The Timekeeper's Moon

by Joni Sensel

  Ariel stepped forward to soothe her. “I only meant—”

  “No. You might be right. Partly.” Sienna gnawed her hair. “He’s just a—a better person than me. And that makes me—”

  “That’s not true. You’re just different. We’ve all done things we shouldn’t have.”

  Sienna’s hopeful expression tugged at Ariel’s heart. “You think so?”

  “I know so.”

  “Well… okay.” Sienna tucked her hair back into place. “Maybe I’ve been unfair. Don’t be surprised if you can’t keep a secret from him, though. Any secret. He’s not a Kincaller; he’s a mouse, always skittering out where you least expect him.”

  Ariel laughed, remembering her first startling contacts with Nace. “Maybe. But I’d be more scared of Electron, and you’re not, so we made a good trade.”

  “We sure did. Even if we both got surprises.” Sienna managed a wry smile and linked arms with Ariel to leave. “It didn’t all work out like I’d hoped, but I get the lectrick instead, and a big pack of new men to choose from. They’re a little … undressed, but I can fix that.”

  The scanty clothing was explained later by Electron’s Storian, Bess. Scarl had tracked her down to learn what he could about the dam, and Ariel sat with them. The crotchety old woman was not very forthcoming. She claimed that most of the dam’s workings were secrets held only by Ennis and his most favored apprentices. But she did explain that the entire village was descended from those who’d been working at the dam when the Blind War struck.

  “They just holed up inside for a long while,” she said. “Went out dusk and dawn only, when the fishing is best. Brought forth babies and got by. When the sight finally came back, they let visitors in. Farwalkers, mostly.” Bess eyed Ariel suspiciously. “But then the visitors started yammering about getting rid of the lectrick. So them in charge got rid of visitors instead. That’s when we first started burning, to better see strangers approach.”

  “Life must be hard, though, without anything from the forest,” Scarl said.

  She shrugged. “The lectrick keeps us warm, so we don’t need much. We eat mostly fish and what we can reap from the south shore—the green one. No visitor ever came from that way; the war destruction yonder was too great. So the Reapers never bothered to burn it. We trade meat and skins from them a few times a year. There’s talk of bringing them back in more regular. Parts of the dam have been failing more often. Even Ennis can’t always fix it. And some folk is nervous we couldn’t get by without it.”

  Scarl smiled. “The rest of us do.”

  “Aye. The Reapers know how. They could teach us. We’ll see. I do get mighty tired of fish.”

  “Or maybe what’s in the Vault could help fix the dam,” Ariel said.

  Scarl nodded. “If Ennis will join with us, we might do even better and spread the lectrick to others. Electron would be full of heroes, Ennis chief among them.”

  Bess hooted. “Keep me in the world long enough to see that! I’ll tell him you said so. But Ennis ain’t much for sharing.”

  Bess couldn’t give them what Ariel wanted most, either. Although Electron had its own Noah story, the old woman didn’t know the version they’d heard from Vi, and she scowled in confusion at Ariel’s map.

  “That’s the lake and the dam, surely,” she said. “The rest don’t make much sense. If it led you here, though, I suppose it served well enough.”

  “But it seems to keep going,” Ariel noted. More importantly, her feet were not content to stop.

  Bess tossed the linen back into Ariel’s lap. “Why would you want to keep going? I always figured Electron was the Vault. It’s just as good. Better, ’cause it ain’t never been lost. Not for us, nohow. As long as it lasts, the lectrick’s all we need.”

  Ariel kept her mouth shut, but she thought of one or two things Electron could use—a Tree-Singer, for instance. She’d hoped to trade pine seeds for news of Zeke or the abbey, but Electron had no one to ask. That seemed strange only until she remembered the Reapers’ fires and the fact that nothing green grew in Electron at all.

  Once Bess hobbled off to bed, Ariel asked Scarl, “Do you think lectrick’s a good thing? I wouldn’t want anywhere else to become more like this place.”

  “I know what you mean,” he replied, “but I think it’s like everything else in the Vault. Or for that matter, a story. The good or evil is not in the thing but in how we all share it. Don’t give up on them yet. They’ve stretched a long way just since our arrival.”

