Of Delicate Pieces (29 page)

“That was anticlimactic,” Kaleb groaned the next morning. “We don’t even get to miss any workshops.”

Gabe whistled beside him, clutching the straps of his backpack. He seemed overjoyed to be returning to the learning center.

Alex rubbed her hands together. “At least my architecture project is finished. Thanks, guys.”

Kaleb stopped next to the fountain to inhale some of the mist. “I’ll invoice you the bill for my help.”

“Gabe did most of the work.”

“A deal is a deal. You know I hate schoolwork.”

“Fine, I’ll pay up in promises. I’ll show you the memory mine.”

“That’s my girl.” Kaleb pumped his fist. “And, by the way, I’m sure homework isn’t
all
you accomplished last night.”

Chase coughed.

“So, you two, what is your idea of fun?”

Chase’s lips were right next to Alex’s ear. “Don’t worry, Al. He’s about to get his payback.”

Right as he said it, Kaleb nearly collided with Little.

“Hi, Kaleb,” she chirped. “Are you heading to the history workshop this morning?”

He sidled sideways, scooting away, muttering about jailbait. “No. Sociology.”

“Great! I need to fit in one of those sessions, too. Walk with me?”

“I don’t know. You’re going to get me into trouble with all your admirers,” Kaleb teased, but lifted his gaze over her head and pleaded silently for his brothers to help him.

“Oh, please.” Little giggled, touching Kaleb’s arm.

“I’m not sure I can fend them off.”

“I heard you took on a group of twenty-five last spring. I think you’ll be fine.” She sidled even closer to him.

“Anyone else want to join us?” Kaleb asked through gritted teeth.

“Sorry,” Alex said. “I already went to Soc.”

“Me, too,” Chase added, slinging an arm around her.

“I don’t even know why I bother with you two. You’re so far stuck up each other’s—”

Gabe jumped in between them. “I’ll go with you, K.”

Little beamed. “Great! I get two cute escorts.”

Ever the gentleman, Kaleb gestured for Little to exit first, but he twisted back toward them. “After class, we’re meeting to go up to that—” he hesitated next to Little, “—
place
, right?

Alex nodded. “A deal is a deal.”

In the entryway of the learning center, they broke away from Chase’s brothers and entered the tunnel leading to history. Chase ran his fingers along the whispering stone walls. “You know, Kaleb might have finally found his match.”

“She’s persistent. I’ll give her that. I’m still rooting for Skye though.”

Chase reached the doorway. “Speaking of.”

Skye was already in the classroom, leaning against the wall and talking to a group of boys. She spoke with her hands and they followed every movement. Her hair rippled and seemed to let off some sort of intoxicant. Each of the boys leaned closer to her, inhaling.

Alex slid into the closest row, peering over the railing of the tier to survey the rows below them. No Bonds. No Eskers kids. She relaxed and took out her notes. Skye excused herself and breezed across the room, the boys’ attention following, caught in her tide of captivation.

“Where is everyone else?” Skye asked.

“Off to Sociology with your mini-me,” Chase replied.

Skye let out a humph, turning to the front where Paleo began the lesson. She might be the only spirit in Eidolon who was not excited about relatives becoming newburies.

Architecture was not Alex’s forte, but she drew the diagrams while Paleo lectured. After an hour, she had the schematic of the lower half of the city, the government square named for Broderick Cinatri, and the learning center campus named for Brigitta Cinatri. Before hearing Yazzie’s story about the Cinatri siblings, Alex assumed that they were married. She had a romantic image in her mind of them running away and building a city together, a city of dancing towers and parties. Instead, they were bickering siblings.

Paleo fiddled with the large glasses that sat on her big nose. “Siblings have similar brain structures, and that’s why they are more connected than average spirits. The Dual Tower means ‘two,’ but it is also a pun to indicate dueling. The Cinatris argued over many aspects of the city, which is why one decided to focus on governing and the other on education.”

“If they fought so much,” Madison said, “why would they build a city together?”

“They were strong because of their sibling bond, and other spirits knew it. Their abilities were respected. Mass fear for the gifted began in the late 1600s in Salem, and man began to hunt both the gifted and spirited. We needed somewhere to turn for safety.”

