Eve couldn’t help but glance over at Logan, but he was busily stacking broken plates onto the dust pan.
“Um, yeah, I am.”
Eve was saved from having to think of anything to add to this as Candace filled in the gaps. “That’s awesome. Everyone says kids don’t read anymore, but I guess they’re wrong, huh? Logan’s more responsible than most grown men I know, so I’m not too surprised about him, but I wouldn’t have pegged you as a reader, Eve. You’re too pretty to spend much time with books.”
Now Eve was the one concentrating a bit too hard on her sweeping. “I don’t know. I don’t read that much. Just…”
“Not that in to books, huh? Let me guess…you are a cheerleader and probably you play a sport, too. Tennis?”
“Volleyball.”
“But you are a cheerleader, too?”
“Yeah.”
“I bet you have a lot of friends at school.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“And you still find time for a book club. That’s amazing.”
“Well, it’s just…”
“Logan said you guys have a book of stories. Must be some kind of great stories in there. I’ll have to read them sometime.”
“Um, yeah, they’re great.”
“I’m just saying, if it gets a cheerleader to spend her summer days reading a musty old book…”
Eve wished she would stop harping on the whole cheerleader thing. That was just something she did to keep her mom off her back.
Logan came to her rescue. “We do more than just read.” Eve shot him a grateful look.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” said Eve. “We hang out a lot.”
“Really?” It was amazing the amount of doubt Candace could put into one word. “So it’s more than just a club, huh? You guys are, like, best friends.”
“Yeah, of course we’re friends.”
“Sorry,” Candace laughed. “Friends. Didn’t mean to use the word best.”
“No, I didn’t…”
Candace laughed again. “Don’t worry, honey. I haven’t been out of high school that long. I know all about the different levels.”
For once, Eve had no idea how to answer. She wasn’t even sure what she was answering to, just sure that somehow she’d been mildly insulted.
“I think we got it all,” she said, leaning the broom by the door and looking at Logan. “Um, I’d better get going. You’re free in the morning, right?”
Logan nodded.
“Great. We’re meeting at the usual spot. Candace, it was, um, nice to meet you.”
“You, too, honey. I’m sure we’ll see each other around again.”
“Yeah.” Eve hoped it wouldn’t be soon. She was happy to help Logan’s neighbor in need, but that weird interrogation reminded Eve a little too much of her mom.
All the way home, Eve grumbled to herself. Why did adults insist on being experts on the lives of teenagers? Never mind that Logan’s neighbor seemed perfectly nice and friendly. Who wanted to stand around answering nice, friendly, awkward questions? Adults just didn’t get it. Her mood was not improved when she turned the corner of her own street and ran headlong into a man walking quickly in the other direction. She stumbled into some bushes as his leather bag slapped onto the pavement.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, scooping up the remarkably heavy bag and handing it back to him. “My bad.” It wasn’t, but she just wanted to get away.
“Are you okay?” he asked as she hurried off.
“Fine,” she tossed over her shoulder.
“Would you like…” He trailed off when she didn’t stop.
Just another example, she thought. Any normal person who did something as embarrassing as crashing into a stranger would want the moment to end as soon as possible. But adults found the need to stand around and talk about it afterwards. It was bizarre. She was still thinking along this line when she opened the front door and found her mother waiting.
“You’re late, young lady.”
“I told you I’d be home before dark,” said Eve. “The sun is just now going down.”
“Don’t talk back to me. We ate dinner an hour ago. You know I expect you to call if you aren’t going to be home by dinner time.”
“I thought my telling you I’d be home before dark counted for the call.”
“Don’t you talk to me to like I’m stupid. I don’t need that kind of lip from you. Why don’t you spend the rest of the evening in your room? Maybe that will help you remember what your cell phone is for.”
Eve was glad to go upstairs. At least in her room, no one would bother her. She flopped down on the bed, using her backpack as a pillow. A very uncomfortable pillow with four poky corners thinly disguised under the canvas. Flipping over, she took the Book of Sight out of the bag. She thumbed through the pages until she got to the third chapter, the story Logan claimed he could now read, and read a few of the gibberish words out loud again.
She was three paragraphs in before she realized that it was making sense. It was midnight when, throat scratchy and dry, she finally put down the book and fell asleep to dream of flaming statues and a girl with her fist raised defiantly in the air.
4
What Stands in the Way
The sun sat just above the mountains and stretched their shadows tall and thin behind them as Dominic and Alex rode their bikes along Fox Creek Road toward the Gylf’s home. The trees’ shadows also streamed out along the ground as if trying to escape the grasp of the rays of sunlight pushing through the branches. The trees themselves swayed calmly in the breeze, unconcerned with the radiant drama being played out at their feet.
Light and shadows. Just one more thing that Dominic had hardly noticed before this year, before reading the Book of Sight. Now he could barely tear his eyes away long enough to watch where he was going. That didn’t keep him from noticing immediately when Alex came to a stop behind him. He braked quickly.
“I thought we’d leave our bikes at the usual place,” he said.
“Yeah,” said Alex, “but look at this.”
