by Amy Neftzger
“You should never tell them if anything is wrong,” Nicholas scolded her once Taro was gone. “They make a big deal out of the slightest thing.”
“I just figured that out,” Jovan confessed.
“The best answers are ‘still growing,’ or ‘alive and well,’” Nicholas said. Maggie looked as if she was about to cry herself, and Nicholas felt the need to comfort her somehow. “Don’t worry, Maggie,” he assured her, “Plants are stronger than you think. Yours will be fine.” She nodded and turned toward the library. They walked the rest of the way in silence, but Nicholas, walking behind her, could feel Maggie’s sadness as if she were leaving an invisible wake.
They searched the library for information on miracles, but there wasn’t much to be found. There were no books on miracles, and the only books that mentioned them talked about how wonderful and valuable they were. The children stood between the tall bookshelves and spoke quietly.
“Is there another name for miracles that we should be searching for?” Nicholas whispered, although no one else was in the library and the librarian was in another room.
“I don’t know of one,” Jovan confessed.
“I find it odd that we live in a place full of miracles, but the library doesn’t have anything on the subject,” remarked Nicholas.
“And where people expect us to make more miracles, but at the same time there’s no information on how to do it,” Maggie added. “And they seem more interested in our silly plants than in helping us.”
“It makes me wonder,” Jovan reasoned aloud. “If we never saw one before we came here, then how do we actually know that this is a place of miracles? How do we know that the miracles in the garden are real? They could be fakes.”
Chapter Six
Escape
Another hour passed, and it was getting much later in the afternoon. Kelsey desperately wanted to leave the city before nightfall. She was still thinking out loud when Silence stood up and walked over to the where the cafe owner had been mopping. The owner had abandoned his bucket and gone inside, along with his gruesome, detailed descriptions of the bloodthirsty rocks. Kelsey followed Silence over to the cafe and asked what he wanted. She posed a number of questions, such as if he was hungry, but Silence put his finger to his lips to quiet her and then pointed at the bucket and mop. Kelsey examined the long handle on the mop and wondered if it could be used as a sort of a bridge to support them over the rocks. It looked too thin to support their weight and didn’t appear long enough to get them across. The rocks could easily snap the wood between their jagged teeth. It would take something with a wider plank to cover the rocks’ mouths and carry them across safely. Just as Kelsey was explaining this out loud, Silence threw the mop aside and glanced inside the cafe to see if the owner was looking. He wasn’t.
With his satchel still slung over his shoulder, Silence picked up the huge bucket and staggered over to the rocks. Once he knew that Kelsey was beside him, he lifted the large bucket high and splashed it all the way down the path. Before Kelsey had time to understand that the rocks had closed their mouths to avoid swallowing the dirty water, Silence had taken her hand and was pulling her forward. They sprinted out of the city together, running so fast that Kelsey was having trouble breathing. She felt her feet slip a few times on the wet stone beneath her, but she recovered and continued moving forward with her eyes focused on the other end of the path just beyond the hostile rocks. The children scrambled safely to the other side with only a few minor scrapes. Kelsey leaned forward with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. She stared down at the small number of cuts in her feet and then noticed that Silence was also bleeding. Silence dropped his satchel and sat down on the ground, still gasping. The short run had left them winded because of their frantic speed.
The two of them stood there, breathing deeply, for about half a minute when a dove landed next to Silence. The boy reached up and stroked the bird gently with the back of his hand. It began to coo.
“We could eat that, you know,” Kelsey announced in a quiet voice so that she didn’t alarm the bird. “I’ve never seen one attracted to people before. It must have been tamed by someone. Lucky for us. There’s not much meat on one, but if this one was tamed then others around here must be, also.” Silence glanced briefly at Kelsey before swatting the bird away. It took flight in a panic and disappeared among the trees.
Kelsey was about to yell at Silence for being foolish when she saw a brilliant flash of yellow light in the early evening sky. It was rapidly descending in their direction and Kelsey wondered if it would land near them. From her perspective it seemed to be coming right at her. It was a beautiful but dangerous looking sight with a streak of golden dust trailing behind it.
