Snapdragon Book II: In the Land of the Dragon

by Brandon Berntson

  Masie shook her head, then looked at Seth. “What are you laughing at?”

  iii

  Frank Allen Bimsley, on an expedition to the mountains, found himself more at peace than he’d been in a long time. The horror, at least for a while, was over (so were the headaches), and he needed a break. He wanted to get away, keep the six-pack of beer at his side, and take a long drive into the mountains for—what he liked to think—was a little R&R. If he weren’t careful, he’d give himself a D.U.I.

  Frank chuckled at the thought and continued to drive the yellow Ford Bronco west along Interstate 36 and into the mountains. He felt he could use some time to himself, maybe take a couple of days, and enjoy the relaxing ease of a long drive. He treasured these moments and thought all men should take time out for themselves in just this fashion.

  He did feel better, though. That was the thing. They’d found the woman, Gavin’s mother, days after the boys had come home. A neighbor had complained about the smell. No one Frank knew had mourned the loss. He’d been the only one at the funeral. He’d looked into it, rummaged through the house, and found an address book. The only contacts were old boyfriends who claimed they didn’t know her. No ex-husband was listed, no sister, or relatives at all. The woman had been torn apart, but Frank—like most in town—contributed this death to a long line of many others. He was content to let it rest.

  Ellishome was piecing itself together again, and to him, that was all that mattered. Slowly, sure, but it was making strides.

  It’s good to have hope, Frank thought.

  He still had questions he couldn’t answer, but Frank was content leaving them unanswered. He had better things to focus on now, something to feel good about for once. He was the sheriff of Ellishome. The mayor had made some encouraging remarks even about his next election, and Frank was confident he would be voted in again. Quite honestly, it had surprised him. The mayor thought Frank had had something to do with the way things were picking up again.

  The murders had come to a halt. Many didn’t understand it. Even he didn’t understand it, but he accepted it, and so had the rest of Ellishome. Families were starting to move into town again. Some had even moved back after going away. The thought made Frank smile, the reason he was driving through the canyons, tapping his hand on the wheel to a melody only he could hear. He was thinking about stopping the truck, so he could step out and enjoy the scenery, breathe in some of that clean, mountain air.

  Soon, he found a turnoff, and slowed the Bronco.

  It was a beautiful spring day. The clouds were soft and lazy under a pristine blue sky. The wind was cool, but not too cold.

  Frank parked the Bronco, shut the engine off, and pulled the keys out of the ignition. He grabbed one of the beers and decided to head off a ways into the woods, shutting the door behind him.

  He took a moment to look up into the sky, and take a deep breath. The air felt good, clean in his lungs. Nodding to himself, he stepped over a small ditch, and climbed a slight rise into the forest. After several strides, he was already winded. “Ah!” he said, aloud. “That air feels good. Out of shape, too, but it still feels good. Go figure!”

  The early spring carried a chill, but the cruel winter had come and gone. Soon, he’d put the fishing pole together and do some early spring fishing.

  Frank sipped his beer. He took another deep breath of mountain air, a strong scent of pine. He continued to walk through the trees, kicking at pinecones. He looked at the scenery. He was smiling. “Damn, Frank,” he said, to himself. “You are smiling! Sure enough. It feels different, but it feels good, too, and yes sir, you are smiling! Talking to yourself, too, but who cares? Don’t even care if I answer myself. ‘How you doin’, Frank?’ ‘Fine,’ Frank tells himself. So there.”

  He giggled. Taking a drive was the best decision he’d made in a long time. He felt better than he had in a long time. Maybe that was the beer. He’d sucked a few down on the way…but yes. He was feeling pretty good.

  Frank surveyed the surroundings and noticed something just up ahead on a tree.

  The same thing you see everywhere these days, he thought. Lovers branding irons carved onto a park bench or spray-painted on a viaduct.

  But something about what he saw looked different, not a branding iron of sorts, but a kind of message.

