Shadow & Mist Pt. 05 - The Quest

June 28, 1991 -- This Is Where I Want to Be

In the night, they were lined up on the furs like spoons that hadn't been put in the drawer correctly. They never bothered to put the beds back in the old arrangement.

Alex was the big spoon. Tabby was nestled against him, and Vicki against her. Annette was facing the other way with her hand on Vicki's butt.

Alex's arm stretched out across the three of them with his fingertips resting in the small of Annette's back. He had been up for twenty minutes, but he didn't feel like getting up. He was just enjoying listening to them breathing in unison and thinking about how amazing this week had been for him.

Before the rooster, the loud tap came from Nana's cane on the door.

He tried to get up without waking anyone, but they were already stirring from the knocking.

"Whoizzit?" Annette mumbled.

"It feels warm and comfy here. Tell'em to go away," Vicki added.

Alex whispered to the group as he rose.

"Y'all stay here 'n' sleep. They're probably comin' to get me for my Quest."

Everyone's eyes shot open at that. This was a big day.

No one bothered to get dressed. Instead, they followed Alex to the door.

"You know, young buck, I could get used to you greeting me like this every day."

"Mornin', Miss Nana. Would you like to come in for a minute?"

"No. It's time to get going. I've got a potion for you to drink when we get to the starting point. It will leave you open to the guidance of the spirits. You have to be at the trailhead when it kicks in."

Tabby cut in.

"We have a morning tradition, and you need to let us do it before he goes."

"Tabby, this isn't your Vision Quest. We don't have time for frivolous gestures. The ritual begins at --"

"Miss Nana, I'm not gonna disrespect your protocols, but this is for me to connect with Grandpa. It ain't frivolous."

Nana looked into his silver eyes.

He meant it.

Then she looked at the girls behind him.

"What do you need, Alex?"

He grabbed his pouch off of the dresser.

"Just this and a few minutes on the porch."

Nana stepped aside and motioned for him to come through.

Tabby wasn't the only one to follow him out this time. The other two gathered around him, too. Brittany wandered up out of the mist with full waterskins over her shoulder, giving all of them a casually intimate kiss before taking her dress off and picking her own place in the circle.

Even Nana sat next to Alex opposite Tabby.

Alex solemnly rolled his cigarette, barely paying attention to what he was doing. He was busy admiring the girls.

He finally lit it and held it in front of him.

"Grandpa, thank you for everything you taught me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you 'n' Granny. I think y'all'd be proud of these girls who've learned to love me. Help me make them never regret it."

He took a long drag and held it in. This time, it felt magic.

Tabby swiped it from his fingers and held it in front of her.

"Daddy, without Alex, I don't think you'd be sleeping in the infirmary. I think you would've left me. You taught me that we make those we love better. I don't know if I can make Alex any better, but help me help him through this Vision Quest so that he can always help me be better."

She took a puff and held it in.

She handed it to Annette, who looked at it like she wasn't sure what to do.

"Alex, I've never had much use for men in my life. I may not be your ancestor, but over these last few days, you've proven yourself to be the brother that I never knew I needed. I don't know what else to say except, you know, your penis doesn't disgust me. Still... keep it over there."

Tabby and Nana laughed. Annette took a pull on the cigarette and held it in while Alex gave her a thumbs up.

Brittany grabbed it next.

"I've never been good at speeches. There was one time when I was swimming in The Mirror. A thunderstorm brewed while I was under, and it started raining hard. When I came up, lightning shot across the sky behind The Sage Willow. The whole image was massive and bright and dripping. It was magnificent. I had never seen anything like it before or since... until I saw you with that marsh mallow over your head with your glowing eyes. I thought to myself that maybe I could watch you for the rest of my life and go back to that whenever I wanted."

She inhaled deeply and held it before passing it to Vicki.

Vicki gave Alex a look that wasn't her normal bubbly look. She seemed calm and happy. She tilted her head.

"No one has ever left me speechless before. You do."

Vicki filled her lungs with smoke and tried to hold it, but she coughed instead. Through the coughs, she tried to hand it back to Alex, but Nana grabbed it instead.

"Migo, Dottie, I've spent way too much time avoiding coming to see you. I'm sorry about that. Tonight, I'll come see you after you help your great-grandson find his way to The Sage Willow. He's going to be the best Herdsmaster this place has ever seen. Maybe even better than me."

Nana held the smoke longer than everyone else did. It was almost like she was listening to a response.

She handed it to Alex, who drew from it one more time and put it out on the ground.

"I'm ready, Miss Nana."

Nana and Alex slowly made their way to The Ghost using a mixture of the light of the late-setting moon and the brightening sky behind the eastern ridge.

Nana still wasn't letting her cane touch the ground, but she let Alex's offered arm do more work than she would have yesterday.

When they got to the covered bridge, Nana stopped.

From this side, there was no sign and no decorations.

It could be any covered bridge anywhere.

"Alex, this is where every Vision Quest for 350 years has started. On the other side of this bridge is a trail off to the right. You'll need to take that trail and follow it wherever it leads you."

She pointed to a cliff on the other side of the lake.

"You'll emerge at the top of that cliff, and you'll have to dive into the lake to swim to Anchor Island, where The Sage Willow grows."

"How long does it take?"

"It's different for everyone. It depends on where the path takes you and what the valley needs to show you. Most people show up sometime in the afternoon. I've seen some show up before lunch... some have taken days. Whenever you get there, though, The Elder Council will be waiting for you."

Alex looked at the potion she was holding.

"Do I just drink the potion and go?"

Nana held up a bony finger and looked at the eastern ridge. Alex followed her gaze.

They paused for a minute or more.

The sun peeked over the ridge.

"Now," Nana said as she handed him the potion. "Drink."

Alex guzzled the potion. The taste didn't hit him until halfway through. It tasted like salsa made from garlic, under-ripe persimmons, old pennies and rained-on straw that had been stored in a half-rotten oak barrel.

Alex scrunched his nose and scraped his tongue across his teeth like he was trying to clean off his fresh thirst.

Nana pulled him down to give him a kiss on the cheek, but didn't miss the chance to slap his ass.

"Now, go."

Alex crossed the bridge before he turned to ask Nana the question.

"How long does it take to kick --?"

Nana was gone, but so was the bridge and the lake. Alex was staring across an open meadow.

An elk cow was standing where Nana had been. She locked eyes with Alex before turning and bounding out across the meadow.

"I'll see you at the island, Miss Nana."

Alex headed up the trail.

