The Book of Sight

by Deborah Dunlevy

  “He was listening,” she said.

  “You’re saying that a little lizard carried off our books?” laughed Adam.

  “No, but he could have told someone else where they were,” she answered.

  “We haven’t seen any evidence that it can talk,” Adam pointed out.

  “So now you don’t believe in Alex’s feelings?” asked Dominic.

  “So now you do?”

  “Let’s just see,” said Dominic, and Logan could see that his hands had tightened. Now the creature did start to squirm.

  “Don’t hurt it!” cried Eve.

  “I won’t,” Dominic said, “as long as it tells us what it’s doing here and who it is reporting to.”

  Adam snorted, and Logan was tempted to laugh at the idea of interrogating a gecko, but something about the way the little head tilted to the side as if it understood…

  “All right! Stop! Please stop! You caught me. I was listening. Just stop, stop, stop.” The voice was louder and less shrill than you would have expected from something that small. “I’ll talk. Talking is good. I have no problem talking. There’s no need to squeeze. You win. You are very clever. You know all about me. You found me out. See, I’m talking. I’m cooperating. I’m a good little muxen.”

  The little creature said all this in the two seconds it took for Dominic to release the pressure. In fact, for a second Logan thought Dominic was going to drop the thing out of surprise. Apparently he hadn’t been as confident that it would talk as he had seemed. They were all staring. Only Alex looked calm.

  “What are you?” she asked.

  “Of course that is the first question you would want to ask. Anyone would do the same I suppose. I’m not entirely sure that it’s best for you to know, but I did say I would answer all your questions. You were clever enough to find me and quick enough to trap me and strong enough to…yes, yes, well to show good faith I will answer your question. I am Sarten, though most people call me only Sarty. I suppose you will do as most people do. That seems to be the way people like to act. So you’ll call me Sarty. Though I hate that name. I should really much prefer Sarten. But that’s of no matter. My name is not so very important. I’m really no one. It’s not what you call me that matters. I’m just a little nobody, a little listener, so small, so insignificant. You really shouldn’t mind me at all.”

  Now that he had started talking, he didn’t seem to want to stop. His speech was clear, but so fast that Logan could barely understand it.

  “But what are you, Sarten?”

  “A muxen, of course. Don’t tell me you don’t know what a muxen is. The finest traders in gossip and information. If you haven’t heard of us, you’ve been missing out. I have so much I could tell you. Just whatever you want to know.”

  “Okay,” said Alex. “Why are you spying on us?”

  “I wasn’t spying on you. How could you say such a thing? No, not spying. Spying is such a nasty little word. I was listening. Just listening. Listening is what I do. And it’s so harmless really. I just sit and bother no one and listen. And, oh, the things I learn. I know many things from just listening. Yes, there is always so much to listen to and so much to learn.” A gleam came into his eye. “I love to listen. Oh, yes, I do. I am a listener, that’s me. Just listening, listening, very small, very harmless, just a listener.”

  “Yes, but you didn’t just listen,” Alex interrupted. “You talked. You, um, ‘traded’ information about us. Who did you tell about us?”

  “Who says I talked? Who told you such things about little Sarten? I didn’t talk, oh no, not to anyone. I’d much rather listen and learn than talk. No, no, I most definitely didn’t talk, so you see, you can let me go.” It squealed as Dominic applied pressure again. “Okay, okay, I can see there is no fooling you. I said you were clever, and clever you are. You cannot be fooled. You can see that Sarten likes talking, too. Yes, half the fun of listening is telling what you’ve heard. And I’ve heard so many things in so many places. So much to tell, and he is a very interested listener. So I couldn’t really help myself. It’s the way I was made, you see. I listen and talk and talk and listen. And I have to talk to whoever will listen. And he is a very good listener. Oh yes, maybe not as good as Sarten, but a very good listener just the same.”

  “Who is?” asked Dominic.

  “Oh, that’s not important. You don’t need to know that. Just listen to this…”

  “Who is a good listener?”

