by Garth Nix
Jack hesitated, then nodded. This wasn’t like being sent to the Evil Dimension. They wouldn’t be apart for long.
“Hang on tight,” called Rodeo Dave after him as he ran for the helicopter. “Don’t ever let go!”
Jack looked back over his shoulder, waved, and kept running.
The sky was blue and the air was warm. The oval was soaked, but that wasn’t enough to delay the soccer game. Portland had survived the freak storm, the mayor had declared, and Mr. Carver had agreed with him, for once. The chance to beat Dogton’s under-15s could not be lost!
Jaide was running on the left side of the pack, concentrating just as much on her footing as on where the ball was. She had fallen twice already and was covered in mud from head to toe. But in that regard she was no different from anyone else on either team. The game looked like two gangs of rival swamp creatures having a rumble, only with slightly better manners, thanks to the umpire’s habit of sending anyone who misbehaved even slightly to the bench.
The ball was coming her way. Jaide started running, staying just ahead of the huddle of kids struggling to get their boots into the fray. Miralda was in there, and so was Stefano. He was easily the best soccer player on the field, but there were two on the Dogton team who were nearly his equal. One, a girl with spiky blond hair, had scored two goals already. The game was currently tied.
Back and forth went the ball inside the forest of muddy legs. Jaide moved back and forth with it, waiting for an opportunity to come her way. Helpful — and some not-so helpful — calls came from the sidelines, where parents and spectators stood clutching coffees and bags of French fries. The sky was clear, but the wind remained unsettled with a hint of rain.
Stefano pulled free of the pack. Cries of encouragement and annoyance followed him, but he noticed neither. Jaide put on a burst of speed to keep up, watching not just the ball but Dogton’s defensive positions as well. Stefano dodged the right fullback with a quick drag and push, neatly double touched past the center back, but was cut off by the sweeper and almost went offside.
Jaide was in a good position. She didn’t call Stefano’s name, figuring he had the moves to get himself out of the jam and maybe even put the ball in the net as well. He didn’t need to pass to her. But suddenly the ball was coming her way, and she dodged the stopper to get to it first, put the toe of her left cleat firmly into the synthetic leather cover, and watched with pleased amazement as the ball curved through the defending positions, passed just over the goalie’s fingertips, and went into the goal.
She whooped with excitement. Stefano ran up and high-fived her.
“No Gifts?” he whispered to her under the cover of the cheering crowd.
“Not at all,” she said. “We’re definitely even now.”
He grinned and jogged off, letting her teammates gather her up in a celebratory hug. The Portland Portcupine, dressed in a tatty costume, waved his arms and kicked his legs in excitement.
Jack cheered from the bench, where he and Tara sat dressed in the uniform of the Portland under-15s, although Jack didn’t really expect to play. It was nicer, and much less muddy, to watch from the sidelines. Behind the bench sat Rodeo Dave, who seemed to be still deciding which memories he would remember and which he would let remain forgotten. Lottie was with him, bundled up so deeply in a thick scarf and coat that she was almost invisible (or perhaps that was deliberate, Jack wondered, given her Gift for hiding). Susan was helping with the cleanup, and Hector was pacing the sideline, shouting not-entirely helpful things like “The squeaky wheel gets the worm!” At that moment, he was simply cheering Jaide’s scoring kick. Kyle was doing handstands in the goal. Cornelia was soaring above, screeching “Offside! Offside!” even though she didn’t really understand that rule. It was just a word people were shouting a lot.
“Look,” said Tara. “Isn’t that your grandma?”
Jack turned his attention away from the field to a striking figure in a bright red overcoat walking across River Road, past the wreckage of the school, to the oval. It did look like her, with that shock of white hair and the gleaming buckles of those cowboy boots, not to mention the two cats keeping pace with her, tails high in the air.
He stood, feeling nervous, although he wasn’t sure of what, exactly. No one in the family had seen her since the previous night, when she had checked herself out of the hospital in Scarborough and effectively vanished. Weirdly, the Wardens hadn’t panicked about it. That more than anything suggested to the twins that they were involved.
Jack waved at Jaide. She saw him, saw Grandma X, and began hopping up and down on one foot, clutching the other with a feigned expression of agony.
