The Second Siege
Page 42
Several days later, Max sat by the lagoon and watched the slow procession of people and equipment making its way back across the Sanctuary. Before him, glittering in the sun, were the pieces of the gae bolga, arranged upon the tapestry Max had taken from the Sidh. As Max reached for one of the larger shards, something broke the surface of the water.
It was Frigga.
The selkie exhaled and then drew a long, slow breath while her eyes adjusted to the light.
“Long swim,” she managed at last, blinking at Max while she sputtered for air and bobbed like an enormous cork. A second later, Helga’s sleek head appeared next to her sister’s and she, too, made the adjustment to light and air. Their adjustment to the ruined Sanctuary took longer.
All the forest had been burned. The cattle herds were dead, their carcasses picked clean and bleaching on the scorched earth. Behind Max, the Warming Lodge lay in a heap of blackened timbers. Other than the creak of the procession, the Sanctuary was eerily silent. No birds chirped, no wind bent the grass, no creatures called or bellowed from the hills.
Helga was speechless, but Frigga seemed philosophical.
“It is bad,” she concluded, gliding closer to Max.
“It’s terrible,” muttered Max. “I can’t even bring myself to look at the rest of the campus. I heard the Manse is gone—torn down to its foundation.”
“Oh,” said Frigga, turning her bewhiskered head to gaze at the Sanctuary tunnel, which was no longer a proper tunnel but merely a broken wall. To Max, the opening looked naked—stripped of its majesty now that the surrounding trees had been hacked and burned away.
Frigga made a sound that might have been a sigh before turning her attention back to him.
“Where you go this year?” she demanded. “Our Max so big and important now, he don’t visit Frigga and Helga anymore?”
“No,” said Max quickly. “No, it’s not that at all. It’s just I haven’t been here much this year.” He thought back to the Erasmus and the Lorcas’ warm kitchen and the Kestrel ’s flight to the far-off Sidh. He glanced at the red mark on his wrist. “I’ve traveled and seen more than I wanted to, Frigga. I’m not really sure I’m your Max anymore. . . .”
The gargantuan selkies promptly shimmied out of the water and basked in the sun on either side of him, as they had when he first arrived at Rowan. Max waxed nostalgic for a moment until an enormous flipper smacked him in the back of his head.
“That no excuse,” growled Frigga. “And you will always be our Max.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As a second book, The Second Siege posed a number of distinct challenges. Chief among these were developing existing characters, introducing new ones, and accelerating The Tapestry’s pace while increasing its scale. To write and illustrate this book on a deadline while teaching has been the greatest challenge of my life. Without the support of family, friends, students, and colleagues, my sanity would have undoubtedly taken an ugly turn. I have many people to thank: Sean Carroll and Lisa Tarter, Christopher and Kirstin Casgar, Scott and Loretta Dahnke, Lesley Dalton, Jacquie Duncan, Michael and Catherine Farello, Heidi Hankins, Scott Kemper, Matt and Maya Markovich, Michael Markovich, Marilyn Mawn, Ed and Betsy McDermott, John and Jennifer Neff, Victoria Neff, Travis Nelson, Jill Paganelli, Brian and Elizabeth Payne, Doug and Sarah Reed, Josh and Ryn Richards, Gordon and Krista Rubenstein, Orestes Tarajano, Gavin Turner, and all of my colleagues, my students, and their families at Stuart Hall High School in San Francisco.
Special mention and my deepest gratitude go to my editor at Random House, Nicholas Eliopulos, whose brilliant feedback and patient prodding were essential to shaping up the second book and bringing it into being. That Nick always manages to do so with grace and good humor is both impressive and humbling.
My final thanks go to my mother, Terry Neff Zimmerman, whose tireless encouragement and timely feedback helped propel Max McDaniels and David Menlo across the Atlantic, deep within the Frankfurt Workshop, and, literally, out of this world. . . .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Henry H. Neff teaches history and fine arts at a San Francisco high school. The Second Siege is the sequel to The Hound of Rowan, which was his first novel. You can visit the author at www.henryhneff.com.
THE TAPESTRY
BOOK 3
THE FIEND AND THE FORGE
Available September 2009
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text, map, and illustrations copyright © 2008 by Henry H. Neff
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:
“You Can’t Be Mine (And Someone Else’s, Too).” Words and Music by J. C. Johnson and Chick Webb. © 1938. U.S. Rights Administered by the Songwriters Guild of America. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of the Songwriters Guild of America. Exclusive Worldwide Print Rights Administered by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Neff, Henry H.
The second siege / written and illustrated by Henry H. Neff.—1st ed.
p. cm.—(Tapestry; bk. 2)
Summary: Twelve-year-old Max and his allies risk much as they seek to acquire the Book of Origins, an artifact of unimaginable power, in hopes of halting the ancient evil that is bringing the world to its knees.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89236-3
[1. Magic—Fiction. 2. Demonology—Fiction. 3. Books and reading—Fiction. 4. Witches—Fiction. 5. Schools—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.N388Sec 2008
[Fic]—dc22
2007050658
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
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