Chapter 13
13
It wasn’t yet sunrise when Tanek woke. He looked through the darkness at Kaley sleeping nearby in what had been his grandpapá’s bedroom. He wasn’t surprised to see that Sojee was gone. That he’d been able to leave without waking Tanek made him grimace. He was slipping. What was next? A swan could move without his knowledge?
He sat up and looked at Kaley. She was on the far side of the room and she had all three of the blankets on her. She’d insisted that there was one for each of them, but during the night, Tanek had spread his over her. It looked like Sojee had done the same thing.
Silently, he stood up and walked to her. She was asleep, but frowning. His father had told him how badly earthlings reacted to alcohol and he was seeing it for the second time. If he left her, she would awaken feeling ill.
Bending, he touched his forearm to hers. For less than a second, he felt her headache, her stomach turmoil, her all-over body ache. It was enough to make him feel sick. But his energy quickly cleared away the pain from both of them. She lost the frown and settled into a deeper sleep.
For a moment he stood there watching her. She was really pretty, and her physical display yesterday was... He smiled at the new word. Empowering. Yes, it had given him so much “power” that it had been difficult to conceal. How Sojee had laughed at him!
As silently as Sojee had been, Tanek slipped out of the room, went through the ruined house and headed up the hill. He remembered every word his grandpapá had used to describe the house, so he knew where the Place of Peace was. It was where Haver went to think and plan. To be alone.
Tanek reached the top just as the sun came over the horizon, and he sat down on a flattened rock. Haver had chiseled the top off and planted the nearby tree. The colors of sunrise, the blues and greens, reflected off the water below. His father, Roal, told him that Earth’s sunrise was different. “Another star lights their planet,” he’d said. “The colors are not like ours.”
Just before Kaley arrived, his father told him that Jobi wanted him to help this young woman. “Earthlings aren’t like us, but Jobi has worked on this one for years. He says he trained her but I don’t know how or at what.”
It had made sense to Tanek, but what he’d never imagined was that the earthling wouldn’t be told about her past. She had less knowledge than a child. Not only did she not know where she was, she also had no idea what she could do—nor did Tanek.
There was a tiny, familiar sound and he repressed a smile. “You let her see you!” He was frowning and sounded as though he was angry.
“I’m so sorry.” Arit fluttered in front of him, her head down, looking like she might cry. “I disobeyed you. I betrayed you. I should not have done that. Can you forgive me?”
Tanek smiled. “Not bad. I almost believed you were sincere.”
Arit gave a giggle, her wings going so fast they were a blur.
He held out his arm and she lit on his wrist. “You worried me.”
“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t come when you called because I was sleeping.”
She was referring to the fact that he’d called for her yesterday but she hadn’t arrived. He was upset when he heard that she’d been in a rainstorm then inside the smoky house. Nevers weren’t made to withstand harsh conditions. They liked softness and sunshine. He gave her a hard look.
“I am well. I ate toris berries and healed.” She flew up to his shoulder, then bent to kiss his cheek above his beard. Turning, she used his beard as a grassy wall. She yawned. “I like her.”
Tanek put his hands behind his head and leaned back against the tree. It was mature now, no longer the sapling that Haver had planted. “I like her, too, but when she’s told that Jobi stole her away from her home, she won’t like me . She’ll want to leave right away.”
Arit didn’t answer for a moment. “She’s very brave, and she can see me! She rescued those children even when she was choking from the smoke. She would make a good mother.”
Tanek groaned. “Don’t you start on me!” He changed the subject. “What are the king and Jobi up to? They don’t care about those stories she’s interested in, so why?”
“He wants to unite the islands. He—”
“He told me that.” Tanek’s voice was growing louder. “But what does this woman have to do with it? And why did the king take everything away from us? We’re going to struggle to get food, so how are we to find that rotten son of his? Without papers, how do we get home?”
Arit was calm. They’d been companions since Tanek had returned to Bellis as a child. When he’d disembarked the ship, Arit and Haver were waiting for him. From that moment, they’d represented what Tanek most wanted: a home. He’d adjusted to them and to the swans quickly. “I may be able to let you hear the king since that man has no abilities at all,” she said.
“Just in ordering life or death.”
Arit shrugged. “That’s physical.”
“Which, in your world, doesn’t matter.” Since she was leaning against his beard, he couldn’t see her, but he could feel the vibrations of her wings. She was peering into the minds of people.
As he knew, she could see some of the past, most of the present, but none of the future. “Oh! Yesterday, Jobi’s heart was beating very fast.”