“What’s wrong?” said Mr. Carver, running up to her. “You’ll be all right, won’t you?”
“I think I pulled something with that kick,” she said. “I just need to take it easy for a bit.”
“Are you sure it’s not a sprain, something that will work itself out, perhaps with another kick just like that one? Well, if you’re absolutely sure.” He patted her on the back in a way that was probably supposed to be reassuring but instead almost tipped her off-balance. “Tara, come on. You’re up!”
Tara was off the bench like a rocket, running onto the field as though about to do battle with The Evil.
The twins converged on their grandmother, who looked up and changed course, not to avoid them, but so they would meet near the bundles of canvas and disconnected framework that was all that remained of Project Thunderclap’s tent. The cats fell back and stayed some distance away, giving them privacy but remaining within feline earshot.
“Hello, my troubletwisters,” said Grandma X.
They stood slightly apart from one another, uncertain how to behave. Grandma X’s eyes were perfectly clear, but their Gifts knew there was something new and strange about her. It took all the twins’ effort to keep them in line.
“What do we call you now?” Jack asked.
“What you always have, if you like,” she said. “I am still in here.”
“With … Lara Mae?” said Jaide.
That prompted a laugh. “Oh, it hates being called that, believe me, almost as much as it hates being human. Don’t worry about the names. They only matter to us. To you it’s still The Evil and I’m still Grandma X. And that’s the way it will remain, if you want it to: Everything can stay the same, even though everything is actually different now.”
Confusing though that was, the twins relaxed slightly. This sounded just like her. Grandma X never made much sense when she was talking about something important.
She guided them to some nearby crates, where they sat down together, Jack on one side, Jaide on the other, their grandmother between them.
“Here’s what was decided last night,” she told them. “I’m no longer the Warden of Portland. I’m technically not a Warden at all anymore, which is understandable. Until Aleksandr and the others are completely sure what my relationship with The Evil is — and I’m not entirely clear on that yet, either — I’ll be watched closely but at the same time kept at arm’s length. Like I’m under house arrest, except I will be able to leave the house.”
“But there must be a Warden of Portland,” said Jack. “We felt the wards come back on this morning, and Rennie called to say that she’d be too busy to come to the game.”
“And there’s been no sign of Angel,” said Jaide. “All the rocks on Mermaid Point are back where they used to be.”
“The wards are in place, yes,” Grandma X confirmed. “I’m glad you noticed. Custer is the Warden of Portland for now. David turned it down, of course, although he would have made a very good protector of the town.”
“But why have the wards at all?” asked Jack. “The Evil is finished now, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps. But I’m not. The wards are in place to stop me from leaving. I may have spent the night outside the town borders, but I’m back again, and this time it’s really for good.”
“You’re under town arrest?” said Jai
de.
“Yes, and it’s fortunate that I like it here, very much.” She looked around as though seeing everything for the first time. “All I have to do is keep The Evil under control and I’ll be allowed to stay as I am.”
“So how does it work?” said Jack. This question had been keeping him awake all night. “If The Evil is in you, we and all the Wardens get to keep our Gifts.”
“Yes.”
“You, too? Or do you have all the Gifts?”
“That’s an interesting question. I don’t know. I’m still discovering what I do and don’t have.”
“Okay. So what happens to the rest of The Evil, back on the other world? Will it die?”
“Possibly, unless it can find another food supply.”
“But it can’t come back here, can it?”
“Not unless it comes via another world, no.”
“And what happens when you die? Will The Evil die, too?”
“Jack,” said Jaide, appalled that he would ask a question like that, right to her face.
“It’s okay, Jaidith,” said Grandma X with a smile. “I’ve been wondering that, too. And believe me, I’m not the only one. Someone last night actually raised the possibility of putting it to the test.”
The twins were shocked.
“They would kill you,” Jaide said, “because that might kill The Evil as well?”
“Indeed. Only the threat that it might release The Evil instead made them back down.”
They sat in silence for a long time, Jaide wondering if maybe it was true that over the course of one’s life a Warden’s Gifts made them more and more like The Evil. That was what had kept her up all night.
“What happens to us?” Jack asked. “Are we going to stay here?”
“If you’d like to. And if we can convince your mother.”
