“Yeah, I knew you would,” Shae said. “Don’t worry. It’s okay. I took care of it.” She smoothed Gen’s hair out of her face. “Are you okay?”
Gen nodded.
“You look like you’ve been crying,” Shae said. “And that usually means that you’ve been crying. Do you want to talk about it?”
Gen shrugged. “You already know what we said.”
“No, I don’t.”
“But you left in a hurry once you saw we were about to have an argument, didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” Shae said. “I saw the argument and I did hear some of what you guys were fighting about. But it’s weird. A lot of the time, after whatever I foresaw actually happens, I don’t always remember the details of it unless I was actually there, you know, to actually remember it.”
“Wait, so you heard our argument, then you left so you wouldn’t be around for it, and since you didn’t actually hear it, you don’t remember it?”
“Exactly!”
Gen sighed. “That’s frustrating.”
“You’re telling me!” Shae laughed.
“I was wondering about what we’d do once we brought The Meadows back to the Realms. I wondered what I would do. I had a mission. I could help people. But now, that’s finished and I don’t know what to do next.”
“You’re still Keeper of The Marsh,” Shae said. “And you’re Sovereign of The Meadows, too. You’re like the queen of two neighboring kingdoms.”
“One of them needs some work,” Gen smiled weakly.
“Well,” Shae said, “that does give you something to do, doesn’t it? Oh. You’re worried that that’s not special enough, or that nobody will notice you.”
“It sounds so stupid when you say it like that.”
“It’s not stupid,” Shae said. “But don’t worry. After we bring The Meadows back home, we’re not done. Not remotely.”
Gen looked sharply at Shae. “What does –”
The front door banged open and Herron burst into the room.
“Gen,” Herron said. “The Chamber – it’s open!”
-
Gen and Herron climbed down into the Chamber of The Meadows. Gen splashed down from the last run of the ladder to the floor. She stood calf-deep in cold water.
“Last time I was in here,” Herron said, “there was a small pool. Nothing like this.”
Gen started suddenly as something warm and smooth slid against her leg. She looked intently down into the water but it was too dark and the water was too murky for her to see anything.
“Something just moved past my leg,” she said. She had a flash of déja vu as she said that. “Don’t say it’s my imagination.”
Herron looked surprised. “I wasn’t going to say that.”
“It’s from Star Wars. Never mind.”
“I was going to say let’s be cautious. It could be anything.”
Gen smirked. “I don’t think that’s actually any better.” She looked down again. “There it was again!” She twirled around to follow the sensation she felt under the water.
Herron suddenly cried out in pain and his left leg buckled underneath him. He staggered to one knee in the water. Gen rushed to him and helped him back to his feet. When he stood, a giant, shiny, snakelike creature was latched firmly onto Herron’s leg, right at the knee.
“Jesus Christ!” Gen shouted. She grabbed for it but its slimy body kept slipping through her hands.
Herron tried to slip his fingertips between its jaws and his skin and he yelped and immediately let go. “It’s clamped on hard! It feels like it has a hundred teeth buried in my leg!”
Gen curled it around her wrist like a rope and pulled firmly. Herron gritted his teeth. The creature didn’t let go and it pulled Herron’s skin along with it. Gen released the pressure. The creature pulsed with rhythmic swallowing motions.
Gen slid her dagger – Ivy’s dagger – from its sheath and looked at Herron. “Ready?”
He nodded.
Gen plunged her knife into the creature’s head. Blood spurted from the wound in a long arc and the creature’s body spasmed and wrapped itself around Gen’s arm. She finished sawing through the thing’s head and the body went limp. The jaws still reflexively made their sucking, swallowing motion. Herron’s blood poured from the wound. His leg went completely numb and he collapsed into the water again.
Gen caught his arm and when she brought him back above the surface, four more of the blood-sucking creatures had attached themselves to his body.
“We’ve got to get you out of here!” Gen cried.
Herron’s teeth were chattering and his voice was slow and slurred. “I won’t be able to cli.. climb the ladder.”
