Jack Staples and the Ring of Time Page 8

  Jack ran into the kitchen. The moment he entered, he coughed at the smoke filling the air. He quickly spotted a frying pan filled with burning bacon, sizzling on the stove. His mother was nowhere in sight.

  As he ran to the next room, fear formed a knot in his belly. “Mother, where are you?” There was no answer. He darted up the stairs and into his parents’ bedroom, finding it empty. He walked to the window, and the foreboding grew stronger. At first he wasn’t sure what he was seeing. His mother was lying on the ground in the font yard with Alexia sitting beside her.

  Terror gripped him as he lumbered out of the room and down the stairs. When he darted out the front door, he stopped.

  “Mother.” Jack’s voice was hesitant. “Mother, what’s wrong?” His throat tightened.

  Alexia must have known he was there. She must have heard him speaking, but she didn’t move. Jack stepped forward. “Mother!” he screamed. “Talk to me! What’s going on?”

  Darkness pushed at the edges of his vision, but he forced it away, making himself take another step. His mother was very pale, and her eyes stared unblinking at the sky.

  “Why is she just lying there?” he screamed.

  Alexia wore a blank expression as she gently rubbed his mother’s hand. She was staring out at the forest, but didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular. Jack couldn’t breathe. Alexia blinked and looked up at him as if she were only now noticing he was there. Still she didn’t say a word.

  The darkness pushed in harder as the world began to spin. He dropped to his knees. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fill his lungs. As he gasped for breath, somewhere in the distance Jack heard the ringing of bells.

  Overwhelmed with grief, he collapsed and landed on top of his mother. The last thing he remembered was the distinct sensation of flying backward, high into the air.

  Jack stood in the upstairs hallway listening to the bells. Abruptly, he realized he wasn’t breathing. Dropping to his knees, he gasped, feeling as if someone had punched him in the gut. Something was wrong. Something terrible had just happened, but what? He wracked his brain, trying to remember. Struggling to his feet, he opened his bedroom door and looked out the window with a sense of dread. Jack was starting to feel sick. It was snowing hard, and the world was covered in a thick sheet of white. Yet Jack didn’t see the snow or the man and two boys building a very large snowman in the front yard. Instead, he saw his mother’s body lying on a sea of green grass. She wasn’t really there, but as he looked, he could see her in his mind’s eye, and he remembered.

  “Mother!” he screamed as he bolted from the room. “Mother, where are you?” Sprinting through the hallway and down the stairs, he screamed again, “Mother!” As he entered the kitchen, he was surprised to find his mother with her sleeves rolled and flour covering her arms up to the elbows.

  “You’re alive!” he exclaimed, wrapping her in a hug.

  “Jack, what is it?” She was breathless. “Why are you screaming? What’s happened?”

  Jack felt tears in his eyes, and his head swam dizzily. “What’s happening?” he asked. “You died. You … you were dead! You were outside on the ground. Please, tell me what’s going on. Alexia was there, and she …”

  His mother let go of his hands and took a step back, a look of pain and disbelief crossing her face. “What did you say?”

  “You were dead. You were lying on the ground, and you were—”

  “Not that!” she said, cutting him off. “Who was there, Jack?” She stepped forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Who did you say was beside me?”

  “Alexia was there. She found you first. I don’t know what happened, but I …”

  The blood drained from his mother’s face, and she whispered, “I need to sit down.” She lowered herself to the kitchen floor.

  “Mother, what’s happening?”

  His mother reached out. Jack sank down next to her, enfolded in her arms. “Oh, my Jacksie, it’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. I need you to tell me everything, and I need you to do it right now. You are—” She stopped as if unsure what to say. “You are dreaming, and you will wake any minute now. But tell me everything you know about Alexia.”

  Jack pushed his mother away angrily. “She doesn’t matter!” he said. “Didn’t you hear me? You died! And if this is just a dream, then you’re dead, and there’s nothing I can do about it!”

