by Steve Voake
‘Hello, Skipper,’ he said.
‘Hello,’ said Skipper quietly. She wiped her eyes again and realised that the tears were still falling and she could not stop them. ‘I’m sorry about this,’ she whispered. ‘I’m not sure why I am crying exactly. Only… there was something about those pictures… that little girl in the photograph. Who was she?’
‘Come with me,’ replied Salus, ‘and I will try to explain something to you.’
They made their way between the tall stalks of grass until presently they came to a large expanse of white rocks. Skipper sat on one with a flat top and saw how it was embedded with tiny crystals which shone in the sunshine.
‘Four years ago, when Sam first walked in Aurobon, his body still lived on Earth. You helped him to find his way home again. In doing so, you bravely sacrificed your own life in Aurobon. But at the moment you were lost, so were you found.’
‘Found?’ asked Skipper. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Although she did not know it, Sam’s mother had been searching for you for many years. You were the child that she longed for and at that time great forces were at work. After your selfless sacrifice, you were reborn as her child on Earth. So you see, the little girl in the photograph is you.’
‘But I don’t understand,’ said Skipper. ‘If I lived on Earth, why didn’t I remember until now? Why does Sam remember his life here so much better than I do?’
‘Because,’ Salus replied, ‘he had been a child of Earth for much longer. When you are born, it takes many years to grow and become one with a new world. In many ways you were still closer to the life you had left behind in Aurobon. That is why you came back to it more easily when the Earthstone called to you.’
‘What happened?’ asked Skipper. ‘Please tell me. I need to know.’
‘The Vermian Empire cast its shadow across Aurobon,’ said Salus. ‘Vahlzi lay in ruins and the Foundation Stone was shattered. In his despair, Commander Firebrand took the Earthstone and flung it into Lake Orceia. And as it sank into those deep waters, the Earthstone called across the worlds to those it knew could save it.’
‘You mean us?’ asked Skipper.
‘Yes,’ said Salus.
And it was then that she remembered what had happened.
The light failing on a winter’s afternoon. She was four years old, dressed in a warm coat and yellow mittens. She ran down the winding path through the trees and watched her little red shoes make tiny footprints in the snow.
‘Not too far, sweetheart,’ her mother called behind her.
A blue butterfly, beautiful and strange in the cold, still air. Leaving the path, she followed it down through the bushes and out across the silver, ice-covered lake where the snow swirled and danced all around her.
She knelt down and reached out her hand. Behind her, footsteps on the ice, people calling to her. Her mother and father and her brother. She looked up and waved to them, not understanding the fear on their faces.
‘Look!’ she cried. ‘See!’
But just as they reached her, the ice cracked and the butterfly flew away.
She was falling, falling down into the cold, endless blackness and away for ever from the light that was fading somewhere far above her.
Skipper felt the tears welling up in her eyes.
‘I had a mother and father,’ she whispered. ‘I was part of a family.’ She swallowed and her throat was swollen with sorrow. ‘It was my fault they died, wasn’t it? They all died because of me.’
‘No,’ said Salus and he took her by the hand. ‘It was time, that is all. They loved you very much,’ he added.
‘What does it matter?’ sobbed Skipper. ‘None of it matters any more. Not love, not anything. Everything is lost.’
‘No, child,’ said Salus gently. ‘Just because something changes, it does not mean that it is lost. Like melting snow, it simply becomes something else.’
‘But I am so sad,’ said Skipper. ‘I do not know if I can bear it any more.’
‘Sometimes,’ said Salus. ‘we must shed our skin in order to grow. It is always painful.’
Skipper looked up from where she sat and noticed for the first time that beyond the white rocks that surrounded them was an enormous grey stone that towered high into the air above them. She stared at the huge letters that had been carved into it, stared at them for a long time until the tears ran down her face and she could no longer read the words.
She turned to Salus and said, ‘Please – will you help me forget?’
Salus put his hands upon the top of her head and said, ‘Little one, although you are stronger and wiser than most, you will forget this time, just as you have forgotten others before it. But know this: that love cannot be destroyed. The things that matter will stay with you always.’
As Skipper flew away across the fields, the sun broke through the clouds and bathed the land in a warm, yellow light. Here and there, clumps of snowdrops hung their heads while yellow crocus buds pushed their way up through the earth to greet the spring.
In a corner of the churchyard, a new headstone stood above a rectangle of white stones, as yet untarnished by the elements or the passing of time. It read:
Jack Palmer
1968–2005
Sally Palmer
1970–2005
Samuel Palmer
1991–2005
Poppy Palmer
2001–2005
fell through the ice
31st December 2005
Suffer little children to come unto me
Beyond the wall, Skipper flew away across the fields into clouds that drew her in and enfolded her, and carried her away from the world for ever.
