Secrets and Lies

Tuesday morning both Phoebe and I were up at the crack of dawn. Although this being mid-December what that really meant was we both slept in until half past eight, despite being in bed by ten the night before.

After we unloaded the SUV it didn't take us long to put the groceries away. Then to help unwind from our long drive the two of us enjoyed a glass or two of the whisky Phoebe picked up in Caernarfon. We took turns in the washroom, before climbing into the queen-size in the master bedroom. And even though we'd gone to bed rather early, it was well past midnight before either of us were ready to try and get some sleep.

With the sun finally coming in through the window curtains I was the first one out of bed, but when I made my way downstairs to the large country kitchen my cute subby short stack wasn't far behind. It took me a few moments fumbling with the coffee machine to figure out how it worked, and by the time I got it going Feebs had breakfast prepared. By which I mean she'd opened the package of pastries we bought at the Tesco yesterday, and plunked two of them onto a couple plates.

We both remained quiet as we waited for the coffee, then once it was finally ready I poured each of us a large mug. It took another minute to sort out the cream and sugar, then the two of us sat down across from each other at the solid wood table.

I found myself regarding the cute redhead as I savoured the first few sips of my morning beverage. Neither of us had bothered to dress yet, all she had on was a white and pink striped nightshirt that did very little to conceal the outline of her ample bosom beneath. Then again I wasn't much better, although my pale green nightshirt was slightly more modest.

It took another minute or so before Feebs finally seemed to notice I was staring at her. Then her cheeks began to colour and she acted a little self-conscious about the attention.

"What is it?" she asked in a slightly defensive tone. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

I smiled, "Just admiring the view, cutie."

"Although I must say," I added as my expression shifted to more of a smirk, "You've got a sparkle in your eyes and a spring in your step this morning, that I don't think I've ever noticed before."

That brought the colour in her cheeks up to a full blush, and she busied herself with a sip of her drink. Then she mumbled into her mug, "Aye well, you should know. You had a hand in it."

"Nonsense," I teased, "I used both hands. And my tongue. Not to mention -"

"Oi!" she squeaked. "Inappropriate! This is the kitchen table. People eat their meals here, you know?"

That made me laugh, "Of course Feebs. I forgot how much of a prude you are."

"Speaking of," I added as I picked up my breakfast pastry and took a bite of that. It was still quite good, despite being a day old. Then I made a show of licking my lips before teasing her again, "As you said, there likely won't be a lot of restaurants around here. So I imagine we'll be eating in a lot. Despite how much you seem to enjoy eating out."

"And of course we mustn't forget about dessert," I added as I licked my lips once more.

By that point Feebs' cheeks were practically on fire, and rather than respond the best she could manage was a flustered sputter that sounded a bit like a verbal key smash. She ended up having another gulp or two of coffee while I continued watching her.

After another minute or two I finally relented, "Alright I'll stop teasing. After all we came here to do a job, last thing I want is to accidentally break my partner."

"Not yet at least," I stage-whispered with another smirk.

That got her all flustered and blushing again, but this time I really did stop. I finished the last of my pastry then quietly enjoyed the rest of my coffee while the cute redhead did the same.

Eventually she got up and took both my and her mugs over to the coffee machine for a refill. When she returned to the table she asked, "So what's our plan for today? When do you want to go and have a chat with our witness? And what did you say their name was?"

"Thanks cutie," I responded when she set my full mug down in front of me. "Their screen name is Seren Isel. Seren means star, and in this context I think Isel means depressed or melancholy. So basically 'Star of Sadness', which fits the general tone I got from their social media feed."

After a sip of coffee I continued, "They'll be in classes today, they're in sixth form at a high school in Llangefni. That's a few kilometers away. So we probably won't be able to see them until they're back home later this afternoon."

Phoebe frowned as she munched on the last of her pastry. Then she asked, "You said Terry doxed the whole family, right? So what else do we know about them? And what's the witness's real name?"

"Yeah," I sighed. After a slight hesitation I replied, "Their full name's in that email from Alys, along with everything else Terry dug up on the family. The thing is if they're trans like we think then I really don't want to deadname them. Or misgender them, that's why I've been using they-them pronouns? I'd rather not make any assumptions on either front until they've had a chance to tell us for themselves what name and pronouns they prefer."

From the look on the redhead's face I knew she had questions, and I could guess what at least one of them was going to be. "Deadname is another term trans people use. It refers to the names we were given at birth, after we've selected our new name to match our real gender."

"It's not universal but many trans people, myself included, don't like to hear or be addressed by our deadnames," I explained. "Same with being misgendered, it can remind us of dysphoria, or even be a direct source of it. Which is why I don't want to use Seren's birth name unless they say it's ok. That's also why I don't mention my own deadname. And you'll never hear me use yours, or Inspector Carter's, or that of any other trans person I know."

