I shouldn’t have done that, Zerie thought. Using anger to fuel magic can only lead me to bad places, like the old Wicked Witches who caused so much trouble for Dorothy and the Wizard. Their magic came from their negative thoughts, and that’s where my magical tantrum came from, too.
Zerie sighed. She hated to admit it, but for the first time she understood why Ozma had outlawed magic.
She stood up and looked down at her two friends. Zerie had a feeling that her talent was gone, that she’d erased all the good that used to drive it. And she didn’t want to find out if using anger would make it work again. Aging that Kalidah had been satisfying for a moment, but she’d been miserable ever since.
She wondered, though: Maybe, just maybe, if she paid more attention to being good, her magic would come back.
She would start by letting her best friend have a crush on Brink. Zerie had let a boy come between them before, back when they both liked Ned. This time, she wasn’t going to do that. Vashti was her friend, and Vashti liked Brink.
“So it’s time for me to stay away from him,” Zerie whispered. No matter how much she cared about Brink, she was going to keep ignoring her feelings for him.
No matter how hard that might be.
.15.
“Don’t you think Princess Ozma knows that her Winged Monkeys can’t see in the Tilted Forest?” Zerie asked after an hour of climbing through the trees the next day. “I wonder if she’s sent more clockwork bird spies to watch this part of the country.”
“Only if they know we’re trying to get to Glinda,” Brink said. “She can’t possibly have spies watching the whole Land of Oz.”
“The last time we saw soldiers was on the road of yellow brick, way back near the Foot Hills. And we don’t even know if those soldiers spotted us,” Vashti said. “They didn’t follow us off the road or find us in the ditch with Ednah and Edmond.”
“Right. So probably they lost track of us when we escaped from our village. As far as Ozma is concerned, we could be anywhere,” Brink agreed.
Zerie bit her lip to keep her frustration from spilling out. Every time she spoke today, it seemed as if her friends were united against her. Vashti and Brink felt the same way about everything, and Zerie was the only one who disagreed.
“We don’t know how many other spies might have seen us. There were about a gazillion flies in the swamp, and any one of them could have been a clockwork spy. We wouldn’t know, and that fly could be reporting back to Ozma right this second.” Zerie grabbed hold of an oak that grew sideways at about waist height and pulled herself up onto the trunk. She sat there for a moment, resting. Climbing over and under tree trunks was hard work.
“I guess so. But I’m still happy that we’re traveling during the day. I’m sick of doing everything in the dark,” Vashti said. “Even if it’s a bigger risk, I like it.”
“I didn’t mean we shouldn’t travel during the day, I was just saying that we can’t assume it’s safer here than it was anywhere else.” Zerie tried to push away the feeling that they were mad at her. She wasn’t trying to question Brink’s suggestion that they switch to daytime travel. She was only trying to be sensible, but her friends seemed prickly about it.
“When I came here before, I was really young,” Brink said after a few more minutes of walking. “I remembered the tree trunks being gigantic, but I always figured it was because I was so little then that the trees seemed huge. But you know what? They are huge.”
Vashti laughed. “They are. Or is it just because we’re used to seeing them go up and down instead of sideways? We don’t usually have to climb through all the branches of a tree just to get past it.”
“I like that part, though. When we came here before, Ned and I would hide in the branches like they were forts, and then we would play soldiers.” Brink smiled. “How often do you get to play inside the top of a tree like that? Though I just liked to pretend it was a castle. Ned was the one who wanted to be a soldier in a fort.”
They all walked in silence for a little while, climbing over the trees that grew near the ground, ducking under the ones that grew higher up on the steep walls, and shimmying through the ones whose tops crossed their path. Zerie thought about little Brink playing with his brother in these trees, never imagining that he’d grow up to travel through them as a fugitive.
“Do you think Ned is looking for you?” Zerie asked. “I’m sure my grammy is looking for me.”
“I don’t know,” Brink said slowly. “My father would definitely want to find me. I’m not sure about Ned.”
