by C Lee Tocci
Todd watched Grey Feather fly away. Suddenly he was no longer standing on the mountaintop but soaring alongside the bird.
“Where are the others?” he wanted to ask, but his voice croaked and cawed and caught in his throat.
Perhaps Grey Feather understood, for it dipped down into the bank of clouds and Todd found himself following. The mists felt cool and soft against his face and he reveled in the freedom of flight.
As they broke through the clouds, Todd saw Naircott City, smoldering far below. They traveled east over the mountains away from the town, rising and falling with the currents.
Something moved far below on the ground and Todd sank lower to check it out. Seven figures walked along a mountain path. Todd cawed in amazement when he recognized them. Donny striding in the lead, Jeff pulling up the rear, he knew each of the hikers. His wings faltered for a moment when he saw himself in the group, carrying a tall walking stick and scanning the horizon. He skimmed down and when his bird eyes met the eyes of the walking Todd, he felt the jolt of recognition from his other self. For that moment, Todd hovered in space in front of his walking self. Then he flapped his wings and soared back into the clouds.
Grey Feather was once more beside him and together they soared over the mountains. Todd saw the cool wooded mountains drop away to flat barren deserts. They flew over small towns and quiet roads. Below them, a train chugged toward the east, but they passed it easily. They skirted a harshly lit city and soared along the path of a river that wound through cathedral canyons.
Then they ascended into another mountain range. Taller, greener and, it seemed to Todd, more alive. His breath quickened as he caught the outline of four mountains in the distant mist. There was something familiar about these mountains, something that called to him, that made him want to cry out.
Yet when he opened his mouth, all that came out was the croaking caw.
Frustration turned to awe as he watched thousands of birds fill the air. They were headed towards the mountains from all directions. Todd and Grey Feather joined them and were quickly surrounded by flapping black wings and deafening creels of joy. As they drew closer, his eyes greedily absorbed all the details. The four mountains were just the anchor points. A craggy rim of red stone cliffs stood like weather beaten warriors, shoulder to shoulder, linking the four mountains. And beyond the cliffs, a glimpse of a valley, green and glittering.
They were almost to the foot of the mountains when Grey Feather began to drop. Todd tried to cry out, to protest, to demand that they continue up the mountain, but he seemed connected to the larger bird and together they descended. They landed in a rocky clearing near a noisy stream.
“Fly to Kiva! Fly to Kiva!” Grey Feather sang. And with that, it flapped its wings and headed back up to the four mountains. Todd leapt, wanting to fly, but he was once again just a boy, tied to the ground. He watched the birds fly low over his head, heading to the mountains. His mountains. He fell to the ground sobbing.
“Todd? Todd?” a concerned voice softly spoke. “You hokay?”
Todd opened his eyes to find Nita gently shaking his arm. Beyond her, the others watched him uneasily. Jeff snickered, so Marla lightly punched his arm. The morning sun was just peeking over the mountaintops.
On the fence, Grey Feather sat motionlessly. Todd gazed at the bird questioningly. The others all turned to see what held his attention. The bird flapped its wings and launched itself into the morning.
“Just a dream.” mumbled Todd, watching the disappearing bird. He shook his head to drive the sleep from his brain. “Where’s Sarah?” he asked as he glanced around the clearing.
“Over there.” Marla gestured toward the ruins. “I think we’re going to regret her getting her speech back,” she added with a dry whisper.
“My name is Lilibit!” the girl announced, her words slow and labored. She limped back to the clearing, her arms full of the foodstuffs she’d foraged from the house. She used her right arm mostly as a buttress to hold her stash in her left arm. Her lop-sided grin was infectious as she dumped her booty next to the burnt out campfire and began to make a very sloppy sandwich. Nita watched with disgust.
“Cheese and Peanut Butter? Yuck!” she exclaimed.
Lilibit broke the sandwich roughly in two, handed half to Nita, then ate the rest in three bites. She returned to making herself another sandwich while Nita sniffed doubtfully at her gift.
