The Farwalker's Quest (39 page)

“Is it just stories, though?” Zeke asked. “And symbols for kids? That's not treasure.”

“It's more like secrets,” said Ariel, still poring over the markings atop Misha's palm print. Her fingertips trembled at their age and mystic importance, and she silently vowed to learn every one. “But I like secrets. Don't you?”

She pulled her eyes away from the Lesson of Fives long enough to survey the length of the floor. “There might be a lot of them here.”

“Bark beetles and beavers, who knew?” said Ash. He bent to peer at a flagstone that Scarl had overturned. “We've been treading on relics. No wonder the trees laugh at us.”

“Zeke,” Scarl called, from three flagstones away. “You say it's not treasure, but listen. Can anyone explain to you how a telling dart works? Even a wise tree or stone?” Flashing a grin, he turned the flagstone in his hands to show the diagram there. At the heart of a web of symbols sat a familiar outline: a brass tube with three vanes and one end that came to a point.

“I think this can.”

Excited, they overturned the next dozen flagstones in less than ten minutes. Quite a few displayed Misha's red hand under part of the writing, but others bore the print of a thumb, four dots in a square, or other distinctive designs by their makers. The tight rows of tiny symbols on some stones made Ariel's eyes cross, but others included drawings and maps. There were depictions of devices with so many parts that all she recognized were the wheels. There was a sketch of an unhappy boy with plants drawn all around him. Ariel recognized enough of those to suspect that each cured a different complaint. One stone bore a map of constellations she knew, but the stars were accompanied by other marks whose meanings she couldn't guess.

As rich with mystery as the floor turned out to be, it was not the only treasure revealed. Beneath a series of stones running the length of the room, they found a long trench in the dirt. There, wrapped in crumbling cloth, were the remains of dead trees that the flagstones had mentioned to Zeke. Sheets of wood thinner than splinters had been stacked and bound together with planks.
Images and scratches of paint filled both sides of each sheet. Scarl pulled dozens of these stacks from the trench.

“Like voices from a grave,” he breathed. He caressed the pages, fragile as shells. “It may take a lifetime to figure them all out.”

“The trees may offer some help,” Ash told him. “These things wouldn't be here if they hadn't been made by Tree-Singers of some sort long ago. And little that Tree-Singers do escapes the notice of their favorite trees.”

“Or friendly rocks,” Zeke said. “I think each stone may know what it bears.” He spread his hands on one, obscuring the diagrams there, and let his lids droop. “This one tells how to move things with steam, like from a kettle.” Flying back open, his eyes sparkled, and he added, “The stone mostly wonders why people like to move things so much.”

Forgetting the disappointment of no gold or gems, he shuttled from one flagstone to the next, announcing the story captured on each. His friends didn't know what he was talking about much of the time, and neither did he. But his grin only grew wider.

Ash watched Zeke and the hubbub in gentle amusement. But when twilight replaced the sun pouring in through the windows, he made the stone flippers stop for a meal.

“I hope you don't mind a few more visitors, Ash,” Scarl said as the Tree-Singer passed around bowls of thick barley soup. They sat around a grand hearth, the fire the only light in the room. “The secrets, as Ariel calls them, need to be revealed and shared.”

Spoons froze as both his younger companions were struck by similar thoughts.

“What about Mason?” Ariel asked.

“What about him?” Ash said. Again, a closed look had fallen over his face.

Scarl studied him, trying to decide how much to trust him.

Ariel took less time. “If he finds out what's here, he'll try to get rid of it—and us, too.”

“I don't know what loyalties you have to him, Ash,” Scarl said hastily. “But he's done more than threaten Ariel's life. She'll be in danger from him. Everyone here may be.”

“You don't … no, of course not. How could you?” Ash pulled at one oversize ear. “I forget that not everyone hears the gossip of trees. What you've said makes me sad, but there's no need for concern. Mason Tree-Singer has passed out of this world.”

Their cries of surprise and relief bounced off the rafters. The echoes mingled with a flurry of questions.

“I only know what the trees tell me,” Ash said. “That depends on who I ask—unusual, to say the least. Only one thing seems certain: Mason fell in a river near Libros and drowned.”

“We saw that river,” said Ariel. “But how?”

“I should not tell you more, I am certain,” Ash replied.

“I think she has a right to hear it,” Scarl said, “after all that he's done. You don't know half of it.”

Ash debated, tapping his spoon on his chin. “I may know more than you think.” He sighed. “But perhaps not. Please, may my words stay in this room? Never to be repeated?”

When he was satisfied with their promises, he gazed into his soup. “The pines say a willow pushed him,” he said. “The willows claim they only gave him no warning, that they stood by in silence while a young apprentice gave the push. The cherry says he tripped by himself on his own folly. The alders won't say at all, but they do not mourn. They once would have.”

Ash pursed his lips, appraising Ariel and Zeke. He directed his next words only to Scarl. His voice dropped, but perhaps not so far as he might have liked.

“The apprentice was a girl. Perhaps Mason behaved wrongly toward her and gave her a reason to push him.” He shook his head grimly. “At any rate,” he added, “I tend to believe the willows in this case.”

The others shared a glance. After what they had seen on the riverbank near Libros, they believed the version told by the pines. Vindicated, Ariel wanted to whoop. She contented herself by letting her feet dance, out of sight under the table.

“It does not matter, in the end,” Ash declared. “He was a great Tree-Singer, I'm told, but greatness creates its own temptations. The trees think poorly of humans who rank their own wisdom too highly. It sounds to me as though Mason overstepped his bounds, snapping even the patience of trees. But he's had nothing to do with this abbey.”

“He must not have guessed what was under your feet,” Scarl said.

