Tree Slayer

by Harriet Springbett

  “Domi? Huh. He knows nothing for real. Can’t Koad wait until after our holiday?”

  She shook her head. “I’m really sorry, but I have to do this now. I’ll be back before next Friday.”

  Christophe stood up. “Fine. Do what you want,” he said, and opened his bedroom door.

  “Chris! Please–”

  “I’m getting ready for work. Have fun with Eole.” He went into the bedroom and closed the door.

  She sighed. There was nothing else she could do to reassure Christophe, not unless she changed her mind. A half-hearted kick of resistance came from Mary’s side. So she was still there. Rainbow waited, expecting demands to go after Chris and make amends. But nothing more came from Mary. Rainbow picked up Acorn and nuzzled the kitten’s soft fur, a double dose of despair overwhelming her. Mary couldn’t be bothered to argue. She’d given up on Rainbow, and it felt even worse than her former antagonism.

  Rainbow waited for a few minutes, hoping Christophe would come out again and apologise for being moody, but he didn’t. He’d given up on her too. She took one of the photos of them from the mirror frame and left.

  Outside, Emilie was leaning against the wall and smoking. Perfect. All Rainbow needed was for Emilie to console Christophe while she was gone. Emilie called goodbye, but Rainbow pretended she hadn’t heard. She didn’t want Emilie to guess she’d argued with Christophe.

  She kept her brimming eyes fixed on the ground and concentrated on the image Amrita had promised if she succeeded: of halcyon days, revelling, hand in hand, in the dappled sunlight of spring-green woodlands. It was Amrita’s way of saying that if Rainbow succeeded, she would never be alone again: that Amrita would always be with her.

  Eole was still here, of course, so she wasn’t totally alone – though Eole’s company didn’t make up for Christophe or Mary. She must put all thoughts of them aside and complete the last part of her mission. Now she’d identified her other half and neutralised the Tree Slayer, only Koad remained.

  Chapter 22

  Eole’s dream of an earthquake woke him on Thursday morning, and he opened his eyes to find Alexandra shaking his shoulder. He pushed her hand off and rolled over.

  “How do you feel?” she asked.

  “Terrible,” he mumbled. “Let me sleep.”

  Later, he was woken by whispers. He heard Alexandra say she was reluctant to wake him but had to get home for the goats and to take him to his doctor. She was talking to a woman – Eole wasn’t sure which one because they all smelt of lavender – who intervened with little noises. Listening noises, Alexandra called them. But the rhythm of the conversation was too one-sided. The other woman should speak more, not just make noises. Alexandra’s whispers continued, saying that even though he was more at ease here than she’d expected, she wouldn’t be reassured until he was safely back in the valley.

  He must have dozed off because he woke in the middle of a whispered sentence about Hestia, about Hestia’s problem, about having to get back for her. He opened his eyes. The other woman was Jasmine.

  “What’s the matter with Hestia?” he asked.

  “Darling! You’re awake.”

  He repeated his question but Alexandra swept it away, saying Hestia was fine and wanted him to come home. He told her his headache was better, that he’d needed to catch up with his sleep because he’d been outside with Rainbow all night, and that now it was time for them to get back to work on the treeopedia, which meant he couldn’t go back to the mountains with her, but that he would ring Hestia this evening at six o’clock and he didn’t need to see a doctor and now he must get up and have a shower so could they please leave him alone.

  Alexandra and Jasmine exchanged a glance. Exchanged glances meant that the people knew something he didn’t. He sat up.

  “She hasn’t left, has she? Rainbow?”

  “She did, but she’s back again,” said Jasmine. “I’ll go and tell her you’re awake.”

  She left, and Alexandra sat down on the edge of the double bed. “Listen, darling. I’m not happy about you staying here. They’re completely scatty. Half of them seem to be drugged up to their eyeballs or in trances or something. All that black and purple make-up is unnatural. And those little ones, running wild! It’s not a healthy environment. Goodness knows how the poor goats survive.”

