The Timekeeper's Moon Read online

  Unfortunately, a pebble thrown here was more likely to drown than to vibrate the earth. Ariel squeezed the lump in her fist, a knot as unyielding as the distance between her and Zeke. She flung the rock off the platform, but did not hear it land.

  Voices murmured nearby, though, as soothing as wave-song. Ariel lay back and fell asleep in the worms’ eerie glow.

  When she checked the basket the next morning, the glowworms had indeed left it empty—except for one pebble. Ariel told herself it must have been under the worms all along.

  CHAPTER 11

  New Dog Moon, Invisible

  Get up, sleepy! We have goodies for you!”

  In the filtered morning light, Ariel rubbed her eyes clear of sleep. Six or eight bouncing kids and several adults broke into a loud song about being born under a toadstool. Sienna was among them. Nace wasn’t.

  “I thought you might like to celebrate late,” Scarl told her when the song ended. “Since you’ve only been fourteen for two days.”

  She grinned and allowed herself to be served pancakes with fruit, which were as tasty as any First Day pudding. Once the food had been eaten, Lamala prodded Sienna.

  “Show Ariel some fun on the swing,” she said. “Before she puts on clean clothes.”

  Sienna rolled her eyes, but the other kids whooped and scattered eagerly from the platform.

  “You don’t think it’s fun?” Ariel asked the older girl.

  “You might,” Sienna replied with a long-suffering sigh. “Come on.”

  They squelched along a trail to a hollow where the swamp deepened into a pond. A rope hung from a high tree branch. Kids swarmed the branches below. When they’d climbed high enough, they swung on the rope, screamed with glee, and splashed into the water. They emerged dripping with muck.

  A little mud didn’t scare Ariel. She hoisted herself into the tree, glad she’d left her map safe in her pack. When she reached a small jumping-off platform built partway up, new friends crowded around to instruct her. They argued about whether it was more fun to stand in the loop tied at the bottom of the rope or to sit on the knot just above it.

  The first time, Ariel gritted her teeth. She swooped into space and almost back to the tree before convincing herself to let go. The dunking felt the way fruit tasted, both explosive and sweet. Her second flight left her dizzy and giggling. She’d just taken the rope for her third turn when she spied Nace perched in another tree nearby. A small green snake coiled through his fingers as he watched.

  “Hello, Nace,” Ariel called.

  He raised a hand from the snake in greeting.

  “Want a turn?” she asked, twitching the rope.

  He considered before he set his snake loose and swung down from his branch.

  “Nace is the best,” said Connor at Ariel’s side.

  “He should be,” said Sienna, who stood below looking indulgent and bored. “He’s been doing it since before you were born. He’s only three years younger than I am.”

  “You’re just jealous because you can’t do tricks like he can,” Connor retorted.

  “Hardly.” Sienna sniffed. “This is kid stuff.”

  Busy calculating that Nace was just a year older than she was, Ariel let the insult slide off.

  The kids parted for Nace’s arrival. His expression thoughtful, he did not smile, but his eyes met Ariel’s warmly. He took the rope with a twitch of his eyebrows like the one he’d given her yesterday.

  She watched as he climbed to the next higher branch and stuck one foot through the loop. He jumped—but only held the rope for an instant. By the midpoint of the swing, Nace was hanging upside down. His hair swept the water. As his body swung up the far side of the arc, he kicked free of the loop and somersaulted into the pond.

  Ariel closed her gaping mouth as Nace emerged with a grin. She knew he’d been showing off for the stranger, but it had been a spectacular trick. The crowd clapped and cheered.

  “I want to try that,” Ariel said.

  Connor scoffed.

  Others took turns. Once Nace returned to the platform, Ariel reached for the rope and slipped her foot through the loop as he had.

  Nace grabbed the rope to stop her. He made warning gestures.

  “I won’t hurt myself,” she protested.

  “Yes, you will,” called Sienna from below. “One boy broke his collarbone and a girl nearly drowned copying Nace. He’s not supposed to show off in front of the little kids.”

  Nace shot Sienna a look of annoyance.

  Ariel’s legs quivered, but she set her jaw. “Can’t you teach me?” she asked.

