by Legg, Brandt
“Can you move?” I whispered.
“I don’t think so.”
“They’re coming. We have to move.”
“Leave me. It’s okay, Nate, you go.”
I pulled her up, supporting her weight with her arm around my neck. She screamed, but I kept pushing towards the water. They were near. I looked back and saw two men; Fitts must still be down. They were very close now. I still had the Lusan I’d been healing Tanya with. We were almost to the river. They’d be able to grab us any second. Obviously, their orders were to take me alive, or I’d already be dead. I pushed Tanya into the water as gently as I could. She screeched loudly. I turned and threw the Lusan at the agents. There was a flash, dirt and rock flying . . . and screams. I didn’t wait to see.
I dove in after Tanya. The current had us both. Her head was above the surface, and the cold water was hopefully cutting her pain. I forgot all my aches. Still, the cold would become an enemy. After a few minutes, the rapids eased some and I could get to her, working us over to the other side. It took forever to navigate the rocks, but it got shallow enough that I could pull her out onto the opposite bank. There was no way to know how far down we’d come, easily a mile. If the agents survived, and Fitts must have, it would be tough for them to find us before morning. I hoped so anyway.
Tanya was in bad shape. Her teeth were chattering; she tried to speak but wasn’t making any sense. I was shaking, freezing, and wet. The exertion and fear left me unable to make another Lusan. Somehow we stumbled forward. The bank was flat here and after a few dozen excruciating steps we almost fell into someone’s tent. A guy came out ready for a fight, but his flashlight revealed trauma victims who were no threat. We were in a large campground along the river. I’m not sure what happened next, but somehow people got us into a car and soon we were at the hospital in Grants Pass. The sun was coming up.
I told a story that we’d been looking for my lost dog when Tanya slipped and fell down the bank into the river. The nurse said I was a hero for going in after her--crazy, but a hero. Aside from a few gashes that only required bandages, I was pronounced good enough to see Tanya.
“Once you visit your friend, come on back, we need you to stay until we reach your mother.” The nurse handed me my dry clothes and shoes. “We’re not supposed to use the dryers for patients’ clothes, but seeing how you’re a bona fide hero and all . . . ”
I high-fived her.
Tanya was going to be fine, too, although a rather large cast would be on for six weeks along with crutches. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure out how to heal broken bones way before that,” I promised her.
She smiled. “You better not stay, Nate. They’ll probably look for you here.”
“I just wanted to see you first. I’m leaving now.”
“Nate, how did they find my house?”
“I’ve been trying to figure that out myself.”
“Do you think they’ll try to get me?”
“I don’t know. You’re not a relative, and so far they’ve left my friends alone. They could have grabbed Amber, Kyle, or Linh at any time. If I stay away from you, I think they might, too.”
“Where will you go?”
“I’ll figure something out. And don’t worry, we’ll find Rose.”
“I heard you yelling at that man, the first one who came after us. He killed your dad?”
“Yes.”
She squeezed my hand.
“He’s got Dustin and Rose, too. I wanted to kill him. I was going to kill him. It feels horrible.”
“Don’t let it eat at you. He deserves it. What about the other ones? What did you do to them?”
“I don’t know. They might be dead.”
“You better find a good place to hide.”
“I called Kyle, and he’s on his way. We’ll find somewhere.” I’d given him a quick rundown of what happened and told him to come alone.
“Thanks for saving me.”
“I’ll see you soon.” I hoped it was true. I hurried to the hall, knowing it was possible Lightyear was already in the building.
41
I was looking for an exit when I heard Josh’s voice!
“Nate, how did you get here?” His shirt was the color of a yellow highlighter.
“Some guys from a campground brought me. How did you know I was here?”
“I didn’t. Your mom has me listed as an emergency contact. The hospital phoned me forty-five minutes ago. I drove straight here. I’ve been trying to call you, but it keeps going to voice mail.”
“Wait, what are you talking about? My mom’s here?”
“Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“No, a friend broke her leg.” He couldn’t see the bandages under my clothes. “What’s wrong with Mom?”
“Oh Nate, you don’t know. God, I’m sorry. She was in an accident.”
I couldn’t breathe. In that moment, I questioned everything. Not Mom. It was all coming apart.
“Nate, are you okay? Here,” he moved me into a chair.
Josh shouted to a nurse passing by, “Can you get him some water?”
“Nathan, what happened?” she asked; it was my nurse.
“Your mom’s okay,” Josh said. “She just came out of surgery. I spoke with the doctor. He said he expects her to make a full recovery.”
“When did it happen?” I finally managed.
The nurse went for water.
“On her way home from seeing you. Not far from here she went off the interstate. No other vehicles involved.”
“Take me to her!”
“She’s not awake yet. As soon as they get her into a room, we’ll go up there.”
Josh hugged me. I buried my face in his shoulder. I was sobbing. The nurse set a cup of water on the window ledge and draped a warm blanket over me. “Is he all right?”
Josh nodded.
“I’ll come back and check on him soon.”
Josh began talking calmly to me. I don’t know what he said, nothing important, but soon he had me distracted enough that my thoughts could connect and I stopped crying.
