Page 19 of The Other Side

Drum looked shocked that he knew. Osian could almost see him trying to figure out how.

“I heard him call you Osian.”

Osian held his breath, wondering if saying his name would trigger a spark that would set the world on fire.

“Osian what?”

He felt no fear in offering his full name, though it was something no fae should do. Drum already had it in his heart. “Osian Fairchild.”

Drum didn’t react.

“I cried myself sick for weeks after you went away,” Osian said.

Drum dragged a heavy hand over his mouth. “I don’t…” He looked thoroughly wrecked. “I don’t remember anything before the fostering and the care system. Not one single thing apart from the day I woke in a field on the edge of a wood. It was as if I’d suddenly arrived on the planet like some…alien.”

Osian wished he could hug him.

“The doctors said my loss of memory was probably down to me going through some traumatic event. Possibly the death of my parents, which was why they couldn’t find them. But to wipe out ten years? And I still can’t remember. Not that I expected to be able to recall being a baby, but for all memory to go? The only thing I had on me was a piece of paper in my pocket that said Tadhg Drummond. He likes to be called Drum.”

Osian had prepared himself for this. He’d wanted to tell Drum first before Drum could speak. “Written on blue paper,” he blurted. “Not very good handwriting. You were much neater than me. I was always in a rush. I wrote the note and put it in your pocket when no one was looking.”

Drum widened his eyes. “It was blue paper.”

“You might have had something else too. A bracelet like mine.”

And when Osian showed him, Drum sucked in a ragged breath and pulled up his own sleeve. “Oh my God.”

“You still wear it!” Osian found it hard not to shout with joy.

Drum nodded. “I had to add a piece of cord but yes.”

“You had a dog.” Maybe Osian could nudge memories into place.

“A dog?”

“A little brown mutt with floppy ears and one white front paw. You called him Captain. He used to come with us on all our adventures. He refused to leave your side.”

“What happened to him after I…left?”

“I found him wandering, looking for you just like I was. We looked together. I took him in. He pined for you for a very long time.” So did I.

Drum let out a shaky, uneven sigh. “And I don’t even remember him.”

The silence stretched out, heavy and thick, and Osian was desperate to push it away.

“We used to ride. My horse was called Star. You rode Lucky.”

Drum frowned and stepped back. “Ride? I’ve never been on a…” He gritted his teeth. “You could tell me anything right now, and I wouldn’t know if it was the truth or a lie.”

“I’m not lying. How would I know the name on that paper? The colour of the paper? That the handwriting was childish. Why would I have the same bracelet? How would I know your life reset the year you turned ten?”

“Access to my files?” Drum’s voice had changed.

Osian sagged. “No.”

“You said I was made to forget.”

“Yes.”