Rich Girls Don't Date King Thrushbeard: Part 8

It's the day of the fair.

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven

I hardly spoke on the drive to Topaz Coast. Instead, I stared out of the window and rubbed my ring to reassure myself that the disguise spell was still working.

Once, Maggie asked me if I was feeling sick. I said I was a little bit – which was true – and she said to roll down the window and let them know if it got worse.

Her kindness didn’t make me feel any better.

Tyler was in his car, following behind us with Kurt. All the animals had already been fed, and the farm had magical security measures in place for when the family had to leave.

The fair was taking place in an open field surrounded by trees on all sides, with a gap just wide enough to allow cars and people to pass through. Already, there were people here setting up stalls and tables.

“All right,” Scott announced once we’d parked. “Let’s get going.”

Bracing myself, I got out of the car.

“Wait a moment, Brynn.” Maggie walked over to me; in her hand was a plastic bag with what looked like a cardboard box in it. “We’d like you to have this when you leave. It’s some things that we sell in our farm shop, and a recipe book. Call it a care package – and a thank you from all of us.”

“I think I’m the one who should thank you guys. You didn’t have to take me in.”

“Just so you should know, even if you hadn’t offered to help we still would have offered you the lodge…or helped find you a hotel.” Maggie put the bag in the boot, where the rest of my stuff was safely shut away. “Tyler said you mentioned liking acacia honey, so there’s a jar of that in the box.”

My throat started to ache. What would she do when I told her the truth?

The sun wasn’t too high in the sky, but moving tables and chairs around was still hot and uncomfortable work. I carried platters of scones and cakes to tables placed under red and white striped awning, helped place charms around a candyfloss machine to ward away wasps, transferred boxes of tea and coffee and jugs that were charmed to keep milk cool and placed coconuts on poles for a coconut shy.

“Could you put these in that large pool over there?” someone asked me, pointing at two large boxes crammed full of rubber ducks. “They’re for the “Hook-a-Duck game over there.”

I placed the ducks into the pool, making sure they were all the right way up and wanting nothing more than to jump into the water and cool myself down.

“…elling you, that’s her.”

I didn’t look up, but my fingers started to tremble as I reached for more ducks.

“You’re sure?” That voice sounded familiar. Where had I heard it before?

“Yeah, that’s the girl who disappeared. She’s wearing a disguise spell - look.”

This wasn’t good. This was not good at all. What was I going to do now?

A heavy sigh echoed on the air. “Jocelyn. Of course. Come on, Stephen, let’s go.”

I looked up to see two dark-haired figures, one a lot taller than the other, moving away. As soon as they were a safe distance away, I walked swiftly away from the pool, looking frantically around for Tyler.

He was at a drinks stall, setting out cups and plastic glasses.

“Hey,” he said as I came up. “Do you want some water? It’s free for helpers.”

I leaned in close and murmured: “Someone knows who I am. No, two people know who I am.”

“What? But your spell hasn’t worn off, how could they…”

I grabbed some cups and started to place them on the table with the others, all the while keeping my voice low. “The woman who gave me the spell warned me that people with detection magic would be able to see through it. She said the odds of running into someone with it were low, but I guess my luck’s finally run out.”

My stomach felt heavy with fear and resignation.

“OK,” Tyler said slowly. “I think we’re almost done setting up here. Go back to the cars and I’ll tell Mum and Dad it’s time for you to leave. We’ll need their car keys to get your bags. See you there in a few moments.”

“Thanks.”

I almost ran back to the cars. There were a lot more there now than there had been before. Which ones belonged to the Pastons?

Maggie and Scott drove a large, bulky green car. They’d parked right at the end to avoid taking up space.

I stood by it, arms folded, trying to calm myself down. Once I reached the campus, I would write a letter of thanks and apology, along with the largest bouquet of flowers I could afford.

Assuming they didn’t throw it in the bin as soon as they read the letter.

Tears came to my eyes at the thought.

“So, this is goodbye!”

Scott and Maggie were approaching, broad smiles on their faces; Tyler walked a little way behind them. I blinked away the tears and put on a smile of my own.

