The Legend of the Firewalker (18 page)

“Is that the Cahokia Museum?” asked Malick, standing close to the cliff’s edge.

Slowly, Nathan inched towards him. “Yup,” he uttered, while hesitantly peering over. “That’s it.” He raised his eyebrows and then quickly took a few steps back. “And you might not want to be so close to the edge.”

Malick turned around only to find Nathan grinning while pointing to the red-and-white sign that had
“Danger: Cliff Edge” written on it. Malick shook his head and then pretended to prepare for jumping off the cliff.

“Ha-ha,” sighed Nathan. “Funny.”

Malick grinned. “Hey,” he said, “is that Argus down there?” He ran his hand through his hair as he squinted. “Why does he keep pacing like that?”

Quickly, Nathan stepped beside him. “Argus?” he asked, while carefully peering over. He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket. “He’s probably pacing because he is wai
ting on us!”

Malick took a deep breath and looked up at the sky b
efore placing a hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Oh, relax,” he said. “It will be fine. Just enjoy the view.”

Nathan took a quick look at the darkening blue sky and glanced at his cell phone again before placing it back into his pocket. “But we are
—”

“Enjoy the view, already!” interrupted Malick with a sigh.

Nathan gave Malick a glaring look and huffed. He took a deep breath and tried hard not to think about Argus, closing his eyes for a moment before slowly looking out into the evening sky again. The trees were calm, disturbed only occasionally by the summer breeze. The lights on campus and from Lawrence Hall were becoming more visible as the sky grew darker. Below, a gold light appeared, and upon close inspection, Nathan could see that it was a street lamp revealing the black asphalt to the Cahokia Museum parking lot. “The view is nice,” said Nathan with a shrug. “But we are late and should go.”

Malick shook his head and looked down at his feet b
efore turning around to walk away.

Nathan sighed. “Now what?” he said.

A gust of wind swept over the cliffs displacing strands of Malick’s hair. Abruptly, Malick stopped and turned around to face him. 

Nathan had a surprised look on his face. He thought it must be serious since Malick hadn’t bothered to fix his hair.

“Just nice?” asked Malick. A deep crease formed on his forehead. “The view is amazing; not just nice!”

Nathan diverted his eyes away from him and focused on the entrance to the forest behind them. He couldn’t believe Malick was making such a big deal about the view. “Okay, okay,” he said. “The view is amazing.” He took a few steps towards the entrance to the forest. “Can we go now?”

The wrinkle on Malick’s forehead deepened. “Sure,” he groaned. “I don’t know why I bothered to help you anyway.”

“Help me?” cried Nathan. He had a confused look on his face. “How are you helping me?”

“You’re never in the moment,” complained Malick. “You worry too much!”

Nathan’s ears burned red. “What?”

Malick paused and drew a deep breath. His eyes connected with Nathan’s and the wrinkles on his forehead relaxed. “You don’t realize how great the view is because you don’t let life happen,” he said. “You should be living in the now — not the past, not the future.”

Nathan shook his head and huffed. “Look,” he said, “you don’t know anything about my life and I don’t need any help
— especially not from you.”

Malick raised his eyebrows again
, bringing the creases in his forehead back to life. “And what do you mean by that?” he asked.

Nathan sighed. “Look,” he said, “I don’t expect someone like you to understand anything about being me.”

Malick glared. “And … what exactly do you mean by that?”

Nathan huffed. “No offense, but how could you?” he asked. “You have never been poor in your life. You have no clue what it means to be me. Maybe you can float through life without a care in the world, but I don’t have that luxury. I am just the poor brown kid living behind the Devaro Ma
nsion.”

“That is where you are wrong!” explained Malick. “That may be your past or current situation, but it doesn’t have to be your future.” He pointed towards the ground. “You should be living for today,” he said. “Living in this moment, because what you do today is your tomorrow.”

“I am living in the moment, Dr. Phil!” Nathan retorted. “And in this moment we are late and Argus is waiting on us.”

Malick nodded and the creases in his forehead were gone now. “Okay,” he said.

Nathan and Malick walked back in silence. The sun had set, so it was dark now, and the trees made the forest even darker. The wind picked up and occasionally howled through the trees, providing them with frequent nudges down the trail. Nathan knew they were about halfway to the Cahokia Museum parking lot after catching a glimpse of the yellow ribbons floating in the wind.

He folded his arms across his chest and looked down, tr
ying to create a little walking distance between himself and Malick.
So, what was the point for coming all the way up here?
he thought.
Did he really think he was helping me to relax and to not worry so much
?

Nathan glanced up at him and then allowed his gaze to wander into the forest. About one thing Malick had been right: his mind was definitely occupied lately.

Nathan knew exactly what he was worried about. He was really concerned about the dream he had had about Grimm Cemetery, particularly the part about the faceless hooded figures and the strange woman in white hurting Leah and his friends. But what was he supposed to say to Malick? More than anything, he wanted to tell someone. But Malick?

He glanced back at Malick. But why not Malick? D
espite his failed attempt to cheer Nathan up, he had been the only one besides Lafonda to notice or care enough to say something to him about his change in behavior. But what would Nathan say, anyway, to him or anybody?

Nathan thought about how the conversation would go in his mind.
Yeah, uh, I think I am having dreams about the future and I am pretty sure I dreamed about this girl Leah being attacked the night she was admitted to the hospital. And now I think Lafonda may die. And I have blue flames coming out of my hands.
He chuckled.
Oh, and if I haven’t lost you yet — and you don’t think I’m crazy — I kinda communicated with this dog the other day. I saw it running in the forest, and I think it saved my life.

It sounded ridiculous. Nevertheless, he figured he would at least say something to Malick after they entered the trail back to the lake. “So,” he said, breaking the s
ilence, “do you think we’ll have enough time to set the fires before the others show up?”