  Exhaustion weighed on Ariel by the time interest waned and people began drifting away for the night. Mo escorted Nace outside to bed down Willow while Scarl went to locate Sienna, who’d last been seen cuddling a baby. Waiting for him to return, Ariel lay curled in a corner. The building thrummed like a living thing. There’d been no chance for Mo to show her the spillway—presumably the same one she might have been tossed over.

  Scarl came back without Sienna, who was wasting no time wiggling herself into Electron. When Mo returned, too, Ariel jumped up and reminded him of his promise. He rolled his bushy head back in exasperation, but waved for her to follow. With Nace staying behind to keep an eye on their things, Scarl accompanied them.

  Without a guide, even the Farwalker would have become lost in the maze of hallways and stairwells, but shortly they stepped through a door that opened on cool night air. They walked along the crest of the dam. On one side, the lake stretched dark and smooth. The other fell away like a cliff, but in the moonlight Ariel could see the gleam of the river below. As Mo led them, she happened to think that in him and Trisha, as in Scarl’s bridge story, a man and a much older woman guarded this bridge.

  It had a hole in it, too, of a sort. Mo stopped at a railing, leaned over, and pointed. Near the center of the dam, the wall had a breach. A sheer curtain of water slid down the steep ramp below.

  “Not much spill now,” Mo said. “Low water in summer. Other times it looks more like a falls.”

  Ariel sidled up to the rail. Scarl clamped a hand on her arm. She flashed him a long-suffering look. His attention, though, remained fixed on Mo. He wasn’t afraid Ariel might fall; he was making sure Mo couldn’t act on a well-concealed plan. Too aware of the hulking man alongside her, she was suddenly glad Scarl was there.

  A crooked grin wiggled through Mo’s beard. “Stand down, Finder. We may be a lot of things here, but we ain’t sneaky.”

  Scarl’s grip relaxed. Before he could voice the apology on his face, Ariel said, “He just thinks I’m clumsy, that’s all.” It made her uneasy to feel so dependent on him.

  She peered over the edge and imagined what it would have been like to bounce and scrape all that way before being swallowed by the churning river below. The cool damp air gave her goose bumps.

  “Timekeeper?” asked Scarl.

  She shook her head. Even if it had roared with spring flow, this was not what she’d seen when they’d broken his glass.

  “You asked about fail-safes,” Mo said, his voice low. “Don’t tell no one I told you. Ennis would flay me. But I can’t see how you could break it, so… the spillway is one.”

  “It is?” Ariel gazed at it anew. “What does it do? How does it make sure there’s not a mistake?”

  “If the lake gets too high, see, in spring rains or storms, that could be a big problem. The whole dam could break. This lets the worst of the high-water spill.”

  “It works by itself?”

  “Pretty much.”

  Ariel gave Scarl a bewildered look. She didn’t know how such a thing could apply to the Vault or the calling she felt.

  “I don’t know,” Scarl said quietly. “But I think it’s encouraging that it works by itself. Perhaps making the trip will suffice.”

  Ariel watched the water slide down. Nothing about this trip felt that easy to her—not so easy as falling.

  She regretted that thought immediately. A dizziness swept through her, too familiar, like dropping. She jerked back against Scarl, glad he stil
l held her arm, and lifted her gaze. The moon stared back. Only a day short of full, it rammed a bolt of worry through her chest.

  Scarl steadied her with an inquiring murmur.

  The dizziness passed. The dread didn’t. “If I weren’t so tired, I’d keep walking tonight,” Ariel told him. “The moon’s bright enough.”

  “Shy moon, I’d say. Almost full.” Scarl rubbed weariness from his face. “You could ride, if you really think we need to.”

  Ariel studied the dark land that awaited. Abrupt hills rose like ant piles, the river having long since carved the easiest route through them. She considered a rush to gather their things, say farewell to Sienna, and set off along its banks in the dark. She could barely summon the energy to think it.

  “Dawn will be soon enough.” She hoped it was true.

  When they got back inside the great hall, only two lectrick fires remained burning, one at each end. Nace lifted her spirits with a flower he’d picked while outside. The waxy white blossom oozed a peppery scent.