“May I give you a hug?” Maggie asked.

“Yeah. I’d love that.”

Just as she put her arms around me and squeezed, a sleek black car came rushing onto the green. It came to a sharp halt, almost scraping a bright red one.

No.

“What is it?” Scott stepped forward. “Brynn, what’s the matter?”

Maggie released me, frowning, just as my parents got out of the car. Both were pale and they looked around wildly, frantically.

“Is it those people?” Scott’s frown deepened. “Wait, those are the Harcourts. Are you afraid of them?”

“Dad,” Tyler said in a low voice, “I’m not being rude, but we need to go now.”

Maggie gestured towards my parents. “Are they the reason? What is going on? If you know something about this…”

Just then, someone came rushing up. I recognised the sleek dark hair instantly, only now it was slightly messy due to running. It was the boy who’d seen through the spell.

“Where is she?” Dad demanded.

The boy looked around, and his eyes fell on me.

My heart sank. It was over.

***

In front of me were two half-scones smothered in jam and cream. The cup of tea beside the plate was still steaming pleasantly.

I refused to take my eyes off them.

“Perhaps you’d like to take your daughter for some tea and scones?”

None of us had spoken to each other since Maggie made her suggestion. I could sense my parents watching me, and I refused to look at them.

“If you want to say anything to us,” Mum murmured, her voice almost inaudible over the sounds of the fair, “say it.”

“Why would you care?” I didn’t care if they liked my bitter tone. “You never have before.”

“No,” Dad answered. “You’re right; we haven’t, and that is our fault. But we will listen now, and I promise you we’ll care.”

Could I believe him? All the other times I’d tried telling him how I felt, he would wait until I’d finished and then ask me if I’d got it out of my system.

“I promise, Larisa.”

The words slowly sank into my heart.

I picked up the cup of tea and sipped at it; the scent of bergamot filled my nose. Setting the cup down, I began to speak.

“I want a future that belongs to me. I should be able to decide what I want to do in life and not have a love life that’s been arranged for me. I’m your daughter, not a business deal.”

“Larisa…”

“You said you’d listen, and I’m not done speaking.”

Normally, they would tell me not to interrupt, but now they stayed silent. Encouraged, I continued.

“I should be able to make my own choices in life, and make my own mistakes, because it’s my life. I want to look back with happy memories, not regrets and if you keep trying to control me, I’ll have nothing but regrets.”

Silence. I kept my eyes on the white table and my plate of scones, waiting to hear their response.

“Thank you, Larisa,” Dad said after a few agonising seconds had passed. “The truth is, we’ve had a lot of regrets over the past few days. I can’t…I can’t tell you how terrified we were when we read your note.”

“Why were you scared?” I asked. “I told you what I was going to do.” I hadn’t told them where I was going, but other than that I’d been clear about my intentions.

“We were afraid because we thought we might never see you again. That you might never want to see us for the rest of our lives.” Mum’s voice sounded abnormally tight. After a moment, she went on: “It made us think about the kind of parents we’ve been. And when that man answered your phone, it…”

She choked.

“I’m sorry for that,” I whispered. “My phone getting stolen was not part of the plan.”

“We’d assumed that it wasn’t,” remarked Dad. “He said it served the ‘princess’ right for not holding onto her things.”

The bus driver. It had been the bus driver who’d stolen my phone. I almost wanted to laugh.

I could only imagine the conversation Tyler was having with his parents right about now. It couldn’t be any easier than this one.

“Larisa.” Dad’s voice was gentle. “Please look at us.”

I did. They looked vulnerable and for the first time, I realised my parents were human, and not just the controlling figures I’d known my whole life.

“We can’t change the past,” Dad told me, “but there is still the future. All we can say is that we’re sorry. We do want you to be happy and have a life you can love; I know you might not believe that, but it’s true.”

“We don’t expect you to forgive us right away,” said Mum, “but…will talking over tea and scones be a good start to mending things?”

This wasn’t how I’d expected the conversation to go. Could we mend things, and start anew as a family?

I was willing to try if they were.

I nodded slowly. “Yes. I think it would be.”