Eighth Fire (12 page)

When Mark awoke, he heard Nick talking. He
pulled back the curtain and saw that all three of his friends,
along with James and LeOmi, were seated around a table at the foot
of the bed. The remains of three pizzas were on the table along
with several unopened sodas. Everyone turned his way when they
heard the curtain slide back.

Mark moved his left arm and was surprised it
didn’t hurt. “How long have I been out?”

Jamal said, “Just less than two hours.” He
pointed to the pizzas. “We saved you some pizza: pepperoni and
mushroom, six-cheese and peppers and onion, if you’re hungry.”

Mark walked over and picked up a slice of
the six-cheese pizza. “Thanks.” Chenoa’s nose looked normal. “How
are you, Chenoa?”

“Mad. I should have known better than to try
and take him in a sword fight. I didn’t stand a chance.”

LeOmi said, “I’ll work on that with you.
He’s just studied a little more than you, that’s all.”

Mark said, “Yeah, I’m mad too, but it won’t
do any good to let them know about it. How’s Ralph?”

Nick said, “Miss Mary said he’s going to be
all right. He hasn’t woken up yet.” Nick pointed to the next bed
and picked up a piece of the pepperoni pizza. “Slone and some of
his crew are waiting on the other side of the bed.”

Mark put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“Sorry to spoil your first day. How’d you find us?”

“Everybody is talking about the fight and
you didn’t spoil my day. From what I’ve been told, it wasn’t your
fault.”

Mark nodded his head a little. “You want to
hang out with us until you have to be in The Oasis? We can show you
some of the shops, and you really should meet Ms. Vanmie.”

“Sure, that sounds okay.”

Mark turned to LeOmi. “Don’t get me wrong,
but I certainly didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I’ll leave if it bothers you.”

“No, no it’s just the opposite.”

“Well, I’m here, and let’s just leave it at
that for now.”

Mark looked around. “Where’s Miss Mary?”

Chenoa said, “She said you could leave when
woke up.” She sat a small white jar on the table. “She gave me a
jar of cream to give you to use on that bruise on your back. She
said you should take it easy for a couple of days; no more
fights.”

Mark picked up the jar. “That’s easier said
than done. Let’s get out of here before Ralph wakes up.”

Jamal and Nick put the table back against
the wall where it belonged and the group left the ward.

In the mall Mark said, “I need to get a new
cloak. I’ll meet you guys in Ms. Vanmie’s shop.” He held out his
hand and pointed to the walkie-talkie ring. “If it takes too long,
I’ll call you.”

Chenoa said, “I’ll go with you, I need some
sandals.”

LeOmi said, “If we’re not at Ms. Vanmie’s
when you finish, we’ll be at the bookstore. I want to show you guys
which sword fighting book to get to start your training.”

Mark and Chenoa started walking toward
Freeman’s, Purveyor of Fine Clothing. Chenoa unconsciously ran her
finger across the back of her neck, feeling the metal chain hidden
under her hair. It was a necklace she had worn since she was seven
years old.

The necklace wasn’t valuable in a monetary
sense, but it held a great deal of sentimental value to her. Her
dad had given it to her on their first visit to Fairystone State
Park for her seventh birthday. According to the park ranger,
ancient legend held that all the fairies, nymphs and other mythical
creatures of old had cried great tears on hearing of the death of
The Christ. Their tears crystallized into the form of crosses upon
striking the ground and certain areas were still sprinkled with
those crystal crosses until this day. She knew the legend was just
a whimsical tale, and it wasn’t the tale that made the cross on the
end of that chain special. It was special because her dad had given
it to her and it was just like the one he’d worn every day of his
life since he was twelve years old.

Her mother had given that necklace to her
dad just before he left to go to school at The Seventh Mountain.
Her mother had told her how her dad had such a wonderful smile,
even in the first grade. All the girls liked him and they always
wanted to be around him. This was true throughout grade school and
all the girls were disappointed when, after sixth grade, he’d told
everyone he was going to a different school the next year. All the
girls gave him presents to remember them by, mostly jewelry, but
some clothes too. Her mom gave him the necklace she had gotten from
her dad at Fairystone Park. The next year when he returned home, of
all the presents, he was wearing only that necklace. It was from
that necklace that her parent’s relationship had blossomed.

She didn’t know how she’d feel tomorrow
about what she was about to do now, but she knew she had to know.
She wasn’t even sure exactly what it was she felt for Mark. Deep in
her being she wanted to believe he was the one the future of the
world depended on, but there was just a bit of a nagging doubt,
probably because her dad had expressed a level of caution regarding
Mark being the one to fulfill the prophecy. Also, Mark had feelings
for her as she did for him, but because he was guarding his
thoughts, she couldn’t tell if those feelings were any more than a
close friendship or if there was something else, something
more.

She also admired the courage Mark had in
standing up to Slone. There was just something evil about Slone and
Mark was one of the few people that sensed it instinctively, and
Mark had proven he was willing to stand against evil, no matter
what the personal cost. Mark was everything a true warrior was
supposed to be, and in her eyes, everything a true man was supposed
to be. Mark was the one she wanted, dare she think it, for the rest
of her life. But her mother had told her on a few occasions to be
careful with her heart, “The heart is an easy thing to break and a
hard thing to mend.”

She asked Mark, “How’d you lose your
cloak?”

“I filled the pockets with rocks so I would
sink fast in the lake. I slid out of it so I could swim to the
other sub when Gerod showed up.”

“What was it like, I mean when you ran out
of oxygen and thought you had to surface?”

“Well, I was mad at LeOmi. I knew it was
probably a test of some kind; all the clues were there that it was
a test. LeOmi knew it had to be a test too, but she tried to push
herself past her limits. There’s a good chance she would have
drowned if Gerod hadn’t shown up when he did.”

