"Uh, actually, you do have to get it," Valkyrie said. "Magic is all around us, but the only way we can really use it is if we understand how it works. It's like science."

"I hate science," said Carol.

"I preferred drama," Crystal nodded. She snapped her palm, again and again, and nothing happened. "Isn't there any magic where you don't have to learn so much? That's a magic ring you're wearing, isn't it? Could we use that?"

Valkyrie smiled. "Afraid not. This is Necromancy."

"Do you need to study stuff to use it?" Carol asked.

Valkyrie hesitated. "Not really..."

"So it's easier than pushing air?"

"Just because it's easier doesn't mean it's better. There is a downside to power that comes without effort."

"It sounds perfect for us, though," Crystal said. "Can I try?"

"I'd... I'd have to give you my permission to use it."

"So? Give your permission. Please, Stephanie?"

Her cousins opened their eyes as wide as they could go, a trick that worked on their parents, Valkyrie knew, but which had the unfortunate side-effect of making them look like startled goldfish. She shrugged.

"Crystal," she said, "I give you my permission to use this ring." She pulled the ring from her finger and handed it over.

Mouth open in awe, Crystal examined the ring for a few moments before slipping it on. Immediately she frowned. "Oh," she said. "It's cold."

"Necromancy is death magic," Valkyrie said. "Believe me, when that ring is around death, it gets even colder."

"That's disgusting."

Carol reached out. "Let me try."

Crystal pulled her hand away. "Wait your turn. So what do I do, Stephanie? Is there a magic spell I have to say, or something?"

Valkyrie scanned the area, making sure there was no one about. "No spell. Can you feel anything, apart from how cold the ring is? You should feel it in your fingertips."

Crystal narrowed her eyes and waggled her fingers. "I don't know," she said. "I think so. I might."

"See our shadows? Try and grab them."

"Really?"

"Just try it."

Crystal bit her lip, then hunkered down and clutched at the sand their shadows covered. "Am I doing it right?"

"Not really," Valkyrie admitted.

"My turn," said Carol.

"Just wait a minute," Crystal responded, grabbing at sand, her annoyance increasing.

"Stephanie, she's had her go," Carol whined.

"Just give her another few seconds," Valkyrie said. "You keep pushing at the air."

"Pushing at the air is stupid," Carol muttered, but she did it anyway.

Valkyrie watched them both a Carol trying to shove the breeze and Crystal trying to pick up her own shadow a and she did her best not to laugh.

"Girls," said a voice behind them.

They turned quickly. Fergus stood there, hands on his hips and looking displeased.

"Hi, Dad," Carol said.

Crystal stood up, hiding the ring behind her back. "Hi, Dad. We were just..."

"We were doing t'ai chi," Valkyrie said. "It's very relaxing."

Carol nodded quickly. "We've been very tense lately."

"Girls," Fergus said, "your mother wants you back at the house. Go on, now."

The twins glanced at each other, then Crystal stepped in front of Valkyrie in the most unconvincing attempt at nonchalance ever witnessed. Valkyrie took her ring back, and Crystal turned to her.

"Thanks for trying to teach us," she said.

"No problem."

The twins walked off, leaving Valkyrie and Fergus alone on the sand. His eyes never left her.

"How's your mother?" he asked.

"She's OK. It was more the shock than-"

"How's your dad?"

"Uh, he's OK."

"The baby?"

"Alice's fine too."

Fergus nodded. "And how are you, Stephanie? Are you keeping out of trouble?"

"So far."

"And what's that you were showing the girls? T'ai chi, was it?"

"Yep. It's a martial art, but it's very gentle and-"

"I know what t'ai chi is, Stephanie. I've seen people do it in the park. And that wasn't what you were teaching them."

"Well, I, I might have been doing it wrong..."

His next words were angry. "What gives you the right?"

She blinked. "Uh... I'm sorry?"

"You heard me. What gives you the right?"

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean."

He stepped forward quickly, closing the gap between them. His fists were clenched and his face was red. For a moment, Valkyrie even thought he was going to hit her.

He snarled, "What gives you the right to teach my daughters that filthy magic?"

She stared. "What?"

"They're my daughters!" he snapped. "They're good girls! I've kept them out of the kind of trouble you get into and I will be d.a.m.ned if I'm going to let you drag them down with you."

She took a step back. "Fergus, what the h.e.l.l are you talking about?"

