The Urban Fantasy Anthology (Peter S. Beagle) (Kitty Norville 1.50)

See, that’s what this has done to me. Not only am I going all weird about Edric, I’m lying to people about it. Cassidy thinks I’m going to take care of a sick uncle for a couple of days.

I nod. “It’s only until my cousin gets back. I’m just going to make sure everything’s okay at the house—get him some groceries, that kind of thing.”

I leave the lie hanging between us in the back room and go out into the front to make sure everything’s okay. I check that there’s plenty of stock on this week’s sale items, ask Laura if we need change and if she’ll put up the buttons I made last night, then I go into my office to get yesterday’s deposit ready for the bank.

The day drags the way it only can when you’re waiting on something, but finally it’s time for me to get going. I don’t put on the wig until I’m in the car, adjusting it in the rearview mirror, then I ease out into the traffic and head for home.

Or rather, a half block away from home where I can see our car parked in front of the apartment building. My timing’s pretty good, because by the time I get parked myself, I see Edric coming out of the building. He loads his guitar and gear, then pulls out.

And right away my fears seem to be confirmed. Instead of taking any of the eastbound streets, which is what he’ll need to do to get to Sweetwater, he works his way over to Williamson Street and then heads north. I stay a few cars back as I follow him out of town and onto the highway.

This so sucks.

I want to turn around and return Karen’s car to her, go back to the store and just forget about all of this. But it’s way too late for that. Now I have to know where he’s going, what he’s up to. Who he’s doing it with.

It’s so pathetic. I should have just confronted him last night instead of going through all of this crap. Right now I should just pull him over to the side of the road and demand he level with me. But no, I feel trapped in this stupid plan I’ve put into motion and all I do is follow him.

We go up as far as an old deserted motel that sits on the inside of a curve of the highway. He signals and turns into its parking lot, steering around the clumps of weeds and broken asphalt. I drive by, stopping on the side of the road when the curve takes me out of sight. I yank off the wig, jump out of my own vehicle and run back through the woods and brush. By the time I can see the motel, the car’s no longer there.

Hidden around back, I’m guessing.

This is gross. Couldn’t he and his girlfriend at least get a room in a working motel?

I cut across the parking lot, then follow the wall of the building to the rear. There I see the car, its engine still pinging. I lift my gaze and spot Edric heading into the woods on the far side of a wide field behind the motel.

Now I don’t know what to think. He can’t have some girl stashed away in the forest, can he? So what’s he doing? What could possibly bring him out here every full moon?

Gwen’s stupid comment about werewolves comes to mind, but I dismiss it before it can even start to take hold. This isn’t a story about boogiemen. Whatever sordid secret Edric’s got hidden in these woods, it relates to this world, not the make-believe world of horror movies or fairy tales.

When Edric disappears in between the trees, I jog across the field, aiming for the big oak tree that marks the place where he vanished from my view. I slow down when I get near, trying to walk carefully, but I’m a city girl, not some Indian tracker. I know I’m making noise. I just hope it’s not enough to give me away.

It’s cooler under the trees, but surprisingly clear of brush. I button up my coat, and step under the oak’s boughs. They’re heavy with dead leaves, brown and golden. Beyond the oak, it’s all tall pine trees and next to no underbrush. The forest floor is littered with their needles. I can see a fair distance through the trees, but it still takes me a few moments to find Edric. When I do, I duck behind the fat trunk of a big pine tree and mouth a silent curse when I lean against it and my hand comes away sticky with sap.

I peer around the trunk to see that Edric’s stopped. He’s about a hundred yards away, reaching into what I assume is a hollow of a tree trunk until I realize his hands are going right into the wood. That barely has time to register before he starts pulling something…no. Someone out of the trunk.

And then I realize that it’s not just someone. It’s himself. He’s pulling a mirror image of himself out of the tree.

I try to make sense out of what I’m seeing, but it’s no use. It can’t make sense because it’s impossible.

I can feel myself starting to shut down.

This isn’t real. This can’t be real.

I sink to my haunches and lean against the pine, not caring if I get sap on my clothes or hair. With bark rough against my face, I watch as Edric talks to his double.

There has to be a rational explanation for this, I think, as Edric’s double takes the car keys from Edric’s hand, then turns away to retrace Edric’s path through the trees. I move around the tree so that I won’t be in his line of sight as he comes by.

Okay. Figure this out.

Edric has a twin he hasn’t told me about. That’s possible—and the only probable explanation. And since people can’t exist inside trees, Edric’s twin must have been standing on the other side of the tree and it just looked as if he’d stepped out of it.

It doesn’t explain why they’re meeting here in the woods, but at least I no longer have to feel like I’ve gone off the deep end.

I peek around my tree and see that Edric’s walking off, deeper into the woods. I look around the other side. His twin goes by, heading for the field. The resemblance is eerie. They’re even we

aring the exact same clothes. I start when a twig snaps under his feet.

I wait and watch until he steps into the field, then I force myself to my feet. I still feel a little shaky, but I can deal with all of this now. I give the twin a last glance, just to make sure he’s really leaving, then set off in the direction Edric took.