“I’ll fly you out.”
“Not... enough r-r-room.” He slumped against the wall. His face was alarmingly pale, noticeable even in the cold blue glow of their lightstones.
“Jesus, Herron. I have to–”
“You have to grow a new Heart. Go.”
“I can’t leave you!”
“You c-can... and you will. Now, go.”
Gen fished a vial from her pack and handed the healing solution to Herron. “Drink it, god damn it! Then I’ll do my thing and we can get out of here!”
Herron nodded slowly and pulled the cork from the vial with his teeth. Gen made sure Herron drank it before she rushed ahead, sloshing through the water to the Chamber.
After her fight with Hope, her fear for Herron’s safety, and her mood overall, Gen had no trouble at all bringing tears to her eyes. Within seconds, the new Heart of The Meadows floated in front of her. It pulsed a vivid green and the ground began to tremble. Gen lost her balance for a moment stumbled. When she caught herself against the Chamber wall, she noticed that the water was gone. The stone floor of the Chamber was dry beneath her feet. She ran back down the passage.
Herron had collapsed. Six or seven of the creatures were attached to him, pumping the blood from his body. The creatures were engorged, fat on his blood. His skin was paper-white but he was still breathing.
Gen hoisted Herron across her shoulder and climbed as quickly as she could to the surface. One of the creatures dropped off of him and fell to the ground below with a wet splat that made Gen shudder in revulsion. At the top of the ladder, she heaved Herron to the ground and climbed the rest of the way out. It was nighttime and, with no moon lighting the sky, quite dark. Nobody else was around. Hope, Shae, and Slynn stayed at the house to repack their gear for the trip back to The Marsh.
Gen stood up and looked wildly from side to side. She yelled, “Hope? Help! Hope?”
No one answered.
“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” She picked up Herron and cradled him in her arms and flew upward. She tried to remember where the nearest healer was. Nai was a capable healer in The Meadows when she was still alive, so there weren’t many other healers that close. The Peak was too far. It would take two days to reach it. Was there a healer in the Rainforest? In Choon? Gen asked herself. Think, Ivy! Think! Do you remember a healer?
She was pretty sure she did, but if she was wrong, Herron would die. She gained some more altitude and saw her house. The windows shone with the glow of lightstones inside. The Rainforest was the other way and she didn’t have time. She flew as fast as she could toward the border with The Rainforest, leaving her friends behind.
Chapter 14
Gabby jerked awake from a dream where she was falling. She had fallen asleep on the sofa again. A photo album was open on her lap. She closed the album, pushed the blanket off, and got up. She went into the kitchen. George and Laura were sitting at the kitchen table, giggling, and sharing bites of a cream pie. They looked up at her when she walked in and George pushed one of the chairs out with his foot.
“Hey, mom,” he said. “Come on, have some pie.”
Gabby snatched a clean spoon out of the dish strainer and sat next to George. She took a spoonful of chocolate cream pie. “Mmm,” she said. “That’s good.”
“Yeah, it’s okay,” Laura smiled. “I didn’t make it. It’s from Bakers Square.”
“It’s still good.” Gabby took another bite. “Wait, you didn’t make it? You make pie?”
“She makes a kick-ass chocolate cream pie,” George said.
“George! Watch your mouth.”
“Sorry, mom.”
Laura rolled her eyes, then she said, “Yeah, I bake. Maybe we can go to the store tomorrow and we’ll get what we need to make a couple of pies. What do you say, Mrs. Summers?”
“Okay, yeah, that sounds good.” She took another bite, then turned to George. “Tell me about your sister.”
“I miss her, too,” George said. “What do you want to tell you?”
“Everything.”
“Well,” George leaned back in his chair. “She’s funny. She’s really bright. She’s a good runner.”
“Keep going.”
“She loves music but she doesn’t play any instruments. You took her to a Depeche Mode concert together downtown last year. When we went out to brunch for her birthday, she threw up all over in dad’s car – the Mercedes. You thought the reason he wanted the Saab was because Gen threw up in that car. You remember that?”
