by C Lee Tocci
A startled yelp made Todd turn just in time to see the top of Marla’s head disappear into the ground. Sprinting to the spot where she stood only moments before, he looked down into a small gaping hole that had opened on the forest floor. There, glowing faintly in the murk of the pit, stood Ulex with Marla where she had landed in his arms.
“Down the hole! Quick!” exclaimed Todd.
The Keepers hadn’t waited for Todd’s invitation. They were already bounding into the cavern, bouncing and rolling down the sloping floor of the cave. It was only a drop of about ten or fifteen feet, and most of the travelers landed neatly on their feet, but Devon wavered uncertainly on the rim. Todd reached out his arms and helped him land. A quick headcount made Todd realize they were short one.
“Hey! Where’s Donny?” asked Jeff, glancing around the cave and up the opening. “Donny!”
“The horses! The horses!” The faint ring of Donny’s voice echoed down into the cavern.
Like a slap, Todd remembered the horses. There was no way they could fit down the small hole and the flames were closing in. Smoke began pouring down the opening, rolling along the cavern floor like a slow flood.
“Leave the horses!” Jeff yelled. “There’s nothing you can do for them!”
“No!” There was a ring of strength in Donny’s voice the others had never heard before.
Todd glanced around, desperate for inspiration. He saw Marla, her eyes locked with Ulex.
“Move away from the opening.” Marla ordered, her eyes still fixed with Ulex’s.
Most of the Keepers had already darted down the tunnel, anxious to escape the smoke and flames. Bocarbolee and Sillisoso with a few other Keepers stood by, gawking in terror at Ulex, torn between their fear of this towering horror and their pledge to guard the children. With a gesture, Todd led them all deeper into the tunnel. They turned to see Ulex step to the wall closest to the opening and place his quartz white hand against the stone face. Immediately, a vein of white mineral grew from his fingertips and branched out along the wall like a rapidly growing creeper of crystal. When it reached the opening, the rock wall of the cave began to change. To the eyes of the travelers, it appeared as if the rock itself turned to clay, only to be molded by hundreds of invisible hands. The opening gaped wider and the wall of the cave expanded to form a rude ramp of rock leading steeply but surely to the cavern floor. As the opening grew, the travelers could see Donny, trying to calm the terrified horses, smoke draping them, flames rising behind.
“C’mon, Donny!” yelled Marla. “Lead them down here! Now!”
Donny needed no further encouragement. Old Auntie, the dappled gray mare, was the first, trotting gingerly down the ramp, followed by the foals and then the rest of the horses. Last was Donny with the golden stallion, rushing down the slope amid a wave of dense black smoke. The stallion’s tail no sooner cleared the opening than the hole began to seal.
For a moment, only the dim glow of Ulex could be seen in the smoky cavern, but then a glimmer of light flickered and grew. Sillisoso’s eyes widened in amazement. The light of Ewa-Kwan shown brilliantly in the palm of Lilibit, much brighter than it had in the Labyrinth of the Nether Rock. Despite the dense smoke still hanging in the air, Ulex was forced to close his auxiliary eyelids to protect from the glare.
Todd sighed. He had hoped his suspicions about Lilibit would not be apparent to the Keepers. His instincts told him the less others knew about the Lilibit’s rapport with her stones, the safer it would be for all of them.
By the light of Ewa-Kwan, Lilibit beamed proudly up at Todd. He shook his head and smiled back ruefully. Wiping the soot from his face, they followed Ulex through the tunnel and away from the flames.
From the rim of the canyon wall, the Director of Security watched the inferno surge and envelope the entire forest. He permitted himself a sigh of pleasure. It gave him such gratification to watch the flames consume the insolent woodland. And the knowledge that the children had perished in the blaze as well only added to his sense of contentment. He would wait until the fire burnt out and then he would locate the charred corpses in the ashes. Only then would he contact Syxx and confirm that the mission had been accomplished. And while it was true Dr. Nil at the Institute would be furious at the loss of her Research Material, he knew Syxx would infinitely prefer the termination of all of the troublesome truants.
