Madly (11 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Samantha

THE MOMENT WE STEP OUT of the truck, children, barefoot and beaming, surround us. One of the girls takes my wrist and wraps a friendship bracelet around it. Kirsty digs into her pocket and finds a small hard-boiled candy in a sparkling gold wrapper. The girl squeals with joy and skips away, the treasured sweet already unwrapped and consumed.

“You might need a few more of those while we're here,” says Kirsty, slipping a bag of them from her backpack to mine. I smile gratefully, wishing I'd had more time to prepare for my first trip outside of Nova.

Two children grip each of my hands, and together with Arjun we quickly step into the one-two-three-whee! game. Kirsty laughs and tells us that the love of being swung up high in the air is pretty much universal amongst kids.

We follow a dirt path through the jungle, barely wide
enough for three people to walk side-by-side, let alone play games, but somehow we manage. It's dark on the path, and I tilt my head back to stare at the canopy reaching over us, thick branches like the spindly roof of a cathedral, unwilling to let even the strong Bharatan sunshine penetrate down to the jungle floor. There's plenty of rustling in the trees from unseen creatures, but the atmosphere is incredibly peaceful.

The village itself melds into the jungle so neatly I don't realize we've arrived until the children detach from my hands and disperse around corners and under tent flaps.

“Follow me,” says Vijay, waving an arm in our direction. He takes us to a building perched on stilts, the first floor high up above the ground. Although I see no cars here—just a rusty-looking motorcycle outside another of the huts—there is one major sign of civilization: an enormous satellite dish protruding from the second floor of the building like a kind of fungus. Obviously someone here is keen not to miss out on any of the latest casts.

The door of the building opens as we climb the first stair. A big man with a sharp pointed beard, wearing a turban and a bright orange tunic, steps out and spreads his arms wide. “Welcome, young Kemi!” he says. “I am Nalesh Patel, Vijay's father.”

I smile and mumble, “It's Sam,” but he continues on without waiting for me. “We thought you'd gone out of
the competition permanently—I can't believe you let ZoroAster play that dirty trick on you with the boat.”

I'm embarrassed to think the whole world must have seen that moment. “How much of the hunt are they showing on TV?”

“As much as they can. Everyone is now here in Bharat. Although I don't think the news has broken that you're back in the hunt.”

“Good, and we'd like to keep it that way,” Kirsty says. “The Wilde Hunt is the top news story at the moment and the world's eyes are upon it. That's why it's so important that we get one step ahead of the competition.”

“And we've got a lot of it if everyone is here,” I mutter.

“Not everyone. Didn't Anita say someone had their ingredient stolen? That's one team out of the hunt at least.” Kirsty raises her voice. “So where's this pink jasmine you've been on about, Vijay?”

“Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, I will take you.”

Kirsty and I exchange looks. “We're not going now?” I ask.

“It's going to be dark soon,” says Vijay. “Too many big cats and even bigger snakes to be deep in the jungle at night. The trail to the jasmine will still be there in the morning.”

I want nothing more than to rest up after the long flight, so I shoot a pleading glance at Kirsty. She looks
out into the forest, which is getting darker and more foreboding by the second, and the sun's not even set yet. I dread going in there, even though I can see Kirsty's itching to make a move. Maybe Finders are always on their feet, ready for the next adventure, but I'm an alchemist. I need my sleep.

Kirsty concedes. As we enter the house, the casts are projected onto a white sheet pinned up against the far wall. The screen is divided into four squares, each one depicting a different team. Zain is in one corner, arriving at the transport terminal. In a pair of gold-rimmed aviator sunglasses and a black leather jacket, he looks effortlessly cool.

I say “ugh” at the same time as Anita, which sends us into fits of giggles. She comes over and takes my hand, leading me away from the cast. “I bet the Zs walk around with their own stylists on the hunt. They care more about the cameras than the mix.”

Suddenly the smell of cinnamon and caraway wafts into the room.

Cinnamon—for vitality of the mind, clearing blood clots, relief from colds and flu.

Caraway—for easing digestion, for clearer skin.

