by Amy C. Blake
Levi searched the woods one more time then allowed her to pull him toward the castle. As they walked away, he darted wary glances over his shoulder.
His spine tingled a warning that something still lurked.
Chapter 28
Uncle Filbert
Once he and Sara were safely inside the castle, Levi rushed to Mr. Dominic’s study to report the voices he’d heard in the woods. He hadn’t quite decided whether he’d tell about his and Sara’s wild run from . . . well, absolutely nothing. At least nothing he’d seen.
Though he banged several times on the Dominics’ door, no one answered. With a huff, Levi spun around and nearly knocked Mr. Austin to the floor.
“Sorry, sir.” A drop of sweat fell from Levi’s temple.
Mr. Austin grunted. “Where are you going in such a big hurry, boy?”
“I need to talk to Mr. Dominic. Have you seen him?”
“Gone. Don’t know when he’ll get back.”
Levi felt a strong urge to stamp his foot. “It’s important.”
The dwarf regarded him a moment, as if weighing out the probable importance of Levi’s problem. “Maybe I can help.”
Levi launched into his story, leaving out his suspicions that the creature was likely Hunter/Deceptor in some scary, sharp-toothed form. Because the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that Mr. Dominic was wrong about Hunter, while Levi was right. Not that he could say as much to Mr. Austin. He also couldn’t say who he thought the second voice belonged to—Greg? Suzanne?
When he finished reporting the voices he’d heard in the woods, Mr. Austin closed one eye and cocked his head. “Think you could’ve fallen asleep? Dreamed it maybe?”
“Of course not,” Levi said quickly then hesitated. He had shut his eyes a minute. But no, he was sure he’d been awake when he heard the voices. Besides, something had chased him and Sara. He hadn’t been asleep then. Not that he’d told Mr. Austin that part.
But what if it was only their overactive imaginations?
Mr. Austin’s tongue rested between his teeth as he thought. “We do have plenty of folks watching in the woods, you know, those whose sole job is to ensure the safety of you children. You might’ve heard a couple of them talking and mistook their meaning.”
Levi nodded, though he hadn’t known about the watchers and he doubted he’d mistaken the voices’ meaning. Even so, he couldn’t be absolutely sure it was Hunter. What if it was some other evil being? Mr. Dominic—and Albert—had admitted there were plenty of those in Terracaelum.
Mr. Austin rubbed his whiskery chin. “Tell you what. I don’t know what you heard, but next time you go to the river, I’ll tag along just in case.”
“Thank you, sir.” Levi worried his lower lip. He’d gotten the impression from Albert that dwarves didn’t much like water. How much good would a dwarf do in a river?
His impression was confirmed the next afternoon when Mr. Austin watched them from a position well back from the water’s edge. Levi hoped no one needed rescuing because he seriously doubted the stout dwarf could even doggy paddle.
The night before, Levi had swallowed his pride long enough to warn his roommates about the voices and hissing. Though it was clear they still weren’t happy with Levi, they’d agreed to be on high alert, for the girls’ sake. Clearly fed up, Trevor hadn’t even asked why Levi continued in his stubborn refusal to tell the girls what was going on. Levi didn’t know why anymore himself, but he did know he was sick of being on everybody’s bad side.
Now Levi’s eyes darted all around the river and surrounding forest. What if the voice from the woods came back? What if its owner didn’t stay hidden this time? Mr. Austin had his long knife strapped to his belt and would certainly be more of a match for some evil creature than Miss Nydia. Still, Levi had trouble paying attention to his canoeing.
Though practice was uneventful, Levi hung back and walked to the castle beside Mr. Austin at the rear of the group afterward. He could keep a better eye out from there. While he and the dwarf hiked silently along the trail, the others walking in pairs ahead of them, Levi wondered about those watching over them in the woods. What sorts of beings were they?
When the castle came into view, Levi relaxed. No one would dare attack them there. As he and Mr. Austin approached the moat, dull in the hazy August heat, Levi slid an assessing glance at the teacher. Since the dwarf was whistling a tune, Levi decided he must be in a good mood, at least good enough for Levi to ask a question.