Alex walked up the path beside The Ghost for three or twenty-three minutes. The laurel hell that crowded the other side of the trail started rustling. He looked in but couldn't see anything. He reckoned that a deer was moving through the brush, so he continued moving up the trail.

Annette popped out of the laurel in front of him, and tapped him on the arm.

"You're it!"

"Miss Annette? What're you doin' here? I'm supposed to do this alone."

"No one does their quest alone, Gigi."

"Gigi?"

"Yeah. It's short for Golly Gee Country Boy. Just because we don't fuck each other doesn't mean that I don't get to give you a nickname."

"But Gigi? It makes me sound like a French dancing girl."

"I like it, so you're going to have to live with it."

"Okay, Miss Annie."

Annette gave him a deadpan look.

"Fine... you win."

"Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I was sent to give you a challenge."

"What kind of challenge?"

"Nothing hard. Well, not for you. You have to race me up the hill to the source of The Ghost."

"Do I have to win?"

"That's not the end. Once we get there, there's a clearing. We each pick a rock from The Ghost and use it to dig a hole."

"How big of a hole?"

"Until one of us finds the heart of The Ghost."

"How will I know when I've found it?"

"Ready... set ­--"

Annette took off up the hill while Alex was waiting for Go. He ran after her.

Annette was fast, but Alex had a long stride. That might have helped him if he wasn't carrying double her weight or more.

Annette got to the round clearing first, grabbed a rock and started digging. Alex wasn't far behind her.

"You know you cheated, right, Miss Annette?"

"I would call it selective instruction."

They kept digging. It was hard work, but Alex didn't mind. He didn't know what he was looking for. After that start, he was determined that he was going to find it first.

He had gotten waist-deep and was scooping loose dirt out with his hands.

Something was pulsing from under the dirt.

Alex moved the dirt away and found a large beating heart.

"Miss Annette! I've got it!"

Looking around, he didn't see Annette... no other hole.

He had been digging by himself.

Alex climbed out of the hole holding the heart.

"Miss Annette?"

The clearing wasn't round anymore. It was Annette-shaped, and the hole he had dug was where her heart would be.

The rock face at the head of the clearing looked like her face made of stone.

"Just make sure it stays safe, Golly Gee Country Boy."

Alex gently placed the heart back where he found it and pushed the dirt back into the hole. He made sure to pack it tight around the heart as he went.

When he was done, he felt like he needed to water the heart-seed.

He looked back towards the hole where the creek bed started. There was one of those hand-pumps there.

Was that why the spring only ran sometimes? Did it have to be pumped?

Alex only had to pump it four times before it started running strong.

Using his hands as a pail, he carried water to the loose dirt and watered it until he thought it would be ready to grow again.

He walked to the rock face and rested his forehead on it.

"I hope you didn't get too much on it. Mud should always be thicker than water."

Alex turned to see one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

"Pardon, ma'am?"

Her skin was as dark as Alex's un-sunned skin, and her long, wavy black hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail with a red ribbon. Her hands held the ends of a red scarf that was draped over the shoulders of her white chemise shirt.

"My name is Maria, hijo mio. Walk with me."

Alex could see her bare feet walking normally from under her rust-colored shin-length skirt, but she seemed to glide across the ground faster than her pace would carry her. Alex shuffle-walked to keep up.

A short way up the trail, Orange Cat appeared and should've tripped her the way he was weaving through her feet.

"Hello again, Gatito Naranja."

She leaned over to scritch under his ears.

Alex squatted beside her to give the barn cat his own scritches.

Orange Cat purred.

"Miss Maria, are you one of the Orphans?"

"I'm an orphan of the blood, not of the magic. It has been many summers since I've seen my sisters, though, until the eclipse."

She stood back up and kept walking.

Alex quickly followed after giving the cat a gentle pat on his side.

"Then what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be spendin' time with your sisters if you haven't seen them in so long?"

"I was waiting for you, mi vida."

"For me?"

Maria stopped and turned to face Alex. Her almond-shaped hazel eyes made her face easy and inviting.

She reached up and brushed his hair out of his eyes. Her fingertips traced down his cheek as his hair fell right back where it had been. She smiled.

"It's been a while since I've walked this path with anyone. I needed to thank you, though, for bringing my sisters and me together."

"I'm happy that I helped you, but I don't rightly understand what you mean."

"You understand more than you think. I'm also sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"Because of our lines being brought back together, the five bloods may be done. My challenge for you isn't for your quest. At least, not this one."

"Miss Maria, I'm not following any of this."

They stopped at a side trail. Maria looked down the trail.

"One day, this will all make sense. Our time is over. My challenge for you is to find the New Foundation. There will be five as before. Don't forget any of what I've said."

Alex took a beat to commit what she said to memory, though he couldn't grasp why.

"Yes, ma'am."

Maria stood on her tiptoes and gave Alex a light embrace and a double-cheek kiss. Alex returned the affection automatically. Grandma used to do that whenever they were parting ways for any length of time.

Maria pointed down the side path.

"Go, mi vida. The Erdmann girl is waiting for you down there."

"Miss Vicki?"

Maria didn't say anything else. She just turned and glided off into the woods.

When Alex couldn't see her anymore, he ran excitedly down the path to see Vicki.

When Alex got to the bottom, he found himself standing on the flat top of the boulder that houses The Moon.

It was much larger than he remembered. Instead of water bubbling out of one quartz cluster, there were dozens of them. The water was shooting from one chunk of quartz to another like one of those jumping jet fountains.

Vicki was dancing between them. She would leap and then barrel-roll in mid-air. She followed it with a pirouette and a flip. The water never hit her. It wasn't like she was avoiding the water.

She was just the air that was never the water.

After executing a turning grand battement, she looked at Alex, leg still in the air.

"Darling! Come dance with me."

"I'm not much of a dancer, Miss Vicki, but I'll try."

"Don't be silly. I've seen how you move when you're not thinking about it."

She held a hand out to him while dipping back under a stream of water flying by.

Alex, on the other hand, walked right into one on his way to her and sputtered.

As soon as their hands touched, though, he just knew how to move. It was like he could feel the air react to the water before it got there. When the water got to him, he just wasn't there anymore.

They began moving like ballroom dancers.

There was no music. Instead, the randomness of the water shooting across the rock became notes.

He would spin her, and the water would move between them. When he dipped her, it arced over both of them. He lifted her and spun himself, and two jets went under her, barely missing him.

The two of them were laughing with abandon.

Twirls, sidesteps, chassés, around-the-world sweeping spins, continuous wings and fleckerls.

