Behind the Curtain

by Shannon Ainslie

  He didn’t look back at the cave until they were safely airborne. He saw the tiny vial of his blood lying on the snow and buried himself into Rose’s back, trembling.

  Rose and Rowdy were both unsettled when they returned, but Granny was too exhausted to hear of their fears. She tightened up the window and demanded they return to the regular world.

  She went straight to her room to sleep, leaving Rowdy and Rose to their own devices. He stayed up late that night, chatting nervously to Rose while he petted the top of her head.

  The next full moon would be appearing in three nights’ time.

  The next morning, Rowdy carried a basket of breakfast home to his dad. He was relieved when Jordyn caught up to him and took the basket from him.

  “You look pretty funny carrying this old thing.”

  “I feel funny carrying it,” he agreed, then took her hand and told her about his adventure.

  “You took a vial of blood to the cave?” She raised an eyebrow at him, her long hair catching and riding the morning breeze.

  He laughed.

  “Of course. It was cold and terrifying. Me and Rose were pretty shaken up.” He put his arm around her then and pulled her close. They entered the house like that.

  Rowdy’s dad was reading the morning paper. A cup of black coffee steamed beside him. He looked at them over his reading glasses and raised a bushy brow.

  “When is the wedding?” he asked with a straight face. Jordyn untangled herself from Rowdy and gave his dad a sheepish little smile.

  “How are you today, Dad?” Rowdy entered the kitchen and reached for some small plates. He brought the hot bread out of the towel in the basket.

  The three tucked in around the table and ate and chatted.

  “I start a new job on Monday,” his dad announced.

  Jordyn congratulated him politely.

  Rowdy said nothing. He studied his dad’s face. It was tired and puffy. His eyes looked tired and sad. His hair and beard needed tending to.

  “Where?” he asked.

  “It’s another sales job, son. We’ll see how the first two weeks unfold.”

  Rowdy felt hopeless. He doubted his dad could last for two weeks. And how would he sell anything looking like a sad clown?

  The anger down inside of him flared up. He promised himself he would save Sionnin, break the spells, and find his dad’s stone amulet. He would take his dad back to his roots to be healed. Back to Sionnin.

  “Want to come hiking with me, Dad?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

  “No, son, thank you. I’m feeling tired. I think I’ll take it easy today.”

  Jordyn stood up and collected the plates. She washed them in the sink. Rowdy’s dad watched her and gave Rowdy a wink of approval.

  Rowdy smiled and squeezed his dad on the shoulder.

  “Take care of yourself, Dad.”

  “Have a nice hike, son.”

  Rowdy took Jordyn for a long walk through the forest and field behind Granny’s house. He watched Rose sneaking in and out of the trees, following him without being noticed by Jordyn. It was a game. He smiled.

  “What’s the dumb grin for?” she asked him playfully.

  “Rose is following us,” he said without looking up.

  “Right. Rose is actually your aunt, who is under a spell,” Jordyn recited out loud. Her facts were straight, but Rowdy knew she didn’t believe any of it.

  They caught the crow flying into the branches of a pine tree ahead of them.

  “So she is!” Jordyn exclaimed. “Why does she do that? I’ve never seen a trained bird before, other than a parrot in a pet store.” She peered at the tree in wonder.

  Rowdy walked up to the tree.

  “Rose! We caught you. You lose! Come down now and be sociable!”

  They heard her screech irritably, and they laughed. She hopped down the branches slowly, making a racket. Then she peeked at them from the lowest branch.

  “You can be friends with Jordyn, Aunt Rose. We can trust her.”

  He put his arm around Jordyn. Rose seemed unsure. She leaned from foot to foot, staring at the green-eyed girl, probably wondering what she knew.

  “Aunt Rose?” Jordyn whacked Rowdy on the chest. “Don’t be stupid!” She laughed then and said to Rose, “You are a very intelligent bird.”

  But Rowdy wasn’t finished yet.

  He called Rose over to him. She perched on his arm.

  “Aunt Rose, can you do us a favor?” The crow nodded.

