Leo sighed and went back to his magazine. “It’s okay,” he mumbled.
Jayson set his cereal bowl on the step and finally wiped his chin.
“What are you guys doing out here?” Jack asked. He sat in the grass and moved Jayson’s bowl before it was knocked over.
“Well,” said Jayson, “Some weird guy showed up and needed to talk to Mr. DeHaven. They said something about ‘the project’ and started pulling out all these boxes.”
“It’s the documentation from my dad’s NASA project,” said Leo. He put his magazine into the mailbox and sat back down. “It’s the one that got cancelled before we moved out here. It’s why mom moved to France and all that.” Leo looked at his feet and pulled on the collar of his shirt nervously.
“You can have my mom,” said Jayson punching Leo in the arm, laughing. “She likes smart kids the best.”
“Shut up, man.” Leo glared at Jayson. “She’s coming back. She’s just – busy.”
“So, why are we out here?” Jack asked, breaking the tension that had risen between them.
“Totally kicked out,” said Jayson. “As if we know anything about what they’re talking about.”
“The project was super top secret,” Leo said defensively.
“But it got cancelled,” Jayson countered.
Leo shrugged. “Whatever.”
“You guys wanna go to the fort?” Jack shrugged.
“Sure,” said Jayson, leaping to his feet, and still nearly upsetting the bowl on the ground. Jack nodded, and handed Leo one of the peanut butter sandwiches he had stuffed in his pocket. He held it out like a peace offering, but still wouldn’t look at Leo.
Leo took the sandwich and punched Jack in the arm. “Thanks,” he said, and followed after Jayson.
Jayson’s sugary cereal had begun to kick in by the time they reached the tree fort. He lowered the bridge, and skipped across the little creek. Jack and Leo followed at a walk and watched as Jayson tripped and nearly fell. They stifled laughs together, their anger forgotten.
Jack flopped across the arm chair. “Hey, guys, I’ve been thinking,” he said.
“Uh, oh,” said Leo with a grin, “That could be dangerous.”
“Hey, it’s not like I’m Jayson,” Jack teased. His wide smile had returned.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Jayson jumped down from the second level of their tree fort. His arms flailed to keep balance, and he smacked himself in the head with his stick-sword.
“Well, I was just wondering if you guys might like to try and study martial arts or something. They have the Mortal Combat movies on a marathon this month, and I’ve been watching them, like, non-stop at night. You can practically teach yourself how to do this stuff.” Jack jumped up and executed a mock kick and punch. “We could really take our game fighting to the next level.”
Leo and Jayson glanced at each other uncomfortably. Finally, Leo spoke. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with your dad would it?”
“My dad?” Jack took a step back.
“You’re not gunna try to fight him, are you?” Jayson asked.
“Why would I do that?” Jack scowled at his friends and crossed his arms. He hadn’t talked to anyone about his dad in years. He shifted side to side uneasily. How could they have known?
“Jack, we’re your friends. We know what’s going on,” said Leo.
“And yesterday you were talking about being something you’re not.” Jayson blushed beneath his freckles. “We care, dude.”
“Just because you have a perfect little family doesn’t mean I have to try to act like I do!” Jack cried. His hands clenched into fists, and his face burned red. “So what if I want to do something change my life?” He jabbed his finger at Leo and Jayson. “You don’t have any idea what I have to go through!” Tears filled his eyes. He tried to fight them off. His father’s voice echoed in his mind. “Only babies cry.”
“No, I don’t know what you go through, because you won’t talk to anyone!” Jayson yelled back. He threw his stick on the ground. “I’ve got my own stuff going on too, Jack! Why are you so special, huh?”
“Whoa, hold the phone,” said Leo. He rushed between Jack and Jayson, forcing them apart. “Let’s just take a chill pill. There’s a time and place for everything. My mom used to say that.”
“And how do you know this isn’t it?” Jack shoved his finger into Leo’s chest, then turned pointed at himself. “I make my own fate, Leo! I’ll decide my destiny!”