Every time their lips passed close enough, they would sneak a quick kiss.

Sometimes the water was so close that it flew between two locks of hair and was gone before they came back together.

The movements got faster and more elaborate.

Alex could feel it coming through her touch.

He spun around with her quickly, launching her high into the air, and instantly dropped to his knees back into a floor hinge.

All of the quartz shot at the same time, making a series of half-circles over Alex and under Vicki. When they passed, Alex lifted himself back forward and caught Vicki in his arms.

And then one more quartz jet erupted and hit Alex directly in the side of his head.

Vicki laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

They kissed passionately.

Alex closed his eyes tight to savor every moment of that kiss. He wanted to remember that more than Maria's ominous words.

When he opened his eyes, he was alone again on the boulder that housed The Moon.

This time, it was back to the one bubbling quartz fountain.

He went over and drank deeply from it.

His mouth finally didn't feel so dry.

He danced off the rock and back up the trail.

He held his hands out as he danced like he was waltzing with Vicki.

As Alex waltzed closer to the main trail, at the intersection he saw another couple dancing.

The woman looked a lot like a newer Maria... not younger, but newer.

Her clothes matched much closer to the hippie skirts seen now in Camp Coventry. They were more vibrant orange than Maria's but still layered. The blouse was sleeveless, and her own wavy black hair hung completely loose.

The man was Alex.

Wait... it couldn't be Alex.

Alex was Alex.

Wasn't he?

The man was nearly as large, but his hair was darker and longer, pulled back into a shoulder-length loose ponytail. The shirtless Alex's skin matched Alex's sun-skin, but all over.

Their dance was older but no less wild than Vicki and Alex's dance had been.

In their hands, they held skipping stones that they were using as castanets to keep the rolling rhythm of their dance that Alex could feel in his teeth. They made figure-eights around each other over the roots that stretched out into the trail in syncopated steps while their hips moved with an erotic lurch like a tractor with one flat tire. Every few steps, they would dramatically freeze and stare intimately into each other's eyes.

On one of these freezes, the dancer locked his silver eyes with Alex's.

"Ho-ho! Alex! The Zarabanda!" His booming, friendly voice called out. "Dottie! To Alex!"

He grabbed Dottie by the waist and with a powerful, fluid twist he spun her.

Her skirt flared out across the trail, brushing the ferns and forbs on either side of the trail.

She spiraled towards Alex, who caught her by the waist. Now, he was staring into her hazel eyes. They were brighter, with more gold in them than Maria's. They looked like sunlight as they caught the orange in her skirt.

Alex intuitively continued the figure-eight tractor lunges with her as they made their way back to...

"Miguel Herrera," he declared as the man caught both of them before they knocked him over. "Though I believe you know me better as a bull-headed jackass."

"You're Migo!"

"Yes. You've just danced with your great-grandmother, Dorothy, and I believe you've already become quite close with our other Hand-Bound, Clem. Now, we need to get moving. You've got places to be, hijo!"

The three of them moved up the trail away from The Moon.

"I assure you, sir, my relationship with Nana is nothing inappropriate."

Migo elbowed him lightly in the ribs.

"If you had met her fifty years ago it would've. Clem was always insatiable."

"It's hard to believe that I'm your great-grandson."

"Why is that? You're handsome. You're powerful. You're a leader. You're just like me!"

"You're so bold, though."

"Bold? Ha! When you're great, you should be bold."

"What if I fail them?"

Migo stopped walking and looked at Alex. He started to say something but stopped with his mouth hanging open.

He closed his lips so tightly they almost disappeared.

Migo continued walking.

"Miss Dorothy, did I say something wrong?"

"You want my opinion? But you have the silver eyes, too. Those with silver eyes don't need help. You'll always know what to do."

She sounded genuinely baffled that he didn't know.

Migo stopped again.

"This! This is the curse of the silver eyes. They'll call you the child of the Moon Goddess. They'll tell you that you always have the magic in you. You have a connection to it. You have the answers. TELL US THE ANSWERS!"

"Mr. Migo?"

"Was I a bull-headed jackass? Absolutely. I had to be. Everyone expected me to have the solution to whatever problem came up. Go get Migo! they'd scream. Migo can save us all! You'd think it was a damned Enochian chant. I never had the answers. I just had to make it up as I went because of THESE!"

Migo pointed hard at his eyes and then at Alex's.

Migo continued walking. He moved quickly, talking over his shoulder to Alex and Dottie who were trying to keep up.

"What if you fail? You will, and they'll forgive you without question. Then, they'll make you do it again. You'll fail a lot. If you're lucky, the failures will be small, and you'll be correct far more than you're wrong."

"Migo, darling, why didn't you tell us? George, Sarah, Clem and I... we were your Soul-Circle. We would've helped. You never asked. We love you."

"If I had, do you know what would've happened? They would've judged me for not having the answers. They would've stopped trusting the magic that my eyes carried..."

Migo suddenly turned and stared into Dottie. His voice became lower.

"... and you, Dottie, would still be alive, sitting next to Clem on that porch."

"Darling, no one blamed you."

Migo sat on a rock.

"Well, they should have. When we had to retire into The Silver Circle, I thought that I was finally free. Despite your death, they decided to make me the first-ever Patriarch."

"Mr. Migo, may I say something?"

"Please, Alex, tell me what the moonlight is telling you."

"Pardon my bluntness, sir, but the moonlight ain't tellin' me shit, and I'm startin' to think that it never told you shit, either. Maybe you shoulda said to hell with what people were saying and listenin' to what the people you love were tellin' you. Miss Nana's one o' the sharpest women I've ever met. I'm not the first person she told that you were a bull-headed jackass, was I?"

This was when the first tear cascaded down Migo's face.

"no alex she told me that in 1971 the night before we joined the silver circle"

Alex and Dottie held Migo while he cried.

After a few minutes, Migo lifted his head and dried his eyes with the back of his hand.

He stood. His voice returned to its former boisterousness.

"We still need to get you to your next stop. Come! It's not far now!"

The three of them walked together. Alex was in the center with Migo on his left. Migo told bawdy stories, occasionally giving him a slap on the back or a good-natured nudge. To Alex's right, Dottie held his hand, squeezing it warmly with each guffaw from Migo.

After a short hike up the trail, they approached a simple one-room cabin with a small stoop instead of a porch.

Migo yelled out a jocular bellow.

"Twiggy! Are you in there?"

The door opened and a stork-like man leaned out.

"Miguel? Dorothy? What are you doing out of your trees?"

Twiggy looked at the farm boy between them, not noticing him up to this point.

