Atherton #3: The Dark Planet (No. 3) (36 page)

slowly toward the wall of white crystals. "They're the same,"

said Samuel out of the blue, noticing that the Raven was

shaped the same as the many oval shapes of glowing white

light on the vast wall.

"What do you mean?" asked Vasher, who was keenly

interested in all that was happening.

Before Samuel could say anything more Gossamer walked

behind the Raven, fanning it with flames. The spikes began to

glow red and orange, though the center stayed black as night.

Seeing the spikes turn red seemed to spur Gossamer on, and

he blew thicker, darker flames as they moved closer to the vast

wall of white crystals. When they came within fifty feet of the

wall, Gossamer stopped blowing. As the Raven spun in a slow

circle, its spikes appeared to have been lit like a mil ion long

candles.

"I get the feeling we should be in the passageway," said

Samuel.

"So do I," said Isabel.

She and Samuel led everyone out of the chamber and stood a

few feet back inside the tunnel. Edgar spotted Red Eye and

Socket huddled against the far wall. He yelled for them come

near, but they couldn't hear him. He wasn't at all sure it would

be a good idea to let them come too close, anyway. He hadn't

wanted to see them burned to death by a dragon, but he surely

didn't trust them.

Gossamer turned and blew fire on the Raven again. A few

seconds later a sound like firing arrows filled the air. Everyone

marveled as the once black spikes that surrounded the Raven

became flaming spears flying into the white wall by the tens of

thousands. The Raven moved up and down, firing glowing

orange arrows into every part of the wall. Soon the wall was

trembling and Gossamer was howling magically, flapping his

wings eagerly as if preparing for a task he'd waited his whole

life to begin.

"He's not leaving, is he?" asked Landon, suddenly aware that

his dream of being with Gossamer might come to a quick end.

He ran out into the open yelling Gossamer's name until he

stood at the foot of the black dragon. "You can't leave! I only just

found you."

Gossamer leaned down close and seemed to smile at Landon.

His big tongue rolled out and Landon touched it. It was hot, but

not so much that he couldn't put his fingers on it, and Gossamer

licked all the way up Landon's arm.

"Are you ever coming back?" asked Landon.

Gossamer couldn't respond, but his big eyes stared down at

Landon and nudged the boy toward the passageway with the

soft part of his nose.

"He licked me! I bet he's never done that to anyone else,
ever
!"

The wall of white began to change. It moved like it was alive,

bulging in a thousand different places, until a section crumbled

loose and drifted in the air. It was a mirror image of the Raven,

only it was white, not black. It was the same size and oval

shape and covered on every side by white shards. A few

seconds later a second white Raven broke free, and then, as if

by magic, there were hundreds of white Ravens floating in the

chamber.

"I've seen something that looks like this before," whispered

Aggie. "My dad had a picture of it. This is winter."

"It wouldn't have worked without you," said Edgar, looking at all

his new friends from the Silo. "I don't think white Ravens are

possible without powder blocks. It's the secret ingredient."

Gossamer flapped his wings and ran for the opening of the

chamber before any part of the storm could escape. The black

dragon took flight, zooming down and out of sight, then

charging back up again and holding steady as he roared into

the chamber. A steady stream of white Ravens fell in line

behind Gossamer and he flew away, his dark outline

disappearing fast as he raced for the Dark Planet.

"He was saying goodbye," said Isabel, putting her arm around

Landon. The two of them would miss Gossamer more than

anyone else.

"I think he's coming back again someday," said Landon. "In fact,

I'm sure of it."

Vasher watched in awe as the sky fill with white.

"There must be ten thousand of them."

"More than that," said Samuel, seeing that the wall was

anything but finished producing them. A steady blizzard of white

Ravens blew through the chamber, all of them following the

black dragon. The making of winter lasted an hour. Red Eye

and Socket stayed pinned to the wall the entire time as white

Ravens raced by.

At last winter was over, and the black Raven came to rest on

the floor of the chamber, its door wide open.

"All of its spikes are gone," Edgar pointed out. What remained

looked like a gigantic egg filled with liquid.

"Are those cave eels?' asked Isabel. "And firebugs--do I see
red

firebugs?"

"It's okay, Isabel," said Edgar. "They're contained inside their

own space. There's a layer of glass, then a few feet of liquid,

then another layer of glass, then the inside of the Raven-understand? They're trapped."

He glanced across the way at Red Eye and Socket.

"Let's get inside fast," said Edgar. "I think I'd rather send

someone else down here to get those two."

Edgar entered first so that he could show Isabel how safe it

was, and everyone else followed quickly behind. Edgar poked

his head out the door and saw Red Eye and Socket running for

the Raven. He set the black disk on the table and the door

closed.

"I think a good long wait will do them some good," said Edgar.

He looked at Isabel, Samuel, and everyone from the green team

and his heart swelled. Six close friends were more than he

could have hoped for. He wanted nothing more than to bring

them all safely back to the grove.

"Come on," said Edgar. "It's time we were getting back home."

"You mean it gets better?" said Landon, smiling from ear to ear.

"Wait until you try Black and Green," assured Isabel. "There's

nothing quite like it."

Vasher looked at Teagan. "What's Black and Green?"

"Who cares!" she laughed, drawing in a huge breath of air and

letting it out with a sigh. Vasher did the same. He could feel the

pristine air that surrounded Atherton healing him by the minute.

Everyone else on the green team was feeling better, too. Their

eyes didn't sting so much and their lungs were tingling with

energy.

As everyone chose their seats Aggie explained what it would

feel like to Samuel and Isabel. Edgar set the black disk on the

table between them and red firebugs emerged.