  “She nods?” Jordyn said, mystified.

  “Can you fly over to Granny’s house and fix us a peanut butter sandwich and bring it back here?”

  Rose nodded and flew into the air.

  “As if, Rowdy, you idiot!” She tackled him into the long grass, giggling. He grabbed her wrists and rolled over on top of her.

  “You’re too heavy, big oaf!” She panted, struggling.

  He rolled her over so she sat on top of him. Her hair blended in with the colors of the grasses around them, sunlight touching grass and girl. She smiled at him with the blue sky around her face.

  He released her wrists and slid his hands up the sides of her thighs until they rested on her slight hips. He stared at her without blinking, mesmerized by her beauty.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “You. You’re beautiful. I want this picture of you to last forever.”

  Several minutes passed as he stroked her silky hair. He looped it behind her ears, then slowly traced the outline of her face, resting his thumbs on her pointed chin. He watched the sunlight playing on her intelligent green eyes. The only sounds were their breathing and the breeze in the grass.

  She reached down and stroked his hair. She tucked it behind his ears and slowly traced the outline of his face as he had done to her. She stroked the new, thin hairs growing on his top lip. She seemed lost in the moment, leaning slowly toward him, maybe for a kiss.

  A paper bag full of sandwiches nailed her in the back of the head.

  She screamed and jumped up, rubbing her head.

  Rose cackled above them. Rowdy rolled onto his side, clutching his stomach, laughing.

  “It isn’t funny,” she snapped at him, then yelled to Rose, “That hurt!”

  Her face was serious as she picked up the bag and opened it. She pulled out a sandwich slowly with a frown. There was an imprint of the crow’s foot on the squishy bread. There was a place where a claw had torn through.

  She looked at Rose and then at Rowdy, holding the sandwich out.

  “It’s okay. She washes her feet first.” Rowdy watched her, tucking a strand of his dark hair behind his ear.

  “Rowdy, what’s going on? How could you train a bird to do this?”

  Rowdy shrugged.

  Jordyn huffed through her nose and put her hands on her hips, frowning.

  “I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

  Rowdy reminded her he had already explained everything there was to know.

  “I don’t want to hear any more of your silly stories, Rowdy. They aren’t true, and you’re starting to freak me out.”

  Jordyn was pacing with a concerned look on her face when Rose flew down to her with a sharp little stick in her beak. She waddled along the ground to a spot of dirt and tipped her head sideways.

  She wrote, It is true, and turned to face Jordyn.

  Jordyn’s pale face turned even paler. She looked over at Rowdy, panicked, and charged through the field toward home.

  Rowdy ran after her and grabbed her arm. She spun around to face him with tears in her eyes.

  “You can’t say anything, Jordyn,” he pleaded. “I wasn’t trying to scare you, only show you.” He tried begging her with big brown puppy eyes. She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

  Rose swooped down and landed on Rowdy’s shoulder. She leaned over to Jordyn with a bunch of picked flowers in her beak.

  Jordyn wiped h
er tears away and accepted the flowers. Rose let her pet her on the head.

  The trio walked slowly to the dirt road in silence. From time to time, Jordyn made a motion to speak, then shook her head and fell silent again, bewildered.

  After a time they found themselves in the forest at the rock where the water trickled down. Rowdy took a long drink. The others followed suit.

  “You need to make an oath of secrecy,” Rowdy said at last, breaking the long silence. Rose cawed softly in agreement.

  Jordyn nodded.

  “Hold out a strand of your hair,” he instructed.

  She watched as Rowdy nicked a strand of his hair off with a jagged pebble, and then she stiffened as he nicked off a piece of hers. They looked into each other’s eyes, the sound of the gurgling water surrounding them.

  “I vow to keep Sionnin a secret for as long as I live.” Rowdy nodded at her to repeat it, pulling out a lighter.

  “I vow to keep Sionnin a secret for as long as I live,” she repeated, and then they pressed their strands of hair together and burned them, hearts beating wildly, their eyes unblinking.