"OH! You must be Alex. That explains it."

"You know me, Mr....?"

"I'm Frederick. Call me Fred. At this point everyone knows you -- even those of us who live out here."

"You're an Orphan?"

"I prefer to think of myself as a long-life-long bachelor. I've never been much of a ladies' man."

"Not that you didn't try, eh, Twiggy ol' boy!"

Fred looked at Migo and gave a short nod of acknowledgement before turning his attention back to Alex like he wanted to pretend it was never said.

"Come on, Alex. They're here to lead you to The Whisper. Just follow me. That way I can get them back to their trees."

On their way down, Fred tripped over three different roots that weren't anywhere near his feet.

When the mountain became flat where it met the valley, Alex felt the ground get soft and wet beneath him. He was in a dense forest of large, old trees, but each one had one of those runes on it. He was surprised because each still lightly glowed without any light hitting it, like those glow-in-the-dark stickers he used to get as a kid.

Each rune was different. He traced his fingers over one of them.

Fred leapt past Alex.

"Keep moving, Alex. Migo and Dottie's trees are up near the front."

"What are these, Mr. Fred?"

"This is the Shroud Grove. When someone dies in Coventry, this is where they get buried. A tree is planted over them with their sigil carved into it."

"Like the sailor who saved the founding witches?"

"Exactly!"

For a man who tripped over nothing a lot, Fred was surprisingly agile, jumping from root to root. Sometimes, he'd even grab a low branch or cling to a trunk to pounce onto the next solid root like a gray fox. His clean boots never touched the mud between them.

Alex couldn't say the same.

Migo and Dottie were lucky enough to be able to do that spirit glide-walk over it.

Finally, when Alex could look through the smaller trees to the fen itself, Fred chirped to them.

"Come on, you two. Here's your trees."

There was a cluster of four black gum trees, but Alex's eyes fell on an empty space in front of them.

Fred gave his shoulder a mournful pat.

"That's for Clementina. She should be with them."

Alex took note of the spot.

He knew that, one day, he'd be making a lot of trips here.

"Anyway, young man, just head across the front to the side that faces the field where you rode the other day. That's where you need to be."

Before leaving, Alex paused to watch. Fred gently touched the sigil on one of the black gums and held Migo's hand. Migo faded into the tree. He then did the same for Dottie before prancing back across the roots towards his home.

As Alex walked along the front of the trees towards the barn, he tried to see if he could do the spirit glide-walk. About the closest he got was dragging his feet through the mud ankle-deep. It was still better than the knee-deep trudge.

Up ahead, he saw Tom sitting on a stump next to a Shroud Grove tree. It was on the far end of the Shroud Grove where it got the most sun available.

When he got close, he gave Tom a stern look.

"Dr. Tom? What are you doin' up here? You need to be restin'."

Tom motioned towards another stump beside him that wasn't there a moment ago.

"Have a seat, Alex. We need to talk."

"Yes, sir."

Alex sat with his elbows on his knees, mirroring Tom's pose.

Tom reached up to touch the sigil on the tree next to him.

"When I was your age, my little sister was walking alone in the woods behind the Floor House. She was thirteen, had just moved in and thought she'd explore. She got bitten by a copperhead. That's almost never fatal. She had played with snakes her whole life. She loved them. She'd even been bitten before. This time she had an allergic reaction. They didn't find her until the next day when we all searched for her.

"That's why I became a doctor, but there are some things that neither medicine nor magic can fix."

Tom turned from the tree to Alex.

"This is her. When my time comes, I want to be here beside her so our roots can mingle again. This area where we are now is where the rest of the Circle of the Clouds will eventually be... beside me.

"Dr. Tom, sir, we've got plenty o' time to --"

Tom held his hand out to interrupt Alex.

"That doesn't matter, Alex, but there's something that I need to tell you right now."

"Sir?"

"You protected my Tabby-Cat when I couldn't. You were there for my Bella. You saved the entire valley.

"Heck, you even laugh at my jokes... no one laughs at my jokes.

"Yet, somehow, you're still the humblest person that I've ever met."

"Thank you, sir."

"I know about the Hand-Binding ritual that the five of you did for yourselves. No matter what happens going forward, you're my family. You're my son, and I trust you to take care of Tabby.

"I do have one request, though."

"What would that be, Dr. Tom, sir?"

"Just once, would you not call me sir or doctor or mister?"

"I will. Thank you, Dad."

Tom and Alex stood. They hugged tight for a full minute before he whispered into Alex's ear.

"Give her that for me."

Then, Tom backed away and held his arms out like he was Jacob Marley's ghost and declared in a spooky voice.

"Expect the next spirit at the barn."

Alex turned to look at the barn in the distance. When he looked back, Tom and the stumps were gone, but his sister's sigil was glowing bright.

When Alex entered the grazing field with the sun high in the sky, it seemed strange that there were no animals.

Did no one come to let the animals out today?

The animals were not going to be happy when Alex came by this evening if they were cooped up all day.

There was a single goat there, though.

Someone was milking the goat.

"Um... excuse me, sir! Hello?"

The man turned and smiled at him.

"Alex! I reckoned that I'd keep busy while I waited for you!"

"Grandpa?"

Walter patted the goat on the side and stood up holding his arms out for a hug.

The goat faded away while six-year-old Alex ran up and jumped into his grandfather's arms like Jano had done to him the day before.

Walter held him tight for a few seconds and shifted him into the crook of his arm. Then he started kissing him with quick, playful pecks on the cheek, neck, forehead and ears.

Little Alex laughed like it was tickling him.

Walter pulled back and ruffled Alex's hair with his other hand.

"Look at you! You're growin' like a weed, kiddo. You're gonna be bigger'n the Old Man of the Mountain himself before you know it."

Alex held his arms above his head making him bigger than Walter. He crooked his hands into claws and made gruff fake grumbles before a giggling collapse against his grandfather.

"This's a nice place you got here. Might even be nicer than our old place."

Walter set Alex down, went over to a bench in front of the barn, sat and started rolling a cigarette.

Alex scrambled up beside him.

"Little late in the day for that i'n't, Grandpa?"

"Now you've been callin' me every mornin' for months, 'n' you're gonna give me heck about this over the time o' day?"

"No, sir. I'd never. I was just sayin'. How are you here? You're not from here."

"Well, maybe not directly, but Mattie brought both o' us here. Who did you think it was that taught me all o' that old-time magic?"

Alex didn't really hear that last question. His mind was still gnawing on callin' me every mornin' for months.

