Renhala

by Amy Joy Lutchen

  Mortimer smiles his own special smile this time. I see that he needs dental work, but it’s still a lovely smile. I mention to him that he could create some lovely instruments for the local dentist. He evidently never thought of this, because it’s like a light bulb goes off above his head. “Barter, Mortimer.” I feel karma working to save his mouth.

  “Bye, Mortimer.” Gunthreon bows to him.

  “Bye.” He turns quickly to his sketchbook, and I see him deep in thought as I close the door.

  “Be safe, good Mortimer,” I say to myself.

  The last stop in Meadow’s Edge is Greer’s lair. Gunthreon and Greer chat privately while we all wait outside, staring out at the land beneath us. I breathe in as much lilac-scented air as I can and feel a bit of sadness come over me as I realize I have to leave my homeland. My anxiety heightens at the thought of separation.

  Karmelean, remember all that I told you, says Greer in my head. Stay strong. We need you. I think back to Greer and picture a tiny ant carrying a nut ten times the size of itself. His laugh is deep and hearty in my head.

  “To the mooncats we go!” Gunthreon is cheerful, and seems to have enjoyed the chat with Greer. He later confirms that Greer mentioned he, too, had heard rumors about the east we’re to explore. Good to know we’re at least heading in the right direction.

  “Onward ho,” I grunt, the lack of enthusiasm blatant in my voice. The parting from Meadow’s Edge, Conner’s new attitude towards me, Ladimer’s disappearance, and my time away from both Kioto and my mom have me wishing that I was someone else, someone like Amber—safe at home, in a new, but solid, relationship with someone who loves her, unconditionally. How quickly the tides change.

  *********

  The distance is great between Meadow’s Edge and Socola, so it gives me plenty of time to think about things. I wonder how my mom and Kioto are doing, and what they are doing this very moment. I miss both of them, and wonder if they’re thinking of me, too. My mom’s blood pressure is probably skyrocketing, because she hasn’t heard from me and she’s pissed she wasn’t invited. Maybe tonight, if nobody is paying me any attention, I can just pop on over and see them. It would be a fast visit, just to make sure everything is quiet in my realm.

  We approach a land that, from a distance appears to be covered in purple. “Are we entering the Land of the Grapecats?” I amuse myself sometimes.

  Conner gives me a “don’t be stupid” look.

  “How quickly we change our game,” I say. He’s got me angry now.

  “Well, it’s hard when you’re invited onto the winning team, only to learn you’re the sacrifice fly.”

  “Stop with all the stupid talk, both of you,” Lupa sputters. “Shall we stop now for some supplies? We may not get the chance again.” Gunthreon rolls his eyes. “I take that as a big fat yes,” she says, a bit perturbed.

  Purple, purple, and more purple is all I see as we come closer—purple houses, purple streets, and purple trees. I also see movement, and as I squint, I see people—very plump people, in fact, like Tweedledee and Tweedledum offspring. “How did we get to Wonderland?” I ask.

  “Would you stop already with your dumb comments!” Conner is asking for a fight. I quickly reach to his energy to subdue his anger, but his eyes open wide and he points at me. “Don’t even think about it! I know what you’re attempting to do. Stay away from me—me and my...energy!”

  “Maybe if you stop being so jealous!” My anger awakens as I sense his, and it has awoken my monk’s spade, because I can feel its warmth on my back.

  “Whoa!” Lupa doesn’t seem amused. “You two had better settle your differences, because this is no fun for the rest of us. Understand?” She gets a simultaneous “yes” from Conner and me.

  Conner turns to me and says, “We’ll talk later.”

  “We will talk when I feel like it.” I cross my arms in defiance.

  “Kailey!” Lupa turns red in the face.

  “Sorry, Lupa. Fine, we can talk tonight.” I turn to Conner’s stupid face. “I have time later in my schedule. Maybe I can squeeze you in.”

  The main strip is bustling. How these people don’t fall over or bump into everything in their path is amazing. With all the roundness of the people, I’m ready to see some pinball action. Gunthreon stops us in front of a building—purple, of course—that seems to be some sort of apothecary-style shop called Wafter’s Mercentile.

  “Goody!” Lupa, having apparently forgotten our bickering already, is jumping up and down, squealing.

