After the Fire (10 page)

Melissa stopped reading. “What's going to happen to the changeling?” she said. “I mean, if Elfrida gets Tristan back. Will the changeling die?”

“He won't
die
,” said Alice. “Elfrida will rescue Tristan and then the changeling will go back to the spriggans where he belongs.”

“I feel kind of sorry for him,” said Melissa.

“The changeling is
wicked
,” said Alice. She sounded annoyed. “He's a spriggan. He's pretending to be Tristan. I don't think you get this. Don't you want the real Tristan back?”

For a second, Melissa was confused. Alice was sounding again as if the characters in her story really existed. “I do get it,” she said finally. “I just said I felt sorry for the changeling, that's all.”

Melissa turned back to the paper and kept reading.

No one noticed when Elfrida slipped from the room.
She hurried to get her cloak and left the castle. She
had a plan. She would go to the Roaring Boar at once.
Someone must have talked to the spriggans. Someone
must know where they had gone.

Elfrida ran through the shadowy streets to the
Roaring Boar. The sign hanging over the door creaked in
the wind. Elfrida opened the door cautiously and went
inside. She wished she had worn one of her older capes
so she wouldn't stand out so much.

The tavern was almost empty. A man with a round
face was polishing tankards at the counter. Two rough-looking
men sitting at a table stared at Elfrida and one
of them gave a low whistle.

Elfrida took a big breath. “I am trying to get some
information about a group of men who were here
three nights ago. One of them had an arm wrestle with
a gentleman.”

The man put down his rag. “We don't get a lot
of gentlemen in here. I remember the incident well.
The men were troublemakers. Not from these parts.
I was glad to see the end of them. I don't need trouble in
my tavern.”

“Do you know where they went?”

“No idea.”

Elfrida's eyes stung with disappointment. Then she
noticed a shadow move in the corner of the tavern.
A figure in a long hooded coat was sitting alone on
a bench. “Come and talk to me,” said a quavery voice.

Elfrida sat on the bench beside the figure. A withered
hand pulled back the hood and Elfrida glimpsed
a wrinkled face with bright brown eyes. It was an old
woman!

“I'm Mareea,” said the woman. She let the hood
fall back over her face. “Why are you asking about
spriggans?”

A chill ran down Elfrida's spine. Warwick was right!
The rowdy strangers were not of this world at all but
from the world of dark fairies! “They have taken my little
brother and left a sick changeling in his place,” she said.
“I need to know where they have gone. I must get my
brother back! Please, I beg you to tell me if you know.”

For a long time, Mareea didn't speak. Finally she
said, “I overheard them speak of the Dark Valley. That
is a long ride from here through dangerous territory.”
The hood slipped farther back and Elfrida saw a greedy
gleam in the old woman's eyes. “If you make it worth
my while, I will take you to the pass above the valley.
No farther.”

“I can pay you ten silver coins,” said Elfrida. It was
all the money she had saved.

Mareea sighed. “I suppose that will do. We will leave
at midnight. I will need something to ride. My old legs
do not take me very far these days.”

Elfrida thought quickly. She would ride Night-shadow
and she would bring Willow, her old pony,
for Mareea.

Mareea reached out her gnarled hand and touched
a lock of Elfrida's long golden hair. “It would be safer to
travel as a boy,” she muttered.

Melissa looked up. “Elfrida's going to cut her hair!” she guessed.

“She has no choice.” Alice spoke quickly. “That's the next part I have to write. I've thought about it a lot. It would be a hard thing to do because in those days girls didn't have short hair. But Elfrida would do anything to get her brother back.”

“Did they have scissors then?” said Melissa.

“I don't know,” said Alice. “But I think Elfrida will use a knife. It's more interesting that way.” She pushed her hands through her long hair and let it fall around her shoulders. “I have to do it too,” she said quietly.

“What? Cut your hair?” gasped Melissa.

“It will help me understand Elfrida's character better,” said Alice. A strange sort of urgency seemed to have gripped her. “I'm going to do it now. Before I lose my nerve.”

