ve always been able to see it, but it would be cool to see it appear out of nowhere.”

Cedar stared alternately at the newly visible staircase and at the boy whose arm she still gripped. Then she let go and took a half step away from him. The staircase was still there in front of her. “How come I can still see it?” she asked.

“’Cause now you know where it is,” he said with a small shrug. “If someone walks by who’s never seen it before, they’ll just see the railing on top, like you did at first. It’s there so no one falls in by accident. But now that you know what to look for, you should be able to find it without any trouble.”

“Wait, how is this possible?” Cedar demanded. “Who are you?” Her mind was reeling. So Eden wasn’t the only one who could do magic, or whatever this was.

“I’m just Oscar,” he said, and his smile began to droop. “Hey, do me a favor, would you, and don’t tell Rohan that I talked so much. I don’t think I was supposed to make such a big deal out of the whole seeing/not-seeing thing. And he’s going to kick my ass if he knows that I kept you standing out in this alley for half the night. C’mon, I’ll lead the way.”

With that, he headed down the stairs. Halfway down, he looked back and noticed that Cedar was still standing where he had left her. “C’mon!” he beckoned. “Don’t be scared! It’s totally safe. You’re with me!”

Don’t freak out,
Cedar willed herself. After all, this was a good sign. If Oscar could make staircases materialize out of thin air
and
knew Riona and Rohan, it was becoming increasingly likely that they might be able to explain Eden’s condition. A new thought occurred to Cedar.

“Are you one of Rohan’s sons?” Cedar asked as she followed him down the staircase, clutching tightly to the side railing.

“Me? Nah. His sons are Finn and Dermot, and he’s got a daughter, Molly,” Oscar answered as they arrived at the bottom. They were standing in front of an intricately carved wooden door. Every square inch of the door was carved, not into one picture, but in seemingly random designs that nevertheless presented an incredibly pleasing overall impression. Cedar felt something inside her stir as she looked at the artwork. Then Oscar pushed open the door.

They stepped into a small, dimly lit room with round tables on one side and booths lining the other. The ceiling was low and made of a shiny, dark wood that was as intricately carved as the door. At the back was a long, polished bar, and set into one wall was a large fireplace that threw dancing lights on the brass rail. Behind the bar was a door that Cedar presumed led to the kitchen. As the bell above the front door signaled their presence, a few of the pub’s patrons glanced toward them. Their gazes lingered on her for a moment, and then they returned their attention to their drinking companions. Most of the patrons, fewer than a dozen in total, sat in pairs or small groups.

Oscar was standing next to her, watching her sweep the room with her eyes. “See?” he whispered. “Nothing to worry about. C’mon, they’re over here.”

He led her to a booth near the back of the room, the closest to the bar. Rohan and Riona were sitting on the same side of the booth, and Riona waved to Cedar as she approached.

“Cedar! You made it! I’m so glad,” she said. She looked as though she wanted to give her a hug, but she was trapped on the inside of the booth and Rohan sat solidly in place, his eyes focused on something behind Cedar.

Cedar turned to Oscar. “Thanks for your help,” she told him.

He grinned. “No problem.”

Cedar slid into the other side of the booth. Rohan gave her a nod of greeting. “Did you bring Eden?” he asked.

“No. I don’t usually bring my six-year-old daughter to a strange pub at night,” Cedar said. “She’s home with a sitter.” Rohan and Riona shared a disappointed glance.

“Forgive us, Cedar. I admit we were hoping you would bring Eden, but I see now how that wouldn’t have worked from your perspective,” Riona said.

“No worries,” Cedar said. “So about that whole staircase thing outside. How did he do that? Is it an illusion of some sort?” she asked, although she had a strong feeling the answer would not be so simple.

Rohan squeezed himself out of the booth and stood up, ignoring the question. “Getting another drink,” he said. “Can I get you something?”

“Sure. A Keith’s,” Cedar said. She watched as he walked up to the bar and spoke to the bartender, an older man with a thick white beard. Cedar thought the bartender would look more at home wearing a sou’wester on the docks than standing behind a bar. She turned her attention back to Riona, who had been watching her carefully. “It
is
an illusion, of sorts,” the older woman said. “But it’s more than that. You seem to be taking it quite well that some things are not as they seem.”

