Jacob left Akeno’s house in high spirits. He was excited to see Matt and Amberly again, and his parents when they returned. Whistling, he climbed down the wall and crossed the meadow. He paused on the way to the forest to look up at the tree, wishing he could somehow take it home with him.
At first he was jumpy about being in the forest again, but after a few minutes, when nothing out of the ordinary happened, he stopped worrying.
Jacob sighed as he walked. The trip back to his house seemed to take forever, and he had to control himself to keep from breaking into a run—wait—why couldn’t he run? He laughed at himself and took off down the path, excitement building up when he thought of his siblings eagerly awaiting his return.
He stepped out of the trees and onto the grass in his backyard, spotting Amberly playing on the swing set.
“Jake!” Amberly squealed. “You’re back!” She jumped off the swing and ran at him, almost tripping over her own feet.
Jacob laughed and dropped to his knees, picking her up as soon as she reached him. He held on to her tightly, burying his face in her curls.
“I’ve gotta show you what we made in the sandbox!” Amberly said, squirming in his arms. “And Sarah fell and got a cut on her knee!”
“She did?” Jacob said, thinking about the neighbor’s daughter. “You’ll have to show me when I see her next.” He put her down. “Where’s Matt?”
“Inside!” Turning around, she ran toward the house. “Jake’s back! Mommy! Daddy! Jake’s back!”
“Wait, Mom and Dad are home? Cool!”
Jacob had barely made it to the back porch when his mom flew through the door and hugged him, nearly knocking him over. His dad was right behind her and wrapped his arms around both of them. When his parents finally released him, Matt tackled him, knocking him to the lawn.
Jacob laughed. “Ouch! Uncle! Uncle!”
It took a minute of good-natured shoving and pushing to get up again, but soon they were walking back to the house, Matt on one side of him and his mom on the other.
“Man, I’ve got a lot to tell you guys,” Jacob said.
His mom looked at him, an intense expression crossing her face. “We were so, so worried about you, young man. You are not to leave this house for a week. And don’t you dare think about doing something like that again.”
Jacob looked at her, shocked. Getting grounded right now would be really bad. What about Aloren? “But I have—” Then he saw the smile creeping across her face, and relief washed over him. “Oh, good. I’m glad you’re teasing.”
His parents looked at him. “We were very worried,” his dad said. “And we want to hear all about it as soon as possible.”
His mom nodded. “It sounds like you became quite the hero while we were gone.”
“I’ll tell you everything. It might take a while, but I’ll definitely tell you everything.” He looked at his family. “It’s so good to be home.”
Jacob paused before entering the house, running his hand over the wood of the back door. A large grin crossed his face when he felt a familiar warmth.
Matt jabbed him in the side with his elbow. “Dude, what are you doing?”
Jacob shook his head. “Oh, nothing,” he said, satisfied.
The Key of Kilenya Page 41