"Grandpa, I'm sorry I wasn't there when you passed. I never got to tell you how much you meant to me."

"Do you think I don't know that, kiddo? You showed me that every day I was with you, 'n' you've proved it every day I weren't."

"But you were alone."

"I weren't never alone. You 'n' Mattie 'n' Rosie were always there, just like we're all gonna be there for you anytime you need us."

"I know. I think everyone here loves you almost as much as I do."

"I'm becomin' fond o' them, too. Those little girlfriends o' yours are mighty pret--OW! Dammit!"

Walter threw the cigarette to the ground and stomped it out.

"I hate when the stingers do that!"

Alex smiled.

"Me, too, Grandpa."

"Well, my quirl's done. That means it's time for me to go."

"No, Grandpa, it's too soon."

"Well, that tobacco was kinda dry. Besides, I've got a couple o' other pretty girls who wanna take you to see the one who sits with you when you smoke. I like her. She's a fiery one, ain't she?"

"You've got no idea, Grandpa."

"Mattie! Rosie!"

Alex's face lit up. He turned to see his grandmother and a pretty teen girl walk out from the barn.

"Is that...?"

"That's yer mama, kiddo. Go say hi. I'll see you in the mornin'."

Mattie and Rosalia held their hands out.

Little Alex ran up and took them.

They wandered off to take the path leading past The Smokehouse towards The Cauldron.

Every few steps, they'd lift Alex up and let him swing between them.

On the way to The Cauldron, Rosalia asked her son about his days. Every time, he'd talk like Vicki giving a tour.

Approaching the greenhouse, she asked six-year-old Alex about life on the farm.

"Now, Alex, have you been helping your Grandpa around the farm? He's got a lot of work to do."

"I'm helping all the time. Grandpa knows all about animals, and he's taught me. I can milk a goat all by myself. I know how to spot bumblefoot on a chicken and make a weed salve. At night, I'm really tired. At bedtime, Granny tells me stories about faeries and full moons and giants with eyes just like mine and forest witches and..."

As they passed the Smokehouse, ten-year-old Alex wasn't quite as excited.

"How was school today?"

"I don't know. I like school... it's weird. I'm the oldest kid in class, but I'm the smallest. I don't get picked for games. I'm not smart enough for anyone to ask me about schoolin'. I mean, I'm not stupid. I know that. I mostly get good grades, but I have to work really hard at it. I sit in the back of the class by the cubbies by myself. Sometimes, though, when the other teacher takes the kids out for recess or at lunch, Miss Beverly lets me stay in the classroom and help her clean up or get ready for the afternoon lessons..."

As they walked beside the lake, fifteen-year-old Alex had his arms around both Granny and Mom.

"Now that you're so big, have you tried basketball or football?"

"I tried wrestlin', but I only lasted two weeks. Grandpa and the animals needed me more than the team did. They only wanted me because I'm big and scary. Everybody's scared of me: the other kids, the teachers, the coaches... the girls. People just move out of the way when I'm comin' down the hall. Most don't even look at me. The librarian's nice, though..."

Walking up the path to The Cauldron, they heard about graduation, college and being homeless. Alex was now a half-day older than he was when he started the Vision Quest.

He was holding them gently under his wingspan.

"How do you like it here?"

"When I got here, it was the first time I ever felt like I belonged somewhere. I mean, I loved the farm, but there was always this feelin' that there was somethin' that was missin'."

He looked at Rosalia.

"Most of my life, I thought it was you. It wasn't. It was here... and now I've got you, too."

They all stopped at the entrance to The Cauldron. Alex felt like they had both been there his entire life.

He pulled them in together, and they shared a long group hug. As he let go, he kissed each on the cheek.

"I know that y'all have to leave now, and I've got to move forward, too. I love you both."

He gave them a six-year-old's wave before going into The Cauldron.

Inside The Cauldron, there was more steam than there had been when he came here looking for Vicki. Alex was able to see his way to the room with the pools.

Tabby looked amazing.

She was sitting on the edge of one of the pools with her feet dangling in the water and leaning on her hands. Her head was leaning back rolling slowly side-to-side. Her hair, now wet from the humidity, had straightened to reach the rock floor.

The red light and the steam made it look like her amber eyes were glowing. Her drifting hair look like flames riding the floor the way they do on a log in a hearth.

"Wow... or I reckon I'm expected to say Golly Gee."

Tabby looked up.

"Well, Mountain Boy, I was starting to think that you were never going to get here."

A ribbon of steam drifted past her face.

"I've gotta say, Miss Tabby, I wouldn't've missed this for the world."

Tabby dropped into the pool, swam across, exploded out of the other side, holding herself up on the edge by her hands, and pushed her breasts out at him.

The steam seemed to be coming off of her, not the water.

"Then come over here and show me how much you appreciate what you're seeing."

"Miss Tabby, the rules."

A plume of steam rose from her.

"If there's one thing you should've learned about me by now, it's that I know how to get as close as possible to breaking the rules without actually breaking the rules."

Tabby stepped gracefully out of the pool with the steam swirling around her.

She made her way to Alex silently, slowly extending her toes out with each step. She rested firmly on the balls of her feet before repeating the motion with her other foot. With each step the steam went from being puffs to clouds to a wall of steam.

He couldn't see her by the time he heard her voice whisper into his ear.

"We can't have sex, but I can kiss you."

Her lips landed hot and damp on his chest.

He tried to wrap his arms around her, but he only got steam.

"I can hold you."

He felt her hand reach between his legs from behind and cup his balls.

She gave them a tender, burning squeeze before disappearing but leaving a wet coating on them.

"I can embrace you."

Alex felt the steam wrap its legs around his waist, grinding against him.

Alex was sweating.

"I can touch you."

He felt her nails scrape down his back. He wasn't sure if he would be covered in scratches or burns when he got out of here.

"Ummmm, Miss Tabby? Shouldn't you be giving me a challenge or somethin'?"

"Yeah... don't get hard."

"I think it may be a bit too late for that."

She ground against him.

"It feels slick already. Is that me or you?"

"I'm not rightly sure."

"I'll tell you what. I'm going to go outside. If you can find me, you can fuck me."

With that, she disappeared. Her voice wafted through the air making it swirl.

"Come get me, Farm Boy."

Alex felt his way across the ground with his feet and kept his arms slowly swinging around feeling for walls or, more hopefully, Tabby.

His foot hit one of the rocks along the wall. He thought he felt her hair, but when he tried to grab it, it wasn't there.

He made it to the room's entrance and thought that he might have grazed against her ass. He reached for her hips and all he got was his own hands.