  She yearned to thank him with a hug. They’d enjoyed no secret twining of fingers since the fire; they’d been too busy and too wary of Scarl’s disapproval. Still, Nace’s willingness to champion her earlier had filled her with a strange, conflicted joy, and she longed to show him how she felt. Scarl and Mo looked on from too close, though. She settled for words, adding, “I’ve never seen one like this.”

  “Moonflower,” offered Mo. “Only blooms under full moon and the cusp day either side—shy moon to spilled moon. They’re unlucky, though.”

  With dismay, Nace reached to retrieve the flower from Ariel.

  She dodged. “Why? They’re not poisonous, are they?”

  “Nah. Worse,” said Mo. “Good thing your knucklehead only took one. They say that following moonflowers to pick them will lead you out of the world.”

  CHAPTER 34

  Dog Moon and Good-byes

  When Mo left them for bed, Ariel, Scarl, and Nace all lay down near a wall. Soon Nace’s soft snoring joined the hum that vibrated the floor.

  Ariel tugged her blanket one way, then another, so tired she couldn’t find the doorway to sleep. She wasn’t sure she wanted to pass through it, anyway. It seemed silly to be scared of nightmares, but she dreaded another like last night’s.

  After she heaved an especially deep sigh, Scarl’s whisper came out of the shadows. “You all right?”

  She squirmed around until she could see his face in the low light. “No.”

  “Want to tell me?”

  “I don’t know what to say. I’m just worried.”

  “About…?”

  “I said I don’t know!”

  His eyebrows lifted, he reached toward her shoulder. She pulled away from his touch. His hand hovered an instant, then drew back to rest on the floor between them.

  “All right,” he murmured. “Anything I can do?”

  Ariel flopped onto her back, stinging from the flare of her own irritation. “Just get us out of here fast in the morning.”

  After a moment she rolled over to see if he was still looking at her. He was.

  “If I kissed Nace, would you hurt him?” she whispered.

  He raised his head. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

  “No! I mean, yes, but it’s not why we need to get down the river.”

  Scarl rested his head again. “Is that where we’re going?”

  “Answer me,” she growled. “Would you?”

  “I’m pretty sure I pulled every muscle I have saving his hide a few days ago. And I fully expected… Well, let’s just say I was surprised when all four of us survived the fire.”

  She moaned. “I know that! But why won’t you answer my question?”

  “Ariel …” He sighed, rubbing one eyebrow. “I wouldn’t hurt Nace for any reason, short of him hurting you. But I remember what it’s like to be a young man his age. It’s annoying to know someone is watching, but trust me, it helps.”

  “He wouldn’t do anything wrong.”

  Scarl opened his mouth, reconsidered, and closed his eyes to choose different words. Finally he said, “Kiss him if you feel you must. A kiss is a very fine thing. Just realize that once you wade into that current, it can be tough to get out. And it may be even tougher for Nace. Okay?”

  Ariel could see cautions and concerns piling up behind his eyes, but he held them back. She could guess that most of what he wanted to say matched secret fears of her own. She nodded. “Okay.”

  He smiled and wondered, “How did I get this job?”

  “You snatched me.” She’d meant to grin back, but her words recalled the night it had happened—the night her mother had been murdered by Elbert. The memory would never come without pain. It reflected onto Ariel’s face.

  Wincing, Scarl cast his gaze to the floor. “Forgive me. I’m wrong to complain, even in jest.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that.” Frustrated by her own emotions, she reached to grip one of his fingers. He curled it and hers into his palm.

  “I didn’t mean to give away part of my First Day present, either,” she added.

  “But it worked.” His grin reappeared. “You really confused him. I suspect that’s not easy to do.”

  “Do you think Sienna will be okay here?”

  He nodded. “Mo gave me his word he’ll look out for her, and he’s big enough to enforce it. Besides, they’re not cruel. Just afraid. Sienna will be good for them. And she’ll have her pick of the bunch.”

  “Maybe we can come back and check. We’re almost to the end of the map, did you see? Except I couldn’t find anything in that drawing on the door that looks like a waterfall.”

  “No. But there’s a fair stretch of the map after the dam. It might not represent any particular distance, but if it does, I don’t think we’ll cover it all before the moon starts to wane.”