"Are you ready to see your new home?" asked Edgar, gazing at

each of his new friends and settling on Aggie. He could imagine

walking along the lake with her at night, maybe even holding

her hand.

"We've been ready for a while," said Vasher.

Edgar nodded, set course for the grove, and sat back in his

chair. He closed his eyes and Hope's face flashed before him

and he was sad, thinking of her and all the children stuck in the

Silo. He tried to imagine what would happen to the Dark Planet,

but he could not put the pieces together.

In time he would learn the truth.

CHAPTER 28THE STORY OF

ATHERTONFINDS ITS END

Edgar had only a few hours to gather everyone. He woke early,

nudged Landon awake, and crossed over to the table in Dr.

Kincaid's cave. A pitcher of water awaited him along with fig

butter and bread from the night before. Bread! It was one of the

things he had so appreciated about having Samuel as one of

his best friends. His mother had been the baker in the House of

Power, and there was never a shortage of leftover buns or

biscuits or loaves at the Inn.

"Better wake him up," said Edgar, his mouth already full so that

Landon could hardly understand him. Landon jumped out of

bed and gobbled down some bread, then guzzled water right

from the pitcher.

"Get up Vash! It's
the
day--the day we've all been waiting for,"

said Landon.

Vasher didn't move. He and Edgar and Landon had become

like three brothers living under the same roof. Vasher treated

Landon like a little brother, but never Edgar. And the feeling of

being brothers was somehow perfect, because it left an opening

for Samuel to be best friend to all three.

"He's not going to wake up," said Landon, taking a second bite

of bread slathered with fig butter. "It's way too early."

Edgar put his hand in the pitcher and cupped a small amount of

water, then he stood over Vasher and let it
drip, drip, drip
onto

his face.

"That should do it," said Landon, and sure enough Vasher was

up out of his bed in a flash.

"Grab some breakfast," said Edgar. "We're going to be late."

Though Vasher had calmed down noticeably since his arrival

on Atherton, he still loved to sleep. Sometimes Vasher thought

about the passageway of lies. A few more days on the Dark

Planet and he would have been in the ser vice of Captain

Grammel. He might even be dead.

Neither Vasher nor Landon put on their goggles when they left

the dim light of the cave and stepped into the light of Atherton.

Something about the clean air and cobalt blue sky had healed

them over a period of weeks during which Dr. Kincaid had been

giving them a home brew of herbs and spices. It was almost

impossible to choke down. According to the old scientist, the

concoction was designed to "clean every bit of gunk out of your

system."

Everyone missed Dr. Kincaid and his ever-present companion,

Vincent. The two men hadn't been seen on Atherton for almost

a month, but the day had come when they were scheduled to

appear once more.

Soon the three boys arrived at the Inn, which had become the

center of the community on Atherton. The Inn sat near the water

at the edge of the biggest grove, where hundreds of people

gathered regularly. Briney, who had long prepared all the rabbit

and mutton at the old inn had remained the head cook.

Samuel's mother was the baker. A cook who had managed to

escape the House of Power made all the soups and stews.

But it was Briney's wife, Maude, the very woman who'd gotten

the tablet from Edgar and given it to Samuel and Isabel, who

managed the Inn and kept every thing organized. With the

arrival of Aggie and Teagan, Maude had decided to leave her

days of herding sheep. Her season of silence had come to an

end, but she would forever remember it as a time when she was

preparing to become a mother for two girls from the Dark Planet.

"Aggie!" said Landon impatiently, seeing her and Teagan at

Maude's side as they talked with Samuel's mother in the

kitchen. "Come on! We have to go!"

Aggie and Teagan were both apprentice bakers and they were,

at this moment, covered with flour from head to toe. Maude

nodded her approval. She and everyone else on Atherton had

known this day was coming and had already agreed to let them

go.

"Be careful," Maude said as both girls removed their aprons and

stood in front of their new caretaker. Their hair had grown an

inch or more already, and Maude whisked the flour from both

their heads.

"Don't get too close to the edge."

"Samuel will be waiting for you out front," said Samuel's mother,

nodding toward the door. "You know how he hates to come in

here while I'm working. Always nervous I'm going to give him

something to do."

Landon was eyeing a freshly baked row of loaves as the two

girls dashed toward the door.

"Already got a bag packed for you," said Briney, coming in from

the back room with two cloth sacks, one in each hand.

"Dr. Harding and Vincent will want a feast, I'm sure." He lifted

one of the heavy bags. "This one's got your bag of fresh water,

your sticks for roasting, lighting flint, and your dried figs for

making a nice fire to cook over." He lifted the other bag. "Two

loaves and two wrapped and ready rabbits. They're good for the

morning, but cook 'em up by noon."

"No Black and Green?" asked Landon, who had stepped into

the Inn to take the bags. He'd had Cleaner many times since his

arrival and absolutely loved the sweet and salty taste.

"Too messy," said Briney. "We'll save it for tonight at the big

celebration."

Briney handed off the bags and Landon scurried for the door.

An early morning crowd was starting to gather, looking for the

Inn's famous morning fig biscuits and sticky fig buns.

Samuel and Isabel had arrived with the crowd, and the moment

Landon stepped outside Samuel waved all of the green team

along with Edgar and Isabel away from the Inn. "We better get

out of here before my mom puts us to work. If we stand around

she'll have us delivering sticky buns all over the grove."

The group of seven started off, talking and laughing as they

went. They were like a collection of oddly shaped magnets,

able to pull apart for a while, but always drawn back together

where they felt most comfortable. They walked past a poorly

built shack sitting at the end of a long pier and saw two men