Aster Wood and the Child of Elyso (Book 4)

by J B Cantwell

  I went back to my pounding, thinking of the rocks that built up the planets in the Triaden. Was this how those people had extracted the gold back there?

  I turned back to Cait, suddenly curious.

  “Hey, Cait,” I called.

  She turned at the sound of her name. I beckoned for her to come closer, but she only took a few tentative steps in my direction.

  “How did you know there was gold in that wall?” I asked.

  She huffed.

  “I already told you, I could see—”

  “I know, I know,” I said. “But there isn’t any gold on Aeso. Where did you learn to find it? I mean, if you’ve never seen gold before, how did you know what to look for?”

  “I haven’t practiced looking for gold before, silly,” she said. “Of course not. I don’t find gold. I find the wanted things.”

  “Wanted things?”

  “Sure,” she said, turning slightly to kick another rock into the water as she spoke, skipping a little as she did so. “Mama always said that was my special gift. A gift from the hills of Elyso. Once, when our dog Ginger had pups, one of them got lost down by the river. Ginger stayed back, had to tend the other pups, but Father wanted the lost one. He was worried about him. He took me with him to look, and I found him soon enough.”

  I sat back onto my heels, suddenly transfixed.

  “Really?” I asked. “What else have you found?”

  She twisted her mouth in an odd angle as she thought.

  “Once, at the end of the growing season, I found a whole other field of apple trees nobody had seen before.” Her eyes were wide as she told the tale, playing up the excitement of the event. “It was a good thing, too, cause Father told me that some in the village had nearly starved the year before. He told me that those trees would keep people alive who might have died from hunger.”

  Her face beamed with pride.

  “And your Mama, she says the power comes from the hills?” I asked.

  Cait nodded seriously.

  “All kinds of magic waits in Elyso,” she said, her voice hushed. “Mama said I was lucky I was born there. We don’t have wizard kin. So that’s where the magic had to come from.”

  “How do you do it?” I asked.

  “I just see,” she said, shrugging.

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “What do you see?”

  She furrowed her brows, clearly never having had this question posed to her before.

  “Well, I see the person. I see what the person wants. They don’t even need to tell me. Then, once I know it, I can just look for it for them. Things good people want sort of glow. And I follow the trail.”

  My mouth hung open as I tried to comprehend such a talent. And yet she seemed to have little idea of just how powerful an ability like this was.

  She dropped her gaze, and then looked up at me, just briefly.

  “That’s how I knew about you,” she said. She seemed to be still deciding if she believed her own words.

  “You knew about me?” I asked.

  “After the dream,” she continued, “I didn’t ever want to be near you again. But then I saw the glow in you. It’s scary when there’s no glow.”

  “You saw the glow in me, so you knew I was good?” I asked.

  She nodded, her gaze on her feet, still kicking at the pebbles on the cavern floor.

  Suddenly, my eyes stung, and for a moment I couldn’t figure out why. Then I realized. Tears.

  I stood up, almost walked over to hug her. But then I stopped, realizing my approach would probably frighten her. Even though she could see me, whatever horrors she had experienced in her dreams meant she still feared me.

  “Can you see what I want?” I asked, my voice quiet.

  She looked up.

  “You want lots of things,” she said.

  I nodded.

  “I can’t see everything from home. We’re too far away. But I can see the man. Your dad.”

  “You can see my dad?” I asked, shocked.

  “Just since the night in that wrecked house,” she said. “It’s a little clearer now. I think we’re going in the right direction.”

  Suddenly, it seemed, Cait had had enough. She skipped away, towards the other side of the shore, leaving me dumbstruck.

  “Weird kid,” Sean said. I hadn’t noticed that his grinding had stopped along with my own.

  I glared back at him.

  “She’s not weird,” I said. “She found the gold, didn’t she?”

  He shrugged.

  “Yeah, and that’s weird.” He turned back to his grinding, and soon was ignoring me again completely, his attention focused on his work.

  Cait was right. I wanted a lot of things. But mostly the things I wanted didn’t need searching for. There was no scavenger hunt that would work to bring Jade back from her insanity. No path Cait could take me along to force the Corentin to stop his torture of the people in the Fold and beyond.

  But there was one thing I wanted that she could help me with. Now that we had gold, there was only one thing left on Earth that needed finding.

  A smile cut through my tears and my awe as I realized the truth. In Cait, I had my own map, walking around within the mind of a five-year-old. If what she was saying was really true, and after the gold I was starting to believe her, she could direct us straight to whatever mountain hideaway my dad was holed up in. Sure, we might have found him without her help. But having her help would make everything so much easier.

  I wondered if, like Brendan’s power over the frame, and my power to run at great speed, her ability would fade as the days went on.

  I turned back to my hole, taking up the sledgehammer with renewed vigor.

  Boom. Boom. Boom.

  It was only a matter of time now. Soon enough, we would have this gold. Then, we could move on, find Dad and the lost necklaces, and take both back to the Fold.