The flames flickered warm on his face as the Director waited patiently for the blaze to abate.
Todd rubbed his hair nervously. His scalp crawled with a vague warning. With a wave of his fingers, he hushed the other travelers to silence. Bocarbolee and the Keepers fell silent as well: Stone Warriors who could beckon the aid of the terrifying Ulex were not to be ignored.
Ulex’s maze of caverns had led them to a opening that set high on the face of one of the cliffs that overlooked the canyon. The travelers could not know that a scarce thirty feet above them stood the predatory Director, yet Todd was learning to trust his intuition that danger was very close.
They watched in silence as the fire consumed the woods. Tears poured down Marla’s cheeks and Nita muffled her sobs by burying her face into Todd’s sleeve. In their own ways, the others grieved as well. Before their eyes, the glories of the Dell and the Golden Willows passed into ashes.
“Grieve not for the trees, for the Woods will return, for the Heart of the Forest the flames cannot burn,” whispered Bocarbolee soberly. “So long as Quaba-ho glows in the Vale, the flame of the Enemy will never prevail. The trees will return, the forests rebound, and once more the willows will spring from the ground.”
Todd met Bocarbolee’s sad but knowing smile with a nod of his head. He then turned and led the travelers through the tunnels, out of the Canyon del Muerte.
A solitary condor pierced the plumes of smoke rising above the inferno of the Canyon del Muerte.
Keotak-se knew the fire raging below had been set by the Enemy. Dread rose in his throat and threatened to choke him. That the Enemy had set a snare of flames to purge the woods could only mean it thought the children to be in the canyon.
As a bird, Keotak-se landed on a ledge of the canyon wall far above the blaze. As a man, he splayed his fingers on the rock, querying the stone, beseeching the Earth for the answer to the question darkening his soul. The Earth Stone’s response brought joy to his heart and the ghost of a smile to his jaw.
The Infant Stone Voice still lived.
“CHEE-ot-say. Toh-GEE-na. Sha-be-KAH.” Keotak-se took wing and resumed his quest.
The sun was high in the sky when the travelers reached the mouth of the caverns.
With Ulex at the lead, they had passed under the mountains and now they stood overlooking a broad expanse of the grassy plains. Todd decided they should rest underground for the rest of the afternoon. It would be safer to move at night.
Hours ago, the Keepers, who were familiar with the caves, had parted to go their own way. They would find a new valley, hidden from men, and there they would replant their willows.
Night was full up when the travelers led the horses out of the caves. Mounted, they waited while Marla parted from Ulex. Trickster tossed his head and gave a snort of disgust.
“I’m with you on this one,” muttered Jeff from his back. “C’mon Marla! It’s not like you’ll never see him again!”
Marla turned to glare at Jeff. Quickly, Todd bent to pat Midnight’s neck. He agreed with Jeff but didn’t have the heart to cut short Marla’s lingering (and maudlin) farewell.
After a moment, Marla emerged from the cave, strutting in a huff, and mounted Cocoa in a smooth heave powered by her annoyance.
It was a moonless night, but the stars were bright enough to cut the gloom and light a path for the travelers.
“Todd!” whispered Devon urgently, gesturing behind him.
Looking back, Todd saw they left no trail as the horses waded through the tall grass. The land was covering their tracks as quickly as they were laid.
The boots of the Director crushe
d the slaughtered foliage as he tramped through the vanquished forest.
A weary dog wrangler, blackened by soot from head to toe, approached the Director. An anxious canine pulled at his arm and defeat pulled at his face.
The Director did not wait to hear the words of the searcher. The failure of his eyes to meet his told him of the failure of the dogs to find any traces of the children.
A black rage clouded his eyes. A vicious kick sent the dog yelping through the air.
The children had escaped.