Skye twirled a strand of her hair. “Didn’t the Cinatris have a gifted sister, though?”

Paleo’s wide nostrils flared. “Off topic. Back to landscape architecture. Now the rosebushes by the stone rings—”

“How come spirits never want to discuss anything controversial?” Linton asked.

Alex cringed. She didn’t want to know. Not anymore. History was better left buried.

“Interrupt again, Mr. Darwin, and you’ll be asked to leave.”

Linton threw his hands in the air. “I’m not trying to disrupt; I’m trying to understand. The spirits who built this city had a gifted sister, and now we’re wondering how the gifted are getting into the city? Doesn’t seem like rocket science to me. There’s a chink in the chain somewhere.”

Madison twisted in her seat to look at the rest of them. “They’re probably celebrating at our expense right now.”

Paleo lifted her chin. “You have so little faith in your elders. You forget that for years the gifted attempted to gain access to Eidolon in order to speak to the first member of the gifted to enter our gates: Lucia Duvall. They never got in. Now back to the rosebushes.”

Skye muttered something under her breath.

“What?” Alex asked.

“Nothing.”

“Did you say something about Rae?”

Skye furrowed her brow. “Yeah.”

“What about her?”

“Lost Ones are friendly with the gifted, and it can’t be coincidence that the gifted showed up the same day that Rae did.”

“Whatever.”

“That tree messed with our heads, Alex. One second, we’re running for our lives, and the next we’re dashing home and wondering where Rae came from.”

“Wait. Is that why you freaked out?” She had trouble keeping her voice low, and Chase began to elbow her.

“Yeah, I think so.”

Alex flung her pencil onto the desk. “I’m so confused.”

“Do you not remember what we were doing that day? The bark from those border trees makes you forget things. I didn’t remember it until Rae showed it to me.”

Chase propped his elbow on his knee. “Right next to a thought-stealing tree is a mine that keeps those thoughts and memories?”

His hand shot into the air.

“Yes, Mr. Lasalle?”

“You said the rosebushes are there for protection. If the gifted can’t get into the city, why do we need protection on our side of the gates?”

“In case they decide to project themselves. You have to be able to see where you’re going. The walls prevent it.”

“How could living people project themselves? You mean meditate?”

Madison straightened in her chair. Her voice quivered with excitement. “That’s why the gifted were only seen in flashes, right? They were meditating?”

“What do flashes have to do with meditating?” Chase asked.

Paleo wiggled her big nose. “Because that’s how meditation works, of course. Hasn’t Banyan Philo talked to you about this? I’m sure you’ve witnessed it. One can only exist in the field of meditation for a few seconds.”

Alex didn’t need to look at Chase to see the dread on his face. They meditated much longer than a few seconds.

“What’s wrong?” Skye asked.

“Nothing,” Alex replied, but she threw her hand into the air. “Why is that, by the way?”

Paleo sighed so heavily that the collar of her blouse fluttered. “Because the mind won’t come back. This is extremely off topic! Meditation is something to bring up in your Meditari session. Moving on!”

Alex felt a breeze whip past her. It was followed by the sound of a door slamming, causing each of them to jump. Everyone shifted in their seats to see who had entered, but no one was there. Alex couldn’t remember her questions. Her mind felt like it was being held in a straitjacket. Paleo meant what she said. Conversation over.

The memory mine had grown since the last time Alex had been there. She watched Chase as he sighted the field for the first time, watched his expression contort to surprise as the emotions went straight to the vein.

Kaleb’s voice was hushed as he said, “What is this place?” She felt triumphant. Kaleb didn’t impress easily.

“I can’t believe that vagabond guy is the memory miner.” Skye moved her head every which way to see if he was around. “I used to see him wandering around the city.”

“He’s the storyteller too, right?” Gabe extended his fingers toward the field of the floral crosses even though they were several feet away. He wiggled his fingers through the air. “I wonder if that’s where he gets all his stories.”

For a knowledge scout like Gabe, a field full of stories was better than a library. Many of these would be stories never shared. Secrets. Sigorny would love to get her hands on some of these.

