The Trojan Horse Traitor

by Amy C. Blake

  Tommy, Steve, and another kid burst from the Trojan horse’s canvas door, snagging Levi’s eyes. Then he couldn’t tear his attention away from the prop.

  He sensed someone slipping into the seat beside him, but his focus stayed on that horse.

  “She’s not in there,” Trevor whispered.

  Levi glanced at Trevor then settled his eyes back on the horse. “I know that.”

  “It’s empty.”

  Levi frowned. “Yeah, I got it.”

  “We did right.”

  Levi turned his head, focusing his attention fully on his friend.

  “We did right to bring Miss Nydia’s body back to her parents.” A fragile peace shone in Trevor’s eyes.

  A tiny portion of the weight lifted from Levi’s spirits. “Yeah, we did right.”

  After the play, Mr. Dominic awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals for the winners of the Camp Classics Olympics, though he was careful to point out that the ancients used laurel wreathes instead. Levi clapped for each of his friends as they received their awards, but Trevor had to push him forward when Mr. Dominic announced his first place fencing award. He’d forgotten all about tying for the gold with Hunter.

  As Levi passed the front row, he gave his family a quick wave. His sister Abby shrieked, “Yay, Levi!” When his mom snatched him into a hug, he gave her a quick return squeeze and pulled away. While he longed for the comfort of his parents, the weight of more than a hundred eyes, not all friendly, spurred him to keep moving.

  But when his dad squeezed his shoulder and whispered, “You’ve grown a lot, son. I’m proud of you,” tears stung Levi’s eyes.

  Blinking them away, he crossed in front of his little brothers Zeke and Jer just as Jer shrieked, “Levi won a medal?” and Zeke hollered back, “No way. There’s gotta be a mistake.”

  Levi couldn’t help grinning at his little brothers as he climbed onto the stage. Those two hadn’t changed any. But they were right, really. He didn’t deserve a medal. He hadn’t defeated Hunter in the Olympics. And he’d failed Sara.

  As Mr. Dominic slipped a gold medal over Levi’s head, Hunter shot Levi a hate-filled look he knew he deserved. Nasty as Hunter acted, it was wrong for Levi to accuse him of being a shape-shifting demon sorcerer intent on destroying Terracaelum’s rulers. Levi should apologize somehow.

  Before they left the stage, Levi forced himself to congratulate Hunter.

  Hunter turned his back and went to sit beside Martin. Levi scanned the nearby seats. An oversized couple he figured were Martin’s parents sat on the big boy’s right. No one sat near Hunter. Apparently, his parents hadn’t made the trip to pick him up.

  After a lunch Levi could barely eat, it was time to go home. He stopped on the way to the ferry and told Mr. Dominic goodbye.

  “Farewell, young man.” Mr. Dominic pressed a piece of thick paper into his hand.

  “Um . . . goodbye, sir,” Levi said, wondering vaguely if the director had replaced the invitation letter Hunter had shredded.

  When Levi found a seat on the ferry, he noticed others holding similar papers. Some looked pleased with what they read, and others, like Greg, did not.

  Trevor plopped onto the bench by him. “How’d you do?” He flapped his paper in Levi’s face.

  Confused, Levi unfolded his paper. A grade report. His shoulders relaxed as he skimmed it. “Good. Even passed in Math. You?”

  Grinning, Trevor gave him a double thumbs-up.

  The engines rumbled and the boat lurched out onto the open lake. Levi glanced around the deck at his family and friends talking together. He rose and crossed to Sara, alone with her elbows propped on the railing, her gaze on Castle Island.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She scrunched her eyes at him. “What’re you talking about?”

  “If I’d gone into that cave after Deceptor, maybe you could’ve stayed in Terracaelum with your parents.” Guilt pressed the air from his lungs.

  Sara’s giggle felt like a slap, but she immediately rested her hand on his wrist, her expression soft. “I don’t have to leave Terracaelum.”

  “Then what’re you doing here?” He gestured toward the packed ferry deck.

  “You guys are the only ones who know who I am. Don’t you think it’d be a little suspicious if I stayed on Castle Island when everyone else left?”

  “Oh. Yeah.” His neck heated. “But will you be safe . . . you know, back there?” He jutted his chin toward the island.

  “I’ll be okay. I just have to be careful.” She shrugged. “Daddy says it always takes Deceptor a long time to recover after he’s defeated.” Her hand tightened around his wrist, her eyes serious. “And don’t ever apologize for last night. You rescued me, and if you’d followed Deceptor into that black hole, you’d be dead now. What you did was very brave.”

  Levi’s cheeks burned at the heat of her hand and the warmth of her words. “I didn’t do much.” Besides make a mess of everything trying to control his friends. “Trevor and Monica were great.” And that whirlwind thing, had Sara seen that? It almost seemed like a dream to Levi now, but it must have happened. He sure couldn’t have driven Deceptor away on his own. He was way too weak. He knew that now.

  Sara smiled. “I know the others helped. You were all wonderful. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Sara’s smile faded. “I’ll miss everybody so much.” She looked out across the lake.

  “Me too.” Levi followed her gaze to Castle Island, the familiar pang clutching his throat.

  Sara was silent a moment before facing him. “You will come back next summer, won’t you?”

  He looked at her. Would he come back? He honestly didn’t know. With Deceptor around, not to mention Levi’s own control-freak self . . . His gaze drifted to his friends and his shoulders sagged. What if next summer was like this one? What if he endangered his friends with his stupidity? His eyes dropped to the ferry’s wake.

  He couldn’t come back.

  A gust of wind blew into Levi’s face. His eyes lifted to the horizon as he recalled Mr. Dominic’s words about how God sometimes interacted in Terracaelum through wind and whispers. Cocking his head, Levi let the now-gentle breeze caress his cheeks.

  His gaze moved to Sara. A line formed between her brows, probably because he hadn’t answered her question. But he felt a smile blossom on his own face because he’d just made a connection—one that made everything all right.

  That wind had visited him at every important moment this summer—when he’d needed comfort, encouragement, direction, even warning, which he had unfortunately ignored more than once. Then there was last night in the battle against Deceptor when the hurricane had saved Levi and his friends. And that victorious whisper, My strength is made perfect in weakness, words straight from Scripture. Levi suddenly understood it was God’s Spirit that had comforted, directed, warned, and protected him every step of the way, all summer long.

  And that was the most important thing of all because it meant God would be with Levi no matter where he went. Sara, the others, even Levi himself, none of them were dependent on Levi’s ability to get everything right. Because God would always be strong, no matter how weak Levi was.

  Over Castle Island’s northern cliffs, a thousand rainbows suddenly shimmered, drawing Levi’s eyes. A huge iridescent bubble blew from the tiny castle and out over the lake beyond. As both bubble and castle disappeared, Levi turned a joyful smile on Sara.

  “Oh, yeah,” he said, “I’ll definitely be back next summer.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Author Amy C. Blake has appeared in many publications, both Christian-based and secular. With a Masters in English from Mississippi College, her work has consistently won praise and awards throughout her writing career, which has included everything from contributing articles to the publication of her full-length novels Whitewashed and Colorblind. Amy is a pastor’s wife and homeschooling mother of four who resides in beautiful Ohio.

 
 

  Amy C. Blake, The Trojan Horse Traitor