The Director felt cold eyes boring into his shoulders. Turning and looking upward, he saw Syxx, standing on the rim of precipice.
Anger fled, and with it all vestiges of frustration and brutality.
All that was left within the Director was fear.
Chapter Forty Three
Passage through Cow Town
Dawn was just a sliver hinting over the mountains that lined the distant horizon. They had ridden through the night over broad grassy plains and, despite the darkness, Todd had felt dangerously exposed under the clear starry sky. Now, with the arrival of morning, his scalp twitched anxiously. They needed to find a place to hide out the daylight hours.
A farmhouse sat alone on a slight hill in the middle of acres of fields. But Todd wasn’t ready to risk being seen. They skirted it with a wide margin and saw a ramshackle barn at the far end of a cow pasture.
The cows eyed them warily as they crossed the paddocks. A large bull threatened with a snort and much scraping of his hooves, but Donny let out a rumble that sound like a deep sneeze and the herd calmed down.
“Jeff? Is this Cow Town?” Nita asked in a very audible whisper.
“What are you talking about?” Jeff snapped, his attention on the temporarily docile bull he was passing.
“You said we all Cow Town to Todd. Is this Cow Town?”
Devon hiccupped a giggle. Jeff looked at Nita coldly.
“Nita. Don’t think. Don’t speak. Just ride.”
The barn was smelly, decrepit, but empty. No one complained as they settled in to wait out the sunlight.
Joshua Blackbear stood on his front porch and kicked at the peeling paint rippling free of the railing. Today might just be his last chance to reap the grain from the Cross Creek Field before the frost set in, but to his mind, he already had more than enough grain stowed away to last the winter for himself, his family and his neighbors. To pull in anymore was just greedy. He’d just as soon leave it for the feathered and furry folk to enjoy. Time and plenty to tend to the cattle later as well. A Good Book was calling to him from the kitchen table and he was turning back to answer that call when a speck of movement caught his eye in the distance. He stood still for a long hushed moment while he watched the trespassers trek across the outskirts of his homestead.
Esther stepped out on to the porch, drawn by the silent stillness of her husband. A long quiet descended as they stared unmoving at the specks on the horizon.
“Might be them runaways we saw on the television,” said Joshua after a long pause.
Esther grunted faintly. Another lengthy silence ensued.
“Well, I best be making that phone call,” commented Joshua, turning to walk back into the house.
Esther watched for another long moment before grunting again and following her husband back into the house. She never minded the fact he was the chatty one. Someone had to be the listener.
Chapter Forty Four
Sanctuary of the Morning Star
The travelers watched impatiently as the day slowly faded into night. Their stomachs grumbled. There’d been no time when they left the Dell to grab more supplies and no chance since to replenish.
They mounted in the dusk.
“Todd!” Devon called, pointing to the sky. “Look!”
A black cloud fluttered on the horizon. Todd smiled. Dozens of ravens flittered in circles before heading off to the northeast.
“A murder of crows,” Jeff muttered.
“What?” Todd turned to glare at Jeff.
“That’s what you call a flock of crows,” he answered. “A murder of crows.”
Todd stared at the birds. “And what do you call a bunch of ravens?”
It was Marla that answered. “A beacon,” she said, smiling. “A beacon of ravens.”
Todd hoped she was right. He nudged Midnight towards the disappearing flock and the others followed.
Hidden under a sparse grove of juniper trees, the band looked at the lights of a rural village. Todd struggled between the need for secrecy and the necessity of food.
“Put me in, coach!” Jeff offered flippantly. “If you can get me to an internet terminal, I know I can block them so we can at least get some cash out.”
“How can you do that?” asked Todd.
Jeff’s eyes lit with a manic delight. He was scary when he was planning complicated mayhem. “I’ll jump their security barriers, dump a virus into their data base. They’ll have to shut down for at least ten minutes to reboot and resecure the system. We’ll time it so that you’re at the ATM machine when I crash their network. Then--“
“Okay, okay!” Todd had heard enough. “Five more minutes of your plotting and you’ll probably have someone scaling buildings or swinging on trapezes!”
