Snapdragon Book I: My Enemy

by Brandon Berntson

  His palms were slick with sweat. What was he thinking? She looked frightened, too.

  Kids ambled by laughing and talking. Rudy couldn’t think straight, suddenly distracted. “Hi,” he said, trying to smile. “Masie.” He took a deep breath and stepped closer. “I’m Rudy McCall. Sadie’s…” Already, he regretted it. He should have never mentioned Sadie. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “…brother,” he finished, opening his eyes again. He looked at his shoes. How infantile, how stupid he must look.

  Mentioning his brother must’ve done something, though, because Masie didn’t look scared. She seemed genuinely concerned.

  Please, just don’t say anything, Rudy thought. Don’t tell me you’re sorry.

  He mistook her concern for confusion. Why else did she have that wrinkle above her nose? She was not screaming, however, calling for help, but waited for him to go on.

  The look on her face seemed to say: I’m with you, and it’s okay. Don’t be afraid of me.

  “I was just wondering…I’m sorry to bother you, but…you have a little brother…Sadie’s age…”

  It’s okay. You have her attention. She’s not running away. She cares. She’s worried. She doesn’t even know you, and she cares.

  Masie was quick to respond, though. It surprised him. She bridged the gulf he’d been feeling. Rudy hovered over a precipice with nothing but cold, dark air underneath his feet. The air reached up and licked his face, making him shiver. The cold was unbearable, but Masie did everything perfectly, and he could’ve kissed her for it. She’d read his mind…as impossible as that seemed. He hadn’t asked a single question, and she was already making the situation easier. Before he found the will to continue, Masie cocked her head, big, brown eyes hypnotic and beautiful.

  “I’d love to talk to you, Rudy,” she said. “If that’s what you’re trying to say. If you need someone to talk to, I’d be happy to listen.”

  The fog lifted. He couldn’t believe it! The tension went out of his shoulders.

  Tears welled in Rudy’s eyes for reasons he couldn’t explain. He steeled himself against them, criticizing himself. He wanted to reach out, breathe a sigh, tell her thank you a thousand times! She hadn’t the foggiest idea what she’d just done.

  Like a dream…

  Rudy was speechless but managed to smile. “Thank you, Masie. I don’t know how you knew…I don’t know what to say. You read my mind, I guess. I feel so…stupid. So helpless. I just…” Rudy didn’t know if he were making things better or worse. He shook his head again and looked at his shoes.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Masie said. “You’ve said enough.”

  “Maybe,” Rudy told her, and tried to smile again. He had an overwhelming need to keep talking, to justify his actions, why he was here, why he wanted to talk, what he was going through.

  But Masie seemed to sense all this. She put her hand on his arm again.

  “I just wanted to talk to someone,” Rudy said, explaining himself. “I don’t understand anything happening, you know? I feel like I’m digging a hole for myself. I saw you, and I thought…I don’t know…that you’d understand. I can’t explain it. I can’t talk to Mom or Dad. I don’t even know you, really. I know your brother came to Sadie’s birthday party last year…and for some ridiculous reason…I just thought…”

  “I know,” Masie said, squeezing his arm. “I understand. It’s okay.”

  They were alone in the hallway. All the other kids had disappeared.

  “God, this sounds so…stupid,” he said, unable to stop himself. “I was out wandering around Tuesday. I couldn’t stand being at school, and I saw you crossing the street…”

  Masie raised her eyebrows, looking surprised. “You saw that?”

  “Yes,” Rudy said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…I was just out wandering around…”

  “No,” she said, again squeezing his arm. Rudy’s spine tingled. “It’s okay. I was just…hoping to keep that a secret…going to the church.”

  “You went to the Fellowship?” he said. “I didn’t know that. I just saw you crossing the street.”

  Masie laughed and shook her head.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Don’t worry. It’s not important. Just promise,” she said. “Promise you’ll keep this between us?”

  Rudy nodded. “Sure,” he said. “No problem. Like I said, I just wondered—”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Masie said and paused. “You know, Rudy. I’m actually glad you talked to me.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “You are?”