Dominic dropped the bike and walked back to where she stood looking down at something half-buried in the grass. It looked like a rock from where he was standing.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. “But I think it’s some kind of statue or something.”
Dominic crouched down and pulled the grass away. She was right. What had seemed just like a smooth stone was actually the curve of a wing, as long as his forearm. The other wing must have been buried under the ground, but half of the creature’s head was sticking up, enough to recognize a curved beak and a single rounded eye. Some dirt clung to the exposed part of the head, and Dominic reached out to brush it away.
“Don’t!” said Alex, and Dominic jerked back.
“I don’t think you should touch it,” she said, not taking her eyes off the curve of the wing.
Dominic now saw that there were several eyes carved into the wing as well. He studied it for a minute. “It’s just a bird carved out of stone, Alex. I don’t think it’s dangerous.”
“I know, but…”
He was already reaching out for it again. He brushed away the dirt, his fingers barely making contact with the statue underneath. He felt the jolt all the way up his arm and into his head. Everything went dark, and he felt a wave of freezing hatred roll over him. He reeled back, shaking.
“What is it? Are you okay?” Now Alex was crouching down beside him. Her face swam into view as the darkness receded.
For a minute his tongue felt frozen, but as soon as he could talk, he said, “That thing is evil. Seriously evil. We need to cover it up again.”
Dominic half expected her to argue or ask a million questions. Instead she just stared at his face for a few moments and then said, “Okay.”
Dominic looked around. The side of the road could provide quite a bit of loose dirt and gravel. It would have to do. He started to scoop it up in his hands and pour it ove
r the statue.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen,” he said. “You were right. I shouldn’t have touched it.” He could see fine now, but he still felt cold all over.
“Did it hurt you?”
“No. Not really. More like it froze me. That thing…I don’t know…it hates me. Hates us. I don’t know. I never felt anything so…”
They worked in silence for a minute. Then he asked, “How did you even see it there? We were going by pretty fast, and it’s almost dark.”
“I was riding along looking at the tree shadows on the ground when I noticed a shadow that was different from the other ones. Darker. Not shaped like branches. As soon as I stopped, I saw that it was a wing. What do you think it is?”
“I don’t know. Nothing good.”
“Maybe we can ask the Gylf about it. This is the edge of their forest, and they seem to know pretty much everything that goes on here.”
“Yeah, maybe.” For some reason Dominic really didn’t want to do that. All he wanted to do was bury the thing and pretend he had never seen it.
Alex threw on a last handful of dirt. The bird could no longer be seen at all. Dominic felt a little better.
“You think that’s good enough?” asked Alex.
No, Dominic thought, that is nowhere close to good enough. Out loud he said, “Yeah, we should get going. It’s going to be dark soon.”
• • • • •
Under the trees the darkness had already gathered. Dom had never been to the Gylf forest at night before. He wondered if they would be getting ready to sleep or if they stayed up later. What kind of lights would the little people use? He’d never thought to ask about that before.
“Welcome, friends!”
The small voice was almost right under Dominic’s feet. Without thinking, he took a step back, crashing into Alex. His arm shot out and caught her before she fell over.
“Sorry,” he muttered, but she was laughing as she steadied herself.
“I can’t see anything, can you?” she asked.
“Not much, but I think that’s Pidras right in front of us. Pidras?” he asked a little louder.
“Yes, friends. I am sorry. I did not realize you could not see me.” A small man, less than a foot tall stepped away from the small rock next to the path. His short gray hair seemed odd with his young face, but together with his rough gray and brown clothing, he had blended in perfectly with the stone. “It seems that even with sight, human eyes are not accustomed to shadows.”
“We can’t see very well in the dark, if that’s what you mean,” said Alex. “We usually carry lights with us after dark, but we didn’t have time to go home for flashlights tonight.”
Pidras cocked his head to one side as if trying to determine what Alex meant. Finally he seemed to give up. “I can lead you to our home, if the shadows make the way difficult. Once among many faces, you will not miss the light.”
“Thank you,” said Alex, and for a while they followed the young Gylf in silence.
Dominic had walked the path to the Gylf home many times before, and he was pretty sure he could have found his way even in the semi-dark, but focusing on the small man in front of him helped tune his eyes to the details around him. It was as if having something to see made him forget about what he couldn’t see. Soon he began to notice other Gylf in the trees and on the forest floor nearby. Then they came out into the clearing that was the Gylf home, and he was surrounded by more Gylf than he had ever seen together before.
“Welcome, friends!” echoed from many voices, but one in particular carried above the rest, as an old Gylf woman with long, blonde braids stepped forward.
“Celana!” said Alex. “You are at home! Every time we come lately, they all say you are very busy somewhere else.”
“Yes,” smiled the old woman. “The older I am, the harder it is to rest from my enjoyment, but even I have not grown so foolish as to stay from home when the shadows fall.”
The Gylf considered their work to be the highest form of happiness, or as they put it, enjoyment was their work. Dom knew from experience that that didn’t mean they played all day. He had seen them struggle in the hot sun to move brush away from small flower blossoms on the forest floor and he had seen them climb impossibly high trees to secure a wobbling nest of eggs. But he had never heard a Gylf complain about anything. Just the opposite. They sang, they laughed, they danced while they work. The only time he had ever seen them be serious was here in their home.
