Half&Half
an excerpt

"Thank you for agreeing to speak with me,"
Nelson said.
Elinor glanced around the darkened bookshop.
"Delphie isn't likely to go to sleep before I come up. So let's keep this as short as possible or I'll have to lie to her about what we were talking about."
"I'll try." Nelson's gaze shifted around from one object to the next. "This is difficult. I wonder... did your mother ever speak of her home and
family? I know Delphie doesn't know anything, but you were so much older when she left."
"She used to tell me stories when I was very young. I guess she didn't need to with Delphie because Tristan was there too. I think she was
trying to feel connected to someone." Elinor looked at the glass counter where the lone register stood. There were old books inside, and curios.
"Did she tell you fantastic things? Things no one could believe?" Nelson looked intently at her. She didn't answer, so he pressed on. "I can
tell she must have. Elinor, do you believe them?"
"How could I?" she said, reluctantly. "But... obviously you know what she told me. And it was fantastic but part of me believes it."
"That your mother was from another world," he stated flatly. "That she was... different."
"Not human."
"No, not exactly. But close enough. We'd think of them as elves, probably. And the place... they don't really name it, but we'd call it Faeryland."
"Faeryland." Elinor laughed shortly. "Sure. My mom's a fairy and disappeared into never-never land."
"It is hard to believe," Nelson agreed quietly. "But it's true. I've been there. My own wife was an elf woman too."
Elinor stared at him. "You aren't joking," she said quietly.
"Not at all." Nelson seemed to stare out the window but she thought he wasn't seeing the street out front at all. "When I was a young man, I went through the portal. It's not far from here. I found a beautiful, magical country. And the most beautiful woman I have ever known." He visibly shook himself. "The point is, both my wife and your mother came from that world. But things are different since then. The portal is sealed against humans. I can't ever go through again." He seemed very pensive. "But you can."
"What?" Elinor shook her head. "Wait, why is the portal sealed? What portal are we talking about?"
"On the grounds of Mill Manor - at the old mill on the creek, actually - there was once a portal that sometimes lead to Faeryland. About forty years ago, it was sealed. How and why doesn't matter. I don't really know the details myself." His attention seemed fixed on a wooden pipe book-end. He picked it up in his hands and turned it over and over. "Now humans can't leave this world. And elves can't leave theirs. But you, who are half one and
half the other, can travel freely."
"How do you know that?" Elinor demanded.
"Because my son did." He wasn't looking at her at all, but stroking the bowl of the pipe. "Ten years ago. He told me he was going to look for something and he never returned."
"I'm sorry," Elinor began, but Miller cut her off.
"Theo was a headstrong boy. He didn't listen when I told him it was dangerous." He looked straight at her. "He hasn't come back. It's ten years and I don't know what happened to my son. I would go after him if I could, but I can't. He could be dead and I wouldn't know."
"I really am sorry," Elinor said. "It must be hard."
"So when I saw you yesterday... you must forgive me, but seeing someone who looked so like Briony, I thought I could ask you. Your mother was a friend of mine, you know. She was determined and brave and I thought if you were like her, perhaps you'd help me."
Elinor's mouth seemed suddenly dry. "You mean you want me to go look for him?"
He nodded. "I know. It's an incredible thing to ask someone to do. But, uh, I have no other hope."