  Gunthreon turns the purple doorknob and we enter. The man behind the counter hasn’t turned yet, but knows we’re there. “How can I help you good people today?” he says. Thank goodness the inside of the shop is not purple. As he turns to face us, his eyes widen at the sight of Bu and he reaches behind his counter. Gunthreon persuades him to relax and Conner soulspeaks, letting shop man know Bu is no threat.

  “I was wondering if you had some things I need.” Lupa picks up a piece of parchment on the counter and starts looking for something to write with. I pull out a rollerball pen and hand it to her. Shop man shrieks as Lupa holds the pen in front of her. Everyone freezes and anticipates his next move.

  Shop man stares at Lupa and then slowly walks toward her, looking as though he’s actually a bit intrigued. He stops in front of her and looks at the pen, then runs quickly by her and closes his shop curtains. “Travelers?” he says to Gunthreon. Gunthreon nods. Shop man turns to Lupa. “Can I hold that dear woman?” She shrugs and passes it to him. He brings it to his nose and sniffs. “Hmm,” he says as he sniffs again. “What would I call this smell?”

  “Plastic,” I say and he drops the pen on the floor, not wanting to touch it again.

  “Nasty stuff! Please continue with your shopping, before I have any unexpected visits from the Unapproved Foreign Objects Enforcements,” says shop man.

  Lupa whispers, “UFOE—Technology police,” to me and picks the pen up and writes down her order, finishing quickly so that I may put the hideous object away.

  I wander the store and peruse the aisles, admiring the jars on the shelves. There must be a thousand of them at least. Each jar is the same size and shape; only the label differs. I pick one up and open it, and there seems to be nothing in it—but it does smell. It smells like peanut butter. I find another that reminds me of newly painted walls, and one other jar that smells exactly like a wet dog. “What the hell is in these jars?” I say.

  “Don’t keep them open too long!” Shop man seems perturbed with me.

  “Smells.” This comes from Bu, who seems to have found a jar that smells like pot roast.

  “That’s why they’re all fat! It makes you want to eat!” I say this too loud, and shop man’s face tells me he may try and strangle me before we leave. I make sure to keep my distance while wandering.

  “How can you buy scents, let alone store them?” I find this concept very interesting.

  Gunthreon leans into me and whispers, “Some sort of olfactory trick.” Lupa is like a kid in a candy shop, running from canister to canister.

  I’m not a convert yet. “Yeah, well, what do you do with them?” I say. The shop man squints at me. “Sorry, this is all new to me. I have a feeling you can enlighten me.”

  Shop man’s chest puffs up, and he holds his head up high behind his podium, ready to give his inaugural address. “Well, good lady, don’t you realize how important your sense of smell is?” he says.

  “Well, sure I do.”

  He gives me the squinty eyes again. “Haven’t you ever smelled something that brought you back to your youth, or makes you suddenly feel relaxed, or even sad? Scents spark emotion!”

  “Oh.” I think for a bit. “Yes! New asphalt!” Everyone turns to me like I farted publicly or something, and I’m sure even that jar is here somewhere. “The smell reminds me of elementary school, after they repaved the recess grounds.” Duh.

  Shop man turns the attention back to himself. “I’ve seen alliances form
ed and treaties broken over scents.” He leans in to whisper something to us. “Cleopatra, of Abscondia, was one of the founding Wafter’s regulars, but shhh, it’s a secret passed down many generations.” He puffs up again. His eyes close and he breathes in deeply. “They say jasmine followed her everywhere.” He opens his eyes again. “Feel free to keep shopping, I have some business to attend to in the back.” Abruptly, he leaves.

  I browse the canisters and try to think about my favorite scent. Cotton candy is the first thing that comes to mind, and I wonder if cotton candy exists here in Renhala, so I walk through the isle with the “C” canisters, which are labeled alphabetically. “’Cabin,’ ‘Cabernet’... ‘Circus’... ‘Corn,’ and—aha! ‘Cotton Candy’! I point to the jar when shop man comes back. “Gunthreon, can I get this, please?” He nods.

  I am astonished at how shop man maneuvers around the shelves and jars without toppling everything over. Just then, Bu finds something to his liking, and he runs over, but not as nimbly as shop man. Bypassing his usual gracefulness, he knocks jars off the shelf, making shop man angry.