  “Listen to me. I’m sorry, but I haven’t been fully honest with you. This is …” She paused again, looking for the right words. “It’s more than a dream. I’m not supposed to tell you, but maybe it’s time you found out.”

  Just then the front door slammed open. Jack’s father called out, “We’re back! And ready for some of Mom’s famous hot chocolate.”

  His mother looked toward the sound of his father’s voice. “We need to hide you,” she whispered. Moving quickly, she took Jack by the shoulders and led him to the back entry.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I need you to stay quiet. We’re running out of time, and I can’t let the boys see you.” As his mother opened the back door, Jack saw that the snowfall was much heavier now. The snow was so deep it reached his knees.

  “Megan,” Jack’s father called again. “Where are you? You’ve got to come see the size of this snowman. It’s twice as tall as Parker and three times bigger than Jack!”

  Jack’s head was swimming as his mother pushed him out into the snow. The cold was intense, and wind whipped at his shirt, making him shiver. His bare feet turned to icicles. After closing the door behind them, she quickly knelt and held his face in her hands.

  “Listen to me, Jack. You can control it. It’s just like any dream. You are in control. You can change things. Not completely, but you can shift them.” She spread her hands, gesturing toward the world around them. “But you must concentrate! I couldn’t tell you earlier because it was too dangerous, but it’s time you learned.”

  “What are you talking about? What do you mean ‘control it’?” Jack had to shout to be heard over the wind. “Mother, haven’t you been listening? You are dead! You died in the front yard! I found your body.”

  “That’s enough!” she said angrily. “Don’t say another word about it.”

  Fresh tears sprang to his eyes; the wind threatened to turn them into icicles too. He was confused and hurt that his mother wouldn’t listen to him.

  “I am sorry,” she said as she scooped him up and pulled him close. He hugged her as tightly as he could, and when she hugged him back, he thought his ribs might crack, but he didn’t care.

  His mother was also crying now. Pulling him even closer, she whispered into his ear. “I need to ask you to do something for me. I need you to look after Alexia. If she is truly alive, you take care of each other. The two of you must stay together no matter what happens!” His mother kissed him on the forehead before continuing. “And if you haven’t met her yet, you will soon meet Elion. Know that you can trust her above all.”

  Jack had no idea what his mother was talking about, but he nodded anyway.

  “What I must ask you next will be much harder. But when the time comes, I need you to let me go.” She held his face in both hands. “You cannot fix everything. No matter how hard you try, you can’t save everyone.”

  “No! I won’t do it!” Jack told her. He didn’t care what she said; he wasn’t willing to let her die.

  “Please, Jack!” she pleaded. “You must promise me.”

  As the ringing of bells sounded once again, Jack exploded out of his mother’s arms, flying backward through the air.

  Disoriented and confused, Jack opened his eyes and began to scream. His leg burned like fire. When he looked down, he saw a beast unlike anything he’d seen before. It had blood-red eyes and two rows of razor-sharp fangs in its black snout. And the terrifying beast had bitten down hard on
his leg.

  Chapter 14

  THE ORIAX

  “I am not accustomed to saying things twice. My name is Mrs. Dumphry, and I expect you to listen. If you want to stay alive, you will do as I say. And if you want to help Megan Staples, you will do it quickly. The Oriax have come. There’s no time to dally.”

  Alexia stared at Mrs. Dumphry. Who is this old woman, and what is she going on about? Alexia’s thoughts were about to form into words when something howled from deep in the forest. It was unlike anything she’d heard before, followed by a shriek that was immediately followed by a great gurgling hiss.

  “Stand up!” Mrs. Dumphry’s voice held such a note of authority that Alexia found herself standing without thinking.

  “Pick up the boy and follow me.” Mrs. Dumphry began walking toward the house.

  “We can’t just leave her.” Alexia felt numb as she motioned toward Megan Staples.

  “If you want to help Megan, then you must come with me, now!” Mrs. Dumphry said. “The Oriax don’t care about her; it’s the two of you they’re after.”

