Curse Of Wexkia (18 page)

Everyone had their eyes closed except Cay-meka, who was eyeing Nell closely.

Nell let her shoulders slump, lowered her body to the ground with a groan and closed her eyes. She hoped her acting had improved.

A few seconds later, she opened them again to find Cay-meka asleep with her mouth slightly open. The sun had already passed over and was well on its way to the horizon. It would be dark again soon and hard going with another phib relative unable to see in the dark.

The bird landed on one of the lower branches of a tall tree. Nell smiled, guessing she had made a friend. The tree had numerous branches from ground level to tip. All the branches and trunk were as pink-orange as the Corl sun. Many of the lime-coloured leaves had fallen around its base. Nell frowned at them as they lay there waiting to go into the earth and nourish the tree. It was a normal cycle Nell envied. Even the leaves knew what to expect in their cycle of life.

So much had happened since the previous morning. Was it only yesterday? It was hard to know with the Corl nights being so short. She checked her watch. Last night, they had left Earth but they would soon spend their
second night on Corl. Was it her birthday tomorrow when the sun rose? She wished she was back at the beach and riding through the rainforest. Everything was simpler there. No aliens and no new worlds, just living a quiet and uneventful life.

But she was on Corl with the worst problems she could have ever imagined. They couldn’t go on in the dark and they couldn’t risk being captured again by staying still. It was possible Brarb and his cronies could escape and Tanat needed help. Nell thought about everything and shook her head slowly as she made up her mind.

She trotted over to the bird.
I need you to go and get help
, she said without words, as she stroked his soft feathery head. While they were walking away from the hill, Cay-meka had told Nell and Sam, corls could travel like skarks did. Through some kind of personal wormhole to anywhere they wanted in seconds. She drew pictures in her mind of all different corls including Kandar. She hoped the bird understood the pictures. She removed every corl from the image except Kandar and zoomed in on him.
Please understand. I need him to find us
. Like playing a movie in her mind, the pictures moved to the city’s walls, inside and along the trading corridor they had used to the council building. She visualised Kandar standing in front of the doors.

The bird extended his wings, squawked and flew off in the direction of the city.

Nell hoped he understood that she meant him to fetch Kandar. She thought the bird was easily as intelligent as a dog and dogs could fetch all sorts of things, even people.

She made sure she didn’t wake the others while she checked Tanat was comfortable. Her hand brushed away feverish droplets of sweat from his forehead. He needed to
be in a hospital. She sighed and curled up on a patch of grass next to him. A while later, she fell into a fitful sleep.

When Nell opened her eyes, Kandar stood over her with worried eyes.

Nell sat up. ‘How long have—’

‘Not long, child. Are you well?’

‘Yes, but Tanat needs a doctor. How did you find us?’

He pointed to the bird perched on the same branch he used before. ‘That bird found me in one of the trading corridors. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, but it appeared, from his squawking and hits on my head with his talons he wanted me to follow him, so I thought I’d oblige if only for my own curiosity. I waited on the wall until he circled this area then jumped.’ He smiled. ‘I have to say I wasn’t expecting … actually, I don’t know what I was expecting.’

At the sound of their voices, the others awoke. Sam rose first and rubbed his eyes. ‘Huh? How long have we been asleep?’ He looked up to the pink dawn sky.

Cay-meka and Dar-seldra had huddled together and both sat up at the same time, wiped their eyes, and pulled at their hair trying to un-knot it as best they could. Nell thought how alike mother and daughter were. Their movements appeared choreographed. She wished she had known her own mother more at that moment than at any other time in her life.

Kandar said, ‘Nell, you can tell me how and why you are here when you are safely in the city. I’ll take you back but I can only take one at a time.’ He gazed at Tanat. ‘Tanat must be the first.’

‘Yes,’ Nell said. ‘Of course.’ Excitement welled in her at the thought of travelling with Kandar. That experience was one she was looking forward to.

Sam leapt up and peered down at Tanat. Frowning at
Kandar, he said, ‘How are you going to carry him?’

‘I don’t need to,’ Kandar said, showing his pointy teeth. ‘All I need to do is hold him reasonably close to me. Lift his shoulders for me, Sam.’

Nell helped Sam. Tanat didn’t open his eyes.

Kandar knelt down, wrapped his arms around Tanat’s shoulders, and they were gone. No sparks, no sounds. Where he and Tanat were a second before – empty space.