  Curious, Frank moved closer to the tree to investigate.

  It wasn’t initials, he saw, not even close.

  The carving on the tree seemed to be a lesson for Frank, that life’s mysteries would never be explained, at least not all of them. Sometimes you had to accept things you didn’t understand. It was because of what he saw on the tree that he thought this:

  2004

  For Ellishome.

  And for Kinsey MacKay.

  The Children of Israel.

  Frank’s contented mood disappeared, replaced with one more profound and emotional. He thought it should read, ‘For Gavin Lolly,’ but he understood. The children hadn’t told him about this, but he knew they’d carved it on their journey, leaving something behind, something to help them remember what they’d done.

  For Ellishome.

  A hazy mist came into Frank’s eyes, and he blamed it on the alcohol. His nose itched, and he thought he was going to sneeze. He chuckled and nodded.

  “It’s good to have you kids home,” he said, putting his fingers to the carving and feeling the grooves. “Damn good to have you home.”

  Frank looked at the tree for a while longer, nodded again, and went back to the truck. Nothing sounded better to him than the rest of the six-pack.

  iv

  Seth was outside in the meadow. The cool wind of a departing winter briskly touched his arms and legs, making room for warmth and verdure again. The Patterson residence had been torn down, and a new house was being built. Seth didn’t know who the owners were.

  Although, he thought he would never take his toy airplane into the meadow after the journey to the palace, he’d never been more wrong. The Cat Fighter Attack Plane was in his hand now. He had found it after the snow had melted and cleaned it off with the garden hose, and now here he was recapturing something he might’ve lost—something, in fact, he wasn’t necessarily aware of. He was not the changed boy he thought he’d become, and he hoped and prayed he’d never lose that feeling again—the magic of his youth.

  Seth was playing with the Attack Plane now when he heard a whisper from across the meadow. He looked up and over the field of grass. He did not look toward the looming crags, but at something else—a figure in the distance—an animal loping and bounding through the high mountain brome.

  “Ben,” Seth said. The Cat Fighter Attack Plane, for the second time in a year, dropped to the ground.

  Warmth tugged at his heart, the goodness you felt when you saw a true friend you hadn’t seen in a long, long time. The tiger, however, wasn’t what attracted his attention, but the figure on Ben’s back.

  It was Gavin Lolly, and the boy was having the time of his life…

  Things will be all right as long as I can get to the palace. I will never have to deal with my mother again.

  Seth heard this like an echo from the past. Gavin had been right. He would no longer have to endure the torment of his mother and for several reasons. One, of course, being that she was dead. Ben had made sure of that.

  He will be avenged.

  The other, of course, was because Gavin now lived in a world far away, but still equally parallel to his own, where light made prisms on marble walls, and tigers could talk.

  They did not approach—the tiger and the boy—but continued to bound and leap through the meadow, where Seth could simply watch them play together. From the distance, they were easy enough to spot. Gavin was smiling and glowing. A celestial gleam shone from his eyes. The boy emanated light. Any sign of dark rings under his eyes—of being the haunted, victimized child he’d been—was completely gone.

  Children of Israel, Seth thought, and laughed, watching Ben and Gavin bound
off through the high grass together.

  Gavin turned, noticing Seth playing in the field by himself, and waved. Seth laughed. With tears in his eyes, he raised his hand as high as it could go, moving his arm in a wide arc, making sure they could see him.

  For Ellishome, he heard Gavin say.

  And for faith, Seth whispered back in his mind.

  For a long time, Gavin and Ben raced through the meadow. Gavin laughed, every now and then looking toward Seth and waving, or grabbing Ben’s fur to keep from falling off. Even Ben seemed to be having the time of his life.

  Seth understood everything then. Shaking his head in wonder, he continued to laugh and cry, while waving at Gavin in the distance.

  Polly fine’, Gavin said, making Seth cry even more. Performance buster.