“Well, it looks like her appetite’s better, anyway,” commented Todd and wandered over to where the spigot rose near the underground well. “Still got water,” he discovered and bent over to wash his head.
Todd watch Lilibit out of the corner of his eye while he dried his hair. Something was bothering her. Dropping her sandwich, she stood impetuously and took a few awkward strides towards the mountain. Then she’d pause, shake her head and return to her sandwich. She did this three or four times and it seemed to Todd that her feet wanted to get moving, but her mind didn’t know which way to go.
He knew that feeling well.
They sat quietly around the cold ashes of the campfire, each wrapped in their own thoughts.
“I had a strange dream last night.” At first, Todd thought he’d blurted out his own thoughts, but then he realized that it was little Devon speaking.
“I was walking alone along a mountain path when all of a sudden, a man was walking with me.” Devon’s voice was as cool and dry as the campfire ashes that he stared at. “He was dressed in white and he was shining so bright, I couldn’t see his face. We walked along for a while and then I asked him where we were going. ‘To Kiva,’ he said. We walked some more and then I asked him how we get there and he said, ‘Follow the raven.’ I looked up and I saw two large black birds flying into the sun. I wanted to ask him which one to follow, but when I turned to ask, he was gone.”
The others looked at Devon expectantly. He looked like he wanted to say more, but then changed his mind. He shook his head instead. “Then I woke up.”
“I had a dream too,” announced Jeff smugly, “but I don’t want to talk about it in front of the girls.” He nudged Donny with his elbow. Donny laughed, having no idea what he was laughing about, but he knew his cue.
“Lilibit,” Todd asked quietly, “what is ‘Kiva?’”
Lilibit’s brow furrowed from listening to Devon’s dream. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I can’t remember.”
A thoughtful silence fell on the group. Lilibit rubbed her temples as if the effort of remembering made her head to ache, but then she spoke again and her voice was the clearest he had yet heard.
“At Kiva there are houses made by the earth and food given by the Creator. There are children there, and aunties and uncles to take care of them.”
She looked as surprised by her own words as the others did. It was as if she had no control over whatever part of the brain they came from.
“Oh, and there is no television,” she added.
“I’m out!” cracked Jeff and nudged Donny again to provide his laugh track.
This time Donny missed his cue, too fascinated by the picture painted by Lilibit’s words to be aware of Jeff’s elbow.
“Let’s go to Kiva,” Donny said, as if it were as easy as walking around the corner.
Todd’s dream was sharp in his mind. He almost felt they could just walk to the four mountains, but even if Kiva was really the place where he flew to in his dream, the realities of life tied his feet to the ground.
“Where is Kiva?” Todd heard Marla asking Lilibit.
Lilibit looked down at her bare toes wiggling in the dirt and answered quietly, “I don’t know.”
Another silence settled on the clearing.
“Todd,” Marla asked, “why stay here?”
It seemed to Todd that everyone was in his brain today, asking the questions he was asking himself, long before he was ready to say them aloud.
“There’s nothing left for us here at Dalton Point,” said Marla. “Maybe the quake will delay Ms. Burbank,
but you know she’ll be back to take you away sometime soon. And now that the rest of us can’t stay here either, she’ll separate all of us.” Marla’s voice cracked.
Nita hiccupped a sob.
“Thumb out of your mouth, Nita.” Todd ordered absently.
Sheepishly, Nita obeyed. If Nita was going to start sucking her thumb again, as she did when she arrived at Dalton Point, then chances are they’d all start backtracking on the growth they’d made in the past few years. Jeff would go back to being the angry violent brat he’d been when he first showed up, Donny would stop talking, and Marla might go back to her binge eating. Todd couldn’t even remember what a mess he was when they dropped him off here, five years earlier. Only little Devon had arrived without being trashed by life, but as Todd looked at him he realized if they threw Devon into the system it wouldn’t take much time before he caught up and was as damaged as the rest of them.