“Show me what caused it.” His grandpapá had told him that his relationship with Arit was unusual. When they’d met, Tanek had been a very lonely boy. As for Arit, she was absolutely sick of her seven older sisters. Turning her over to a boy who’d never been on Bellis was their idea of a hilarious prank. “The fool is on them,” Haver had said, laughing, then added, “You two are a ‘match made on Earth.’”
Arit was trying to see into the past as to what had so excited Jobi. “My, my, my,” she said, then transferred the image to his mind.
Tanek closed his eyes as he saw Jobi standing before the king.
“How are they doing?” the king asked. “Do they like the inn? Are the guards helping to find my son?” Jobi didn’t reply, but, as Arit had said, his heart was beating fast and hard.
The image was gone. “Starken-el,” Tanek whispered. “It’s Jobi who stole everything. But why? How can we achieve anything without papers and funds?”
Abruptly, Arit stood upright on his shoulder. “She is awake and she’s going to the candy house.”
Tanek sat up. “How do you know that?”
Arit didn’t answer.
He sighed. She’d tell only if she wanted to—or had to. “I’ll go to her.”
“Will you impress her with more soaring?”
He knew she was being sarcastic. Yesterday he had intentionally dampened down his display. “I don’t feel worthy of matching Haver Beyhan,” he said modestly, but there was an undertone of laughter. “I must go. She is insanely curious and afraid of nothing. I don’t know if she’s brilliant or stupid.”
“Those are good mother traits,” Arit said, then vanished before Tanek could reply. Her laugh rang out into the air.
When Kaley woke up, neither of the men were in the ruined bedroom. As she lifted the three blankets off her, she smiled. The men took good care of her! When she stood up, she expected to feel hungover after all the wine she’d drunk, but she didn’t. In fact, she felt good. One of the men, probably Sojee, had left a chunk of meat for her and a mug of cold stream water. After a trip to the bushes, she took them both and started walking.
She thought she should explore the homestead more, but she didn’t want to. Instead, she went down the trail, then through the woods. She wanted to look at what was left of the gingerbread house. Her fear was that the place had repaired itself and was ready to repeat the same story over and over.
When she reached the little cottage, she let out a sigh of relief. It was still in ruins, with only two walls standing. She couldn’t resist pulling off a couple of shingles and nibbling. Whatever else was said about the witch, she knew how to bake!
Kaley sat down to the side, not far from where they’d cooked yesterday— and where we laughed together , she thought. It had been a nice break from pulling men out of the mud and following a tiny light through a rainstorm. This was the first quiet time she’d had since she’d found herself sitting on a rock, reeling from dizziness and wondering where she was and how she got there. As she ate, she looked at the house.
It was weird that there were fairy tales here on Jobi’s islands. The truth was that everything was strange to the point of being unbelievable. She’d been so busy that it was as if she was purposely being given no time to think. Well, finding Sojee had been of her own doing, but still...
What was especially odd was that she’d been able to do everything that was required of her. She’d studied the fairy tales that were on these islands. Jumping across open spaces and scurrying up the sides of buildings were things she’d done in her training sessions with Jobi. It was almost as though he knew what was going to happen. Even if he’d hoped she’d go to his home with him, how could he have known she was going to be doing these things?
But then, he’d always had hints of premonition. “Take an umbrella,” he’d say on a sunny day, and later there’d be an unexpected thunderstorm. “Take a left here.” They managed to miss a traffic jam. It happened so often that she paid little attention to it.
Only once was it serious. She’d had an appointment in Miami. To get there, she had to go down the dreaded I-95. That highway was not for nervous drivers! Jobi told her she was not to go. He was fierce, saying he’d forcibly hold her there if he had to, but she was not to get on I-95 that day. Later, when she saw that there’d been a massive pileup and several deaths, she wasn’t surprised. She asked him about it but he told her to do ten more reps of lat pulldowns and didn’t answer. They never spoke of it again.
Since she’d been on the islands of Bellis, everything had been new and strange—but at the same time it was all familiar. Little Red Riding Hood? Hansel and Gretel? A witch with a magic necklace? It was what she’d been studying all her life.
But none of it made sense. Those fairy tales had been written decades ago. But here, on these isolated islands, they were happening now . If she did write about her experiences here, who was going to believe that there were some islands where fairy tales actually happened ?
She thought back to how Jobi had given her little time to get ready to leave, but she’d had a massive amount to do. She wished she’d spent more time researching the islands, but she’d looked only at one site. She should have done a deep search of the whole internet.
Actually, when she thought back on it all, she should have made a protest of the hateful way her professor had tossed her dissertation aside. There had to be a way she could have filed a complaint. She should have stayed and fought, not run away as she did.
