’Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms.”
* * *
“More Keats?” I asked, and he nodded. I had to admit, Dym had a fine voice for poetry. It seemed to reach inside and reverberate within. And he put just the right emphasis on the words, drawing the listener into Keats’s world. If Dym was looking for a career, he could easily be an orator.
The swaying feeling wasn’t quite as bad this time when I was near him. It was distant, like the sounds of the sea one would hear walking along a beach. I wondered if the swaying had served its purpose. Was it trying to tell me something about Dym the first time I’d met him?
“You know, I still can’t understand how you keep getting into Silver Hill’s garden,” I said. “Even if you used the moat to swim around back, you’d have to get through the forest and across the moors. That’s an awfully long way through some very wild country just to go for a swim.”
“What can I say?” Dym did the backstroke towards the center of the pond and stayed there for a few moments. “I’m fanatical about fitness.”
“Riiight,” I said. Then I tilted my head. Though Dym was now in the middle of the water, he wasn’t moving his arms to keep afloat. It almost looked like he was standing in the water. But the pond couldn’t be that shallow if it was the same depth as the moat. Moats often went down as far as thirty feet to discourage intruders. So, unless he was over thirty feet tall, Dym would sink to the bottom.
Curiouser and curiouser.
“Why do you swim all the time?” I asked. “I mean, truly. Are you training for something?”
“You seem to think swimming is awfully hard work. I, on the other hand, find it relaxing.” He floated back towards the edge of the pond where I stood, hardly moving his arms at all. He must have some very powerful legs underneath there. I tried not to think about them too much.
Instead, I shrugged. “When I was in school back home, some of the girls used to sneak out to the Crazy Raven in town to relax.”
“I’m afraid I don’t frequent pubs,” Dym replied. The moonlight seemed to play on the waves in his hair, making them shimmer and shine.
“You don’t drink?” Most boys I knew liked to brag about how much liquor they could hold, whether it was true or not.
“Oh, I drink, all right.” He smiled wryly. “Like a fish.”
“But you don’t get your spirits from a pub. Do you raid your parents’ liquor cabinet, then?”
“No, no.” Dym’s shoulders shook in silent laughter. Whatever private joke he was having at my expense was grating. “Where else do you go with your friends to have fun?” he finally asked. “When you’re not sneaking out to the Crazy Raven, that is.”
“Friends? Fun? I, ah . . .” I couldn’t think of an answer that didn’t make me sound like a recluse. “I like to be by myself a lot.” Good one, Seluna. Nothing reclusive about that.
But somehow, Dym seemed to understand. “I assumed as much. I’m a bit of a loner, too. That’s why I like it here. Nice and quiet.”
“But you don’t come every night,” I said. “You mentioned last time it was only ‘once in a while.’ ”
“No, I don’t come every night. Only when I feel . . . the need.” He held my gaze for several long moments.
“The need? Oh.” I hastily looked away. “Because you think something’s going to happen. The intuition thing again.”
“And it appears I was right.” Dym smiled. “For here I am again, conveniently on the same night as you.” I didn’t mention to Dym all the nights I was down here during my solitary confinement. I didn’t want him to think I’d been seeking him out.
“I’m actually glad you returned,” he continued. “I wasn’t sure you would. I’ve been thinking about you, wondering how you were.”
“Really? I’ve been thinking about you, too,” I said, perhaps too quickly.
“Ooohhh?” Dym drew the word out, making it several syllables long.
I blushed, hoping the darkness would hide my reddening cheeks. “Not that often,” I said. “More like your swims. Just every once in a while.”
Dym slowly closed and then opened his eyes. With my keen vision, I couldn’t help but notice how green they were. Not a drab, diluted green. This was a fierce, deep, wild green. How could I have missed it?
“I’m flattered to be in your thoughts at all,” he murmured. Then, louder: “But something’s got you troubled again. I can tell.”
“More intuition?”
“Maybe. Or it could be the fact that you’re frowning. Either way, why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?”