The silence that fell was deafening. Not a bird sang, not a leaf shifted. Jack looked at the creek behind them. It had stopped in mid wave. He turned to his friends again. Their forms were becoming hazy and distorted. The sunlight was increasing and was close to blinding. He saw Jayson shaking his head in disbelief, the anger and rage turning to fear. The world went white, and Jack knew no more.
Leo was the first to wake. He blinked in the bright sunlight and pushed away the dizziness that lingered. He got to his knees and saw Jayson and Jack close by. They were still unconscious. He crawled to them, and gave each a gentle shake.
Jayson shook his head and sat up.
“God, what happened?” he asked.
“We must’ve…blacked out… or something,” Leo said uncertain.
“Yeah, but where are we?” asked Jack as his eyes came into focus.
Where they sat was not their fort or any place in the woods they recognized. There was no wood. Just a sloping plane of craggy rocks before them, and a towering gray mountain behind them. The sun was shining, but the sky was a dreary, overcast gray.
“Do you think someone at school is trying to bunk us?” Jayson asked.
“More likely we were kidnapped,” said Leo with a nod.
“Then why aren’t we tied up?” Jayson raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms before him.
Leo shrugged. He opened his mouth, intending to give a scientific hypothesis, but was cut off.
“Hey look.” Jack pointed to a line of smoke rising into the air in the distance.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” said Leo with a grin. He always looked exactly like his father whenever he did so.
“And where there’s fire, there’s probably people,” Jack finished excitedly.
“Maybe they know where we are!” Jayson jumped to his feet and nearly twisted his ankle.
“And how to get home,” Leo added, taking no notice of Jayson.
The boys ran up the sloping hill, tripping occasionally on a loose stone from the boulders that littered the way. They stopped when they reached the top of the hill, panting and surveying the scene before them.
Below was a tiny village nestled between the hill they stood upon and another identical hill at least a mile away. The homes were small huts with thatched roofs. Dirt roadways wound between wooden structures that appeared to be bakeries, smithies and stables.
Jack nearly fell to the ground in disbelief. Jayson plopped down next to him.
“Come on, man!” he cried and pulled on his red hair. “No electricity? I figured a campground would have electricity.”
“I don’t think that’s a campground, Jay,” Leo whispered.
“It’s gotta be! What else could it be? Like some stupid renn faire thing?”
“What’s the last thing you all remember?” Jack asked them.
“Well,” Leo folded his arms and grabbed his chin as he thought. “It was like I went deaf.”
“Yeah, and everything just kind of stopped. It looked like the creek stopped in mid-wave,” said Jayson.
“And the light,” Jack added quietly. “Just like from my dream.”
“Mine too,” Leo whispered.
The boys fell silent, not daring to look at one another.
“Maybe this is one of those government tests, and they messed it all up,” Jayson broke the silence. Jack and Leo looked at him but did not speak. “Maybe they’re working on a way to control a person’s mind, to make them see things. Like�
� a controlled and forced hallucination. Or…” Jayson paused, his eyes widening. “Maybe they were doing something with time and accidentally sent us back in time.”
“Are you for real, man?” Jack interrupted. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
“What?” Jayson asked with a shrug.
Jack rolled his eyes and sighed. “Why us? Why Swansdale? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It sort of does,” Leo said. He sat down between Jack and Jayson. “No one would believe us if we tried to tell someone. We’re kids. And Swansdale’s a no-name little town. No one would ever look there for signs of government testing. And, if we tried to go public with it, well, everyone would just think we were trippin! No one would believe us. It’s not a bad hypothesis.”
Jayson’s stomach grumbled loudly, making them all turn and look.
“Well, wherever we are, I hope they have something to eat.” Jayson rose to his feet and headed toward the little village.
“Jayson, where are you going?” cried Leo, “We don’t know where we are — Jayson! Come back! What if you’re kidnapped?”
