“Have you ever met a Dreamer before?” asked Eve.
“Well…yes. I’m a Dreamer.”
“You are?”
“All Messengers are. It’s…we will have to talk more, Dominic. This is not the time or the place. For now…you said you found something. A message. What was the message?”
But Dominic didn’t answer. After a minute, Adam told about the pool and the message recorded in it.
When he was done, Ben whistled softly. “I’ve never heard of them doing anything like that before. I wonder what happened here before…” He trailed off and was silent for several minutes. “The Clairi are the only ones who call us Travelers. We call ourselves Messengers. No one else calls us anything. No one else knows who we are or what we do. It’s safer for everyone that way.”
“Who are the Clairi?” asked Alex.
“The ones who left you the message. They are called Clairi. They are…guardians of knowledge, I guess. Like librarians and teachers all rolled into one. They keep to themselves, for obvious reasons. The Council would like nothing better than to destroy every one of them. I had heard that the Clairi were all gone from this region, but I didn’t know…”
“They said you would know where they are. Can you take us to them? It sounds like they could answer a lot of questions.”
“They could. I don’t know if they would. They can be pretty secretive, even with Seers.”
“I think we’ll risk it,” laughed Adam. “Let’s go.”
“That won’t be possible. For several reasons. For one, I can’t stay here. I have a job…I was on my way to do it when I heard the news and turned back to be here. But you have unmasked the Breaker. Your circle is back together. Now that you know who she is, she will not dare to do much for a while. And now that the crisis is past, I have to finish my work.”
“You’re just going to leave?” Adam sputtered. “But we still have no idea what we’re doing. If you can’t stay long enough to answer all our questions, okay, but at least show us where the people are who can.”
“I said that was one reason I can’t help. The other is that I don’t know where they are.”
“But they said…”
“Yes. I know. But I haven’t heard anything about what happened to the Clairi from this area. It may be that they meant… There are one or two places they could be, but I can’t be sure. And I can’t take you there. I have to leave today, now, really. The places I know of are not close, and you have to go home. If your families find out what has happened tonight, your books will be gone in a minute. It’s time to go home and recover and read and get stronger.”
“These Clairi seemed to think that it was pretty important for us to find them,” said Dominic.
“Yes. They think knowledge is the most important thing in the world. And they can help you. But they don’t know everything. They couldn’t have known that a Breaker would attack you this soon. That’s not normal. You have to be very careful now.”
“Trust me. We will,” said Adam. “But I wouldn’t mind knowing a few things, too.”
“Of course. I understand. I’ll do what I can. Believe me, I know how you feel, but I’m not abandoning you. We all have our jobs to do. I’ll promise you this much, when I leave here, I will go first to those places and look. If any Clairi are there, I will send them to you. My own work can’t wait, but I will find someone, if not them, someone else, to come and help you. You just have to take care of each other and stay out of trouble until then.”
“What, us?” Eve said. “We always stay out of trouble.”
Logan smiled at his friends laughter. You could always count on Eve for that.
“Oh man, it’s getting light,” said Adam. “We really do have to go.”
Logan’s smile faded. It was getting light, and he couldn’t tell. He was blind.
Blind. The word had so much more meaning in the daylight. His stomach twisted up. What if he was like this forever? How was he going to explain to his mother? What was she going to do if he couldn’t take care of the kids? And how could he live like this? Never to see the sun on the trees. Never to watch the shadows play games among the rocks. Never to capture the lines of someone’s face on paper. Never to read the Book of Sight for himself. His breath caught.
Logan realized that everyone had gone silent. He tried to clear his face.
“You said,” Eve’s voice was very quiet, “that only the Book of Sight had the power to make someone see. Do you think…?”
“I can’t promise,” said Ben. “I’ve never heard of this. But yes. The Book of Sight has more power than any of us have seen yet. This blindness was caused by those who hate the Book and all that it stands for. The Book is the best weapon against that, but it will probably take time.”
“Then we’ll start now,” said Eve. “We have the Books right here.”
“Eve, we have to get home,” Adam said.
“The bus,” said Alex before Eve could argue. “We have a whole hour of sitting on the bus to read out loud.” There was a rustling as she stood up. “We just have to get there.”
They began to discuss the best way to get Logan down to the highway. It was a long and dangerous hike. Logan sat miserably as they checked the map and tried to see if there was any way around the staircase and the tunnel. In the end they decided that the quickest thing was to go down the way they had come. They would take turns leading Logan and keep him in the middle of the group.
Logan knew he was a burden. They helped him to his feet, and he had to argue with them just to be able to carry his own backpack. He wondered bitterly if this was going to be his life from now on. The talk of the Book had given him some hope, but the darkness pressed in around him and it was hard to imagine a bunch of words clearing it away.
Someone took his hand. Someone else asked if he was ready. He nodded.
“We’ll keep it slow,” said Adam.
“That’s okay,” Logan managed. “You guys…I’m sorry.”
“Shut up,” said Eve. “You don’t have to…just shut up.”