‘Wo,’ Sam exclaimed. ‘I can’t wait till it’s my turn.’

A few moments later Kandar was back. Sam reeled back. Losing his footing, he almost landed on Dar-seldra and Cay-meka.

‘Watch out,’ Cay-meka shouted.

He scrambled back onto his feet and moved beside Nell.

‘I apologise for taking so long,’ Kandar said. ‘The physician assessed Tanat’s condition.’

Dar-seldra stood gracefully. ‘Is he going to be all right?’ She spoke with a tremor in her voice. ‘The physician was content with his health.’

Nell grinned at her aunty. Dar-seldra had a thing for Tanat. Nell turned to Cay-meka. Ha, she wasn’t too happy with her mother’s obvious concern for the wintar. Sam grinned at Cay-meka.

‘Take Cay-meka next,’ Dar-seldra said quickly, appearing uncomfortable at Cay-meka’s resentful glare.

Kandar nodded and advanced towards Cay-meka.

Nell wondered if Cay-meka had ever travelled with a corl.

Her eyes widened. The apprehension on her face shifted to eagerness. ‘Oh, yes please,’ Cay-meka said, and took Kandar’s hand.

Nell guessed it was Cay-meka’s first time also.

Not more than two minutes passed before Kandar returned and, one by one, he took Dar-seldra and Sam. When he returned for Nell, she hesitated and searched the branches of the trees. The bird had moved high on the tree. ‘There you are,’ Nell said aloud with a relieved sigh. ‘I thought I would have to leave without saying goodbye.’

It coasted down to a branch about Nell’s head height. She talked and stroked the bird. Out of the corner of her eye, Kandar watched her with undivided interest. Blast. She would have to remember not to expose her talents so freely.

The bird soared high into the sky and flew away.

Nell watched him disappear and wondered if she was doing the right thing by going with Kandar. He probably still wanted to put her away. What about her father? Even if he didn’t put her in that restoration place and even if she did help save Dar-seldra, he would be really angry with her. She gazed in Kandar’s direction. He was smiling broadly. He would have looked scary except there was a definite twinkle in his kind eyes and he seemed to be content to wait until Nell was ready.

She had to get back to the city. That mean corl had the book in an urn at his place and his house must be in the city somewhere. Maybe Cay-meka knew where he lived.

‘Okay,’ Nell finally said to Kandar. She’d have to think of a way to slip away with Cay-meka. ‘Let’s go.’ She stepped beside Kandar and he put his arm wrapped in the cape around her shoulders.

Just like the skark, all the colours of the rainbow surrounded them, whirling and eddying. A moment later they arrived in a room that smelt like disinfectant. Tanat lay on a bed in the middle of the room. Dar-seldra was holding his hand. Cay-meka looked resentful and Sam stood by the window, which was as wide as the wall and
half as high. There were no curtains or blinds on or around it. Through it was a vista of the tops of the forest trees they had just left. The building must have been high because she was able to see meadows of green grass to the north.

A white robed doctor asked Nell to follow him. As the doctor opened the only door out of the room, Sam spoke quickly. ‘He’s another one of your rellies,’ he said.

‘What? Who?’ Nell asked, confused.

‘Him,’ Sam said, and jabbed his index finger in the doctor’s direction.

‘He is not related to you,’ Cay-meka said to Nell. ‘He is my cousin. On my father’s side.’

Nell shrugged and followed the doctor out of the room and into the one next door. There was no way she would tell the doctor anything. He probably thought that she was cursed too.

Glad the doctor didn’t ask any unusual questions, Nell watched him as he examined her with an instrument the size of a CD case. He concentrated as he passed it over the front of her body.

‘Turn,’ he said.

Nell turned around, and assumed he passed it over her back.

‘You are well,’ he said with a small smile. ‘You can go.’

Each rescued member was examined in turn.

Back in Tanat’s room, two corl policemen questioned them extensively. One had skin the colour of a lime and the other’s was lemon-coloured. Neither corl wore capes. They recorded each of their stories in their bracelets. The thin gold bands must have held really miniature digital recorders of some sort.

Nell didn’t think it wise to mention the book or Nadar again and she was thankful no one else did either.

‘The Rangers will collect Brarb and the other wintars,’ the lemon-skinned corl policeman said. ‘All of you will be called before the councils as soon as Tanat is able.’

