Behind the Curtain

by Shannon Ainslie

  “Rose needs to take you to his cave to see if you can connect with the tiger’s spirit.”

  Rowdy gulped. The idea of walking into the cave of a saber-toothed tiger made his spine shiver. But if that was what he needed to do, he was ready. He wanted fighting skills. He wanted to know how to penetrate the heartland without being seen. He looked at the women confidently and gave them an agreeable nod.

  “When?” he asked.

  Granny thought. She tapped her finger on her chin and paced the room. Rose was quiet, still holding her hands against the candlelight.

  “We need an appropriate offering for you to bring; something small enough for Rose to carry but suitably important enough to give to a wizard.” She continued to pace, tapping her chin. Rowdy and Rose warmed up. They looked at the map, Rose planning her route to the wizard’s old cave.

  “I will take care of this as soon as I can. Now we need to get back and eat and rest and relax for the evening.”

  And with that, the meeting in Sionnin was adjourned and all returned to the joy and happiness of Granny’s kitchen table.

  There were no talks of Sionnin that night. The old lady and the teenager and the crow talked of mundane things. School and plants and regular life. They laughed and relaxed and forgot the worries ahead of them over fresh-baked cookies and milk and tea.

  In the midst of the party, there was a knock at the door. It was Jordyn. She joined in as though she belonged, taking part in the conversation, laughter, and snacks until Rowdy walked her home.

  Close to her house, she reached over and took his hand, just briefly. He felt the burn of his hot hand around her cold one, and then it was gone before he could react.

  “Night,” she said softly. He watched her until she disappeared into her house.

  He went to sleep that night happy and comfortable, curious and afraid of both worlds.

  Chapter 7

  Romance

  The next morning Granny was long gone, working on her offering to the Wizard Boc. Rose and Rowdy had porridge and went for a long, grueling workout like old times, over the hills and through the forest and into the field. Everything had changed. It was almost the middle of April. There was more mud and vegetation to fight. The weather was beautiful and temperate, and water flowed everywhere. Instead of feeling nervous about their task in Sionnin that loomed ahead, they felt revived, moving their bodies in the spring air. It was Rose’s idea. She knew the fresh air and exercise would benefit Rowdy.

  He was feeling strong when he left Granny’s house on his bike that afternoon. It was time to get ready for another week of school while Granny put the offering together. Rowdy wondered what should be offered to a ghost.

  The wind whipped through his long hair and pulled at the flaps of his partly buttoned shirt. The spring weather was warm. His neighborhood was full of activity. It seemed everyone was out enjoying a sunny Sunday.

  He slowed a little as he rode past Jordyn’s house, peering into the shadows of her front porch. Hands waved, and Jordyn called him over.

  He took his time getting to her. He wanted to look casual. He flipped his hair to the side and put his hands in his pockets.

  He could see Jessica at the patio table. And he could see Hugo. Dumbass Hugo was there. Rowdy felt stung Jordyn would be hanging out with Hugo. She was wearing a crop top that exposed a trim waist. Rowdy didn’t want Hugo to see it. He wanted it to be for his eyes only. He felt jealous.

  The girls shouted greetings at him, but he wasn’t paying attention. He had locked his eyes with the piggy eyes.

  “Hey, man,” Hugo offered magnanimously, then gave Rowdy a forced smile.

  They were drinking iced tea, and there was music coming from inside. It looked as though they had been there for a while.

  Rowdy feigned disinterest but played along.

  “Where you been all week?” he asked, even though Jordyn had already told him.

  “Mexico.”

  “Sweet.”

  Jessica handed Rowdy a glass of iced tea, and he sat down.

  He met Jordyn’s eyes across the table. They shimmered with reflections, then crinkled around the edges as she smiled.

  “Will you come watch Hugo’s game with us tomorrow night? He’s playing against Chade.” She took a sip of her tea. Rowdy watched a water drop collect at the bottom of her glass, hold briefly, then fall onto her bare stomach, rattling him.