My nurse came back and gave directions to my mom’s room. Mom’s face was badly swollen and cut. The seatbelt and airbag saved her but there had been lots of flying glass.
“Mom?”
She opened her eyes. Almost a smile, but the pain canceled it quick.
“Nate, sweetie.”
“I’m here, Mom,” I took her hand. Her eyes closed.
It was five minutes before she woke up again. In the meantime, a doctor had come in and told me she would, in fact, live. It was hard to believe looking at her bloodied face, but he said she could go home in two or three days.
I still had her hand when she said, “There was this big light, I couldn’t see--”
“Headlights?”
“No. Driving fine, then blinded by big flash of light right at me.”
Josh came into the room.
“We can talk about it later.” No one could have convinced me that Lightyear wasn’t involved. They were trying to wipe my family out of existence.
“You’ve needed some time off anyway,” Josh said to her, smiling.
“If you’re here I must be dying.”
“No. The doctors guarantee a full recovery.”
Kyle showed up. We left Mom with Josh and went into the hall. “I asked for you at the nurses’ station, and they said you were up here in your mom’s room. What happened to her?”
“She went off the road on her way home from Tanya’s.”
“Was it Lightyear?”
“I can’t prove it, but I have no doubt.”
“You know you shouldn’t be here. They’re going to figure it out pretty quick, if they haven’t already. Your mom, Tanya, they put them here. They know you’ll come.”
“I can’t leave my mom.”
“Listen man, do you think your mom wants you dead?”
I pushed him out of my way.
He grabbed my shoulder from behind
. “I’ll tell her everything that happened tonight. I’ll walk in there and tell her agents are on their way to kill you and that you’re just going to wait for them at her bed.”
I was furious, knowing he’d do it, knowing he was right. I had to leave. Frustrated, I couldn’t even take care of my mother.
“Damn it!” We started down the hall. Josh called after us.
“Josh, say bye to Mom for me. I’ll call soon. We have to go.”
“If you need a place to stay . . .” He caught up to us. “And you really should talk to the FBI. You’re in pretty deep, buddy.”
“Mom agreed to let it play out a little longer.”
“Think about it. And here,” Josh handed me a fifty.
“No Josh. I’m good. Mom gave me some cash yesterday.”
“Just take it.”
I thanked him and stuffed the bill in my jeans. “We gotta go.”
We flew out a side door and raced around the building to Kyle’s car. His eyes darted back and forth as he sped out of the lot.
“Where are we going?” Kyle asked.
“Brookings. I’ve got to find Spencer; this is out of control! And I can’t reach him any other way, so he’s got to be at Tea Leaf.”
“Sounds like a long shot. What about Dustin?”
“One thing last night taught me is that Lightyear definitely wants to take me alive. Spencer’s right. Dustin is safe as long as I am.”
“When did you last meditate?” Kyle asked.
“Yesterday morning.”
“That’s too long.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been kind of busy trying to stay alive.” I gave him the whole story including the Lusan. “They may all be dead.”
“It’s the government. They can’t ever all be dead.”
“The ones at Tanya’s could be, and no one might know yet. I wish I’d made Fitts tell me where Aunt Rose was.”
“How would you have done that?”
“I don’t know. I was so filled with rage I couldn’t think straight.” I put the papers from my dad’s desk on the dash to dry. I was glad he always wrote using Fisher Space pens because, even after being in the river, the ink was barely blurred.
“You had those with you?” Kyle asked pointing to the carved piece of wood and gold box in my lap.
“Yeah, in my pocket. My camera, too, but it was lost in the river.”
“You should memorize the sheets, in case next time you go for a swim you’re not so lucky.”
“Good idea.” I held the sheets for a minute and it was done.
“Did you get a chance to ask Spencer about them?”
“Yeah, he was strange. I know he recognized the box, but he said he didn’t. He thought the carved piece was a message of some sort that would reveal itself at the right time. I don’t think he knew what it meant. The pages, though, I swear he could read the ones in code, I mean I watched him and he was reading, but he just shook his head.”
“How about the list with his name on it?”
“I asked if he knew any of the other names on the list or why my dad would have written it, and he got lost somewhere for like two minutes, staring off into forever. Then said no. It was like he didn’t want to give the pages back to me, but he finally did. Spencer’s a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
After a few minutes of silence Kyle asked, “What’s going on with you and Amber?”
“No comment.”
“It’s a scandal,” he said in a falsetto voice.
“We’re just friends. But I should call her to see if we can crash at her beach house.”
I knew Kyle was worried about missing school. I told him I’d help him study. We stopped for some snacks and sodas. I called Amber and Linh and caught them up. Amber wanted to join us at the beach house, but I refused.
42
Far ahead, a mountain lion lumbered across the road. “Did you see that?” I asked. “Pull in up there.”
“What?” I wasn’t surprised he didn’t see it. The lion, or maybe a shapeshifter, had run into Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, one of the last uninterrupted forests of old-growth coastal redwoods left on earth.
“Something important to me. A mountain lion.”