“I can’t believe that,” Vashti cried. “How could he not want to find you?”
Brink shrugged.
“My brothers and sisters probably want to know what happened to me, but I don’t know if most of them would ever leave the village to search,” Zerie said. “They’ve all got their responsibilities in the orchard, and Zelzah has her baby. Zepho would look for me, though. He’s like me—and he always wanted to see what was down the road.”
“My parents have probably been up and down the road five times by now,” Vashti said. “You don’t suppose Ozma’s soldiers took them, do you? Just because they’re related to us and we were practicing magic?”
The thought was so awful that Zerie had to stop walking and sit for a moment. The Tilted Forest was beautiful, from the pink-tinged leaves of the trees to the deep red ivy that covered the forest floor. Here and there, small heart-shaped red flowers sprang up in patches among the underbrush. At any other time, Zerie would have found this place magical. Now, all she could think about was the danger she and her family were in.
“I don’t believe Ozma would do that,” Brink said. “Just because people are in the same family doesn’t mean they behave the same way, or think the same things, or even tell each other what they’re doing. Ozma wouldn’t assume that the whole family was guilty just because one person was using magic.”
He sat next to Zerie and motioned for Vashti to join them. “You need rest still,” he told Vashti. “It’s tiring getting through this forest.”
“I feel great,” Vashti said. “Later I’m going to try levitating us for a while. It might be a little bumpy because the trees grow every which way, but that only means it’s challenging.”
Zerie frowned. She stared at a red heart flower growing near her finger, and she willed it to bloom.
It didn’t. Her talent was still gone, and Vashti’s was getting stronger every minute.
She shut her eyes and focused on thinking positive thoughts. She was trying to be good. She was trying to stay out of Vashti’s way with Brink.
Maybe it would take a few days for her magic to get stronger again. The only way to get there was to be patient, because patience was a good thing, and magic was good.
Magic was good.
When she opened her eyes, she was alone. Alarmed, Zerie jumped to her feet, almost banging her head on the trunk of the pine tree above her. She must’ve fallen asleep—she’d kept watch by herself nearly all night, and her body wasn’t used to being awake during the day again.
Where were Vashti and Brink? She glanced around. Their packs were still here, close together under the branches of the oak growing about ten feet up the wall. But there was no sign of her friends.
Did they get taken? she thought frantically. Maybe Ozma’s soldiers came while I was asleep and captured them! Why else would they leave their bags behind?
It didn’t make sense, though. If the soldiers had taken her friends, why wouldn’t they take her, too?
The answer dawned on her immediately. They hadn’t taken her because she didn’t have any magic. Ozma was so powerful, she must know who had talent and who didn’t. And Zerie’s talent was gone.
I could get it back if I tapped into my bad side, a little voice whispered in her head. I can use my anger to give me strength, and I can go after the soldiers and age them all until they turn to dust. I can rescue Brink and Vashti!
Zerie shook her head, hard. She didn’t
even want such thoughts in her mind. Killing soldiers? Was that what she had become? No good person would even consider something like that, no matter how desperate she was, no matter how many friends had been captured. Maybe Ozma was right to take all the witches and put them in the Forbidden Fountain. Maybe it was the only way to keep Oz safe from people like Zerie.
A peal of laughter caught her attention.
Vashti!
Filled with relief, Zerie rushed toward the sound. Over a tree and under three more, then to the left to work around some thick reddish pine branches . . . and there in front of her lay a shimmering silver stream. Trees grew sideways into the water, forming natural jetties and docks and diving boards. More trees grew at an angle higher up, their pink-tinged leaves making a sort of arched roof overhead. The sun filtered through, sparkling off the water. Iridescent unicornflies flitted about, swooping and dipping their rainbow wings in the spray. It was the most beautiful place Zerie had ever seen.
Screaming with laughter, Vashti ran along a pine trunk and launched herself off into the stream one step ahead of Brink, who was chasing her. Zerie caught her breath when she saw him—he’d taken off his shirt and the sight of his bare chest made her heart beat a little faster.
