Gateway to Fourline (The Fourline Trilogy Book 1) (7 page)

CHAPTER NINE

The rain sounded like thousands of small firecrackers as it hit the barn’s metal roof. Nat’s three ewes paced in their pen, stomping at the dirt as she approached with a load of fresh hay. Her father bent over the hydraulic lift of the tractor, pale green and rusted with age. His slicker dripped water, a puddle forming by his left foot. She could hear the drip even over the incessant pounding of the rain. He turned and said something. She couldn’t hear him, but she still heard the drip, drip, drip. He opened his mouth again and thrust a finger in the air, pointing to a spot behind her. Drip, drip, drip . . .

“What are their names?” Estos startled Nat. He looked over her shoulder.

“Blue, Wally, and Rump.” She handed him a pitchfork. “Feed them since you’re here.” Estos dumped a hay flake in the wooden trough. “Why are you here?” she asked, suddenly aware how out of place he was.

“Your father needs you to come with me.”

“I doubt that, I still have to clean out their pen.” Nat laughed as she extended her hand to retrieve the pitchfork.

“No, he needs our help.” Estos’ voice took on a tone of urgency. Nat looked over her shoulder. Her father no longer stood by the tractor. The base of a ladder appeared at her feet. Her father hung by one hand from the top rung.

“Climb!” Estos yelled. She jumped onto the lowest rung, and the dirt floor around her disappeared. Her free leg dangled over a black pit.

“Estos!” she cried.

“Keep climbing.” His voice was distant.

She climbed another rung, and the barn walls disappeared.

“Daddy!” she cried and looked up. Her father kicked frantically at the air above her. She clambered up the ladder and grasped his feet, guiding them to the rungs. The moment they touched the cold metal, her father faded away. Nat stared at the empty space.

“You’re at the top. Jump over and invite me in.” She felt Estos’ breath on her cheek. The ladder was leaning against a dark ledge. She slapped her hands on the barrier and scrambled over.

“Take my hand and invite me in.” Estos hovered on the opposite side of the ledge. Gray light illuminated the darkness around him.

“Come in?” Nat asked, confused by his request. He grasped her hand and jumped over the top of the barrier as if he weighed little more than a feather.

“Where’s my father?” She peered over the ledge. A thick gray cloud obscured the ground.

“He’s fine, Natalie,” he said dismissively. His pale eyes looked almost luminescent. He glanced around the dark space. She sensed he was questioning something.

“Do me a favor, think of your favorite room.”

The honey-colored walls of the theater erupted from the ground. Colored light filtered over the stage and seats. She looked up and gasped at the delicate flying buttresses floating above them.

“Interesting choice,” Estos said as he perched on the edge of the stage. He gestured for her to sit.

“What just happened?” she asked him with her eyes still locked on the floating ceiling.

“You filled your dream space. Please sit, Natalie.”

“My dream space?” she said in a confused voice. She ran her hand over the edge of the wooden stage.

“It’s a place that protects you from dream manipulation.” Estos leaned forward and placed one hand perpendicular to the other. “My left hand is your dream.” He wiggled his fingers. “The dream stops where it meets my right hand. Above my right hand is your consciousness, still in a state of sleep, but out of the dream. Only you can find the access point to your dream, and only you can invite others in.” He clapped his hands together as if the explanation were obvious.

She settled onto the stage next to him. “Your explanation doesn’t make sense. You’re part of my dream, so you shouldn’t be here,” she said, trying to follow his logic. She thought back to her dinner. She must have eaten something weird that was causing this dream. The walls around them grew transparent.

“Focus, Natalie. Think of the theater.” The walls took shape again. “I’m not a figment of your dream. I have training that enables me to interject myself into a dream and move about freely.” He leaned closer to her. “I’d like to show you something.” He pulled a small folded paper from his pocket and smoothed it against the stage floor. A three-dimensional map appeared. Nat’s eyes widened when she looked at the tiny snow-covered mountains, forests, and a rust-colored river that cut through the heart of the map and poured into an ocean.

“That’s amazing.” She ran her fingers through the clouds swirling above the map.

“Would you like to see it up close?”