  “It’s OK. I’m not staying here.”

  Alexandra opened her mouth and closed it again, which meant she was confused.

  “I mean I’m going on a mission,” he said. “With Rainbow. That’s why she’s still here. She’s waiting for me.”

  “A mission? No, darling. I’m sorry, but it’s not possible. Definitely no mission. That’s even worse than staying here. The only place you’re going is home.”

  Her coaxing tone had changed into her steamroller voice. He’d heard it a lot at bedtime when he was younger and hadn’t finished the book he was reading. She’d never understood that he needed to have the whole book in his head before he slept. If he didn’t, his brain would turn in circles trying to fit the pieces together and his mind would end up inventing the missing parts. The following day, after finishing the book, he’d have difficulty pasting the information from the book over the top of the information his mind had created, and whenever he thought about the subject from the book he was never sure which was the proper information and which was the invented bit. Not knowing brought on itch, shuffle and escape.

  She always got her way when she used her steamroller voice.

  “Have your shower, and then we’re leaving,” she said.

  There was a tap at the door. Rainbow asked if she could come in.

  “Yes,” said Eole, at the same time as Alexandra barked “No.”

  Rainbow opened the door and let in Darwie, who came and licked his hand. She looked sparkly around the edges and worried in the centre. She asked how he was, which didn’t feel intrusive like when Alexandra had asked him, because behind her words she was actually asking if he still felt treesick and if he was ready to get back to work – and she was also showing that she hadn’t changed her mind and was prepared for their mission. He was getting good at subtext. Hestia would be impressed.

  Alexandra told Rainbow that Eole was as well as could be expected and that they were leaving. Rainbow explained to Alexandra that she wanted to go away for a few days with him, and that she would look after him and make sure he rang home regularly. She added that he’d been fine so far with her, and he hadn’t had an episode since they’d been together because of a reiki technique she’d taught him.

  That part was probably a mistake, because Alexandra’s eyes went all squinty at the word ‘reiki’ and she broke the conversation rhythm by interrupting. Then she started to steamroll Rainbow.

  Rainbow interrupted back, which was fair enough. She said, “I’ve given up my job and my boyfriend for this mission, so don’t stop us now,” and Alexandra said, “That’s your problem. You should have consulted me first,” and Rainbow argued back and Alexandra’s voice got louder and Eole’s feet started to itch and then Jasmine came in, and Rainbow talked about ‘destiny’ with Jasmine, who nodded and went away, which was lucky because Alexandra didn’t like ‘destiny’ either and started talking about being in God’s hands, and suddenly he was outside walking along the track with Darwie, but then Alexandra’s lilac and Rainbow’s woody-mossy scents got stronger and he started to run and he wished Hestia was in his brain with him because she would know how to hide, and then he saw the yew tree and he hugged it, and it felt good and he stopped thinking about Alexandra and Rainbow and listened to the music of the voice coming through the tree instead.

  Although Rainbow wasn’t fit, and had stopped to pick up Eole’s headphones, she outran Alexandra. There was no sign of Eole. He would be sick again if she didn’t find him soon. If only she could hear the trees’ voices, they might tell her where he was. Maybe Eole could teach her to listen to them.

  She reached the site of last night’s treeopedia work, and had just dec
ided to ask a tree for help when she saw him. He was hugging the yew tree, and Darwie lay at his feet. Of course: he wouldn’t be sick as long as he concentrated on a single voice. She slowed down, puffing, and kicked through the undergrowth as she approached.

  He opened his eyes. “You didn’t need to make extra noise. I could smell you.”

  She grimaced. It would be disgusting to smell people. Her gift may not be so powerful, but at least it didn’t make her ill or force her to put up with vile odours.

  She wiped the sweat off her forehead and handed him his headphones. He put them on and started expounding on how tree-hugging was even better for itch, shuffle and escape than her reiki roots trick. She made the T-sign.

  “We’ve got to decide what to do,” she said. “The others will be here in a minute. Alexandra will never let you go, so the only solution is to sneak away. Are you happy to do that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sure?”