  Masie nodded. “I would like it if we got together. I have a few things I’d like to talk to you about, too. We can swap problems. How does that sound?”

  Rudy smiled and breathed easier. “That sounds great, Masie.”

  “I’m late for class,” she told him. “Meet me at my locker after school, okay?”

  “Sure,” he said. “Thanks. Sorry I seem so…I just…”

  “You don’t have to say anything,” she said. “You don’t have to keep apologizing.”

  “Thanks,” he said. “I appreciate that.”

  “At my locker after school,” Masie said.

  The bell rang again.

  She started down the hallway, hurrying to class. “Don’t forget,” she said turning around. She waved at him before disappearing around the corner. Rudy raised his hand and nodded.

  He stood in the hallway and looked around. It was dead quiet. Minutes ago, it had been teeming with noise. He was the only one here.

  He was stunned, befuddled, even in a mild state of shock, but he was relieved.

  Walking down the hallway, Rudy McCall suddenly had no idea where he was going or what to do with himself.

  vi

  Had she, in some way, been expecting this? Since Tuesday, she’d had hope, a sense of peace in her life, and Rudy had solidified it. He needed someone to talk to, and ironically, so did she.

  Funny the way things go, Masie thought.

  His timid approach had actually charmed her. She could tell he was trying not to seem too masculine, yet chiding himself for coming across like a whelp. To Masie, it was everything masculine and sensitive, and she loved the whole thing. She’d thought often of the McCalls since Sadie’s death, and wondered how Rudy was doing. She’d actually wanted to condone her sympathy, but figured enough people were probably hounding him already.

  She apologized to Mrs. Bloomfield, the geography teacher, for being late. Mrs. Bloomfield didn’t seem to mind, but several students snickered. Masie took her seat at the front of the class, but found it hard to concentrate. The week had been one of the better ones she’d had in a long time, despite Ellishome’s recent atrocities.

  Maybe Jasper was right. Maybe she did know. Maybe she’d known about something miraculous all along, and had only now begun to realize it.

  CHAPTER X

  Seth Auburn would learn in the days to follow what it took to be a warrior. He’d been learning about warriors in his sleep. Vast open grasslands belonging to another world opened before him. A white marble palace stood at the base of jagged, purple mountains. The view was like the scene in a cartoon.

  Were they the same mountains beyond his backyard? Something told him yes and no.

  His mind stretched, branching outward in every direction. Ben was right He had enough.

  Blue lights scintillated below, reflecting off the white marble facade, liquid pearls from a city. Silvery hands touched his brow.

  All you have to do is take a step, Ben said. One step, and you’ll be there.

  The palace, this hidden city, called to him. He wasn’t supposed to live in Ellishome anymore.

  This is home now. You built it from stargazing. You made these walls with your very own wonder.

  He could reach it if he tried, and just as quickly, he was inside the palace. His footsteps echoed in the vast, empty space. It was like walking into a cathedral or a coliseum.

  You are made from this, Ben sa
id. Stone and marble. I am inside you, looking in every direction. This is you and where you’ve been. You’ve seen it before, even if you don’t remember. See? Yourself? Stars and stone? Only now, are you beginning to tell the difference.

  He’d felt these peculiarities before. Didn’t the meadow and mountains speak in ways nothing else could?

  Something was different about the meadow beyond his backyard. Or perhaps it had always been there, and he hadn’t noticed it until now.

  You have enough, Ben said.

  His small mind could not grasp the nature of these words, but did he have to? Enough could mean a thousand different things.

  The answer to every question lies here. You’ll find what you’re looking for in the Land of the Dragon.

  Seth opened his eyes. He’d been far away while sleeping, vast distances, in fact. The dream had been subtle, and he couldn’t remember details so much as feeling a profound sense of peace.

  He stared at the ceiling. It was Saturday morning, the first week of school already come and gone. Seth rubbed his eyes and sat up. He looked out the window and into the backyard. The calm he felt in the dream returned. Distance, yes. But perhaps it wasn’t as far as he imagined.

  Seth got out of bed, buttoning his pants, and threw on yesterday’s T-shirt. He yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The house was quiet. Why was he always the first one up anymore?

