I just thought I'd post a short story I wrote because, why not?
Of Dreams
by Brooke
I wake to sun seeping into my eyelids. I sit up. I’m
late. I have a history test. I swing my legs around to climb out of bed, only
there’s no bed. My bedroom window has been replaced by a cave wall. A strong
animal odor permeates the space. I try to orient myself. I know I wasn’t
camping. I should be at home. I can remember being in my room just last night.
I turn around, studying my surroundings. I’m in some kind of cave and I’m
alone.
How did
I get here?
I stand
and follow the light to the entrance of the cave. The cavern is halfway up a
rock structure. Below me a river runs rapidly at the bottom of the rock. Beyond
the river is a forest of pine trees. The river reminds me of something that I
can’t place. I can’t name this place.
I turn
my head at the sound of footsteps on the forest floor. A branch moves aside and
a young man enters the clearing. He has sandy blond hair and is dressed in
animal leather leggings and a tunic knit of colored wool.
I look
down at my own clothing. I’m wearing jeans, a black Taylor Swift t-shirt and a
pink hoodie, the same thing I wore to Davis High School the day before. At
least I’m not in my pajamas.
I wonder
if I have traveled in time as well as space.
The
young man has continued his approach during my musings. He is at the bottom of
the stone structure. “You’re going to want to get down from there. That cave
isn’t safe; it’s a dragon’s lair.”
“Dragon?”
I feel a headache coming on.
“Yes, a
dragon, large nasty lizards that fly and breathe fire.” He says it like he is describing
how to breathe.
“This
can’t be.” I bite my lower lip, trying to make sense of everything.
“We can
talk later, please just get away from there.” He motions from me toward
himself.
I make
my way down the rock, slipping and sliding the whole way. As soon as I reach
the bottom, he starts up.
“Wait,”
I say, “you just told me to get away from there, that it isn’t safe.”
“Yes I
did, and it isn’t.” He reaches the cave.
“What
are you going to do?” I ask.
“I’m
going to take the egg.” He disappears into the cave.
“What?”
He
reappears stuffing a large golden egg into his backpack. He hurries down the
stone and passes me. I follow him toward the wood, not sure what else to do.
When we
reach the tree line, he turns to me, “I am Ryder from Riverside.”
“My name
is Marie London- er- from Utah.”
“Why are
you dressed so strangely?”
“This is
what we wear.”
“Where
is this Utah? Is it over the sea?”
“Honestly,
I don’t think it’s on this planet or realm or reality or something.”
“Planet?”
He stops walking to look at me.
I push
passed him. “Oh, never mind. Let’s just say it’s a long way from here.”
We
follow a trail through the trees for another half an hour, and I come to a
complete stop as we enter the clearing containing the village of Riverside.
Ryder doesn’t stop walking, and I find myself grabbing his arm.
“I know
this place,” I say.
He looks
at me like I’m out of my head. “So do I. This is Riverside, and I live here.”
He pulls his arm from my grip and continues on, but I’m frozen in place. For
weeks I’ve been having reoccurring dreams about this village. I try to bring to
mind details from the dreams until I realize that Ryder is almost out of sight,
and I don’t know where he’s going.
“Wait,”
I call after him. He slows so that I can catch up. “I don’t know which house is
yours.” A part of me can’t help but wonder if I do.
At
first, all the squat wooden houses look the same, but as I look closer, I see
subtle differences. One has daises all along the path. One has a large apple
tree in the front yard. Another has a porch with two wooden rocking chairs.
Ryder
stops at one set farther back on the lot than the others with a large vegetable
garden in front. A gate surrounds the yard, and Ryder holds it open for me.
“This one is mine, well, my family’s.”
Looking
at Ryder’s home, I have a flash of memory, something from a dream. I’m pressed
against the door. I can feel the rough wood against my bare arm. One of Ryder’s
calloused hands is on my cheek. The other is tangled in my chestnut hair. His
lips are on mine, soft and wet. He tastes of scones spread with honeyed butter.
He smells of honey and fresh earth and male strength. I’m so engulfed by the
memory, so taken by the realness of it, that I miss a step and stumble. Ryder
catches my arm.
I find
his blue-green eyes and catch the faintest scent of fresh earth and strength.
He gives me a small smile.
“I don’t
think your shoes are fitting for my world.” He releases my arm.
I look
down to see I’m wearing my platform sandals with their three inch soles. They’ll
have to go. I must’ve fallen asleep fully clothed, down to my sandals. I was
probably studying my history and must’ve fallen asleep.
My heart
is beating fast, my breath coming too rapidly so I stop to try to gain control,
and Ryder opens the door to his house. Still trying to return to normal, I see
that he’s holding the door, waiting for me to enter.
A girl,
about thirteen, bounds to the door. “Did you get it?”
In
response, Ryder swings his pack around to the front and unhooks the clasp. He
pulls the golden egg from within and crosses the room, dumping the glittering
sphere into the fireplace causing the fire to flare around it.
“What
did you do?” I take a step forward as if I can somehow stop the consuming fire.
The girl
drops from her toes, noticing me for the first time. “Who’s she?” she asks
coldly.
“Manners,
Lacy. Her name is Marie.” Ryder says.
I can’t
stop myself from staring at the egg that is somehow not being devoured by the
fire.
“What is
she wearing?” Lacy stares openly at me.
“The egg
was cold.” Ryder puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “The mother has been
missing for days, and the fire she left went out.”
I turn
on him. “I was in no real danger at the cave.”
“I’ve
been watching that cave for some time, but there was still a chance she would
return. There was a greater chance that you were there after the egg too.” He
grins and his blue eyes light up.
I shake
my head.
Lacy
comes up behind me and touches my hoodie. “What kind of material is this?”
“Cotton,”
I answer my attention still on Ryder and the dragon egg.
“The
mother dragon holds the egg against her belly, where her fire burns. Dragon
babies are used to being kept very warm. When she goes to hunt, she leaves the
egg in a fire that she starts with her breath, but all that was left of that
dragons fire was ash.” Ryder gestures to the egg in the fireplace. “The baby
might be dead.” He sighs.
