The Fog of Forgetting (11 page)

F
rom the bulk of their supplies, it looked as if the Melorians intended to stay at the clearing for some time, but Seaborne cautioned the children not to assume anything. He explained that when a Melorian set out on a trip or a hunt, he or she packed all that was essential on their backs and parted with no words of leaving or return.

“They do not believe in endings,” he replied, when they asked why.

Days and nights at the cabin soon slipped into a rhythm that made it hard to keep track of how much time had passed since their first day on Ayda. Time, in general, was not something the Melorians seemed to think much about, except to take care not to be in the forest alone after sunset.

The outliers were taught how to weave a hammock, to hunt and clean small game, and to communicate from a distance through hand and secret voice signals. Tinator and Duon and the other Melorian men, who were identified as Duor and Sarn, often went deep into the woods to hunt while the women stayed closer to camp. Evelyn, Frankie, and the boys were divided between them. Seaborne did not hunt with the others, preferring to stay by the shore and fish. Each afternoon, one of the Melorian warriors returned to the clearing to give weapons instruction with Calla, an expert in hand-to-hand combat.

“Be smart,” she told them. “Don't lower your guard—especially if you're alone or traveling in the north, near the Exorian border. The enemy is stealthy. You must know how to identify their tracks and fight back. Never hesitate.
Ever
. If you are attacked, use whatever you can to defend yourself. Arrows can be used as spears, knife hilts as bludgeons, fingers and fingernails can gouge and scrape. Use everything you have available to you.”

“What do Exorians look like?” asked Frankie.

Calla looked up at Duor. He shook his head.

“Never mind,” she said quickly. “You'll know one if you ever have the misfortune to see one.” Calla had Evelyn hold up her knife.

“A knife is a silent and stealthy weapon, an assasin's weapon. It can be thrown, but you will have more accuracy if you allow your attacker to get very close”—she stood only two inches from Evelyn, her chin even with Evelyn's forehead—“before you strike!” She jabbed her arm hard into Evelyn's solar plexus and twisted her fist.

“Ooomph,” grunted Evelyn.

“If I had been armed, it would have hurt less but been much more deadly—and do not make that mistake: Exorians are always armed.” She smiled and pulled back her fist, her voice rising to address the group.

“Melorians must always be prepared to feed and defend themselves. When you are well-versed with the weapons you've been given, I shall show you how to use larger blades.” Her eyes twinkled beneath her hood. She drew two great knives from beneath the hem of her poncho, long and curved, and swept them in a rapid arc around her head, then released them. They flew through the air and struck the side of the cabin with such force that the blades stuck deep into the wood.

Knox's mouth fell open. He took his axes from his harness and held them by their handles.

“You gotta show me how to do that!”

Calla winked at him. “Practice.”

That night, Evelyn and Frankie lay huddled next to each other in the small bed, Teddy snoring on the other side.

“Do you think they get attacked a lot?” Frankie whispered into the darkness.

Evelyn shivered in response and turned over, pressing her back into the familiar, warm figure of her sister. “I don't know. I hope not,” she said.

“No wonder they hate Exorians.” Frankie yawned and rolled over.

Evelyn stared into the shadowy black of the room, listening to the breathing of the two younger children. Pale moonglow from the waxing moon shone on the floor through the open window. Evelyn closed her eyes and saw Calla's slender fingers wrapped around her knives, circling them over her head; then, she saw Mara's face and remembered the way Mara's cool fingers had brushed against her face when she pulled up her hood: firmly, protectively—motherly. Evelyn's heart constricted with a longing that she had not allowed herself to feel for a long time. She rubbed the spot on her chest and clenched her teeth, hard, to make it stop.

It wouldn't do to get attached to these people, she told herself. It wasn't worth it. The only thing that came from loving people was losing them and then having to carry the weight of their ghosts forever. She had Frankie, and that was enough to look out for. Evelyn rolled to her side and threw a protective arm around her sister, determined to graduate to larger blades as soon as possible.

In the morning, Calla showed Teddy how to use flat rocks to dig a deep, V-shaped trench set back from the clearing; such a large group needed a latrine.

“You can't dig it too close to the stream or the river or it will poison the drinking water,” she explained. “And you must dig it at least three feet down, then throw in pine needles and leaves. Every few days, you throw in more.” She grunted as she pushed a large mound of black earth to the side of the trench, molding it into a loose ridge on one side. “When you leave, fill it in, like this.” She kicked the ridge with her foot, emptying the dirt back into the trench. “Then, you walk over the area several times and cover it with branches. This is important whenever you leave your scent in the forest. Otherwise you'll leave a trail an enemy can follow.” She sat back on her haunches. A dirty streak of mud smudged her cheek.

“Here, take this,” she said, handing him a large, flat rock.

Seaborne was leaning quietly against a deeply rutted tree stump. Tar panted happily by his side. Teddy gestured wildly at him with the rock.

“I'm making a toilet!”

Seaborne winked at him. “A useful thing, to be sure.” His eyes rested on Calla for a moment, or what he could see of her shadowed face under her hood. He reached over and gently wiped the mud from her cheek with the back of his hand.

“There, now, you won't go back to your mother looking like you've been making mudcakes.”

