Into the Wildewood (33 page)

Then something totally unexpected happened. A figure rose from the bracken and stretched out a white hand toward them. Laurie shrieked, and would have turned off the logging road, but Keelie grabbed the wheel.

“Stop the car!”

Laurie stomped on the brake and they flopped forward against their seat belts. Lucky for Knot, he couldn’t move anywhere.

The figure struggled through the undergrowth, and then stepped into the beam of the headlights. Bloody, gown torn, and hair hanging around her shoulders, she limped toward the truck. Despite her bruised face, she smiled when she saw who had stopped for her.

It was Raven.

twenty-seven

Keelie leaped out of the camper and ran around the front to help Raven climb in. “Are you okay? Where’s Janice?”

Laurie was poking her head out the window, looking up at the ghost trees that were now crowding the haunted forest.

“Our shop took a pounding and I ran into the forest. The trees didn’t seem to be coming from here.” Raven looked awful, but sounded okay. “I’m really worried about Mom, though. She took Lady Annie to Admin after Annie’s shop took a direct hit, and I don’t know where she is now.”

“Probably safe.” Keelie was relieved at the news, although the destruction of Lady Annie’s shop disturbed her. She was right next door to Heartwood. “Sir Davey rounded everyone up and took them there, too. He’ll protect them.”

Raven leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. A tear trailed down her cheek. “Thank God.”

They needed to keep moving. “We cross there, Laurie.” Keelie pointed toward the stream. She could see a spectral road, a silver shadow overlying the darkness. The unicorn was somewhere above them, on the mountain.

“Not that way.” Raven opened her eyes. “There’s a huge drop to the stream bed. But if you go about fifty yards left, it’s like a beach. We go skinny-dipping there when it’s really hot.”

“Really?” Laurie seemed to want to hear more.

“Will we be able to drive across the stream there?” Keelie interrupted. “We have to get to the top.”

“No one drives through the woods, Keelie. There’s no road. You’re insane.” Raven held onto the dash with both hands.

“That’s what I think, too, but we have to save the unicorn.” Laurie steered around a huge tree stump. “I can make it. I’ve driven on the Los Angeles Freeway in rush hour, so driving through the woods is a piece of cake.”

Keelie remembered the first night she saw the unicorn, and the sense of awe she’d felt. Now, desperation clawed its way inside her to get to him and save him. “Go for it.”

They got to the stream and Laurie gunned the truck across the bed, not giving the tires a chance to sink into the soft, sandy bottom. Keelie touched the Queen Aspen’s heart and tried to strengthen her magic sight. She felt queasy for a moment as the two worlds were visible at once, overlaid one on the other. “I can see the road. It’s an old logging trail.”

“Whoa. Your eyes are like glow-in-the-dark green.” Raven looked at Knot. “So are his.”

With Keelie guiding them with the magic sight, they drove up the hill, switching back and forth as Keelie focused on the road that was hidden underneath the growth. Branches thumped against the camper. Shadows of trees, the spirits of the old trees who had been logged from the forest, grew alongside the road with the living trees, whispery shades in the moonlight.

Keelie recalled the Tree Lorem ceremony that Dad had performed for Reina, the Aspen Queen in Colorado whose charred heart she wore. He’d released Reina’s spirit so that the other trees in the forest could heal, and grow deep roots and tall limbs reaching for the sun. No such ceremony had taken place here in a long time.

Leaves from the trees slapped against the windshield. Keelie could see faces in the tree trunks, like she did with the oak trees at the Faire. It was amazing how individual they all were.

Laurie almost hit a tree; fortunately it jumped back in time, and she missed it.

“Whoa, pay attention to the road, Laurie,” Raven shouted over the roar of the truck and the crashing underbrush. She clung to her seat belt and braced her feet against the glove box. The
bhata
had lodged itself in one of the visors and hung upside down, its berry eyes wide and fixed on the forest ahead.

“What road? There’s no road.”

Keelie had to focus on Dad. Save Dad. Save the unicorn. That would be her mantra.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me you were an elf?” Laurie suddenly asked.

“Half elf. And I didn’t know, until I came to live with Dad.” A pang went through Keelie’s chest. He had to be all right.