But there was Jobi, her best friend, packing to leave forever, and talking about his beautiful, unexplored islands, telling her of a king and hinting at new and different stories. She’d had a choice of going with him or facing her problems alone.
Something is wrong , Kaley thought. Really, really wrong. What’s happening here doesn’t match up with reality. I need to—
When she heard a noise, her senses came alert. Maybe she shouldn’t have come out alone like this. Maybe the witch didn’t live by herself. Maybe there was—
The noise came again and she recognized it as an animal sound. There was a little cry, like a puppy, then a quick bark that sounded like a warning.
She put her mug down and went closer to the house to investigate. At first, she didn’t see anything, but then she saw a little creature was caught in metal fencing. It looked like a trap that had been made especially for it. She’d never seen an animal like it. It was the size of a rabbit but thin like a fox, and it had tall, narrow ears. Its fur was light brown flecked with black-and-white hairs. It was a male and the poor thing was trapped by its right front paw and its snout. It couldn’t get out. When Kaley stepped toward it, the animal growled at her. “I promise I won’t hurt you,” she said as she went nearer.
But then she heard the little cry again. It was coming from inside a pile of burned gingerbread and charred wood. She left the animal in the cage to move pieces aside, being careful that nothing fell down on whatever was making the sound. When she had a hole in the debris, she saw that deep down there was a baby of whatever the larger animal was. It was very small and impossibly cute. “Did you come in here for the gingerbread?” she asked in a soothing voice. “Poor thing, I’ll get you out.”
She reached in as far as her arms could and the baby, a female, nipped at her fingers. It had sharp little teeth, and Kaley drew back. She moved another wooden beam so she could get closer, but again, when she reached for the little one, it tried to bite her.
The male gave a sharp bark and the baby closed its mouth. “Is this your daughter?” Kaley asked. “And you were trying to rescue her?” This time, when she reached out for the little one, it didn’t bite. Kaley’s hands closed softly around it. “See? Daddy knows I’m trying to get you free.”
She could feel the little creature’s heart pounding so she held it for a moment, stroking it gently. It calmed down to the point where it snuggled against Kaley’s hands. “I need to get your dad out, okay? You can stay over there and eat all the gingerbread you want.” She put the little creature down on the grass and went back to the father.
When she reached out her hand to the trapped male, it didn’t move. “I mean you no harm,” she said. She couldn’t resist running her hand over its head, then down its body. “Your daughter is beautiful and so are you.”
The animal didn’t move as she opened the wire that was holding its foot. She pried open the latch that held its snout. “You risked your life to save your daughter. I’m impressed.”
When the animal was free, it didn’t run away, but turned to look at her—but that was what she was used to. All her life she’d had a close bond with animals. So close that she spent a lot of time trying to hide it. She didn’t like being called a freak or the other names people came up with. She put out her hand, palm up, and the animal reached out the paw that had been trapped and touched her fingertip. “You’re welcome,” she said.
In the next second, the animal was gone, moving so fast and quietly it could hardly be seen.
Smiling, Kaley turned away, and in that second, she saw the tiny woman she thought she’d seen when she was in the smoky cottage. It was only a flash of light and color, then it disappeared. “I think I may be losing my mind,” she whispered. “Fairy tales are one thing but real, live fairies are another.” Shaking her head in disbelief, she went out of the ruins and into the sunlight, and she saw Tanek coming down the hill. “Everything all right?”
“We have no food or papers and little credit, but other than that, it’s grand,” he said.
She held out her mug of water to him.
He hesitated, but took it and drank, then stretched out on the grass. “We must make a plan.”
“Definitely.” She lay down a couple of feet away from him, and took her mug back. “It smells good here.”
“It does. I like those cakes.”
Kaley got up and broke off a couple of shingles, handed him one, then lay back down. It was nice to relax and not be fighting something. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“No.” Holding his gingerbread, he put one hand behind his head and turned his face up to the sun.
“But you have a world full of swans. You must have been a happy child. Was your school good?”
“Oh yes,” he said. “I fit in well. No one said anything when birds followed me everywhere. Best was when a hawk picked up a kid’s pet. I had trouble getting it back. That bird didn’t understand why I was taking food from him.”
Kaley was smiling at his sarcasm. “But I bet you were great at sports. You could soar over the goalposts and win every race. Did you ever go swimming with your fellow students?”
“Just once.”
His tone made her stop laughing. “Did they see your ridges?”
“Yes. I was a great source of laughter to them all.”
“And after that?”
“I believe you call it homeschooled .”