Feebs looked thoughtful as all that sank in. Then she asked, "So what do you want to do between now and half past four when our witness is out of school?"

"We could go back to bed," she added with a suggestive grin. "Or maybe see if that bathtub's big enough for two?"

I smiled but shook my head, "Sorry cutie. I was thinking we could go for a hike around the nature reserve and forest, to see if we can't find the spots where Seren said they usually see the fairies."

"The first one seems pretty straightforward to me," I continued. "I had a look at the map on my phone yesterday, Llyn Rhos Ddu is barely a half kilometre from here and I think that's the pond Seren was referring to. The 'ruins in the forest' isn't as obvious, but there's two locations that looked promising."

That got the redhead pouting, "Great. More trudging through muddy fields and soggy forests, looking for potentially dangerous supernatural entities. My favourite."

I gave her a sympathetic smile and said, "I already gave you my 'boots on the ground' speech back in Southampton."

"Anyways tell you what," I added as I got to my feet. "How about I promise to make it up to you afterwards? If you're a good girl and don't make too much of a fuss today then I'll do what I can to make tonight even better than last night. Think it over cutie, right now I'm going back upstairs to get dressed."

My offer was enough to get Phoebe moving, and less than an hour later we were both fully dressed and heading out on foot to do some hiking. I had the map app open on my phone as we made our way towards what I hoped was the pond where several of the fairy sightings took place.

Despite having the word lake in its name, Llyn Rhos Ddu looked a lot more like a glorified pond to me. It was only about two hundred and fifty meters long by fifty meters across, and from what I could see on my phone it was the only body of water on the map that wasn't a river, bay, or part of the Irish Sea. Plus the satellite view showed it was surrounded by woods, which I figured gave it some privacy.

Unfortunately even though it was just half a kilometre from our cottage it still took us a good half hour to reach it on foot, since Phoebe and I stuck to the roads and trails rather than cut directly across farmers' fields. Worse still, when we finally got there I immediately realized it wasn't the right pond.

"Sorry Feebs," I sighed. "Now that I'm seeing this with my own eyes I can tell this isn't the place."

The busty redhead huffed, but held back any complaints or sarcastic comments she might have been thinking. Instead she gestured, "This is a lake, not a pond. And there's a parking lot with a picnic area. And a well-trod trail."

"Plus this isn't even part of the forest," she added as she nodded to the south-west. "That trail leads to the woods, but there's a good hundred meters of open fields between here and there."

Finally she turned to face me again and shook her head, "Assuming these fairies are real they've been here for six months now, but as far as we know only one single person's seen them. I don't think they're frequenting anywhere so publicly accessible."

My shoulders slumped and I apologized again, "Sorry. You're right, it was too obvious. It's the only pond-like thing I could see that was anywhere near the forest."

Feebs pulled up the map app on her own phone and asked, "Where are you thinking of looking for ruins?"

"If you check satellite view there's a suspicious-looking clearing near the middle of Coedwig Niwbwrch," I replied. "Sorry that's Newborough Forest. If you zoom in on that spot you can tell there's something there, that might be ruins? The other is out on Ynys Llanddwyn. It's actually on the map as a landmark, a ruined church."

She took a closer look the second location first, then shook her head. "It won't be that one. It's a tidal island, and it's far too exposed. It looks like there might even be some cottages on there?"

"This other spot though," she continued as she zoomed in on the first place I'd indicated, "Aye. That could be something, it looks fairly secluded. The area's riddled with trails, but none of them come too close to that spot."

After looking at that for another second or two she made a face, "On the other hand it's at least two kilometres away. I guess we're getting our steps in today, after spending most of yesterday in the Grandland."

"At least the weather's not too bad," I pointed out with an optimistic smile. It was cool and overcast, but we hadn't had any rain or snow. And while there was a cool breeze coming in from the west it wasn't blowing too hard. At least not yet.

"Oi, don't jinx it!" Feebs laughed.

"Sorry," I grimaced as the two of us started moving again.

We stuck to the various hiking paths as we made our way south-west from the little lake. Once we reached the forest our destination was almost due west, but the trails tended to meander. It was actually a rather nice walk though, if a bit brisk at times. The woods were primarily evergreens, with the predominant species being a couple varieties of pine trees. So it was all still green, even at this time of year. And while it wasn't as hilly as the area we'd visited in the New Forest the terrain here was far from flat.

"I've been thinking about how best to approach Seren," I commented after about fifteen minutes of walking in silence. "If we just show up and ask to speak with them about the fairy sightings that's kind of a give-away that we've doxed them. Which might work if we go with the 'supernatural police' angle, but I'm not sure that's the right approach here."

