The Quest for the Kid

by Adrienne Kress

  “Look, if anyone can logic someone into doing a show, it’s you,” said Evie.

  “Some people are not logical, and nothing you can say to them will change their minds,” replied Sebastian. How had she not learned this over the last two weeks and a bit since they’d met? He certainly had.

  “Please, Sebastian. Let’s try.”

  Sebastian sighed. What could he do? He’d pretended to be a child stunt-car driver, initiated a fake protest, found himself the protector of an odd little dog—and that was only in the last couple of days. Now he was in Portugal trying to help an opera singer perform, so that the submarine supporting the set could be used to rescue a formerly famous explorer. There was no logic to fall back on. They were officially in the land of the ridiculous. They’d been there for quite some time.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let’s see if we can talk her into doing the show.”

  “Yes!” said Evie with that satisfied triumphant grin of hers. She never seemed tired of doing it, and it was hard for him to get tired of seeing it. “Roland, we’re going to stay here.”

  Roland the baritone looked at her and adjusted his wig slightly. “Well, I won’t stop you, but it is now that I must leave you. My voice needs attention.”

  “What’s the soprano’s name?” asked Evie.

  “Julia,” he replied.

  “Does she speak any English?”

  “Of course. She’s Canadian.” He said it like it was the most obvious answer in the world. And then he spun on his heel and disappeared through the forest.

  Sebastian, Evie, and Orson were alone now. Alone in front of a hut with some soprano who thought she was an actual Valkyrie.

  This was not exactly how he’d expected to spend his evening.

  Then again, this was his new normal. Not expecting the unexpected was on him.

  “So, I’m going to…talk to her?” asked Sebastian.

  Evie nodded. “I’ll be here with Orson. If you need us, call us.”

  “And you’re not coming because…”

  “Because we don’t want to frighten her. And you’re the logical one.”

  “And you’re the one who talked the SRAC into letting us in,” countered Sebastian.

  “Well, then it’s your turn,” replied Evie.

  He stared at her. “Are you scared? Should I be scared?” he asked, his voice breaking and his breath quickening.

  “No! No. I…think in this case you should be the one to convince her. And I’ll be right here. You are perfectly safe.” She smiled. He felt a little better, he supposed. “You should probably take that just in case.”

  He looked where she was pointing. On the ground nearby was a large, round piece of wood.

  “A shield?” asked Sebastian.

  “Just…in case.”

  He bent to pick it up. It was heavy, and he felt that maybe this was one too many things for her to be asking of him. Frustration nagged at him.

  Fine. Fine, okay, okay. It was only an opera singer. How scary could she really be?

  He turned to Evie, who gave him an encouraging gesture with her hands as if to brush him forward, and then he faced the hut. This was silly. They were both acting silly because a dramatic baritone had been dramatic. Time to just get this soprano onstage.

  Sebastian stepped out of the darkness and onto the mound.* He approached the hut carefully, quietly stepping around the fire and making his way to the door of the little house. He was there. There really wasn’t much he could do except knock. So he raised his hand and, leaning as far away from his hand as was possible, considering it was attached to his arm and everything, Sebastian knocked.

  There was silence.

  He knocked again.

  He knocked a third time and also called out a shaky, “Julia?”

  Then he stepped a few feet away and held the shield in front of him.

  Still nothing.

  Sebastian sighed hard, marched up to the door, and raised his hand once more, but the door flew open and Sebastian fell backward, almost right into the fire. Out came the Valkyrie in all her winged-helmet glory. She was carrying a large axe, but the expression on her face was what scared Sebastian even more than the sharp weapon.

  Julia looked about wildly and then finally saw Sebastian on the ground. With a spark in her eyes, she lifted the axe over her head and came for him. At the very last minute Sebastian held the shield up to protect himself, and the axe pierced through the wood. Sebastian stared at the metal protruding through the shield inches from his face, and then stared at Julia. She tried to pull the axe out, but it stuck there, fast. Taking advantage of the moment, Sebastian threw the shield aside and ran, while Julia struggled.