Damn. Dym’s a hard boy to stay annoyed at. And why didn’t I realize I was frowning?
I felt a crick in the back of my neck. I’d been leaning over my sketches for at least an hour before coming here. Now, I was leaning down to look at Dym. It was too much leaning. I knelt by the edge of the pond so that we were nearly face-to-face, and the feeling in my neck eased. Our heads were so close, they were almost touching. I could see the veins around his temples, the water droplets coming off his eyelashes. I forced myself to focus on the conversation.
“I found . . . something,” I confessed.
“Something?” Dym propped his chin up on his palms, putting his elbows on the edge of the pond. Now, our heads were even closer. “My, how very interesting, and specific.”I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him like a child. I secretly wanted to, just so it could accidentally land on his lips.
“I found what I think is a witch’s grimoire, some of it in Old Hartlandian. It had to have been written several hundred years ago.”
“Really? What’s in it?”
“Lots of different things. Like a spell for something called ‘Drawing Down the Moon.’ ”
A smile played at the corner of Dym’s mouth. “Sounds intriguing. Anything that can help defend you against this Catron fellow you mentioned?”
“Nothing that I can see so far.”
“Hmmm. That’s not good. Any luck getting a release date, then?”
“Unfortunately, no. If anything, the situation at the asylum’s gotten worse.” I explained what had happened since we last spoke. I started with Rose and Laura, how they’d been shocked. Then I moved on to Thomasina, and how it seemed some girls weren’t ever leaving Silver Hill.
Dym looked alarmed. “Not leaving Silver Hill? What do you mean?”
“Some are staying on as permanent residents. I don’t think they have much choice in the matter. Others . . .” I briefly went over the disappearance of Geraldine, then the conversation between Dr. Catron and Mr. Flack.
“It seems Catron is looking for a ‘creature’ of some sort. He didn’t say exactly what kind. All I could find out was that one had been spotted near here—a male with dark skin.” I waited a moment to see if Dym had any strong reactions. But all he did was nod slowly.
Maybe I’m wrong about the creature being mortal-like at all. For all I know, it could be a brown bear or something.
“Did he say anything else about this creature?” Dym asked.
“I have to warn you, it’s rather disgusting.” I put down my candle. “He said if he could just open up the creature’s head, he might be able to find some kind of goddess.”
The muscles in Dym’s face went slack.
“Now, I know this is going to sound silly,” I continued, “but when he said ‘creature,’ I thought of you. I mean, I know you’re a person, not a creature, but maybe he was just using a figure of speech? Anyway, you’re male, you’re dark . . .” I rubbed my temples. “I don’t know. It seems crazy when I say it out loud. But if you’re the person they spotted, and they think you’re this creature, you might want to lie low for a while.”
Dym grimaced. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Seluna.”
“What do you mean? Why not?”
“It’s hard to explain.”
“I don’t see how. Can’t you take your midnight swims some other place? Some other time? It might do you a world of good to go swimming in warmer weather. You know, like normal people. Or is it just a bizarre thrill, sneaking in here?”
Dym gave a weak smile. “Something like that.”
I shook my head and looked at him in disbelief. “Do your feelings of excitement increase or decrease, knowing you might get killed?”
“Both. Neither. I . . . I don’t know.” Dym put his hands to the sides of his head and looked at me with pained eyes. “It’s not thrilling for the reason you think it is. What worries me more is this goddess you said they were looking for.”
“Really? Why would that worry you?”
“I don’t know. Again, it’s hard to explain. But don’t you agree it’s a strange thing to be looking for?”
“I guess. If goddesses even exist.”
Dym’s smile was wider, stronger now as he looked at me. “Oh, I know they exist.”
I blushed again. And they say girls are the moody ones. One minute, Dym is all mysterious, the next, he’s flirting like crazy. At least, I think that’s what he’s doing.
“Did Catron and Flack say anything else?” he asked.
“They said that they had to find the goddess, that they couldn’t let her mission in this world come to pass. Whatever that means. Catron seems to think it’s one of the girls at Silver Hill.”