Phoebe shrugged, "Alright. So what's your suggestion?"

I replied, "I'd like to try reaching out to them on social media first. I haven't really used my account much lately but I could follow them, and send them a private message asking about the fairies. If that goes ok then I could tell them we're in the area and hoping to see them for ourselves? Maybe I could ask if they'd introduce us? Or at least show us where the sightings have taken place. What do you think?"

My partner thought that over for a moment then nodded, "Aye, it might work. And if it doesn't, we still know where to find them."

"D'you know what these numbers mean?" Feebs added a moment later as we reached another branch in the trail. "And d'you want to turn here, or keep going this way?"

Before us was a wooden post there with the number '24' marked on it, and it was the fourth such marker we'd seen so far. By that point we were about halfway to our next destination, based on what I'd seen on my phone.

After another glance at the map app I gestured to the right, "This way. And I'm sure the numbers are waypoints or location indicators or something along those lines. There's probably a brochure or booklet where it's all explained."

The redhead gave me a look, "Maybe we should have done a little more research on the subject, before rushing off on a hiking expedition?"

"Yeah," I admitted as the pair of us started moving again. "Next time. Tomorrow, maybe."

We'd only got a few dozen meters before we both heard something approaching fast behind us. Phoebe and I both turned just as a trio of cyclists came zipping past on their mountain bikes. The two men and one woman all looked to be in their thirties, and were decked out in proper gear, from their helmets down to their shoes. And despite the low overcast December weather they were all wearing mirrored sunnies too. None of them said anything as they passed, and the trio soon disappeared around a bend in the trail ahead of us.

Feebs frowned after them for a few seconds before commenting, "This area probably gets busy in the spring and summer months. It must be fairly popular, to justify all the trails."

"You're right," I sighed.

I knew what she was implying, that even a 'remote' part of the woods might be too busy for fairies to remain completely hidden. Still, we were nearly there so I figured we may as well keep going.

We spent another twenty minutes or so following the trail, and we passed three more of those number signs along the way. We also passed another branch, as well as a crossroads where two trails intersected.

A dozen or so meters past trail marker '19' I gestured to the left, "Here's where we leave the path and set off through the woods. Our potential ruins should be less than a hundred meters in that direction."

"Right then," Feebs nodded. "Lead the way."

I did so, although our progress slowed considerably as we carefully picked our way through the underbrush that surrounded the various trees. It probably took us another ten or twelve minutes before we finally reached the tiny clearing. And when we did, my shoulders slumped as I found myself disappointed again.

"So where's the ruins?" Phoebe asked in a pointed tone. "Hidden behind those weeds maybe? Or submerged in that stagnant puddle?"

Needless to say there was no trace of any ruins in the clearing. Instead it looked like a little patch of marsh or swamp, no more than a dozen meters across.

I sighed as I looked around for any trace of the old stonework I'd seen in Seren's pictures, but couldn't find anything manmade. On the other hand, something about the view seemed familiar. Then a moment later it struck me, and my mood rebounded.

"This is the pond," I announced with a smile.

To be sure I swiped back to the social media app and quickly flipped through Seren's photos until I found what I was looking for. Then I held up my phone to compare.

"Look at that Feebs," I grinned. "This is definitely it. Our witness got one of their fairy pictures right over there."

She stared at my phone, then at the scene before us, before finally agreeing. "Aye, it looks like the right place. Doesn't mean the photo's genuine though."

"And I'm not seeing any fairies about," she added.

I pointed out, "According to Seren's posts it took them months to make friends with them. And those first few blurry images looked like they were taken in the evenings, around dusk maybe? Odds are if there's fairies here they're hiding."

"I'm going try messaging Seren now," I decided a moment later.

The redhead nodded absently as she carefully moved around the edge of the pond to take a closer look at the spot where one of the more recent photos had been taken. And while she did that I quickly composed a private message for our witness.

I didn't tell them I was actually there in the middle of Coedwig Niwbwrch, I didn't even mention being on Ynys Mon or that I was in Wales. Instead I explained that I'd stumbled onto their fairy sighting posts and found them fascinating. I asked if they'd mind sharing the actual locations where they'd taken those pictures, and if they'd be willing to talk more about the sightings. Considering they'd received a fair amount of sceptical or outright negative comments to those posts I hoped they might appreciate someone taking a positive interest in what they had to say.

"Done," I stated after sending the message. "And I've also followed their account. Hopefully we'll hear something back by the end of the day."

Feebs glanced back at me and asked, "So what next?"

"More hiking?" I suggested with a grin. "We're already here, we may as well make the most of it."

The busty redhead pouted as she sighed, "Aye. I suppose."