“What do
you want with a baby dragon?” I ask.
Lacy and
Ryder share a look.
“She
doesn’t need to know.” Lacy says through clenched teeth. “We aren’t keeping
her.”
“I’m not
a stray dog.” I say.
Lacy
turns her glare on me. “What’s a stray dog?”
“You
know, a dog without an owner so it follows you home and you have to decide if
you want to keep it or turn it back out in the cold.” I say.
Lacy
continues her glare.
“Well,
you did follow me home.” Ryder says, straight-faced.
When I
look at him in confusion, he laughs.
“Dogs
are little-er- some of them are big, but they’re animals. I’m not in need of an
owner.” I try to explain, not sure what part he doesn’t understand.
“I know
what you mean.” Ryder says to me. Then he turns to Lacy, “She has nowhere else
to go and I won’t turn her out.”
“For all
we know, she’s dangerous,” Lacy says.
“I’m not
dangerous,” I say.
Ryder
laughs again. “She was outside a dragon cave completely unarmed. She’s lucky to
be alive.”
“Where
did she come from, anyway?” Lacy asks.
“What
were you doing outside a dragon’s lair?” Ryder asks.
“I don’t
know.” I drop into a chair beside the fireplace. “I don’t know how I got here
or why I was in the cave. I don’t know how to get back. I don’t know what to
do.”
Ryder
frowns. “What do you mean you don’t know how you got here?”
“I woke
in that cave. Last night I was studying for a history test, and I must’ve
fallen asleep. The next thing I knew I was in the dragon’s cave.”
“That
doesn’t make sense.” Ryder’s eyes travel me.
“You’re
telling me.”
“But you
said you recognized the village?” He looks mistrusting for the first time.
Now it’s
my turn to frown. If I tell them I’ve dreamt of this place, they’ll think I’m
crazy,
“Marie?”
Ryder’s trying to meet my eyes, but I’m afraid he’ll see that I’m hiding
something.
“I’m
still working that out.” My eyes are on my platform sandals. “What are you
going to do with a dragon?” I direct the attention off me.
Lacy
hits Ryder’s arm. “We don’t have to tell you anything.” Lacy says too loudly.
“You probably aren’t even trustworthy.”
“That’s
too far. I haven’t done anything untrustworthy.” I unzip my hoodie, warm in the
little house beside the fireplace.
“What
did you just do?” Lacy’s eyes are like an owl’s.
“I
unzipped it.” I slip the hoodie off my arms.
“Can I
see?” She holds out her hand expectantly.
I slide
the ends of the zipper together and zip it up enough that it’ll remain
together. I hand the pink hoodie to Lacy. She zips and unzips it over and over
until the noise starts to get on my nerves.
“This is
amazing.” She holds the hoodie out to Ryder, demonstrating the zipper.
“Those
would be useful.” He turns his attention to me. “Did you make that clothing?”
“My
hoodie? Heck no, I got a C in sewing.”
He
stares at me, not understanding. “Was it made by this Taylor Swift, like your
shirt?”
“What?
Taylor Swift doesn’t make shirts.” I glance down at my shirt, remembering the
Taylor Swift concert. I wonder for a moment if I will ever hear her music
again. “Taylor Swift is a singer where I’m from. My mother took me to her
concert for my birthday, and she bought me the shirt to remember. It’s
memorabilia.”
Ryder
traces the “T” of Taylor, high on my chest with his finger, sending a chill
through me. “So you couldn’t make one of those contraptions?”
“The
zipper? No, I don’t know how to make a zipper. You can buy them at material
stores and crafts stores and probably most grocery stores.”
“I don’t
know what most of those things are.”
“Let’s
just say that zippers are pretty common place in my world.” I pull up my
t-shirt to reveal the one in my jeans.
“Ingenious!”
Lacy says.
The fire
crackles as a log splits and all three of us turn to look at the egg.
“Is
there more firewood?” Ryder asks.
“Some,”
Lacy says.
“Come
with me.” Ryder takes my arm and pulls me behind him out the back door. “Lucy
isn’t the trusting sort.” He says as we step outside. “Me, I think you might be
able to help us.” He leads me to the barn. Inside smells like sulfur and ash.
The
first stall contains an elephant sized lizard the color of polished gold. It
turns its body so that its spike tail is aimed at me.
“Flash,”
Ryder chastises, “Marie is a friend.” The dragon peers at me with its emerald
green eyes. Spikes run from its lower back to the tip of its tail and around
the crown of its head. It reaches up with one of its front limbs and grips the
stall door with its talons.
“She
won’t hurt you,” Ryder says. “She’s just curious.”
Flash
pulls herself onto her hind legs and sniffs the air.
“How
many do you have?”
“I have
three here.” He starts toward the next stall. “George’s got three at his barn.”
The name
George triggers a memory of a tall guy with messy dark hair and dark eyes. His
clothing is singed, and he bleeds freely from a cut on his cheek. I shake my
head to clear it and look up at the next stall. This one contains a dragon the
size of a Clydesdale, only long and sleek. Its reflective silver body is free
of spikes but is shiny and smooth.
“Bolt is
built for speed.” Ryder slows until I’m beside him. “He also spits lightning.”
“What
about the gold ones?”
“They
spit fire.”
“What
color are George’s?” I follow him to the last stall.
“All
golds, but Cooper’s got one of each.”
I see
Cooper from one of my dreams. He has blonde hair and eyes like a river with the
sun glinting off it. He’s bleeding from cuts all over his face, and he’s
struggling to breathe. Looking down at his chest, I see that it’s covered in
horrible burns. A moment later he takes his last breath. I fall against Ryder,
his solid body bringing me back to the present.
“We
really need to do something about those shoes.” He smiles and balances me back
on my own feet.
“So,
eight dragons?” I ask.
“Ten,
Hunter’s got two more golds.”
“Ten.” I
say as I have a vision of Hunter. He is shorter than George and wider with
brown hair and eyes. A burn mars his handsome face, and his arm from his
shoulder to his wrist. Whatever they have planned, it won’t end well. I frown
and shake it off.