  Looking dubious, he lifted a palm to say, Wait. He pondered. Then he tugged the loop back off her foot. She stamped her boot in frustration.

  He grinned and tapped his temple: he had an idea.

  Nace put his bare foot through the loop and then reached to pat his back.

  “Piggyback, Nace means to say,” Connor told Ariel.

  Nace reached toward her, inviting her into the curl of his arm.

  She hesitated only an instant. Grabbing Nace’s shoulder, she boosted herself onto his hip, more sideways than piggyback. Like a clumsy possum baby, Ariel clung and tried not to think just how much she was touching this boy or how he felt under her limbs.

  “You’re crazy,” called Sienna.

  “Hold tight?” Ariel asked.

  Nodding, Nace wrapped his free arm around her waist, clamping her to his ribs so snugly it frightened her. Finally he tipped his head toward the pond, eyebrows lifted: Ready?

  Her heart in her throat, Ariel kept her eyes on his face. The water would look too far down. She swallowed hard and gave him a nod.

  “If you die,” Sienna asked, “can I have your necklace?”

  Nace winked at Ariel and shoved them both from the tree.

  If even a second passed before Nace dropped his hold of the rope and they flipped head-down together, Ariel didn’t feel it. Gripping him fiercely, she tried to watch the green blur, but her eyelids clamped shut by themselves. A screech pushed between her clenched teeth. Just as her courage caught up with her body, Nace kicked the rope free. They dropped. Entangled by Ariel, he strained to spin them so they didn’t land on their heads. Water gulped them. They jolted against the muddy bottom, and Ariel let go to splash toward the air.

  They both erupted from the pond. She was laughing almost before she could breathe. “That was great!”

  His silence disconcerted her until she saw his pleased grin. Nace retraced their fall with his hand, slamming his palms together and whistling a note of amazement.

  Understanding perfectly, Ariel couldn’t smother her giggles as she asked, “That didn’t hurt, did it?” She knew he’d taken most of the impact and probably a knee or elbow from her.

  He shrugged.

  “Want to do it again?”

  He shook his head hard enough to scatter droplets, and he raised one finger: No. Once was enough. But his grin widened.

  Still flushed with adrenaline, Ariel beamed. “Okay. Thanks, though.”

  “Swing me, Nace! Swing me!”

  Ignoring the chorus of pleas, he grabbed Ariel’s hand and led her toward shallower water.

  Much more aware of his hand than her feet, she stumbled twice. Nace kept her up. He dropped her hand just before they reached the other kids, but Ariel could feel his fingers wrapping hers long after he’d let go.

  She took several more turns on the swing, but they felt tame after riding with Nace. He lingered near the other kids, helping the smaller ones haul the rope back to the tree. Ariel caught him watching her, though. Twice he dropped his gaze right away, as if backing down was a habit. The third time, it was Ariel who could not hold the look. His pale eyes burned hers.

  The next time she glanced toward him, he was gone.

  Deciding that dry clothes sounded better than another swing, she collected Sienna to return to the commons. The older girl shook her head at Ariel’s mud-drenched condition.

  “You should
try it,” Ariel told her. “It’s like flying.”

  “I’ve done it, thank you.” A smile softened Sienna’s sarcasm. “I’m too old for that.”

  Ariel snorted. “I’m never going to get too old for fun.”

  “You’ll just change your mind about what’s fun.” Sienna studied Ariel. “You think Nace is cute, don’t you?”

  Ariel blushed, but she couldn’t halt the grin that popped onto her face. “Kinda.”

  “Watch out for him.” The older girl glanced around for observers and lowered her voice. “He’s not normal.”

  That was obvious, Ariel thought. “He’s been nice to me.”

  “He’s spooky,” Sienna replied. “There’s more wrong with him than his voice.”

  “Like what?”

  Making a face, Sienna shook her head.

  Impatience kindled in Ariel’s chest. “Either tell me what it is or stop talking about him.”

  Sienna stared. Then she laughed and slid an arm around Ariel’s shoulder. “Sassy girl. Never mind. You won’t be here that long. I’m glad you came, though. This place needed excitement.”