“Will you still teach us how to use our Gifts?” asked Jaide.
“That’s also your decision. Is that what you want?”
They looked at each other. It wasn’t something they had talked about, but now that they were with their grandmother and she didn’t seem any different, the decision was easy.
“Yes,” they both said at the same time.
She smiled. “Good. I’m pleased. And there are two others who will be glad to hear it, too.”
She crooked her finger and the cats came running up.
“Is it decided?” said Kleo, jumping into her lap and staring up at Jaide with her ears back. “The troubletwisters are to remain?”
“It seems so,” said Grandma X.
“Brilliant,” said Ari, hopping up onto the crate next to Jack and leaning into his side.
“But Grandma’s not a Warden anymore,” Jack said. “How can you be Warden Companions anymore?”
“We’ll be regular companions now,” said Kleo, “although we retain certain privileges.”
“Visiting rights, most importantly,” said Ari. “For snacks. Speaking of which, what’s happening to Stefano? As long as he’s on the cooking roster, I say he can stay as long as he wants.”
“He will remain in Portland until he passes his final Examination,” said Grandma X. “Speaking of which, Jackaran, we must arrange for you to take the third Examination as soon as possible.”
“It’s the worst,” said Jaide with relish. “You’ll just die.”
“Great,” said Jack, rolling his eyes. “If you’d just tell me why it’s so bad, then I could be ready for it.”
“She won’t,” said Grandma X with a warning look. “And when you’re all ready, all three of you will take the fourth and final Examination. I’ve spoken to Alfred. He believes you will have no difficulty passing. The three of you have already achieved much more than some Wardens do in a lifetime.”
She smiled, and the pride they saw in that smile was like the sun breaking through the clouds. Neither of them could believe that she was remotely Evil. They didn’t understand how it worked, but this they knew in their hearts, where it really mattered.
“You’d better get back to the game, Jaide,” she said. “Dogton just scored and that so-called teacher of yours looks like he’s going to have a stroke, or possibly explode.”
Jaide leaped up, sending Kleo tumbling, and saw the opposing team hugging one another in celebration. Kyle and the Portland Portcupine looked glum. Hector was waving frantically at her, and she waved back.
“I suppose I have to,” she said. “But it’s really Stefano who’s winning the game for us.”
“No, it’s not,” said Grandma X. “It’s teamwork. And never giving up, not ever.”
Jaide knew she was talking about something far more important than soccer, but wasn’t in the mood for a lesson.
“Wish me luck!” she said, running to join the team.
Jack watched her go, idly scratching Ari behind the ear but not really thinking about either Jaide or Ari. There was one question he hadn’t asked.
“What will the Wardens do now that The Evil is gone?”
“What would you like them to do?”
That was an easy question.
“Help people,” he said, thinking of how Tara had once believed him and his sister to be superheroes. “But not because we want to be famous or anything. I’d keep it just the way it is, a secret, with no one really knowing what we do.”
“That’s a noble plan, Jack,” she said. “I wonder what Aleksandr would say to it.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “He’s not a bad person. He just likes telling people what to do … maybe too much. And maybe that would be a bad thing, given how much spare time he’s going to have now.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” said Grandma X, picking up Kleo. “I’ll find ways to keep him busy.”
Kleo purred.
“Humans should work harder at doing the right thing on their own,” she said.
“Yeah,” sniffed Ari. “And they think we’re hard work.”
“Maybe it’s true,” said Grandma X. “We should be more like cats. They always land on their feet, for one.”
“Don’t worry, Grandma,” said Jack. “We’ll look after you.”
Grandma X took his hand in a very tight grip, and smiled.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
GARTH NIX is the New York Times bestselling author of the Seventh Tower series and the Keys to the Kingdom series, as well as the acclaimed novels Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen. He lives in Sydney, Australia, with his wife and children.
New York Times bestselling author SEAN WILLIAMS lives in Adelaide, South Australia. He is the author of more than seventy-five published short stories and thirty-five novels, and has written several novels in the Star Wars® universe.
Copyright © 2014 by Garth Nix and Sean Williams
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available
First edition, May 2014
Cover art © 2014 by Owen Richardson
Cover design by Christopher Stengel
e-ISBN 978-0-545-63407-6
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
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