“Are you mad at me?”

Mark glanced sideways at her and chuckled.
“Yeah, a little. That’s some temper you’ve got.”

“I know, but I’m going to beat him. One day
I’m going to beat him, but good.”

“I don’t doubt it, but why’d you go after
him today? He was just after me.”

“I know, but he was making you and Nick out
to be the bullies. I just got mad.”

“Remind me to never make you mad at me.”

Chenoa smiled, took Mark’s arm and stopped
walking. She looked at the floor and said, “I want you to know
this.” She looked back up at him. “I’ll stand by you, no matter
what. Even if I think you’re wrong, I’ll stand by you.” She took
her necklace off and held it up for Mark to see. “My father gave me
this when I was seven. I want you to wear it so you’ll always
remember; I’ll stand by you, even when nobody else will.”

“Chenoa, I don’t know what to say. I can’t
take that.”

“Listen, from what we’ve seen today, there
are going to be some tough times ahead. I want you to take this so
you’ll always remember; you’re not alone in this. Remember, I was
pre-chosen too.”

A tear rolled down Mark’s cheek. He took the
necklace and put it on. “You’re right. Today has been a tough day.
Guys aren’t supposed to cry, but right now I just want to bawl my
eyes out. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. It just
did.”

Chenoa put her arms around Mark and he
returned the embrace. It felt good to actually hold someone,
someone who cared. He kissed her forehead and said, “Come on, let’s
go before we draw a crowd.”

She released him and let her hand fall down
to his for the briefest moment. He didn’t take it.

Mark started walking. “Last year you said
you lived in Virginia. Where abouts?”

“Just outside of Clarksville, on Buggs
Island Lake.”

“Hey, that’s near where I live. My parents
go to Clarksville for groceries. Maybe we can get together and do
something in the summer.”

CHAPTER SIX

Dreams Remembered

It was just before eight thirty p.m. when
Mark and his group sat down in a booth in The Oasis. Though LeOmi
was a welcome addition to the group, she’d already made plans to
have dinner elsewhere.

Shana walked up to the table, looked at Mark
and said, “None the worse for the wear I see.”

“No ma’am. Can you give advice now, or do I
have to wait until morning?”

“We measure days from sunset to sunset, so
technically right now it’s Tuesday.”

“How can I stop them from attacking us?”

“Well, from what I know about you, you
already know the answer to that question, so I’ll just remind you.
Remember the Greenies?”

Mark nodded his head. Indeed he did remember
how he’d given the Greenies something else to think about by
letting it ‘slip’ that he knew where another group of boys kept
their ‘stash’. Of course he didn’t let on that the boys were much
older and much stronger than the Greenies. He’d also made sure the
other group caught the Greenies red-handed, raiding their stash. In
gratitude, the older boys gave Mark protection. All he had to do
now was figure out how to apply that model to this situation.
“Thanks. I think that might work.”

Shana smiled. “You’re welcome. Now, this is
strictly voluntary. I want you guys to go to the barracks tonight
around midnight and pick one or two of the new student’s clothes to
wash. Just make sure you get them back to the right student. I’m
sure you remember how that happened for you last year.”

Chenoa said, “Girls for girls and boys for
boys.”

“Naturally, and there’s counselors on duty
all night there to see to it.” Jeremy stepped up beside Shana and
after glancing at him, she continued, “Be back here tomorrow
morning at ten. Now, if there’re no more questions, I have to go
see to the rest of my students.”

Jeremy had his pad in hand. “You guys ready
to order?”

Jamal said, “From New York: I’ll have a
mixed vegetables salad with balsamic dressing, New York strip
steak, medium, onion rings and iced tea.”

Chenoa said, “That sounds good, except I’d
like a green goddess dressing.”

Jeremy asked, “Is a ranch dressing all right
if we can’t get the green goddess dressing?”

“Sure.”

Nick said, “Minnesota: beef stew, biscuits
and tea.”

Mark turned over the phonebook sized menu,
closed his eyes and brought his finger down on the map. He looked
and asked, “What’s good from The Netherlands?”

“Generally I’d say that Europe is closed
right now, but I know this all night place in Amsterdam. I
recommend the
kibbeling met friet.
It’s the Dutch version of
fish and chips and it comes with a sweet garlic dipping sauce. It’s
best to have milk with that since the fish is really spicy.”

Mark said, “I’m not a big fan of fish.”

“If you don’t like it, you can always order
something else, but I promise you’ll like it.”

“Okay, I’ll try it.”

Jeremy wrote it down and started to leave.
Mark said, “This afternoon, you said you couldn’t talk about
Slone’s group being my friends until after sunset.”

“They are your friends. You don’t want them
to die and they don’t want you to die, so you’re not enemies.
They’re not just acquaintances either. If they saw you in real
danger, they’d come to your aid and you’d go to theirs. You are
friends, just with a difference of opinion. You need to get rid of
that difference of opinion, or make it so that it doesn’t matter;
that’s all.”

“I tried that. You saw me try.”

“Yep, I saw you try. I didn’t say it would
be easy.”

“Any suggestions?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Sometimes a gift and
another apology works. Show ‘em you’re sincere. Do it one on
one.”

“That might work with everyone but
Slone.”

“Slone’s only the leader by popular
consent.”

“Thanks Jeremy. Between you and Shana, I’ve
got a lot to think about.”

“You’re welcome, and I hope you work it
out.”

Shana was waiting along with other
counselors just inside the back entrance to The Oasis at ten
minutes until ten in the morning when the group arrived. She said,
“Well good morning. In case you forgot, this year it’s two points
per minute for being late. Go ahead and get breakfast and I’ll see
you at your table in a few minutes.”