“Ten
dragons; the four of us and Julia and Wendy, Turner and Belle, and Lacy thinks
she’s coming. She’s even taken a couple of turns on Smoke here.” He gestures
toward the third stall where another silver dragon, this one the size of a
large stallion, sleeps.
“Where
are you going?”
“To get
our parents back.” He pulls a wagon full of logs from a fourth stall.
I feel
foolish for not noticing the absence of their parents, but mine have both
worked since I started the first grade. I wonder how time passes in my world
compared to Ryder’s world. Have they noticed that I’m missing? I’m often the
first to leave in the mornings, depending on Mother’s shift. They might not
discover I’m gone until I don’t return from school.
“What
happened to your parents?” I ask as we start back to the house.
“Garrison
Strong.” Ryder’s walking backward, pulling the wagon. “He used to be governor
here, until he killed a dragon.” He stops to push a piece of wood back onto the
wagon. “I still think he got lucky; dragons aren’t an easy kill. Then he
figured out that she was a mother. He found the lair and the egg. He raised the
dragon and used it to terrorize the village.” He stops to open the door. “One
day out on his dragon, he discovered an unpopulated island. He claimed it as
his own. He wanted a palace and gardens and an orchard. Strong knew he couldn’t
do all of that himself.” He unloads the wood into a box, throwing several
pieces into the fireplace. “First he took volunteers. Then he bullied some
people into the work. He wasn’t satisfied, so he resorted to kidnapping.”
“He
kidnapped the adults?”
“He
needed muscle, workers, not kids.”
“Why
don’t they just leave?”
“The
island is completely isolated.” Ryder uses a stick to push a log deeper into
the flames.
“Which
is why you need the dragons.”
“Exactly.”
Ryder turns to Lacy. “She’s going to need to borrow some boots.”
“No. I
don’t want her to come so why would I lend her boots?”
“The
dragons need to eat and feeding them all at once is easier.”
“I’ll go
and get George or Cooper.” Lacy starts toward the door.
“Lacy.”
Ryder’s tone is hard. “Marie is coming.”
A knock
sounds at the door, and Lacy finishes crossing the room to open the door.
Hunter enters. I recognize him from the visions. His wavy brown hair is neatly
combed.
“Thought
you might need a hand with feedings.” He closes the door behind him.
“See,”
Lacy says, “we don’t need her.” Lacy gestures in my direction.
“Who is
this?” Hunter crosses the room and takes my hand. Up close, what I thought was
just a stockier build, I see is all muscle. Hunter is gorgeous with a perfectly
shaped nose, jaw line and cheekbones. His brown eyes are focused on my face. I
feel a stab of pain over my earlier vision that such beauty will suffer from
terrible burns.
“I’m
Marie London,” I say. He kisses the back of my hand, and my cheeks heat.
“Let’s
go before Flash decides to eat the barn.” Ryder starts toward the back door;
his hands are clenched into fists. Lacy is close on his heels. I’m unsure if
I’m supposed to follow, but Hunter pulls me along behind him. I grab my hoodie
as I go by the chair.
“You
aren’t from here, are you?” He keeps my hand in his. I’m too flustered to pull
it away.
“No, I’m
not.”
“I knew
I’d never seen you before. I know all the pretty girls in this village.”
I
realize he is the charmer in the group and pull my hand away, acting like I did
so just to put on my hoodie. We enter the barn to find Ryder securing a saddle
to Flash’s back, and Lacy trying in vain to get Smoke to take a bridle.
“Help
her with Smoke.” Ryder motions Hunter toward Lacy. “Then you get Bolt.”
“Bolt,
really?” Hunter’s eyes light up.
“Yeah,”
Ryder says. Something is bothering him.
I don’t
know where this leaves me, so I stand in the doorway.
Ryder looks up from the saddle, sees me and
smiles. “You’re with me.” He fastens the last buckle and pulls open the stall
door. Flash bears her fangs at me.
“I don’t
think Flash likes me.”
“Flash
doesn’t like anybody.” He jerks on her reins, until she’s facing him. “Be
nice.” He says close to her face. “Have you ever ridden?”
“A
dragon? They don’t even exist in my world.”
“A horse
then?”
“It’s
been a while.”
Still
holding the reins tight, he gestures toward the saddle. “Come on then.”
I feel
fear rise in me, and my feet are frozen to the ground.
“I won’t
let her hurt you.” He meets my eyes. “In truth she’s quite harmless.”
“She
doesn’t look harmless.” I start toward the saddle, my eyes on Flash. Ryder is
between me and Flash, and I have to squeeze passed him in the tight stall. I’m
taken by another memory, perhaps triggered my Ryder’s smell. My heart is
pounding. My breath is coming too fast. Ryder’s body is pressed against mine,
and I know we have to be quiet. Still every part of me wants to scream with
fear.
“Lacy’s
ready.” Hunter’s voice comes from Bolt’s stall, bringing me out of the memory.
I
stumble and fall against Ryder’s shoulder.
“I’m
starting to think it isn’t the shoes.” He grins, but there is worry in his
eyes. “Blast, Lacy didn’t give you boots.”
“Don’t
worry, I’ll go barefoot.” I slip off the sandals and position myself on the
saddle. Ryder is quick to climb up behind me, still holding the reins. He
steers Flash through the barn door that has been modified to accommodate her
size.
Flash
doesn’t move anything like a horse. She doesn’t move smoothly, but more like
she is climbing along the ground. I grab for the saddle as she lurches forward.
Ryder’s arms are around me so that he can hold the reins, and I fall against
him as we move into the yard. Flash stretches her wings, and her movements are
so unnatural to me that only Ryder’s body around mine keeps me on her back.
Lacy is
in the yard on Smoke, and she laughs at my awkwardness and discomfort.
“If I
don’t recall, you fell off the first time that Smoke stretched his wings.”
Ryder says.
Lacy
frowns at me as if I were the one that had made the remark not her brother.
“Let’s
go.” Hunter bursts from the barn on Bolt and pushes him straight into the air.
“Hunter!”