  More beastly cries sounded from the forest. There were howls, gurgles, shrieks, hisses, and roars. They were coming closer by the second, yet Alexia barely heard. Could it be true? Could Megan Staples really be alive? If listening to the old woman meant saving Megan, Alexia would do anything she asked.

  Placing Jack on her back, Alexia followed behind Mrs. Dumphry. When another roar sounded, closer this time, she turned to see two beasts surge out of the forest. Alexia had traveled with the circus long enough to know almost every kind of animal, but the creatures running toward her now were unlike anything she’d seen before.

  One of the beasts had the head of a wolf but was as big as a horse. And its neck was long and covered in the shiny black scales of a serpent. Alexia couldn’t see clearly, but she thought its body was also different. Scurrying beside it was another beast with the head of a bear and the body of some sort of lizard.

  A moment later, another beast leaped from the forest. This one had the head and shoulders of a rat and the body of a frog. The creature bounded high into the air, covering a huge amount of ground with each jump. The beasts’ only similarities were their blood-red eyes, their large size, and their fangs that gleamed in the morning light.

  “Run, you foolish girl!” Mrs. Dumphry’s voice was urgent. Alexia hadn’t realized she’d stopped. As she turned to run, another beast slithered out of the woods. And though she ran as fast as she could, with Jack on her back she felt as though she were running through mud.

  Alexia ran toward the old woman who was now standing on the porch with her arms raised and palms outstretched. She couldn’t tell for sure, but she thought Mrs. Dumphry’s hands were beginning to change color. Suddenly another hooded figure stalked out from behind the house. He had a bow in hand and an arrow nocked.

  “Get down!” he screamed as he loosed an arrow that flew straight at Alexia. She dropped to the ground, and the missile whizzed past, nicking her ear. Though she didn’t see what happened next, Alexia felt a flash of heat pass over her.

  Thwang. Another arrow flew overhead. She tried to scramble to her feet, but Jack was on top of her, pinning her down. She looked back to see the beast with the wolf’s head and snake’s neck scrambling toward her. An arrow sprouted from its snout, but it barely seemed to notice.

  The hellish beast moved with a viper’s speed as it whipped its head back and sprang forward. Alexia moved her feet at the last second, but the beast’s fangs closed around Jack’s leg. She kicked it hard in the snout as Jack’s eyes shot open and he began to scream. Thwang! A second arrow struck the beast between the eyes, killing it instantly.

  “You cut that too close, Wild.” Mrs. Dumphry glanced back at the hooded stranger as she rushed over to Jack. Grabbing the beast’s heavy head from his leg, she shoved it aside. Jack was wide-eyed as he looked from his ruined leg to Mrs. Dumphry.

  “P-please, help me. It ... it burns. Please!” Jack stammered, his voice full of pain.

  Mrs. Dumphry quickly lifted Jack to a sitting position and slugged him hard in the face, knocking him out.

  “What are you doing?” Alexia screamed.

  Without responding, the old woman produced a small vial of dark liquid. After uncorking it, she poured it over Jack’s wounds. As the liquid touched his leg, it began to smoke and hiss as if landing on a frying pan.

  “What did you do to him?” Alexia asked.

  “I saved his life,” Mrs. Dumphry snapped as the last drops fell from the vial. “At least for now. Few survive the bite of an Oriax. If the child had remained conscious, he wouldn’t have stayed still long enough for me to help him.”

  Alexia’s eyes shifted between the four dead beasts in front of her. Two of them had arrows sprouting between their eyes, and the other two had somehow been burned to death. How did that happen? The beast that had bitten Jack had the scaled neck of a snake, a wolf’s head, and the body and legs of a goat. The others were equally strange, each a blend of mammal and reptile. Yet none of them looked awkward, but seemed natural as skin blended into fur or scale. The only similarities between them were their blood-red eyes and two rows of razor-sharp fangs.

  As Alexia studied the stranger who’d loosed the arrows, she was surprised to see a boy. He was close to her age with dirty-blond curls sprouting at every angle, and his eyes were more orange than brown. When he met Alexia’s stare, he blushed, immediately shifting his gaze back to the forest.