  “Oh, well, just him, you know. The one who told me to come back. Okay, I admit it, he told me to listen some more. Not that I minded. I liked listening. And this is a nice place to listen. And- ouch! Ouch! No need to squeeze! No need to hurt me! I’m talking. I’m talking all you want.”

  “Who did you talk to?” repeated Dominic over the little muxen’s protests. “Just give us a name.”

  “I can’t say! I can’t see! I really can’t say! You are clever. You will know that I’m telling the truth. I don’t know his name. I don’t really see him. Just hear him. Just listen and he asks and I tell and he is a very good listener. But he doesn’t say much. No, he never said names. But I really think you worry too much about names. His name is not interesting. His name is not fun. I could tell you so many more interesting things, don’t you know. I listen. I listen all over and I hear things. Did you know the farmer’s creek is drying up? The creek, that lovely place, is all drying up, and the farmer says that it’s a bad sign. That there isn’t enough water. That there won’t be good crops. He is very upset about his dried up creek. I can see that doesn’t interest you. Okay, okay, I can understand that. The troubles of farmers aren’t the most exciting news. But listen to this. The Hendersons…you know the Hendersons? Such a lovely family and such a beautiful house surrounded by trees. (Perfect for listening, you know.) Well, the Hendersons have a lovely family, but their marriage is over. They yell all the time, you know. He yells and she yells, and she says she has seen a divorce lawyer and he says to go ahead. And little Tyler hides…”

  “Enough!” said Alex. “We don’t want to hear about anyone or anything else. You can keep your gossip to yourself. We just want to know who you’ve been reporting to. Who did you tell about us…about the books?”

  “I told you, I don’t know. I don’t know who he is. Oh, there are so many interesting things to tell. Why do you only keep asking about him?”

  “If you don’t know his name, just tell us where he is. Where do you go to talk to him?”

  “I really don’t think he would like that, no I don’t. He’s a very good listener, just I said. Oh yes, I wasn’t lying. I’ve learned not to lie to you. But he isn’t very nice, you know. I don’t really think he’d be very happy with little Sarty if he knew I had told. No I’d better not tell. Just think of that creek, though, going all dry. Very sad, I can tell you. A lovely creek, all dry as a bone now. That’s what the farmer said, dry as a bone. He’s quite upset about it.”

  “We don’t care about the creek!” said Adam. “Just tell us where you talk to this nameless person!”

  “Just listen. You aren’t listening. No, I don’t think you are good listeners, at all. I am telling what I know. I am answering your questions. But there can’t be names. He’d know if I told you the name, and then he’d be angry. He was very specific. No talking to humans. No telling them gossip. No giving them information. I don’t want to make him angry. Then who would listen to all that I’ve heard? No, I tell you just this, and I know you are clever. You will know what to do. You won’t be angry with Sarten any more. You’ll go your way, doing all the fun and interesting things I heard you talking about, and you’ll leave little Sarty alone. I’m just listening, after all. I’m not hurting anyone.”

  “If you’ve been listening, Sarten, you know that you have been hurting us,” said Alex. “When you tell whoever it is about us and our books, he comes and steals them.”

  “Oh, maybe. But, really, you don’t know that that’s true. For all you know you’ve just misplaced them
. Or it could have been anyone who broke in and stole them. There have been some amazing break-ins in this town, I can tell you. Just the other week, over on Elm Street…”

  “We don’t care,” said Dominic with finality. “You know full well who is breaking in and stealing the books. Tell us where you go to talk to him.”

  “Well, I really don’t like the tone you are all taking. I tell you, I’m only an innocent little muxen. I’ve done as you asked. I’ve talked and I’ve gossiped, even though he said not to. But no information. Oh no. He would be angry. He said absolutely no information to humans. Humans are rabble rousers. Humans are dangerous. They…”

  “What?” broke in Adam. “Did you say humans are dangerous?”

  “Oh, yes. Yes, yes. He said so, and I’m afraid it’s true. Most everyone knows it.”