Logan nodded again. He didn’t blame her for being angry. For the hundredth time he promised himself he would make it up to her, to all of them.
The path to the meadow was shorter than Logan remembered. Even with the time it took to climb over and around the Guardian statues, they arrived at the edge of the trees quickly.
Ben said goodbye to them there. He took Dominic aside for a minute, and Logan couldn’t hear what they were saying. When he came back, he shook each of their hands, coming to Logan last.
“Be strong,” he said. “I know you can. You already have been. No one turns back after going as far as you did.”
Logan swallowed hard and nodded. No words would come out, but he tried to grip Ben’s hand firmly.
They were a silent group as they made their way through the meadow. A light wind touched his cheeks and made Logan shiver. Fortunately the flowers were silent, too. Maybe they only whispered at night.
At the top of the stairs, they stopped. Logan couldn’t tell what was going on, but after a minute, Eve laughed. “I think just this once you should be glad you can’t see, Logan. I wish I couldn’t see these stairs either.”
“They aren’t going to get shorter by looking at them,” said Adam.
With a collective sigh, they began to descend. It was just as miserable as they had said. The stairs seemed to go on and on, and even going down, Logan’s legs were burning after only a few minutes. He couldn’t believe his friends had climbed up here. Then he wondered how he had gotten up. Could Candace really have carried him on these stairs? Or did she have some secret way? He would never know.
Burning with anger, he stumbled and several pairs of hands caught him.
“Why did it have to be my eyes?” he asked no one in particular.
Surprisingly, it was Dominic who spoke next, but he wasn’t answering Logan’s question. “Once upon a time there was a kingdom…”
They took it in turns after that
. When one would stop for breath, someone else would keep the story going.
As the images from the Book of Sight flooded his mind, Logan forgot his aching legs. He forgot his throbbing head and his blind eyes and his fear and his shame. He forgot himself, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
The first story flowed into the second. The stairs ended. Logan barely noticed. They were leading him down a hill, through the tunnel, out again into open air.
The second story gave way to the third. It was only when the third story came to an end that Logan realized even though he still smelled the forest, he was standing on hard pavement. They had reached the highway. The sun was well up in the sky now. Logan squinted a little against the brightness.
Then he gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Eve was there immediately.
“Nothing. It’s…it’s…I can see light.”
“What?! Really? You can see again?” They were all crowding around now.
“I can’t make anything out, but it’s really bright.”
“It’s working!” Eve squealed. “And that was only with us telling you the stories. Once we start reading you’ll be seeing in no time.”
Logan’s relief was a physical thing. He could feel it spreading out through his chest. He tried to remind himself that this could still take a long time, that it was still going to be tricky keeping his mom from finding out that he was coming home blind. None of that felt important at all. It wasn’t forever. He wasn’t going to be blind forever. He would see again. He would be back to normal. This one night hadn’t ruined his whole life.
The black was gone.
20
Home
Since he knew that his grandparents weren’t watching the clock, Dominic walked Logan home. After listening to the book for an hour on the bus, Logan could make out vague outlines of things, but not enough to get home alone. Dominic didn’t mind the extra walk. They all figured the Breaker would be long gone by now, but there was no point in taking chances.
As soon as they turned onto Logan’s street, they saw Darcy sitting in a patch of dry grass by the road. She leapt to her feet when she saw them coming.
“Your sister,” said Dominic, sure that Logan couldn’t make her out at this distance. He heard Logan take a deep breath.
“Logan!” Darcy called, hurrying along the hot road on bare feet. “You’re okay. I can’t believe they found you. Where were you? What happened?” The rush of words stopped when she got close. She cocked her head to one side. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”
Dominic was startled. How did she know?
“I’m okay,” Logan said. “They’re okay.”
“They’re darker. It’s creepy.”
“It’s a long story,” said Logan with a sigh. “But they’re getting better. We think they’ll be normal again after a while.”
“Can you see okay?”
“I will soon.”
“He can’t,” said Dominic. “It will get better, but right now, he can’t.”
“Oh man…what happened to you? I know, I know, a long story. I hope they really do get better soon. Mom will definitely notice if you can’t see. She’ll notice that they look different, too. We can probably keep her from seeing them today, but that won’t last forever.”
Logan looked up in amazement. “You didn’t tell Mom?”
“No. I promised Eve I wouldn’t. Plus, she said you guys would tell me everything when you got back. No way I was going to ruin that.” They were in front of Logan’s house now. Darcy stopped and touched his arm just for a second. “I’m glad you’re back okay. I kind of started imagining crazy things.”
“I’m fine. I’m…I’m sorry I left. And…thanks…thanks for showing them where to find me…and for not telling Mom.”
“You’re not mad that I stole that book out of your bag?” asked Darcy with a grin.
“Oh, I’m mad. I’m just saving that. I can’t see well enough to chase you down and thump you yet.”