Ryder calls after him. “He’s got to be more careful. It ruins everything if
Strong finds out we have dragons.”
I barely
get a breath, and Ryder signals Flash to take to the sky. I’m lost in the rush
of speed and wind and the flex of Ryder’s muscles against me and the scent of
him.
Ryder
keeps Flash low, just over the housetops and follows the river to the sea. Once
over the open water Ryder loosens his grip on the reins, and Flash dives at the
water. All the breath is sucked out of my lungs and just when I think we’ll go
under, she pulls up, plucking a fish from the water with her mouth. Flash
floats for a bit, plunging her head into the water after fish, and I’m able to
breathe normally again. I catch sight of Hunter and Bolt doing flips and rolls
against the blue of the sky.
“He’s
supposed to be feeding him,” Ryder says, and I get the impression that Hunter
isn’t Ryder’s favorite person.
I don’t
know if Ryder signals Flash or if she makes the decision, but in a flash we are
shooting upward. She is graceful in flight, gliding smoothly through the wind
in strong contrast to her bulky clumsiness on land. Flash rolls over, and Ryder
and I are upside down for a few seconds. My body goes rigid, and I feel a
scream in my throat. When we land in the water again, Ryder gives a little
laugh.
“Are you
ill?” Ryder asks.
“No, I’m
just not used to that. I’ve never been a fan of roller coasters.”
“Roller
coasters?”
I
realize I have no idea how to explain a roller coaster to someone from Ryder’s
world. “Something from my world.”
“Does it
fly?”
“Not
exactly, but they are very fast.”
“If you
don’t like speed, I recommend you stay away from the silver ones, especially
Bolt. He really enjoys going fast.” I can tell he is looking around. I can feel
his weight shift behind me. “Do you see Lacy?” he asks.
I shade
my eyes and look all around. “No.”
“Curse
that girl.” He stands on Flash’s back; his hand on my shoulder for balance. He
does a couple of turns, his eyes on the sky. Hunter passes overhead but not
Lacy.
Ryder
sits down hard behind me and signals Flash into the air. We fly back over the
water and the coast and start up the river. “If something has happened to her…”
Fear vibrates in his voice.
About a
mile up the river, Lacy stands knee deep in the water. Smoke floats nearby ducking
his head in the river to feed.
Ryder
lands Flash in the river with a splash. “Where have you been?”
Lacy
glares at me, water dripping from her face. “Smoke wanted to eat here.”
“You
know Hunter and I were headed to sea. We’re supposed to stay together.” He
hands me Flash’s reins and moves through the water to Lacy.
“You
splashed me intentionally.” She throws herself at him taking them both under.
Ryder
bursts out of the water lifting Lacy with him. “What if something happened to
you?”
“Smoke
wouldn’t let anything happen to me.” Lacy sputters.
“And
what if Strong came along with an adult dragon? What good would Smoke be then?”
“What if
some girl from who knows where shows up, and you let her into our house and
show her the dragons and tell her our plans?” She glares at me. “And what if
she’s really a spy or a demon or who knows what?”
“Unbelievable.”
Ryder shakes the water from his hair and walks back toward Flash. “Sorry,” he
says to me as he climbs onto Flash’s back.
“You
don’t have to apologize to me.” I hand him the reins.
“She’s
done nothing but pick fights with me since Ma was taken.”
“Don’t
be too hard on her. I’m sure she’s scared.”
Ryder
laughs. “It’s pretty funny that the demon girl is defending her.”
“I just
know that life can be hard for a teenage girl, and I can’t imagine doing it
without my mother.”
“It
hasn’t been a fishing trip for me either.”
“I don’t
doubt that. I just think you two could be more supportive of each other.”
He
grunts, and we lapse into silence, watching the dragons catch fish. With things
calmer, I feel my own stomach rumble. I haven’t eaten since dinner back at
home. I wonder when the humans around here eat.
“We
should head in,” Ryder calls to Lacy. She mounts Smoke. We take the dragons
back to the house and leave them in the barn.
“What
about Hunter?” I ask as Ryder fills a trough with water for Flash.
“I’d
like to say he’s responsible and that I trust him to take care of Bolt, but I
guess we’ll just have to see when he comes back.”
I frown.
I don’t understand Ryder’s relationship with Hunter. I got the feeling from the
dreams that they were a group of friends.
He holds
the stall door open for me as we leave. “Are you hungry?”
I want
to hug him because I wasn’t sure how to ask him for food on top of everything
else. “I am.”
Ryder
throws more wood in the fireplace with the dragon egg. He lights a stick from
that fire and stuffs it into a wood stove. I consider offering to help, but I
don’t have the slightest idea how to cook on a wood stove. Lacy comes in the
back door.
“Will
you pick some things for lunch?” Ryder hands her an empty basket.
“What
are you making?” she asks.
“Scones.”
“So,
berries?”
“That’s
what I like with them.”
“George
still hasn’t brought the milk.” She starts toward the door.”
“He
will.”
I watch
from the chair by the fireplace, captivated while Ryder mixes dough for scones,
without using a premade mix, and with nothing but a hand pump for water. When
he has batter, he tests the temperature of the stove top by dripping water droplets
onto the pan. Satisfied, he scoops some of the batter into the pan. He
disappears momentarily into a door I didn’t notice before.
“Where
does that go?” I ask when he returns with a jar of honey.
“The
root cellar.”
I glance
around the room. Of course they don’t have a refrigerator or a pantry. The root
cellar must act as both.
He stops
to turn over the scone and then continues to the table where he places the
honey in the center. He goes to a cabinet and takes out four plates that appear
to be made of fired clay. He puts three on the table and takes the fourth to
the stove where he flips the first scone onto it. He just pours the batter for
the second one when Hunter bursts through the back door. His wavy hair is
windblown and his cheeks are reddened by the winds.
“That
was incredible! That dragon sure loves to fly.” He makes his way to the water
pump where he wets his hands and starts rearranging his hair.
“Did you
let him eat, at least?” Ryder has the same annoyed tone as before.
“Of
course I let him eat. I didn’t hurt him. I know he’s your precious dragon.”