“But that's exactly what I have been doing!” she joked.

The corners of Seaborne's mouth lifted. The morning was warm. The fog had retreated farther than usual and the blue sky was brilliant against the trees. They could see Mara's head bent over some work through the scrim of tree branches. Seaborne made a quick visual inspection of the nearby area and put his hand on Tar's blocky shoulders.

“Calla, there's plenty to be done. Your father tells me you will depart 'ere the full moon, and I could use your help training Knox on the bow. Tar can stay with the little one. He'll be safe enough.”

Calla's shoulders tensed. She picked up the quiver and bow lying on the ground. She looked around apprehensively.

“I'm not sure,” she said in a low voice. “I think one of us should stay.”

Tar gave a deep
woof
and a low growl. He shook his head violently and, in one giant leap, landed on all four paws right behind Teddy.

Calla laughed. “All right, Tar, all right.”

Tar barked a quick reply, circled Teddy once, and sat back down.

“I guess I know when I'm not needed,” laughed Calla. She slung the quiver and bow on her back and nodded to Seaborne. “I'm all yours.”

Seaborne's smile broadened.

“But just in case—Teddy,” she cried, “don't go anywhere without Tar. When you're finished, he'll walk you back to the clearing. I'll come check on you in a little while. Tar, watch him!” The dog cocked his ear and wagged his tail. Teddy nodded and went back to digging.

Seaborne whispered loudly to Calla, “Don't worry, Tar can see and hear any danger a mile off, plenty of time for us to get here.”

Tar agreed with another loud
woof
.

“You're right,” Calla answered. “And there is a lot to do before we go.” They walked back to the clearing single-file without breaking a single branch.

Calla and Seaborne worked with Knox until he was able to line an arrow in the bow, pull back the string, and loose the arrow without it wobbling in the air. Duon showed him how to whittle a stick into a straight shaft, notch the ends, and fletch it. By the time his lesson was finished, the sun was almost directly overhead in the sky. Tinator, Duor, and Sarn had left at dawn, taking Axl with them. Chase was helping Evelyn piece together several small skins Mara had given her, and one that she had prepared on her own into a shirt to give to Seaborne. She was so immersed in her work that she didn't hear Frankie creep up behind her. Frankie clapped her hands on her sister's shoulder.

“
Gotcha!
”

Evelyn shrieked and threw the skins in the air. One landed on Chase's head. Knox doubled over, laughing so hard he snapped his new arrow shaft in half. Calla, Seaborne, and Duon joined in. Mara heard them and lifted her eyes from her own work. The small smile she wore under her hood quickly faded.

“Where is the little one?” she asked. “Was he with you, Calla?”

Calla retraced her steps to the edge of the clearing and called for Teddy. There was no reply.

“Oh, no!” she cried, her eyes scanning the woods.

Seaborne was already running in that direction. He swept by her.

“It's my fault!” he yelled. “I told you he would be safe—Tar! Where are you?”

The Melorians scattered. Duon and Calla sprinted to Seaborne's side so quickly that before Knox took five steps, they had disappeared completely into the forest.

Chase followed them, shouting, “Knox, check the beach!”

Knox breathed a sigh of relief. The beach! Of course Teddy would go there. He loved those rocks. Knox took off down the path. Mara rounded the back of the cabin, shouting Teddy's name. Evelyn and Frankie stood rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do.

“I'll check the cabin,” said Evelyn, in a dreadful voice. “Maybe he got tired and went inside.”

Frankie nodded. Around her voices called out for Teddy and Tar. She knew she should do something. Voices like that had called her name before: scared, hoping for a sign. She wanted to tell Evelyn to look under the bed. That's where she had hid. She wanted to go look herself, but it was as if her muscles were no longer obeying her brain. It was a feeling she'd felt once before; the time the earth had moved and turned everything she'd thought was solid into dust, including her father. There was a rustling behind her. The hair on her arms stood up and she felt tiny pinpricks of pain like little electric shocks all over her body. She tasted a metallic tang at the edges of her tongue and her mouth went completely dry.

“Evelyn!” she called out.

The outline of the cabin stood black against the clear sky. The sun, at its height overhead, beat down on her, as dazzling and hot as any sun she had ever felt. Frankie shut her eyes against it; she felt sick and nearly vomited. When she opened them again, the clearing had disappeared into a white blaze of light: There was movement, then a green flash—a halo around the sun—and then nothing.

“I found him! I found him! He was at the beach!” Knox shot onto the path, red-faced and dripping with sweat after running with Teddy up the cliff. His heart was pounding like rapid gunfire in his chest.

“Teddy, you scared the daylights out of me!” cried Chase, tearing out of the forest to meet them.

Knox cackled, on the brink of hysterics.

“
Daylights
, Chase—get it? He scared the
daylights
out of you! I never got it before!”

The Melorians and Seaborne appeared out of nowhere and assembled silently behind the boys.

“He is found,” Calla muttered, subdued, walking away toward the cabin. She would not look at Seaborne or her mother. Seaborne grabbed Teddy from Knox and held him at arm's length, high off the ground.

“Why didn't you stay put as you were told!” he cried. “You nearly were the end of me!” He grabbed the little boy to his chest and held him, his face creased with worry.