Blaze (The High-Born Epic) (19 page)

             
In the background, Cooper nodded his head.

             
“Wait a minute,” Scott said, his stick-burlap helmet moved wildly as the look in the little boy’s eyes took on a mad glow.  “I know who we are now.  I’m, Sir Scott, the Golden Tiger-Man.  You’re, Sir Cooper, the Emerald Wolf-Man.  And you’re, Sir Harold, the Fiery Fire-Man!”

             
“Now you’re a full member of the secret-base club,” Cooper said.

             
“Okay, Sir Harold,” Scott said as he handed him the book.  “Now, you’ve got to read this and all of your training will be finished.”

             
“Thank you, Sir Scott,” Harold said as he took the book.

             
“Please be careful with it, Sir Harold,” Scott said.  “Can you get it back to me in a couple of days?”

             
“I promise, Sir Scott,” Harold said.

             
“Okay,” Scott said.  “Maybe momma is finished with supper, ‘cause I’m really hungry.”

             
“Me too,” Cooper said.

             
“Let’s go eat,” Harold said.

             
Scott took their helmets and sticks, stuffed them in the burlap bag and put them back on the shelf.  As they all three walked to the door, Harold pulled the flames of the torches to him and left the room once again in darkness.

             
When they walked back out into the forest, Harold asked, “Those were some pretty big words, Scott.  How did you know them?”

             
“I asked Sarah and momma and they told them to me,” he answered.

             
Then they all began a quick jog back into town, and soon they arrived back at Willie and Annie-Jane’s house.

             
“Okay, boys and girls,” Annie-Jane said as they walked into the kitchen.  “Y’all go ahead and sit down.”

             
Sarah was already sitting at the table and Harold sat beside her.  She grinned at him and leaned toward him and whispered in his ear, “Are you in the club now?”

             
“I’m a full member,” he whispered as he smiled at her.  “But I’ve got to finish my training.”

             
He held up the book for her to see.

             
“Thank you for being so nice to him,” Sarah said.  “He nearly throws petals on the ground you walk on.”

             
“I like him,” Harold replied.  “He’s just a little excited about everything.  Besides, I think Cooper would throw petals at his feet if he had them.”

             
He felt Sarah grab his hand underneath the table and squeeze it tightly as she looked into his eyes and gave him a caring smile.  Scott and Cooper were talking about who would win if Tiger-Man and Wolf-Man fought the Golden Samurai and the Emerald Knight, and they just watched in amused silence as the little boys discussed it.  Harold was actually surprised at how thoughtful they were in their estimations.  Annie-Jane smiled as she stood at the stove stirring a pot of what smelled like turnips, and Willie walked into the kitchen.

             
“Hey there, Harold,” Willie said as he extended his hand.  “Glad you could join us tonight.”

             
Harold stood up and shook it, “Thank you for having me, Mr. Willie.  I really appreciate it.”

             
“I’m glad you could make it too, Cooper,” Willie said.

             
“Thank you for letting me eat, sir,” Cooper replied.

             
“It’s not a problem, boys,” Willie said.  “I’ve had a lot of work lately.  People have been bringing me food left and right.  We may even have enough for a small plate of seconds.”

             
Cooper and Scott smacked each other’s hand, and Willie sat down.  Then he turned his attention to Harold.

             
“How much do y’all have left to plant?” he asked.

             
“Cooper and I finished up this afternoon, sir,” he replied.

             
“Y’all boys must be hard workers if y’all finished it already,” Willie said.

             
“Harold’s really strong,” Cooper said.  “He drops the seeds and I cover them up.  We teamed up to do it.”

             
Willie smiled as Annie-Jane began putting their plates in front of them.  Ham-flavored turnips, a piece of cornbread, and a slice of ham each.  Soon, they were all eating.

             
“So, Harold,” Willie said as he finished chewing a bite of turnips, “What are your plans for the future?”

             
Harold noticed Sarah shuffled slightly and he said, “Well, sir.  I’ve been thinkin’ about this new Low-Born trade initiative.  Maybe check into it and get some coins because in just a few months I’ll be old enough to apply for a spot of land to build a house.  It’ll be easier with High-Born coins, probably use those to help build the house.  Then, I’ll probably just keep planting my own fields,” he glanced at Sarah.  “Between what I can grow and what the High-Born allow us to have, I should be able to take care of myself and maybe two or three other people.”

             
Willie nodded his head and Harold saw Annie-Jane smile at Sarah.

             
“That’ll be so cool, Harold!” Scott was almost shouting.  “Then we can have a whole ‘nother secret base!”

             
Willie looked at Scott and cleared his throat.

             
“Sorry, Pa.  I just get a little excited sometimes,” Scott replied as he looked down into his plate and took a bite of cornbread.

             
After supper was finished, Cooper and Harold walked home to find Aunt Nean and Ollie reading at the table.  As was now the routine, Aunt Nean put the children to bed, and taught Harold.  That night they finished chapter five and six, and she quizzed Harold on pronoun-antecedent agreement, and parallel sentence structure.  Once again, he breezed through it, and correctly answered all the questions she gave him.

             
As he crawled into bed that night, he lit a candle and began reading the Golden Samurai and Emerald Knight.  As he read, he realized that, for the most part, Cooper and Scott had given it all away, but the drawings in it were amazing, so it managed to keep his attention.  After reading for about a half-hour, he felt sleep tugging at him.

             
He put the book down, and looked at the picture of his parents.  He took a deep breath and wondered who they were and what it would’ve been like if they had still been alive.  His eyes couldn’t help drifting to the strange curved piece of metal with a spear on the end of it as he blew out his candle.