“What’s in the moat?” Levi had never forgotten the Sylvesters’ panicky expressions when he’d fallen in all those weeks before.
Mr. Austin shot him a strange look. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, why does the staff keep warning kids to stay away from it? Like it’s dangerous or something.”
“It is dangerous, boy, so you leave it alone.” Mr. Austin’s voice dropped to a mumble. “But not so much because of what’s in it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? If nothing’s dangerous in it, then it can’t be dangerous.”
Mr. Austin turned a sour look on him, sighed, and glanced around. Nobody else was near. “Let me tell you a little story about my Uncle Filbert,” he said in a confiding tone. “He, unlike most dwarves with any sense, actually loved to swim.”
Levi stifled a laugh at Mr. Austin’s obvious disgust.
“One day when he was very young,” Mr. Austin went on, “Filbert was bragging about what a great swimmer he was. A bunch of his cousins and brothers dared him to jump into the moat. Of course they didn’t think he’d do it, but he did. Plunged straight in and never came up again.”
Levi blinked. “You’re kidding.”
Mr. Austin pursed his lips. “No, I am not kidding.” He harrumphed. “As I was saying, none of his cousins or brothers could swim at all, so they hollered for help. By the time help came and searched the bottom of the moat, there was no trace of Filbert. After a while, his folks gave him up for dead.” He nodded vehemently. “And don’t you know, two days later, he turned up at the south door of the castle, bruised and bedraggled, but very much alive.”
Levi’s mouth fell open. “But how . . . ?”
“From what they could gather, when Filbert dove into the moat, a storm was blowing on the Great Lakes. You know, in your world.”
“What’s that have to do with anything?”
Mr. Austin grunted. “I thought you knew how this place was situated.” He placed his right hand about a foot above his left. “Let’s say this is Terracaelum.” He nodded toward his right hand. “And this is your Lake Superior.” He indicated his left. “Terracaelum itself is suspended above the lake, but in a different realm, you might say.”
“I thought the castle connected the two worlds.”
“’Course it does.” With an irritated headshake, he took Levi’s hands and arranged them as his had been, the right about a foot over the left. He pointed at Levi’s right hand. “Terracaelum.” And his left hand. “Earth.” He eyed Levi. “Got it?”
“Um . . . yeah, I guess.”
The dwarf placed his own left hand tip-to-tip, parallel with Levi’s left, then angled his right so that it arced from his left up to Levi’s right. “Right here.” His chin tilted toward the bridge made by his right hand, the connecting point between their hands. “This is where the worlds connect. This is the castle.”
Levi nodded. He pictured the way the cliff dropped away and the invisible castle took over, Terracaelum an invisible realm suspended well above Lake Superior in his own world.
“Filbert was here.” Mr. Austin nodded to a spot just at the beginning of Levi’s right hand. “When he plunged into the moat, the atmospheric conditions were such in your world that a hole opened in the base of ours. And Filbert fell through.”
Levi’s eyes widened. Imagine falling from one world to the next. No wonder the campers were warned to stay away from the moat.
“He said it was like washing down a waterfall.” Mr. Austin’s voice grew eerie. �
�One minute he was in the calm moat, the next he was falling hard and fast into the writhing lake. If he hadn’t been such a strong swimmer, he would surely have drowned in your world. His death would’ve forever remained a mystery.”
Levi’s aching arms brought him to his senses. He dropped them to his sides. “Wow.”
Mr. Austin shrugged. “That was a long time ago, nearly five hundred years now.” He turned stern eyes on Levi. “But it won’t do to be foolish. You steer clear of that moat.” He strode toward the castle, turned back, and said in a fierce voice, “That’s true in other areas, boy. Don’t trifle with things you don’t understand. They may be dangerous. Deadly even.” He turned and stomped away.
Chapter 29
Della
“Wonderful move, young man,” Dr. Baldwin told Levi even as he moved his king out of danger. “You nearly put me in check that time.”