Hunter moves one last curl into place.
“Oh,” I
say but then stop myself from going on. Ryder’s annoyance is out of jealousy or
some kind of possessiveness over Bolt.
“Are you
well?” Hunter rushes to my side.
“Fine, I
just realized something.” I say lamely. “It doesn’t matter.” I wave him away.
Ryder
flips the scone.
“Thanks
for the ride.” Hunter pats Ryder on the back as he walks by him. “If you ever
decide to favor another dragon, I’d be happy to take Bolt. I’ll stop by
tomorrow to help again if you want.”
Ryder
looks up from his cooking. “I think we can handle it. I want to teach Marie to
ride.”
“Let me
know if you need me then.” Hunter seems disappointed he won’t get to ride Bolt
again.
“I’m not
so sure that me riding is a good idea.” I walk to the table and place a plate
in front of each of the three chairs at the table.
“I don’t
think you arrived here by chance.” Ryder says.
My knees
feel weak, and I slip into one of the chairs at the table. “Why would I be here
then?”
“I can’t
say, but maybe we need you to help us free our parents.”
I’ve
read enough fantasy novels to know what he is implying, but I’m not anything
special, and I can’t learn to use a sword in a week or a month, or probably
ever.
Lacy
comes in with a basket full of strawberries, raspberries and three red ripe
apples. She rinses them in water from the hand pump and places them in a bowl
in the center of the table. She seems pleasant enough, but every time she looks
in my direction, she scowls.
A knock
sounds at the front door. The door opens before Lacy reaches it, and George
strides into the house. He is easily six feet tall with hair so black that the
highlights seem purple. He, like Ryder and probably me, looks windblown. Only
Hunter bothers to fix his hair after riding a dragon.
“Sorry,
I’m late.” He holds out two milk bottles and places them on the table.
“I knew
you’d bring them sooner or later.” Ryder flips another scone onto his plate
before going to the root cellar. He returns with a basket of eggs and four red
apples.
“Thanks,”
George says as Ryder hands him the basket.
“Did you
get the dragons fed?” Ryder asks.
“Yes,
Julia helped.”
I see
Julia. She is a beautiful blonde with red lips and ivory skin. I see her wiping
blood from George’s face. She appears uninjured, but at the thought I see her
foot, wrapped in bandages.
Lacy
walks passed George to get three clay mugs from a cupboard. George watches her
place them on the table. When she places one in front of me, George notices me
for the first time.
“Sorry,
who’s the girl?” he asks.
“George,
this is Marie. Marie, this is George.” Ryder says nodding at me. “I wasn’t
thinking, sorry.”
George
leans in to Ryder and whispers loudly, “She’s pretty. I’d keep her away from
Hunter if you want to hold on to her.”
“It
isn’t like that,” Ryder says too quickly.
George
raises his eyebrows. “I’d probably still keep her away from Hunter.” He flashes
a smile at me. “It’s good to meet you Marie. I need to go, chores to do.” He
pulls the door closed behind him.
“George’s
family runs the dairy farm.” Ryder carries the plate of scones to the table.
Lacy takes two. He slides one onto his plate and one onto mine. “I forgot the
butter.”
Lacy
gets the butter from the root cellar and spreads a large helping of it onto her
scone. Then she oozes the honey over both and tops them with raspberries.
Ryder
pours another scone into the pan before sitting down himself and spreading his
with butter and honey. I copy him and then look at the sticky food, wondering
if they have forks. Lacy picked hers up and folds it in half before taking a
bite. A string of honey runs down her chin.
Ryder
stands and flips the scone and returns with cloth napkins. “You’ve got
something there.” He gestures to Lacy’s chin and hands her a napkin.
I pick
up the scone and take a bite careful not to drip the honey on myself. It is
delicious, but it makes me think of Ryder and the memory of him kissing me. I
study my plate. I can’t look at him or I know I will blush.
Ryder
continues to cook between bites of his own scone until we’ve all had three
scones each. Then he sits down and takes a bite out of one of the apples. I
take one of the other ones and taste it. The apple is perfectly ripe and almost
as sweet and juicy as the honeyed scones.
“Thank
you for feeding me,” I say after I’ve chewed the bite.
“You’re
our guest.” Ryder says.
Lacy
scowls. “Where’s our guest going to sleep because it’s not going to be with me
and it shouldn’t be with you?”
Ryder’s
ears turn pink. “I’ll sleep in Ma and Pa’s room, and she can sleep in mine.”
Lacy
folds her arms across her chest, annoyed that he found a solution so easily.
Someone
else knocks on the door.
“Is it
always like this?” I ask as Ryder gets up and opens the door.
“No,”
Lacy says.
“Sometimes,”
Ryder answers at the same time.
Cooper
stands at the door. His blonde hair is also windblown and there’s an excited
light in his eyes. “George said you have another egg.” He pushes passed Ryder,
but his eyes are on me not the fireplace. Cooper is small, shorter even than me
and that combined with his light blonde hair and roundish face makes him look
much younger than the other three.
I see
Cooper in my mind, the way I saw him before; his body burned and broken. My chest
clenches. I never want to see him like that in life.
“I think
you should stay away from dragons.” I blurt out before I can stop it.
Cooper
is at the fireplace, but he turns from the egg to look at me again.
“George
mentioned a girl too. Marie, right?” He comes back to the table and offers me
his hand. “I’m Cooper.”
“I
know,” I say still flustered from the image of him I saw moments before.
“You do?
What has Ryder told you about me?” Cooper grins, a roguish light in his eyes.
But I’m
looking at Ryder, whose eyebrows are lowered. His blue-green eyes narrow. “I
barely mentioned you. I said you have a silver dragon and a gold dragon.”
“I-I
just meant that you must be Cooper since you’re the only one I haven’t met
yet.” I try to cover, but I know that Ryder is still watching me, untrustingly.
“Another
gold?” Cooper is back at the fireplace.
“I think
Strong is focused on killing off the silvers. They are getting harder and
harder to find.” Ryder frowns, but I feel it is only in part because of the state
of the dragons.