“Look!” she pointed upwards so that Silence would notice it. “Is it a comet?”
As soon as he spotted the light, Silence jumped onto his wounded feet and backed away from Kelsey a few steps. It was as if he recognized whatever it was, but before Kelsey could ask any more questions, the light flashed dramatically at her feet with a loud thump. It knocked Kelsey backwards and she fell ungracefully onto her bottom, bruising her pride more than anything. The sudden explosion of bright light had filled her vision with black spots, and she could feel a source of warmth, like a campfire, nearby. The heat and smell of burnt wood reminded her of the oven in her parents’ bakery. The scent gave her a sudden longing for home. Silence grasped her arm and lifted her up from the ground as her vision cleared. She looked around as she stood up and steadied herself.
“What was it?” she asked him, knowing that he couldn’t really answer but wanting to say something to distract them both from the awkwardness of her fall.
“Look down,” said a voice behind her. Kelsey turned around to see an elegantly dressed woman next to the city gate. She was dressed in purple silk and holding a parasol to shade herself from the sun. “I said ‘look down’ not ‘look at me,’” she scolded with mild disgust. With her free hand she played with the string of pearls around her neck, twisting them into loops and then dropping them again.
“How long have you been there?” Kelsey demanded.
“Long enough to see that balance is not one of your finer points.” The woman dropped the string of pearls and smoothed her sleek and stylishly cut silk dress. It was the color of amethyst. She turned to Silence. “Hello, Bird Man. You’ve got quite a gift with animals, don’t you?”
“He’s a regular Snow White,” Kelsey remarked with undisguised sarcasm.
Kelsey couldn’t remember seeing anyone standing outside the city gates when she and Silence came through them. In fact, Kelsey was pretty sure that the path was deserted when they stumbled off the terrifying rocks. She began wondering if the woman had arrived with the flash of light, but then she noticed a whole lot of other people who were also walking up the mountain’s dirt path and into the city - people who weren’t there a moment ago.
“We just came over those rocks!” Kelsey exclaimed in her surprise. She looked down at her feet to see that they were still bleeding and felt somewhat better knowing that she hadn’t imagined the bloodthirsty nature of the rocks. This was odd. Suddenly there were lots of people where there was no one just a moment before. Kelsey was sure it had to do with the flash of light.
“The rocks are facing the other way,” the woman explained in a haughty tone. She was playing with her pearls again. “You can’t expect them to be angry at people they can’t see. They only attack the ones in front of them.”
“But I didn’t see these people a moment ago,” Kelsey protested.
“That’s not my fault,” the woman admonished as she dropped her pearls again and grasped the parasol with both her hands. The pearls swayed for a few moments and then fell into place in a graceful loop. “Pick up your rock. You may need it later.”
Kelsey looked down at the earth where she had been standing and saw a smooth, irregularly shaped stone. It was a deep blue, similar to the shade of the night sky just after midnight.
Tiny flecks of silver on the surface of the stone shimmered as Kelsey turned the stoned from side to side.
“What is it? Is this a falling star?”
“How should I know what it is? I only saw it aiming for you,” the woman turned to thank a pedestrian who threw a coin into a cardboard box at her feet.
“What do I do with it?” The rock was still warm as Kelsey held it out for the woman to see.
“I’m sorry, do I look like an encyclopedia?” the woman snapped. Then she turned to smile at another person who dropped money into the box at her feet. Kelsey put the blue rock in her pocket as she watched several other people drop coins into the battered looking box. The woman smiled graciously and nodded at each person who gave her money.
“Are you collecting a toll to enter the city?” Kelsey finally asked.
“I think we’ve already established that I’m not fond of questions. In order to avoid being considered rude, I’ll tell you that I am not collecting a toll here. These are gifts.” Before Kelsey could ask the next question on her mind - and she had a lot of them - one of the pedestrians pulled her by the arm away from the woman with the parasol. He was an elderly man with a wide, gray mustache covering the lower half of his face. Once they were far enough away not to be overheard, he spoke.