  That had become my plan without my even realizing it. Finding the gold alone would not be enough, not for me, no matter how much ore we were able to dig out of this place. I was counting on the chance that bringing Dad back to the Fold with me could heal him. Just like it had healed me. Still, after more than half a year, I didn’t have a good explanation as to why my health had suddenly turned. I could only attribute it to Kiron and the food he had given me that first night back in his cottage, his potions hidden within it. Though Larissa had laughed at that idea the moment it had been proposed.

  Had it been something else, then? Another power, brought to life within me by my entering the Fold? I had met so many who carried such unusual gifts, people who had lived in the Fold since birth. It seemed there was something about that place, particularly the Triaden, that nurtured magical ability. Within the Fold was an energy that allowed, even encouraged, the extraordinary in its inhabitants.

  It had taken me time to find my other powers. For months I had only despaired, convinced that the gifts of health and speed, while wonderful, would be the only benefits I would see from my time there. That I would be defeated in the end because I could not wield a force with enough strength to defeat a being like the Corentin.

  But when I had unexpectedly found hope within me, the power passed down to me from Almara, himself, had finally flared. That hope, coupled with my hand against Owyn’s old wood staff, had allowed me to escape the threat of death more than once since I had discovered it.

  Could the same thing happen to my Dad? Could time spent in the Triaden bring him back to himself for good?

  It was a risk. The madness of Almara, of Jade, were all encompassing, an evil so dark that it possessed their minds and shredded their dreams. I doubted any number of years in the Triaden could have helped them escape their dark visions, escape the Corentin. Would my dad heal, as I had? Or would he get worse, like Jade and Almara? All of us had the same blood in our veins. All of us faced the same foe.

  It could go either way.

  I sat back on my heels, leaning for a moment on the sledgehammer to rest. C
ait flitted about the dark space, seemingly careless about yet another gloomy destination along this mad journey we were taking together. Her ability to keep her spirits lifted was incredible.

  “Cait,” I said. She hopped a few steps in my direction. “What do you see when someone’s bad?”

  She paused, a look coming over her face almost like she had been caught at something naughty.

  “Nothing,” she said, taking a step back from me.

  “Nothing?” I asked. I was suddenly desperate to know.

  “There’s just…nothing,” she said, turning to hop away again. “It’s empty.”

  “What’s so scary about that?” I asked, not necessarily meaning to speak the question aloud.

  She looked back, her eyes at once fearful and reproachful. Then, as if the conversation had never happened at all, she turned and hopped away.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Mom and Carl worked late into the night, stopping only to swim back across for dinner. Farther up the cave Grandma had lit a camp stove and was warming dinner rations over it in a small pot. The familiar smell of stew drifted over to me, and soon all of us were huddled around where she sat, stirring.

  Grandma had spent the afternoon taking trips back and forth from the car, bringing supplies for the night down into the cave. Mom and Carl each had heavy blankets wrapped around them, warming them from the cold lake, and they held their hot tin bowls of stew close to their faces, eating greedily. When we were all fed, we sat staring at the lantern Grandma had placed in the center of our group, as if it were a campfire to warm us. Sean sat close to his father, and the two of them a little apart from the rest of us.

  “Come here, girl,” Carl said, gesturing to Cait.

  She didn’t hesitate, and it occurred to me that she must really like Carl, must see the good in him. She bounced over to him and sat down.

  “Turn,” he commanded, and she did. Then, with a skill I did not expect, he parted and smoothed out here hair and began braiding. Cait smiled.

  “What’s your story, Carl?” It was Grandma, who sat across the lantern from him, watching the two unlikely friends. “What’s life like up in your village?”

  “When things went south,” he said, not looking up from his work, “we were already in a good spot. At least as far as the weather. We can grow some crops at that elevation, but not many. I don’t like it down below, though.”

  “You got family, too. More than just Sean?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “Yup. Another boy and a girl, not much older than this one.” He nodded towards Cait.

  “And a wife?”

  His fingers paused, but only briefly.

  “Ma’s dead,” Sean said. Then, as he felt his father stiffen beside him, “Sorry.”

  Carl looked down at his thick, worn hands, studying them.

  “It’s alright, son,” he said. “We lost Gwen two winters back.” His fingers stiffened with the statement, then he relaxed them and folded his hands.

  Nobody spoke for a moment.

  “I’m mighty sorry to hear that,” Grandma finally said.

  She sat quietly, then continued.

  “How many are up in the mountains then?” she asked.

  “In our village? Seventy three. There are two small towns, both to the north, but we don’t see them often. Sometimes traders travel through. But getting around is difficult. Cars are scarce, and without a car, you can’t get very far in the haze.”

  “How did you get down here?” I asked. I hadn’t seen any other vehicle in front of the mine when we had arrived, and I couldn’t imagine walking for long in the haze, especially up and down mountains.

  “Hitched a ride with the supply truck,” he said. He pulled a strip of leather from his pocket and broke it into a smaller piece for Cait’s hair. “You ain’t supposed to. The officials don’t like to give rides to the locals. Say it wastes gas, gives the wrong impression. But I’ve known the drivers since I was your age. They looked the other way.”