Thirty-one
Sam dreamed of falling through water. He saw his mother and father fighting for breath below him, struggling to reach the circle of light that grew pale and dim above. But they were too far away, too deep for him to reach and soon he lost sight of them in the darkness. A red shoe floated past him and in the dim light he could make out a smaller figure, silently stretching out its hands towards him.
In desperation, Sam kicked his legs and dived deeper, deeper until at last he found her, still and unmoving in the freezing waters. Grabbing her hand, he looked around but could no longer see the surface. Then he saw a blue light shining above him and pulled his little sister towards it. The light grew and spread and suddenly he burst through the surface and found himself in a lake, surrounded by mountains. Gasping for breath, he dragged her towards a pool beneath a waterfall. Then everything went black.
In his dream, when he opened his eyes again, he saw ice crystals frozen on a pebble; clouds heavy with snow hung from a winter sky above him and he noticed a fire burning further along the shore. Shivering, he began to walk towards it.
As he drew nearer to the fire, he noticed a man dressed in a thick woollen robe standing next to it. His long, dark hair was woven with coloured threads and Sam recognised him as Salus.
‘I remember you,’ said Sam. ‘You were here with me before. You were here at the beginning.’
‘Yes,’ said Salus.
Sam looked at the empty shoreline.
‘Where are they?’ he asked. ‘What happened to my family?’
Salus was silent for a while. Then he said: ‘Look around you, Sam. What do you see?’
Sam looked around and saw snow on the mountains, and trees, and the shining lake.
‘I see water, mountains and trees,’ he answered. ‘And I see snow.’
Salus nodded. ‘The snow is already melting, I think. One day soon it will all be gone. And in years to come, the trees too will have disappeared. They will lie buried and forgotten in the darkness beneath the earth. The days of sunlight in which they grew will have passed from all memory. Do you see?’
‘Yes,’ said Sam. ‘But I don’t know what it has to do with me.’
Salus reached into his robe and took out a shiny black object which he held up in the firelight. ‘Do you know what this is?’ he asked.
Sam stared at it for a moment.
‘It’s coal,’ he said.
‘You are right, Sam. It is a lump of coal. At least, that is what we call it now. But it is also what the trees became. The trees that grew here millions of years ago.’
He tossed it to Sam who caught it in one hand.
‘Look at it. A piece of inert rock, buried beneath the ground and forgotten. Until one day, someone came and dug it up again. Brought it out of the darkness and into the light.’
Salus pushed another piece of wood into the fire and then turned back to look at Sam. ‘Close your eyes for a minute, Sam,’ he said, ‘and think of a summer’s day.’
Sam shut his eyes. He felt the warmth of the fire and imagined the sun shining down upon him.
‘Millions of years ago there would have been just such a summer’s day,’ Salus went on. ‘The sunshine warmed the earth and the leaves on the trees. But then the sun set and the day was finally over. Lost for ever, one might think.’
Sam opened his eyes as Salus threw the lump of coal into the fire. He watched as a bright yellow flame leapt from its heart and began to burn fiercely, rising and dancing in the centre of the fire.
Salus turned to him and smiled.
‘Look,’ he said, ‘the sunshine is back.’
Sam gazed out across the water and saw the sky’s reflection, and the trees and mountains locked beneath its steely surface. It was like staring through a window at a world that could never be reached.
‘I’m not going back am I?’ he asked.
‘No, my child,’ said Salus. ‘Not this time.’
And as Sam wept, Salus put his arms around him and said, ‘But you saved the one who once gave her life to save yours. And in time, your mother and father will find their way to different shores.’
Later, as they walked together beside the lake, Sam said, ‘You were here with me at the beginning of things, and now you are here at the end of them.’
And Salus said simply, ‘But the end is also the beginning.’
Thirty-two
With a whole fortnight’s leave stretching ahead of them, Sam and Skipper had set off the previous day on the first leg of their camping trip, pitching the tent on the side of the mountain and falling asleep to the sound of the wind in the pines. Now it was early morning and the inside of the tent was already baking; Sam could feel the sunlight warm on his face as it filtered through the brown canvas. Outside, Skipper was bustling about and he could hear the sound of wood crackling on a fire. Crawling from his sleeping bag, he stumbled out into the sunshine and watched her pour a pan of boiling water into two enamel mugs.
‘Smells interesting,’ he said. ‘Bit like old socks.’
‘Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it, Samuel,’ said Skipper. ‘It’s acorn coffee – one of my specialities.’
‘Yum,’ said Sam without enthusiasm. ‘Can’t wait.’
‘Trust me. You’ll love it.’
Skipper had used a thin layer of coal as a base and then constructed a neat pyramid of wooden sticks above it. Flames licked around the wood and the coals glowed red beneath, providing a steady heat with which to boil the water.
Skipper handed him a mug and sat down next to him. She flicked a small stone and Sam watched it bounce a couple of times on the rocks before disappearing over the edge of the mountain. He thought of all the dark times in the past when he had dreamed of this fishing trip, of how it had all seemed so distant and unattainable back then.
