Shifting (23 page)

“You should rest,” he said, getting up. She didn’t want Jae to leave yet, he’d finally started talking.

“I’m not tired,” she insisted. “It’s just all this lying around, can’t help it.”

“I gotta get into bed anyway,” he said. “Morning’ll be here fast enough. Night.” He disappeared behind his curtain, as Mireya drifted in with another tray.

“Mom thought you might want some tea before bed.” She exchanged the trays.

“Thanks, Mireya.”

“Oh, Ivan checked in on Colin tonight. Said he’s the same, no change. But that Dr. Stamm feels confident they are getting closer to finding a cure.”

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“Ivan?” repeated Meghan.

“Yup. Night,” Mireya chirped.

“Night,” Meghan mumbled back, not looking forward to another fitful night.

Colin slept, deep within a dream, running and spinning like an airplane in an open field.

Only, he was not alone. A girl with silver hair spun along side him. She looked familiar, but he could not place her. She was, by far, the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, and she was small, like him.

“Do I know you?” he finally asked her.

“No,” she replied. “I think, however, you might be the only person who can help me.” She began to fade from the dream.

“No, don’t leave. Who are you?” She had gone, the dream had gone, and Colin continued to sleep in the darkness.

The next morning, after Jae and Mireya were up and out of bed, Meghan heard scratching at her bedroom window. Nona sat perched on the sill and her small paw scratched at something outside. Meghan tiptoed out of bed to look, surprised at what she saw sitting in the snow-covered tree; the bird that had followed them into the Svoda world.

“Are you following me?” she asked, as if the bird could understand her. She opened the window, allowing the cold air to rush in; the bird did not fly away. “What do you want? Did you steal my brother’s book?”

She thought about what she had asked and then said to the bird, “How could you steal a book?

You’re a bird.” She then thought about what she had said, again. “On the other hand, nothing is what it appears in this world.” She eyed the bird cautiously.

Nona jumped onto the branch. Meghan was afraid she might have her way with the bird and kill it before she had a chance to understand why it had showed up at her window. To Meghan’s bewilderment, Nona licked the bird’s tattered face. It didn’t even flinch. Meghan reached out for the bird and it allowed her to pick it up.

“You look awful,” she said, using her robe to wipe its snow-coated feathers. “I can’t imagine what you want, but Nona trusts you, so you must be okay. Perhaps you’re just home sick, like me,” she said.

She took the bird to the bathroom and washed it, then made a little bed for it by the fireplace.

Mireya came in, instantly spotting Meghan sitting next to a small nest of towels.

“Where’d that come from?” she asked. “It’s beautiful.”

“Not sure. Nona found it outside the window, looks to have been roughed up.” The bird was beautiful and now that it was clean, it was also terribly thin. Mireya stroked the bird gently.

“You know what’s strange, Mireya, I can’t place it, but this bird seems familiar, like a distant memory or something.”

“Maybe you knew it in a past life,” she giggled in her playful manner, running off to see if they had any food fit for a bird. Meghan let Nona tend the bird while she got dressed.

Mireya came up the stairs with an old cage.

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“Mom found it in the basement. She said Corny’s back to being his old quiet self again.” Meghan didn’t care about Corny, but gladly accepted the cage, placing the bird safely inside.

Sheila Mochrie climbed up the stairs, covered in dust, with a small basket in her hand.

“What a pretty bird,” she said. “Luckily, I found some bird seed.” She handed it to Meghan and then disappeared back down the stairs. The cage was set near the fireplace to keep the bird warm. Meghan gently placed the homemade nest inside the cage, filling the food and water dishes. The bird stirred for a moment taking a beak full of the water, then collapsed again. Nona jumped into the cage and rubbed her back against the bird, as if saying good-bye, and jumped out, watching Meghan lock the cage door.

“Okay, Nona. You ready to get down to business?” Nona meowed and led the way. It was not overly cold, but the snow covered ground made it slow going; once outside the wagon, it was gray, but there was no snow at all.

“I won’t ever get used to this,” she said, taking off her coat and scarf, stashing them high into a tree. She assumed that Timothy would show himself, but when he did not, she headed to the old mill hoping her uncle would be there. It was empty. She grabbed a leaf, preparing a message.