  Seth walked down the hallway and into the kitchen. The clock on the wall read 8:24 am. Seth opened the back door, and stepped outside into the cool, early morning. He stepped down the back porch and across the lawn, the dew cold between his toes. It was warmer than he’d expected. The air was still.

  Seth stopped at the fence and looked into the meadow, the foothills miles away. Clusters of cottonwoods broke the landscape, small rivers and streams he knew were there, but couldn’t see from where he was standing.

  He didn’t feel like himself today. Was it the dreams he’d had? The idea of playing with toys and pretending hadn’t appealed to him for a while, either, as though he’d aged since meeting Ben. He was no longer ten-years-old, a boy with an overactive imagination.

  Then the dream came back, telling him this other land was home.

  But I never want to leave Ellishome, he thought. This is my home.

  Hope and doubt seemed to intermingle. It hadn’t been the only time he’d dreamed about the palace, but today was the only day he’d awoken to the sense that it was real.

  You don’t have to leave permanently, only for a time, a voice said. Seth couldn’t tell if it was Ben or not. You will see what no human eyes have ever seen.

  Something about today…was this a new chapter in his life? Something in the air? Life, Ellishome. Everything was changing, but he couldn’t tell if it was for better or worse.

  He could stay here forever, savor the view: the mountains and the meadow, because the feeling would change. He would be a kid for a few more years, but today he felt more unlike a child than ever.

  Seth took in the view, steeling the image of the Rocky Mountains in his mind, the crisp blue of the early morning sky.

  Maybe I really am growing up, he thought. Maybe I’m beginning to understand the world’s not gonna stay this way forever.

  You will begin here, Ben said. You will understand, and even then—as sorry as I am to say—it might not be for years to come.

  He’d have to rebuild everything new from the ground up, out of the rubble he’d made.

  Into the hills you think so elusive. I will guide you, but not physically. I have wars to wage with my enemy. It is the only way I can pave the way for you. Stay strong. And do not let go. You’ll understand when you see the colors fly.

  Ben was readying him for war.

  But not here. Not now, the day seemed to say.

  Enjoy the time you have. It will be a little longer. Savor every precious day of your childhood. Soon, it will be gone.

  Maybe Ben was right. Seth didn’t want to think about it now.

  Let the clouds come. Let the endless stars swirl.

  “Can I begin somewhere else?” Seth said, aloud, leaning his arms on the fence. He didn’t expect an answer, of course. He hadn’t seen Ben for some time now. The voices were faint whispers from the past.

  You’ll have to take your chance with magic and dreams.

  He felt a sudden rebellion at the thought, demanding his childhood stay forever. He would savor the precious seconds of his youth. He would steel his heart against growing up.

  Seth took a deep breath. As he looked to the crags, he saw them as sentinels again. “Ben, where are you?”

  No answer.

  “Ben?”

  The tiger did not speak, did not emerge from the meadow.

  Seth sighed, giving up.

  Just stretch out your hand. It seems far away, but it’s not. It’s closer than you realize.

  Horrors would come. Seth knew they would, and suddenly, he was afraid.

  It’s no use being scared. Don’t let him intimidate you.

  A lone figure on a horse watched him from a distance.

  He fills eons of space, moves as swiftly as a dragon.

  Clouds moved over the hills from the west. Maybe it was the end of summer. A cold wind stirred and blew against Seth’s face, and he closed his eyes. The mountains tugged at his chest.

  “It won’t be long now,” Seth said, unsure of what even he was talking about.

  He missed Ben. He had a thousand questions. He wanted to know how to prepare, what provisions to take, if he’d need a sword and a shield…

  ii

  The teachers at Ellishome Elementary had put their heads together and come up with an idea for the kids to take their minds off the tragedies in Ellishome. That idea was a skate party. The gym was large enough and had a hardwood floor. They would use Mrs. Tabolski’s stereo from the music room. The skate party had been her idea. The only problem—they discovered, of course—was renting two-hundred pairs of skates.

