Nevermor (9 page)

Wren wanted to
scream and yet she couldn’t manage it.  All she could do was hold onto him for
dear life with her fingers laced around his neck and pray that he didn’t let
her go.

He took her so
high that she began to think he wouldn’t stop, but finally he slowed his ascent
into the heavens, and it wasn’t long afterward that he had landed on a thick
cloud.  The notion of that was incredible to her, for though it might have
seemed that clouds were fluffy and solid, she’d always been led to believe that
such wasn’t the case.  How, then, was he standing on one?

When he put her
down on her own feet, she refused to release him.  To her surprise, the cloud
felt firm, though cushiony, beneath her feet.

“You—!  We just
flew!” she gasped, though it sounded ridiculous the moment it had come out of
her mouth.  Of course he knew it.  He didn’t need her to tell him about what he
had done.

“Just one
benefit of being bound to a wisp,” he said, but he seemed pleased that she was
impressed with his ability.

“Can I fly
too?”  She thought that she had already flown here in her dream, so surely she
must have been able.

“Best not get in
the practice of trying,” he warned.

To test the
solidity of the cloud, Wren knelt down – still gripping his arm for support –
and let her fingers slip across the misty surface beneath her.  It gave a
little beneath her hand, but it was stable, like a pile of cotton.  At times,
it wore thin as it shifted beneath them, and she could see the water shining
below.  She felt uncertain that it would continue to hold them, but he kept a
close watch on her.  She had to trust that he wouldn’t let her fall.

Rifter sat down
next to her, trying to catch her eye as she stared down, and Wren suddenly
guessed that she must have been white as a ghost, which quickly made her flush
pink.

“Are you okay?”
he asked, but he was laughing at her again – not openly, but amusement was in
his smile.

“Yes,” she
said.  “I think.  What are we doing up here?”

“I want you to
look around,” he instructed her, directing his own eyes to peer below. 

She had been so
busy digesting the facts that he could fly and that they were sitting on a
cloud that she hadn’t given the rest of the world another thought.  Wren
followed his gaze and looked down from within the sea of clouds, where a whole
land was spread out before her.

Her eyes widened
as she looked over it, for there was so much to take in at once.

There were
beaches and mountains in the distance, forests and barren plains.  There was a
desert, and yet not far away, snow was falling across a portion of ground that
was pure white.  This place was like every fantasy she could have summoned up,
confined to a single island in the middle of the sea.  What was particularly
strange was that it all made perfect sense to her.

This is
Nevermor.  This is the place where dreams go.

“Is this what
you’re looking for?” Rifter asked.  Yet again, she was confused by him.  He
must have seen it in her face.

“Why are you
here?” he clarified, his voice serious now.  “Have you been looking for this
place?”

“Tonight I was,”
she admitted.  “But not the first time.  I wound up here on accident.”

“Have you been
looking for
something
?  An escape?  A way out of your other life?”

Wren understood
then.  She knew how she had found it.  Yes, she’d been looking for it, even
without knowing it existed.

“My brothers and
I are orphans,” she began, taking the opportunity to explain.  “We’ve been
waiting for years for someone to take us.”

“For parents,”
Rifter confirmed.  He seemed disgusted.  “Those are people who will take charge
of you and tell you what to do.  You know that, right?”

“Yes.  But
that’s the only hope we have of staying together.  I used to dream of a place
like this – well, perhaps I didn’t actually
dream
of it – but I used to
wish there was a place somewhere that we could retreat to.  I gave up on that,
but lately, things have gotten worse.  Everything is falling apart, and I know
that we’re about to be separated.”

“Your desire for
an escape has become stronger,” Rifter finished for her.

“Yes.”

“That’s why I
was able to call you here then,” he muttered, finally understanding it himself.

He had mentioned
that before.  Did it have something to do with his song on the reeds?  Now, at
least, part of what he’d said to her about waiting for someone on the beach
made sense.  He had been intending to call someone here, but he hadn’t known
who
he was calling.  She had just happened to be the one who’d followed the song
and found this place.

Rifter looked
her in the eyes unabashedly, trying to discover the truth at her core.  She was
caught there in the gaze they exchanged, stricken by him.

He really is
handsome
,
she thought,
despite the dirt.

“I’ve never
called a girl before,” he mused, “and I’ve never called the same dreamer more
than once.  You must really want to be here.”

Wren wasn’t sure
what to say to that.  Was this really what she had been seeking?  She looked
down at the world again, and she knew just by looking at it that it was exactly
what she’d had in mind.

“Yes,” she said
to him with passion.  “I do want to be here.”

She looked into
his eyes as she confessed this to him, unafraid of what she was saying.  Rifter
continued to study her as if not fully convinced, but he must have been able to
see her resolve, because he gave in.

“Alright,” he
decided finally.  “You’ve convinced me.”

Happiness
fluttered in her heart.  He had accepted her, just as she’d hoped.  Now she
only needed to get a few details and find out how she could get her brothers
here as well. 

“What do I have
to do?”

“First, you have
to trust me completely,” he said, his eyes fixed on hers.  “Can you do that?”

Wren thought she
could.  He’d told her in the beginning that he would never hurt a girl, and he
had made no move against her so far.  Yes, she felt she could put her faith in
him.  She nodded.

“You just have
to wake up,” he said.  “Are you ready?”

He didn’t give
her the chance to protest before he had gripped her arms and pushed her
backward off the cloud.

