The Legend of the Firewalker (36 page)

Jonathan cleared his throat again. “Uh, I don’t know how else to say this, but I think
… you’re the one.”

“The one what?” asked Nathan, looking confused.

“The one your ancestors were looking for,” he said. “The one to come, according to the legend.” Jonathan drew closer and with enthusiasm whispered, “You’re the Firewalker!”

“What?” exclaimed Nathan. “Are you insane? Did you hit your head?”

Jonathan beamed. “It makes sense,” he said. “The inscription on the wall outside the secret chamber said ‘He will be known by those around him.’”

“Yeah, yeah, I got that part,” interrupted Nathan. “Get to the part about me being the Firewalker.”

“Right,” continued Jonathan excitedly. “On the same wall, around the Firewalker symbol, are five smaller symbols. The Cahokia symbol for teacher or Spirit Walker is one of them, as well as the symbol for protector, healer, traveler and guide.” 

Jonathan’s piercing blue eyes behind his dark-rimmed glas
ses were bright, and Nathan was surprised because he hadn’t seen him look this rested in weeks.

“And considering what happened to me after I touched the symbol, I must be the teacher,” Jonathan continued. “And if I am the teacher, then after last night, Lafonda’s clearly the pr
otector.”

Nathan cocked one eyebrow and stared at Jonathan in disbelief. Nathan almost had a grin on his face. “So, I’m the Fir
ewalker. And Jonathan Black is my teacher. And Lafonda Devaro is my protector.”

“Precisely!” exclaimed Jonathan.

“You might look rested,” responded Nathan, “but I think you might need more sleep.”

“No, no, I’m serious,” continued Jonathan. “It fits; even the part of the legend that says he will wield the power of the three: Earth and Spirit and Fire.” He leaned in close again. “It’s you, Nathan,” he whispered excitedly. “You have the gift of fire!”

Nathan continued to shake his head and huffed. “Yeah, but so does Malick,” he said. “And besides, you said there would be five around him and you’ve only mentioned you and Lafonda. Who and where are the others?”

Jonathan looked away and fidgeted with his sleeves a li
ttle. “I haven’t quite figured that part out yet,” he said. He paused. “But I have a theory.”

Nathan looked towards the stage and watched as LaDo
nda continued speaking. “Uh-huh,” he said. “And there are also parts to the legend you haven’t decoded yet.”

They both grew silent.

The microphone from the stage echoed loudly, startling everyone, including LaDonda.

“Sorry about that,” said LaDonda with a smile. “Now as I was saying, the Outstanding Counselor Award goes to the counselor who has demonstrated teamwork, integrity, r
esponsibility and leadership. The recipient of this award was nominated by his peers.”

LaDonda paused to take a look at the paper in her hand. “We had a tie this year, and I’m not surprised b
ecause both of them were so helpful to me this summer,” she said. “This year’s award goes to Nathan Urye and Stephen Malick.”

Nathan was surprised and felt embarrassed by the sounds of applause.

Jonathan nudged him forward. “Go, Nathan,” he said, while clapping. “Go up there.”

Nathan reluctantly headed towards the stage, smiling weakly at the smiling faces in the crowd.

Andy high-fived him right before he met Malick at the stairs.

“Are you just as surprised as I am?” Nathan whi
spered.

LaDonda smiled and gave them both a diamond-shaped glass plaque that had their names engraved in them.

“And that concludes this year’s ceremony,” she said. “Please enjoy the food, music and tonight’s fireworks display.” She waved a hand to the crowd. “Happy Fourth of July, everyone!” she shouted. “And I hope to see some of you next summer.”

Nathan and Malick headed down the stage stairs.

Malick playfully held his plaque in the air, trying to reflect the light. “I saw you and Jonathan huddled up in the corner over there,” he said. “What was that all about?”

Nathan looked up because he heard music playing. He caught a glimpse of the DJ on stage and noticed that people started to dance.

“Oh, nothing,” he said, glancing back at Malick. “Just Jonathan being Jonathan.”

Malick raised an eyebrow and stared at him suspiciously. “Well, that guy I told you about checks out,” he said. “And we should be able to get a charm or something to cloak you guys with in London. He has a store there. We should go check it out.”

A few frown lines suddenly appeared on Nathan’s forehead. “Check it out?” he said. “In London?”

“Yeah,” continued Malick. “And the friend I told you about, the one that knows more about this stuff, she lives there too.”

Nathan grew quiet for a moment. He thought about asking him when they were going to talk about the Order and their powers, but decided to just nod instead.

“There is one other thing,” said Malick. “I keep thinking about it and I haven’t been able to figure it out. If you were having dreams about Leah before you came to camp, back when you were at home, why didn’t they d
etect you there?”

“Congratulations, Mr. Urye!” said a familiar voice.

Nathan looked up to find Lafonda standing in front of him. Although she looked different with her hair in curls, he recognized her immediately.

“Thanks,” he said with a smile. “And by the way, you look nice.”

She smiled and then ran her hand across the hem of her dress. Her dress was a bright berry color and designed from a lightweight fabric. The same fabric was looped as a belt around her waist, and the gold locket that lay bare against her skin shone in the courtyard lights.

“Do you really think so?” she asked, surprised. “I got it in St. Louis, when Leah and I went shoe shopping.”

“Yes,” said Malick, chiming in. “Nathan is right. You do look nice.”

She glanced at Malick suspiciously, but finally smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “And congratulations to you too on your award.”

Malick nodded with a grin.

“I’m just glad that it didn’t rain today,” she continued. “Otherwise we would be forced to have the banquet i
ndoors.”

“Yeah, and our Fourth of July would have been a wash,” said Angela, joining them.

Leah was at her side.