As he was feeling along the wall of the entrance corridor towards the front, he swore he could feel her knee digging between his shoulder blades.

He knew he had her now. He swung his hand around lightning-fast and grabbed her.

He held her tight in his grip...

... then his arm nearly got ripped out of its socket as he was dragged fast.

The Stag burst out of the cave with Alex holding on, trying to run fast backwards to keep up.

Tabby wasn't anywhere to be seen, and The Stag was darting up the trail towards the ridgeline.

Alex jumped up and swung his leg over The Stag. He straddled it with his arms around its neck to ride it like Flint.

When they got to the top, there was still a fading, glowing silver line from the Blood Moon magic that their circle had made.

As they started to follow the silver line along the ridge, The Stag started to change, but so did Alex.

The Stag was no longer there. Alex was gone. The silver line had vanished.

It was Alex's legs doing the running.

The Stag, Alex, and the silver Blood Moon magic had merged to become The Elk.

The Elk started running with increasing speed along the ridgeline. He could taste the forest air as he breathed in... smell the moisture exhaled by the trees... feel the sun warming up his fur in open balds, only for it to cool when back in the shade... hear the dirt and leaves crunching together under his hooves.

What he saw, though... that was the most amazing thing.

He was accelerating, running circles along the ridge around the entire valley.

Everything had its own aura.

Plants emitted a pale yellow-green light. The ground gave off a ruddy ochre from the worms and insects underneath it. The lake's fish and algae and mussels made it turquoise blue. The individual plants and animals from the trees to the raccoons to the turtles to the witches in the valley each had its own color like a box of thousands of colored pencils.

The Shroud Grove itself, from this vantage point, was a brighter mosaic of individual colors. Each hue melted into the ones it touched.

The Elk kept moving faster. His legs were painful--he was running so fast. He had circled the valley countless times now.

It made him think back to when his teacher, Miss Beverly, had taught them about color. They were given paper circles with six sections. They made each section a different color: blue, green, yellow, orange, red and purple. Then she had them poke a hole in the center and stick their pencils through it. When they spun it really fast, the disc turned white.

That's what the valley was doing. It was glowing white.

That was the color of Life magic.

Eventually, Alex's exhaustion got the better of him, and The Elk faded away.

Alex collapsed in a limp heap on the forest floor.

When he was able to raise his head, he was looking at the sun. It was shining on his face from between the trees. The trunks lined this stretch of the path, the canopy arching over it to make a tunnel.

Alex forced himself to crawl... slow... deliberate... collecting dirt in his raw fingertips... bleeding through the dirt towards the end of the tunnel.

When he got there, the sun was low in the sky. He was staring down a long, undercut cliff face to the lake below. The Sage Willow wasn't far away, and there was a whole group of people waiting there.

He knew he had to dive into the lake. He didn't have the strength to stand, much less dive.

He rolled off the cliff and fell limp to the water.

He didn't remember hitting the water.

What he remembered was the sudden coolness of being enveloped by the water. It was almost cold. He had to be in The Mirror.

He hadn't taken in enough air in the fall. He tried to hold his breath for as long as he could and swim whichever direction felt like up. His limbs wouldn't work, though. His weight just kept carrying him deeper.

Soon, he thought, I'll get to feel the cool coming from the source if I keep going deeper. It sure is mighty pretty down here.

Fish were swimming around him. He saw a turtle go by. He felt tape grass brushing against his leg. Then an American eel came up and wrapped itself around him.

Alex couldn't hold his breath any longer. He opened his mouth to inhale and took in a lungful of lake water.

Before his eyes closed, he noticed the eel change. Where the tail met the body, though, it wasn't an eel. It was like a mermaid. It was Brittany, and where her birthmark had been, tiny scales could be seen through her translucent skin.

Kiss me, she said. Her mouth didn't move, though. She said it into his head. Give me your burden.

Alex did as he was told and kissed her. He felt her inhale all of the water out of his lungs, then was hit by a burst of alertness as she exhaled fresh air back into them.

He was still exhausted, but she wasn't an eel anymore. This was actual Brittany, birthmark and all.

He felt other hands grab him. Annette, Vicki and Tabby were all there, too.

They guided him to the surface.

The sun had just started to hit the mountain south of the headwaters of Coven's Creek.

Patrick was building a fire that Alex could warm himself over. Katy, Tina and Isabelle were all beaming at the group swimming back to Anchor Island. In front of them, Nana stood leaning on her cane smiling warmly.

The skies were starting to darken when they got to the island. Alex was awake, but not alert.

When he crawled onto the shore, he was met with a bellowing *GRROWWF!*, an excited nudge, and a barrage of wet tongue slaps.

"Yes, Miss Vera, it's good to have my first Coventry friend here."

The Elder Council laughed, helped him to the fire and sat him down beside it. He was shivering.

Each member took a seat around it with him. Nana sat close on one side, and Vera settled against him on the other.

For some reason, the girls stayed back watching the circle around the fire.

Katy looked to Nana, who nodded back.

"Alex, I know you've had a long day. Do you think you can answer some questions?"

"My head ain't exactly clear yet, Miss Katy."

"This is a formality, but it's an important one. Take more time if you need it."

"I reckon you can go ahead. If I need to take time, I can do it thinkin' of the answer."

Katy smiled, and Tina asked the first question.

"While you were out there, did something show you your element?"

Alex looked up at the ridge.

"It started as a Stag, Miss Tina. I rode it. Then, we became an Elk. We saw it together, so... I guess, in the end, the Elk showed me."

Patrick spoke up.

"While you were out there, what element did it show you?"

"I'm a Life Witch, Mr. Patrick."

Katy went next.

"While you were out there, did you decide what job you would like to perform for the community?"

"I would be honored if you would allow me to be the Herdsmaster, Miss Katy."

Nana leaned close to him.

"Now this is a yes or no question. While you were out there, did you learn anything about yourself?"

"As a matter of fact, Miss Nana, I did. I just need to ask--"

"Unless you've developed some doubts, you should ask me later. We've got important business to take care of here."

She winked at him.

He accepted that and let Isabelle ask the last question.

"Not everyone gets to answer yes to this question, but I suspect you may. While you were out there, was your Soul-Circle revealed to you?"

Alex glanced over to the girls who were huddled together away from the fire. They were looking at him with a mixture of pride, hope, and love.

Alex was now warm and alert.

"Damn right, it was, Miss Isabelle. Annette, Brittany, Vicki and your daughter make my Soul and my Circle complete."

