Tim, Bill, and Cyril are at Holly's funeral. Auntie Blodwyn is also there, and her face is seen for the first time. She confuses Holly with Molly, who she thought was the one they were there to mourn (Tim has not yet learned that Molly met the Other).
Tim talks to Davis, his friend from school, who tells him that he heard that Holly had not been paying the tuition bill, and that Tim and Cyril are going to be expelled. Apparently Cyril knew, and was fixing the books so it looked like they were paid up. Cyril may have been taking the money for himself.
Shirley Tinch, Holly's friend from last issue, shows up and talks with Bill, but Holly had never mentioned her to Bill. They both feel her loss.
The next day, Tim passes by his original house, but almost misses it until Thomas Currie calls him back. He has covered it with wards so magical and normal sight can't see it easily. Currie has turned the house into a vacuum that is sucking up the remains of Tim's old magic.
He explains that magic is a truth, and truth depends on one's perspective. So even though Tim did give away his magic, simultaneously he cannot give it away because it is him, and one day he will be able to reclaim the magic that is collected in the house.
Bill goes to talk to a lawyer about Holly's estate. He is horrified to hear that not only does no one know who Cyril's father was--because Bill would optimally not like to keep him--but that Holly had almost no money and her insurance policy was paid to Lloyd, the man she had an affair with as described in last issue.
Bill does tell Cyril that they will all stay together, and the kids will stay at Bardsey, because he doesn't know about the tuition problems. Bill is once again despondent as he was when Mary died. Tim doesn't want to break the truth to him so he says that Cyril should stay home for relaxation's sake.
Thomas turns the Hunter's old TV into a scrying device so they can see the other worlds, but none of them are showing up on the channels. Tim asks why he can't take his magic back now, and Thomas says it would kill him; he needs to learn the skills of magic now, instead of doing it by instinct.
Thomas says they are in a hurry, because Tim must become good enough to learn to use magic fully before the Other arrives--which he thinks may be years from now.
Bill finally hears about the tuition from a phone message. He sits in a chair in dismay, as he did all the time while Tim was growing up. He tests Tim on this when he gets home--he asks Tim how school was, knowing he wasn't there, and is disappointed when Tim lies and says he was. Bill decides he has failed Tim, but won't fail Cyril. He does manage to not drink any alcohol. However, when he wakes up the next day, his magic arm, gained from demons, has fallen off.
Thomas realizes that the TV is working--there simply are no other worlds any more. He knows the Other has arrived.
In the back-up story, a long time ago, Dymphna and Bridey await the return of the boy Auberon in Faerie. He brings a strange creature home. They decide it could be safe, and he names it Gyvv. That night, the women forget to put their traditional spell of protection on Auberon, and evil creatures show up at his window.
Gyvv, however, defeats them.
In the morning, Dymphna and Bridey realize that they forgot to put on the spell, and rush in fear to his room. They find him sleeping peacefully, but also find evidence of wood goblins. They say that only a Fotch could stop them, and while they do not know what a Fotch looks like, perhaps Gyvv is one.
Log in to comment