“The better for us, I suspect. But to finally answer your question, we welcome all visitors who respect our trees and our ways.”

“Even if they pull up your floor?” Ariel asked.

Ash smiled. Without being asked, he took her empty bowl to refill it.

“I knew before the first time you came here that change would be hard on your heels,” he told her, handing it back. “The trees warned me not to let you stay long, lest the changes bring more harm than good. I never imagined you'd be back, though, or that the abbey itself would be more than a brief haven for you.”

“Oh, she brims with surprises,” Scarl said. He gave her an appreciative look that she couldn't meet for long. Instead, Ariel beamed at her soup. It always pleased her to defy expectations. Certainly no one ever would have expected a girl who had failed her Naming test to discover what she had today.

“Why do you think nobody found this stuff before?” Zeke wondered. “I mean, it's not an actual Vault with something inside like everyone thought. Still …”

“We were too stuck on our notions of treasure, I guess,” Scarl mused. “Seeking too hard for things we could carry away. Or the problem might have been seeking itself. What was needed was … walking. Wandering, even.”

“Having a Stone-Singer helped,” Ariel said. Gratitude purred through her bones, lighting the grin she gave Zeke. She knew she would have been lost without him.

“Without doubt,” Scarl agreed. “But that's the Farwalker's trade—connecting people to accomplish what they could not alone. Carrying hope, crafting the future.” Aware he was embarrassing her, he tweaked a lock of her hair. “You've done all of that, Ariel. Whether you meant to or not.”

Ash murmured agreement. Blushing under their admiration, she could only slurp her soup. Its warmth couldn't compare to the pride burning inside her.

Later, she took a candle and wandered the abbey alone. She discovered that the empty halls gave resonance to her voice, so she worked on two new verses for her song:

The path leads me on and on;

My feet are willing
.

Follow the falcon's flight;

Walk with the wind
.

Walk with the wind and sun;

My heart is willing
.

Follow the river's song;

Walk with a friend
.

As if her last verse had summoned him, Scarl came to find her.

“Ash feared your candle would burn down and you'd get lost in the dark,” he explained.

In fact, her taper was little more than a nub. She shrugged. “I know the way.”

He nodded. “I told him Farwalkers didn't get lost. But they might need some rest.”

She agreed readily enough. The beds Ash could offer were no more than straw mattresses, but their pillows were filled with fragrant balsam-fir needles. Ariel couldn't wait to snuggle her face into one. A night free from dew, dirt, and crawling things would pass pleasantly indeed. She thought she'd miss only the stars.

As they ambled back to the great room where Ash and Zeke awaited, Ariel sidled closer to Scarl. She tucked her hand into his.

“I'm sorry we didn't find it sooner,” she said. It almost certainly wouldn't have mattered, but she wanted to say it regardless.

Scarl failed to hide a wince. It would be a long time before he could smile again when he thought of Mirayna. But he squeezed Ariel's fingers.

“If we hadn't found it at all, my life would not be so different,” he said. “Yours has been uprooted completely. I don't expect you to forgive me for my part in that, but I hope that
one day you will feel all the joy in your song. It has changed quite a lot.”

Her ears burning, Ariel stared at the low flame of her candle. She hadn't realized he'd heard her. A few paces later, she decided she didn't mind.

“Where will you go now?” she wondered.

“Nowhere for a while, if Ash will allow it,” he said. “But then I'll go find Storians to bring back, all who will come, and learn from them as much as they'll teach me. After I return Zeke to his family, of course.”

His eyes turned to hers. “But you, Ariel? Where do you want to be? Do you know?”

The answer rose from her feet to be confirmed by her heart, but it stuck in her throat. She feared the words sounded childish. She pushed them out anyway.

“With you, walking.”

He shook his head, bemused, but his legs stopped. The hand not occupied with a candle drew her into a hug. The closeness made her think of her mother. His embrace was neither as soft nor as snug, but the rise and fall of his chest against hers stanched the leak that had sprung near Ariel's heart on the night she'd been stolen from home. The old hole remained, but at least Ariel's life had stopped dribbling out.

“With me.” Wonder threaded Scarl's voice. He rested his chin in her hair. “You'll change your mind as you get older, I think. But I told you before—I will stay at your side, if that's what you want, or take you where you long to go, if I can. When stones speak and ghosts walk and the Vault can be found, then I guess a child snatcher can become a protector.”

“A father,” she whispered.

“Careful.” He gripped the scruff of her neck and shook
gently, like a dog with a pup. “I'm a Finder, that's all. But I can find work for a Farwalker. Many people will want news of your discovery today.”

Afraid to lay too many words on her feelings, Ariel simply nodded. She fell alongside him again, hugging his arm. But before they had taken too many steps, the elation inside her spilled out:

Wandering near and far
,

My feet will guide us
.

Carry the news to all;

Walk till the end
.

She sang it with confidence, even knowing their path would be littered with hardships, because it would also be blazing with purpose and pride.

With Scarl matching his stride to her rhythm, they turned to collect Zeke and stretch out on the beds Ash had offered. Ariel hummed her song as they went.

Copyright © 2009 by Joni Sensel

Published by Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

Electronic edition published in October 2011.

www.bloomsburykids.com

All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sensel, Joni.
The Farwalker's quest / by Joni Sensel. — 1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Summary: When twelve-year-old Ariel and her friend Zeke find a mysterious artifact the like of which has not been seen in a long time, it proves to be the beginning of a long and arduous journey that will ultimately reveal to them their true identities.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59990-856-4 (ebook)
[1. Fantasy. 2. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 3. Identity—Fiction.]
I. Title.
PZ7.S4784Far 2009        [Fic]—dc22      2008030523