Cedar picked up a leather coaster and turned it over in her hands. Was this some sort of test? “Maybe I’m finally getting an open mind,” she said. “Finn used to talk about things being not quite as they seemed…about magic being real. Is that what this is? Magic?” She felt foolish once the question left her lips, but what other explanation was there?

Rohan returned and placed Cedar’s drink in front of her. She mumbled her thanks but kept her attention fixed on Riona.

“In a sense, yes, it’s magic,” Riona said. “We can help you. We can help Eden. You said she’s special, but she’s not alone. Finn is special too.”

Cedar grimaced. She was tired of all this beating around the bush. It was getting her nowhere. If she was honest, maybe they would be too. She took a deep breath, and a chance. “Eden can create portals to other places by opening a door. Is that what you mean by ‘special’? Can Finn do that? Can you?”

The silence in the booth was deafening. After a long moment, Riona spoke slowly, her measured words a contrast to Cedar’s hurried frankness. “Finn has a similar gift, though not exactly the same. It is quite rare. The rest of us—everyone here in this pub and some others who are not here—are special too, but in different ways.”

“What kind of people are you?” Cedar asked in a whisper, thinking of Finn. She had thought she’d known him better than anyone. Apparently, she hadn’t known him at all.

“We’re just different,” Riona said. “Right now, the important thing is that your daughter is one of us. We think she is very special indeed. But I’m curious about you, Cedar. Are you from this area? Where did you grow up?”

Cedar frowned at the shift in conversation, but she answered the question because she didn’t want to be rude. Riona followed it up with several more, seemingly fascinated by Cedar’s mundane background. She asked questions about Cedar’s childhood in small-town Chester, just outside of Halifax, her experience in art school, her return to Halifax, and her work at Ellison. Rohan remained silent but appeared to be listening
closely. After twenty minutes or so had passed, Cedar managed to turn the conversation away from her and back to Eden.

“I’ve told you a lot about me,” she said. “It’s all pretty ordinary. You still haven’t told me much about who you are, and why Eden can create these portals. But you know, don’t you?”

“We have a very good idea, yes,” Riona answered. “I paid a brief visit to your mother this afternoon to confirm what I suspected about Eden. And my suspicions were correct.”

“Wait, you went to my apartment?” Cedar asked.

Riona looked uncomfortable. “You don’t have to worry, I was very unobtrusive. Eden didn’t even know I was there. Maeve was quite insistent that I couldn’t meet her. She didn’t even let me in, actually. Of course, I could have gone in anyway, but I want to be respectful of your family. I hope you know that. As it turns out, I didn’t need to go in, or to see Eden in person. I could hear her. It told me everything I needed to know.”

“Hear her?” Cedar asked.

Riona nodded. “You can’t hear it, but each of us, everyone who is like Finn, sounds different than others do. It’s like a musical signature, of sorts, called the Lýra. I could hear it coming from inside your apartment. We know Maeve isn’t one of us, so it must have been coming from Eden. It’s that simple.”

“
Nothing
about this is simple,” Cedar said. Just then she heard the door to the pub crash open, and she twisted in her seat to see who had burst in so violently. It was the last person she would have expected. Her mother stood in the entrance, her eyes wild and her gray hair askew.

Rohan stood up at once. He looked at Maeve and hissed through clenched teeth, “I told you not to come here!” Cedar stared at him, then back at her mother.

“Mum? What are you doing here?” she asked, also getting to her feet.

Maeve glanced at her daughter but then focused on Rohan. “What did you do?” she asked him, her voice shaking. “Where is she?”

“Who, Maeve? Who are you talking about?” asked Riona, stepping forward.

“The child, of course! You think I don’t know? You think I don’t have the Sight, just because I don’t use it for your every whim?” Maeve’s voice dripped with venom. “I have had a vision, a terrible vision, the clearest I have ever seen. I saw her with
him.
I saw her with Lorcan; I’m sure of it. Now tell me,
what did you do
?”

