“Ethera,” he said in my own voice, “I’ve changed my mind. I want to stay.” With another shift he was the handsome young man again. “She was disappointed of course that you weren’t going to lure me out to sea, alone, so the four of them could take me down.” His smile twisted into a hateful face as the blood in my veins began racing, my heart pounding and my head swirling.
There was no one hiding in my backpack. No one who could help me. I was alone with him, helpless.
I opened my mouth but only a squeak came out. I was too terrified to speak. “Are you going to apologize? Beg for my forgiveness? Yell for someone to help you? No one knows you’re here. The plan was to leave before anyone could see you go remember? It’s just us.”
My mind raced trying to think of something, anything to say. “If I told Ethera that I would stay and I’m not there, she’ll get suspicious, she’ll come find me.” I tried to make him believe what I was saying, tried to convince myself of what I was saying.
“Or maybe you’ve gone on one of your walks with the squirrel . . . . Yes, I have been watching you Hailey.” I felt so utterly violated suddenly.
“Just let me go.” I pleaded. I needed to get back to the city, back to safety. I needed to let Ethera know what was going on. I needed to get away from him.
I knew if I ran he would catch me. If I made it to the boat and tried to leave, I couldn’t get past the gate if I could even get to it. “Ethera!!!” I screamed into the air as loudly as I could, my throat hurting as my voice bounced back off the trees.
“You really shouldn’t have done that.” He waved his hand taking my voice away again as I tried to call out again, tears cascading down my face. Even my sobs were silent. “Ok, time to go.” He said and grabbed me by the arm again.
I jerked back as hard as I could, freeing my arm and bolting straight for the trees. This time his arms wrapped around me as I fought and kicked as hard as I could. He was strong, too strong to break away from this time.
I screamed in silence, as he drug me backwards toward the water, my heels leaving ruts in the sand.
Last Night
Wishu’s had missed his and Hailey’s walk this morning, or so he thought. He waited by the fork, but the girl never showed. Concerned with his friend, the squirrel made his way to the city, which he rarely visited. A few polite questions later and he was directed to her bungalow. But Hailey was not home.
He thought that perhaps the girl had snuck by him earlier than usual and decided to check their overlook . Just past where they usually met, his keen ears heard the girls voice in the distance. Hers, and someone elses.
Wishu was one of the oldest squirrels in the kingdom of Enrovia, he remembered a time before the war, when the islands were a peaceful place. He was wary at first when Hailey was allowed to stay, but like the others, he found her true nature to be a kind one. And although they did not speak much, he found that he enjoyed her company more and more with each day they spent together.
As he followed the sound of her voice, the other voice in the conversation stilled his steps to a crawl. He recognized it, though it seems like he hadn’t heard it in a hundred years or more. What would Hailey be doing with Drugan? Something didn’t seem right. As he neared, he heard parts of their conversation, careful not to venture close enough to be spotted.
As soon as Drugan vanished into the trees and Hailey began walking back to their meeting place, he leaped from limb to limb through the forest canopy and waited at the fork. As he suspected, once Hailey arrived, they began their usual morning routine. And as usual, it was a quiet one. The girl made no mention of the conversation or the meeting with Drugan.
Wishu could sense the tension in Hailey, her struggle to maintain an outward sense of normalcy and calm. He decided to keep an eye on her and things in general for a while, which wasn’t easy. As soon as they returned to the city, they said their normal goodbyes as Hailey spoke with the bear for a moment and then walked back to her home.
He settled down on one of the larger branches at the edge of the city clearing and watched. A slight movement, small and barely noticeably caught his attention. A small field mouse skittered into Hailey’s bungalow. For several minutes he did not see the mouse exit the hut, but Hailey did. Walking to the edge of the creek she knelt to fill her bottle and acted not to notice when the mouse climbed down her pants leg and into the brush.
As soon as the girl sat back down outside her home Ethera came gliding in and shifted into the pretty lady. Their voices were loud, too loud not to draw attention from not only him, but other curious animals around the city. He knew that Hailey had been upset after her meeting with Drugan, but as he listened to hear pleading with Ethera to let her go back home, he wondered if this was the reason for her dour spirits earlier. Still he couldn’t shake the sneaking suspicion that something was still off about the whole scene.
