“Sorry I brought it up then. I just thought it would help you take this seriously.”
“We are taking it seriously,” said Adam. “We’re doing the best we can. Sorry if we don’t want to panic about it.”
Logan snorted.
“Maybe you think we should just…”
Dominic’s calm voice cut across whatever angry thing Adam was about to say. “So how do you think we should look for this Breaker, Logan?”
Everyone stopped and looked at Logan. Logan looked at the ground. After a long pause, he shrugged. Still no one said anything. Then Eve whistled loudly.
When they all jumped, she jerked a shoulder, “Hey, we have to be careful. That muxen could be following us. Let’s just keep walking.”
When they did, she took a deep breath. “Look, none of us knows what we’re doing here. We’re all trying to figure it out. Logan, that mark on your house could be something important. Or it could be nothing. How would we know? If someone has a great idea about what to do next, that’s great. But it’s not like it’s obvious or anything. This message was more confusing than helpful but the one thing we can be sure of is that we’re supposed to stick together. So let’s stick together.”
Adam and Dominic nodded. Logan said nothing but tossed away the stick he was still holding. Alex sighed. They were going to have to talk about this more, but it was probably best to let everyone cool off first.
Glancing around her, Alex realized that without planning it, they had directed their steps toward the Gylf forest. Alex smiled. That was good. This was the place to be today. No one could stay mad for long when the Gylf were around.
The first Gylf they found was a tiny blonde named Flora. She said she was on her way to a rescue, having been chosen because of her small hands. Alex tried to picture what kind of job would make normal Gylf hands seem too big.
“What are you rescuing?” asked Eve as they followed the little woman.
“A family,” Flora answered over her shoulder. “Arban found a robin who had injured her wing. He is skilled at healing, and she will mend, but she is distraught because her nest is high, and the eggs need warming.”
“You have to sit in her nest?” asked Adam.
Flora laughed. “Oh no. The robin would never care for her young if one of us took over her duties. No, we must return the eggs to their mother.”
Even as she said this, they squeezed between two trees and saw a large rock jutting out of the ground among the trees. Several Gylf were at work around it. Two were putting the finishing touches on a nest set in a little cleft near the top of the rock, brown head and blonde bent together as they tucked a few feathers in place. A taller Gylf with a mop of tangled dark hair was talking quietly to an agitated bird hopping and hovering nearby. Down below, another worked quickly with stone tools, chipping tiny pieces out of the rock. Alex recognized Pidras.
All the Gylf looked up as they approached except the one with the robin. The little bird’s movements had become even more agitated upon their appearance, and the Gylf seemed to be using all his powers to calm her. The kids all stood very still. Alex tried to make her breathing as quiet as possible.
After a minute, the Gylf reached out a hand and stroked the robin’s wing. She shivered but stopped hopping around. Without taking his eyes off her, the Gylf began to walk backward toward the nest that the others had just left. When she was right next to the nest, he gestured a few times. He was talking so softly that Alex couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she imagined that he was explaining about her new home. For a moment, she just stood there trembling. Then she hopped into the nest and settled in. As the Gylf slowly backed away, she began to peck at the nest a bit, fluffing up feathers and rearranging twigs to her liking. The Gylf turned toward them, smiling, and scrambled down the rock, using the little footholds Pidras had just carved out.
“It is good you are here,” he said, his voice still quiet as he approached them. He took Flora’s hand, but looked at everyone in turn. “It is good you are all here.”
“We’ll stay back out of the way,” Eve said.
“No doubt the robin appreciates your consideration,” said Arban. “She is more nervous even than usual today. But we will all be glad of your presence before the end, I think. This is a job for small hands at the start.” He raised Flora’s hand in the air. “But we will find bigger hands very useful in the end, I think. I have never attempted this before, though my grandfather taught me what should be done. This first may take a while. You may wish to sit as you wait.”