  “Yeah, sure,” he said. Hugo was the first-string pitcher for the Summerville Slammers. Chade was a town close by. Rowdy didn’t want to watch Hugo do anything, but if Jordyn wanted to sit beside him on a chilly evening, he would go.

  “Awesome!” Jordyn said. “Come by at four o’clock tomorrow. We’ll go together.”

  Rowdy was still wondering what Hugo was doing hanging out with Jordyn. Hugo was a jerk. Then all of a sudden he saw it. The way Jess was behaving. Her hair had been dyed a glossy black. She kept playing with it self-consciously, leaning forward toward Hugo, who sat across from her, pretending he was cool.

  Rowdy felt relieved. This was a Jessica and Hugo thing, not a Jordyn and Hugo thing. It was annoying though. Jessica was attached to Jordyn, so Hugo would be around her a lot.

  Rowdy drained his glass and got up to go.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “I’ll walk you,” Jordyn said, flashing Jess a knowing look.

  “Sure.” Rowdy shrugged and picked up his bike. He pushed it as they walked. Jordyn kept peeking back over her shoulder at Jessica.

  “I hate that guy,” Rowdy said.

  “Me too,” she agreed, “but Jessica likes the bad boys and won’t take my advice.”

  “At first I thought he was there to see you.”

  “Ew. Never.”

  “It made me jealous.” He stopped walking and faced her, his façade down.

  The sunlight hit the copper highlights in her hair. The breeze pulled at them. Her skin was pale, her chin pointed, her eyes deep and surprised.

  “Really?”

  He watched her cheeks flush pink and decided then and there that she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

  “I have to go, but maybe you could sneak over to my window tonight? You can tell me more about Sionnin.”

  He smiled and nodded. He watched her small hips moving until she disappeared into the shadows of her porch.

  He went to her window at nine that night. The dusk was rapidly falling into darkness under a cloud-covered, moonless sky. The air was crisp. The streets were empty. He peered into the windows of the homes he passed. Most windows were curtained, but a few were open, showing families sitting together at kitchen tables or gathered around the blue glow of a television.

  He missed his mom. He missed the dad he had before his mom had passed away. Seeing the happy families catalyzed the anger that had been bubbling in his guts since his mother had fallen ill.

  He shook the bad emotions off—or rather, shoved them deeper, out of view. He kept his head down and walked the maze to the back of Jordyn’s house.

  He stood in the shadows, listening. Her bedroom light was on. It showed in cracks around the curtain. He felt himself trembling a bit when he tapped lightly on the glass.

  She had been waiting for him and whisked the curtain open. When she pushed the window open, the smells of coconut, pineapple, cherry lip balm, and fresh laundry puffed out and surrounded him.

  She dropped a fuzzy gray blanket out onto the lawn. Her feet came next, and then she was out, smiling.

  “Your hair is up,” he observed.

  She touched the ball of hair on top of her head.

  “Oh, yeah. I put it up at night.”

  Rowdy studied the shape of her face, her slender, exposed neck. The ruby studs in her ears sparkled.

  “It’s cute.”

  She spread the blanket on the ground, sat, and pulled him down beside her. Her hair smelled so good he wanted to bury his face in it.

  “So…” s
he stammered, pulling a strand of hair loose and twirling it around her fingers. She looked at him shyly and expectantly.

  Rowdy waited, but she said nothing more.

  “So…what?” he asked, feeling stupid.

  She giggled nervously.

  “So, are we, you know, like a couple now?”

  She avoided his eyes, keeping her focus on the twirling hair. He felt his face get hot. He reached up and covered her twirling hand with his. It was cold and soft. She looked at their hands, then slowly laced her fingers through his.

  Their eyes met.

  “Cool,” she said. She moved up against him and put her head on his shoulder. “Now tell me more about Sionnin.”

  So he did. While he told her of his recent flight on the crow’s back, he leaned against the side of the house. He put his arm around her and pulled her even closer.

  He told her about the saber-toothed tiger’s ghost he would be going to visit. She gasped in mock terror, going along with his story. He stroked her soft hair with his fingers as he talked.