“We’re glad you’re here,” said Dominic. “We have a few questions we hope you can answer.”
“All we have is yours,” said Celana with a smile. “Little though it may be.”
She led the way to the flat rock that stood in the middle of the clearing. The cooking fire that often burned on the top was now out. Somehow the dark was no longer a problem, though. Dominic saw several of the other elders already sitting in a partial circle.
“Welcome, friends!” they each said in turn.
“Please sit and be at rest,” Celana said.
With all those wise old faces looking expectantly at him, Dominic suddenly felt young and stupid, but Alex had already taken out the bottle with the Red Spot inside and the slightly drooping pink flower. The flower caused a gasp to go around the circle of Gylf.
Celana reached out a hand and reverently touched one tiny pink petal. “You have found a veriblossom. It is even more beautiful than I had imagined.”
“You’ve never seen one before?” asked Alex.
“Sadly, no. Long ago they say that many veriblossoms bloomed in these woods, but that was before all the humans came. Veriblossoms have always shunned the company of humans. As more and more visitors came to this place, the blossoms slowly faded and died. It was among the Gylf’s most treasured work to care for the veriblossoms and scatter their seeds far and wide. It was a bone deep sadness when our care was not sufficient. The traditions have always held that veriblossoms could still be found in the most remote areas, but until this day no Gylf has seen one in many generations.”
Even as she spoke, the petals which had been spread open stretched still wider as if drinking in sunlight. For a moment, Dominic completely forgot that it was dark.
“Where did you find it?” breathed Piet, almost a mirror image of his grandson Pidras.
Alex told them Eve’s story as they passed the bloom gently around the circle.
“Yes,” Piet nodded when Alex had finished. “The traditions say that the veriblossoms absorb truth and protect themselves from lies. This is why they always avoid much contact with humans. I trust I will not give offense by saying that where many humans gather, lies abound. Veriblossoms cannot survive. I am sorry.”
“It’s the truth,” said Dominic. “No need to apologize for that.”
“Not to change the subject,” said Alex. “I would love to know more about the veriblossoms one day, but it’s late and my dad will worry if he notices I’m gone. There’s something else. What we really need to know is if you’ve ever seen these.” She lifted up the bottle with the single Red Spot inside. The Gylf stared at it with narrowed eyes, but there were no obvious signs of recognition.
As quickly as possible, Alex began explaining where they had found it and what the Dund had been able to tell them. As she spoke, the faces around them dimmed and began to look troubled.
“So we think that firemallow must be something that can be used to stop them, but we don’t know what it is or where to find it…or what to do with it if we had it,” ended Alex. “Have you ever heard of it?”
There was a long pause. Dominic could see that they did know something, but they seemed hesitant to say it. A cold feeling started somewhere in his stomach. Whatever they were about to say, it wasn’t going to be good news.
Finally Celana spoke. “It has been many generations since anyone spoke the name of firemallow tree here. Even the last of the sighted humans never asked for it by that name.”
“So it’s a tree?” asked Dominic. �
�Are there any here in the forest?”
“Yes,” said Terfol, a grandfather whose hair was rich and dark in spite of his lined face. “This is the home of the only firemallow in this region.”
Dominic felt a huge sense of relief. “Do you know what we are supposed to do with it?”
There was another long pause.
“It is said that the leaves of the firemallow must be burned and the ashes consumed by the Destroyers, who will then be destroyed in their own turn.”
“That makes sense,” said Dom. “The Dund said that they eat ashes to grow. If we burned this firemallow near them, they would probably go right for it.”
Somehow that only made the Gylf’s faces look more pained.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?” asked Alex. “Something you haven’t told us yet.”
“The leaves of the firemallow can only be picked once. They can never grow again. And there is only one firemallow left. Perhaps you would not need all the leaves, but the tree would be damaged forever. We cannot help but grieve that loss.”
“There’s only one left?” asked Alex.
“Yes,” said Terfol. “The last of its kind left on this side of the mountains.”
“Could you show it to us?” Dominic asked.
“You have seen it,” said Celana. “We call our firemallow the Changing Tree.”
5
Doing Battle
"They want us to strip leaves off the Changing Tree? Even though they can never grow back?” Logan couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
The Changing Tree was the most wonderful and magical thing he had ever seen. Each day at sunrise and sunset, when the first rays of light hit the tree, each leaf transformed into a sparkling jewel. It was a real transformation. Logan had actually touched the leaves, solid stone glowing, just before the sun sank further and the leaves returned to normal. The Changing Tree was a treasure, meant to be protected forever. He couldn’t imagine doing anything to hurt it.
“The Gylf say there’s no choice,” Alex explained. “You should have seen their faces. It’s even worse for them than it is for us. I mean, it’s more their tree than ours. But they said that the red spots have to be stopped. If they are allowed to go underground and nest, they’ll have more and more babies, and then all the trees in this whole area will be in danger.”
The Broken Circle (The Book of Sight 2) Page 5