             
Harold was aware of the blackness around him.  Suddenly, he was in Mr. Willie’s blacksmith shop.  There was a large anvil in the center of his forge, and an even larger hammer was lying beside it.  In fact, the hammer was nearly too large to be real.  He walked to it he picked it up, and was surprised at how light it was.  Then, he struck the anvil with it, and he looked up.  He could see Mr. Willie, Mrs. Annie-Jane, Sarah, and Aunt Nean looking at him, and they all seemed very sad as angry shadows danced around him. 

             
Harold struck the anvil again.

             
Two large figures walked into the forge and, at first, all Harold could see was their outlines. Harold felt incredibly hot, and though he didn’t catch on fire, a fire started in the walls of the forge, illuminating the two figures.  One was part wolf and part man, and the other was part tiger and part man.  They walked to him, and he hadn’t noticed at first, but they were both holding something.  The wolf man wore a helmet just like the Emerald Knight, and he was holding a suit of armor that he offered to Harold.  Then he looked at the tiger man, and he was wearing a helmet like the Golden Samurai.  In his hands, he held a flaming katana blade.

             
Harold stepped back and spread out his arms and the wolf man walked behind him.  He could feel something sliding over his body and he looked down at himself.  The wolf man was helping him put on the armor and the tiger man watched intently.  When all of the armor was on him, the wolf man banged him on the shoulders and disappeared.  Then Harold stood there just looking at his armor.  It was dark and ominous, but it held a slight sheen of green to it.

             
He noticed the tiger man walking toward him with the flaming sword.  Harold knelt before him, and the tiger man used the sword to tap him on one shoulder and then the other.  Harold then stood up, and the tiger man knelt before him.  He held up the flaming sword with both hands as he bowed his head, offering the blade to Harold.

             
Harold noticed a little rag doll on the ground and a piece of ragged scarlet cloth was beside it.  Lightning flashed all around him and Harold slowly looked out into the distance.  Storm clouds were gathering on every horizon, and furious lightning illuminated the dark sky.   He turned back to the tiger man who was still kneeling there just waiting for him to take the flaming sword.  More lightning flashed and thunder echoed, and he could hear people wailing in sorrow.  The tiger man was still waiting, head bowed while holding up the blazing sword for Harold to take.

             
Flames covered Harold as he reached for the katana blade, and the storm clouds began filling with so much lightning that it turned the night to day.  The tiger man looked up at him, smiled, nodded, and disappeared.  Then, Harold brought the sword up to his shoulder and he saw the storms that surrounded him rushing towards him.

             
Harold awoke with a stir.  He took several deep breaths, and he put his head in his hands.  He felt like crying, but he didn’t know why.  Then, he just fell back into the bed.  He lay there for several minutes, and looked around.  It was still very dark; however, it took him some time before he was able to find sleep again.

Chapter 17

             
Harold walked into the barn just before daylight.  He fed and watered the mule, and then lit a candle as he began scratching in the dirt with a stick.  He made himself several math problems and numerous sentences.  There was something there, but it just was not quite clicking yet, and he practiced for about a half hour.  Then he smelled biscuits coming from the house.

             
He walked back inside to see Cooper and Ollie sitting at the table, and Aunt Nean was at the stove.  The children had a glass of powdered milk in front of them, and Ollie was holding something that caused Harold to shudder. 

             
In her little arms was a ragdoll. 

             
She had one of her mother’s spoons, and was feeding the doll as if it were a real infant.  She was smiling and rocking it tenderly and just seemed lost in her own little world.  As he sat down at the table, he felt like he’d been punched in the stomach.  Ollie gave the little doll a kiss on the cheek and held it up for Harold to see.

             
“She wants you to hold her, Harold,” Ollie said.

             
Harold just sat there staring.  Ollie looked strangely at him.

             
“Her name is Betsy.  She won’t hurt you, Harold.  She says that she likes you,” Ollie smiled.

             
Harold slightly shook his head and made himself smile.  He took the doll from Ollie, making sure to be as careful as she was with it. 

             
“Where did you get this?” Harold asked as he put the doll on his shoulder and began rocking it.  Ollie smiled and her tiny shoulders bounced up in glee and her hair rustled on her head when Harold gave Betsy a kiss. 

             
“Momma made it for me,” she said.  “I liked the one that Susie had.”

             
Aunt Nean smiled as she put the baker of biscuits down on the table, and they all began eating.  Harold held Betsy for quite some time, and Ollie just smiled at him all throughout breakfast.

             
When breakfast was finished, he gave Betsy back to her and though Cooper wanted to go with him, Aunt Nean made him stay home.  Harold then went to the barn and got his bag of burlap shorts and headed to the woods.  As he walked, he looked for Scape, but he was nowhere to be found.

             
“I may have scared him off for good,” Harold whispered to himself as set off in a jog.

             
Soon, he was on fire, bouncing and flipping through the forest.  He occasionally slung a fireball or a flaming runnel, always being careful to douse the flames after he did so.  He even noticed that since he focused on the heat and not the flames, air-burning was much easier, and even more accurate.  He could make himself rapidly appear in seven or eight places in just a few seconds without much trouble.

             
About mid-morning he doused his flames, and looked down.  His shorts were untouched, and he smiled.  He looked up into a tree.  He found a high branch and air-burned to it.  Once there, he looked out across all of Foxx Hole.  He could see children running to and fro and many men were still working in their fields.  Some were still plowing, some were fertilizing, and he noticed that it looked like Jim was planting.