  He nodded. “I want to stay with you and protect you one hundred per cent from the Tree Slayer and go on our together mission and find this Koad.”

  “Cool. So let’s do it. We must be quick. Which way are the trees telling us to go?”

  Eole held his headphones a little way from his ears and walked northwards through the wood. Darwie whined at his heels. He turned his head from side to side, and then stopped at a birch tree and hugged it. Rainbow caught up with him, found the tree’s communication spots, and was overwhelmed by a sense of purpose, a sense of rightness and also a sense of a shady holloway path leading to the horizon.

  “It feels like a long way. We’ll have to borrow Mum’s Mini,” she said, while Eole added the entry to his mental treeopedia.

  “No. We must stay in contact with the trees. We have to walk.”

  “But it may be miles! I’ve got to be back next week for my holiday with Christophe.”

  He gave her one of his inscrutable looks. She sighed. At least the ground would be flatter here than in the mountains.

  “OK, I suppose you’re right,” she said. “We’d better pack. We’ll go the back way so we don’t bump into Alexandra.”

  They followed a deer path through the woods, which took them to the front of the house. Nobody was outside. They were either at spiritual sessions indoors or had followed Alexandra along the track. She told Eole to pack his rucksack, then went indoors and tiptoed upstairs to her room. She stuffed her purse, minimal camping equipment, map, compass and sketch pad into her backpack. Although she tried to hurry, her movements were slow, as if Mary were too dejected to convey any emotions and was physically manifesting her reluctance to leave. Rainbow hesitated over her tree book, but it was too big and heavy to take. She picked up her walking boots, shouldered her rucksack, and crept downstairs for food and water.

  She tiptoed past Domi’s consulting room and paused. Mary didn’t want her to go in. Rainbow lifted a heavy arm and tapped on the door.

  Ignoring Mary’s reticence, she briefed Domi on Eole’s discovery, on her certainty that he was her other half, and on their plan to find Koad.

  He nodded and tapped his lips with the pen he was holding. “I knew you might leave with Eole. It was one of the futures Sandrine predicted for you. She shouldn’t have told me, but she doesn’t understand confidentiality yet.”

  “One of the futures? What were the others?”

  “You’ll have to ask Sandrine,” said Domi. He shuffled through a drawer, putting papers into a brown envelope.

  “I don’t have time to see her. Alexandra will be back any minute.”

  Domi stood up. “Then go with my blessing,” he said. “It’s not always reassuring to know what may or may not happen. I’ll deal with Alexandra, as long as you promise to keep in contact so she knows Eole is safe. This will be good for him. And for you. Destiny, remember?”

  She thanked him and they kissed goodbye.

  “Take this,” he said. “It may be useful.”

  She took his envelope, backed out of the room and filled up her rucksack with bread, cheese, salad and a bottle of water from the kitchen. When she glanced out of the window, she saw Alexandra approaching the commune from the track. She hurried to Eole’s camp. Everything was packed and he was standing with his rucksack on, Darwie at his heels.

  “Let’s go,” she said.

  Chopin’s Funeral March floated into her mind. Mary may have given up on her, but she still didn’t want her to leave home.

  Part III

  Whole

  Chapter 23

  Eole and Darwie followed Rainbow to a hole in the hedge.

  “This way. Quick,” she said. She squeezed through the whippy hazel branches, her rucksack and Mary’s resistance making her as slow as a tortoise.

  Eole told Darwie to go through first, but he whined and cowered back. Eole raised his voice. Darwie whined again, then turned and streaked back towards Le Logis. Eole stared. Darwie had never disobeyed an order before.

  “Come on, Eole, before they see us.”

  He whistled at Darwie, who ignored him.

  “Let him go,” said Rainbow. “He hates it when you use your gifts, anyway.”

  Eole pulled himself through the bushes and joined Rainbow on the other side. Darwie belonged with him, but the poor dog hadn’t seen a sheep for four days. He’d be happier at the farm, where he also belonged.