  His next phrase, however, was anything but the random talk Seth remembered:

  Dream big, Seth Auburn. The meadow is a gateway to another world. And all things are possible, in the Land of the Tiger.

  Seth laughed and cried and waved to his friends.

  v

  That following summer (on the weekend—so Seth’s summer school classes wouldn’t be interrupted), Seth, Rudy, and Masie sat on the bank of Warton’s Pond with three fishing poles propped on forked branches, their lines trailing out into the water. The day was perfect. The blue was rich and deep, and rolling clouds drifted across the summer sky. A good breeze kept them cool. They dressed for the weather in shorts and T-shirts, shoes off, and their toes in the sparse grass along the bank.

  “I don’t even know if there’s fish in this water,” Rudy said. “But it’s good to be out.”

  “Yes, indeed,” Masie said, looking at the sky.

  Seth nodded.

  He was glad Masie and Rudy didn’t maul one another with kisses when he was near. He knew they loved each other, but around him, they kept their hands to themselves. Of course, if Kinsey were here, it might be different.

  Seth didn’t know if he would ever see Jeanie Masterson again. After hearing about her house burning down and her disappearance, he’d been stunned. Jeanie, apparently, had secrets of her own. No one suspected, least of all Masie, though she did mention how strange it was Jeanie never invited them over.

  Seth said a silent prayer for Jeanie, wherever she was, and hoped she was happy. It hurt to think he’d never see her again.

  Rheanna came by to hang out with Masie still, though. She was dating a boy from school who’d been new the previous year. Rheanna was head over heels.

  They sat at the bank for a while until Seth saw his line tighten, the pole bouncing and jerking.

  “Holy cow, Seth!” Rudy cried, leaping to his feet. “You got one! You got one!”

  Seth, excited, also jumped to his feet, grabbed the pole, and started to reel. The line tugged. He could feel the fish fighting and jerking in the water.

  “Easy, champ!” Rudy said. “Steady! Bring him in nice and slow. Don’t rush!”

  Masie jumped up, excited, dancing next to Rudy, just as eager to see the fish.

  Seth continued to reel. Soon, a large silvery flash emerged in the water.

  “I can’t believe it!” Rudy exclaimed. “Holy cow! That’s a trout! That’s a rainbow trout! I can’t believe you caught a trout in this dinky swamp!”

  It was no swamp, Seth knew, but it wasn’t a lake, either.

  Seth reeled until the fish was close enough to haul up onto the bank. When it was out of the water, it flapped back and forth, mouth opening and closing.

  “Holy cow!” Rudy said, again. Seth couldn’t help but laugh. “Fish for supper! Fish for supper!” Rudy danced around now as Masie was doing, and they all laughed. Seth watched the fish flap and bounce on the shore.

  Rudy came over and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “Way to go, champ! You’re a natural.”

  Seth couldn’t help but smile. He liked Rudy.

  “Man! Fish for supper!” Rudy said. “Fish for supper!”

  Masie, Seth realized, was laughing more at Rudy than at the fish he’d caught.

  For a moment, Seth thought about Gavin, and felt, he believed, what Gavin had experienced that day he’d caught his own fish, the excitement of having friends and family share in an ultimate joy.

  Masie reached out and ruffled his hair. “Way to go, tiger.”

  Seth smiled at her.

  He’d been given plenty of nicknames over the last year, but ‘tiger’ was the one he liked most of all.

  EPILOGUE

  Through the years, he wasn’t always there. Sometimes he would forget, and other times, he would mumble in his sleep. They drifted apart for a time, but they always came back to each other. She remembered it all. That was the strange thing.

  But somehow, he had forgotten, not what had happened on their journey, but who and what he’d been. Not The Bearer of the Black Sword, but the child he used to be. He turned, at times, bitter, resentful even, for reasons she couldn’t understand. He told her countless times, despite what she’d said, that none of it had happened. He would go on and on until the end of his days proving that very thing.