Darcy laughed. “Sure, blame your eyes. Like you could catch me on your best day.” She grabbed his hand and started to pull him toward the door. “Come on. I think Mom’s still sleeping. If we get you to your room, I can tell her you came home and went straight to sleep. She won’t get a chance to see your spook eyes.”
Logan pulled back, looking toward Candace’s trailer. Dominic stepped up. “It looks empty. All the lights are off and no cars are here.”
Darcy looked questioningly at them.
“Have you seen your neighbor at all this morning?” Dominic asked.
“Nope. Candace always sleeps late, since she works a late shift. You’re right, though. Her car is gone. That’s weird. I hope she’s okay.”
“I’m sure she’s fine” said Logan bitterly. Darcy raised one eyebrow.
“It’s a long story,” said Logan.
“That makes two long stories,” Darcy pouted. “You’d better be planning on telling me these long stories.”
“We are,” said Dominic. “Everyone will come over later when they’re clear with their parents. Eve said to tell you that you earned the answers to any questions. And if Eve is answering, you can be sure the stories will be plenty long. But you were right. Logan needs to get inside now before your Mom wonders what happened.” He turned to Logan. “I’ll look around a bit and then head home. We’ll all be back soon.”
Logan looked straight into his eyes. Now Dominic could see that their usual light blue really was darkened to an almost purple color. “Thanks.” Logan put a lot of meaning into that one word.
Dominic nodded. “Any time.”
As Darcy led Logan into the house, Dominic heard her say under her breath, “I’ve never heard him say so much at once. I wasn’t sure he could talk.”
Dominic smiled. Logan would be okay with her.
• • • • •
Darcy gripped the Book of Sight in both hands and stared wide-eyed at Eve and Alex. The boys had left it to those two to explain everything and answer all of Darcy’s questions. It had taken more than an hour, but Dominic hadn’t found it boring. It was amazing to watch the girls at work. Alex had this innate kindness that somehow made even the unbelievable things she said seem reasonable and true. Eve always seemed to know just when to say something funny to break the tension. Darcy clearly believed all of it. Dominic didn’t know if she would be able to read and understand the book, but she definitely wanted to. He could see the eagerness all over her face.
Dominic looked over at Logan as the girls answered a few more questions about the neighbor woman. He was staring at the ground. Logan had agreed without a complaint to their telling Darcy everything, but something was bothering him.
“How are the eyes?” Dominic asked quietly.
“A little better,” Logan said. “I slept some this afternoon. Dreamed about the Book. When I woke up things were a little less blurry. I think. I still can’t see anything far away, but…” He shrugged.
“You okay with this?” Dominic waved at the girls with their heads together on the couch.
Logan nodded slowly. “Actually yeah. I didn’t think I would… But yeah. It was time, I guess.”
“Past time, I’d say,” said Darcy.
All three girls were looking at them.
“Wait and see if you can actually read that thing before you get all mouthy,” said Logan. It sounded like their old bickering, but they were both smiling.
Eve rolled her eyes. “You could get started on that. Do you mind taking the book back there and hanging out with Sam for a bit? We need Adam here to talk, too.”
When they had all arrived at Logan’s trailer after dinner, it had started to rain. His mom was gone at work, of course, and in that small space it was nearly impossible to talk without Sam hearing. Adam had volunteered to play trucks with Sam back in the bedroom to give them some space.
Darcy hesitated.
“Don’t worry,” said Alex. “You’re in. We’ll tell you everything we said late
r. Someone has to take care of Sam. At least you can look at the book while you’re there.”
Darcy brightened at that and nodded, heading down the short hall still clutching the Book to her chest. A few minutes later Adam appeared.
“I don’t know how long we’ll have before Sam gets bored. He wasn’t very happy that I left.”
“I can’t stay too long anyway,” said Eve. “It was ten minutes after noon when I got home today, and my mom acted like I had run away. Lots of threats about never sleeping over at Alex’s again. I doubt she would have let me come tonight at all if she hadn’t been going out to some dinner party thing.”
Alex coughed.
“Yes, she really did let me come. I didn’t sneak out.”
“And considering what you were actually doing last night, a few threats aren’t too bad,” said Adam.
“Good point.”
“So. How did it go?” asked Adam.
“About as well as it could have,” said Alex. “She believes it all. We’ll see what happens when she tries to read the book, but for now, she seems to get it.”
“The first person we’ve told who doesn’t think we’re crazy,” said Eve.
A silence fell over the group.
“So…” Logan started then paused for a long time. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to say this all day. I know…I mean I already said how stupid I was and how sorry I am, and you guys were really cool about it. But…just…I know how bad what I did really was. I mean, anything could have happened last night. Someone could have…well, you guys did get hurt, some of you. And we could have gotten really lost. Our parents would have freaked out if we didn’t show up today. I totally almost ruined everything. So… I mean...” He took a deep breath. “I’m not good at this. I just want you to know that I understand that you can’t really trust me now. And that’s…I won’t blame you. I’ll try to make it up to you, but I won’t blame you.”
The Broken Circle (The Book of Sight 2) Page 24