“How much are you going to cut off?” said Melissa, astounded. Alice's hair hung in a fine sheet halfway down her back.

Alice hesitated. “Not as much as Elfrida has to. I'm just trying to get the feeling. So I can write about it.”

She's serious, thought Melissa as Alice picked up one of the knives they had used for the arrows. Alice separated her hair behind her neck and pulled one section forward. She held it in front of her. “Okay, here goes,” she muttered.

Melissa held her breath, her eyes riveted on Alice. The knife made a rasping sound as Alice sawed back and forth against the swath of glistening hair. “It's too slippery,” she complained. “The knife won't go through.”

“You could put your hair in two braids,” suggested Melissa. “And then just cut off the end. It might be easier.”

She was half joking. But Alice gave her a speculative look. “Good idea,” she said. While Melissa watched in disbelief, Alice twisted her hair deftly into two long braids. She gripped one braid just above her shoulder and hacked at it with the knife.

“Oh!” Alice gasped as the piece of braid broke off. Her hair sprang loose, ending in a ragged line.

“What does it look like?” Alice put her hand up and touched the ends. Her eyes were bright with triumph. “Is it really crooked?”

“A little bit,” said Melissa cautiously. She couldn't believe Alice had done it.

“Now for the other side.” In a few seconds, Alice had sliced off the end of her other braid. She gave her head a shake. “It feels good. Freer. I like it.”

Until you look in a mirror, thought Melissa. Alice's hair looked like it had been attacked by Cody with a pair of his play scissors.

“I'm glad I did it.” Alice laid the two ends of the braids on the shelf. Melissa's stomach felt queasy when she looked at them. Alice waved the knife at Melissa. “Want a trim?”

Melissa's hands flew to her ponytail. “No!”

“I'm just kidding. Let's go swimming. I want to see what my hair feels like when it gets wet.”

“You didn't stay very long,” protested Alice when Melissa, drowsy from baking on the flat rock, climbed into her canoe. Alice's hair had dried into a fluffy cloud that made her narrow face look softer.

“I'll come earlier tomorrow,” promised Melissa.

“You could bring your little brother,” said Alice. “I wouldn't mind.”

Bring Cody to Dar Wynd? That would wreck everything.

“Forget it,” said Melissa. She gave a few strong strokes with her paddle and then turned to call goodbye. But Alice had vanished into the trees.

Melissa stretched her legs in front of her as she paddled. She was starting to get a tan. She thought vaguely of checking at the store to see if they had any nail polish so she could paint her toenails. Alice's toenails were painted black, but she could imagine what Sharlene would say if she painted hers black too. Purple, maybe. She could ask Alice what she thought.

Melissa realized that she didn't care anymore that Alice had lied about the tree house. It might even be partly true. She and Austin had probably fixed it up.

Alice was the best friend that Melissa had ever had. She made all the kids at school seem boring. You never knew what she was going to say or do next. And she hadn't mentioned the pact to jump off the cliff today. Maybe, just maybe, she had forgotten all about it.

Thirteen

T
he next day, Alice was waiting for Melissa on the flat rock. “We're not going to make the arrows anymore,” she said as Melissa tied her canoe to the overhanging branch. “It was kind of dumb anyway. I've got something way better.” Her thin face was tight with excitement.

“What is it?”

“It's a surprise. It's at Dar Wynd.”

Melissa followed Alice along the path through the trees. Her feet were bare today and the ground felt hot and parched. The leaves on the bushes had a gray dusty look. A patch of wild purple daisies at the edge of the clearing had withered in the heat.

A long thin object wrapped in a white towel lay on the floor in the middle of the tree house. Melissa stared in amazement as Alice folded back the towel and uncovered a gleaming silver sword with a long narrow blade attached to an ornate handle.

Melissa gasped. “Is it real?”

“Of course it's real.” For a second, Alice looked annoyed. “Austin gave it to me. Well,
lent
it really. But he said I can keep it all summer.”