Devon met Todd’s eyes with his characteristic somberness. “I think we should stay together,” he said quietly, “and if Kiva is real, I think we should try to find it.”
“And what if Kiva isn’t real?” asked Jeff with disgust. “What then?”
“Then we’ll still be together,” said Marla, “wherever we end up, but we can’t stay here.”
Todd felt their eyes on him, waiting for him to lead, but he didn’t know what to do. Which way should they go? How will they get there? What will they eat? And where will they stay?
“We’ll figure it out as we go.” Devon nodded solemnly, as if he could hear Todd’s questions. “We’ll be fine. We just need to start.”
Todd looked from Devon to each of the kids, all watching him anxiously. If they got caught running away, they’d be in worse trouble. Especially Todd. He knew they’d blame him the most because he was the oldest. And if they didn’t get caught, then what? Kiva? His dream last night had been so vivid, but now he couldn’t tell if he actually remembered someone telling him about Kiva a long time ago, or if it was just the dream that made it seem like a real place.
Grey Feather returned with a rawk and perched on the fence, watching them. For a long moment, Todd stared at the bird, hoping it would speak again and tell him what to do. When he was small, he used to pretend the crows spoke to him, but he was thirteen now, almost an adult, and much too old for stupid kid stuff like that.
Todd let out a sigh, not even aware he’d been holding his breath.
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s pack up.”
“Todd? Got a second?”
Devon stood over by the stile fence, away from where the others were rummaging through the ruins and loading their backpacks. He kicked the ground with his sneaker and small puffs of dust rose, making him look a bit like a short wingless angel floating on a cloud. But he was a dirt-smudged cherub that obviously had something eating at him. He muttered to himself and looked down as Todd walked over.
“What is it?” Todd heard his own voice sounding more curt then he’d intended, but he could tell that whatever Devon wanted to say, it wasn’t going to be good and he really didn’t need any more issues to deal with right now.
Devon’s voice dropped even lower and he wouldn’t look up. “My dream last night.”
“What?” Todd asked. “Did you make the whole thing up?”
“No, it’s just that there was more to it than I told you.”
Devon’s voice was so soft that Todd knelt down so that he could hear.
“The shining man said something else. I remember what he said, but I’m not sure what it means.”
“Yeah? And?” Todd tried not to sound as impatient as he felt. “What did he say?”
Devon raised his head but closed his eyes, his face squenched as he tried to remember. His voice had a whispery echo to it that was kind of eerie. “‘Seven shall travel the road to Kiva, but six shall reach the palisades. One shall fall and all shall mourn the loss of fleeting sanctuary.’”
Neither Todd nor Devon spoke for a very long minute, but it wasn’t quiet. The insects chirped and the wind hummed and, in the distance, the birds cawed. Todd dropped back and sat on the cold ground, his elbows resting on his knees, his chin, on his arms.
“But what does that mean?” Todd asked at last.
Devon shook his head but said nothing.
Only six will reach the palisades? Todd looked over at the others who were still pulling together their gear. One would fall? Which one? Should they risk the trip at all if he thought that one of them wasn’t going to make it?
“Well, it’s just a dream, right?” Todd spoke more to himself than to Devon. “I mean, most of the time, my dreams don’t even make sense. Dreams don’t always have to mean something.”
“Mine do.” Did Devon actually speak or was it just a breeze?
Todd looked at Devon intently. “Have you ever had this kind of dream before?”
Devon nodded miserably. “Before my parents went away, the shining man told me that they weren’t coming back and that I shouldn’t be afraid because I’d never be alone.”
Todd didn’t know the details about Devon’s parents, but he did know that they were both dead. Most of the kids at Dalton Point weren’t actually orphans. If they were, they’d have had a chance to be adopted. Most of the kids had parents that were missing. Or just didn’t want them.
“Did you tell your parents about your dream?” Todd asked.
