Outview (37 page)

“She came to me in a dream. But it wasn’t
like a dream. She spoke to me, and said Fitts had killed her with some kind of
injection the night they took her.” Linh fought her tears for a moment. “They
questioned her about you, what you knew about Lightyear, where you were, what
powers you had.”

“She didn’t tell them a thing, did she?” I
asked.

“No.”

“They would have killed her even if she’d
told them everything.”

Somebody else might have doubted the
accuracy of the news coming from a dream, but not me. I wanted memories of Aunt
Rose but all I could think of was Fitts and shooting that evil man.

Lightyear wanted me dead to stop any
information I
may
have from getting out and this was just a means to
that end. Fitts didn’t need to murder her or kill the eleven people named
Montgomery Ryder. They did it because they could. The bastards at Lightyear
were so sure of their power that being careful was an unknown concept to them.

Rose was gone. Still, I knew she was only
dead in our limited human definition of that scary word. I knew her soul was
free. Rose would find me soon, of that I was sure. Fitts couldn’t take her from
me, just like he hadn’t been able to silence Lee Duncan or my dad. I would
finish their work; none of them had died in vain if I could expose Lightyear.

I thought of Tanya. She would be
devastated. After reading Tanya’s life, it was obvious no one was more
important to her than Rose. I couldn’t give this news on the phone; I needed to
return to Merlin and tell her in person.

We did the normal backtracking to make sure
we weren’t being followed, so it was almost six-twenty when we reached the
motel. Dustin was peacefully asleep and looked better. Soon he opened his eyes.

“Nate?” his voice still weak and hoarse.

“Right here,” I took his hand.

“Thank you.” He stared for a moment and
then his eyes closed again.

“You would have done the same for me.”

“I might have gotten you out a day sooner.”
He coughed a laugh out before the pain in his ribs stopped it.

Lifting the blanket to inspect his bruises,
I saw the small Lusan next to the worst one. I picked the Lusan up and was soon
able to grow it to the normal size. Then I rubbed it over his injuries.

He looked at me. “Where’d you get that
handy little item?”

“Made it.”

“You’re gonna have to teach me that trick.”

“As soon as you’re up to it.”

“When are we going to Shasta?”

“Same answer.”

He fell asleep again.

Bà nudged me out of the way and went
back to her patient. After she was satisfied I hadn’t messed up any of her
work, she turned to me.

“He is better. He will be good.”

“Bà, you saved his life.” I hugged
her. “You’re our grandmother now, too.”

“You healer, too,” she said, pointing to
the Lusan. “We worked together, Nathan.” She smiled.

We decided to move Dustin to a different motel.
They would do it during lunch; I’d be in Merlin by then. I gave to Kyle Mom’s
other hundred dollars and promised more once I got my savings out of the bank.

“Will you run me to Amber’s?”

“Don’t tell her where Dustin is,” Kyle
cautioned.

“We can trust her,” Linh said.

“I’m not even going to tell my mother where
he is. Until we figure out how they’re finding me, I’m not taking any chances.
But Linh’s right--Amber wouldn’t hurt me.”

“You better be right,” Kyle said.

Dustin awoke as we were getting ready to
go. Bà took the opportunity to get more of the greenish-black stinky
syrup into him. He drank it like it was fruit juice. I wondered if he really
liked it, or if he’d lost an argument with Bà about it last night.

“Hey, little brother, who else helped you
get me out?”

“I went in alone, but Kyle drove the
getaway car and these two women nursed you back from the dead.”

“I’m in love with them both.”

“They’re going to upgrade your room later
today, and I’ll be back for visiting hours tomorrow morning. I need you to call
Mom soon. Linh will fix you up with a phone.”

“What’s your plan after you see Tanya?”
Kyle asked, on the way to Amber’s.

“All I’ve been focused on was getting
Dustin and finding Rose. Now I need to shift to stopping Fitts from coming
after us, all of us.”

“You’re in the most danger, but as they’ve
shown with Dustin and your mom, everyone who helps you puts their life at
risk,” Kyle said.

“I know I got Rose killed. You guys or
anyone I love could be next. I’m so sorry.”

“You didn’t start this, Nate. We’ve all
just gotten caught up in it. It’s not your fault,” Linh reminded me.

“Then why does it feel like my fault?”

“Because, if you were dead, they’d leave
the rest of us alone.” Kyle said. “I’m not suggesting you go shoot yourself or
anything, but it’s a fact, and in that truth is the seed to our solution.”

“Which is?” I asked.

“We have to look at it from that angle
because we can’t all become fugitives hiding in the woods.”

“What if I faked my death?”

“That’s the way we need to be thinking,” Kyle
said. “We can’t win a war with them, and we can’t keep hiding you. And how soon
until they pick the rest of us up on terrorist charges or my whole family dies
in a mysterious house fire?”

“What about negotiating with Fitts?” Linh
asked.

“This is how he negotiates,” I pulled my T-shirt
down off my shoulder.

“Don’t rule it out completely,” Kyle said. “There
may be some way to do it--something he wants, or better yet, something he
needs.”

“I didn’t think we needed Sam’s sister
anymore, with Dustin safe and Rose gone, but maybe she could get us to the
right law enforcement agency or negotiate something with Lightyear. But what?”

“Talk to her. She’s the expert,” Linh said.