  Rose made a cry of alarm above them. They heard someone approaching from the narrow trail. They looked up to see Granny and froze, their fingers still touching.

  Granny’s silver hair and crystal eyes glowed in the sunlight. She approached, small and swift, showing no sign of emotion. Her basket was full of wild mushrooms, her red scarf vibrant and floating on the breeze.

  Rose remained silent on her branch above them, frozen with fear.

  “So it is,” Granny said, her voice more of a sorceress’s than an old lady’s. Rowdy felt himself shudder. The sound of trickling water seemed to balloon in his ears.

  “The spirits told me a fourth member would arrive before the full moon. A girl. I didn’t expect one so young and inexperienced.” She studied Jordyn with piercing eyes.

  “I also had not expected she’d be chosen by my foolish daughter and grandson without my consent.”

  Granny threw a cold look at Rose, then whipped around toward home.

  “Come!” she ordered. “We have our work cut out for us, indeed!”

  She stormed down the path, and the trio hastily followed, their hearts at their throats, Rose clinging to Rowdy’s shoulder.

  Jordyn turned wide-eyed to Rowdy as they walked. She mouthed the words, “This crap is real?”

  “Of course this crap is real, young lady,” Granny shouted, “and watch your language!”

  Jordyn’s jaw dropped. Rowdy had to stifle a nervous laugh at the look of terror on her face. He felt Rose’s claws dig into his shoulder, warning him to be quiet.

  By the time they got to her house, Granny’s temper had subsided considerably. She ordered them to sit around the table, then snapped her fingers to get the water boiling.

  *

  Jordyn gasped. Granny’s eyes twinkled.

  They sat around the table in silence while Granny rummaged in the kitchen.

  She placed a cup of hot water in front of Jordyn and a handful of tea leaves into her palm.

  “One rule here is you do as I say without question. Despite what you saw Rose and Rowdy pull today.” She shot them both a look of disapproval. “But the spirits have spoken, so it’s to be.”

  Jordyn threw the leaves into her cup as she was told. She watched them float.

  She saw the leaves grow soggy, then screamed as a small scaly snake popped its forked tongue out at her before it disappeared into the water.

  “What is it?” everyone shouted.

  “A snake,” she answered, cringing.

  Everyone laughed until Jordyn joined in too.

  Granny brought out soup, and they ate heartily and cheerfully, joking about the scaly snake.

  When Rowdy dropped Jordyn off that evening, he assured her she would see Sionnin the next day.

  “See you in the morning, baby,” he said before kissing her.

  “Night,” she replied, her mind overloaded with thoughts.

  *

  Rowdy walked back to Granny’s and slipped into a bath. He put conditioner in his long tangled hair and leaned back.

  The vision appeared readily and clearly. The candles danced, and the water sang. It was Wizard Boc. His fur was graying. His large nose was crisscrossed with battle scars. A thick, jagged scar ran across his prominent brow. His long, thick teeth protruded, stained brown and yellow. His eyes were a golden amber color, his expression kind, powerful, and steady.

  Rowdy looked into the amber eyes with awe, humility, and respect. They held each other’s gaze. The coppery taste of blood filled Rowdy’s mouth.

  Boc parted his lips slowly, exposing jagged, chipped teeth. His whiskers twitched.

  “Welcome, young warrior,” he said, softly and deeply. His voice echoed around the room. Then he faded away.

  Rowdy sat motionless while the water and candles calmed. He had met his master. The one who would show him the way.

  He rinsed his hair and drained the tub. He dressed and went to tell Rose. He felt unnaturally calm inside.

  He went to sleep feeling powerful and determined, thinking of his master.

  Chapter 9

  Wizard Boc

  The next afternoon, the group found themselves at an impasse in the upstairs room in Sionnin. Rose, Granny, and Rowdy had tried all they could think of to crack the code that would allow Jordyn into their world. But still, all she could see was an old woman and a crow.

  Rowdy showed her how to hold his knife up to the flames, but nothing happened.

  Rose plucked out one of her feathers for her to wave around.