  But after a few phone calls, Mrs. Higgins was able to locate the required number from a skate shop in Boulder if all the teachers chipped in. Robert Burnside, the proprietor of the skate shop—because of Ellishome’s recent events—gave them a considerable discount, agreeing it was “A damn fine idea. Hell, I wish I could bring my kids,” he’d said.

  The idea was brilliant, Mrs. Newsome, the librarian said, stirring cream into her coffee. She hopped up and down in her seat, more excited about it than anyone.

  “We can make punch,” Mr. Duthornly, the vice principal announced. “Maybe get some ice cream. It’ll be perfect!”

  The teacher’s lounge was heavy with the smell of coffee and cigarettes. It reminded Mr. Duthornly of an AA meeting.

  “We can get colored lights!” Mrs. Bancroft, the school secretary announced.

  “I have some old rock-and-roll records, too,” Mrs. Tabolski said, clasping her hands together. “It’ll be just like the fifties! Oh, what a wonderful idea! The kids’ll love it!”

  It was all set. Mr. Duthornly owned three stands of colored, blinking lights from when his oldest son played in a band. The lights had been a little cheesy, his son had thought, but now Mr. Duthornly could put them to good use.

  Mrs. Bancroft said she even had a silvery disco ball to string above the gym floor from a party she’d thrown years ago. Mr. Bimble, the gym teacher, would place orange cones along the floor, representing a makeshift ‘rink.’

  The teachers nodded agreeably.

  “Not bad for a bunch of old fuddy-duddies,” Mrs. Tabolski said. “Maybe I’ll get a pair of skates myself! Oh, this is so exciting!”

  The skate party would be from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the following Friday after the second week of school. Everyone from the fourth grade to the sixth grade would skate from 2:00 to 4:00. Kindergarteners to third graders would skate from noon to 2:00 pm. Kids uninterested in attending were free to leave at noon or at 2:00 pm, depending on their grade.

  “Oh, it’s going to be s
o much fun!” Mrs. Tabolski said.

  iii

  Seth sat next to Malcolm on Monday morning at the back of Mrs. Dunbar’s class. She was going over complex sentences on the board.

  “The event of a lifetime,” Malcolm said, with obvious distaste. He turned to Seth. “Are you going?”

  Seth shrugged, his spelling and reading comprehension book open in front of him, a pencil twirling through his fingers. Normally, he would take advantage to go home early as Malcolm was doing. When Seth looked at Kinsey, however, the skate party sounded not only like a good idea, but the chance of a lifetime. Corny or not, he’d already talked himself into it.

  Malcolm rolled his eyes and sighed. “How sappy can you get? A skate party! Why can’t they ever do anything cool? Like showing the latest horror film or something? They could hire a band, you know? Everyone likes Linkin’ Park. Not everyone likes a skate party.”

  Seth raised his eyebrows. He wanted to laugh. He’d begun to enjoy Malcolm’s cynical comments over the last two weeks.

  “They treat us like we’re a bunch of babies,” Malcolm said. “Can’t get a pass unless we have the right sized pacifier.”

  Seth chuckled. Malcolm frowned.

  “Sorry,” Seth said, smiling.

  “That’s because we are babies,” Gavin said from his seat in front of Seth. Seth had grown used to Gavin’s haunted look and the withdrawn, unhealthy look in his eyes. For the last week, Gavin had been walking with an obvious limp, saying he’d hit a curb while riding his bike, and flown over the handlebars, where he had fallen awkwardly on his ankle. It was an elaborate explanation, Seth thought, because he didn’t think Gavin owned a bike.

  “So,” Gavin continued, “the teachers do these stupid baby things, so they can feel good about themselves. It lets the parents know they’re not making life a total drag for us. Pod in the cream of life less tasty. Who needs Republicans when the meetings are always held on Friday anyway? I mean, let’s get serious.” Gavin stared into space.

  The others looked at one another, furrowed their brows, and shook their heads. Since meeting Gavin, Seth and the others had noticed particular, nonsensical phrases spewing from the boy’s mouth. They made no sense to anyone except Gavin, apparently, who’d made several bewildering comments since school started. The boys laughed uproariously when Gavin let fly a particularly good one.