  From the commune garden came the sound of Alexandra’s voice. Eole put on his headphones and shut out the temptation to follow Darwie back to the mountains.

  They crept along the length of the hedge and reached the birch tree in the woods behind the commune. Eole lifted his headphones from his ears and listened, then took the map and compass from Rainbow’s rucksack pocket. The daytime voices were louder, perhaps because of the competition from the tractors in the vineyards, the birdcalls and the occasional small aircraft passing overhead. He could still hear the Koad pattern, and although the wind had risen and changed direction, he was relieved to note that the voices were still guiding him northwards and slightly west. If the voices were the wind talking through the trees to him, its message was consistent. But he mustn’t analyse the origin of voices during the data collection stage of their treeopedia experiment: that could only come once he’d collected sufficient data.

  Rainbow took off her rucksack and hugged the birch. Yesterday’s feeling of purpose and distance was tinged with something new, and she sensed a tender green shoot reaching up towards the sun. She told Eole to listen-smell, and they added ‘enthusiastic’ to his treeopedia. The birch was weak from an infestation of gall midges, but she didn’t have time to heal it.

  “Which way now?” she asked.

  Eole continued in the direction he’d taken before they’d packed. It was difficult to concentrate on the Koad strand in the voices, and sickness rose in his throat at the discordant interruptions. He reached out his hand for Darwie’s muzzle, forgetting that Darwie had deserted him.

  Rainbow noticed his face getting whiter as he turned this way and that. It would take them forever to find Koad if he threw up and then had to sleep for hours. She suggested he touch the trees as he passed, and when he did so, he said he felt better. She trailed her hands over the trunks too, remembering how Amrita had led her out of the gale-struck park. Soon, they would reach Koad and she would see Amrita again.

  She needed to think about the next stage of her mission, which involved saving the last One Tree so that Amrita would be restored. But Eole had no idea where Koad was. “Trust the trees,” she muttered to herself. Although she suspected her destination was a special tree, like the François I oak, she mustn’t make assumptions. She would trust the trees to tell her when the time was right.

  At first it was pleasant in the shady woods, apart from the mosquito bites. But as she wandered along behind Eole, she started to get bored. Eole was busy listening to the trees, while she traipsed after him with nothing to do. This was even worse than making his treeopedia: at least she played a part in that. Now, she was useless, j
ust as her gift was useless compared to his.

  They reached the edge of the wood without arriving at Koad. There was a strong headwind, and a small road lay ahead. Two vineyards, separated by a row of small fruit trees, stretched beyond them. Eole took off his headphones and Rainbow looked around, wondering where the voices would send them.

  “Are you sure we didn’t miss Koad?” she asked.

  Before Eole could tell her he was sure, he heard a car approach and smelt its fumes. It was a diesel.

  “Quick! Hide,” said Rainbow. She swung off her rucksack and crouched behind a clump of blackthorn.

  Eole remained standing.

  “It’s OK. It isn’t Alexandra,” he said.

  The car passed. Rainbow glared at him. “What if you’d been wrong and it had been her?”

  “She would have seen us and stopped and then steamrolled me into getting into the car and going home and our mission to find Koad would have been over. But I wasn’t wrong. Alexandra’s car has a petrol engine.”

  He crossed the road, continuing the northwestward line the compass had shown from the start. The voices from the woods were a quiet chatter behind him, and a sweet-smelling Koad call beckoned him through the vineyards. He reached the source of the call, and found squashed, mouldering plums on the ground and ripe plums on a tree. A few green peaches hung from its neighbour. Rainbow reached out to pick the plums, but she was too small. She swore. He pulled down a branch so she could gather them, wondering what had made her cross, and they drank some water as they ate them.

  “This had better be the right way,” she said, wiping her mouth on her bare arm.

  “It is. We must keep going to the copse over there. They’ll tell us where to go afterwards.”

  A gust blew tendrils of Rainbow’s hair into her mouth. She brushed them off and chastised the wind.