  “Evie!” he called as he dove to the other side of a low wall surrounding a garden.

  Sebastian watched as the soprano got angrier and angrier with her weapon, until she flung aside the axe and shield together. They hit the house and splintered. Then she sang a piercing high note, holding it with perfect vibrato. It would have been impressive if it hadn’t been so high that Sebastian was certain his skull would crack.

  What. On. Earth.

  “Who dares disturb the home of the Valkyrie!” she sang. “Face me, coward!”

  What. On. Earth.

  She continued to address him in furious song. “I’ll find you, you insect. I’ll crush you like I’ve crushed my enemies of yore. You will know pain. And you will suffer for your arrogance!”

  This was so very strange. Was he going to die at the hands of an overcommitted soprano?

  No, of course not. That would be awful. And embarrassing. He had to use reason and logic. Somewhere in there was the opera singer he’d seen onstage the night before. She was capable of doing her job, of being reasonable.

  “Julia, can we talk?” he yelled from his hiding spot.

  The soprano let out her high note again.

  “I know you not,” she sang. “So I refuse to counsel with you, coward! I will eat you for breakfast!” Slowly she stalked her way over to him.

  Sebastian plotted his escape route, then stood, hunched over, one foot in front of the other, prepped as he’d seen runners at the beginning of a race. Man, he really wished he’d had proper race experience. Then he said “I’m a friend!” and dashed away from the garden as Julia rushed to where he had been. He wound up on the far side of the little house, noticing how on that side there was less set dressing. But. There were several swords leaning against the building. Not that he could actually fight. He didn’t know the first thing about it. But. Maybe…

  “You are no friend of mine,” the soprano sang. “You are a friend of darkness, and I destroy all the enemies of the light!”

  Sebastian had no idea what that meant, but it seemed like he needed something to defend himself with. He made his way to the swords, grabbed one, and found that he could barely lift it. Not that one, then. He tried another. This one wasn’t nearly so heavy. In fact he was impressed by how light it felt. And how balanced in his hands. Not that he really knew how to hold it.

  Now what? If Julia was going to continue pretending to be a Valkyrie, there wasn’t going to be much he could do to convince the opera singer otherwise.

  He needed a different tactic.

  “Face me!” sang Julia from the other side of the house. “Or die like a coward, friend of darkness!”

  With a deep intake of breath, Sebastian thought back to standing onstage in front of thousands of fans while playing the drums as part of a K-pop band. The thrill of performing. The power and the excitement. And then. With great purpose. He leapt into the blinding light, holding his sword in front of him. He had no idea where Julia was, but he spoke loudly and, he hoped, with confidence.

  “I am Sebastian, friend to both the darkness and the light…ness! I am here to ask the great…” Oh, what was he
r character’s name again? “The great…furious Valkyrie…for an audience. I am here to…talk…and not to fight.”

  There was a horrible silence then. The kind of silence that was way worse than an awkward silence or an annoyed silence. The kind of silence that spoke of an imminent doom. And then. Julia charged.

  The soprano had no weapon, but that didn’t seem to matter. Sebastian was pretty sure he was done for. But he stayed where he was, holding the sword out in front of him. Surely the woman wouldn’t run into it.

  Julia wasn’t slowing down.

  She—wasn’t—slowing—down.

  The sword in Sebastian’s hands began to shake. Oh, wait. No, it was his hands that were doing the shaking. As Julia the soprano rushed Sebastian, he seriously didn’t know what to do.

  So he did the only thing his body could think of doing.

  He shut his eyes tight and braced himself.

  Then his body went flying to the side and he slammed into the earth, hard.

  * “Onto the mound” is the beginning of my favorite least inspirational speech.

  Sebastian opened his left eye. Then his right. And then he had to shift his head slightly so that his view was not of the ground but of shoes with little wings attached at the ankle. And another pair of shoes, a smaller pair. Standing between him and the shoes with wings.

  “Young daughter of valor,” he heard Julia sing. “You saved the boy’s life.”