My stomach rumbles in anticipation, and Vijay thrusts a bowl of rice into my hands. I take the bowl to Mrs. Patel, Arjun and Anita's aunt who is dressed in a stunning dark green sari, and she fills it with a warm curry.

The first bite practically blows my head off—my Novaen tongue is far from used to the spicy heat. The Bharatan Patels laugh at my discomfort until Mrs. Patel takes pity and passes me a soothing yogurt drink. It comforts me that Arjun and Anita aren't looking too comfortable either, although Kirsty is wolfing the food down.

Next out is a bowl full of exotic-looking fruit. It's accompanied by one of the little girls who had been holding my hand earlier in the day. In her hand now is a crudely carved stick, stripped of its bark. Vijay gives her an encouraging pat on the back. “Go on, Pari,” he says. “Show them what you've been practicing.”

She hesitates for a moment, then takes one of the more complicated-looking fruits from the bowl, a pink egg-shaped object with green-edged leaves forming star-like patterns around the outside. She places it gently on the table in front of us, holding it with both hands until she's sure it will stand upright on its own. Then she lifts the stick, points it at the fruit, shuts her eyes and tilts her head back.

And then she does something I don't expect: She performs magic.

“It's a wand,” I whisper, stating the obvious. The leaves uncurl from the fruit, creating a star pattern on the table and leaving the bright pink center looking naked and vulnerable. Then slowly the pink separates
from the soft white flesh of the fruit. When it is completely peeled, she opens her eyes, and with a quick flick of her wrist, separates the fruit into quarters—one for each of us.

I look from the young girl to Vijay as we launch into enthusiastic applause. “Vijay—she's a Talented. And a powerful one if she can get so much from that wand out here in the Wilds. Is she going to school?”

Kirsty puts her hand on my arm to silence me, but Vijay shrugs his shoulders. “She will help out in the fields, like the other magicians. They can make the work a lot easier for us, which is why they are so valued.” He enfolds her in a hug.

“Out here, the Talented are important, but their fami­lies can't afford to send them to proper schools like they would in Nova,” says Kirsty.

It pains me to know that although I am ordinary, because I live in Nova, I still lead a better life than a Talented elsewhere. Maybe if I tell Renel about this girl, or even Zain, they might be able to help . . .

Kirsty registers the look on my face. “You can't ‘save' every Talented kid you come across. And they need her here, too.”

I bite my lip.

Now that dinner is finished, Kirsty, Arjun, Anita, and I move to the living room—a wide porch open to the air. There are colorful but well-worn cushions spread
around the space, and a canopy of fairy lights overhead. It's magical. I happily sink into a cushion as Arjun lights one of the lanterns and the warm, spicy smell of incense fills the air.

Anita takes a seat opposite me and furrows her eyebrows. “Now, Sam, spill. How come you suddenly have Zain Aster on your Connect list? Since when are you guys best buds?”

In all the excitement, I haven't filled Anita in yet, and I can't help blushing. I try to assume an air of nonchalance. “He came by the store a couple of days ago. Said he felt bad about the trick played on me by their team.”

“Wow . . . how nice of him.” Anita raises an eyebrow in surprise.

“Yeah, real nice,” says Arjun. He rolls his eyes. “I bet he just wanted the chance to poke around the Kemi supplies a bit to see if they missed anything in the robbery.”

His words hurt, and the pain is unexpected. I frown at him. “ZA didn't rob us. Granddad thinks it was Emilia Thoth trying to stop us finding the recipe.”

Anita shivers. “Dad told us about her showing up to the palace. Sounds terrifying—although surely she can't be strong enough to be a real threat. Hasn't she been living in exile her whole life?”

“Yeah, looking like she's been bathing in forbidden potions, not just dabbling in them.” I remember the long strands of her slate gray hair, the pallid tint to her
skin, the hideous curve of her nails. It makes me shudder that anyone could give themselves over to such horror. “I don't think anyone should underestimate her. This is the opportunity she's been waiting for. If anything happens to the princess, she's the next heir. She most likely robbed us. What if she stole that merpearl too?”

“Why does she want to participate in the hunt?” asks Anita, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Probably so she can make sure no one else gets the cure,” says Arjun.