Malick looked over his shoulder and grinned. “Oh,” he said. “Are you talking to me?”

Nathan smiled. “Ha-ha,” he said. “Very funny.”

Malick grinned again. “Trust me. We’ll make it.”

“I don’t know if I like the sound of that,” replied Nathan.

Nathan and Malick stepped out of the forest and onto the beach of Lake Charleston. The cool breeze that was felt atop the cliffs still accompanied them and conti
nued to provide a welcome relief. Nathan didn’t stare as he normally did on first sight of the water.

“Where is Argus?” he said with a touch of panic. “We have to get these fires going.”

“Relax,” said Malick. “We still have time. I’m sure Argus just went back up to the Hiking and Camping Center.” 

“You hope,” responded Nathan. “How are we supposed to start the fires without lighter fluid?” He pulled out his cell phone and the light from the LCD screen illuminated his face. “They will be here any minute.”

“Okay, okay,” said Malick. “I’m sure there has to be some lighter fluid around here somewhere.”

“Not likely,” said Nathan. “Based on Argus’s reaction last time, I wouldn’t expect to find anything flammable, let alone lighter fluid, lying around here.”

Malick stopped searching around the fire pits and paused to look up at Nathan. “Good point,” he said.

Nathan checked his cell phone for the time again and then placed it back into his pocket. “Okay,” he said. “So, what are we going to do?”

“Why don’t you check up at the Hiking and Camping Center?” Malick pointed to the top of the hill. “See,” he said, “a light is on. Argus has to be up there, and I’m sure he has some lighter fluid waiting for us.”

Nathan frowned thinking it was just like Malick to volu
nteer someone else to do the dirty work. He started towards the hill. “Sure, sure,” he said.

By the time Nathan had reached the hill the sun had a
lready set, so the path was difficult to see. He hadn’t realized how dark it got out there. Although the Devaro Mansion was located in the rural part of town, Nathan had always had at least a flashlight.

After a few tries, he eventually found the path and made his way up the hill. The walk up wasn’t that high, but Nathan didn’t appreciate the steep climb. “Ouch!” he yelled. He had bumped into something in the darkness. “What the heck,” he grumbled, reaching out to feel what was in front of him. “What is that?” he groaned. “Is that a handle?”

He rubbed his knee. “That’s going to leave a bruise. Who would do something like this?” He used the light from his cell phone and saw a red, rusty wheelbarrow in the middle of the trail in front of him. “Argus,” he moaned. “I promise you, that man is just as bad as Jonas.”

Nathan grabbed the handles and proceeded down the trail. In the barrel he noticed there was a bottle of lighter fl
uid. “The things I have to deal with,” he griped to himself. “If it isn’t happy-go-lucky Jonas or bad-boy Malick, then it’s welcome-to-hippyland Argus.” 

Nathan didn’t make it too far down the hill before he n
oticed a glow from the lake. “What?” he blurted. He smelled the burning of fresh wood. “Talk about déjà vu,” he said. In front of him were twelve bonfires, all flickering heartily with life.

Nathan left the wheelbarrow on the spot and grabbed the bottle of lighter fluid. He jammed the small bottle in the back of his pants and headed towards a grinning St
ephen Malick.

“Ta-da!” shouted Malick. “I told you we still had time.”

Nathan’s eyebrows were raised. “Okay,” he said. “And I am just going to pretend that you didn’t just send me away, so that you could magically produce twelve fires.”

Malick had a blank look on his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “After you left, I found the lighter fluid bottle Argus must have left for us and presto chango, twelve fires.”

Nathan shook his head and frowned. “You mean this bottle?”

“Uh
— where did you get that one?” stuttered Malick. He had a nervous grin on his face.  

“From the wheelbarrow that Argus left for us,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

“Hey, Nathan!” called a familiar voice.

He turn
ed around to see Lafonda, Jonas and the other campers from his floor approaching from behind him.

“Good job with the fires again,” she said. She paused and glared at Malick. “Oh
— and you too.”

Malick hesitated. “Thanks,” he said with another nervous grin. 

“Hi, Nathan!” called another familiar voice.

This time, he turned around to find an overly energetic bunch: Angela and Alan with their group of campers.

“I agree. Nice job,” Angela said. She tossed her long, shiny blond hair over her shoulders and winked longingly at Malick. “And you too, handsome.”

“Do you have to flirt with him every day?” grumbled Alan. He rolled his eyes in protest. “My goodness.”

Angela, Alan, Lafonda and the others continued to walk past Nathan and Malick, towards the fires.

“Shut up, Alan,” Angela whispered underneath her breath.

Nathan continued to stare at Malick, and his eyes were wide.

“So, are you going to tell me, or what?” Nathan deman
ded. “And don’t bother saying you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

The look on Malick’s face softened and Nathan caught a glimpse of someone waving from the corner of his eye. It was LaDonda. She was walking with several campers who were carrying a table.

“Yoohoo! Stephen!” she called. “Can you please help us over here?”

“Hey, Malick!” shouted Alan. He was seated with the others by one of the fires. “I think Lady D is trying to get your attention.”

“Don’t be mean to him,” complained Angela.

Malick waved. “I’ll be right there, Mrs. Devaro,” he said. He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. “N
athan — I can’t.”

“Why the heck not?” blurted Nathan.

He shrugged. “I’m sorry, bro,” he said, while walking away. He had a sympathetic look on his face. “I just can’t. It’s complicated.” 

Nathan tossed the lighter fluid bottle into the wheelba
rrow and pushed it off to one side. Reluctantly, he headed over to the others. He took a seat next to Lafonda, who was having a conversation with Erin, and stared into the fire. He wondered how Malick could have started those fires — and so fast.