Brink landed with a gigantic splash and grabbed Vashti around the waist, throwing her back into the water as she playfully kicked and squealed.
Zerie felt a stab of jealousy. How could he do that, holding her in his arms one day and now flirting with her best friend two days later?
“Do you have any idea how loud you’re being?” she yelled. “I could hear you way back where you left me. In fact, you woke me up!” She knew it was a lie, but she didn’t care. “And nice job being on watch, by the way—anybody could have captured me and you two wouldn’t even know about it!”
She turned and stalked back the way she’d come before either of them could even respond. Both of them had been staring at her open-mouthed, and she didn’t want to hear what they would say when they recovered from their surprise.
Zerie’s cheeks were burning.
What did I just do? she thought, slowing down as soon as she knew she was out of sight. How could I yell at my friends just for having fun? What is wrong with me?
Back where they’d left their packs, Zerie dropped to the ground and covered her eyes. Maybe she could pretend to be sleeping, and then when they got back, they would think she had been sleepwalking. Or maybe she could pretend she’d been joking around? Anything but admit the truth—she was jealous and mad at them, even though she’d promised herself that she was going to stay out of it! She’d sworn to herself that she would let Vashti have her crush on Brink and she wouldn’t interfere.
But I didn’t realize I’d have to watch them together, she thought sadly. I didn’t realize Brink liked her as much as she likes him.
“I’m terrible at being good,” she whispered, picturing what Grammy would say. “Not interfering would be the good thing to do, not the easy thing to do. Being good isn’t easy.”
She was so ashamed of herself that she didn’t even look at her friends when they came back a few minutes later. Neither of them said a thing, and she could tell they were mad at her. They just gathered their packs and started walking. Zerie grabbed her stuff and went with them. What else could she do?
It was hard not to feel self-conscious when she still smelled like swamp mud and her clothes were filthy. The two of them had washed themselves clean in the stream. If I’d joined them instead of yelling at them, I would be clean, too, she thought. So I guess I deserve to be dirty.
“I think I’ll try levitation now,” Vashti said after an hour or so. “The sun is going down, and we’ll run out of light soon. We can get farther faster if we float.”
“If you feel strong enough,” Brink said in a worried tone.
“I do.” Vashti held out both of her hands. Brink took one right away, but Zerie moved more slowly. It felt too intimate to touch her friends after she’d yelled at them both. But Vashti smiled and squeezed Zerie’s hand. “Maybe you can make us move even faster while I levitate us,” she suggested.
“No, I can’t, and you know it!” Zerie snapped, yanking her hand out of Vashti’s. “But thanks for rubbing it in.”
“What are you talking about?” Vashti cried.
“I helped us plenty when your talent wasn’t doing anything at all,” Zerie yelled. “Excuse me if I’m the one who’s useless for a little while.”
“Zerie!” Brink cried.
“You thought I was useless?” Vashti asked, tears in her eyes. “You said you believed in me. That’s why I was finally able to levitate us all, because you kept telling me I could.”
“I know.” Zerie ran her hand through her hair, trembling. “I did believe in you. I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m sorry.” She took a shaky breath. “But I can’t use my magic to help us because I don’t have any left. I should just go home. You two can go to Glinda, and I’ll go back to the village. Ozma won’t come after me—my talent is gone.”
“That’s crazy.” Vashti’s voice sounded like a whip, and Zerie stared at her in shock. “You’re just tired because you used too much energy at once, and now you feel sorry for yourself because you’re not the strongest one anymore.”
“I do not!” Zerie protested. “I just understand it better now. I let my anger come out and that’s how I aged that Kalidah’s body. It was negative emotion and so it was negative magic. And now my talent is gone, so I can’t use it the way I used to when I was good. And I don’t want to use it by being bad.”
“You’re not being bad. You’re just mad at me for some reason,” Vashti said. “I think you’re jealous.”