“Were you going to tell me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, that’s just great; keep secrets from your friend.”

“Me keep secrets?”

Laurie gripped the wheel and glanced at her accusingly. “Yeah, you.”

“You’re one to talk. Hey, keep your eyes on the invisible road. Why don’t you tell me about why you can’t see the unicorn?”

Silence.

Again, Keelie looked over at her friend.

Laurie was hunched in concentration. “I didn’t think I’d be outed by a mythical beast.” She glared at Keelie. The truck shimmied and slid sideways.

Keelie pointed straight ahead. “Well, are you going to tell me? You know my secrets.”

Raven groaned. “Guys, just fess up before we fall off the mountain.”

Laurie gritted her teeth and stepped hard on the accelerator. The truck shot forward. “Trent and I were dating, and I was at his house, watching movies, and we kissed, and one thing led to another, and we sort of did it.”

Keelie gasped as a tree motioned for them to turn to the right, like a policeman directing forest traffic with branches. She pointed and Laurie turned. The truck’s engine whined at the steep climb.

“So you and Trent really love each other, right?”

“He broke up with me and started dating Ashlee.”

“What a jerk,” Keelie and Raven said at the same time.

“And Ashlee put the story on her MySpace page. She blogged about it.”

“No. That bitch.” Keelie slammed the dashboard.

Raven shook her head. “Unbelievable. Some people.”

Knot meowed. Laurie patted him on the head, then put both hands back on the wheel when the truck swerved.

“This is very surreal,” Raven said quietly. “We’re talking about high school drama, driving up a road that doesn’t exist yet somehow does exist, on our way to rescue a unicorn.”

“And my dad,” Keelie reminded her. “I’ve lost one parent, and I’m not going to lose Dad because of Elianard and Elia.”

A white deer ran out in front of them, and Laurie pressed on the brake. They fishtailed to a stop, and the wheels toward the inside of the trail lifted a bit before coming back down.

Knot fell onto the floor, and Raven lunged sideways as she braced her arms against the dash. “Are you crazy?” she shouted.

“I’ve never seen a white deer before. Creepy.” Laurie started forward again.

Keelie slapped her forehead. She pointed into the darkness. “White deer, white cat, white unicorn. He’s a shape shifter!” She pounded the dashboard as she put the supernatural equation together. “The glowing white fur, the eyes, the white cat was the unicorn!”

“I saw the white cat and that white deer—maybe I’ll see the unicorn, too.” Laurie sounded excited.

Knot climbed back onto the dashboard and wedged himself against the windshield. He hooked his claws into the AC vents. Keelie wished she had one of Sir Davey’s crystals to give the truck more power. Laurie pushed on the gas, and finally the lumbering ski chalet was on top of the hill.

On the horizon, the night sky glittered with thousands of stars. Keelie had never seen this many stars when she lived in Los Angeles.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a shooting star. She made a wish—
please let me save the unicorn and Dad
. It was two wishes, but maybe given the circumstances she could hope for a two-fer deal.

Laurie rolled down her window, and Keelie heard a roaring sound. Raven heard it, too. “We’re getting close to the power plant.” They were driving along the ridge.

Suddenly, they slowed. The trail seemed clear to Keelie. “Can’t we go any faster?”

She glanced at Laurie, whose expression was strained. Her eyes were strange with some unexplained emotion. Raven called out, and the truck rolled to a stop.

Keelie watched, horrified, as her friends wailed and ducked, cringing as if something were swooping down on them. She knew what it was. She felt the Dread beating around her, renewed, stronger than ever before.

“Keelie, I can’t move.” Laurie brought her feet up to the seat and wrapped her arms around her knees. Raven shivered and leaned against her.

Keelie opened the door and jumped out. “Come on, it’s not much farther.”

“I can’t go, I’m going to die.” Laurie was gasping. “I can’t breathe. Something bad is going to happen.”

“Don’t go, Keelie.” Raven’s eyes looked huge in her pale face. Her black hair blended into the darkness around them. “I don’t want you to die.”

The scent of cinnamon floated in the air. “It’s the Dread, guys. It’s not real. Fight it.” Elianard must be using up every drop of power on the mountain to feed it.