“Oh, uh,” Gabby nodded. “Yeah. The Mercedes. Tell me about when she was little.”
“She was a handful. She wanted to talk to everyone and help everyone and she loved being the star. She wanted everyone to notice her. She and Greg used to take the tape recorder and record fake radio shows and commercials together. You used to make her pancakes and she would eat them dry – no butter or syrup or anything. She would roll them up and eat them like a burrito.
“You used to read her Beverly Cleary every night before bed. All of the Ramona books, over and over again. When she was three, she wanted to be either a flamingo or a parrot for Halloween. You offered to make her a costume, so she decided to be Spiderman instead. She was always... Mom?”
Gabby started crying.
“Hey, it’s okay. We all miss her.” George got up and gave his mom a hug. “You okay?”
Gabby cried and shook her head. “No. I’m not okay.”
Laura crouched next to Gabby on the other side from George. “What’s wrong, Mrs. Summers?”
“I can’t remember her. I’ve seen all the pictures. You guys have all told me stories about her.” She tapped her forehead. “But it’s just... She’s gone. I don’t have anything left of her. I can’t remember anything.”
“It’s okay, mom,” George soothed her. “Keep going to the doctor. Keep working on it. She’ll come back to you. It’s okay to miss her, you know?”
“It’s not that I feel her missing,” Gabby said. “I’m completely terrified. If I have nothing left of her, what else am I missing? I don’t remember her at all. I don’t know this girl. My daughter. I don’t know my own daughter. It scares me to death. I can’t miss her. I can’t be sad for her. I see this girl all over and she’s a stranger!”
Gabby stood up and tossed her spoon into the sink. The metallic clank rattled through the kitchen. She shuffled out of the kitchen and went upstairs.
George and Laura looked at each other, concerned, when Gabby’s bedroom door closed upstairs.
George slumped back into his chair at the table and dug out a huge spoonful of pie. He shoved the whole thing in his mouth. Laura smiled weakly at him and wiped a bit of whipped cream off of the corner of his mouth.
“You okay, baby?” she asked.
George shook his head. “I’m worried about her.”
“I am, too. What’s your dad say?”
“He’s trying to be cheery about it. He says it’ll all come back.”
“Do you believe him?” Laura asked.
George shook his head. “No. I don’t think I do.”
-
Geoff stared out the window. He jumped at a knock on his office door. He spun his chair around.
“Hey, smiley,” Lorraine teased.
“Hey,” Geoff answered.
“Come on. Let’s go get lunch. Cheer you up a little.”
Geoff shrugged and stood up. He grabbed his coat and put it on. Lorraine held one of his sleeves for him. He muttered, “Thanks.”
Geoff and Lorraine went to a Mexican restaurant near their office. They were quiet during the cold walk through the snow.
Once they were seated at their table, Lorraine asked, “How’s your wife doing?”
“All in all,” Geoff began, “I suppose she’s okay. Physically she’s okay. She still feels kind of distant. She can’t remember our daughter. Like, not at all. Genny’s gone from Gabrielle’s mind. Completely gone.”
“Maybe when she comes back from boarding school, she’ll remember. When she sees her, you know?”
Geoff shrugged.
“Isn’t she coming home for Christmas break?” Lorraine asked.
Geoff shook his head. “Uh, no, she’s, you know, she’s staying out there for the holiday.”
Lorraine looked curiously at Geoff, then shrugged. “That’s too bad. I bet you miss her.”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t be Mr. Weepy. Come on! I know so much has happened to you and your family, but you have to keep going. You have to carry on. Try to stay positive.”
Geoff smirked. “Yeah, that’s easy for you to say. How many kids have you lost? Ever had to check your wife into a mental hospital and watch her go through electroshock therapy? Ever had your wife cheat on you with your sister? No?”
Lorraine blinked. “Your wife cheated on you with your sister?”
Geoff’s face fell. “I guess I spilled a little too much.”