Jeff thought for a minute. “Yeah, I could work that in.”
They left the horses grazing on the outskirts. Even though the locals would ride into town as readily on a horse as in a car, Todd worried that the lack of saddles and bridles might be too noticeable. Donny was whispering something to Horse.
“Will they stay?” Todd asked Donny. “Do you think they’ll be here when we get back?”
Donny nodded. “Uh-huh,” he said with a final pat to Horse’s muzzle. “He says they will serve.”
Todd looked closely at Donny as he walked away from the horses. It was if the horses were giving him a strange new confidence. “What is that all about?” Todd whispered to Horse. Horse just snorted a raspberry at him bent his head to graze.
The town, if such a small cluster of buildings could be called a town, did not have a real library. The Sheriff’s office shared a space with the post office and a modest collection of books in the back of the post office was deemed the Town Library. It was just as unlikely there would be a public computer terminal in that building as it was that Todd would lead their band directly into the Sheriff’s office to find out.
As they peered at it from the shadows across the street, uncertain what to do next, a dour voice called to them.
“You children look hungry,” the voice stated.
In the doorway of a quiet diner, a short plump woman stood, her arms folded strong across her chest, the apron of her uniform soiled from a long day of waiting tables.
“Will you be needing a bite to eat.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes please!” chirped Lilibit, perking up at the thought of food. “I’m starving!” She cast such a look of angelic misery the face of the waitress lightened into a near smile.
Todd reached out to grab Lilibit and pulled her behind him. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Todd!” Lilibit rolled her eyes.
“We have no money!” Todd whispered at her between gritted teeth.
“I didn’t ask you for your money, proud boy.” The woman stared at Todd for a moment before she turned and walked back in to the restaurant. The sign would have read “Morning Star Diner” if it didn’t have so many lights out.
“Come along then,” she called, not looking back.
Lilibit scurried into the door before Todd could stop her. Warily, Todd followed with the others.
Lilibit climbed onto the bench of a vinyl booth. A handful of locals were scattered in the diner. Their skin was brown and baked by the sun, much like the land they tilled. If they looked at the newcomers at all, it was with only casual interest. They turned back to their coffee cups and the dregs of their conversations long before the travelers were seated. Todd relaxed. He felt no threat in the diner
.
Lilibit’s request for four peanut butter and pickle sandwiches drew no apparent surprise from the waitress as she jotted down the orders and turned back to the counter to deliver it to the kitchen.
“Thanks Connie!” called Jeff with a wink.
The waitress turned a baleful eye on Jeff. Devon and Nita giggled, but then quickly fell silent when she looked over at them.
“How did you know her name was Connie?” asked Lilibit, puzzled.
“Because I’m psychic!” intoned Jeff in a mystic whisper.
“Oh,” said Lilibit naively.
Again, Devon and Nita giggled. Marla stepped in to explain. “He read her name tag, Lilibit.”
“Really?” exclaimed Lilibit in awe.
The others laughed, but Todd’s smile was a little twisted. Lilibit’s limited experience made clairvoyance much more plausible than literacy. That the letters Devon had taught her could convey knowledge was far more miraculous than talking stones or glowing rocks.
They chatted and joked quietly through their short supper. It would have been pleasant to linger, but Todd itched to get moving.
“Thank you, Connie!” Lilibit exclaimed loudly, drawing the eyes of all the diners. Her voice rung with a seed of pride for learning her name from her written tag. Connie’s cheeks ticked with the hint of a smile as she handed a large paper bag to the travelers.
Todd stuttered a thank you. The bag was full of sandwiches and fruit, enough for several days. He did not know why the woman was helping them and his gratitude was deeper for it.
“Thanks,” he said quietly. “We’ll pay you back someday.”
It was just a sop to his pride, but her response surprised him.