  Sebastian slowly propped himself up. He took stock of what was going on.

  Evie was standing, hands on hips, between the soprano and Sebastian. She had pushed him out of the way and saved him! He scrambled to his feet.

  And he watched Evie do something she’d never done before. At least not in front of him.

  “O valiant one, I did,” she sang. Her voice was soft and shaky, but pretty too. “He is a friend of mine. And we are here to speak with you.” Her voice got stronger as she went. Sebastian remembered that Evie had once said she liked to sing, but it had been in passing and felt like such a long time ago. And here she was doing it. She was good at it.

  “If a daughter of valor wishes to speak with the queen of the Valkyries, then I shall permit it!” sang Julia in return. “And…” She held the note as she turned to look at Sebastian. “He may join us.”

  Julia stayed briefly where she was. Then, with arms wide, she swept past Sebastian toward the door to the house and went inside.

  Sebastian turned to Evie. “Thank you,” he said.

  “Of course,” she replied.

  “You’ve got a nice singing voice,” he added.

  Her face got slightly pink at that, and she quickly said, “Oh, I don’t know. Thanks. I mean, it’s not that great. I haven’t sung since my parents…I…well, anyway…” She glanced at the door. “I’ve come up with a plan, since clearly logic isn’t going to work.”

  “No, it clearly isn’t,” replied Sebastian.

  “Just follow my lead,” said Evie, and he nodded. “Now let’s go in there and get this over with.”

  Sebastian nodded again, though he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to a secondary location with that woman. First he took in a deep breath of relief, and then a second deep breath of “Let’s do this.” And he followed Evie into the house.

  Inside smelled stale and rank. The hut was dark, and it was hard to discern anything in the mess, but Sebastian could make out leftover food lying on the table, and unwashed clothes sitting in piles everywhere.

  Julia sat on a wooden chair carved like a throne. She eyed both of them with suspicion. “Speak!” she ordered with a wave of her hand.

  Sebastian looked over at Evie. She raised her chin, proud. “I have been sent by our clan to ask for your cooperation.” She sang now with much more confidence than before.

  “Why should I cooperate?” Julia managed to laugh and sing at the same time.

  “Without you my people will be doomed to sit and wait. Without your voice, your heroic actions, we are left in a limbo too frightening to imagine,” sang Evie.

  Wait. Was her “clan” the audience?

  “I care not,” sang Julia, turning away. Something in her had changed, just slightly.

  If Evie was talking about the audience, then maybe he could talk about…

  Instinctively Sebastian stepped forward. He did something even more terrifying than playing drums onstage. He lengthened his words and held the vowels. In other words, he sang. “Oh, mighty Valkyrie. There are people depending on you. Without you they fail. They have nothing to bring home to their families.”

  Evie turned and gaped at him. He wasn’t surprised. He didn’t sound nearly as good as she did, that was for sure.

  “I have cared for my people for centuries, but the one being who cared for me is gone. How can I go on without his love?” sang Julia. There was a shake in her voice, a real emotion attempting to burst through.

  “Tell us, oh queen of the Valkyries, whose love has forsaken you?” sang Evie, turning back to Julia.

  Julia sat on her throne and looked away. She seemed genuinely hurt and sad. Then the moment passed and she rose, the anger flaming once more in her eyes. She reached down beside her and grabbed a sword leaning against the throne.

  “Get out!” she sang.

  “But,” said Evie.

  “Get out!” She held “out” long as she pointed at the door and brandished her sword. Both Evie and Sebastian staggered backward.

  “We should go,” said Sebastian, grabbing Evie’s arm. Evie nodded. They crept toward the door and swung it open.

  “Bark?”

  Orson was standing at the door. It almost seemed like he was smiling. Then, before Sebastian could do anything, the dog trotted right by them and into the hut.

  “Orson, no. Come here,” said Sebastian, nervous for the dog’s safety. But for the first time since they’d met, the dog ignored him. Instead he scampered over to the feet of the Valkyrie, who still stood tall, her sword held above her head. She watched as Orson sat and stared up at her, panting.