A sound like thunder made the boys stop. They could feel the ground shake beneath them. Jayson ran back up the hill and joined Jack and Leo behind a giant boulder. Carefully, they peeked around the edge of the rock and watched as s large company of men on horseback came rounded the mountain corner. They wore white and green gambesons emblazoned with a golden phoenix over chain armor. They carried swords and spears, and halted no more than fifty yards from the boulder. Jayson, Jack and Leo pulled back behind the boulder and crouched close together.
“Search every house, every building. Kill anyone who stands in your way. I will not tolerate this any longer.”
It was not a man’s voice that commanded the horsemen, but a young woman.
“Your Highness, this is the last village between our kingdom and Chamberlain Herodan. Wouldn’t it be better served to… revitalize it as a major trade route?” a man’s voice suggested.
There was the creak of cured leather, and the shifting of chainmail. Someone cried out in pain and a horse snorted.
“In case you have forgotten, Valar, you are only here because my father ordered it so. You would do well to remain silent.” The young woman’s voice rose above the clatter of the horses and their riders. “These people refuse to obey the law. They aren’t turning over their portion of food or taxes, and they led a rebellion against us three winters past. Do you forget?” A murmur spread throughout the company. Jayson, Jack and Leo huddled closer together. “These sort of people cause pain and problem in a kingdom, and it must be stopped immediately!”
“The only pain and problem in this kingdom is you, Taraniz.” Another female voice spoke, this time closer to the boulder the boys hid behind. The company of riders hushed into an eerie silence.
“Ah, Piper, the rebel leader herself. Not looking so good these days. I hear your village turned their backs on you after the attack. Yet, after all this time, you still defend them. Why?”
“I fight against the tyranny and injustice you have brought to all of Chartile, Taraniz. Unless you have an official order signed by the King and the Captain of the Royal army, you cannot touch this place. You would commit an act of near war against your own people, and yet call us rebels and traitors.”
The men grew restless and spoke in whispers. One of the women screamed, and there was the clash of metal on metal.
“Stay your weapons,” the man who had first opposed Taraniz said.
Jayson dared a peek around the boulder. A thin woman hair and furs fought a tall blonde in a long green dress. The horses stamped their feet as their riders waited with their hands on their sword hilts.
“Come on, we have to help,” whispered Jayson as he whipped back behind the boulder.
“How? Throw rocks at them?” Leo suggested sarcastically.
“Good idea!” Jayson smiled and picked up a fist-sized rock at his feet.
“Jayson, are you nuts? Those people have swords!” Jack clutched at Jayson’s forearm.
“You heard what that one chick planned to do to those people down there,” Jayson protested. “We have to help them!”
“Jayson, we don’t know the laws here. We don’t even know where we are! We can’t interfere!” said Leo. “Dude, we could die! This isn’t a game!”
“I’m not gunna stand here and let some innocent people get — get slaughtered. Jack, you wanted this to be real. Well now’s your chance to do something!” Jayson pulled his arm from Jack’s grasp, shoved the rock in his pocket and began to climb to the top of the boulder.
Jack and Leo watched him go, then turned to each other.
“We can’t be separated,” Leo whispered. Jack nodded and picked up a rock. He ran out from the side of the boulder as Leo did the same on the left.
The sudden appearance of the three boys, with their jeans and brightly colored t-shirts, made the men on horseback point and murmur. Jayson, Jack and Leo now saw the two women fighting were not much older than themselves. They did not seem to have noticed the boys.
Jayson took aim, and threw the rock as hard as he could. He narrowly missed Taraniz by inches.
“Hey! Tar-bees!” Jayson called, “Why don’t you go back where you came from and leave these poor people alone!”
The distraction was enough for the girl called Piper to disarm Taraniz. She kicked the blonde to her back and held her sword at Taraniz’s throat.
“Your father is not dead, yet. Until then, his law still reigns,” said Piper through clenched teeth.
Taraniz pulled a dagger from her belt and pushed Piper’s blade aside to slice her across the cheek.