“Where
are you going to put it?” Cooper asks.
“Probably
here. I have the most room.”
“Are you
sure Flash will go for it?” Cooper pokes the fire with a stick.
“I doubt
she will, but I guess we’ll have to see.”
“Hunter’s
bragging that you let him ride Bolt. When do I get to ride Bolt?”
I watch
Ryder to see if he reacts with Cooper the way he did with Hunter over Bolt. But
I recognize an obvious difference, Cooper is grinning, teasing Ryder.
“You’ve
got your own silver; just teach it to go fast.” Ryder turns away from the fire;
his eyes are back on me.
“Jess
will never go as fast as Bolt, but she’s still more fun to ride than Goldie.”
Cooper steps away from the fire. “Do you need help later?”
“No, I’m
going to teach Marie to ride.” Ryder grins at me.
“About
that,” I say, “I don’t think that is the best idea.”
“Like I
should stay away from dragons, huh?” Cooper offers me his hand again. “Good to
meet you. I’ve got to get back.”
“Not the
same thing at all, actually.” I mutter.
Cooper
leaves.
“Lacy,
you’ve got chores to do,” Ryder says.
“So do
you,” she returns.
“And I’m
headed there. Marie, you’re with me.”
He hands
me a basket, and I follow him out to the large vegetable garden in the front
yard. “Pick anything that’s ripe and put it in the basket. Any weeds go in the
waste bin that I’ll pull around to the front.”
The
garden is full of plants, some of which I recognize: squash, potatoes, corn, onions,
cantaloupe, watermelon, carrots and peas. There are others that I don’t know though
too. One that looks something like an onion, only smaller and another that is
like a pink squash.
Ryder
returns with the waste bin. I can feel him picking weeds and harvesting
vegetables only a row away, but I don’t dare look at him. I can only guess
about what is going on in his mind. It doesn’t seem right how well I know him,
even though I only met him that morning because I have watched him in my dreams
for so much longer. I can picture him, his back bend, and his left arm resting
against his left leg as he examines and picks the ripe vegetables. I know the
shape of his nose, the lines of his tanned cheeks. His brow would be furrowed,
contemplating how best to start the conversation with me.
He moves
closer, parallel to me. “What did you mean, back there with Cooper? How could
you know him?”
“Like I
said, I figure he had to be Cooper because I’d met George and Hunter already.”
I manage to keep my voice steady.
Out of
the corner of my eye, I see the movement of him shaking his head. “You can’t
lie to me.”
I turn
on him, my turn to be surprised. “What do you mean? You just met me, and you’re
telling me you can tell when I’m lying?”
He steps
over a zucchini squash plant to be beside me. “Yes, I can read you like I can
Bolt, and you’re lying. I just can’t figure out why.”
“You
wouldn’t believe the truth.”
“Try
me.” He takes me by the shoulder and turns me to face him. His blue eyes are
intense. I can smell the earth and the sea air on him. I think of the memory of
his lips on mine. If I tell him, will it change everything? If it does, will it
be for the better or worse.
I don’t
want to look at him when I say it. I don’t want to see the change in his eyes,
but I can’t look away. “I told you I recognized this village. I know the people
in it too. I’ve seen all of you in my dreams. I’ve been dreaming of all of you
for some time now.”
His eyes
narrow for a moment, but then he releases my shoulder and turns away from me.
After a moment, he turns back. “Then you know things,
things you aren’t telling me.”
“No,
they were dreams. I can’t remember the details.”
“Then
how did you know what Coop looked like?”
I shake
my head, not wanting to say. “I had a flash of memory of each of your friends
when you told me about them back in the barn with the dragons.”
He nods,
taking in the information. “Why did you tell him to stay away from the
dragons?”
My eyes
start to burn as I fight off tears. “I don’t know your plan for taking your
parent’s back, but I know something goes wrong or it doesn’t end well.” My vision
fuzzes with the tears. “George fares the best, mostly mild burns and cuts. Hunter
is badly burned. Julia breaks a foot. But Cooper,” I choke on his name, “he
won’t make it.”
“Blast!”
Ryder turns a complete circle. “We’ll change the plans. We’ll come up with
something better.”
“It
might not be enough.”
“What do
you mean?”
“What if
my dream of the results happened after you changed the plans? What if you
changing the plan is what makes it unsuccessful?”
“What if
I have no control over any of this?” He kicks at the dirt.
“Exactly.”
“Wait,”
he grabs my shoulder again, “what happens to Lacy? What happens to me?”
“I don’t
know. I haven’t seen. I don’t remember.”
“Then
what did you see when we first arrived at the house?” he asks.
He has
realized that it is the memories that throw me off balance. I feel my cheeks
heat at the memory of his lips on mine, the feel of his body pressed against
mine.
“It’s
not important.”
“Marie.”
“I think
it was a mistake. I can’t see how it can happen. Maybe things are already
different than they were in the dreams.” I fight off a blush.
“Was it
about me?”
I nod.
“What
happened? I need to know.”
“It was
you kissing me in front of your house.” I blush.
“Like
this?” He puts his hands on my hips and draws me to him until our bodies are
touching. Then his lips find mine. Only he smells mostly of the sea, and his
lips taste of honey and apples. My chest warms with the nearness of him, heats,
turns to dragon’s fire.
My
friend, Emily, from back home, used to tell me about passion. She used to say
it didn’t matter how good looking the guy was, how smart or funny he was. She’d
say if there wasn’t passion, the relationship wouldn’t work. I never knew what
she was talking about until Ryder kissed me. I never want him to stop. I want
to forever feel his touch. I want to kiss more than his lips, and I want to
feel his lips on other parts of me, parts I shouldn’t think about.
We are
so consumed with each other, we don’t hear Lacy approach. “How are your chores
coming, Ryder?” she asks loudly.
I step
away, but Ryder keeps one of his hands on my hip. “Are you done with yours?” he
asks.
“I am. I
thought I’d help Marie so that you can fix the leak in the barn roof, but I’m
not helping her if that’s the chore that needs to be done.” She shoots daggers
at me with her eyes.
