Alora: The Wander-Jewel (Alora Series Book 1) (2 page)

“She must be from Stone Clan. Right, Father?”

Graely sank back into his chair and spoke in a voice less certain than his words. “Surely she is. She couldn’t be Water Clan. She must be Stone Clan, even if her eyes were not entirely green. She
must
be Stone Clan.”

*****

“Your Aunt Lena and I were on our twentieth anniversary trip when we met your mother in Yellowstone National Park.” He shifted in his chair, not quite making eye contact with Alora as he sipped his coffee. “And yes, we lied to you all these years, but please wait until you hear the whole story before you get angry.”

Alora felt her heart racing and she braced her hands to steady herself against a wave of vertigo. Everything she’d based her whole life on, her entire meaning of self, was a lie. From the corner of her eye she spied an open hand, and she followed up the arm to her uncle’s pleading eyes and trembling chin—although he wasn’t really her uncle, was he? When she didn’t respond, he turned his head away and dropped his hand.

“I’m so sorry, Alora. But we always loved you, and I still do. We just didn’t know what else to do.”

She swallowed hard and nodded.

His voice cracked as he continued the narrative. “We were hiking on a deserted trail, and we’d gone miles without seeing any other hikers. We came to a small pool that had a geyser, probably twenty-five feet tall. I remember... we were sitting on a rock, watching the water shoot into the air and commenting it was like having our own private geyser.” His glazed eyes stared through the fireplace wall, as if seeing the scene unfolding again.

“All of a sudden, there was this woman lying on the ground. She just appeared right in front of us. She was lying there, wet and moaning, clutching a soggy bundle in her arms. We didn’t know where she came from. She couldn’t have come out of that water—it was boiling hot. But then we saw the bundle wiggling, and it started crying. It was you. You were a tiny baby, all wrapped up in a cloth, and we couldn’t even see your face. We just sat there, kind of frozen. It took a few seconds, but we finally came out of our stupor. We both went to her and knelt on the ground, asking if we could help her. I remember noticing there was blood in her mouth when she tried to talk. This was before cell phones were common, so we couldn’t call anyone. And we couldn’t have gotten a signal anyway.”

“So my mother died?” Alora hated the quaver in her voice. Her uncle held out his hand again, and this time she grasped it tightly. He squeezed her fingers and lifted her hand to kiss the back of it before he continued.

“No, she didn’t die. At least, she was alive the last time we saw her. You see, I don’t really know what happened to her. This is where it gets even more crazy sounding. She was weak, and she couldn’t lift her head. But her eyes were looking everywhere, like she was worried someone was after her. Her voice was so faint we had to lean close to hear her. She rambled on and on. She told us her name was Wendelle, and then she told us never to repeat it.”

Charles stopped his discourse, staring at Alora like he was seeing a ghost. “You look just like her, except for her eyes. Her eyes were the deepest green I’ve ever seen.”

Her breath caught in her throat.
Green
—like the boy in the vision. Maybe the boy was her brother. Her heart clenched. For some reason, she didn’t want to be related to the boy she’d seen.

Charles squeezed her hand. “She begged us to take her baby and keep her safe. We tried to reason with her and tell her we’d get her to a hospital, but she said she was dying and only had a few minutes.”

“And then she left me?” Alora closed her eyes tight as her stomach churned.

“No, she disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Yep. Poof—she was gone. Just like that.” Charles took another swig of coffee while she ruminated.

“Okay…”
It can’t be true; it’s too crazy. How can I believe my real mother appeared with baby-me in Yellowstone National Park, dropped me off with Uncle Charles and Aunt Lena, and evaporated into thin air? Maybe Uncle Charles is getting senile. He’s in his fifties; that’s pretty old. That must be it. He’s confused.

“Okay? Are you angry with me and Aunt Lena for keeping this a secret all these years?” He screwed up his face, cringing as if she were going to yell at him.

She hesitated, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “To tell you the truth, it all sounds a bit far-fetched.”

“You mean, you don’t believe me?”

“Not exactly. You seem really sincere, and you don’t make a habit of lying to me. But I’m thinking maybe you were just imagining things.”

“Like you imagined that boy in your bathroom just now?”

“No, he was real. I promise.”
If he was real, maybe this story is real, too.

Deep wrinkles creased his forehead as Charles swirled the coffee in his cup, staring at it like the answers lay inside the pungent black liquid. “Maybe I spoke too soon. Maybe you won’t believe me until you turn sixteen. Let’s forget I said anything.”

“I can’t really forget what you said.”

“Don’t think about it. I made it all up. Your real mother was your Aunt Lena’s little sister, who was killed in a car accident. You have her picture on your dresser.”

“Wait a minute. You can’t go back to the old story, now. And come to think of it, I don’t really look like Aunt Lena’s sister. Or did she even have a sister? I don’t know what to believe any more.”
I’ve stared at that picture day after day for hours, imagining what she might have been like. I can’t believe she might not really be my mother.

Uncle Charles set his coffee cup down and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, groaning into his hands. “I knew I was going to screw this up. I can’t do it without Lena. I never thought I’d have to explain without her helping me.”

“Just tell me the truth. The whole truth. I’ve got to know.”

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. “I don’t know how to convince you, but everything I told you a few minutes ago is true.”

“Okay… okay…” She tried to find the flaws in his crazy story. “How did you explain me to your friends? And I have a birth certificate—I’ve seen it.”

“When we came back with you, we told everyone you were Lena’s niece. She really did have a little sister named Jenny who was killed in an accident with a drunk driver. No one out here knew any of Lena’s family, so no one questioned anything we said. We got Dr. Sanders and Sheriff Mason to help us get you a birth certificate. They risked their careers by doing it.”

“Why would you do that? Why wouldn’t you just report a missing baby to the authorities?”