Without his
support, Wren fell through the air, her limbs flailing as the waves of the sea
rushed up at her.  She opened her mouth to scream—

—and then she
snapped awake in her bed.  Her body was jolted as if she had truly fallen from
the heavens and back into her body.  She rested there as her heart calmed,
considering her dream and also thinking that what Rifter had done to her had
been very rude.  But if waking up was the first step in getting back to
Nevermor –
Not the first; the second
– then she would try to ignore his
actions against her.  He hadn’t hurt her, after all.

For now, she
supposed there was only to wait.  She rested her head back, feeling hopeful –
trusting that he would come.

3

Hours passed in
the night, but Wren couldn’t find sleep again.  She tossed and turned in her
bed but was unable to rest.  Like Rifter had said, she needed to be awake, and
it was as if he had placed a curse on her.

For a long time
in the darkness, she waited.  The night went on, but nothing happened.  Rifter
did not show up and Wren did not know what to do next.  It was during these
hours that she began to truly doubt herself, wondering if what she had seen was
only just a dream after all.

I’m losing my
wits.

She looked over
at Henry, who was asleep in the next bed.  How could she tell him that she had
been wrong, especially now that she had gotten his hopes up?  She had him
believing again – trusting in her to deliver them – and the thought that she
may have been wrong made her want to cry.  She watched him sleeping there so
soundly, and she was reminded of nights in the nursery back home – before her
family had fallen apart.

Wren’s vision
slipped out of focus as she thought of shadow puppets and shooting stars and
secret games in the gaslight— 

Someone was
standing over her, a dark outline against the ceiling.  She wanted to reach for
him, but her body wouldn’t move.  The figure leaned down over her.  She felt a
warm gust of breath against her lips…

—and Wren woke
up again.  Had she been asleep?  She hadn’t remembered passing out.  It seemed
she had only just rolled over.

Am I real right
now?

She sat up,
looking around the room.  The beds were still full of sleeping children and it
was dark outside the window.  Rifter hadn’t come, and once again she questioned
herself.  Had she been wrong?

She came to
attention when she saw a light pass by the doorway.  It reminded her very much
of the floating ethereal light that she had seen before, hovering around
Rifter.

Had he come for
her?  Wren pulled herself off the bed quietly, stepped into her thin slippers
and moved toward the door.  She thought of waking her brothers, but she wanted
to be sure first.  There was no sense in crying wolf.  If it was only Miss Nora
passing down the hall with a lantern after looking in on them, Henry might
never take her seriously again.

Stepping into
the hall, she saw the light slipping away around the corner toward the stairs. 
She wanted to call out for Rifter but she was afraid to.  If it wasn’t him,
then she would have been revealing herself, leaving the other to wonder who she
was calling for, and she was still much too close to the dormitory.  She might
wake the others if she spoke.

Wren took
careful steps through the dark, approaching the yellow glow, though it
continually edged away, just out of her sight. 
Just like on the ocean
. 
Once she had passed down to the first floor of the home, the light had
vanished, but she felt a little more certain that she wouldn’t be heard here.

“Hello?” she
called lowly.  She kept still and listened.  She thought, for a moment, that
she had heard a quiet whisper, but she seemed to be alone.

I’m not alone. 
There is someone here.

She took a few
steps toward the common room, the boards creaking beneath her feet.  It was
cold, and the floor was stiff and aching.  There was no fire in the hearth
downstairs, the coals having burned down long ago.  It was too dark, and so she
reached for the sideboard to strike a match and ignite one of the gaslights on
the wall – and just as the light flared up to a dull glow, she saw a movement.

She gasped, for
though she knew she was not alone, she had not quite expected it.  What she had
seen was a flicker of a shadow across the wall, darting away just quickly
enough to catch her attention.  She wondered if she should have been afraid,
but her heart had made the decision for her.  It was pulsing steadily.

Was it a
shadow?  Perhaps it was a mimic?

“Is that you,
Rifter?” she asked in a loud whisper – and immediately she was caught from
behind.  A dark hood was slipped over her head, blinding her, and a hand
clamped across her mouth to muffle her protests.  She tried to fight, but
strong arms held her and she could not break free.  Soon, however, she heard a
voice near her ear that made her stop.

“Shhhh,” the
soft voice hushed her.  “We’ll be there before you know it.”

After that, the
passing whispers of some strange lullaby clouded her mind, sending her into a
deep sleep.

1

From the
treetops, watchful eyes were sweeping the forest in Rifter’s absence.  All had
been quiet since he’d left, and the woods were peaceful for now.  A gentle
breeze rustled the leaves and the growling of beasts was distant.  Nix had
hidden himself well in the branches, his bow ready in case of trouble, but he
was also prepared with his blade and pistol in case a larger battle presented. 
All he had done tonight was wait, however.  He would do so until Rifter
returned.

Nix didn’t mind
the quiet.  He was a loner and appreciated his solitude when he could get it,
which was never as often as he’d like.  Despite the pleasure he took in being
alone, tonight was different from most of his hunts.  He was waiting for what
Rifter would bring them.  They all were.

He should have
been back by now…

“Rifter should
be back soon.”  The quiet voice had come out of nowhere, so close to his ear
that he was shaken within, but he didn’t move a muscle.

“Damn it, Sly,”
he scolded flatly.  Nix was always amazed by how quiet his brother could be. 
Sly could move through the trees like no one else, but his small stature could
be thanked for that, for without it, he may not have been much nimbler than Nix
himself.

“Did I sneak up
on you, Nix?” Sly asked, a self-satisfied smile in his voice.