  “Sorry!” cries Bu.

  “It’s all right, Bu,” I say. “It was an accident. What’s gotten you so excited?”

  “Kailey, this one smells like Kioto!”

  “Why, that’s just up your alley, isn’t it?” He comes over and opens his jar. I sniff, and I recognize the wet dog smell. “Guess Kioto needs a bath, eh?”

  “Oh, Bu think she smells wonderful!” This, from someone I forgot smells like rotten eggs. I’ve gotten so used to him. I guess I understand where he’s coming from.

  Shop man picks up the canisters Bu knocked over and grabs one to fill my order. He then disappears behind the counter to get a small, airtight jar. “You know these only work once, right?”

  “No, but I do now. I just open it up, right? Then what happens?”

  “You open it up, and make sure you are not in a tight area, for my smells are the strongest in town.” He smiles. “It will last for about fifteen minutes, and it is pure delight! Make sure you tell your friends about me, and since you are new to all this, I’ll give you a triple dose—free of charge!”

  We all buy something, even Conner, then leave the shop. Conner conveniently doesn’t let me see his purchase, though. Gunthreon lets me see in his bag. “’Basil,’ ‘Cedar,’ ‘Garlic,’ and...‘Bug Repellent’?”

  “Can’t help it. It reminds me of Lupa’s hugs in the garden—eucalyptus, and citronella oil.”

  “Hmm. To each his own I guess,” I comment. Lupa shows me her jars. She picked up “Sparrow,” “Black Dirt,” “Peppermint,” and “Rose.” “Sparrow?” I say.

  “To scare away those topola bugs the day they migrate in throngs to my garden. Once they settle on my plants—I got ‘em!”

  “Okay, then.” I then suddenly see Gunthreon’s eyes diverted toward two men dressed in black uniforms stopping patrons on the street. He indiscreetly gets us moving away from the area without explaining, and only keeping the conversation going as we move a bit faster. “Bu, what did you get at Wafter’s?” he says, his eyes quickly darting behind us.

  “Kioto, ‘Fresh Cookies,’ ‘Sausage’ and ‘Metal,’” says Bu.

  “There was a metal one? What does metal smell like, and why would you buy that?”

  “It smelled like Bu’s pliers.” He looks down at his feet.

  “Oh, silly me. Of course! What a great find, Bu!” He smiles and goes back to rummaging through his bag. “Oh, Gunthreon, I forgot to ask why everything here is purple.”

  “The founding father of this town insisted purple had a smell,” he explains, “and he was determined to prove it. Don’t you smell it?” Both Conner and I take the deepest breaths we can. Gunthreon turns to Lupa, and they both laugh.

  I roll my eyes and frown. “Ha ha, joke’s on us. You’re cruel.”

  Bu sniffs the air. “It smells like blue to Bu,” he says. We all laugh together.

  Chapter 34

  Cute

  From the land of purple, we travel what seems to me like five miles or so, and my feet grow blisters by the second. It’s also been the most boring time, because 1) Bu doesn’t hold conversation well, 2) the two lovebirds have been holding hands and chatting the whole time, and 3) Conner has been ignoring me, and I in turn, am ignoring him until tonight, supposedly.

  We encounter several towns on our journey—some ravaged, just like Meadow’s Edge, and some totally abandoned.

  Now, Gunthreon leads us into a forest, and to a small open area surrounded by thistle. The clouds above us rumble and brief shots of green lightning flash across the skies. “We are going to stop here for the night,” Gunthreon says. He throws down his bags and scopes out the area quickly. “Conner, how are you at scouting? Russell tells me you’re quite the camper.” I then notice nobody brought a tent.

  “First place in the Summer Quadrant Games, two years in a row.” He puffs up and resembles shop man. I withhold the comment.

  “Great!” yaps Gunthreon.

  “I’ll do it,” Conner says, then looking at me, “I’ve got nothing better to do anyway.” He leaves his bag with us and walks off toward the setting sun.

  I look around again, searching for a tent. “Gunthreon, um, where’s the tents?”

  “No need for tents here.” The sky lights up green and a loud boom has me jumping in place. I stand, staring at Gunthreon as he lays down his sleeping bag—directly on the ground.