“That must be why she trained to be an alchemist,” I say. “A Wilde Hunt gives her automatic entrance to the palace in Nova, overriding her exiled status. It's a long game she had to play, but it looks like her gamble paid off.”

“Enough of Emilia,” says Arjun. “If we stay under the radar, hopefully she'll focus on other teams that seem like more of a threat.”

“But she's already attacked the Kemis once,” Kirsty says. “We've got to be careful. Keep our eyes open and wits sharp.”

“Let's check Zain's profile to see if there are any clues!” Anita winks at me and opens up her laptop.

“You can get a connection out here?”

Anita laughs. “Yep. No guarantee of hot water, but TV signal and internet connection? Always.”

I reach over her and log in under my name, but when
we search for Zain, his profile is private again and the connect button is relit. He's unconnected me. It stings.

“Oh well,” I say. “I didn't really want to hear about his hashtag TalentedProblems anyway.” I shut the laptop and take a deep breath. “Anyway guys, I think I have a theory.” The three of them turn their eyes to me, waiting expectantly. “It might be completely wrong of course, but . . . I've been thinking about the merpearls and eluvian ivy. They both have qualities you might need to ‘build' love, like bricks. Merpearls, for beauty. Eluvian ivy, for loyalty. And now, pink jasmine, for passion. We're making the highest end, no-holds-barred potion possible, right? So I think after that it's going to be abominable hair.”

“For loneliness?” Arjun blinks. “How does that fit in?”

I feel my cheeks grow hot. “Well, I don't know for sure as I've never been in love, but . . .”

“No, you're right,” says Kirsty, and then she lets out a long breath. “Abominables are like penguins—they mate for life. Not only that, but they are single-minded in their pursuit of love. They roam the mountains in search of their one true love, resisting all other contact until they find it. Loneliness is the price they pay for that search. It's the perfect building block. No one but you could have put those ingredients together so quickly, Sam. It's inspired.”

Anita leans forward. “So after we get the jasmine, we
find the eluvian ivy and then head up to the mountains.”

Kirsty nods. “Yes, and the ivy won't be easy. It's vicious, to say the least.” She throws me a long look, which makes me squirm. “We might be best splitting up and hunting down different ingredients, to move even faster. I don't suppose your granddad has any of those items stashed away some­where, does he?”

I grimace. “I'll email my ideas back to my parents to check.”

When I open my email, though, it's flooded with messages from other Finders, suppliers, and chancers attempting to sell me ingredients at ridiculously high prices. I can see that several are offering Aphroditas powder at an extortionate rate, and who knows if it's real or not?

“Anyone want to buy golden jasmine for two hundred thousand crowns?”

“You're kidding me!” says Arjun.

“Nope, look right here . . .”

“Obviously the sellers have caught wind of the next ingredient everyone is searching for. Anyone selling vastly overpriced eluvian ivy yet?” Kirsty asks.

I do a quick search, but there's nothing.

“Good, then at least we know we still have an edge.”

“Or it might be wrong,” I say. I lift my head from the screen as the smell of incense that had hung in the air so sweetly turns acrid in my nostrils. “Is someone sitting too
close to a candle? It smells like something is burning.”

Instinctively everyone pulls away from the nearest lantern, but there's nothing amiss. I look up, and against the darkening sky see a tall column of smoke. “Fire,” I whisper.

All heads whip up, and then it's a mad scramble to see who can get off the balcony quickest. Arjun is through the door first, and a worried Vijay and Mr. Patel chase after him. We follow behind, Kirsty grabbing her bag and instructing me to pull on my boots. I do them up as fast as I can, almost sliding down the stairs in my haste.

“It's coming from the jungle,” says Vijay.

“Come on, Sam, hurry.” Kirsty snaps on a torch from her bag, and the beam illuminates the thick tangle of green in front of us, so dense it could almost be a wall. She tosses me another one, which I fumble and drop on the ground.

“We're going in there when it's burning?” I'd rather be heading in the opposite direction.

“This is the rainforest, Sam. And it's the rainy season. The trees don't burn like that on their own.” Kirsty is already running. “That's where the pink jasmine is.”