They all settled carefully on the forest floor, watching as Arban led Flora aside to a tree about five yards away. He pointed up, obviously explaining where the original nest was. With a little nod, Flora began to climb. Arban climbed behind her.
“They will test the leaves and secure the eggs,” said Pidras, right next to Alex. She hadn’t noticed that he had come up.
“Test the leaves?”
Pidras waved a hand at the canopy above them. “Many of the trees have large leaves which can be used for floating on the wind.” He reached out for a dead leaf on the ground and held one end in each hand over his head. It crumbled at the edges, and bits of leaf sprinkled his head. “This leaf is long dried, of course, but the green leaves are sturdy and will catch even the smallest breeze.”
“Like a little parachute,” said Adam in a loud whisper. “Awesome.”
Pidras nodded at the enthusiasm on their faces. “I have heard that it is a wonderful feeling to fly, though I have never tried it myself. My place is on the ground.”
“It does sound a little scary,” said Eve.
“The leaves that have grown up with sky all around are friends with the wind. Those of us that spend much time among them feel the same. For them, I imagine it is as I feel going deep into the earth among the stones. Fear means nothing when you are where you are meant to be.”
Alex thought how wonderful it must be to know so completely who you were. She felt like her whole life had been treading water, waiting until the Book of Sight came. Now the world was open to her, if only she could understand it enough to see where she fit in.
There wasn’t much time to brood about it. She heard several gasps and looked up to see Arban, an enormous leaf gripped in each hand, floating slowly down out of the trees above. He shifted his arms and drifted from side to side, until he came to settle without a sound on the ground. He jumped up, grinning, and looked up to where Flora was now drifting down. Her leaf was slightly smaller and shaped like an arrow. She wasn’t controlling her direction as Arban had but was beaming delightedly down on them all. She landed with a thump that rolled her on the ground, but she sprang up immediately, laughing.
“That was wonderful! I have always wondered how a seed feels when it is carried away on a breeze, and now I know. It is no wonder that flowers bloom with so much joy. They must be remembering what it is to fly.”
Alex saw her own grin reflected on the faces of her friends. It was impossible not to share the joy the Gylf always seemed to feel. Or it should be. Her smile faded a bit as she saw Logan lean forward. A little frown was on his face.
“I thought you didn’t pick living things in the forest.”
If the Gylf heard the accusation in his voice, they didn’t show it. Flora just smiled as Arban explained. “We do not unless there is great need. But even in summer, the trees find from time to time that they cannot sustain all their leaves. There are always some that are still young and fresh but whose connection with the branch is almost gone. Soon they will fall on their own. These are the ones we find.”
“How can you tell which ones are which?” asked Adam curiously.
“That is one reason we sent for Flora. She has a light touch. Perhaps she can show you how she works.”
Flora was still glowing. “Come,” she said. They stood and followed her as Arban gathered up the two leaves they had floated on. “I will show you while Arban returns the leaves to the nest. I am not as sure of trees as he
, so he has said he will carry the load.” Even as she said this, she was gracefully climbing a nearby tree. In seconds she was sitting on a branch at their eye level. Leaves swayed on several offshooting branches as she gestured around her. “With these you can see.”
Eve was examining a branch closely. “They all look the same to me.”
Flora laughed. “I misspoke. I should have said feel and not see. Some things the eyes cannot tell us.” She ran her hands along one slender shoot, caressing each leave lightly with her fingertips. “The smallest of touches will tell you which are tightly connected to the tree and which,” a leaf came off in her hand, “have already begun to let go.”
Alex tried to imitate the Gylf’s motion, but her hands felt big and clumsy. “Do you have to tug a little? I’m afraid if I pull on them, they’ll all come off.”
Flora laid a tiny hand on Alex’s, stilling its motion. “A sharp movement shouldn’t be necessary. The slightest touch creates a reaction.”
Alex tried again. “They just feel like leaves to me.”
“Perhaps if you close your eyes you will find it easier to see with your hands.”