“Don’t talk to the hag,” he whispered. “She’s crazy.” The man’s breath smelled strongly of garlic, and Kelsey fought back the urge to cough.
“What hag?” Kelsey responded in a choked voice. The man looked sympathetically at her, as if she might be a little crazy also.
“Are you one of them?”
“One of what?” she asked. “I’m only passing through. I don’t live here or know anything about this place. I don’t know anyone around here.” The man stared into Kelsey’s eyes, as if extracting the truth through her pupils. After a few moments, he appeared satisfied and released his grip on Kelsey’s arm.
“Well, are you selling the boy?” he asked, indicating Silence with a nod of his head. Kelsey hid her astonishment at the question.
“No, he’s not for sale.”
“A good slave is hard to find,” the man agreed. “I’d be willing to pay well for him. He looks useful.”
“He’s not for sale,” Kelsey repeated. The man stared into her eyes with that same penetrating look and then turned away without saying another word. Kelsey didn’t understand her interaction with the old man, and he had seemed very confused, but she couldn’t worry about every odd person she met or she would never get anywhere. She dismissed the whole conversation from her mind and decided that she and Silence needed to move on. Besides, she still felt sticky from the melon juice, and she was very hungry. She glanced back at the finely dressed woman with the box of coins and saw that Silence was miming a story to her. The woman was giggling.
“So you’re the girl who shattered the bad memories in public,” the woman exclaimed as Kelsey approached. “Everyone was talking about it this afternoon. No wonder you look such a mess. And you still smell like pepper melons.” Kelsey glared at Silence who shrugged sheepishly back. “Don’t be angry with him. Have a few coins for your journey.”
“I don’t accept charity,” Kelsey said indignantly.
“It’s payment for the stories. The boy told them wonderfully.” As the woman smiled down at Silence, Kelsey noticed that her eyes were the same color as her dress. “Besides,” she remarked in a serious tone as she addressed Kelsey again, “you shouldn’t be buying other people’s memories. That’s just plain laziness.”
“It was an opportunity,” Kelsey argued.
“Opportunity for what? To take the easy road?”
“It’s none of your business, really,” Kelsey replied dismissively.
“Buying other people’s dreams or memories is the lazy way out of life’s problems. It’s for cowards who are too afraid to experience life for themselves.”
“I wasn’t afraid,” Kelsey snapped back.
“Of course not,” the woman replied with a knowing smile. Kelsey had already had enough of this woman, and her smile wasn’t helping Kelsey’s already poor attitude. A few more people tossed coins into the box at the woman’s feet. There was no label on the box, but everyone seemed to know who she was. By their expressions, Kelsey could see that some of the people thought the woman was elegant and beautiful, and these people smiled at her with admiration. Others treated her with disdain, and many of them refused to make eye contact with her. These people didn’t leave any coins and often stayed on the opposite side of the path, as if the woman had a disease. They probably saw her as a hag, Kelsey thought, just as the old man had mentioned in his ranting.
“Why are people dropping money at your feet, and why did that crazy old man think you were a hag?”
“Questions?” the woman asked in a biting tone while still maintaining her smile. “I thought we had already discussed my position on questions.” Kelsey simply stared back defiantly, ignoring everything she had been taught about being rude. “Very well,” the woman continued awkwardly, “I will answer these two, but no more. People drop money at my feet because they can’t help it. As for why anyone would call another person a hag, it’s because people always see what they want to see.”
“That doesn’t explain ...”
“Enough!” the woman sternly shouted at Kelsey. Then she turned to Silence with a much happier expression. “This is for you, Sugar.” She reached into her cardboard box and took out a few coins. She lovingly placed the coins in his hand and watched him bow in gratitude. He had charmed her. This woman hated Kelsey, but she was enraptured by Silence. Maybe she liked him so much because she did all the talking and liked the sound of her own voice. Nevertheless, Silence had charmed her without saying a word. Now the irritation Kelsey had felt for Silence before was returning. The woman noticed Kelsey’s reaction and couldn’t resist giving her one more piece of advice. “You could learn a lot from him. A lot.”
