Along the street basins of water, ringed with glowing moss, illuminated the night. We got closer to the center of the city and more people were out laughing and celebrating. We entered the town square and the once empty fountain was full again. The center sculpture of the woman holding a pitcher was now pouring water into the pool below her. Its soft trickle filled the air.
“Look at it!” Pepper gripped my arm, her eyes wide. “There’s even fish in it. Just like Kyrah said.”
She hurried over to the lip of the basin and peered down. Just as she’d said, fish similar to the ones in the cavern were swimming in the water. Their pale, glowing scales shimmered in the dark.
“Well, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” a deep voice said behind us.
We whipped around to see Bardrick crossing his arms and raising his eyebrow. He rushed toward us and shook our hands. I laughed and said, “I’m surprised I didn’t trip over you for once!”
“Where’s Kyrah?” Pepper asked, glancing around.
“Just over there.” Bardrick motioned to the opposite end of the square. “She’s been very busy since you left. We both have.”
We saw her talking to a very regal man and woman, both dressed in elegant clothing. When she spotted us waving at her, she reached out to the woman, said something and hurried toward us. Her braid flipped over her shoulder as she ran.
“You came back!” She hugged Pepper and smiled at me.
“I didn’t move after all,” Pepper answered.
“That’s great news! I guess everyone gets to stay where they belong.” Kyrah motioned to the people around us. “Villagers have been moving back into town every day. Every night we celebrate our wonderful city. Water’s moving through the reservoir, and Crystal Falls is flowing once again.”
“That’s great news,” I said. “It seems so different around here—like everyone’s happy.”
Bardrick let his bag slide off his shoulder and onto the ground. “After all of this, Kyrah was able to prove to her father that masonry’s important—I’ve been given the job of maintaining the Crystal Springs caverns. My dad’s trying to get used to being proud of me.”
“He should be proud of you,” Kyrah said, matter-of-factly. “I’m determined to share with everyone in this town that Frederick Stone was an innovator. I’m just sorry he couldn’t be here to see it. We owe him so much. Speaking of which—”
She nudged Bardrick and looked at me. He stared back at her with a blank expression. Kyrah tilted her head to the side and sighed. “Remember what you found?”
“Right!” Through the darkness, I saw Bardrick’s cheeks flush. He bent over to search through his bag. When he stood up again, he was holding a familiar leather-bound book. His fingers flipped the pages so roughly he nearly dropped it to the ground. He mumbled, “It was near the back of the book, so I didn’t see it until a few days ago. Where was it—oh, there it is.”
He held out his grandfather’s journal to me, pointing at one of the pages. I took it from him and waited for my eyes to adjust to the low light. There were no illustrations, only writing. The slanted words were hard to read, but the moment I saw it, my heart skipped a beat.
Although I didn’t know him long, my dear friend, Nimrod Vale, was an important part of my work. Without him I would not have been able to concrete my knowledge of magnetism, an amazing and unutilized force in this world. This bold new technology could bring our city into the future. I cannot wait to see what it holds.
I lowered the pages and caught Bardrick’s gaze. The corner of his lips were raised as he watched me react. My eyes combed around the square, imagining I was standing in the very place my grandpa could have walked. I tried to form the words to the questions that were swirling in my head. “How long ago was this written?”
Bardrick grew serious and answered, “The book’s dated just after my dad’s birth. It wasn’t much longer after that when my grandfather was chased out of town.”
“They really knew each other,” I said, feeling oddly close to my grandpa and Bardrick. As unfortunate as it was that Frederick Stone’s discovery was the very thing that ruined his life, it seemed only right that Kyrah, Bardrick, Pepper and I had redeemed his name.
“You should take this—” I began to lift the compass necklace from around my neck when Bardrick stopped me, holding his hand up.
“It was given for a reason. You should keep it. Plus, I have Grandfather’s journal now, which is like having a piece of him here. Guess we were meant to be friends,” Bardrick said. “Maybe it was the spirit of my grandfather who led you down my street, straight to me.”
I was about to say that it was more likely my bad luck that made me startle him, ruining his rock tower, but I didn’t. We could have argued it was both bad and good luck, although I started to question if luck had anything to do with it. Maybe Pepper really was right. Maybe what happened to me had nothing to do with magic or luck, but had everything to do with what I created from my own actions.
Whatever it was, I was willing to consider that my friend was smarter than me. At least about some things. But don’t tell her that.
The End…Or is it?
About the Author
Natasha Brown’s active imagination has always been a distraction. When she was a child, the forest outside her home and books read in the dark past bedtime taught her that exciting worlds are created with dreams and a voice. Once she started writing, she couldn’t break the habit. By day, Natasha’s an assistant teacher at an elementary school, and by night, she’s a book cover designer. Her weekends are spent writing and spending time with family, unless she’s not busy sleeping and dreaming up her next imaginary world.
www.natashasbrown.com
@writersd3sk
The Stone Key (The Novel Adventures of Nimrod Vale Book 2) Page 14