  “You’re right,” said Dominic quietly. “We are dangerous.” He applied a bit more pressure. “So now where exactly is this ‘he’?”

  “I really can’t. You don’t understand.”

  More pressure.

  “Okay, okay. A…a farm,” The little muxen choked on the word and began to cough. “A creek.” He gagged. “A field…a cave…” The last word was strangled off in a fit of hacking and heaving.

  “What’s wrong with him?” cried Eve.

  Dominic was looking at the creature in his hand with horrified disgust as it writhed and gagged. With a sudden shake, he dropped it to the ground.

  Quick as a blink, the little lizard sat up, flashed them a saucy wink and dashed off through the thick grass.

  Dominic cursed and Adam laughed, but Logan gave a sharp whistle.

  A flash of pink appeared, streaking off across the field, and then it was gone.

  “What a little faker,” said Eve.

  “I can’t believe I fell for that,” Dominic said.

  “We all did,” said Alex. “I thought you had killed it there for a minute.”

  “Well, at least we know how to make sure we aren’t being spied on now,” Eve said. “That was quick thinking about the whistle, Logan. It must be the noise that makes him turn pink like that.”

  “Oh,” said Alex. “Is that what that was about?”

  “Well, we may not know where to find the thief, but we know where to start looking,” said Logan. “A farm with a sign over the gate, a dry creek, a field and a cave. That’s better than nothing.”

  “A little better than nothing,” grumped Adam. “But there must be a hundred farms around here. What are we going to do? Ride around on our bikes for miles personally looking at every farm?”

  “If we have to, I guess we will,” said Eve. “But I was thinking that we should start with a map. We could check out where the creeks are.”

  “But there are probably a hundred creeks, too. And maps aren’t going to show the individual farms. They’ll just have the roads on them.”

  “Determined to be positive, aren’t we, Adam? I’m just saying it would be a place to start.”

  “Eve’s right,” said Alex. “We have to start somewhere.”

  “Great. Next up on our thrilling adventures…the library.”

  • • • • •

  After a couple of hours of searching through endless maps for something useful, Logan was feeling about as negative as Adam. There were road maps for tourists, surveying maps, even agricultural maps, but none that listed the names of any of the farms. And, as Adam had predicted, there were dozens of creeks running through the farmland. Unfortunately, none of them were marked dried up creek by field with cave. Now that would have been a good map. Instead, most of them weren’t marked at all. Plus, Dominic pointed out just when they were all really in the mood for more discouragement; there were probably tons of creeks that were too small to make it on the maps.

  “And you couldn’t have made that observation before we wasted half the afternoon in the library?” snapped Eve.

  “He probably thought it was obvious,” said Adam nastily.

  Logan sighed. He had a pain between his shoulder blades from hunching over for so long, and the bickering wasn’t helping. He stood up and stretched and looked out the narrow window at the trees that shaded the parking lot. The trees really were the best part of this town. They were everywhere. Perfect for listening, he suddenly remembered. That muxen must have a heyday here. Where was it he had said had such great listening trees? Oh, yeah, the Hendersons. Lovely family.

  Then it hit him. The Hendersons. Without a word to the others, he turned and headed for the front desk.

  “Hey, Logan, are you leaving just like that?” called Adam.

  “I just thought of something.”

  He asked the librarian at the desk for a phone book and flipped to the H’s. There were at least ten Hendersons listed, but one caught his eye immediately: Henderson, Richard P. 414 Elm St.

  Elm Street. That was it. That had to be it. He threw the phone book down on the table in front of Alex in triumph, pointing to the entry he’d found.

  “Henderson, Richard P.?” Alex asked.

  “Elm St. The Hendersons live on Elm St.” said Logan. “Remember the gossip that Sarten was so keen to share with us? The Hendersons are fighting. There was a break in on Elm St. Maybe those were places near the place he couldn’t tell us about.”