Ryder
doesn’t drop his protective stance or his hand. “I appreciate it. Just help
Marie finish up harvesting. I’m going to make vegetable stew for dinner.” He
finally releases me, but after a few steps, he looks back.
Lacy
takes up his basket and moves over to the potatoes. “Why don’t you just go back
to where you came from?”
“I don’t
know how.” I drop to the dirt and pick some carrots. “Why do you hate me?”
She
picks a potato, looks at it for longer than she needs to and drops it into the
basket. “You can’t have him.”
“What?”
“Strong
took my Ma and Pa. You can’t take Ryder. He’s all I have left.”
I look
over at Lacy, sitting in the dirt, pulling tiny weeds from the ground. She has
tears in her eyes. She’s nothing more than a scared and lonely girl. I crawl
over to her side, not thinking about the mud on my jeans.
“I won’t
take him. Even if by some miracle he loves me, I won’t take him away from you.”
“You
will. I know Ryder. I see how he looks at you. He’ll follow you anywhere. He’ll
go with you back to your world.”
“No,
even if I could go back, I won’t.
“You’ll
leave your world of strange clothes and zippers. You’ll leave behind your
family?” She looks up at me, unbelieving.
I think
of my parents. I see my mother crying over my memory, thinking I’m lost
forever. “I’ll find a way.” I pull a small weed from the ground and toss it at
her. “You really think he likes me?”
She
nods. “He never dated the girls in the village. Hunter’s been through all of
them, more than once. Cooper and Bella have been together off and on for like
their whole lives. Everyone knows they’ll get married. But not Ryder.” She
picks a weed and tosses it at me. “I heard George ask Ryder what was wrong with
him once. I think it was after Julia asked him out and he said he didn’t want
to go with her. Everybody thinks Julia’s beautiful.”
I have
the memory of Julia again with her perfect, curly blonde hair, red lips and
ivory skin. She is wiping blood from George’s face. Her foot is still wrapped.
I dig my fingers into the dirt to bring me back to reality.
“Ryder
shook his head,” Lacy goes on, “he told George they just weren’t right for him
and that he’d know when he met the right one. George laughed and asked him how
he intended to meet someone new when he never left the village. Ryder said he
didn’t know, but he would. That was a couple years ago.”
I
frowned, wondering what it must be like to know that your only choice for a
spouse had to come from the ten other teenagers around your age.
“The
first time I saw the way he looked at you, I knew he’d been right. I knew you
were what he’d been waiting for.” She looks up at me. “I’m sorry I’ve been
cruel. I just don’t want you to break his heart. He’s waited for you for so
long.”
“Why
would I break his heart?”
“You’ll
go home.” She picks a weed and pulls it apart. I watch her, thinking about her
words. Would I go home if I could? Would I go home if I knew I could never
return?
I pick a
few more carrots, my mind flitting from my parents to Ryder and back again. How
can one day change everything?
“I think
we have enough vegetables to start the stew.” Lacy stands and picks up her
basket. I follow her with my own basket. Inside, we wash and start chopping
vegetables.
“How
long have your parents been missing?” I ask over my potatoes.
“Eleven
months and nine days.”
“When
was Ryder planning on taking them back?”
“Soon.”
She accidentally sends a piece of carrot shooting across the room. She lays
down the knife to retrieve it. “We need them back before the harvests. We
barely handled the plantings without them. There just aren’t enough of us to
handle the harvest.”
“So he
took all of the adults?”
“Everyone
between Hunter’s and Cooper’s Gran’s age.”
“How old
is Cooper’s grandmother?”
She
shrugs. “Around sixty.”
Ryder
comes in and washes his hands. He looks from me to Lacy and back again.
Clearly, he notices that her glare has disappeared. He smiles.
“The
roof is fixed, so that when the little guy hatches he’ll have a dry stall.” He
walks to the fireplace and throws on more wood. “Marie, will you be comfortable
riding Flash, or shall I let you take Bolt?”
I chop
the empty air, missing my potato completely. “I can’t ride alone.”
“It’s
not so bad,” Lacy says. “It can be quite enjoyable. I’ll let you take Smoke if
you want. He’s younger, not as fast as Bolt and not as hateful as Flash.”
Ryder
looks at me quizzically, as if to ask how I got her to stop hating me.
I mouth
the word “later” to him.
“Will
you ride Flash?” he asks Lacy.
“I can.
She doesn’t hate me any more than she does anyone else.” Lacy says.
“I’m
pretty sure she hates me more than she hates everyone else.” I say.
“That’s
settled then.” Ryder pulls a big pot from the cabinet and fills it with water.
He stops at my station and scoops all my potatoes into the pot. He takes the
carrots and onions from Lacy. “We have enough potatoes. Start on the parsnips.”
He says to me.
The
front door swings open and Hunter swaggers in. “Do I get to ride Bolt again?”
he asks.
“No,”
Ryder says, “I need to make sure he actually gets to eat one meal today.” He
puts the pot down on the counter and steps between Hunter and me. “You’ll have
to bring one of your dragons. And while you’re out, tell all the others to
bring a dragon to feed and meet us at the mouth of the river.”
“What’s
going on?” Hunter’s eyes are on me.
“We need
to change the plan.”
“I don’t
like it.” Hunter says, still watching me. Ryder doesn’t move, but every muscle
in his body is rigid. His jealous, possessive attitude toward Hunter is over me
not Bolt.
“We’ll
see you at the mouth of the river then.” Hunter winks at me and heads out the
door.
We
finish chopping vegetables and fill the pot. Ryder puts it on the stovetop and
we go out to the barn. Ryder saddles Smoke, helps Lacy saddle Flash and finally
saddles and mounts Bolt. We meet in the yard. I try to relax, to allow myself
to tip and pitch with the motion of Smoke’s walk, but I can’t get used to the
dragon’s unnatural gate.
“Ready?”
Ryder asks watching me.
“How do
I make him fly?” I ask.
“Pull
the reins down to make him go up and pull them up to make him go down.”
“Isn’t that
backwards?”