“Yeah.” Devon seemed almost emotionless. “Dad just said that ‘if it must be, then it must be’ and ‘you can’t waste your life running away from your destiny.’ And Mom said that you can’t not do what you know you’re supposed to do, just because you may not like how it comes out.”
“So they went anyway?”
“Yeah. They went anyway.”
“So, what you’re saying now is that you don’t think we should go?”
“No.” Devon met Todd’s eye. “My parents didn’t chicken out and I don’t think we should either.”
“Then why bother telling me at all?” Todd asked, annoyed.
“I thought it would be important for you to know.” Devon bit his lip but didn’t look away. “It’s part of it. Having a dream, I mean. I’ve got to tell. It’s important.”
Todd stared at the canyon walls, not seeing them. “What’s that part about ‘losing sanctuary?’”
“‘All shall mourn the loss of fleeting sanctuary?’”
“Yeah, that part. What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Todd tried hard not to sound as frustrated as he felt. “So, what’s the purpose of having a premonition if you don’t know what it means and we’re not to change what we were planning to do anyway?”
“I don’t know,” said Devon. “Maybe, so that, whatever happens, whenever it happens, we’re not surprised?”
“Wonderful.” Todd rolled to his feet and looked around the clearing. The others were just about finished with their packing. There was no sign of Grey Feather. He could have used a little help in making this decision, but once more, he had no one but himself to do it.
Jeff walked up, grinning. He actually looked happy to be going. “Which way, oh great navigator?”
The others, their packs on their backs, ambled over and waited. Todd grabbed his own pack, glanced at Devon and straightened up.
“East.” Todd pointed towards the path that led up to the mountains and into the morning sun. That was the direction he remembered from his dream.
Jeff took the lead and the others fell in behind him. Todd, lagging to pick up the rear, took one last look at the ruins of Dalton Point.
One shall fall.
He turned his back on the canyon and headed up the trail.
Chapter Nineteen
Puddle Town
Todd figured they’d walked nearly twenty miles that first day, but to their legs, it felt like they’d walked over a hundred. At every clearing on the path, Donny would ask if this was Kiva. The first time, Jeff sarcastically told Donny, no, this was not Kiva, it was
Crap. After that, every time Donny asked that question, they’d make up silly names for their wherever they were.
They hardly saw Grey Feather at all, but whenever the path took a rare fork or split, someone always seemed to catch a glimpse of a black bird flitting down a trail. It may not have been the same bird, but it was reassuring.
Todd watched Lilibit but she seemed stronger today and she kept up with the others fairly well. On her back she wore one of Marla’s old book packs, held together with safety pins. She’d insisted on carrying it despite Todd’s reluctance to burden her. At first, all Todd allowed her to put into it was her blanket, but Lilibit was stubborn and insisted she could carry her spare clothes and jacket too. She tied her shoes to the pack as well, having walked the entire day barefoot. Todd didn’t argue with her, thinking she’d want her shoes soon enough on the trail, but her feet never seemed to bother her and she never put them on.
It was growing dark when the path opened into a clearing with a small waterfall that emptied into a shallow pool.
“Is this Kiva?” Donny asked.
“No.” Nita answered gleefully, “This is Puddle Town!”
Devon and Lilibit laughed and Todd gave a small smile as he swung his backpack off his shoulders and placed it on the ground.
“Tonight,” he announced, “we camp in Puddle Town.”
Lilibit pulled her pack off her back and dropped it. Her limp seemed a little less noticeable as she pattered over to the pool and stepped in to cool her feet and legs. They all were hot and sticky from their hike and before long, were paddling around in the pool, splashing and laughing.
They changed into their spare clothes and gathered around the campfire Todd and Jeff built. Their eyes grew tired and the conversation lagged into a sporadic hum as they munched on the granola bars and peanut butter sandwiches they packed.
An hour later, huddled under his blanket, Todd learned his first lesson about camping in the wild. Never bath in a cold stream, on a cold night, right before you’re about to turn in for the night.