  “Bu and Kailey, tomorrow we reach Socola,” says Gunthreon. “I know I shouldn’t have to repeat myself, but I feel the need. You must remember to at least stay in pairs. Many a person has been lost to the mooncats. They are a very slick race. Bu, you remember last time we were in Socola?”

  He shivers slightly. “We lost Haren.”

  “Who was Haren?” I ask. “How’d you lose him?”

  Gunthreon sighs. “He was a friend of ours who was travelling with us. The transformation was beyond anyone’s control,” he says, giving me yet another ambiguous answer. “Let’s just stay on our path to finding Neda. The mooncats are quite resourceful when they choose to cooperate—which is never—but we are going to try our damndest.”

  Bu starts rummaging through his bag of smells. “Can Bu open one, Gunthreon?” he asks.

  “Sure, Bu. Make sure you savor it!”

  Bu takes out his “Fresh Cookies” jar. He pulls out his blanket, curls up on the ground next to me, opens the jar, and lays it right next to his nose. “Mmmm,” he says.

  I lean over and sniff, and my mouth starts to salivate. “I think I’ll wait to use mine,” I say. “I’ve had my share today.”

  Conner trudges back from deeper in the forest. “All’s well,” he says. “I found a few forest friends, but nothing dangerous.”

  “’Forest friends’ like raccoon-and-possum-level’? Or bear-and-wolves-level?” I ask. My eyes open wide. “Or Jason-level?” Having never been camping, all the camping movies I’ve ever seen reel through my head, creating a fear that increases with every scary forest sound. Ghastly green lightning then flashes its brightest throughout the sky, illuminating the forest around us. My eyebrows raise and I point to the sky while looking at Gunthreon.

  “It never rains here, in this part of Renhala, at least,” he says. I look again to the sky.

  “I’m just going to leave it at forest friends,” Conner responds. “Gunthreon sent me, and he knows what I mean.”

  “Thanks,” I hiss. “If something tries to eat me tonight, I’ll make sure and remind them there are more succulent pieces of meat at this campsite.” Bu shrieks under his blanket. I make sure I talk loud enough for him to hear: “And we all know greble doesn’t taste as good as human!”

  Lupa sets up a nice, cozy, fire and pulls a set of pots out of nowhere. “I’ll fix us a nighttime snack,” she says. “We’ve got a few minutes, so why don’t you two have your little chat?” She looks around like she’s lost something. “Where did that honey go? I just put it down.�
�� She looks at Bu accusingly.

  Damn this woman. “Fine! Conner, let’s go.” We wander off far enough so nobody can hear us argue, but still close enough to see the firelight.

  “Conner,” I say, then pause, thinking to myself it takes too much negative energy to be upset with him. “I’m really sorry about what happened. I was enjoying myself—really enjoying myself—but this whole energy trick of mine confuses me. It was so rude of me, but I couldn’t control it. I’m attracted to you, really.” I blush in the dark.

  “Yeah, but not exclusively,” says Conner. “Remember, I saw the kiss you shared with Ladimer, and he’s got something for you—you know, the history of following you and all. And I don’t want to compete with someone who honestly scares the hell out of me.”

  “But Ladimer told me to kiss him! And it saved Greer, didn’t it?”

  “And you just always do what people say? No. I don’t think so. You’re not as weak as you think you are.”

  I take in a deep breath. “Conner, you’re exactly what I need, but—”

  “’Need’? I much rather hear ‘want.’”

  I stand, not giving a reply, and then decide to just let it out: “I’m not used to attention from men! There!” His eyebrows shoot up. “My whole life I’ve been hidden behind Amber—the one watching her back while all the men ogled.” My speech becomes shaky as I try to hold back from crying. “I want to be with someone. The fact that the two most intriguing men I’ve ever met happen to be travelers to another realm throws a little wrench in my plans.” I start crying as I continue talking. “I just don’t know what to do, especially with this talk of an informant. Doesn’t this make you feel a bit suspicious of everyone around you?”

  “Kailey, I’ve never felt for someone like I do you, especially after only knowing you for so brief a time—granted, maybe you’re using your abilities to make me feel this way, but—” I attempt to talk but he places his hand on my mouth, causing me to jump from the static shock.