“Yeah, well, you got out of it.” Levi grinned at the dwarf’s obvious pleasure. Though he wasn’t sick or injured, the doctor had invited Levi to the infirmary for another game of chess. They sat on adjacent cots with the game on a cart between them and just enough light trickling through the drawn curtains for them to see the board.
“Of course I did,” the doctor said, still beaming at him. “I’ve been playing this game for hundreds of years.”
Levi’s face scrunched in disbelief. “Hundreds of years? Seriously?”
“I’m quite serious.”
Levi eyed his opponent’s salt-and-pepper hair. “You can’t be all that old. Mr. Dominic looks older than you.”
“Appearances can be deceiving, son.” Something strange glinted in the doctor’s black eyes. “I’m much older than your Mr. Dominic.”
Wariness crept across Levi’s shoulders. He still wasn’t too comfortable with all this nonhuman stuff. “Exactly how old are you?”
“Let’s see.” Dr. Baldwin rubbed his gray-streaked beard. “I believe I turned five hundred and sixty-three last March.” He counted silently on stubby fingers. “Yes, that’s right, five hundred and sixty-three.”
Levi waited for the doctor to laugh. He didn’t. “Okay then, how old is Mr. Dominic?”
Dr. Baldwin squeezed his eyes shut. “Hmmm . . . let’s see. Tobias has a summer birthday. Late August, I believe.” Opening his eyes, he nodded. “He turns one hundred and forty-two in a few weeks’ time.”
Levi blinked. How could a human be alive at a hundred and forty- two, much less running a summer camp full of kids? “Oh.”
“Dwarves are much longer lived than humans.” Dr. Baldwin’s tone was matter-of-fact. “Elves, too, for that matter.”
“Is Mr. Dominic’s wife that old?”
The dwarf’s thick brows lowered. “I presume so, but I couldn’t say for certain. It isn’t polite to ask a female her age.” A smile twitched his lips. “I learned that long ago from my Della.”
Levi’s bishop slipped from his fingers. “Your Della? You mean you have a wife?” The Austins were a married couple, so it wasn’t the dwarf marriage part that surprised him. It’s just that he’d assumed the doctor was an old bachelor. He was certainly crusty enough.
A far-off look softened the dwarf’s eyes. “Long ago I was.”
“What happened to her?”
Dr. Baldwin sat in silence a long time. A variety of emotions crossed his features—joy, fear, sadness, anger. “She’s dead,” he whispered. “Deceptor killed her.” Though they hadn’t finished their game, he scooped up chess pieces and slammed them into the wooden box. “Don’t ask me anymore about it.”
Levi slowly gathered his pieces and set them in the box. After he replaced the box top, he looked at Dr. Baldwin, who sat motionless on the other cot, his face dark and brooding.
“I’m sorry about your wife,” Levi said quietly. He left the room, easing the door shut behind him.
Chapter 30
Telling All
“The countdown is on,” Mr. Dominic announced at breakfast one morning in late August. “Only ten days remain before we hold our Camp Classic Olympics and the production of The Trojan Horse, written and directed by our very own Mr. Austin.”
The campers clapped as the Literature teacher flushed brick red.
Mr. Dominic waited for the applause to die down. “The schedule for the Olympics is posted on the wall back there.” He gestured toward the wall near Levi. “You’ll notice that the games will take a couple of days, followed by The Trojan Horse performance on the last evening at the archery range. We’ll build a bonfire for our spotlight. Not to mention, to keep the sand flies at bay.”
Everyone began talking at once.
Mr. Dominic raised a hand for silence. “In all your bustle to finish preparing for the Olympics and the play, don’t forget to study for finals. Exams are fast approaching.”
The kids moaned.
After they quieted, he continued. “Remember, although you won’t receive school credit for these courses, your performance will determine whether you’ll be invited back next summer. The games will also be part of that. We don’t require perfection, but certainly expect improvement. Our motto is Excelsior! We seek to go ever higher in all things. Laziness is not tolerated.”
Levi swallowed hard. In spite of the weirdness and danger, he’d be crushed if he didn’t get invited back next year. The other kids’ solemn faces told him they felt the same.
