Alora: The Wander-Jewel (Alora 1)

inks to past events. And then I see the actual event, not your memory of it. It’s almost like a transport, and it only feels like a slight tickle—not painful at all.”

“Very well, then. We can attempt it. But if it’s unpleasant, you have to get out of there.”

With an assuring nod, Darielle placed her hands on Kaevin’s forehead. “Now, simply think about the occurrence when you were transported to the girl, and I will follow you.”

He relived the moment in his mind, as he’d done numerous times, focusing on the moment she’d opened her eyes. He felt only the lightest touch in his mind, and it wasn’t uncomfortable at all.

“Are you concentrating?” asked Darielle.

“Yes, I promise. I can see her in my mind perfectly; I paid close attention to the details.”

“It’s as if the link is blocked. I follow it straight into some kind of wall. I can’t find a way around it, and I can’t see anything.” She took her hands down. “Let’s try something else. Imagine you are standing with Jireo, before the event occurred.”

Kaevin pictured himself on the trail with Jireo and their discussion of breakfast right before he’d disappeared.

“Yes, I can follow that link perfectly. I can see Jireo. But now there’s nothing.” She pulled her hands back and huffed, running her fingers through her hair until several golden strands were pulled from her plait. “I can’t follow your link to her—she must be warded. We must simply do it the hard way.” She picked up the graphite. “Describe the shape of her face...”

*****

“He told me my mother was lying about him. And then he said some crazy stuff about me being powerful and him needing to train me. Are you sure you couldn’t hear him?”

“No, I couldn’t hear anything. Nothing at all. I couldn’t see anything either, but I felt something. And so did Boze—he was growling the whole time.”

“He told me my mother hid me from him, and he didn’t even know I was alive. I did notice one thing. He said Wendelle was my mother. So, I guess she really didn’t make it after you saw her disappear.”

“That’s what I thought. If she’d been alive, I know she would’ve come back and found you somehow.” Charles averted his eyes.

“He didn’t really look like a drug dealer to me, not that I’ve ever seen one in person. I guess he could be some kind of gang leader. He talked about bringing me to his kingdom, whatever that is. I would’ve asked more questions, but I was so freaked out. I wasn’t prepared to meet my father.”

“I didn’t see him or hear his voice, but something felt wrong to me. Did you feel it? You said the boy didn’t feel dangerous. What about your father? Did he feel dangerous?”

“I don’t know. I can’t decide. It’s like part of me recognized him and wanted to like him. I know you believe what my mother said about him, but I can’t help wanting to believe she was wrong. I hope he’s actually a good guy. Maybe he’s changed.”

“Just be careful, Alora. I love you, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.” His brow furrowed as he reached out to take her hand. “I’m afraid you’ll get your hopes up and then find out he’s into something dangerous or illegal. What if you found out he’s into human trafficking or something like that?”

“I’m just going to make sure I don’t get back in the water anytime soon. No hot tub. No bathtub. Just quick showers. I need some time to wrap my head around all this before I talk to him again. Hopefully, he won’t be able to figure out where I am. I don’t want him to show up uninvited on the front porch.”

He squeezed his arms around her. “You know I love you, right? I love you even more than if you’d actually been my niece. You’re my daughter as far as I’m concerned, and you always have been. And now that Lena is gone—” He turned his face away, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“Uncle Charles, I love you too, and I loved Aunt Lena. None of this changes anything. I’m only curious about my father. Even if he turned out to be a great guy, he’d never take your place in my heart.”

She returned the fierce hug, and his hand made sploshy sounds as he patted her back through her sopping wet clothes.

“I’m almost as wet as you are, now. We should both go change into dry things.”

“And afterward, I’ll go tend the horses. I could use the exercise.”

By the time Alora mucked out the stalls and put out hay for the horses, she’d worked out a lot of her anxiety. Nothing like hard work and fresh, cold, country air to clear her head. She wandered out to check on the chickens and then on impulse she decided to climb her favorite tree. It was a pine tree that had fallen over against another tree, but maintained enough root system to stay alive. So she could scale the huge slanted pole at an angle into the second tree and then scramble up to about thirty feet before the limbs became too flimsy. From this vantage, she could see for miles. She used to sit on the limb and pretend she was a queen, surveying her kingdom, while imagining all sorts of great adventures that would take place if she traveled farther than she could see.

After descending from her throne, she decided to relive another childhood game. The fresh snow had left a beautiful undisturbed white blanket, a perfect palette for making a snow angel. She jumped out and fell on her back, swishing her arms to the sides and her legs below her. Then she climbed up carefully and jumped back to her starting point to survey the results, but her bulky coat had mussed the form so that the impression in the snow was anything but angelic. Pulling off her gloves to quickly unbutton and slip off her coat, she leapt out again onto a fresh patch of snow. Focusing on the warmth of the sun on her face rather than the chill of the snow, she swept her arms and legs in the snow to make the classic angel form. She laughed as the fluffy dry snow around her head collapsed on her face.

She flinched when a shadow passed over her. She squinted up, and a cry of surprise slipped from her lips. Her eyes latched onto the boy, standing in the snow, watching her with obvious curiosity.

“Hello.” He spoke in a low tentative voice. “I’m Kaevin.”

“I’m Alora,” she replied, realizing too late she’d given her real name. But somehow, it seemed okay to share it with him. She stared, drinking in his image, storing it in her mind to retrieve after his inevitable departure. She felt a warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach and resisted a sudden urge to giggle.

“Where are we?” asked Kaevin.