His tail flicked back and forth in agitation as he watched the conversation unfolding in the forest between Drugan and Hailey again that night. She seemed agitated, nervous. But after several minutes she walked back to her bungalow and spoke with Ethera once more in quiet, hushed voices this time, too low for him to hear. And then Hailey ducked backed into the hut and never came out again. He was certain, absolutely certain that she had not came back out.
That’s why he was so surprised to see her come from the darkness of the forest edge, almost sneaking into the clearing and knocking at Ethera’s door. He could tell Ethera seemed confused as they spoke again. But she accepted what the other Hailey said and then parted ways in silence. Something certainly was not right.
Ethera then walked to the tree and spoke with three other island leaders who left after their conversation. The other Hailey waited for a while in the shadows then walked back into the forest.
He decided to stay put for the night, the branch was comfortable and so he watched. Just before sunrise he heard the rustle of grass underneath him and watched as Hailey bolted into the forest, heading toward the beach.
He climbed down the tree and scampered to her hut, finding it empty. He felt he should tell Ethera what he had witnessed, just to be safe. He found her in her bungalow, curled up as a cat on a nest of leaves.
“Your Excellency,” he spoke softly not wanting to startle her, but loud enough to wake her. She yawned and stretched, taking a moment to fully focus.
“Hello,” she said then sat up.
“I’m sorry to bother you ma’am,” the squirrel began politely.
“No bother at all,” she responded.
“My name is Wishu, I’m a friend of Hailey’s and I think she might be in trouble. . . .” He told her, genuine concern in his tone.
At this Ethera sat up straighter. “What do you mean?” Ethera thought through the night before. Hailey had changed her mind. She was going to stay a while longer. She did think Hailey’s sudden change of heart was odd. But assumed it was nerves.
The plan they had devised was dangerous, but the girl had seemed so sure at first, then suddenly she called it off.
“I saw her last night. Both of you talking. And when she went into her house a different Hailey came out of the woods,” The little squirrel explained excitedly.
Ethera shook her head in confusion. “What do you mean a different Hailey?” She asked.
“After she went inside the house, another Hailey came out of the woods and came to talk to you again. It couldn’t have been the same person. She never came out of her house once she went in. I watched. Then this morning she ran off into the trees toward the beach.” Wishu finished explaining and paused.
“Oh no,” Ethera said, then thanked the squirrel as she swiftly shifted into a falcon, the fasted bird in the world, and sprung into the air without looking back. She knew to head for the beach. That was where she and Hailey had agreed on meeting this morning. But if Drugan had deceived Ethera, as she now believed he had, Hailey would’ve thought they were still on track with their original plan.
She was close now, seein
g the small speck of white in the distance bobbing on the water and two forms shadowed against the albino sands of the beach. It had to be Hailey and Drugan. She swiftly dove under the canopy of the jungle, calling out to anyone within earshot. Several seconds later a group of sea gulls landed on the branch beside her.
With no time for small talk she spoke quickly, “Fly as fast as you can to Eaforasa, Entepedis, and find some way to get work to Nuneuka in Ealnusa. Tell her, Corrigan, and Sengei that Drugan has deceived us. Tell them that Hailey is in trouble. Go! Now!” With a flourish of black tipped feathers they set of in different directions furiously pumping their wings in haste.
She hoped they would make it in time, but she was doubtful.
Carefully and quietly she made her way closer to the edge of the beach then shifted into the small field mouse and watched.
Ealdume
I felt my head hit the side of the transom as Drugan threw me over the side of the boat. My vision blurred and my focus faded in and out for a while until finally I passed out, hearing the soft lapping of water against the hull as we moved away from shore.
When I finally came back around my first feeling was pain. The large knot on the side of my head was throbbing and tender to the touch. I tried to sit up and open my eyes.
“Careful now, not too fast.” Drugan’s voice along with the pounding in my head made me instantly nauseous. I leaned to my right and heaved until only bile came up.
“Told you,” he quipped without a single ounce of concern.
I looked around me. My stomach started to heave again, but this time I fought the urge to gag. My fingers dug into wet black sand. My ears took in the pounding breakers against the rocky shores bordering the small beach. My boat had been pulled ashore, grounded.
Confusion, fear, anger, all emotions including sadness overwhelmed me as I wept with the realization of where I was.
“Welcome to my kingdom Hailey. This is Ealdume.”
Ethera and the Island of Evisara: Book One of The Enrovia Series Page 17