The Stargazers (32 page)

“Aster?” Ruby
was standing up and look
ing a little wobbly, but
otherwise alive.

Just then, Oleander appeared behind Ruby, hands outstretched and aiming for the girl’s neck.

“Ruby, get
down!”
Time slowed to a standstill as Aster flew through the air full tilt
and collided with Oleander. Using eve
ry last bit of her strength, she
pinned
the witch
to the ground.
Oleander writhed like a slippery fish, teeth gnashing.

What am I doing? What do I do?

“What you’ve always done.” The voice coming from her mouth wasn’
t her own. It was deeper. Wiser
.
Dahlia, Lily, Iris.
“
You know what to do.
You got to go your own way
.”
She r
aised her head to the heavens and
called on the Old Magic, the stolen gift, her ethereal chains.

Clouds parted from the moon
, now raised above its ghastly red omen. I
ts blue-white luminescen
ce spilled upon her face
. She felt full to bursting with the light as it surged through every vein, vessel, and pore, cleansing her
of her rage, her hate, her
grief.

“From one Stargazer to another, D
ear Aunt, as has always been, but
shall never again be.”

Placing her hands on either side of Oleander’s head, she ch
anneled the light through her fingertips, first using it to cleanse the woman’s spirit
, and then her body of all defects. Aster gasped as Oleander grew young again before her eyes. The pustules on her skin, the wrinkles, the twisted joints and back—everything that had made her ugly vanished, replaced by a beauty even greater than that she’d had before.

Her flaxen hair with its loose curls framed a delicate face with eyes soft green like moss.

Oleander’s screams ceased, and she gazed
up at Aster with wide eyes
that reflected the starlight
. “I’m beautiful again, aren’t I?”

“You’re more beautiful than
anyone or anything in the world,
”
said Aster, meaning ever
y
word.

Tears welled up in Oleander’s eyes
, like morning mist over rolling green hills
. “Thank you.”

“It is not finished, Aunt
.”

Fear briefly disturbed the Oleander’s angelic tranquility, but she nodded anyway. “I know.”

The Old Magic continued to flow, and Oleander’s screams filled the world
.
Her body bunched and contracted again
.
A few moments later,
Aster was no longer straddling a full-sized body
.
Oleander contracted first to child size, then to infant.

But she couldn’t stop there. Couldn’t stop even if she’d wanted to.

She was the Old Magic. 

Oleander uttered one final s
cream in a pitch high enough to shatter glass. Then
her vocal cords, at least her human ones, withered away.

Her skin changed again, going from the purest porcelain white to mottle
d brown and
green. Aster’s grip began to slide as Oleander’s skin became wet and slimy
. Her eyes moved farther apart, losing their human shape and color, and her nose first broadened and then disappeared into the flesh of her face, becoming two air holes.

Let go let go! It is done!

A cloud passed in front of the moon again, blocking its light, and with it the Old Magic. Beneath her hands lay a large
but passive
toad.

Are those my hands?

They looked like her mother’s. Knotted knuckles, liver spots.
S
he tried to stand,
but her legs lacked the strength. Her spine lacked the ability to stretch.
Every joint in her body felt like it contained broken glass.
She stabilized herself against a tree, dug in her fingers, and pulled herself to her feet. The left one was now turned inward, and she wouldn’t be able to walk without help.

She pulled
the toad close to her
and sighed with exhaustion
. It was now the most i
mportant amphibian in the world, and it felt like it weighed a million pounds.

“Aster?”

She opened her eyes and turned toward the voice.
Ruby was gazing at her, jaw dropped, eyes
shiny with a mixture of awe and terror
. Aster managed a grin.
The skin of her face felt weighted with age.

“I look like her now, don’t I?” The sound of her voice in her ears was foreign. Shak
y and frail, like Lily’s
voice.

Ruby shook her head and pointed to the toad.
“You could never look as ugly as that thing. You look…old and wise.” 

Before
Aster could respond, a burst of
colorful light
filled the forest again. She turned to the Tree of Doors to see its trunk opening down the middle
. Dahlia stepped through
followed by Nanny Lily and
Quercus. “Mother!” cried Aster. She tried to hobbl
e over, but Ruby took her by her free
arm and helped her.

Dahlia, well practiced at moving in her bent form, limped over to her daughter, minding the uneven terrain with her cane. “Aster? Oh my sweet girl! What happened to you?” She took Aster into her arms, but Aster held back in order to keep from squishing Oleander.

Lily stepped out from behind Dahlia and fixed her with a stern glare. “What is the nature of this mess
, daft girl?”
S
he surv
eyed the mess in the woods, but when she saw
the gray-haired figure
lying on the ground nearby, her face softened. She
hobbled
over to her sister, her hands shaking
.

“Oh dear Grah,” she whispered. “I
wanted to see her one more time… Now it will have to be in the next life.”

Aster walked to Lily and placed a hand on her
quivering shoulder. “I wouldn’t be alive right now if it
hadn’t been for her
.
”

“Tell us everything,” Dahlia said.

Aster held out the toad.
“This is Oleander.
She is due for the Giving Altar
.”