“I am jealous,” Zerie shot back. “I’m jealous of you even though I promised myself I wouldn’t be. It won’t go away, and it’s a bad way to feel, so I should just leave. Like I said I would!”
She spun away, ready to climb up the tree ladder all the way to the top of the forest if she had to. She needed to get out of there right now.
“You’re a quitter!” Vashti yelled at her. “I felt the same way you did for the first part of our trip—I couldn’t do anything, and you were busy exploding giant feet and saving everybody! Don’t you think I was jealous of you, too? But I didn’t leave.”
“You kept talking about it, though,” Zerie snapped.
“But I didn’t do it,” Vashti spat. “I stuck it out even though you two were so thrilled with yourselves, and now you just have to stick it out, too, whether you like it or not!”
“Stop telling me what to do!” Zerie yelled.
“Stop acting like a baby!” Vashti yelled back.
“Both of you stop,” Brink said, his voice cutting through their argument like a knife. Zerie had almost forgotten he was there, and by the look on Vashti’s face, it seemed she had as well.
“Stop fighting. Stop acting weird with each other. Just stop!” Brink’s tone was furious. “You’ve been friends forever, and now all you do is fight all the time. You want to stop being jealous of each other? Stop liking the same boy!”
He hurled his pack over his shoulder and stormed off through the Tilted Forest faster than Zerie had ever seen him move before, jumping over huge branches like they were tiny little weeds.
Zerie blinked in astonishment. “I can’t believe he said that,” she murmured.
“Me either.” Vashti wore a stunned expression. “How embarrassing.”
“I know.” Zerie turned to her friend. “I mean, it’s true. Mostly I’ve been jealous because of . . . you know.”
Vashti nodded. “Me too.”
“But I really was talking about our talents,” Zerie went on. “I don’t want to let all the bad feelings turn me into a bad witch. I’d rather stay like this, with no magic.”
“Well . . . maybe Brink’s right. Maybe all the bad feelings come from liking the same boy,” Vashti said. “Could we just stop liking him, do you think?”
“I can try.” Zerie bit her
lip. “I really like him a lot.”
Vashti frowned.
“Vashti! Zerie! Thank goodness!” A loud voice echoed through the woods. “I’ve been searching for you for days!”
He came crashing through the branches, his handsome face alight with relief: Ned Springer.
.16.
Ned stopped in front of the two girls, smiling. His brown eyes gleamed, his thick, dark hair was as perfect as ever, and his beautifully muscled arms were held out to them both.
Zerie automatically ran her hand through her curls before remembering that she was still half covered in swamp mud. Somehow the mortifying realization snapped her out of the haze she and Vashti had fallen into.
“It’s an illusion, just like last time!” she said, turning to her friend. “Ned’s not really here.” She raised her voice. “Brink!” she called. “Stop it! You made your point!”
“Brink’s here, too?” Ned asked, dropping his arms. His eyebrows knit together in confusion. “What do you mean, it’s an illusion?”
Zerie stared at him, confused. Did illusions talk? Had Brink’s illusions ever made a sound before? Or was this some new way his talent had grown, like the way Vashti could move when she levitated, or the way she herself could make things age?
“He’s real,” Vashti whispered, clutching Zerie’s hand. “He’s really here.”
“Of course I am.” Ned took another step toward them. “Where’s my brother?”
“I’m not sure. He ran off,” Zerie said, trying to shake off the weirdness of the situation. It’d been days since she’d even spoken to anyone besides Vashti and Brink, and they were so far away from home, in the middle of the wilderness . . . it was bizarre to be talking to Ned Springer, her clockwork-building fantasy boy from the village. “Ned, what are you doing here?”
“Trying to find you girls, of course.” Ned smiled. “There have been search parties out since you ran off. Didn’t you know we’d be looking for you?”
Zerie hesitated. She had known people would be looking for them, but she’d assumed that those people were Ozma’s spies. It hadn’t occurred to her that a village search party would locate them when the Winged Monkeys couldn’t. And she wasn’t really sure how that could’ve happened.
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