“Meaning you?”
“I don’t know. You’d think if he were looking for me, he’d have found me by now. I mean, I’ve been at the asylum for weeks. Yet I can’t help but feel he’s waiting for proof of something. Proof that the person he’s found is the person he’s looking for.”
Dym ran his long fingers through his hair. “This reasoning is more circular than the inside of a seashell. Regardless, Seluna, you have to get out of there.”
“I know, I know. But how?”
“Try page one thirty-six.” Dym coughed.
“What?”
“Page one thirty-six. Of the book you found.”
“Why one thirty-six?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Dym scratched his head. “I mean, it’s just a random number. Something I pulled out of the air. You know, page ninety-seven. Page two eighty-five. Page . . . one thirty-six.” He looked at the dead trees that surrounded the pond, and wouldn’t meet my gaze.
I narrowed my eyes at Dym. Had he seen the Book before? It was waterlogged when I found it. Still, I decided to give him an out.
“Is this more of your intuition at work?”
Dym snapped his fingers, flinging several droplets of water onto the front of my dress. “Yes, intuition! That’s it exactly.”
“Okay, Dym, this fish will bite. I’ll look at page one thirty-six. But maybe there’s something you can do for me in the meantime.” I decided I had to ask Dym for help. Although I was hesitant before, the situation was clearly becoming dire. I’d have to trust him, because obviously, I couldn’t trust anyone in authority at Silver Hill.
I took a deep breath. “If there’s any way possible, can you hide me and a few other girls? Maybe just the ones I mentioned: Rose and Laura.” I saw Dym’s face fall. “Or if not,” I said quickly, “can you get a message to Laura’s aunt Mae? She might be able to help us.”
Dym bit his lip. “Seluna, I am so, so sorry. But I’m afraid I can’t do either of those things.”My heart turned to ice. “Can’t . . . do them?” I sat back so that my face wasn’t quite so close to Dym’s. “Why on earth not? Or do you just mean you won’t do them?”
“It’s definitely ‘can’t.’ I don’t have a place I can hide you—”
“You have a home, presumably?” Now, my voice was ice as well. Why would you act all charming with a girl, seemingly to win her affections, then refuse to help?
“I do, but it’s not exactly one you can visit.”
“Fine. Your home situation’s a mess. I get it; my family’s not exactly normal either. But why can’t you get a message to Laura’s aunt Mae?”
“Because there would be . . . questions. People—like Aunt Mae—would wonder how I got here, what I was doing at Silver Hill.”
“Funny, those are the same questions I have.” I glared at him.
“And how would I explain it to Aunt Mae, or anyone else who asks? Those are the types of inquiries that lead to trouble. Believe me, the trouble would be greater for you.”
“Would you mind telling me precisely how?” It was taking all my self-control not to reach out and strangle Dym around his wet, ropy neck.
Dym shook his head. “All I can tell you is that I wouldn’t mind if the harm only involved me. I wouldn’t mind dying even, Seluna. Not for you. But to have my death cause you harm? That I don’t think I could bear.”
He wouldn’t mind dying for me? We barely know each other. And yet, I agreed it didn’t seem that way. Something about Dym felt familiar, like coming home. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t explain himself.
“You know, Endymion, for a person who cares so deeply, you sure know how to play it cool,” I said through gritted teeth.
Dym smiled weakly. “It’s part of my charm.”
I collected my candle and stood up. “This is the furthest thing from charming that there is. In fact, it’s ridiculous. You’re just a selfish, lazy coward. A coward who can go to hell.” I started walking away without looking back.
So much for the prince who fights his way through evil vines to rescue the damsel, I thought. Monster.
“Wait!” I heard the sound of sloshing water, coupled with near panic in Dym’s voice. The latter was so sharp and pleading I almost turned around.
“Please, Seluna!” he begged. “Please believe me when I say that if I could help you, I would. I care more about you than anything. Truly.”
I stopped and looked down at him over my shoulder. “I find that very hard to believe,” I said. “Why would you care so much about a crazy girl like me? And if you cared about me, you’d help me. You’d at least come out of the water after me.”