Cedar stared at her mother in shock. “What are you talking about, Mum? Why are you here?”

Maeve stumbled over to where Cedar was standing and grabbed her arm. “I have been trying to call you. Where is she? Where did you leave her?”

“Mum, you’re freaking me out. Leave who? Eden?”

“Yes, yes, of course Eden! Where is she?”

“She’s at home. Jane is with her. What are you talking about? You’re not making sense. Here, sit down.” She pulled forward a chair from a nearby table, but Maeve pushed it away.

“Damn it, Cedar, you don’t understand what’s at stake here!” Maeve said, raising her voice. Rohan cleared his throat and gave her a silencing look. She ignored him and looked pleadingly at Cedar. “Call her. Call Jane. Make sure Eden is safe. Then go home, and for pity’s sake, don’t leave her again.”

Cedar pulled her phone out of her pocket. She had turned it on silent mode earlier in the evening, and sure enough,
there were three missed calls from Maeve. Cedar hit “Jane’s cell” on the display.

The pub was silent, and every ear seemed attuned to the ringing of the phone. It rang once…twice…then there was a click and Jane’s voice, “Hello?”

Cedar tried to sound casual. “Hey, Jane, how’s it going over there?”

“Cedar?”

“Of course,” Cedar said, confused.

“Oh, Cedar…I think…I’m not sure…” Jane’s voice trailed off.

“Hello? Jane, is everything okay?”

“No. No, I don’t think so, but I don’t know how…oh, shit.”

“Jane!” Cedar shouted into the phone. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“This is impossible. I don’t know how this happened.”

“How what happened? Where is Eden, Jane? Is she okay?”

“I don’t know how I got here. But Cedar, I think I’m in New York.”

“New York? What? Is Eden with you?”

“Eden? No, of course not. Why would she be?”

Cedar didn’t remember much about the drive from the Fox and Fey back to her apartment. But she would never forget the cold feeling of utter dread that had engulfed her, the sensation that the whole world had dropped out from beneath her as she was sucked into a spinning vortex of sheer panic. Rohan and Riona had stuffed her into a car and had driven through the streets of Halifax at twice the speed limit, Maeve following in her own car.

When they arrived at the apartment complex, Cedar took the stairs two at a time and flung open the door, screaming Eden’s name. Jane was still on the line, and Cedar yelled into the phone, “Jane, she’s not here! Where is she?”

“I don’t know,” Jane wailed. “Honest to God, Cedar, I’m not making this up. I don’t know how I got here. I remember you asking me to look after her; I remember driving over to your place, but that’s it. After that, I woke up feeling like I had been drugged or something, and I was in Times Square of all the bloody places. I wasn’t robbed or anything; I still have my wallet on me, thank God. But she’s not here with me, not as far as I can tell. Ceeds, I’m freaking out here. What’s happening?”

Cedar was so panicked she could hardly speak. “Just come home as soon as you can. And call me if you remember anything.” Jane promised to be on the first flight home, and Cedar could hear her trying to hail a cab. Then Cedar hung up.

“Why did you leave her?”

Maeve was standing in the empty doorway to Eden’s room. The doors were still off their hinges—all except for one. Jane had insisted Cedar put the bathroom door back on when she had arrived to watch Eden.

“Why did you leave her alone, knowing what she could do?” Maeve repeated.

“I was looking for answers,” Cedar said in a strangled voice. “And I didn’t leave her alone. I left her with Jane.”

“Jane isn’t…” Maeve shook her head as if to clear it. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter; what’s done is done. I’ll tell the others to leave. Then we’ll talk about what we should do to find her.”

“We need to call the police!” Cedar said frantically, her voice still shaking. “Can you call them? I can’t think straight.”

Maeve spoke slowly. “I don’t think calling the police is the best idea. First, we need to get rid of the people in your living room. Then we’ll decide what to do.”

Cedar followed her mother into the living room, where Riona and Rohan were standing. Riona immediately came to her side. “It’s going to be okay, Cedar,” she said, putting an arm around her. “We’re going to do whatever we can to help you. I’m sure it was all just an accident. Eden will be home safe before you know it.”