"Don't play stupid!" he roared, then immediately looked around, making sure no one else had heard. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter but no less intense. "You're not stupid, Stephanie. You're not a stupid girl. We all know it. We all know how smart you are. My girls aren't like that. My girls need someone to look out for them. That's my job."

"I'm not getting them into anything," said Valkyrie.

"This is a sickness, you know that?" he said, so angry he was almost laughing. "My grandfather had it. This magic thing. He told us all about it when we were kids, me and Gordon and your dad. He tried to pa.s.s on what he knew to us. He didn't have much magic. He couldn't do a whole lot. Some people can't, he said. He was hoping that we'd be different, that we'd be proper sorcerers. We loved the idea, but our dad, he hated it. He didn't want us growing up and getting into wars that had nothing to do with us. He wanted us to be normal. He wanted us to be safe."

Valkyrie just stared at him, unable to speak.

"When our grandfather died, our dad asked me to cut it out a cut out all the nonsense and the games and the stories. He asked me, and he cried as he was asking me. The only time I'd ever seen my old man cry. Of course I said yes. I started telling Des that it was all just pretend. After a while, he believed me. But Gordon wouldn't play along. He was the eldest, and he refused to do what our dad wanted. Maybe it was because he was the eldest that he felt he needed to rebel, I don't know. They barely spoke after that."

"So you've known all along," Valkyrie said.

Fergus nodded. He seemed suddenly drained, like this had been building inside him for years and now that it was out, he had nothing to hold him up. "I knew that Gordon always wanted to be a sorcerer, but he just didn't have it in him. So he wrote about it instead, and he travelled that world, surrounded himself with all these strange people. I don't know why he did it, to be honest. It must have been h.e.l.l, to be surrounded by the kind of person that you wanted to be with all your heart, but knew you never could.

"We had so many arguments about it. I was focusing so much on keeping all of this away from your dad. I was terrified that Gordon would do or say something that'd make Des realise that it was all true. And then what would he do? Would he change his life, now that he knew magic was out there? Would he take Melissa with him? Would he take you with him? Would he ruin your lives as well as his own?" Fergus shook his head. "I saw some of Gordon's friends, over the years. I met this beautiful woman. My G.o.d, she was beautiful. The first time I saw her, I actually fell in love with her. Can you imagine that? I actually fell in love. I was ready to leave Beryl for her, for this woman who barely even noticed me. That's magic for you, isn't it? It can ruin your life with one little glance. I saw others, too. That tall man, the one who was at the reading of Gordon's will, you remember him?"

"Skulduggery Pleasant," Valkyrie said softly.

"Oh," said Fergus. "So you do remember him."

"Yeah."

"Magic ruined our family. My grandfather and my father argued about it constantly. Gordon and my father barely spoke because of it. And Gordon and me... When he died, we hadn't spoken in four years. Four whole years, I didn't speak to my own brother. I cry about that at night, you know. Some nights, I just can't help it. Don't let this ruin your family, Stephanie. Your parents love you. Your dad loves you. Do you know what he'd do if anything bad ever happened to you?"

"Nothing bad is going to happen."

"Don't insult my intelligence," he said, glaring. "I was never as smart as either of my brothers, but I'm not stupid, either. If you're involved in that world, your life is in danger."

Valkyrie said nothing.

"I don't want you teaching my daughters anything," he said.

"I don't want to either, I swear I don't. They saw me do something last year, and they've been at me ever since. I think I can convince them that they don't have any magic, and then hopefully they'll stop trying."

"Do I have your word on that?"

"Yes. Of course."

"I'm holding you responsible if anything... magical ever happens to them."

"OK," she said.

He nodded, looked out to sea, and then back to her. "I'm sorry I shouted at you."

"It's fine. Really."

"Are you going to be teaching Alice any of this? When she's old enough?"

"I... don't know. I'd prefer not to."

"Then you understand why I don't want my girls taught?"

"Yes."

He nodded again, then looked down at his feet. "Give our best to your mother," he said.

"Sure."

He turned, started to walk away.

"Gordon couldn't do magic," she called after him, "but what about you?"

He didn't stop walking, and he didn't answer. He just held up his left hand, and clicked his fingers. Even in the bright sunlight, Valkyrie saw the spark between his fingertips.

Chapter 36.

Confiding in Uncle Gordon.