She nodded, hoping she would remember at least a fraction of this dream. He took her hand, and a forest of ancient pine trees towered above them. She brushed her hand over a bough. The needles felt pliant, almost soft.

“Run with me.” He clasped her hand in his, and they stepped onto a faint path covered in short grass and tiny blue flowers that grew low to the ground.

“Fast, Natalie!” He dropped her hand. She chased after him. Her feet fell onto the narrow, overgrown path that wound its way past a red boulder, then an enormous tree trunk. Long branches formed arches over the path and let in only thin shafts of light. She ran and jumped over roots and fallen branches. Her feet were light. Even in her best race, she’d never run this fast before. Estos flew past the trees in front of her until he disappeared. The forest became less dense. She slowed her pace and found him leaning against a crooked tree at the edge of a wide field surrounded on all sides by the forest. He took her hand and brushed it over the rough bark.

“Do you feel that?” he asked. She traced an elongated hole in the bark and nodded.

“Remember it,” he said, then vanished.

Nat whirled around. “Run back to the rock cliff where we started.” His voice was a whisper in her ear, but she couldn’t see him. She searched the branches of the tree, but only its leaves fluttered in the wind. She backed away from it and found the path into the forest. Her breath was easy and relaxed as she made her way along the trail. She could see Estos’ figure in her mind as she traced her way over the faint path. Her mind and feet were in perfect harmony.

“Easy enough, then. I expected nothing less from you.” Estos hopped off the rocks as Nat came ripping around the red boulder and stopped at the base of the cliff. He took her hand and in one step they were back in the imagined theater. “Have a seat, please.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and gestured to the front row.

I have to remember this,
Nat thought. She watched him as he settled into the seat next to her. He couldn’t be much older than she was, but something about him seemed aged. She blushed when he caught her looking at him. “I hope I remember this dream. I’ll have to tell you about it,” she said, looking at the colored light streaming from the stage lights.

“Natalie, this is not a dream.” His tone was as somber as the expression on his face.

“Right, my little superwoman marathon through an unknown forest just a second ago really happened.” She laughed, unnerved by the seriousness in his gray eyes.

“It did, in your mind. It won’t be like that when you enter the real forest. It’ll take much longer. About an hour to get there and back, if you run hard and don’t have any problems. I’ve seen you run at school—you’re fast on an empty track, but this will be different. Your head knows the path now.” He tapped her forehead lightly. “As much as I can remember it, anyway. There will be new branches and roots and . . .”

She pressed her fingertips against her forehead, completely confused.

“I’ve gotten ahead of myself,” he apologized. “When you wake up, I need you to take a small piece of paper and tuck it into that opening in the crooked tree. Would you do that for me?” The earnestness in his face stopped Nat from asking what he’d put in her dinner.

“Okay, let me see if I have this right.” She sat up straight. “You’re asking me to take a piece of paper, run through a forest, shove the paper into a tree, and then come back.”

“There’s a little more to it than that, but basically, yes.” He nodded in agreement.

She laughed. “Asleep Natalie is a little more open-minded than Awake Natalie. I have a strong feeling Awake Natalie is going to say thank you for the dinner and use of the bedroom and make her way back up to campus as fast as she can.” Nat relaxed back into the comfortable seat.

“Would Awake Natalie agree to do it if we paid her?” Estos asked quickly.

“Pay me? How much?” The offer brought back the sick feeling of insecurity she carried around on a daily basis. She knew she sounded desperate, even in a dream.

“How much do you want?”

Nat laughed again. He still looked so serious. She stopped laughing. “Thirty-five hundred dollars.” The math was easy. A month’s mortgage payment for her parents and the rest she owed for this semester’s tuition.
This is a dream, right? Why not ask for dream wages?
she thought.

“You agree to do this for thirty-five hundred?” Estos leaned toward her, hand extended.

“Yes. Why not? It will help you as well?” She took his hand.

“You can’t even begin to imagine.” His hand wrapped around hers. “Agreed, then.” He dropped her hand. “When you wake up, Sister Barba will be in your room. She’ll draw a pattern on your arm sort of like the one she has.” He looked at her for acceptance. “It shouldn’t be permanent.”