Now, in just a few hours’ time, they would meet the others at Lake Orceia and the dream would become real.
‘Quite a view isn’t it?’
Sam looked at the distant towers of Vahlzi rising up through strands of early morning mist and, beyond the plains, the vast green forests of the south stretching away as far as the eye could see.
‘It’s beautiful,’ he said. ‘You know, I feel as though I’ve never really looked before. As though I’m seeing it all for the first time.’
Skipper sipped her coffee thoughtfully.
‘You seem different,’ she said after a while.
Sam frowned. ‘Different? How?’
‘You seem happier,’ said Skipper. She put her hand on his arm. ‘I’m really glad, Sam. You deserve to be happy. After all, we made it back, didn’t we? We did what we had to do and we made it home again.’
Sam thought of his dream then, of the cold lake and the mountains, and although he could no longer remember it clearly, he knew that Skipper was right.
This was where he belonged.
This was his home.
‘Do you ever wonder what happened to us in those four years, Skipper?’ he asked as they watched the sun burn away the morning mist, leaving little wisps of white cloud drifting high above the plains.
‘I used to,’ said Skipper, whose memory of her time on Earth had already faded. ‘I used to think perhaps it was the Olumnus using their ancient powers to keep us safe somewhere until Aurobon needed us. But the truth is, I just don’t know.’
‘Does it ever bother you?’
Skipper shook her head.
‘Not any more. I’ve come to the conclusion that the world has far more magic in it than we realise. But most of the time it’s just disguised as every day things, hidden away beneath the surface, and there’s not much point looking for it. The way I see it, you’ve just got to live the best way you can, and one day, when you least expect it, the magic will find you.’
Sam watched a yellow flame leap up from a piece of coal, dancing into the heart of the fire. He thought of the ancient sunshine, locked away in its dark heart until the fire set it free again.
He looked at Skipper and smiled.
‘I think it’s found me already,’ he said.
As they climbed up the stony path and disappeared into the trees, the place where they had been was silent once more; silent except for the sound of water trickling over the stones as the last of the snow melted and ran down the steep mountainside into the valley.
Here the water joined with other streams and tributaries, all of them merging and coming together until at last they were a single shining river, moving slowly across the plains toward the sea which lay hidden and endless, somewhere beyond the horizon.
Acknowledgements
Love & thanks to Tory, Tim & Daisy, my editor Julia Wells, my agent Ed Jaspers, all the good people of Faber and the Conville & Walsh Massive.
Steve Voake
Author Biography
STEVE VOAKE is the author of The Dreamwalker’s Child and The Web of Fire. A former headmaster of a boys’ school in Somerset, England, Steve now writes full time.
www.stevevoake.co.uk
The Dreamwalker’s Child
Text copyright © 2005 by Steve Voake
Illustrations copyright © 2005 by Mark Watkinson
First published in the U.K. in 2005 by Faber and Faber Ltd.;
published in the United States of America by Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc., in 2006
The Web of Fire
Text copyright © 2006 by Steve Voake
Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Mark Watkinson
First published in the U.K. in 2006 by Faber and Faber Ltd.;
published in the United States of America by Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc., in 2007
E-book bind-up edition published by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers in September 2012
www.bloomsburyteens.com
All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of The Dreamwalker’s Child as follows:
Voake, Steve.
The dreamwalker’s child / Steve Voake.
p. cm.
Summary: After being hit by a car Sam Palmer finds himself in Aurobon, a land of giant insects where some of the inhabitants are working to keep Earth’s ecology in balance while others are trying to wipe out humankind with a lethal virus spread by mosquitoes.
ISBN-10: 1-58234-661-5 • ISBN-13: 978-1-58234-661-8 (hardcover)
[1. Insects—Fiction. 2. Environmental degradation—Fiction. 3. Virus diseases—Fiction.
4. Coma—Fiction. 5. Space and time—Fiction. 6. Fantasy.] I. Title.
PZ7.V8556Dre 2006 [Fic]—dc22 2005057068
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of The Web of Fire as follows:
Voake, Steve.
The web of fire / Steve Voake.
p. cm.
Sequel to: The dreamwalker’s child.
Summary: Four years after vanquishing Odoursin and saving humankind from his evil plans, Sam and Skipper return to a devastated Aurobon where they must once again fight for survival against the reemerged Odoursin and his new army of robber flies.
ISBN-10: 1-58234-737-9 • ISBN-13: 978-1-58234-737-0 (hardcover)
[1. Insects—Fiction. 2. Environmental degradation—Fiction.
3. Space and time—Fiction. 4. Fantasy.] I. Title.
PZ7.V8556Wef 2006 [Fic]—dc22 2006042881
ISBN 978-1-59990-964-6 (e-book bind-up edition)
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