Eyes close, Alex felt each leaf gently. When she felt a tiny give, she sucked in a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. “That one! It feels different.”
Flora’s hands were there. She smiled broadly. “Yes. You have found another. This one has only a few hours left on the tree, I think.”
Alex looked up now to see her friends, all with eyes closed, feeling different branches. Suddenly Dominic’s eyes popped open. He was lightly bouncing a finger on one leaf over and over. Flora slipped along the branch to where he stood. After feeling his leaf she smiled brightly.
“I found one!” Eve cried. “I mean, I think so.”
Flora confirmed her find.
Adam and Logan were still at work, looks of intense concentration on their faces. After a long while, Adam opened his eyes. “I just can’t feel anything.”
“Maybe your branch doesn’t have any loose ones,” said Eve. “Try over here on mine.”
Adam moved over and started again. After just a couple of minutes he gave up. “They all feel the same to me.”
“Do not be disappointed. Some are more gifted with their eyes than with their hands. There are many Gylf who do not have the touch.”
Logan still had his eyes closed in concentration. Alex touched his arm, thinking she would move him to her branch. He jumped back.
“Sorry,” she said. “I was just going to move you to a branch where we know there’s something to find.”
Logan dropped his hands and shook his head. “That’s all right,” he mumbled. He didn’t move back to the tree.
“At least I’m not the only one,” said Adam with a little laugh. “I guess you and I will just have to stick with our eyes, Logan.”
Logan shrugged.
Alex looked at him worriedly. Her hope that some time with the Gylf would help Logan feel better was not working out. She couldn’t tell if he was still mad or if he was just depressed now, but he definitely wasn’t happy.
A low whistle came from the trees overhead. Flora slid down the tree. “I must go. Arban will need help attaching the eggs.” She disappeared among the branches of the nest tree.
“They will see to it that the eggs have a slow descent,” said Pidras. He was standing on a small foothold halfway up the rock. The mother bird had hopped nervously out of the nest and was huddled on the far side of the rock, watching him without moving. “Our job will be to guide them to their new home. I am glad you are here. You will be well-suited to this work.”
“How do we do it?” asked Adam.
“We would use small taps to direct it toward a landing at the nest, but I think that with your size you could catch the eggs and deposit them directly. So long as you touch only the leaves. If you touch the eggs, the mother will not have them.”
“How do you tap them when we aren’t here?” asked Eve. “How do you get to them in the air?”
“Some would be stationed in the trees. I will be atop the rock. Arban will descend with the eggs to help guide them. That is a very difficult job. The wind has a mind of its own, and it can be very difficult to avoid touching the eggs. I believe your way will much simpler.”
“But what if we grab the leaf and it rips or something?” Eve looked worried.
“Then the egg will fall. But you felt the leaves. If Flora says you have the touch, then you do. You will not cause harm.”
Now Adam looked worried, too, and he took two steps back from the rock. “Maybe we should sit this one out,” he said under his breath to Logan. “I don’t want to kill any eggs with my clumsy hands.”
Logan scowled and stepped forward just as another low whistle sounded from above. They all looked up expectantly.
After a few moments, one egg came floating down. It was suspended from its leaf parachute by vines cleverly woven together. Alex could see why the smallest of hands were needed to wrap it so firmly without actually touching it. Now it came down slowly, slower than the Gylf even, but still it was nearly on them before Alex realized that no one was reaching for it. It was drifting toward the rock.
Leaning forward and trying to focus all her thoughts on gentling her hands, she plucked the leaf out of the air. In one slow continuous motion, she stretched out and set the egg on its soft bed. Sighing out the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding, she watched as Pidras carefully cut away the vines with a sliver of stone.
“Nice work, Alex!” Eve said. “That was awesome.”
Alex felt a bubble of pleasure as she looked at that tiny egg nestled there. Someday that would be a little bird.
“Watch out,” Adam said.
Alex hadn’t even noticed the next egg coming down. She stepped aside just in time for Dominic to steer it softly to rest.