Nanny Lily’s eyes widened
and she grabbed Aster hard by the shoulder
. “She’s
what
?
What did you do
?”

“What needed to be done.” She
pulled away and surveyed both women.
“
You’ve both lied to me, but it ends here.
I will take Oleander to the Giving Altar and return the Old Magic to Ellemire.”

Nanny Lily sneered. “You ignorant girl. Do you expect us to believe you have turned your aunt into a toad?”

“I am just like you now. I have earned my place among you as elders, and you will hear me, and you will believe me!” Her new voice cracked in the upper register but was no weaker for i
t. The other women and even Quercus took a step back. “We are thieves no more. We are liars no more.
We don’t belong
in Ellemire
. We should have been exiled centuries ago.” She pointed toward the Tree of Doors. “I will cross over to make the sacrifice, but you will stay here. When I return, this will be our new home.”

Dahlia took a cautious step toward her. It was as if she thought her own daughter would strike her dead.
“Aster, this cannot be. We are of Ellemire.”

Aste
r shook her head. “
No.
We are
outcasts there, but we will not be shunned here.” She turned to Ruby. “Take thes
e two back to Oasis house. Quercus and I will
meet you there when this is done.”

Nanny Lily rose up to her full height, crooked back and all.
There was a day when Aster would have shrunk to half her size if she saw Lily rear up in such a way, but those days were gone now. “I would
rather die by my own hand tha
n live in this putrid hellhole.
You can’t stop me from going back. I wi
ll call down all the fires of heaven and stomp on your ashes first.”
S
he summoned a ball of flame
in her hand.

“
Mother
!” cried Dahlia.

Aster held out h
er hand and took a deep breath and reached out her hand. The ball of fire in Lily’s hand grew bigger and bigger, until it took the form of a dragon.
Its heat was more immense than the hottest blacksmit
h’s oven, but it didn’t burn any of them
. It would, however, if she commanded it to.

“If you woul
d rather die, so be it. I can make it quick.”

Nanny Lily’s eyes widened
with fear and the ball
of flame in her ha
nd extinguished. She eyed
the Tree
of Doors, and sighed with resignation but said nothing more. Aster called away the flame dragon, but the imprint of its light remained.

Lily
let Dahlia guide her toward the car. The two women were as solemn as a funeral procession.
Aster caught Quercus by the arm before he could climb into the front seat
.

“Not you, Grandfather. I need you to help me with Iris.”

Quercus nodded without a word and followed her toward the Door.

-29-

Quercus picked up Iris’s body, making her look as light as a length of firewood. Together, the three of them traveled through the Door of
All Doors and into Ellemire. Aster
le
t the door close, for she was certain she could open it again if necessary. Something had happened to her as she let the Old Magic flow through her
.
She came to know many things. What once were secrets were no longer.

The two of them walked in silence down the wooded path. It was slow at first,
but the going became
easier once Aster found a thick branch she could use as a walking cane.
When they reached the clearing behind the house, where the ashes of her childhood still sat upon the charred remains of the woodpile,
Aster saw a stooped figure in the moonlight that she recognized immediately.

“Aunt Holly…

Bewilderment crossed the woman’s face at first, and Aster had a sinking feeling that the woman was too far gone on the salvia to be of much help. Then the reco
gnition slowly dawned on Holly’s
face
, and Aster realized the weed wasn’t clouding the woman’s mind
.
In fact, her eyes seemed more aware than they had in years.
“
Aster? Is that my sweet girl in that shriveled body
?”

“Yes, Aunt. It’s a long story, but we don’t have much time to catch you up just yet.”

Holly’s mouth was quivering. “When Oly put the needle in my brain, I knew she was
setting to do something awful. She did, didn’t she? It’s all my fault that she got through that Door.”

“Never blame yourself, Aunt. Oleander used you. She used everyone. But she will abuse no more.” Aster pulled the woman in for a hug. When they broke apart, Aster gestured to the body Quercus held patiently in his arms. “
We need your help. This is Iris
, our dear
aunt
.
She has been of great service to our world, and we must send her off with all the grace with which she lived.
”

“Iris. I know that name. It’s a beautiful name.”  She studied Iris’s peaceful face. “So beau
tiful. She must have had a very full
life.”

“She did. She went her own way.” Her voice cracked on the last word, but there was no more time for tears. “
She’s come home to rest. And we’re going to return home to the other world. It’s time we had a full
life too.”

“You mean.
.. I can come too?” The bald
expression of gratitude on Holly’s
face made her look almost childlike
. Then a look of dark caution entered it. “What about Oly?”

Aster revealed the toad she had wrapped in her shirt as she walked
.
It croaked loudly, but it made no effort to hop away.
“You won’t have to worry about her anymore.”

It took a few moments for Holly to make the connection. She would always have that problem. The salvia’s damage was permanent that way, but it hadn’t stolen her goodness or her ability to laugh, and that sh
e did. It was the bubbly ecstatic chortle
of the little girl she once was. Soon, Aster joined in, and the two women held each other as the laughter healed their damaged hearts, if only a little bit.