Nat nodded. The theater walls faded and the lights flickered. She looked toward the ledge that she and Estos had climbed over to get into her dream space. Gray clouds swirled behind it.

“After Barba’s done and you’re dressed, you’ll go,” Estos said with a look of relief. He rose from the seat.

“Can’t wait,” she said, feeling a funny sensation that her dream was coming to an end. She smiled wistfully. “I just wish all of this were real.”

CHAPTER TEN

The bed was warm and snug, but a light shone somewhere nearby, aggravating Nat’s attempt to return to sleep. She pushed the comforter away from her face and sat up. A lamp burned brightly above the bed.

“My apologies for the light. I find it’s the best way to gently pull someone from sleep.” Barba sat next to a small round table Nat didn’t remember having seen in the room earlier. She rubbed her eyes, feeling a little disoriented.

“Are the roads clear?” she asked and looked out the window, thinking it was a benign way to respond to Barba being in the room.

“No.” Barba poured a few ounces of green liquid into a bowl and began to stir with what looked like a metal chopstick. An earthy smell filled the room. Nat’s nose crinkled. Barba watched Nat carefully. “The smell will go away. Ethet had to come up with something that wasn’t permanent, and unfortunately, it smells like decaying leaves.” The metal stick scraped against the bowl as she continued to stir. “I need you to dress before I start with this.” She gestured to the wardrobe. A long green shift with slits, green leggings, and a cloak embroidered in leaves hung on the door.

“It’s an old cloak given to me by a Sister from the Warrior House. I thought it best that we present you as a novice of the exiles, or a ‘fringer.’ It may keep certain elements away from you.” Barba stopped stirring for a moment and waited. Nat remained in bed, confused. It was only a dream. This must still be a dream.

“The conversation with Estos was real, Natalie,” Barba said, as if reading Nat’s mind. “Your money is right here.” She pointed to a thick envelope next to the bowl. “Are you still willing to go now that you are awake?” she asked while holding the metal chopstick over the bowl.

Nat slid her feet to the floor carefully, as if the surface might give way. She walked to the table and picked up the envelope. She flipped through several hundred-dollar bills with her fingertips. Staring at the money, the image of the forest surged to mind, as if the path Estos had shown her was now a permanent part of her memory. She looked at Barba in disbelief, feelings of wariness and unease growing inside her. “You need me to deliver a message, that’s it?” Nat put the envelope down and crossed her arms.

“More or less.” Barba failed to meet her eye.

“It’s the ‘more’ I’m wondering about,” Nat said. “Aside from the whole entry into my subconscious, it’s a lot of money for just delivering a message.” Nat waited for a response, expecting a catch.

Barba tapped the end of the stick against the bowl. “We haven’t asked you to do anything illegal.”

Nat wondered if she was reading her mind. If they could get into her dreams, could they get into her thoughts?

Barba continued, “None of us can deliver the message, but for reasons that will have no effect on you or your ability to do so. I know we have little history with each other—certainly nothing upon which you can honestly base any sort of trust. But that is what I am asking from you, Natalie—to trust us. This is a simple errand for which you are receiving generous pay, nothing more.”

Nat sensed there was much more she wasn’t being told. She glanced at the fat envelope of cash. The amount was generous—absurd, in fact. No one would pay her that kind of money to deliver a message unless she was still dreaming.

“Please dress and drink this. I’ll explain a few things while I mark your arm.” Barba handed her a cup of what smelled like herbal tea. Nat took a sip. It smelled faintly like marigolds but tasted buttery. She placed the cup on the edge of the table and eyed the clothing. After opening the wardrobe, Nat slid off her pants and unbuttoned her flannel shirt. She watched Barba through the crack by the door’s hinge. Her back was to Nat as she dipped the chopstick back into the metal bowl.

“All your garments must come off, Natalie. Undergarments are tucked under the leggings. No jewelry.”

“I don’t have any jewelry on,” Nat responded, blushing. She would have preferred to do all of this in the bathroom. “What is this thing?” She flung a thin, fibrous piece of clothing that looked like a unitard over the door.