“Way to go!” Eve cheered. “Two down…wait, how many are there to go?”
“There is one more to come,” Pidras answered as he worked.
“Oh man,” said Eve. “I guess that means it’s my turn. Why did watching you guys make me more nervous instead of less?”
“Don’t worry,” Alex said. “You’ll be fine. You just sort of do it.”
“Right,” Eve nodded. “Instinct and all that. Got it.”
“Heads up!” called Adam.
The last egg was already coming down behind Eve’s head. She whirled around, but before she could do anything else, Logan had lifted the egg lightly out of the air and placed it next to its brothers.
Eve looked bewildered for a minute, then she blew out a breath. “Whew. Nice save, Logan. You did it! I guess you have the touch after all.”
“No need to sound so surprised,” said Logan, but he was smiling down at the nest. Alex felt a little knot in the back her neck loosen. She hadn’t realized that she was that tense, but it was a relief to see Logan happy for a change.
Now Flora and Arban were floating down with their own leaves. Arban landed on the rock and began to coax the robin back toward her eggs. Flora dropped lightly to the ground and helped Pidras spread the leaves and vines at the foot of a nearby tree. Soon all three Gylf were finished with their work and chattering happily as they led the way through the trees to the Gylf home.
“Such a fine example of humans and Gylf working together should be celebrated!” Arban called as he leapt lightly from branch to branch. “I will go ahead and prepare.” He disappeared in the branches.
Sure enough, when they arrived at the clearing where the Gylf lived, a party was already underway. A big pot of something was already steaming on the cooking rock, musicians were playing on their tiny instruments, more and more Gylf were arriving every moment. They crowded around the five kids, asking eagerly to hear about the rescue. Pidras made a glowing tale of the whole thing. To hear him tell it, the kids were some kind of heroes.
“We didn’t do that much,” muttered Dominic.
Alex laughed. “Just enjoy it. That’s wh
at you do here, remember? Enjoy.”
He shook his head, but he was smiling, too, and when the Gylf began to offer around food, he was the first to sit down and begin eating.
Alex looked at Logan, who was talking to several Gylf over by the cooking rock. He seemed to be enjoying himself still. She relaxed a little more.
They were going to be okay. Things were confusing, and getting scarier by the day. That was bound to put everyone on edge, to make people say things they shouldn’t. But they still had this. They were still together, and they were going to be okay.
8
Statues on the Move
"Oh, this is not good. This is not okay,” said Eve out loud to no one. She stared at the black mark on her front porch as if she could erase it with her eyes alone.
The two lines curving around the center dot stared back at her. She had thought Logan was being a little paranoid yesterday when he said the mark looked like a Red Spot. Now she could definitely see the resemblance. Eve took a step back, half-expecting a horde of insects to come crawling up over the edge of the porch.
“Get a grip,” she ordered herself. There was no question now that someone was marking their houses. Every terrifying possibility of what that could mean flashed through her head. “This is not helping.”
She looked around. A watering can sat neatly next to some potted flowers. Grabbing it, she ran to the side of house where the hose was curled. Her first priority was to see if she could clean it off before her mother saw it. Whatever this meant, whatever was going to happen next, it wouldn’t be helped by her mother freaking out over graffiti on her porch.
After she splashed the water, she fished the spare shirt out of her backpack. She didn’t want to risk going back in the house for a rag and waking someone else up. Fortunately, her life since reading the Book of Sight had taught her to always leave the house prepared.
She scrubbed until her arms ached, but it made no difference. The black mark was as dark as ever. Eve sighed. Obviously paint wasn’t going to come off with just water, but there wasn’t time to find something stronger in the garage. Her mom would be up any minute and coming out to get the paper. It was only because they had all decided to meet as early as possible that Eve was awake before her mom at all. The woman liked her morning schedule. No, the only thing to do now was to get away quickly before her mom saw this and started asking tricky questions.
The Broken Circle (The Book of Sight 2) Page 9