Nathan noticed the music had changed and several people around them were starting to slow dance.

“Um, Leah,” he said, sounding slightly nervous. “Would you like to dance … with me?”

Leah smiled and Angela beamed.

“Sure,” she said. “I would love too.”

She headed over to him, but suddenly he started looking around and scanning the ground. Nathan held up the plaque in his hand and chuckled.

“Maybe I should place this somewhere or put it in my room first,” he said. 

“Gibberish,” said Angela, her blond curly hair bouncing on her shoulders. “I’ll hold it for you. You guys go ahead and dance before you miss the song.”

Malick fidgeted with the sunglasses attached to the neck of his shirt before finally running his fingers through his already perfectly coifed hair.

“Lafonda,” he said, “would you
—”

“I know you’re not asking me to dance,” she said.

“Uh — treated!” shouted Alan from the table. He had a grin on his face and continued to text feverishly on his cell phone.

Malick grinned. “Why not?” he asked with a chuckle. “Will you?”

Lafonda appeared highly agitated. “I’ll pass,” she responded. 

“Lafonda!” exclaimed Angela. She leaned in close to her and whispered, “Is that any way to treat the guy who saved your life?”

Lafonda folded her arms across her chest. “I would like to think of it as we’re now even,” she said. “Considering how his reckless driving could have killed us before we even got to camp!”

Malick smiled coyly. “Just one dance,” he said.

Lafonda glowered.

Angela swiftly took the plaque from his hands and shoved Lafonda into Malick’s arms.

“Go ahead,” Angela said. “One dance never killed anybody.”

Nathan shook his head and gave his plaque to Angela.

“Shall we?” he asked extending his arm to Leah. 

“Yes, we shall,” responded Leah, taking a hold of his arm.

Nathan guided Leah to the middle of the courtyard. He laid his hand gently on her waist and they started to dance.

“Do you think Lafonda will kill Angela for making her slow dance with Malick?” he asked.

Leah tilted her head over Nathan’s shoulder to get a better view of Malick and Lafonda. “Most likely,” she said with a chuckle. “But so far, so good because they’re still dancing, and there may even be some talking going on.”

Nathan continued to dance. When he was facing them again, he said, “Yup, it looks like they’re having a convers
ation. They’re definitely talking about something.” Nathan laughed. “But based on Lafonda’s expression, I don’t know if it’s good.”

Nathan looked down while laughing and noticed the white bandage around Leah’s arm. “So, how is it?” he asked in a more somber tone. 

“Oh,” she responded after following his gaze. “It’s okay.” She returned his gaze by examining his bandaged hand. “And you?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m all right,” he said. “Things could be better, but b
elieve me, I’m not complaining.”

There was a brief silence and Leah’s head tilted a little as she gazed into his eyes. “Thank you,” she said, “for coming after us. That was very brave of you.”

Nathan blushed and tried to conceal his embarrassment. “No problem,” he said.

He quickly looked away and was surprised to see Roy standing over by Argus and LaDonda. It looked like they were having an intense discussion, but Roy quickly smiled after he saw that Nathan was looking at him. He held up a bottle of Wool’s Ointment and waved.

“Oh boy,” commented Nathan, swiftly looking away. “Talk about embarrassment.”

Leah laughed. “What?” she asked. “What is it?”

“Oh, nothing,” responded Nathan quickly. He dropped his eyes and tried not to look at his grandfather again. “So,” he said, trying to think of something to change the subject. “How are you holding up? I mean, is this all new to you? Did you always know about your powers?”

“No,” she said. “In fact, it wasn’t until Amanda
— wait, Lauren, or whatever her name is — kidnapped me that I knew what was going on.” She paused. “I knew I wasn’t crazy, though. I mean, after the attack at school, I knew the stuff happening to me was real, regardless of what anyone else thought was going on.”

Nathan smiled reassuringly.

“Apparently, in the beginning,” she continued, “Lauren tried to kidnap me by getting me into the Space In Between through my dreams. When that didn’t work, she decided to just send the Shadow Creatures after me.”

“Did she ever say what she wanted?” Nathan asked.

Leah shook her head. “No,” she said. “Only that she was looking for someone special — someone with a particular power.”

He thought about what Leah had just said about not being crazy, and the thought of her being alone in the hospital made him sad again. He looked over her shoulder, near the refreshments table, and caught a glimpse of Samantha Darding stan
ding next to her brother Jim, Eva Marie Evans and Hugo. Nathan sighed. He was pleased to see Samantha well again.

Leah pulled back a little so that she could see Nathan’s face. She smiled and said, “It’s okay. I’m not in the hospital an
ymore. And at least now there are people in my life that believe me and know that I’m not crazy.”

Nathan smiled.

“So,” she said cheerfully with a grin. “Lafonda tells me you were having dreams about me.”

Nathan’s face was flushed. He was embarrassed again. “Yeah, sort of,” he said. “And I apologize if that sounds weird or freaky.” He tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry. “It’s just another one of my abilities,” he said. “Through my dreams I can see the past or the future.”

“It’s okay,” she said with a laugh. “It probably would explain why I never felt alone in all this. Even when I was in the hospital, I always felt like someone was with me.”

Suddenly, there was a series of loud bangs followed by little popping sounds. Nathan and Leah both ducked as the cour
tyard lights dimmed and a bright display of red, white, and blue dazzling sparkles filled the sky.

They both stood up straight again and laughed. Leah ran her hands through her hair and straightened her dress. “It’s just fireworks,” she said through stifled giggles. She looked up to watch the sky and then turned to look at Nathan. “What?” she asked, with a smile. “Why are you smiling at me?”

He beamed and the light from the fireworks revealed the happiness in his eyes. “Because your laugh is how I always imagined it would be.”

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