“I’m in the place we always meet, Meghan.” She kept it vague in case, as Jae suspected, she was being followed. The leaf floated away. Ten minutes later, he appeared, and even for a ghost, he looked disheveled.

“If I could put my arms around you!” he cried. “It is good to see you up and moving. How’s Colin, any change?” Meghan had asked Jae to send a leaf explaining what had happened, leaving out the part about the missing book.

“The doctor thinks he’s getting closer to finding which spell was used, but no change yet.” She leaned into her floating uncle. “Jae feared I might be followed,” she said in a low voice.

Uncle Eddy understood at once.

“I expected Timothy to find me,” she noted.

“Yes, getting worried about him. Haven’t seen him in nearly two weeks,” said her uncle, seeming distracted.

“Did he move on?” she asked.

“No, I don’t think so, he would have said goodbye,” her uncle assured her.

“I hope he’s all right.”

“I’m sure he’s just busy getting himself into some sort of trouble. Oh, nothing to worry about, I’m sure. I can handle Timothy. You need to be with your brother.”

“Yeah, um, there’s something else,” she admitted reluctantly, searching for the right words to explain, in case they were overheard.

“What is it?” he asked, his voice distressed.

“Colin lost his favorite thing,” she said softly.

Her uncle reeled, already knowing she was talking about the Magicante.

“I’m going to find it,” she promised straightaway. “I’m not sure where to start, though.”

“Yes, well, that’s always the hard part, getting started.” He floated in circles for a minute before letting out a ghostly whisper.

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“Meghan, I didn’t want to burden you with this, but it appears I have no choice. You must find it! Failure is not an option!” Her uncle’s serious tone left her uneasy.

“I know, I promised Colin I would find it.”

Eddy checked one more time, to make absolutely sure they were alone, and then explained what he meant.

“It’s more valuable than I’ve let on, Meghan. And in the wrong hands, or stupid hands, it could be made to do very horrible things; not only to the Svoda, but every… living… thing!” His voice was so low she could barely hear him.

“What do you mean by horrible things?” she asked, her unease turning to fright.

“It contains ancient information, things forgotten by most and heavily sought after by those who do remember. Power that could change the course of every world, for good or bad.” His words petrified Meghan near as much as the thought of losing her brother. As she attempted to comprehend what her uncle had said, Nona meowed a warning. Meghan was not sure how she understood, but it meant someone was coming.

“Meghan, I realize you’re confused,” said her uncle. “I’m sorry I can’t help you more. If my presence is discovered many lives will be put in danger. You must figure this out! Or, well let’s not think about the or! You can do this.” He smiled knowingly and then vanished.

Meghan spent exactly three seconds staring blankly into nothing. Confusion could not even begin to describe how she was feeling. Nona meowed again. Meghan jerked her head, instinct telling her to follow the Catawitch. They escaped the old mill, sneaking out the back into the woods, avoiding whoever had arrived.

The farther in they went, the landscape changed. The dead and decaying trees thinned, replaced with luscious green ones. A warm mist covered Meghan and she shed her sweater.

“Where are you taking me, Nona?” The cat meowed and trotted along, seeming to know where she was heading. After awhile, they stopped at a narrow pathway. Voices! Meghan scanned the area. At the bottom of the path was a gully, lined with tiny huts built out of mud.

“I can’t believe anyone lives in those,” she said, stepping into a flyaway spider web. She wrestled the web off her, and then ducked as she saw something move between two of the huts.

Two ghosts floated around the perimeter of the mud compound, keeping watch.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Nona,” she said. “Nona?” She was nowhere to be seen.

“Great, not even my loyal Catawitch stayed with me.”

She peered into the huts, hoping to understand why Nona had led her to this place. She inched her way closer, crawling along the ground. She spotted a fallen tree about ten feet ahead of her.

“Maybe I can hide in there,” she whispered, crawling along the ground. She saw the perfect spot, a hollow big enough for her to… Meghan froze. Her gaze followed a shoe, attached to a leg, which crawled backwards out of the very hollow she was heading for. The smallest noise would alert this person to her presence. Meghan desperately searched for another place to hide.

A second leg backed out of the tree. Her eyes widened and nostrils flared as she realized it was too late. She was on her hands and knees, facing the backside of her unknown companion.