“Why’s that important?” He drove down one of the narrow dirt roads that accessed a small part of the 10,000 acres of giants. “Because we saw one the morning we first met Spencer?”
“Yeah.” I opened the car door. “Park and catch up to me. I’ll be right back.” I jumped out and pursued the ghostly animal. This was the first time a shapeshifter had lasted more than a few seconds. Finding the narrow primitive path he’d taken, I was small and hushed by the three-hundred-foot trees. The scent of pine and dark organic earth filled me. Negotiating through lush ferns towering over me, there was another glimpse of the lion, so I increased my speed.
A woman was on the path ahead, and it was not clear where she came from. A flowing blue skirt with a jagged hem and bare feet made her look out of place in the trees.
“Hello.” She appeared older than Amber but younger than Tanya.
“Hey, you’re the one with the spilling purse from the gas station.”
“Of course I am, Nate. Why would you be talking to me otherwise?”
“Did you send the mountain lion?”
“What lion?” she asked, alarmed. Then she dismissed it. “I have some things to show you.”
“I should get my friend.”
“Kyle can wait. This will only take a few minutes.”
“Who are you?”
“Names, names, names. Why on earth is everyone so hung up on names?”
“Where are we going?”
“Just be in this moment right now. What happens next is of no concern, at least not until it happens.” She giggled.
The redwoods had always been special to me, but something had changed now. I could hear them. It wasn’t like they were speaking English; they were communicating their energy. Quietly growing, breathing, absorbing sun and moisture, it was all around, gentle and powerful.
We weren’t really following a trail, but she seemed to know where she was going. The earth sloped toward a small clearing, a stand of redwoods bigger than the rest, in deep greens, reds, and browns.
“Welcome to the Grove of Titans.” She introduced them, “This is Lost Monarch and here is El Viejo del Norte. This beauty is Screaming Titans, and there are Aragorn, Sacajawea, Aldebaran, Stalagmight and that one over there is Del Norte Titan.” She looked at me smiling. “Takes your breath, doesn’t it?”
“Yes,” I whispered, and walked over to Lost Monarch. Its magnificent trunk was nearly thirty feet wide. I learned later Lost Monarch was the largest living tree by width and height. I stretched my arms against the thick, twisting bark. In a few minutes twenty-two centuries drifted into me. Very few people had been here in all that time, mostly animals, and the seasons shifting in this isolated place. I saw the tree grow from its first year, when it shot up seven feet, and the eventual climb to where it was today. Then Lost Monarch invited me to climb.
“It wants me to climb,” I said. “How?”
She was standing next to me when all at once she half ran and half floated up and then disappeared into the canopy. Even with the powers I’d accumulated, it was an awesome display.
“Where are you?” I yelled.
The trees were quiet. A few minutes later she came down another tree. “Now you.”
“I think I’ll need a six-week flight training course before I could attempt that.”
“It’s not flying, silly. It’s ‘Skyclimbing,’ easy in nature, hard on buildings, even for you.”
“Even for me? You say it like I’m special.”
“We both know you are.”
“You must know Spencer.”
“Spencer-nencer, Silly-nilly. Never heard of him. Ask another question.”
“You’re weird.”
“Is that a question?” She laughed. “Okay, I’ll tell you. The constra
ints of gravity are looser than scientists would have you believe. So all you do is this.” She ran between trees gaining speed and momentum and soon was skipping from the ground to the lower branches and then from tree to tree. “It’s one of those things you just have to know you can do.”
“Are you sure you don’t know Spencer? You teach just like him.”
“The soul is more powerful than any earthly laws of physics. Mind over matter and all that. You use Photoshop to modify your photos, right? By rearranging pixels you change the look of a picture--remove a flagpole, take out red eye, enhance colors, on and on.”
“Yeah.”
“Good, now stay with me. Atoms make up everything. Think of atoms like pixels. You can rearrange the atoms on this canvas. Your mind is like your computer’s mouse: just point and click.” She waved her arms to frame in the trees around us. “It’s really nothing you need to think too hard about. Just know your hands and feet can find something more solid than leaves and air. This won’t be difficult for you. Lost Monarch invited you personally.” She seemed proud.
It turned out not to be hard at all and for a while I was convinced it was a lovely dream. I only needed the briefest contact with a branch, or even the pine needles, in order to take off. Later I learned it was done using Gogen and Foush.
“How do you like Skyclimbing?” she shouted.
“Is this real?”
“Is anything?” She laughed.
“It’s like that Chinese movie where they fly around on bamboo trees, sword-fighting.”
“Where do you think that idea came from? All creativity comes from the soul. When you read something in books or see it in movies, it’s all expressions of soul memories.”
Branches obscured the ground, and sky was also impossible to find; it was another world. The redwoods were so huge that other trees, some surprisingly large, grew right on their limbs. Dried leaves, sticks, and plants on many of the branches made it look like the lower ground. Dirt was several feet deep in places. Rabbits and other small animals made the upper reaches their homes. Each time I climbed higher, a new mini-forest revealed itself.
Unexpectedly, she was by my side again.
“It’s like a great floating forest. Where are we going? I can’t stay up here too long, Kyle will be wondering where I am.”