Mr. Dominic smiled. “You’ll do fine. All you need to do is buckle down and work hard.”
Levi determined to do just that.
That Saturday Levi pounded the last nail into the Trojan horse he’d helped build for the play. He and two other boys pushed the wheeled prop under the covered stone walkway where it would wait until performance day. Once it was in place, Levi gave the wooden horse one last pat and grinned. It looked good. He had done okay with some of the drawing lessons for his art class earlier that summer, but he’d really enjoyed helping create this prop. It not only looked good, but it was sturdy enough to carry three people inside.
As the others drifted off to different activities, Levi leaned against a stone pillar to watch play practice. He thought Lizzie made a pretty good Helen of Troy. She clearly liked being the center of attention. Ashley played her clarinet in the ensemble accompanying the play. Monica was in charge of hair and make-up, which Levi thought was hilarious since she was forever scolding Lizzie for her constant primping. He’d wisely kept his humor to himself, though. He didn’t want to turn Monica’s wrath on him. His roommates had only recently invited him to play Spades again, and the girls had stopped giving him the cold shoulder.
Levi sighed, his eyes moving to Sara, who stood in the walkway with Miss Nydia discussing the best materials for a Spartan soldier’s helmet. Levi knew Sara and the hall chaperone spent countless hours in Miss Nydia’s room designing and stitching all the costumes. It was no wonder they were such close friends.
As Levi’s gaze drifted from one female friend to the next, his feelings of guilt overwhelmed him. Albert and his roommates were right: Levi wasn’t being noble, trying to protect the girls from the truth about Terracaelum. He’d known for a while now he was wrong. He’d known he needed to talk to his friends, to apologize for acting like he was in charge of the world when he couldn’t even control himself. It was just so hard.
But he couldn’t wait any longer. It was time to make things right.
Despite his good intentions, finding an opportunity to speak privately with a group of seven turned out to be more of a challenge than Levi expected. When supper came and went with no chance, Levi snagged Sara’s arm on the way out of the dining hall. “Would you come with me a second?”
She followed him into the foyer. “What?”
“Your room’s directly under ours, right?”
She scrunched her face at the strange question. “Yeah, I think.”
“After room check tonight, tap on your ceiling three times. We’ll tap back when we’re in the clear. Then you girls meet us at the top of the northeast tower
. We need to talk.”
Sara eyed him uncertainly. “Exactly what am I supposed to tap on the ceiling with? They’re ten feet high, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“I don’t know, a bat or broom or something? Use your imagination.”
The corners of her mouth drew in. “Why should we come? What if we get in trouble?”
He put on his best pitiful puppy look. “Please, Sara. It’s important or I wouldn’t have asked.”
She studied him, her mouth still tight.
“Please.”
Her eyes shifted heavenward and she sighed, “Oh, all right. We’ll tap.”
“You did what?” Trevor’s jaw looked hard enough to crack a boulder.
Levi frowned. “I thought you wanted me to tell them.”
“Yeah, but . . .” Trevor flopped onto his bed. “You’re missing the point. You think you should choose when and when not to tell. It’s not all about you.”
Levi tossed his hands and plopped down on his own bed. “What do you want from me? I’m trying to do what you said.”
Tommy rolled his eyes.
Steve shrugged. “Hey, at least we’re finally telling them.” He raised an eyebrow at Trevor. “Just drop it, okay?”
Albert piped up from his spot on Tommy’s bed. “I agree with Steve. The boy finally wised up. Leave it at that.”
Levi considered Albert, not sure whether to thank him or thump him, but Trevor snapped his mouth shut.
“By the way, I ain’t gonna make your little meeting tonight.” Albert popped the huge pink bubble he’d blown. “I got guard duty.”
“Guard duty?” Tommy looked at the others. “Since when is there guard duty?”
Levi shrugged. It was news to him.
“Since the past six weeks or so.” Albert shook his head like they were dense. “Told you I got me a special assignment from the big boss. Haven’t you noticed I’m not in here a couple times a week? We take it in turns watching day and night ever since that fire when you guys was camping.”