“Let’s go, Silence,” Kelsey commanded in a firm tone. Silence ran to her side and waved goodbye over his shoulder to the woman in amethyst.
“You smell sweet, girl,” the woman shouted after them, “but I think it’s just the sugar from the melons. Take a bath and all the sweetness about you will wash away.”
Kelsey clenched her teeth as she marched down the path and away from the city. Some people could be so annoying. That woman was shouting advice when she didn’t know anything about their situation. Just when Kelsey thought she could tolerate Silence, he had to make friends with a crazy, rich, beggar woman.
“First rule,” Kelsey announced without turning her head to look at Silence. “No talking to anyone that people throw money at for no reason.” She didn’t look to see his reaction to the rule. She didn’t care.
It was getting too late to hunt anything for dinner, and Kelsey was regretting the loss of the dove. It had flown right to them and was just asking to be eaten, in her opinion. Kelsey looked down as they walked. Their feet were still bleeding, and Kelsey desperately wanted a bath. A few bees were still drawn to the scent of the pepper melon on her clothing, but she mindlessly cut them into pieces with her dagger as she continued to walk. She toyed with the idea of going back into the city and using the coins the woman had given to Silence to rent a room, but she didn’t want to cross those rocks a second time or pass by the woman in amethyst again. She wanted to press forward. The desire for progress won her over, and she continued on the path. Still, a hot bath and warm bed sounded very appealing, and she couldn’t help thinking about them as she walked.
After they had traveled for a bit, Kelsey noticed they were passing fewer people on the road. As the sun continued to descend in the sky, most people were heading home or to an inn for the night. The average person didn’t travel dark roads. Kelsey had a blanket in her backpack, and she knew that was all she would have, but she hoped to cleanse herself before lying down to become a meal for whatever predators lurked in the forest at night ... that is, if predators liked pepper melon
. Kelsey didn’t want to find out.
They paused several times along the path so that Kelsey could listen carefully without the noise of their footsteps. She thought she could hear running water somewhere nearby, but she was having trouble determining the direction. Even when they were as quiet as they could be, it was difficult to discern the origin of sounds. She tried to stop her own breathing long enough to determine whether she was hearing water or wind. After doing this several times, she decided the rushing sound was, indeed, water, and it would be a good idea to find it so that they could wash the cuts on their feet. After all, they had been walking on a dirt road, and if Silence died of infection, she would be unable to repay her debt to him. She could also wash herself, and there might also be fish or other food they could catch for dinner. Mostly, though, she just wanted to get clean and wash away the memory of her accident.
They made their way slowly toward what Kelsey thought was a stream, stopping only to mark the trunks of trees with a rock to help guide them back to the main road. Kelsey was getting very tired by now, and the sound of the stream made her even thirstier. When they finally found it, it looked deep enough for swimming, so Kelsey immediately dropped her backpack and jumped into it. She submerged herself in the cold water and felt a rush of life pouring back into her. She felt like new again. She floated along and sipped the cool water as she swam. Silence remained on the shore, but he was lapping up water with his hands and washing his face.
When she finally felt clean enough, Kelsey swam back to the shore and stretched out on the rocks next to Silence. The sun was almost gone, and while Kelsey still felt hungry, she felt at peace for the first time that day.
“That was an odd city,” Kelsey remarked. “And that woman outside the Eastern Gate was even stranger. That old man thought she was a hag. Who do you suppose she was?”
Silence didn’t answer. He was a good listener, though, Kelsey thought, and sometimes having someone to listen is more important than getting an answer to your questions. Kelsey talked about the river and how it looked as if there might be fish in it. She was discussing the best time for fishing out loud, more to herself than to Silence, when another voice startled her.