  “I’m sorry I was late,” the boy said to Mrs. Dumphry, “but I was busy trying to stay alive. There was a Shadule in the center of town.”

  Mrs. Dumphry’s head whipped around in shock. “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure …” The boy hesitated. “I don’t understand it, and I don’t know how, but the Shadule was dead. I found the creature lying headless in O’flannigans.”

  Mrs. Dumphry exhaled heavily, looking in the direction of Ballylesson. “What could have killed a Shadule? And why?” she whispered. After a moment, she shook her head and turned to the boy. “We need a wagon and horses.”

  “Already done,” the boy said, motioning toward the back of the house.

  Alexia hated being ignored almost as much as she hated being afraid. “Someone is going to tell me what’s going on,” she demanded. “What happened to Megan Staples? Can you help her? And what are those beasts?”

  “Child, do you consider yourself my equal?” the old woman asked.

  Alexia was confused by the question.

  “For I do not consider myself your playmate, nor do I wish to be,” Mrs. Dumphry continued. “A sparrow and a hawk may both be birds, but they fly at very different heights. I understand you have questions, and I plan to answer many once we are safely away, but right now we are leaving.”

  “You think I’m going anywhere with you?” Alexia stomped her foot. “I’d like to see you make me!”

  “Make you?” Mrs. Dumphry sounded perplexed. “Behind you are four dead Oriax. I would guess there hasn’t been an Oriax in these parts for thousands of years. On my way here I passed an entire pack of the beasts, all coming in this direction. And if you walk into Ballylesson, you will find that much of it is burning or already destroyed.” Mrs. Dumphry glanced at the large plumes of smoke rising from the direction of the town. “And Wild now tells us there is also a dead Shadule. A Shadule is infinitely more deadly than an Oriax and almost impossible to kill. If it is dead, something far worse lurks nearby.”

  Mrs. Dumphry took a slow step toward Alexia. “This evil has come here for you, child. It hunts you and the boy,” she said, glancing at Jack. “Stay, if you like, but know this: if you do, you will die or be captured before the sun sets. Or, you may come with me. I cannot promise to keep you alive, but I promise you will at least live longer.”

  “You said you could help her,” Alexia insisted, motioning to Megan.
She didn’t know what the old woman was talking about, but as she looked toward Megan, it seemed the only thing to say. “You said if I come with you, she would be all right.”

  “If you come with me, I promise to do all I can for Megan Staples.”

  Just then, a pudgy boy peeked out from behind the house. He was as white as a bedsheet and had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, covering the top half of his eyes. He walked on unsteady legs and looked as if he were trying to wake from a bad dream. Even with the bandage, he squinted, as if the sun were too bright.

  “Hello! Are you still there? Who’s talking?” His voice quavered.

  “I told you not to bring anyone.” Mrs. Dumphry’s voice, directed at the boy she called Wild, was icy. “You were to check for these two, then meet me here.”

  Wild dropped his eyes, but when he spoke, there was stubbornness in his voice. “Something bad happened in Ballylesson. O’flannigans has been destroyed, and there was a battle of some sort in the street. Besides the Shadule, there were seven dead Oriax.” When he met Mrs. Dumphry’s eyes, his face became hard. “I couldn’t just leave him there. I found him stumbling like a newborn lamb. Look at him! He is one of the Awakened now. His scales have fallen off.”

  Mrs. Dumphry’s eyes were as cold as the grave. “Arthur Greaves,” she called out. The boy turned to face her, one hand shielding his eyes. “You had better not slow us down.”

  Arthur paled even more. “Mrs. Dumphry, is that you? What’s happening? Do you know where my mother is?”

  Mrs. Dumphry gave Arthur a withering glance, then looked at Wild. “He’s your responsibility. Put Megan in the house, then meet us at the wagon. We leave now.”

  “You don’t mean to bring her with us?” Alexia was furious.

  “She is in no state to travel. The only way to keep anyone in this town safe is to get you and Jack away from here as soon as possible.”