“The undergarment. It’s made of a material that can deflect sharp objects. Not that you’ll need to worry about that,” Barba added hastily.

“So it’s like body armor?” Nat stepped into the material, and it instantly conformed to her shape. Why she needed body armor to deliver a message was a question worthy of an answer.

“Stronger and more flexible. Now come out where I can see you.” Nat stepped out from behind the door. The shift brushed the top of her knees. Barba leaned back in her chair and studied her. “I’ll need to pull your hair back. No Warrior Sister would wear her hair down. Come and sit down, please.”

Nat sat on a backless stool in front of the table. Barba took her right arm, turned it over, and pushed up the sleeve. Nat placed a hand on her forearm. “Before you start marking me up, look me in the eye and tell me that I won’t be in any danger.”

Barba smiled and gently pushed her hand away. “You won’t be in any danger placing a message in a tree. Good enough?”

“I guess.” Nat chewed her lip as Barba began to draw thin entwined lines on her forearm with the tip of the metal chopstick. The color changed from bright green to a faded sage a few moments after the metal pressed against her skin.

“These markings are from a very old House. They should wear off in a few weeks.” Barba drew six lines interspersed with tiny spears. “If they don’t, you can take it up with Ethet.” She finished the last spear, and Nat held up her arm, examining the markings.

“My mom is going to take it up with Ethet. She’s not much of a tattoo lover.” Nat imagined her mother’s response if she came home for Christmas with this on her arm. No presents under the tree would be just the beginning.

Barba removed a brush from the top drawer of a bureau. “Your mother’s a librarian, isn’t she?” She began arranging Nat’s hair in a tight topknot.

Nat winced.
How does she know about my mom?
she wondered. “Yes. Will I be back in town by tomorrow night?” she asked, trying to move the subject away from her family.

“You will be back in a few hours. Finish this.” She handed Nat the cup of tea, completed the topknot, and motioned for her to stand. She fastened a worn leather belt around her waist and a cloak around her shoulders. The leaf pattern on the cloak looked like a kind of camouflage. Barba fingered the border of the cloak. “The thought of someone else wearing my cloak is a little off-putting, but I have to say, you look the part.” She patted Nat’s shoulder as if to say “Good enough.”

“Am I supposed to be a nun of some kind?” Nat asked.

“A nun?” Barba repeated, astonished.

Feeling foolish, Nat said, “Everyone here refers to you and Ethet as ‘Sister.’ If I’m wearing your cloak . . .”

Barba chuckled. “No, a ‘Sister’ is a woman who has shown she is a master of a specific set of skills or abilities. It’s an honorific. Only those who study, apprentice, and prove their skills are entitled to be called ‘Sister.’ I am a Sister from the Wisdom House, Ethet was the Head Sister of the Healing House.”

“And I am pretending to be what?” Nat asked, looking down at her garments.

“You are from an old Warrior House, or rather a new House that has taken on the old ways. Come, we need to go.”

Nat followed her out the door and down the hallway. “So my area of study is how to be a warrior?” She tried to walk alongside Barba but had to follow at an angle.

“It is more complicated than that, Natalie. After mastering certain required skills, you choose a specific area. Your markings tell your skill. Yours are the markings of a Keeper of the Accord.” They descended the stairs.

“What does that mean?” Nat asked, growing more confused. They passed through the kitchen and down a hallway she hadn’t seen before.

“It means you keep the bad element at bay.” They entered the room where Riler had been the night before. It was empty, and the makeshift gurney was gone. Steam rose from small flasks sitting above burners that were situated on a long table across from Ethet’s wall of herbs and medicines. Nat felt a vibration through her borrowed boots. She swallowed and shuffled slightly. Looking around for another door that might take them to a garage, her eyes landed on an archway to what looked like a tunnel.

“Are you the one taking me to the forest?” Nat asked, wondering where Estos was.

“No.”

Nat fiddled with the edge of her sleeve, waiting.

Barba asked, “What will you do with the money, Natalie?”

“I—” Nat looked down, not interested in meeting her gaze. “It will help solve some problems. Where does this lead?” She pointed down the tunnel.