  “You’re totally right,” said Alex. She grabbed a book of road maps and flipped to the index. “Elm street….Elm street. Here it is. Page 3, section D1.” There was a pause while she hunted it down. “Yes! Elm St. It’s right at the edge of town. It looks like it ends in open fields. I’ll bet you anything those fields are where we’ll find our farm. Logan, you’re a genius.”

  14

  Fear Perched Like a Bird

  Eager to get started, Adam arrived twenty minutes early to the Redoubt the next morning. Of course, he was the first one there, so he passed the time by pacing restlessly around the circle.

  “Geesh, Adam, 8:00 wasn’t early enough for you?” Alex dropped her backpack to the ground and yawned. Still, Adam noticed that she was there five minutes early herself. He tried to relax some, and sat down next to her, leaning against a tree to wait for the others.

  At 8:00 on the nose, they could see Dominic heading toward them from across the field. He had one of the photocopies they’d made of the map in his hand and Alex’s book under his arm. Alex looked relieved to see it. They had agreed that Dominic should keep it at his house since it was unlikely that Sarten had any chance to discover who he was or where he lived yet.

  “Did you guys notice this?” asked Dominic, waving the map at them as he sat down.

  “Notice what?”

  “This spot right here.”

  He pointed at the map. Sure enough, right there in the empty fields across from Elm St. there was a shaded patch.

  “It’s probably just a flaw in the photocopy,” said Adam.

  “I thought that, too, at first, but look at how even it is. And it’s a perfect square. The more I look at it, the more I think that’s the farm we’re looking for.”

  Alex was looking impressed, and for some reason this bothered Adam. “Oh, come on. It’s just a smudge.”

  “Just a smudge, like those are just clouds? Like this is just a circle of trees? Like that thing we talked to yesterday was just a chameleon?”

  “I think he’s right,” said Alex. She was looking at her own copy. “It’s like the map shows a shadow where the farm would be. I didn’t notice anything like that on the original, but I’m sure that’s what it is.”

  Adam was unconvinced, but he knew better than to keep arguing. They’d find out soon enough if Dominic’s theory was correct.

  They lapsed into silence, waiting for Logan and Eve. As the minutes passed, Adam could feel his impatience growing. Why would they be late today of all days? This could be the day they finally found some answers.

  It was fifteen minutes before Logan appeared, and he didn’t look happy.

  “I went by Eve’s house to walk with her, and she can’t come,�
�� he reported without even greeting them. “I guess she and her mom got in a huge fight, and she’s grounded. And her mom is watching her, so I don’t think she’s going to be able to sneak out. I wasn’t allowed in to see her, but Eve dropped this out the window.”

  He held out a note. Alex took it and read it out loud.

  “Guys, I’m so sorry about this. My mom figured out that we were lying about being in a play, and when I couldn’t explain what we were really doing, she freaked out. She says I’m grounded for the rest of the summer, but don’t worry. She’ll let me off after a few days. I’ll just have to be more careful from now on. I’m really sorry I can’t go check out that farm today. If you want to go without me, I’ll totally understand. Just let me know what you find. If you send a text to my sister’s phone, I’ll be able to get it. I’m borrowing it for a while. Sorry, Eve.”

  Alex looked up. “What are we going to do?”

  “What do you mean, ‘what are we going to do?’” said Adam. “We’re going to go the farm, find out what’s going on, and leave a note for Eve about it.”

  Logan looked down and kicked at a tuft of grass.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Dominic.

  “Me either,” said Alex.

  “Why not?” asked Adam. A feeling of frustrated impatience was rising as he sensed what was about to happen. “You don’t think we should go without Eve? She told us to go ahead. And this is really important. We need to find this guy before he steals more books. And Eve is supposed to be grounded all summer. We can’t wait that long.”

  “She said she’d probably get off in a few days,” said Logan.

  “We don’t know what we’re going to find,” Alex said. “It would be better if we were all together.”

  “But you and I went to see the Gylf by ourselves, and we didn’t know anything about them.”

  “That was before we met the others. And I’d seen one of them before. We don’t know anything about this guy except that he’s bad. I just think it’s better…safer…if we all go together.”