“Your mother was terrified of your father. She said he’d raped her and held her prisoner until she’d had the baby, and now he was trying to take the baby away from her. We were convinced he’d kill you if he could find you. We thought he might be a drug dealer or a gang leader or something. We didn’t tell Dr. Sanders and Sherriff Mason the whole story, but we said your mother was hiding her baby from the man who’d raped and stabbed her. We all waited and watched for a report of a missing baby, but nothing ever came through.”

“And my jewel? You told me my mother had it put in when I was a baby, so I would remember her.” Without thinking, her hand snaked up to probe the small belly button stone through her shirt.

“Dr. Sanders looked at it.” Charles shrugged. “He couldn’t really tell how it was put in—it was like it was connected internally. And your mother asked us to leave it, so we did.”

It was unbelievable, but it had a ring of truth.
Who am I?

“Please don’t cry, Alora. I’m so sorry. We never meant to hurt you; we were only trying to protect you.”

Alora touched her face with her fingers, surprised to find her face was wet.
I don’t feel hurt… I feel lost.

“Why didn’t you tell me before? Why now?” She asked the question of Uncle Charles, but kept her eyes glued to her hands in her lap.

“Your mom gave us two warnings before she disappeared: don’t try to take the jewel out of your navel, and don’t tell you the true story until your sixteenth birthday.” He pushed his hands through his short burred hair. “When I heard your imaginary boy had spoken your mother’s name, it was like seeing a ghost. I guess I should’ve kept my mouth shut and waited until you turned sixteen.”

“No, I’m glad you told me.” Her voice sounded as cold and flat as she felt. It was just too much to process all at once.

“I’ve thought about this for fifteen years, and I’m no closer to understanding it.” He took both her hands in his, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. “The only thing I understand is you’re special. Very special. I love you, and I hope you can forgive me—forgive us—for lying to you.”

She glanced up to his red-rimmed, pleading eyes, and the ice melted from her heart. She lunged into his lap and hugged his neck, wetting his shirt with her tears. She was warm and safe in her uncle’s arms. Maybe she could stay out on the ranch and ignore everything that had happened. She could simply pretend she was a normal fifteen-year-old girl. A fifteen-year-old girl with a jewel in her belly button and an occasional handsome male visitor to her bathroom.

*****

Kaevin’s knees were shaking. Why was he so nervous? He hadn’t done anything wrong—he was simply telling his story to a group of men and women who’d watched him grow up his entire life. But he felt like he was being sized up as the future clan leader, even though he was thirteen years away from taking that position unless his father died prematurely. He glanced around the circle, trying to judge the mood of the members.

Laethan, the chief healer, was sitting calmly with his eyes closed. He was probably meditating, although he almost appeared to be sleeping. With the rash of illness that had been spreading through the clan, claiming the lives of the very young and the very old, he might be exhausted enough to have fallen asleep sitting up. He didn’t move or flinch even when Graely began to address the council.

“My son is here to give testimony of an experience which could be immensely important to our future in Stone Clan. I was dubious when I first heard the tale, but after questioning both Kaevin and his friend Jireo, I’ve come to believe him. I’ll let you judge for yourselves when you hear him speak.”

Darielle was listening intently to the clan leader’s introduction, subconsciously testing the edge of her knife on a piece of grass. In the past, council members had left their weapons at the door during called meetings. But a surprise attack from Water Clan during one fateful assembly had ended the tradition. Two council members were killed during that assault, including Darielle’s father. As a result, she was the youngest council member, only twenty-six years of age and already chief of farsight. The other council member who died along with Darielle’s father was Valor, chief of discernment. The loss was devastating, as there was no other Stone clansman with the gift. They could only pray a child would be born to someday take the empty council position.

“Perhaps you should hurry.” Darielle spoke in a light voice. She looked pointedly toward Laethan’s unmoving form. “It seems some of our older council members may be hard put to stay awake for the proceedings.” The laughter of the other council members did nothing to rouse Laethan. Graely smiled, leaving him undisturbed.

“I will take your advice, Darielle, and let my son speak without further preamble.”

Wiping his perspiring palms on his leather breeches, Kaevin made his way to the center of the circle.

His father patted him on the back. “Simply tell the story, from the beginning. Don’t leave anything out.”

Kaevin cleared his throat. “Well, I... uhmm.... A few weeks ago I started seeing visions. I could only see a girl’s face—her head—with water flowing over it, like a small waterfall.”

“What color were her eyes?” asked Chaleah. The chief judge sat forward, narrowing her eyes as she concentrated on Kaevin’s response. Her gift included detecting truth and falsehood, and she watched closely to assure the accuracy of Kaevin’s report.

“Her eyes were always closed during the visions. She disappeared every time she opened her eyes. The visions came on seven different occasions. And the last time it happened, Jireo was with me.”

“And you’ve never seen this girl before? Perhaps you met her at one of the clan gatherings?” Chaleah suggested.

“No, I don’t remember seeing her.”

Darielle sat forward. “If you describe her, I might be able to draw a sketch. We can see if anyone recognizes her.”

“Go on with the story, Kaevin,” Graely interrupted. “This is the unbelievable part.”

He swallowed hard, noting his tongue seemed to be sticking to his teeth. “Yesterday, shortly after I had a vision, something different happened. I was transported to her.”

The council members let out a collective gasp, followed by exclamations and arguments.

“How do you know you actually traveled?” asked Raelene, the oldest council member.

Kaevin tried in vain to meet her eyes, uncomfortably aware how strongly she would be affected by his story. After all, Wendelle had been her only daughter. Her official title was bearer, although her stone no longer held a spark. As an active bearer for thirty-five years, she still had valuable knowledge and wisdom to give, but the clan was crippled without a true bearer.