“It leads to where you need to go next. You will find an odd door at the end. Just press through. I’ll be here when you get back.” She placed a small dagger and a piece of paper in Nat’s hand. “The dagger is for show, but hide the paper until you reach the tree.”

“If it’s for show, I don’t really need it, do I?” Nat tucked the paper into a deep inner pocket in the cloak, then examined the dagger in Barba’s outstretched hand. Her hands trembled with nerves.

“Take it.”

“None of this is real, anyway, right?” She clipped the dagger to her belt. “I’m still in a dream.”

Barba stepped forward and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Nat’s ear. “Good luck, Natalie.”

Nat took a few tentative steps toward the tunnel. Barba nodded in encouragement and then walked over to a shelf laden with glass vials. Nat waited a moment, watching Barba arrange them.
Time to go, then, I guess,
she thought.

The vibrations increased as she approached the entrance to the tunnel, which appeared to be carved out of solid limestone. She touched the side and felt the vibrations travel through her fingers. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light. As she walked farther, the tunnel narrowed and the ceiling began to slope downward. The path continued to turn to the right. No lights hung from the ceiling or walls, but she could still see where she was walking. The source of the light remained a mystery until she rounded a last curve to find what looked like an opaque plastic sheet. Diffuse light filtered through its surface. Nat placed her palm against the sheet. It vibrated slightly and flexed away from her. She searched the edge for a place to peel it back or open it, but found none.

She stepped back. Barba had said to press through. A movement on the other side caught her attention. A long, thin object moved back and forth along the top of the sheet. Nat placed her palm on it again and pushed hard.

Barba stopped pacing when the small orb zipped through the opening of the tunnel and landed in her palm. Ethet looked up from the table where she was chopping up a greenish root.

“She’s through, then?” Ethet asked.

“She’s through.” Barba had told her orb to return only when the girl had crossed over. Now all they could do was wait. Ethet resumed her chopping. Barba, orb in hand, strode over to the wooden door and pulled it open. Oberfisk nearly landed on his backside but quickly righted himself.

“A little notice would have been nice there, Sister,” he said.

“My apologies, Oberfisk. I wasn’t expecting you to be taking a nap against the door.” She brushed past him and looked around the hall. Annin, Cairn, and Kroner stopped talking. “Come back in. She’s through. Where are Estos and Andris?”

“Estos is talking to Riler in the sick room, and Andris went to the training ground after he and Oberfisk almost came to blows,” Annin said as she passed by her into the room. Kroner and Oberfisk took position on either side of the entrance to the tunnel.

“That one’s not my fault,” Oberfisk said to no one in particular. He flicked a speck of lint off the tip of the spear he was holding. “He just needed a reminder that this isn’t his personal fiefdom. We’re living in a democracy here, and if he doesn’t like it, well, he can head on into the forest, then, and see how well the Nala like his whining.”

“It does us no good to get on each other right now, Ober.” Cairn took a mortar and pestle from Annin and began crushing some of the green root Ethet had chopped earlier.

“I know, I know, but he’s not the only one going crazy here. There isn’t a waking moment that goes by that I don’t think about going home and fighting Mudug,” Oberfisk said. “Andris needs to focus on the here and now.” Kroner nodded in agreement, and Oberfisk tapped the base of his spear against the floor.

Barba shook her head. She’d heard this preachy diatribe against Andris too many times to listen to it again. She whispered to her orb, which shot past Oberfisk’s head back down the tunnel.

Oberfisk paused long enough to take a breath and then continued. “We’ve all lost our homes, our families . . .”

“Let me do that, Ethet.” Barba reached for the metal spoon Ethet was using to scrape the sides of a heavy stone bowl. “If I stand here with nothing to do while we wait, I might come to blows with Oberfisk.” Ethet smiled and handed her the spoon. Barba scooped a portion of Cairn’s green mush and added it to the bowl.

“You never were interested in listening to others, even when you were a student. It’s a good thing you chose Wisdom House. I would have had you living in the garden shed if you’d chosen Healing House.” Ethet looked over the rim of her glasses at Barba.