  They gave her a liathroid to hold up to the light, tap, and put her index finger on, but nothing happened.

  Granny gave her strange spells to say and many kinds of dried herbs to sprinkle, but still nothing.

  Jordyn felt disappointed.

  “No matter, child. It will come in time.” Granny was stumped too. She studied Jordyn thoughtfully.

  “Thanks, Granny,” Jordyn said, then stated with conviction, “I vow to keep Sionnin a secret for as long as I live.”

  Granny nodded approvingly, and when Jordyn glanced around, her eyes grew wide. She was staring at a tall beautiful woman with long black hair who was smiling warmly at her.

  “Rose?” she said and then looked at Granny.

  “Granny? You’re so young!”

  The group held their breath as Jordyn scanned the room with wide eyes and settled her gaze on the shimmering wall of gemstones. She walked in a trance to touch the stones, then grazed her fingertips along them, a smile spreading slowly across her face.

  When she told the group what she saw, they clapped and sighed with relief. Jordyn squealed in delight. She beamed at Rowdy, wanting to hug him with joy.

  They showed her Sionnin out the window. She gasped in awe at its vastness and wished she could look at it longer, but Granny closed the curtain swiftly. The group stood around the table and went over the map with her. She tried her best to concentrate despite her excitement.

  Rowdy was delighted.

  “What about her shape-shift amulet?” he asked.

  Granny shook her head.

  “It may not be an amulet. It’s getting late. We have accomplished enough for one day.”

  It was indeed late in the evening when they emerged from the upstairs room. Rose guided Jordyn home. Jordyn was having Jess over for the night. She had no idea how she would make it through a night pretending everything was normal, but she would have to. And she would return the next day to figure out how to shape-shift.

  * * * *

  “I’m tired,” Jordyn whispered the next morning. She rubbed her eyes.

  “You look it,” Rowdy teased. He brought her some tea and orange juice. They were at Granny’s table waiting for Rose and Granny to return from their mysterious full-moon activities. It was a drizzly, dull day in the middle of April. Rowdy and Jordyn were
glad to be cozy inside amid the smells of dried herbs, flowers, and mushrooms.

  “Jess is suspicious. She thinks there’s something wrong with me.” Jordyn frowned with worry. She blew gently across the surface of her hot tea, fearful of the snake.

  Rowdy reached over and lightly touched her face, and she relaxed. She closed her sleepy eyes and leaned into his fingers, allowing him to stroke her cheek, ear, and hair.

  “But you kept your promise?” he asked softly, running his thumb across her cheekbones. She nodded.

  “What happens on a full moon around here?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t stop touching her face.

  “We are soon to find out.” He kissed her forehead. She watched him stand up and collect the breakfast plates, leaving her wanting more of his fingers on her skin. The sound of rain hitting the kitchen window was growing louder. Rowdy watched the patterns of rivulets playing on the glass. Jordyn admired his long black hair and fit chest.

  Suddenly Granny and Rose burst in, soaked. Rose flapped to a chair and shook herself like a wet dog, throwing sprays of water onto Jordyn, who shrieked and laughed.

  “This weather is for the ducks,” Granny complained, shaking out her scarf and layers. She put her wet shoes on the heater to dry. Rose tucked her feathers in and hunched her shoulders. The downy feathers on the top of her head were sticking out at odd angles.

  “Nice hair, Aunt Rose,” Rowdy teased, drying her off with a tea towel. Rose cawed.

  Granny put her basket of mysterious full-moon items on the counter and grabbed the keys to Sionnin.

  Rowdy and Jordyn both gulped nervously. It was time. Time to crack the code to Jordyn’s shape-shifting and time for Rowdy to meet the ghost of Wizard Boc.

  Granny unlocked the door, lit the upstairs candles, and led the entourage to Sionnin.

  *

  Rowdy transported through the blinding orange light on the edge of his blade, feeling the belt of Boc’s hide buzzing against him.

  Jordyn recited her code of words.

  Rose disappeared beneath her glossy raven hair and emerged tall and handsome from a purple hue.