Ryder
shrugs. “It’s the way that they recognize it. Lacy, why don’t you go first?
Marie, you follow.”
Flash
snaps her massive teeth as Lacy pulls her passed Smoke and Bolt, but she takes
off into the sky at Marie’s direction.
I
follow. Smoke runs before he lifts into the sky. I glance back to make sure
Ryder is behind us, but I follow Flash and Lacy to the river. We fly low over
the river until it opens into the sea. I’m so focused on staying on Smoke’s
back I notice little else until we’ve landed in the water. Hunter is already
there on a gold. Cooper is floating beside him on a silver.
Ryder
lands beside me. “We’ll wait for the others.”
George
and Julia arrive on golds. Turner and Wendy arrive together, each on a gold.
Belle is the last to arrive on a gold.
“What’s
going on Ryder?” Hunter asks shifting his seat as his dragon plunges its head
underwater.
“I have
some new information that makes me doubt the plan.” He looks at me. “I’m going
to take Bolt in the morning out to the island. I’m going to see if I can find
where Strong’s keeping everyone. I think we need more information before we can
make a solid plan.”
“No,”
Cooper says. “We can’t risk him seeing you.”
“That’s
why I’ll go when it’s still dark.”
“Why
you?” Hunter asks.
“Because
Bolt and I can outrun anyone.”
“I don’t
like it.” George says. “We should just rush the place like we’ve talked about.
We can’t wait much longer. We can’t take time to make a new plan.”
Everyone
breaks off, talking at once on top of each other, some agreeing with Ryder,
others not.
“Ryder’s
right,” I say softly, and the others go silent, listening to me. “You need to
know what you are up against before you rush into anything.”
“What do
you know about anything?” Julia asks.
“She’s
trying to help,” Ryder says.
“None of
it means anything to her. Her parents haven’t been gone for almost a year.”
Julia goes on.
“None of
this is up for negotiation.” Ryder says. “When it comes down to it, they’re my
dragons. I’m the leader and this is how it will be done. I’ll let everyone know
what I discover, and we’ll go from there.”
George
frowns, but nobody says another word about it. Instead, everyone lets their
dragons fly and eat and socialize. I get a little better at riding, but I still
don’t feel comfortable. When the dragons have eaten their fill, everyone heads
off in different directions to their homes.
The stew
is ready when we get back to the house after caring for the dragons and leaving
them in the barn. Ryder dishes up a bowl for me, Lacy and then himself. We eat
in silence for a time.
“I don’t
think you handled that well.” Lacy dips her spoon into her stew.
“They
weren’t listening, and I had to change something. I never loved the idea of
just sneaking out there and hoping Strong didn’t see us. I think we are better
off knowing what he has and what we are up against.” He looks at me. “I just
hope it’s enough.”
With my
stomach full, I’m feeling drowsy. The day has been full of emotions and riding
a dragon, twice, was enough for me physically. I yawn.
“Tired,
Marie?”
“Very.”
Ryder
leads me to his bedroom. He rummages around in his wardrobe until he pulls out
a pair of knit pants and a knit shirt. “It can get cold in here at night. The
house has its cracks that let the cold air in.” He hands me the clothes, and
his hand brushes mine.
“Thank
you,” I say.
“Can I
get you anything else?” His eyes drift to the bed.
The room
smells like him. His closeness has my heart beating too fast. One lock of his
hair is in his eyes. I reach up and push it back, and that’s all it takes. His
arms wrap around me. I drop the clothes. His lips find mine. He tastes of stew
and a trace of sea salt. His hands travel up and down my back. One of my hands
is tangled in his hair. The other clutches at his shirt. I feel that heat
again.
His
hands move, releasing me, and I feel their absence at my very core. He pulls
his shirt over his head. His body is all tanned muscle, and I trace my fingers
along the definition in his abs, in his chest. Goose bumps climb his flesh. His
lips find my neck, just below my ear, and I can’t think straight. I try to push
away thoughts of his lips in other places. His hands are back on my hips and he
presses me against him. I can’t breathe.
The door
creaks open. Lacy takes in Ryder’s missing shirt, his hands on me, my hand
tangled in his hair. She goes as red as the sunset and starts to close the
door.
“Lacy,”
Ryder says fumbling for his shirt. “Nothing happened. Nothing was going to
happen. Please don’t look at me like that.”
“She’s
going to break your heart!” Lacy yells. Her hands are balled into fists.
“Why
would you say that?” Ryder asks.
“She
won’t stay here. She’ll go home to her family, to her world.” Lacy’s glare
returns and she directs it at me.
I’m
speechless. I can’t promise that I won’t. I have the feeling I have no control
over when I come and go into Ryder’s world.
“I can
take care of myself,” Ryder says, “and that includes my heart.”
“I just came
to wish you both good night.” Lacy says and closes the door too hard behind
her.
I feel
deflated and sink onto the bed. “She’s right.” My voice cracks. “Nothing can
ever become of this.” Tears fill my eyes. “I’ve never felt like this before,
but I can’t stay here, even if I could control it.”
“No.”
Ryder sits beside me and slips his hand into mine. “I don’t want to hear it.
You came here for a reason, and I’m not going to let you go easily.” He looks
hard into my eyes. “I love you.”
“Please
don’t say that. It’ll just make everything worse.”
“Love
never makes things worse. I wouldn’t trade this day with you for anything, even
if it is the only day we ever get.” He tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear.
The
tears are flowing from my eyes. I don’t want to choose between him and the
world I left behind.
“Come
here.” Ryder lies down and pulls me down beside him. “Let’s not worry about it.
Tonight, let’s just be together.” I put my head on his chest, calmed by the
rhythm of his strong heart. He closes his eyes; his arm wrapped around me and
falls asleep.
“I love
you too.” I whisper and then fall asleep, surrounded by his love.
I wake
to Taylor Swift’s Red playing from my
iPod through my alarm clock. I’m upside down in my bed. My face is stuck to a
page in my history book. I stretch, reaching for something, someone. But, of
course, no one is there. I pull off my pink hoodie and catch the scent of the
sea.