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A hand reached back to pull itself away from the tree, but instead, landed on Meghan’s face.

The color drained from the hand as it gripped her skin. Meghan didn’t budge. What if this was the person responsible for hurting Colin?

A face turned toward her. In unison, and too loudly, both parties cried out, “Meghan!” “Ivan!” The watchman ghosts belted over the huts looking for the perpetrators of the noise. Ivan dragged Meghan into the tree hollow; it was a tight fit, which neither of them were pleased about. After a minute the ghosts were satisfied that they had heard nothing and went back to their normal rounds.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, in a loud whisper.

“I should ask you the same thing. Why was your brother attacked?” She refused to answer, not sure whether to trust him or not. “I’ve been tracking Colin’s attacker,” he acknowledged, seeing her determination not to speak.

“What! Why?”

“The Balaton are looking for an insider. I think it was an outside job. Any reason you can think of as to why that might be, Ms. Jacoby?” he asked curtly.

And to think, I was beginning to believe he might be human, she thought. A stern faced Ivan waited for her reply.

“I have no clue who attacked my brother,” she stated. “Nona led me here.” His eyes widened.

“That’s a good sign, then,” he replied, turning back to the ghosts.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on here?” she asked him.

“Best guess is that they’re guarding something.” Meghan’s first thoughts led to Colin’s book.

Could it be in the mud huts? Meghan was about to speak, when Ivan cupped her mouth and put fingers to his own. “Shh.” The ghosts were coming around again.

Meghan still wasn’t sure if she could trust Ivan or not, but she was glad at least, not to be alone. She waited until the ghosts had rounded the next corner, and then decided to be bold; she would have to, if she was going to talk Ivan into invading the huts with her.

“It was over a book,” she admitted.

“All this for a book? Are you sure?”

“Positive. It’s not a monetary thing, well, it could be I guess. It’s what’s in the book that matters.”

“We should get closer,” he decided.

“Any ideas on how to do that?” she asked, glad he had not instantly abandoned her.

“I’ve been spying for hours, and those two ghosts doing rounds take a good couple of minutes on the other side. Do you see that small alley there?” he pointed in between two of the huts. “I can’t quite tell, but I think there’s a cart or something we might be able to hide in.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

He nodded, shushing her again as the ghosts came back around. They waited, ready to spring for the alley as soon as the ghosts were out of sight. Meghan went first, dashing through the other side of the tree, followed by Ivan. They reached the alley. It was a cart, but it was filled with skunky smelling rags.

“I can’t get in that,” she complained.

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Ivan pushed her in, landing beside her.

“Breathe already,” he chided. “It’s bad, but I’ve smelled worse,” he added, pulling a stinky rag over them, for cover.

“You’re getting quite the kick out of this, aren’t you?” she pouted.

His dry arrogant smile answered her question.

“I’m going to need a major bath after this,” she moaned.

“I can’t argue with that,” said Ivan.

She shot him a scowl.

They cautiously peeked into the compound. Two ghosts played poker.

“You’re cheating,” accused a scrawny ghost.

“I ain’t been cheatin'! You take it back!” demanded a short, chubbier ghost.

“I won’t,” the scrawny one goaded. The chubby one responded by throwing his cards at the scrawny one. A familiar ghost appeared, scolding the players.

“Will the two of you idiots shut the hell up! We got a big operation going on here. Go do your rounds.”

“Duppy!” Meghan asserted coldly. She then added, “He confronted Colin and me,” realizing Ivan wouldn’t understand.

“The secrets keep piling up, don’t they?”

“I’ll explain later,” she huffed.

Footsteps approached.

“Do you hear that?” she asked.

“Yes, not a ghost, either,” answered Ivan. “It’s coming our way,” he warned. They held their breath as the footsteps passed by their rank hiding spot. Meghan took a daring glance over the edge. Whoever it was, they were dressed in a deep red, hooded cloak. Duppy floated haughtily to meet the hooded figure.

“At last,” he said in a growling voice. “Bout time, too, my employer grows impatient.” The hooded figure silently took a package from within its robes and laid it on the table. Meghan’s gut told her it was the Magicante. Duppy hovered over the package, rubbing his hands together greedily. “My employer will be pleased,” he sneered, pointing to an envelope on the table.