  “Orson!” called Sebastian.

  Evie placed a hand on his arm. “Wait,” she said softly.

  Julia looked at the dog. The dog looked at Julia. Her expression slowly changed into that one of vulnerable sadness they’d seen briefly earlier. Her bottom lip twitched, her eyes got watery, and the sword in her hand began to quiver.

  She sat on the throne, dropping the weapon to her side in a clatter. She appeared defeated. The tears flowed freely. Orson cocked his head to the side and then, with the agility of a cat, leapt into Julia’s lap. She stared, frozen in place, and then very gently and nervously started to pet him.

  “What’s going on?” whispered Sebastian.

  “Julia?” said Evie, inching closer to the soprano. “Julia?”

  The opera singer made a little “hmm” noise, still focusing on Orson, who had now curled up.

  “You said something about someone forsaking you. Was it…Did you…have a pet?” Evie asked slowly. She was now standing right in front of the throne.

  There was silence as Sebastian watched Julia cry quietly and scratch behind Orson’s ears. Then she said, “My dog, Binky. She was sick. She passed away this morning.”

  For some reason, hearing Julia speak and not sing now felt more peculiar than the other way around to Sebastian. It was amazing what you could get used to.

  “I’m so sorry,” said Evie, placing a hand on the opera singer’s knee.

  “I miss her.”

  “Of course.”

  “I didn’t think I would get this upset.” Julia looked up then at Evie. “But I guess I did.”

  “Boy, did you ever,” replied Sebastian.

  “Sebastian!” said Evie, glaring at him. “Grief makes us act in unexpected ways.”

  Sebastian nodded.
He did know that. Only…pretending to be a Valkyrie? That wasn’t one of the usual stages of grief, at least not one he’d heard of.

  “I’m sorry. I really am. I could really have hurt you guys,” said Julia.

  “Yeah,” said Sebastian, nodding.

  “Sebastian!” Evie chastised him again.

  “No, I could have. He’s not wrong to agree.” She looked down at Orson. “What’s his name again?”

  “Orson,” said Sebastian.

  “Orson.” She smiled. “He’s very sweet. You’re very lucky.”

  Sebastian watched Orson snuggle more deeply into Julia’s lap. Sebastian had never seen Orson more content. Not even when Orson had chosen Sebastian as his new guardian.

  Of course.

  “Do you want to keep him?” asked Sebastian.

  Julia gasped, shocked. “Oh no, I couldn’t.”

  “No, really, it’s okay. I think he’s been searching for his person. Maybe he thought it was me, but he seems so at home here. More than ever.” Sebastian wasn’t sure why he felt that way. He just knew it was right.

  “Are you sure?” asked Julia with a gasp.

  Evie was eyeing him closely now. He hoped she wasn’t worried that he was sad to say goodbye to the dog. He was going to miss him a bit, but Sebastian had never thought he’d be keeping Orson forever. Sebastian liked this solution. It felt right. Plus it seemed to make the soprano feel better, and wasn’t the whole point to get her back onstage?

  “I’m sure.” He walked up to Orson and patted him. The dog licked his finger. Then snuggled up again. Sebastian smiled.

  “Thank you. Thank you so much. He won’t be able to replace Binky, but…”

  “It’ll be a fresh start,” said Evie.

  Julia smiled. “Yes. A fresh start.”

  They all smiled.

  There was a pause.

  “Uh…speaking of starts…,” said Evie.

  Julia’s eyes widened. “Oh my goodness! What time is it?”

  “Time to get onstage, I think,” replied Evie.

  “Definitely!”

  There was no time to lose. Sebastian and Evie helped Julia get her costume straightened out and Orson settled in to sleep the show away in the now-empty throne. Then all three of them were darting through the forest and past the trailers to the backstage area, where the conductor, the chorus, Roland the baritone, and Doris were all waiting, rather surprised by the trio’s sudden arrival.