After they left, Dar-seldra spoke pointedly to Cay-meka. ‘I will stay with Tanat. Dar-tern is outside with Kandar and he will take the three of you to my house.’

Nell swallowed and looked at Sam. He gave her a half shrug. She nodded and opened the door.

‘Thank you, little Nell,’ Tanat said weakly.

‘Anytime.’ Nell grinned at him and stepped through the doorway.

‘Nell,’ her father said. He picked her up, hugged her and laughed. He twirled her around in a full circle.

She breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he was glad to see her.

He put her down and placed his hands on her shoulders as if he’d just remembered he was angry with her. ‘You will never, never do anything like that again. I thought I’d lost you.’

The words he said to Carl on Earth flitted across Nell’s mind. ‘I wish Nell had died …’ Confusion enveloped her as love flowed from her father to her. She wondered if she could trust the feelings she experienced.

‘Sorry,’ Nell said.

He shook his head and made an exasperated sound. Fronting Sam and Cay-meka, he demanded, ‘Why didn’t either of you stop her?’

Sam inspected his shoes instead of answering.

‘I tried to,’ Cay-meka said. ‘But she would not listen to me and then it was too late. Those wintars captured us.’

Sam raised his eyes to Dar-tern. ‘Nell saved us all, David, I mean, Dar-tern,’ he said.

Nell’s father moved his eyes to Kandar’s as if to say
help me. Kandar chuckled. Her father’s expression said ‘thanks-a-lot’.

‘You three will not be allowed out of my sight.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Right now I think it’s time you all ate something a bit more substantial than fruit.’

Nell was full of questions as they followed him and Kandar out of the building and along a noisy trading corridor. The traders were different from the other corridor they had traversed. More subdued. There was still music, but it was quieter and she didn’t see any cafés anywhere. At least she could think there.

How was she to get the proof if she wasn’t allowed out of his sight? Nobody would believe her until she found the book. The power of her strength and abilities was growing. She didn’t need any help, nor could she be stopped either.

T
he corridor became increasingly noisy as they paraded along. Many beings jostled them and Nell panicked at first when she saw a balloon-nosed, ogre-like man take a corl woman’s baby out of her arms. He was easily twice as large as the woman. The yellowish-brown skin that covered his head was as lumpy as the pastry on a rhubarb pie. Her eyes widened in amazement when he tickled the baby under the chin with his knobbly pinkie finger and hooted softly like an owl to the giggling package.

Nell’s father talked to Kandar in what Nell presumed was the corl language. ‘Does Dar-seldra live in this city?’ she asked her father.

‘Yes, it’s not far,’ Nell’s father said offhandedly.

That annoyed Nell. He treated her like a two-year-old child. Perhaps if she told him of her ever-increasing abilities, he might have more time for her. Remembering what Tanat had said, she decided not to. He was her father but he would only worry about her. Nell listened to the rhythm of their voices. After a minute the gibberish began to form into words in her mind.

Kandar said, ‘Perhaps you should lock the child out of harm’s way.’

Alarmed, Nell couldn’t stop her mouth from falling open. Kandar was the same as all the rest.

‘I can’t keep my daughter under lock and key, Kandar. Not even for you.’

Comforted by her father’s words, Nell closed her mouth and smiled. If she kept gaining strength, they wouldn’t be able to lock her up anyway.

‘Obviously,’ Kandar continued. ‘There are people who want her rendered as powerless as Shahs.’

‘Hmm,’ her father said. He and Kandar fell silent.

Shahs. She was the one Tanat told Nell about: the one who went crazy and killed people. Her whole body bristled and, once again, a slight electrical charge passed through her. Ugh. She wasn’t going to go crazy and she definitely wasn’t going to start killing people.

A rat-fairy glided to the ground in front of Kandar and Nell’s father. Nell recognised its eyes. Orenda. She was the rat-fairy who stopped and stared at Nell when they first arrived on Corl.

Orenda spoke to her father and Kandar in a different language. She had the slender body of a five-year-old child, but that body was completely blanketed in short white fur and not one piece of clothing. Her face was definitely rat-like, with its pink nose, whiskers and little pointy ears. Each hand and foot had five furless pink digits. Orenda’s startling blue eyes seemed to look straight through Nell.