  Mollified, Ariel returned her smile. Yet as she climbed the ladder to retrieve her dry clothes, Sienna’s words twisted into her heart. Ariel was planning to leave the next morning. Tattler—or something—awaited. But to some inarticulate yearning inside her, tomorrow sounded rather too soon. The conflict was not hard to figure out, either. The Farwalker anxiously wanted to leave. The girl who had twined fingers with Nace didn’t.

  CHAPTER 12

  Dark Dog Moon and Tides

  Ariel wasted no time in grabbing dry clothes from her pack.

  Loading his pack with the food they’d been offered in trade, Scarl canted his head at her grubby condition. “Looks like you enjoyed that,” he said.

  She grinned. “I sure did.”

  “Want to stay longer?”

  The chance for more time with Nace sparkled before her, but only for a moment. Her smile faded. “I thought you wanted to see Tattler. It might be the sender.”

  “It might, and I do, if it still exists and isn’t out of our way. It may be only a hoodoo, as Lamala suggested, but it sounds as though its reputation grew before the war, so it might tattle on the past a bit, too.” He plucked his Finder’s glass from his shirt pocket and waggled it between his fingers. “But I can find Tattler, whatever it is, by myself. You could stay here. Where I know you’ll be safe.”

  Ariel’s head began shaking before his words sank in completely. “Forget it, I’m—Hey, we should have thought of that sooner! Your Finder’s glass could help with the map! You could just find the sender. Or at least our place on the—”

  “I’ve tried, Ariel. Before we ever left the abbey. And again this morning, while you were gone.”

  Her jaw dropped. “It didn’t work?”

  With a rueful chuckle, he said, “I know you think I can find anything, and I appreciate that, but it’s not true. Some part of me has to know what I’m seeking. And it has to be tangible. I can’t find ideas.”

  “Couldn’t you just find ‘the place where the map leads’?”

  He shook his head. “I told you, I’ve tried. Besides, I’m not convinced it’s a place. It could be an event or a task. Don’t forget the map is a calendar, too. And the hardest thing about finding is not to seek the wrong thing. If I make a false assumption, I could lead us astray. Badly. Farwalking seems to be a better trade in this case.”

  Ariel had to admit that her map was more than a route to a place. Her brief excitement faded. “Aw.”

  “I understand your frustration, believe me,” he told her. “The more I look at your map, the more it mocks me. I can’t get us to answers any faster than you can, but I could go investigate Tattler. Make sure it’s no hazard. Perhaps rule it out. It also lies to the southeast, where we’ve been headed.”

  “It does?”

  “I believe so.”

  That almost seemed proof Tattler waited for her. Tempted regardless to stay here and play, she struggled with her sense of responsibility, her reluctance to be parted from Scarl, and, not least, an uncomfortable awareness of time passing too fast.

  Reminded of time, she said, “Oops. I forgot Sienna is waiting for me.”

  “Think about it,” Scarl said. “You don’t have to decide until morning.”

  Ariel retreated to the ground with her clothes and a knot of mixed feelings. To her surprise, Sienna had not given up and departed.

  “Is everything all right?” the older girl asked.

  “Yes.” Ariel sighed. “It’s just hard to be a Farwalker sometimes.” She ducked behind a wide cypress to change.

  When she stripped off her muddy garments, she groaned. Her drawers were spotted with menstrual blood. She always lost track of the days when they traveled, and her monthly period had surprised her again.

  Sienna heard her groan. “What’s wrong now—forget something? I’ll get it for you.”

  Slipping her clammy trousers back on momentarily, Ariel emerged, her cheeks burning. “That’s all right, I’ll get it.” Dropping her voice, she confided, “It’s hard to be a girl sometimes, too.”

  “Ah,” said Sienna. “I know what you mean.”

  She followed Ariel back onto the platform. Thankfully, Scarl paid them no mind as he worked, and Ariel found her clean rags near the bottom of her pack.

  “That’s what you use?” Sienna asked. “Those raveled old things?”

  Heat rushed to Ariel’s face. She mumbled, “What else?”

  Sienna planted her hands on her hips and turned to the Finder. “Scarl? You remember Camity Allcraft? Ariel had a message for her yesterday.”