  It had never happened.

  All a dream.

  She didn’t know what happened to him along the way. Some mystical, dark mantle had shrouded his memory, forcing him to forget: who he’d been…even the others. He denied Ellishome, Gavin, Malcolm, Eddie, and Albert. She wondered why he didn’t deny her, why he would want her there at all. For Kinsey, it didn’t make sense.

  But recently, it had been different. Maybe it was that time in high school when she’d walked up and presented the snapdragon to him, still preserved, still perfectly, velvety blue after all these years.

  “Do you remember this?” she’d asked.

  They’d been standing in the hallway between classes, kids making a ruckus around them. He’d looked at her funny, then looked at the snapdragon.

  Reminding her of all those years ago—the journey they’d taken—Seth had put his hands to his face and wept.

  Kinsey couldn’t blame him, and the ironic thing was how she’d fallen in love with him all over again.

  She just wanted Seth to come back to who he was. She didn’t understand…after all these years why she would be the one to remember, and he, the one to forget. It didn’t make sense.

  Something had happened along to way, though, something unexplainable. She wanted an explanation was the thing. She deserved that much.

  They’d dated off an on since the fifth grade. Seth had proposed shortly after high school graduation. That was four years ago now.

  Still, no sign, although, sometimes…

  Things were different. They still shared magical moments together. Their marriage was happy. They were still young. He just couldn’t remember…

  Or maybe, Kinsey thought, he chooses not to remember.

  She watched him as he did strange things around the house, said something from the past, or mentioned a name…

  Ben…

  It was happening more frequently now.

  And she knew what it was…

  As he’d told her long ago…they would know what it was for…and she’d kept it safe.

  Kinsey knew now more than ever…

  She’d taken the flower and put it on the mantel above the fireplace after they’d married and moved into their new home. A protective glass encased it, but she wanted it in sight where he could see it…where he would see it everyday…

  Just keep it safe. That’s all you have to do. Just keep it safe.

  They’d grown up together, spent their childhoods together as Ellishome had come back to life. Growing up, they watched the magic unfold.

  But now Seth refused to believe it, as if he revoked Ben and the palace, his childhood…even his friends.

  Why is that? she wondered.

  She didn’t know, but she was worried now that any memory would trigger something dreadful. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe the past marred him in some way. Maybe it was simply Seth’s way of dealing w
ith it all.

  The reason for the snapdragon was simple: it kept them united, strong, in touch with who they used to be, keeping the most important aspects of their childhood in tact: their youth, their unblemished, angelic qualities.

  Kinsey (while Seth was in the study) walked through the kitchen and looked out the window. It was a brief look, barely a glance, but it was enough to see Ben standing in full profile with his head turned towards her.

  Kinsey gasped. She blinked to make sure the image was real. The tiger was there still, standing on the rich, green grass in their own backyard. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually seen Ben, and seeing him now was intensely surreal. She stammered through her thoughts. She had to tell Seth!

  Kinsey ran down the hallway to the study and threw the door open.

  Seth, his face no longer that of a child—blond hair falling into his green eyes—looked up and smiled. “We seem to have a visitor,” he said.

  Kinsey didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She studied how his child’s face had sculpted the one he had now.

  He’d been leaning over a bundle of pages, writing something down.

  “I want to show you something,” she said. “Come on! Hurry!”

  Seth smiled. “I already know,” he said. “I saw him out the window just now.”

  He indicated the window in the study, looking over the wide expanse of green lawn.

  Kinsey stepped inside, the excitement of showing him Ben fading, but not the love she felt. It was in his eyes. Thank God, it had not been more years! She didn’t know how much more she could take.

  “Ellishome,” he said.

  Saying the word did not surprise her, either. He spoke of Ellishome often, but it was usually in a bitter voice, a skeptical voice. He’d never mentioned the town in such a reverent voice as he did now.