Isabella stood. Katy, Tina and Patrick followed.

Alex did, too, but he helped Nana up in the process.

Once they were up and she could stand on her own, Nana called out to the girls.

"Come on over here and hug your fella. I've been hogging him long enough. We've still got more work to do."

For the next couple of minutes, things were casual as hugs, kisses and laughs were shared. Annette and Alex interlaced their fingers and gently touched foreheads, which was becoming their personal way of greeting, congratulating, or saying I love you.

"Could you all come over here, please? We're ready to continue."

Katy was beckoning to them. She had hung a lantern under The Sage Willow.

As they moved over, Katy described the next ritual.

"The Soul-Circle acts as the body of magic manifest in the physical world. Both are represented by The Compass Rose. Vicki, could you step forward?"

Vicki approached Katy. She looked very proud as Katy moved her into position.

"Vicki, your element is Air, which lives in the north. Your essence is The Crane, the bird that dances among the marsh grasses. Through you, Crane brings your Soul-Circle joyful devotion... you lose yourself in every moment spent with your circle."

She turned to the others.

"The pure abandon of her emotions means that she can get lost in the emotions that can hurt her, too. You must always be ready to fill her with love if that happens. Only you can keep her from falling to despondency."

Katy stood behind Vicki, and Patrick stepped forward.

"Come on over here, Sunbeam."

Tabby went to her Uncle Pat.

"Tabby, your element is Fire, which lives in the east. Your essence is The Firebrand, the ember inside a smoldering log. Through you, Firebrand brings your Soul-Circle passionate transformation... wherever you go, you bring warmth, work and change."

He turned her to face west and moved behind her.

"A firebrand can unexpectedly flare up and become destructive. The rest of you must be ready to shelter it until it burns back down to its original warm ember."

Tina emerged from the ever-shrinking cluster of Elders. She held her hand out.

"Annette?"

Annette grabbed her hand and moved to the position with her back to the trunk of the tree, facing Vicki.

"Annette, your element is Earth, which lives in the south. Your essence is The Appalachian Soil, the foundation of this valley, our home. Through you, Appalachian Soil brings your Soul-Circle grounded nurturing. Within you, Appalachian Soil feeds abundance from seed to dry-down when the remains return to feed the soil again."

Tina stood behind her.

"Supporting all of our weight is a lot of pressure. She usually does this with quiet dignity, but even the hardest stones crack and fall apart..."

She gave Annette's shoulders a squeeze.

"... or even explode and hurt others. You, her Soul-Circle, must make the fracturing easier. It's not a bad thing. It eventually becomes more soil."

Annette turned and looked at Alex and wagged a finger at him as if saying, you're the one who does that to me.

Isabelle moved towards the western spot on the emerging compass.

"Brittany, dear, would you join me over here?"

Brittany stood next to Isabelle.

"Brittany, your element is Water, which lives in the west. Your essence is The Eel, the one who hides in the darkest waters. Through you, Eel offers your Soul-Circle emotional depth. You provide a safe harbor when the currents become stormy and rough."

They both took their final positions, and Brittany's breath caught a little as she gazed across to Tabby.

"While offering all of you a place to hold your secret pains, she can drown in her own secrets. Always give her the same thing she gives you. You may be the only ones who can."

Alex didn't wait for Nana to call for him. He went to her to help her. She slapped his hand away.

"I can go this far without help. Let's go to the center."

He walked slowly beside her as she held her cane above the ground. She started her part of the speech as they moved.

"Alex, your element is Life, which lives in the center of The Compass Rose. The other four will always look to you, but without Air, Fire, Earth, or Water, there can be no Life. I think we all thought that your essence would be The Stag. Migo was a Stag. The Elk chose you instead. They are both protectors. The Stag has always been a solitary animal. The Elk, on the other hand, is always a herd animal. Through you, Elk provides your Soul-Circle community protection, guardianship through belonging."

Nana held his hand in the center. She turned with him as he looked to each of the women he loved.

"Being a protector can be a lonely job. The four of you must always make sure that he never has to face it alone."

The Elders moved away from The Compass Rose. Katy spoke again.

"You are now officially a Soul-Circle. Would you like to take a little time to decide on a name?"

"If the rest of you don't mind, I have an idea."

Everybody paused.

They didn't expect Brittany to be the one who spoke up.

"The five of us live our lives in the liminal spaces. Alex gets up at the edge of the night and works out at the edge of the camp. Vicki spends her days enveloped in smoke, and Annette in steam. Tabby works at dusk and dawn. I move through the camp at night when everyone's sleeping. I think we should be The Circle of Shadow and Mist."

Alex looked around at the rest of the circle. They all smiled.

"We love it, Miss Brittany."

Nana confirmed it.

"I guess The Circle of Shadow and Mist will become part of The Book of the Root tonight."

Everyone on the island hugged and shook hands and chatted for a few minutes before Patrick reached into a bag.

He pulled out a loop of thin hemp rope.

"I think we're forgetting one more thing."

Tina looked at him and smiled wide. Then, she started a long sustained howl.

"*Aaaaaah-whooooooooOOOOOOO...*!!!"

She held the howl, and Katy joined in.

"*Aaaaaah-whooooooooOOOOOOO...*!!!"

Patrick, Isabelle and Nana.

"*Aaaaaah-whooooooooOOOOOOO...*!!!"

Tabby, Annette, Vicki and Vera.

"*Aaaaaah-whooooooooOOOOOOO...*!!!"

Brittany nudged Alex to join in.

He did.

"*Aaaaaah-whooooooooOOOOOOO...*!!!"

Their combined voices carried across the lake until they ran out of breath to carry it.

"Miss Brittany, what was that?"

"Darling, we just announced that we're going to be Hand-Bound."

A grin came over Alex without him even realizing it.

Patrick stepped up to them with the rope hanging over his arms. It had no knot. It was just a continuous hemp rope like an unending clothesline.

"OK, guys. I've been thinking about this. Normally, when we bind five people, we use a star to show the connection of all five members. I think you guys need something more specialized."

Tabby explained to Alex, "Sometime in the past, the coven developed a game like Cat's Cradle where you make a figure and challenge someone else to copy it. Dad and Uncle Pat are the absolute best at it. We call it Spider-Walk."

Alex watched as Patrick stretched the loop out and then folded it, twisted it and fed loops through others. Finally, he had a ball of string.

"Well, I coulda done that."

"Wait for it, Mountain Boy."

Patrick seemed to turn the whole ball inside out and pulled five separate loops out of the inverted ball.