“Not yet, but soon,” she said so quietly only Piper and the boys heard. She jumped to her feet as Piper staggered back. She pulled a handkerchief from the pocket of her riding jacket and wiped her dagger clean. She glared for a moment longer at Piper before tossing the handkerchief at the girl’s feet. They watched as she mounted her horse, nose in the air and dirt and leaves all over her embroidered dress.
“Back to the camp, all of you, until you can learn to defend your princess against rock-throwing peasants!” With one last glare at Piper, who stood at the base of the boulder clutching her face, the company rode back around the mountain trail.
Jayson, Jack and Leo let out a cry of victory.
“Ya bunch’a wusses!” Jayson taunted after them. He leapt from the boulder and gave Jack a high-five. Their celebration, however, was short lived. Piper stepped toward them and pointed her sword to Jayson’s throat. Her green eyes were as hard as when she had looked at Taraniz.
“Who are you? Speak swiftly!” she demanded.
“Whoa, take it easy,” said Leo, holding his hands up in surrender. “We were just trying to help—”
Piper pressed the blade against Jayson’s skin now. “I asked, who are you?”
“My name is Jack. This is Leo and… that’s Jayson. We’re from Swansdale. Um, we really don’t know how we got here. We just want to go home, so, if you have a phone around here or something…”
Piper narrowed her eyes, and slowly lowered her blade. Jayson sighed in relief.
“Where did you say you were from?” She asked.
“Uh, Swansdale. Ohio. Um, America?” said Jayson.
“Is that north of here?” Piper continued to furrow her brow.
“Uh… where is here exactly?” asked Leo.
“Chartile,” she said, not bothering to hide the suspicion in her voice, “Kingdom of the Elves. Beyond that last hill…” She pointed to the far side of the little village. “There begins the territory of Humans. You are Human, are you not?”
It was the boys’ turn to be confused. The idea of a government conspiracy was beginning to sound more believable by the minute.
“So where are we in relation to say, the Atlantic Ocean, or Russia? Australia, maybe?” Leo asked.
Piper did not answer. The group continued to look at each other in an awkward
silence.
Jayson’s stomach made a terrible gurgling sound.
“Sorry.” He patted his stomach. “Do you have anything to eat?”
Piper looked back up the path Taraniz and the horseman had left by, and sheathed her sword. “Follow me,” she whispered. “This is a conversation to be had under cover.”
She headed down the steep hill toward the mountain, not the village. The boys looked longingly the cozy huts below, and trudged begrudgingly after her. She led them up and down steep and winding roads, narrow squeezes between large boulders and toe paths full of loose pebble under foot. She ducked beneath a low hanging outcrop and seemed to disappear. Jack, Leo and Jayson followed and found themselves in a small cave. A stone fire ring lay in the middle of the room. A few natural shelves in the cave wall held a collection of bowls, utensils and two water skins. Another large natural shelf closer to the ground was covered in blankets and furs.
The boys stood just inside the mouth of the cave as their eyes adjusted to the darkness. Neither of them had ever been in a girl’s room before. Piper moved to the back of the cave and pushed a large rock from over a hole in the cave floor. She lowered herself through until only her head and shoulders could be seen.
“Um… where…are we supposed —” Jayson stammered.
“I’ll be right back. I’m getting some water,” she said and disappeared.
They listened until they could no longer hear her. They stepped cautiously further into Piper’s cave and sat around the fire ring. A few embers glowed from the charred logs in its center. Their eyes began to wander from the fire ring to the rest of the cave. An assortment of worn weapons sat in one corner. Jayson stood for a better look, but immediately turned back when he saw the dead game animals hanging from the ceiling.
“What have we gotten ourselves into?” he whispered and nodded toward his discovery.
Jack and Leo did not answer. This was definitely not Swansdale.
“You could have started the fire,” said a voice behind them. They jumped and watched Piper push the boulder back over the hole. She slung a gigantic water skin over her shoulder and reached for a large pot that had sat beside the hole. “Potatoes are in the rucksack over there.” She pointed to the corner where the animals hung. The boys did not move.
Chartile: Prophecy Page 2