Lorraine tried not to smile. “No, please. I’d really love to hear more about that!”
“Ugh, forget it.”
“Oh, come on, Geoffrey. Please. You’re usually such a closed book and now you have a juicy story!”
“Please, Lorraine, drop it.”
Lorraine made an exaggerated pouting face, then she placed her hand on top of Geoff’s and said, “Okay. I’m sorry.”
Geoff shrugged. “It’s fine.” He slipped his hand out from under Lorraine’s and picked his menu up.
Lorraine glanced at the table where their hands had touched and picked up her own menu, realizing that she underestimated how tough a nut Geoff Summers would be to crack. Now, she thought, grinning to herself, now, you’ve got a challenge.
-
Molly was hiding under her covers when mommy came in to wake her up.
“Sweetheart?” Mommy sat down on the bed next to Molly.
Molly kept the covers tight over her head. “I’m not here!”
“Where are you, then?”
“I’m in the invisible forest so they can’t find me!”
“The invisible forest? Where’s that?” Mommy asked.
“You can’t see it! It’s invisible!”
Mommy laughed. “Well, yes, I figured that. Who don’t you want seeing you?”
“Them!”
“Sorry, sweetheart, but who’s ‘them’?”
“The pixies! They’re watching me!” Molly was still hiding her face. “I don’t know what they want, but I’m sure they’re up to no good!”
Mommy stood up and went to the window.
“No, mommy! No! Don’t!” Molly sat up and let the covers fall from her. Mommy put her face right up to the window. “Look out! They’re right there!”
“Nobody’s out there.” She looked side to side and down at the ground below. “See? Nobody.”
Molly’s eyes were wide with fear.
“Sweetheart, what’s the matter?” Mommy asked.
“Can you close the shade, please?”
Mommy looked at her for a moment. She had her “concerned face” on. Then she turned around and drew the shade. Molly breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s much better. Thank you.”
“Honey, do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Molly shook her head.
“Should I
make an early appointment with Dr. Ramsey?”
Molly shook her head again.
Mommy smiled at her. “Okay. You just let me know if anyone or anything is bothering you again, okay? Will you do that for me?”
“Yes, mommy.”
“Okay. Good.”
Mommy sat down on the bed next to Molly again and held her arms out. Molly climbed onto her lap and buried her face against mommy’s chest. It was very pleasant there. Very warm, and she could hear her mom’s heartbeat. Some part of her missed that, but she didn’t usually hear mommy’s heartbeat, so she wasn’t sure where that part came from.
“Breakfast is ready,” Mommy said. She kissed Molly’s forehead, slid Molly off of her lap, and stood up.
“What is it?” Molly asked suspiciously.
“It’s broccoli salad, liver, and cricket cereal.”
“What?” Molly yelled. “That’s gross!”
Mommy laughed. “It’s pancakes and eggs.”
“Yay!” Molly dashed out of bed and headed for the door.
“Molly!” Mommy called after her. “Get dressed. Jim’s coming over soon and you don’t need to be in your PJs while he’s here.”
“Jim’s coming?” Molly asked. Her eyes were bright with excitement.
“Yes. So get dressed. No shorts. It’s cold out. Do you understand me?”
Molly nodded gravely.
“Good.” Mommy walked to the door.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“When Portia and Jim get married, will Portia still live with us?”
Mommy laughed. “I don’t think Portia and Jim are getting married any time soon, honey.”
“But they’re in love.”
Mommy looked at Molly with a curious, amused expression. “Are they, now?”
Molly nodded as seriously as she possibly could.
“Interesting,” Mommy said. “Well, when people get married, usually they don’t live with their parents, so they’ll probably move away to Cambodia or someplace like that.”
“Cambodia?” Molly asked in a panic. “Is that near Beetnom?”
“You mean Vietnam?”
Molly nodded.
“Actually,” Mommy said, “Yeah. It is.”
Molly’s eyes widened with fear. “No! They can’t go there! They have traps and bombs that blow your legs off!” She looked like she was about to cry.
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