Alex scoured the area. She hoped during the midday chaos, Yazzie would be parked outside the health center. She’d been surprised that the boys hounded her more about seeing the mine over a gym for the dead, but Kaleb claimed they had the playing fields for mental stimulation, and he curled his nose when Alex mentioned calculus, even after she tried to convince him how great she’d felt after leaving the center.

“Can we get closer?” Kaleb asked.

This was what Alex was worried about. That Kaleb would want to do more than see the sights. She assumed Skye would refuse, she
hoped
she’d refuse. Because it was Skye’s discovery, it was her decision. Growing up, if one of the boys uncovered a fun, new hideout, an abandoned boat, or climbing tree, ‘founder’s rule’ applied. Whoever made the discovery made the decisions there.

Skye studied the open mouth of the mine. “I
have
been wondering what it looks like in there.”

Kaleb laid a hand on her back. “Let’s go, then.”

Skye leaned into him as she took a step.

Alex tugged on Gabe’s arm. He wouldn’t condone this. But then he, too, took a step forward as though the scent of emotion had latched a hook around him.

“Chase?”

“I know,” he replied. “But I don’t think it’ll hurt. We won’t let them go past the entryway.”

A pathway appeared right under her feet where it hadn’t been a moment before. It urged her to journey forward, and this was the only reason she took that first step. The closer she inched toward the mine, the more the emotions jumped on her, ghosts in a graveyard, sirens tempting her to listen. They begged to be pulled from the ground and heard.

Her emotions pinballed from elation to remorse, from heartbreak to regret.

“I can’t imagine burying pieces of people’s minds day in and day out,” Kaleb said, shooing at the voices around him.

Chase touched his ear. “You know what? I kind of can.”

Alex could too. She wondered if that was the reason Yazzie had lived so long, not because of the health center but because everything he learned about people from the thousands of narrative whispers. What could make the mind stronger—learning or
understanding
?

“What colors do you see?” she asked him.

“All of them. Smudges everywhere.”

Kaleb and Skye stood shoulder to shoulder at the mouth of the mine.

“What do you feel?” Gabe called to them.

“Nothing.”

Skye, who rested her hand against the lip of the opening, didn’t look like she agreed. She whispered something to Kaleb, who whipped around.

“What?”

Alex caught a strong scent of cigars in the moment before Yazzie’s face appeared in the mine. Skye stumbled backward.

Yazzie came into the light, clutching a bag in one black-stained fist and a pickaxe in the other. “Well,” he remarked. “This is more visitors than I’ve had in a decade.”

Alex couldn’t catch her words. They left her without making a sound. Yazzie’s gaze flickered around as if he could see her unspoken thoughts.

“I’m sorry,” Skye stammered.

Yazzie shook his head. “You’ve been peeking through the border for a year now. It was only a matter of time.” He clutched his hip and gesturing to Alex. “You brought the sunlight with you. So you’re forgiven.”

All of them turned toward Alex like flowers leaning toward the sun.

“I wondered when you’d come to speak to me, little bird. You like answers, and memories are the only real truths.”

Kaleb ran his fingers along the edges of the mine. “That’s an interesting way to look at it.”

“The mind is programmed to think a certain way. Your news will make sure of that. They give your newbury reporter a voice now, just to get you to follow. Soon, they will be feeding her the information though she won’t realize it. Memories, however, they cannot be manipulated. They tell you the story. That’s all.” Yazzie opened the small bag in his hand. When he lifted his arm to wipe his brow, the scent of birthday cake floated from the bag.

“Is that a memory?” Skye asked, gravitating toward it.

Yazzie nodded. “Would you like to help me bury it?”

Skye nearly fell over. Kaleb held out his arms to support her, leaving his hands on her hips because she was too preoccupied to notice. “Can I help, too?”

“Sure.” Yazzie chuckled. “Even though I suspect your interest is not so much in this task but for the girl beside you.”

Yazzie hobbled along the pathway until he reached the edge. A few more bricks added themselves to the road. The path grew with the memories. Alex stood with Chase and Gabe as Skye and Kaleb squatted by Yazzie.

“The hole doesn’t need to be wide,” he instructed, handing them a shovel the width of a child’s plastic beach toy but the length of a pole vaulting stick. “But it needs to be six feet deep.”

Kaleb got to work digging the hole while Skye nestled the memory in her hands. “Why six feet?”