He carried it to the young circle, carefully laying the loops out in an order. He told them what order to stand in and which loop to put their hands through before he stepped back.

"Now, when I say Go, Alex pull up, Annette pull down, and everyone else just back up. Got it?"

They all nodded.

"Go!"

Quickly, the loops tightened to slipknots on their wrists. The ball itself unwound to become two three-sided pyramids that mirrored each other. One string ran from peak to peak between Alex and Annette. Both of them were connected to Tabby, Vicki and Brittany, but the link between them didn't go to the others.

"Now, each of you state your vow to the others. In unison, the rest of you will repeat it back. Begin whenever you're ready."

Tabby started.

"I will never hide you."

"I will never hide you," the other four called back.

"I will never hide from you," Brittany said.

"I will never hide from you."

"I will fill your sails," Vicki chimed, looking very proud.

"I will fill your sails."

"I will choose you over work," Annette declared.

"I will choose you over work."

Alex paused for just a split-second.

"I will heal us."

"I will heal us."

"It will be," The Elder Council said in unison.

"It will be," The Circle of Shadow and Mist called back.

The Elder Council started another howl.

"*Aaaaaah-whooooooooOOOOOOO...*!!!"

This time, the howl came back from all over the valley.

"*AAAAAAH-WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...*!!!"

The newly Hand-Bound looked across the valley as candles came to life against the darkness. Clusters of them lit up in front of lodges and The Floor House. Homes had smaller clusters. Individual candles popped up from deep in the woods.

When the other howls ended, the Hand-Bound responded with their own.

"*Aaaaaah-whooooooooOOOOOOO...*!!!"

When theirs ended, the candles were all blown out. The ten of them were alone on the island again.

The five newbound pulled their wrists out of the Spider-Walk.

It was now time for celebration.

Tina reached into another sack and pulled out a drum and a mbira. She started playing the mbira while Patrick played the drum.

The entire group danced long into the night.

Midnight - Interlude

The fading Blood Moon was shining down on Anchor Island not far above the southeastern ridge.

It had been such a long day that Alex couldn't believe how full of energy he was.

Alex had never seen music played like this before. He was pretty sure that this song had been going for three hours or more.

The musicians seemed nearly hypnotized by their own music.

Patrick's hands were a blur on the drums. The heels would hit a quick, steady beat while his fingertips rattled off sharp, textured rhythms against the rim.

Tina sat beside him cross-legged with the mbira on her calves. Her eyes were closed and her head swayed. She played it like a typewriter, creating a swirling, frantic buzz loop that only changed when the singers led it.

At some point, Nana had gotten her hands on a couple of wooden spoons. Her playing was effortless. It seemed like she was putting most of her attention on the dancing while the spoons made a high chattering that seemed to fill any trough in the music.

The lead instruments, though, were the vocals. Everything else followed their lead.

Isabelle and Tabby were in a vocal duel. Isabelle would call out a complex verse with runs, stabs and drops while Tabby hummed the melody. Then, Tabby would have to respond with an exact duplicate while Izzy hummed. A few verses later, they would switch roles. If someone made a mistake, the other would point and mime making a mark on a scoreboard.

Alex wasn't sure if they were actually keeping score or not.

Alex couldn't keep up with the whole story. The basic idea was three slaves named Silas, Pearl and Hazel who were in love and wanted to run away together. The plantation owner's son, Micah, wanted the two beautiful slaves for his own, and gave chase when they escaped. Whenever a Micah suffered a particularly funny misfortune or fortune fell to the trio, all the dancers would let out a YIP!

The music and the movement had a fast, deep pulse like lungs after a hard run.

Everyone's eyes were bright silver.

The dancing included lots of stomps and body slaps.

Vicki used lots of high jumps where she'd hit the ground on the two and the four with a slap on her knee.

Annette had the most exaggerated stomping like a marching skip.

Brittany mostly just swayed and smacked her hips like she was imitating a gallop, though Alex could've sworn that he saw her twirl once.

Katy's was more like an Irish jig while she clapped above her head.

Alex was pure flatfooting with thigh slaps.

They would trade partners and go off alone or move into a circle depending on where the music led them.

Currently, Alex was holding Vera's front paws to dance with her. She let out her own yips.

Vicki leaped close and leaned in to Vera.

"May I cut in, Vera?"

Vera licked her face before running to where she could wiggle her back in the dirt in front of Katy.

Alex picked Vicki up and spun her around with his hands under her butt. She purposefully laid back holding her arms out.

When she pulled herself back up, their lips met for a quick kiss and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"How is our hubby enjoying the dancing?"

"This is incredible. I feel so alive and a part of... everything, Miss Vicki."

"That's Mrs. Alex to you."

"It's gonna get real confusin' when I call all o' y'all 'Mrs. Alex'."

"We'll know who you mean. Your voice is different for all of us."

"How so?"

"I'm not telling you. You'll try to fake it."

"Fair 'nuff. How long do these dances usually last?"

"You never know. Usually not until... Dad?"

"Until dad, Miss Vicki?"

She tapped him on the shoulder and pointed behind him.

"No. Dad!"

Alex turned to see Vicki's father walking out of the water waving his arms.

Jairam's face had a weird look to it.

"Stop the music!"

Alex dropped Vicki to the ground. They both ran up to Jairam as the singing and music floated off into the night air.

"What's going on, Dad?"

"I didn't mean to ruin your celebration, sweetheart. Alex, I've been trying to get your attention over on shore. Something's going on with Tom."

"What do you mean, Mr. Jairam, sir?"

"He's suddenly getting weaker. We're going to need everyone we can get. I've already sent for Akiko. We've been taking shifts watching him while you were doing your Vision Quest."

The island got silent as instruments got packed up and everyone split into the two canoes and the rowboat.

Alex paddled one canoe while Annette steered. Nana sat in the front.

"Miss Nana, can I ask you what somethin' means?"

"Of course, Alex."

"It was because of our lines being brought back together, the five bloods may be done. She made me memorize it."

Nana turned her head back to him quickly.

"Who made you memorize it?"

"My ancestor... Miss Maria."

"Maria Hoguera?"

"Yes, Miss Nana."

Nana's forehead wrinkled more.

"We have something else that needs our attention right now, and I need to look at The Book. Can I get back to you about this?"

"Of course, Miss Nana. I tried to ask you earlier, but this is the first time I got a real chance."

"Alex, I'm not going to lie to you. I'm concerned about this, but it's not an emergency. We'll talk later."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You're tired and stressed. I'll let that one go."

She turned to give him a calming smile and a wink.