  Two hours went by like this until the cold and stiffness in their legs forced them to stand.

  He wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. The night was black and silent.

  “You are a strange one, Rowdy.” She shook her head at him. “And I really like you.”

  She leaned up to him then and pressed a kiss onto his lips, giving him a surge of energy.

  She turned away quickly before he could reciprocate.

  “Boost me up,” she ordered, suddenly all business.

  He did as she asked, pushing her little shoe up with his hands.

  “Good night, cutie. See you tomorrow!” she called out in a strained whisper before closing the window and curtain.

  He stood there grinning stupidly at her window until the light was turned off.

  He ran home through the dark neighborhood, feeling energized. He woke his dad, made him drink water, and helped him to bed.

  His own sleep was poor. He tossed and turned, his mind fluctuating between Jordyn and Wizard Boc.

  He awoke disoriented the following morning with the traces of a dream still lingering. It was a dream about a giant tiger with Jordyn’s voice. Rowdy shook his head and got going for the day.

  That Monday afternoon, Jordyn and Rowdy went to Hugo’s baseball game. There was a good-sized crowd there from Chade and Summerville. A lot of kids from school were there scattered across the wooden bleachers among extra hoodies and energy drinks.

  Jess waved them over; she’d saved seats for them. She and the people from school watched them approach. Everyone was wondering if Rowdy and Jordyn were a couple. It had only recently been made public news that Hugo and Jess were a couple; it was the typical “good girl falls for bad boy” scenario.

  “Hi, guys! Grab a seat!” Jess moved her things over, and they sat down. Jordyn made sure her leg was touching his. Jess didn’t skip a beat.

  “So, what, you guys are like a couple now?” She reached behind herself and retrieved a bag of sunflower seeds and a handful of bubblegum. She held both up to them.

  “Sunflower seeds or gum?”

  Rowdy saw she was wearing one of Hugo’s Slammers caps. She looked kind of hot in a geeky way.

  “Ew,” Jordyn said to the seeds. She took a piece of gum. Rowdy did too.

  “Okay, let’s have a bubble-blowing contest!” Jess said, unwrapping a piece.

  “Wow, Jess, you are such a nerd.” Jordyn laughed.

  “Don’t care. I’m in love.”

  Her gaze found Hugo, who was approaching the mound with a swagger. He spat and poked at the dirt with his cleats while he waited for the first batter.

  The crowd quieted down. Jessica didn’t take her eyes off her boyfriend. When he hit a home run at the bottom of the second inning, she was hysterical. She ran to the backstop to kiss him through the mesh fence.

  Rowdy and Jordyn rolled their eyes.

  “Barf,” Jordyn said. Rowdy agreed and put his hand on her knee.

  Slammers won, barely. It was a good, close game.

  As the bleachers thinned out and the two teams retreated to their dugouts to clean up, Jess invited Jordyn over to her house.

  “Come over for supper so we can do our nails and talk about our boyfriends,” Jess said, stuffing her things into her pack. She looked up and winked at Rowdy from under her cap.

  “Sure, whatever,” Jordyn said, giving Rowdy’s hand a squeeze.

  He pulled her into him. He tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed her in front of everyone. Jess stared at them, snapping her gum.

  “Barf,” she said. She linked her arm around her best friend’s arm and pulled her away from him, giggling. Jordyn waved goodbye to him as Jess dragged her toward her parents’ vehicle. He could feel people watching him but pretended he didn’t notice.

  “Nice,” Hugo said, jabbing him with his elbow as he passed him.

  Chapter 8

  The Fourth Member

  On Thursday evening, to Rowdy’s surprise, Rose paid him a visit. She was perched on the front steps, waiting for him in the night after his visit at Jordyn’s house. She had a note in her beak.

  Rowdy bent to take the note and pet her on the head.

  “Thanks for the special delivery, Aunt Rose.”

  The note had one word on it: Ready.

  Rowdy felt his heart beat harder and his throat get dry. As the next day was a professional development day at his school, he opted to pack a few things and ride over to Granny’s for the night. He followed behind Rose, who was virtually invisible in the darkness.

