Page 109 of Bridget & Gabe Are Not Okay

“I can still eat them, but they make my throat itch,” said Gabriel. “It’s not that odd. I’m sure it’s the same for lots of people.”

“I’ll never look at you the same way again. God. Perhapsit’s best, in matters of love, to keep some of the mystery alive,” said Arthur. He paused, then cocked his head. “Do you hear… water? It sounds like the sea.”

They all listened, and at length Gabriel did hear what sounded like a wave lapping against the shore. It didn’t make any sense. They should have been surrounded by small hills and flat and featureless landscapes, no bodies of water to be seen, let alone ones large enough to haveshores.

“I hear it,” said Bridget. “Perhaps there’s a stream.”

“I’m going to investigate,” said Arthur.

Of course, that meant all four of them were going. Gabriel thought perhaps they should tell Sir Hurst, but the man wasn’t even visible from where they were standing, and they’d only be a minute.

They walked gently downhill until the grass beneath their feet did, unbelievably, turn to pebbles, and then shifting silt.

“Itiswater,” Gwen said, when her footsteps started to slosh. “What on earth… It’s a pond.”

Gabriel felt a gentle breeze on his cheek, and then the fog cleared ahead, just enough to reveal a natural causeway, big flat rocks rising up out of the water, which in this strange light appeared just as milky-white as the sky. It made no sense whatsoever, but it was undoubtedly right there in front of him.

“No, wait… it’s alake.”

He’d have blamed it on the sleep deprivation from travel, but clearly everybody could see it.

“There’s a bridge,” Arthur called excitedly. “Sort of… rocks. A thing.”

“An isthmus,” said Gabriel.

“Bless you,” said Bridget.

“Arthur,” Gabriel began fruitlessly, “I don’t think you should—” But of course, he’d already started to walk across.

There seemed to be no choice other than to follow him. The world was deadly silent around them but for the gentle hiss of the water and their clumsy footsteps. Gwen almost slipped on a particularly glossy bit of stone before being promptly rescued by Bridget.

Then there was grass beneath their feet again.

“It’s an island!” Arthur said, delighted. It seemed he was right. Here in the middle of the lake, visibility was much better, and they could all see the curve of the land, the sliver of shore. It was wooded on the island, dense and strange, the leaves on the trees far greener than they had been on the road. There was something so odd about the whole thing that when Arthur laughed, giddy, Gabriel laughed too.

“Wait,” Bridget said, her hand going to her sword—and then Gabriel saw what she’d seen, a figure approaching out of the mist. “Who’s there?”

It was a very elderly man. He was tall and frail, his head bowed, but he was dressed in a beautiful ruby robe, and looked perfectly pleased to see them. He was strangely familiar, as if Gabriel had half glimpsed him a thousand times before.

“Hullo,” he said, with a lilting accent Gabriel couldn’t place. “Have you come to visit? I’ll put on some tea.”

Gabriel exchanged a glance with Arthur, who shrugged, and then happily followed this stranger in search of mystery tea. They all walked after him—he was surprisingly quick, for his age—until they came to a campfire, surrounded by slightly moldy velvet cushions, with a pot of something greenish bubbling away above it.

“Fetch the cups, would you?” the old man said to Gabriel. Gabriel, not used to being addressed so casually by strangers, jumped to attention immediately, and discovered that the small cups were stacked neatly nearby. “Ah, therewe are. Hand them round. You cannot have that one, it’s my favorite.”

Once they were all holding a cup, he set to pouring them tea; Gwen glanced down at hers, frowning, and then said, “Are you— I’m so sorry, but are you all right out here? You don’t need us to… send for help? We have a large party nearby, and if you—”

“A large party? Oh, no, I can’t be dealing with large parties,” said the man, waving his hand. “I had enough of that in my youth. It’s peace and quiet, for me, time with the birds and the beasts. I suppose you don’t get enough of that, do you, back home?”

“I have a cat,” Arthur offered. “And we’ve just taken on a second, much larger cat.”

“I do like cats,” said the old man. He gestured to the nearest tree, and Gabriel noticed with a start that there was a crow sitting quite still, watching them. “Birds though. A bird is the thing.”

“We keep birds,” said Gabriel. “Goshawks and falcons, merlins—”

“That’s nice,” said the old man, seeming unaware that he was interrupting. “Andyou’reall keeping well, are you?”

Gabriel presumed this man must think he’d stumbled upon some old acquaintances; as he seemed entirely harmless, it was probably best to keep up the pretense.