Kyle pushed the intercom button on the gate
at the end of Amber’s driveway. We couldn’t see the house from here.

It took a couple of minutes before she
answered, “It’s about time!” Amber was on the porch and started to run down
when she saw us.

“Don’t forget you said you’d ask her about Lightyear,”
Kyle said.

“Ask her about what?” Linh asked.

“I told Kyle I’d talk to Amber about how
Fitts only seems to find me when she knows where I am.”

“Oh Nate, don’t do it. You’ll break her
heart,” Linh said.

“I just want to get it out in the open. We
need to know.”

“Boys are so dumb. She’s not working for
Fitts,” Linh said.

“I don’t think so either, but how do you
know that?”

“The same way you do. I just know.”

“Will you call me once Dustin’s moved and
after he’s talked to my mom?”

“Of course,” Linh said handing me a poem.
“It’s for Rose.”

Amber came over and greeted us. I don’t
think she noticed Kyle being aloof because Linh was as friendly as ever. When
they were gone, Amber said, “I feel like we haven’t seen each other in a month.
You look so much older. What’s happened? Tell me everything.”

“Will you blow off school today and drive
me to Merlin?”

“Rose is back?” she asked excitedly.

I shook my head. “No, I need to see Tanya.”

54

Once in the house, I grabbed a quick
shower. Alone in the bathroom, I read Linh’s poem.

She sang so sweet

and flowed like light

her essence as a perfumed candle

too strong, and overdone, yet

rooted and flighty, like a tree

that shimmered and shone

like tinsel, her mantra a smile

and eyes were stones

She held a universe, so close, so clear

it tipped and turned like a globe

whose edges dropped into forever

but then, caught, a mirror

came back at me

She gave me hope, and fear inside

contained and coiled of power

her hands were bony, shaped like knives

they cut the air before tears were known

that gentle stare and severe honesty

whose loose skin were barely contained

a child at play, her scarves and colors

danced around pastel flowered rooms

crystals and balls, and flying mats

her wizardry sloppy and sure

oh Rose, a bowlful of memory

agitated, a sigh, could never compare

to that of a beautiful scene

whose mockery and flight

are seconds away

she would motion, go over there

and in my dream, I can touch and see

this distilled and ancient image

of a woman, a seer, a crone, a jewel

not dead, but flying wild

She is free, yes, free, compelling and true,

she has leashed the heavens

and juiced the stars

in her hands, filled with light, and
luminous things,

she offers, to us, a taste.

My eyes stung with tears. Why was death
following me through life? Why were people going about their lives, watching
TV, shopping, going to football games as if nothing was wrong, as if our
identities hadn’t been stolen? I was so angry. Kyle’s words found their way
into my rage. “Breathe, get calm, keep it together,” I told myself. So I did,
but only after resolving to find a way to contact Rose on the other side.

I was nervous being in one place too long.
So less than fifteen minutes after we had arrived, we were on the road again,
munching a breakfast burrito Amber miraculously had produced. I took her
through most of the major events since we’d last spoken a few days earlier. I
left out the part about me getting shot and Rose being dead--I wasn’t ready for
that. Amber was a little hurt that I hadn’t called her as soon as Dustin and I
were safe, but she let it go. Instead, she pushed for more details on Gibi,
Skyclimbing and the portals. After telling her about the lost Calyndra Portal
and its potential to transport me to another time, she asked, “When are we
going to Big Basin Redwoods State Park?”

“Do you really want to? Because I’ve been
thinking if I could find the portal and return to Ashland
before
Lee
Duncan and my dad got killed, then maybe I could prevent all this.”

“I thought things couldn’t be changed with
time travel.”

“That’s just in the movies because it
complicates the script too much if everything could change but no one knows.
And even if that did turn out to be true, I could still find out a lot of stuff
that might make the future easier, might save my life. If nothing else, the
portal would literally buy me time. I could go to different times and places
until I figure out what to do. We know if they find me they will kill me. A
portal may be the only safe place to hide.”

“It’s hard to believe something like that
really exists.”

“For me, too, until I was in one. That
changes
every
thing.”

“If I drive you there and if we find it,
could I go inside Calyndra with you?”

“Of course! It’s about an hour south of San
Francisco, maybe a six-hour drive. Let’s leave Friday night. Oh my God, can you
imagine?”

“We have to find it. Do you get how much
you mean to me? I’ll drop out of school and go into hiding with you. You’re the
most important person in my world!”

“I am?”

“Yes! I don’t want to have sex or anything
like that, but I’m definitely in love with you. You must know that, right?”

“Uh?”

Amber laughed and pulled onto the shoulder.
“Maybe we should have sex if that would make it easier for you.”

“Amber? Uh?”

“You’re so funny when you’re all nervous
and shy.” She leaned over and kissed me, a real kiss, on the lip--a movie star
kiss that I didn’t want to end, that I didn’t want anything else in the
universe to interrupt, ever. When she stopped, I really couldn’t speak. In fact
I was barely breathing.

“Your first kiss?” Amber smiled.

“Yeah,” I said, recovering. “If you don’t count
Suzy Stover in the sixth grade.”

“Sixth-grade kisses definitely don’t count
. . . well, after sixth grade anyway. I like it that I’m your first kiss.
You’ll remember me forever now.”

“That was never really in doubt.”