“By your grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“We have things in common,” she said. “I was homeschooled until college, and the three adults in my life were very busy. I spent more time with animals than with humans.” She smiled. “I probably should have a tail and fuzzy ears.”
That joke seemed to amuse him more than it deserved, and it took him a moment to recover. “Did I hear you talking to someone?”
Even though they were acting as friends, Kaley wasn’t going to betray the little animals. For all she knew, the men considered them good to eat and would go hunting for them. “Rabbits,” she said. “I tend to talk to all animals. It’s just a habit. Can’t seem to break it. Sometimes it causes problems, but it’s okay most of the time. I...” She was talking too much and too fast.
He didn’t look at her, but she was sure he knew she was lying.
They were quiet for a moment, then he asked, “Does Jobi know of this house of cakes?”
She wasn’t fooled by his nonchalance. “Is this question why you’re being so chummy with me?”
“I don’t know that word.”
She could feel that his body had suddenly tensed up. “It doesn’t mean that I intend to endanger your chastity. Did that translate?”
“Perfectly.” He was smiling in that smug way that only men could do. “And I am relieved.” He paused for a moment, then said, “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, Jobi knows about the old fairy tales. I used to read them to him. He was always very interested. He—Wait! Do you think Jobi knew the gingerbread house was here? Did he tell the king? Were our things taken away so we’d come to your family’s old home and find the house and the cannibalistic witch? Did they know that you and Sojee would destroy the place?”
“That’s a lot of questions.”
“And you’re not answering.” She raised on one arm to look at him. “If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll start keeping even more secrets from you. That’s fair, isn’t it?”
Tanek laughed. “I am bested. Yes, I think there was a reason behind our being here. If everything was taken from us, where else could we go?” He paused when he saw Sojee approaching. “But if you hadn’t blocked the men, you would have been thrown into the mud, too.” He looked at her. “Or worse. I can’t figure out why all three of us would be left without our senses. How were we to get here?”
“I have no idea.” Kaley sat up and smiled at Sojee.
“Are you two figuring out how to find the kid with the dragon so we can get out of here?” Sojee asked as he looked down at them.
Tanek didn’t move from his easy position of lying on the grass. “Kaley found rabbits so we may have to hunt food.”
Sojee looked hard at her. “Rabbits?”
She didn’t blink at his look of disbelief. “ Brown rabbits,” she said firmly.
For a split second, his eyes widened, acknowledging that she was lying.
Tanek made no sign that he knew what was going on between them.
Kaley stood up. “I need to see if there’s a pot inside that mess.” She nodded toward the house. “I can make a stew with the venison.”
Sojee looked toward the trees. “Or maybe I’ll find some brown rabbits to put into the pot.”
“They ran off that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction that the animals went.
Sojee smiled in a knowing way, then went into the forest, and Kaley went back into what was left of the gingerbread house.
Tanek stayed where he was for a while, then got up and went into the trees, keeping a good distance between him and the other two. “Arit,” he said softly, and she was there instantly. “I need to talk to Jobi.” He held up his arm and she brought up a little screen and there was Jobi, frowning.
“I don’t have time now. The king—”
Tanek ignored his plea. “She needs to be told the truth. Anger is building in her and she’s starting to keep secrets.”
Jobi’s face showed alarm. “About what?”
“If I knew, they wouldn’t be secrets.”
Jobi gave a satisfied little smile. “You like her, don’t you?”
Tanek frowned. “Is that what this is about? You’re trying to match me with her?”
Jobi smiled. “Would that be so bad? Tanek, you’re like a son to me, so take my advice and tell Kaley the truth about where she is. Rip the bandage off.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s an Earth saying. You must stop hiding the truth and tell her all of it. Just do it and be done with it.”
“Then I will get her hatred.”
“And that matters to you?”
His tone was so patronizing, so I-know-best, that Tanek felt anger rise in him. They were searching for food but Jobi was matchmaking. Tanek’s voice was calm. “I think you’re right. I should tell her the truth. I’ll tell her that it was you who had all our goods stolen and you who removed our credits. If she hadn’t had the foresight to block the thieves, I hate to think what could have happened to her alone in that room.” His voice rose. “I’ll give it to her like a blade cutting her heart out. And if you don’t know, that’s a Bellisan saying.”
“Wait! I—”
Tanek didn’t hear any more as Arit took away the connection. They smiled at each other—then Arit laughed so hard she did a somersault in the air.
“How long do you think it will take him to replenish our resources?” he asked.
“I hope it’s not until after Kaley’s stew is ready. She’s a good cook, isn’t she?”
Arit disappeared before Tanek could groan in reply.