  Granny and Rose let him sleep in late the following morning. He awoke feeling rested.

  He and Rose went for a midmorning ramble in the hills. They ate breakfast. He watched Rose pecking at her seeds.

  “I wish you could talk.” He sighed. “I really want to know what Boc’s offering will be.”

  He studied her for a while with admiration.

  “Can you mime it for me?”

  She squawked at him irritably, and he snorted with laughter.

  It felt like ages before Granny returned home. She looked weak and tired, haggard even.

  “Granny, are you feeling all right?” Rowdy stood up, concerned. She took her time, unraveling her red scarf.

  “Just drained, Rowdy. It takes a lot of time and energy for a witch to connect with the spirits.” She hung up her coat. “A long rest and a good cup of tea will perk me up. My strength will return.”

  She smiled at him soothingly with tired eyes and handed him a chain with a simple square of brass dangling from it.

  Rowdy took it, confused. He looped it over his head.

  “No questions now. We must get to Sionnin before night falls.”

  Rowdy shrugged, and Rose hopped onto his shoulder. They followed Granny’s slow shuffle to the upstairs room. They returned to Sionnin with its glittering gemstones.

  Rowdy looked at the chain again and saw it was now silver. The brass piece was an empty glass vial.

  He looked at the crow and Granny doubtfully, holding the vial up.

  “This is what he wants as an offering?” He felt his leather belt tingle faintly.

  “He wants you.” Granny was quiet and composed. Rose was quiet, watching with her beady eyes.

  “Me? But how?” He held the empty vial up to the candlelight, looking for clues.

  “Your blood, Rowdy. Your oath. Your commitment to bringing harmony back to Sionnin.” Granny watched him, allowing her idea to sink in.

  “Ugh, Granny, that’s gross. But I’ll do it. I am very committed to Sionnin.” He frowned at the little vial, then took a deep breath and met the crystal eyes.

  “What must I do?”

  He was instructed to take the pointed edge of the burning amethyst and slice the palm of his hand with it. The pain made his eyes water. His belt was buzzing like a nest of angry hornets. He chewed his lip with a gr
imace while he squeezed the blood into the vial. He closed the lid and placed it into Granny’s outstretched hand.

  “It will be getting dark soon. Both of you need to change form. Rose can take you and the necklace to the cave, but only you must put the offering at the mouth of it.”

  Rowdy and Rose exchanged nervous looks, and he morphed into a mouse. Granny put the vial into Rose’s beak as Rowdy climbed onto her back.

  “Come straight home when you’re done. You will return to the cave on the next full moon.”

  She pushed the window open and shooed them out. Rowdy clung on, preparing for the stomach-turning drop and blast of frozen air.

  His heart was thumping wildly as the pair soared into the blinding white world of Sionnin. He tucked his head into the dark, warm feathers, sucking on the amethyst in his cheek. He thought about Jordyn to keep his nerves at bay.

  The cave could be seen from a long distance away. It was the only thing that broke the vast, bleak landscape. It was a large black craggy hole surrounded by snow and ice.

  It loomed bigger and bigger as they drew nearer.

  By the time Rose landed close to the entrance, Rowdy had conjured up a whole host of terrifying things that could jump out at him from the black depths.

  He sniffed the air, noting that it didn’t smell foul like the timber wolf. He stared up at the massive entrance, frozen with fear until Rose shook him off her back. He landed on the snow’s surface, too light to sink.

  She placed the vial before him.

  He grasped the silver chain firmly with his teeth and shuffled backward, dragging the vial closer and closer to the cave entrance. He found he was shaking with fear and cold. The dank smell of the cave hit him. Every time he made a sound, he jumped.

  The vial bumped along the snow, leaving a slight imprint as it dragged over his paw prints. Rose watched him, still as stone.

  When he saw the ice-covered walls of the entrance on each side of him, he stopped, his fur rising along his body. He scampered then, as fast as he could, back to Rose, who was already unfolding her wings for takeoff.