  He completed the knot at the bottom of the braid, then gave the hair a gentle yank, telling Cait that his work was done. She had grown sleepy from the gentleness of his hands on her hair, and she crawled over to Mom and laid her head down in her lap.

  “You need a ride back?” Mom asked.

  Carl’s face brightened.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I was already planning to head out in three days’ time, when the trucks are supposed to come back through. But that’s always a risk. That’s why I’ve been away so long already. The last caravan wouldn’t let me board.” He scowled. “Animals. How anyone could leave a man in the haze when they have the means to help, I don’t understand.” Then, his face shifted, and his friendly smile returned. “A ride would be great, though.”

  He looked delighted about the whole situation. In the space of hours he had been reunited with his son, found a sizable amount of gold, and managed to avoid what I was sure would be a long and miserable trek through the mountains back home.

  Mom turned to me.

  “How much gold do you need?” she asked.

  Over the course of the afternoon, I had managed to break apart enough rock to result in two walnut-sized piles of gold dust. It wasn’t nearly enough.

  “A lot more than this,” I said.

  She frowned, looking around the cavern.

  “That’s all there is here,” came Cait’s sleepy voice. I hadn’t realized she was still awake and listening. Her eyes were closed.

  Mom looked down at her, brushing her hand over her neatly plaited head.

  “It’s more than enough for me,” Carl said, leaning back on his elbows. “What do you all need so much gold for?” The question was for all of us, but he was looking at me.

  I shrugged.

  “It’s complicated,” I said.

  He laughed, leaning completely back and pulling the blanket up under his arms.

  “It always is,” he said.

  “We’ll have to look for more along the way, I guess,” I said, turning to Mom.

  She opened her mouth, as if to argue, but then stopped herself. Slowly, as we took step after step together along this journey, she was realizing that none of this was trivial. I hadn’t concocted an adventure to find gold or find Dad. I hadn’t made up the healthy heart beating in my chest. Cait hadn’t accidentally found the vein of gold on the other side of the cavern. What was happening around her was real. It was a relief to see her finally start to believe.

  “Okay,” she said, and tried to give me a smile. Then, the exhaustion of first the poisoned haze and then the work in the mine caught up with her. She leaned back onto the rock, rolling onto her side, using her arm as a pillow.

  Cait wiggled about as she found a spot beside her, dropping off to sleep almost instantly.

  But as I, myself, lay back, and Grandma reached to click off the lantern, I saw that Mom’s eyes were open and staring. I wondered how long it would take sleep to find her.

  And me.

  I couldn’t be sure how long we slept. Not even a hint of sun could be seen from so deep within the mine. But some time later, the lights were on and the smell of food was once again floating in the air.

  I rolled over, groaning at the aching in my arms and hands. It felt like they had been crushed by something very heavy, and I could barely wiggle my fingers.

  Grandma had packed up most of our things, though had declined to haul it all back up out of the cave to the car. I was glad for the efforts she had gone to, though. I felt sure I could carry supplies out on my shoulders, just not in my hands.

  Mom didn’t seem to be doing much better than I was. She sat up from her spot on the rock and rubbed at her upper arms and shoulders, wincing as she did so.

  Luckily for all of us, Carl seemed oblivious to any irritation from the previous day’s efforts. Right after breakfast he and Sean both loaded up the majority of our things onto their backs and made it out to the car and back again in what seemed like no time at all.r />
  “Wow,” Carl said as he took the last steps from the tunnel into the cave when he returned. “You guys mean business; that car’s stocked. Where you gonna head?”

  I looked at Mom, then Grandma, and they both nodded.

  “California, I guess,” I said.

  He gave me an appraising look, as if he was considering whether he should accompany us all the way. Then, as if remembering a bad dream, he shook off the temporary temptation.

  “Well, I guess you’ll be needing all you got, then,” he said.

  I wondered what image had flashed into his mind in that quick moment. And though I would be seeing the land between here and California myself very soon, I questioned him.

  He walked over to his own pile of belongings and, after packing his tools and rough camp set into an enormous bag, slung the whole lot over his shoulder with a loud huff.

  “You all ready?” he asked.

  Everyone picked up the last of their belongings and followed him out of the cavern.

  Carl took slow, deliberate steps up the incline towards the exit as he spoke.

  “Out west,” I said. “You said this is the edge now. What does that mean?”

  “I could be wrong,” he said, glancing at me. “I’ve only ever been maybe forty miles west of the mountains. But what I saw in that forty miles didn’t make me think I’d find anything else if I went farther.”

  “What was it like?” I asked, adjusting the straps on my backpack.

  “Desert,” he said. “Nothing grows there at all anymore. The rains killed off the vegetation a long time ago, and when they finally stopped, what was left of the plant life never tried again. It’s different in the east. The water gets filtered as it sinks down into the dirt, and any seeds left below ground will sprout and grow, just like normal. At least until the rains come again and kill off the shoots.”