“Where did he get it?” breathed Melissa.

“He has a whole collection of swords. He orders them off the Internet. This is his best one. He wanted me to take it.”

“It's amazing,” said Melissa.

“Pick it up. Hold it,” said Alice.

Melissa carefully picked up the sword. It was very heavy. The blade shimmered and was almost as long as her arm. The handle, fashioned from a darker metal, was a monster's head with sharp curved horns and long claws that gripped the top of the blade.

Melissa swung the sword back and forth gently. “What does he do with it?” she said.

“Nothing,” said Alice. She sounded impatient. “He has all his swords on his wall. He collects them. Elfrida's going to have a sword just like this. Her brother Warwick gives it to her. She can use it to battle the fairies.”

Melissa put the sword back on the floor. It made her feel a little sick.

“I'm going to write about the sword now,” said Alice. “While I'm feeling inspired. You can read one of my books if you want.”

Alice's books with the monsters and weird fantasy creatures on the covers didn't interest Melissa at all. “Do you have any blank paper here?” she asked.

Alice opened her red binder and took out a sheet of paper. Melissa found a pencil on the shelf. She leaned her back against the wall and used the binder for a table. Alice sat cross-legged, flipping through a pile of papers covered with writing.

Melissa slid into her drawing. She was hesitant at first and then drew quickly, shutting out everything else around her. She was startled when she heard Alice crumple up a piece of paper and say crossly, “I can't do it today. I can't write.”

Alice stood up and peered over Melissa's shoulder. Melissa resisted the urge to cover her drawing with her hand. Her back tensed.

“Hey, that's good,” said Alice. She sounded shocked. “Really, really good. I didn't know you could draw like that.”

Melissa shrugged. She didn't say anything but she glowed inside. She had drawn a girl dressed in a tunic and tall boots. Her hair was tucked under a cap, but you could tell she was a girl because of her delicate features. She was holding a sword that looked exactly like the sword Austin had given Alice.

“It's Elfrida, isn't it?” said Alice.

Melissa nodded. “People are hard to draw,” she said.

“I think she looks like me,” said Alice.

“I used your face,” said Melissa.

Alice studied the drawing for a moment. “Can I keep it?”

“If you want.” Melissa handed her the paper and the binder. “It's not that great.”

“But I love it!” Alice seemed unable to pull her eyes away from the drawing. Finally she put it carefully in the back of the binder, snapped the rings shut and put the binder on the floor beside her scattered papers.

Melissa stood up and stretched. She could feel a rim of sweat on her upper lip. “It's so hot today. Do you want to go swimming?”

“Not at the rock. That's getting boring.” Alice's pleasure over the drawing seemed to have evaporated and a small frown darkened her pale face. She picked up a mug and then set it down restlessly. “I'm going to change the rules,” she said suddenly.

“What rules?” A tickle of apprehension ran up Melissa's spine.

“I'm going to jump today.” Alice stared at Melissa and burst into laughter. “You should see your face! I didn't say
you
had to jump. You still have another five days. But I'm going to do it!”

Melissa's stomach turned to water. “Why now?” she said weakly.

“Because,” said Alice, “I can't write and there's nothing else to do.” Her eyes glowed. “You have to come with me. I need a witness.”

The little cove was in dappled shade, the water smooth and deep green. Even out of the direct sun it was broiling hot. Melissa had worked up a sweat paddling and she leaned over the edge of the canoe and splashed water on her face. A small brown bird hopped through an overhanging bush, and Melissa imagined she could hear the dusty leaves crackle with the heat.

The cliff was even higher than she remembered. It loomed above them, the rocks at the top shimmering white in the sunlight. Alice had chatted all the way over but was silent now. They tied the canoe to the dead tree and climbed up the trail. The air was thick with the smell of pine needles, and the heat felt like a heavy blanket on Melissa's shoulders.

When they got to the top, Alice walked right across the rocks to the edge and peered over. “It doesn't look that bad,” she announced.