  Ariel brushed her nose with her limp moonflower. “We have to try.”

  “I know.”

  The eerie hum of Electron surrounded them.

  “‘Outside time, and nature, too,’” Scarl said, quoting Electron’s disparaging ode to Farwalkers. “Even the wildest stories usually contain seeds of truth. The Storian in me wonders where that rhyme might have sprouted.”

  Ariel rubbed her eyes until she saw sparks. Her mind was too tired to explore Scarl’s words. “This place is outside of nature, if you ask me. But maybe we’ll find out tomorrow. Full moon.”

  “Perhaps. Best get to sleep now, though.” He squeezed her hand and let go.

  “Scarl?”

  She could hear him try to hang on to his patience. “Yes?”

  Ariel closed her eyes, embarrassed to ask it. “Would you… would you hold my hand while I fall asleep? I’m afraid of my nightmares.”

  He simply reached to tuck her blanket around her. Her heart plummeted, taking that as a no. But then he drew her, blanket and all, into the shelter of his arm. “Or this?”

  “This.” She tipped her head against him.

  “No kicking,” he said, a smile in his voice.

  “I’ll try,” she replied. “I don’t want to sleep long, though. In here, it’ll be impossible to know where the sun is.”

  “I’ll wake early,” he promised. “This floor is hard and cold enough to make sure of that.”

  Ariel needn’t have worried. The dreamless sleep that fell on her didn’t last, and she woke the moment children began stirring. Not much later, the lectrick fires lit again, by themselves as far as she could tell.

  Scarl groaned awake. When he checked to see if she still slept, his glance lingered.

  Self-conscious, she wiped her face. “Is something wrong?”

  “Guess not,” he replied. “Sleep all right?”

  “Not really. But I’m ready to leave anyway.”

  While Scarl roused Nace, Ariel made her way back to Electron’s strange outhouse. By the time she returned, early risers had approached to see what the strangers did next. A few members of Sienna’s adopte
d family went with Scarl to help retrieve her goods from the horse. Nace offered Ariel bites of a breakfast someone had shared. Soon they were saying good-bye.

  Sienna embraced Ariel so hard it hurt.

  “Last chance to come somewhere else with us,” Ariel said from within the hug.

  “No. Ellie Fisher is kind, and I adore her kids. I’d probably stay even if they didn’t have lectrick.”

  “Is there someone to take care of your burns?” Ariel couldn’t remember if she’d met a Healtouch last night or not.

  Sienna nodded. “I know this sounds strange, but now that they don’t hurt so bad, I’m kind of glad.”

  “What?”

  “When I first saw the scar on your cheek, I thought, ‘How awful.’ But then I got to know you. You’re so smart and brave. You made me brave. Smarter, too, or at least I tried harder. And every time I notice my scars, I’ll think of you.”

  “Sienna!” Dismayed, Ariel tried to pull back. Sienna’s arms tightened to hold her in place.

  “No, it’s a good thing! Because the scar’s just the smoke. The important part is the fire. But you can’t have one without the other.” She kissed Ariel’s forehead. “Except for lectrick, I guess. I’ll find out.”

  Ariel’s breath became short, and not only because of the tight hug. “I’ll come back as soon as I can,” she whispered. “If you get sick of this place, I’ll help you leave. I owe you a lot more than one trip.”

  “I’ll count days till your visit. Be sure to walk where it’s already burned when you come back, and you’ll be all right. But you always are, aren’t you?”

  After a final squeeze, Ariel stepped back. With an uncertain look on his face, Nace offered Sienna his good hand. After an instant of hesitation, she slapped it aside to hug him instead.

  “I’ll miss you, Nace,” Sienna told him. “Never thought I’d say that. I don’t… I don’t understand you, but I’m starting to think I was wrong about some things. Help take care of her, okay?”

  He nodded, drew back, and pulled something from his pocket—a necklace. He’d strung a fishline with short lengths of striped grass stem, seedpods, and what looked like a hummingbird egg. The egg was set off by beautiful feathers that had graced his own armband, now gone. Although quite different from Ariel’s, the strand was lovely. Tears welled into Sienna’s eyes as Nace slipped it over her head.