“I, ah . . .” Dym sighed. “All right, this is rather embarrassing. But about coming out of the water, there’s a reason I can’t. It’s because I’m not fully dressed under here.”
My jaw dropped. “Wait a minute. You’re telling me not only do you go swimming in frigid water in the middle of winter, but you do it completely naked?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“That’s the most senseless thing I ever heard.” I rolled my eyes and was about to head back towards the asylum. “You just don’t give a damn about me.”
“Wait—I’ll prove it,” Dym said. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He lifted himself a few inches up on the shore of the pond. The moonlight shone down on his biceps and forearms, highlighting every muscle and sinew. As he began pulling himself out, I could see the hairline of his stomach traveling down his abdomen, lower . . . lower . . .
“All right!” I turned away and covered my eyes.” Is he really going to come out of the water without anything on? “I believe you! Stay where you are. I have no desire to see more.”
Which was a lie. I desperately wanted to see more. But this really wasn’t the time or the place. I turned around, and just before Dym sank back down, I thought I spotted something green and shimmery at the bottom of his stomach. But it could have just been moonlight on the water, or a piece of moss. We looked at each other in silence for a few moments.
“I don’t blame you for being angry, Seluna,” Dym said. “Really, I don’t. I want nothing more than to tell you the whole truth right now. But until the day comes when I can, you’ll just have to trust me.”
I set my jaw, but said nothing.
“I do hope you’ll come back,” he continued. “I’d love to see you again.”
“If you think I’m coming back here for a boy who won’t lift a finger to help me, you’ve got another think coming. I’ll return if and when I choose.” But probably when. Because no matter how much I wa
nt to hate you right now, I want to be close to you just a little bit more.
“Very well.” Dym’s green eyes locked on mine. “I hope it’s soon.”
I walked away again without saying good-bye. That bloke has a lot of nerve. I was muttering angrily, going almost too fast for the vines to part. I wondered if I would survive captivity long enough to come back, or if the inauspicious Event that Catron mentioned—
The Event! I stopped in my tracks. I should have asked Dym about that cataclysmic occurrence or whatever it was Catron was so afraid of. Maybe it wasn’t too late. I picked up my skirts and hurried back to the pond.
Of course, it’s going to be awkward asking him for a favor, seeing as how I left so abruptly. Still, it’s the least he can do. Maybe I can make him feel guilty for not helping me more. Then, if he knows anything about the Event, he’ll have to tell me.
But when I got back to the pond, Dym wasn’t there. I looked all around, even in the dead trees along the shore. Still no sign of him.
“Dym. Dym! Where in blazes are you?” I hissed. I called for several minutes, but he didn’t reappear. He couldn’t have swum out of the pond that fast without my hearing him. I began to worry. Not that I ought to be worried, because I shouldn’t care what happens to him. And yet, I did.
Suddenly, there was a gigantic splash, and Dym’s head and torso popped back up out of the water. I gasped and put my hand to my heart, nearly dropping my candle.
“Dammit, Dym, you frightened me! I thought you disappeared. Or drowned.”
Dym burst out laughing. How can he be so callous? “Me, drown? That’s too funny.”
“You shouldn’t laugh. It happens to strong swimmers all the time.”
“Well, it won’t happen to me.”
“I’m sure that’s what the other swimmers thought directly before they drowned. Just be careful, all right? I’d hate it if something happened to you.” Uh-oh. I said that last part out loud.
I half-expected Dym to start teasing me. Instead, he stopped laughing, and his whole face softened. “And you know I’d hate it if something happened to you as well.”
Although I had good reason to doubt that, I didn’t want to argue the point anymore tonight. “Right. So you say.” I cleared my throat. “Look, the reason I came back is that I forgot to ask if your intuition said anything about the Event that’s supposed to happen soon. According to Catron’s psychic, it’s going to be bad, and I’d really love not to be at Silver Hill when it happens.” If that’s even possible.
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