  Ariel hissed, “Sienna! What—”

  Scarl glanced up. Ariel wanted to crawl into her pack. The best she could do was to cross her arms and hide her rag in the crook of her elbow.

  “Of course,” Scarl said.

  “She lives on the second-to-last platform that way.” Sienna pointed. “And she makes very nice bleeding garments. Go trade her some finding to get a few for Ariel.”

  Mortified, Ariel turned her back so she wouldn’t have to see his expression. Sienna’s bossy order burned in her ears, and she braced for awkward questions, if not a rebuff.

  “All right,” Scarl said. His boots tromped across the platform and dropped below.

  Astonished, Ariel peeked up.

  “What’s with you?” the older girl asked. “Is it kept a secret where you come from?”

  “Not exactly, but …” Ariel floundered. “Well, actually, yes. Pretty much.”

  “Silly,” Sienna declared. “What do they think, everyone is a boy and babies come from storks?”

  “No. From mermaids.” Ariel giggled, her embarrassment boiling out. “We’re all really fish. You can tell by the way we kiss.” Seized by mad whimsy and desperate for some other subject, she puckered her lips to kiss the air like a fish.

  “Oh, yeah? Well, this is how fish kiss around here!” Sienna flapped her wrists at her shoulders, sucked in her cheeks, and attacked. Ariel squealed and dodged. By the time Scarl returned, both girls were lying helplessly on the platform, shaking with laughter.

  “I’m sorry I missed the joke,” he said, handing Ariel a soft bundle.

  Behind him, Sienna pursed her lips for a kiss, and that was enough to send Ariel off again.

  Scarl continued over her peals. “Camity was happy to trade those for your message.”

  “Thank you for going,” she gasped.

  “Yes, thank you, Scarl,” added Sienna. Her brilliant smile held no discomfort at all.

  “No trouble.” Before he turned back to his gear, he added, “Come talk to me, Ariel, when you’re not busy and your giggles stop being contagious.”

  Her laughter stopped short.

  “I’d better go check on the fire pit,” said Sienna. “I’ll come back soon, and we can chat more about your hair clips.”

  Ariel finished changing her clothes and hovered
below the platform, stalling, before drawing a difficult breath and climbing back up. She might as well get it over with.

  Scarl sat cleaning Willow’s bridle. He slid aside his work to accommodate her. She knelt awkwardly.

  “This isn’t the very first time you’ve bled, is it?” he asked.

  Ariel studied the planks near her knees and shook her head.

  “Good, because I don’t know much about it. Sienna can help, though, obviously. I—” He reached to tip her chin up. “Don’t look so ashamed.”

  She tried to meet his gaze but could not.

  “All right,” he said. “I can see this is not a topic you want to discuss. But let me mention one thing. There’s a tradition that says a woman can divine on the days that she’s bleeding. Do you know of it?”

  “No.”

  “They say the moon whispers into your thoughts then,” Scarl explained. “Not everyone believes it, but the moon seems to speak with you anyway, and it was often my experience with Mirayna that those stories were true.”

  “Really?” Curiosity nudged aside some of Ariel’s discomfort. “Like what?”

  “Her intuition was strongest and she always did her best crafting then. And she first knew she was sick—”

  Scarl looked away. He flexed his fingers as if to work out a cramp that Ariel knew gripped his heart, not his hand. After exhaling at length, he went on. “Other things as well. Dreams about things that hadn’t happened yet, then did. We had a terrible argument once when she told me I already had a daughter borne by somebody else. I didn’t believe that one.” His gaze returned pointedly to Ariel. “Not at the time. But I’m sure she glimpsed the future.”

  “Wow,” Ariel breathed, wondering if her mother had known any such stories.

  “Yes,” he agreed. “It often scares men, which is why some places treat your bleeding as Canberra Docks must have. But I’m glad to use it, if we can. You might study the map again with that power in mind. Perhaps you’ll divine something to reassure me.”

  “Actually, I already noticed something that might be a hint from the moon.” Ariel retrieved her map and unfurled it. “Lamala called these dots ‘holes.’ You said they couldn’t be months because there were thirteen, not twelve. But that’s not the only way to count months. Women count months with the moon—thirteen full in one year, thirteen new in the next.”