There was a pounding of frantic hooves, followed by a strangled whinny, and then a shrill scream. Keelie froze. “Please, don’t be Einhorn.”

“Einhorn, the unicorn?” Raven sat up straight.

“It feels so real.” Laurie’s face looked strained. “Let’s get out of here.”

Knot’s ears were flat against his skull. He growled. The
bhata
yanked at Keelie’s hair and pinched her ear, pulling her forward. “Ow, I’m coming.”

“Who are you talking to?” Raven looked as if she wanted to crawl under the seat, but she forced herself to straighten. “I’m coming with you, Keelie.”

Knot’s tail whipped back and forth. He yowled, then jumped over Raven’s legs and streaked away. The whine and roar of the power plant’s turbines was overwhelming. Keelie could hear the intertwined notes of Elia’s harp.

“Stay here if you’re afraid.” She hurried after the cat, the
bhata
clinging to her hair.

“You’re more elf than human if you’re not feeling this!” Laurie yelled after her, putting her hands over her ears and closing her eyes. She probably thought the turbine’s throbbing was part of the Dread. There was no time to explain.

Knot looked back, his tail lashing wildly. Keelie saw him meow. He wanted her to follow him, but she couldn’t without any light. She reached into her pocket and brought out the rose quartz. At first it flickered, but once it powered up, it shone like a super-watt flashlight. “I’m coming.”

Behind her, she heard the camper door slam. Raven was clutching the fender and looking as if she was about to throw up, but moving steadily forward.

A faint tree voice sounded in her head. Keelie tried to concentrate on the message, and when she reached the edge of the woods it came through. It was Tavak.

Einhorn has fallen.

Below her, the headlights went out. Keelie looked back and Laurie waved, a brief flutter of white in the darkness. She waved back, then, heart heavy, followed Knot.

The clearing was not far, but undergrowth tugged at her clothes. The trees were all dead here, and weeds had taken over. Keelie was overwhelmed by sadness; so many trees were dead and gone, and their spirits clung to the earth, trapped. She felt them call to her, but their voices were dim.

A light flickered ahead, and Keelie pocketed the rose quartz. She hid behind a boulder scaly with lichen. Elianard knelt in the clearing, at the foot of a huge, ghostly tree. A white form was splayed out at his feet. Lord Einhorn.

The unicorn faded in and out of consciousness as Elianard held his amulet over its horn. Nearby, Elia played her harp, tears streaming down her face, her eyes locked onto the failing unicorn.

Keelie stayed hidden. The tektite around her neck had grown uncomfortably warm, and so had her aspen heart talisman. Again, she looked up into the night sky, and she saw another shooting star.
Help me to save Einhorn.

She ripped the leather thong from around her neck and held it aloft. The tektite, no longer black, glowed like a small, leaf-shaped star, each tiny rune picked out in brighter light.

Opening her senses to the trees, Keelie summoned Tavak and Evas.

Tavak answered,
Tree Shepherdess, I’m here
.

Evas replied as well.
Milady, we hear you
.

From the Faire, far below, Keelie sensed Oamlik and the other sick oaks. She sent a message, but they were still under the harp’s spell.

Near her, Knot paced back and forth. What had she been thinking? She’d fought her way up here, put her friends in danger, and for what? Einhorn was dead, the trees were immobilized, and she had no way of finding her father.

A sickening, meaty crack was followed by the unicorn’s scream. Elianard rose, the lovely spiral horn in his hand. The silver light outlining Einhorn’s body slowly faded.

Elianard turned to look toward the rock, and Keelie felt his penetrating stare bore right through to her. “Round Ear, you come too late. You cannot stop me.”

He marched toward her. Fear filled Keelie, but she wasn’t going to run. She stepped out, her voice shaky. “I stopped you once before, I can stop you now.” But she could tell he was not fooled.

“You are too late. You are not one of us.” Elianard pointed toward the power plant. “This is what your species does, it destroys, but the humans won’t destroy our elven lands. You think me harsh to take the unicorn’s magic, but it will save many.” He held the bloody horn in one hand, unaware of the irony of his words.

Keelie clenched her fists. “You’ve hurt the people at the Faire, too. What justifies their sacrifice?”

Elia stopped playing her harp and stood up. “Nothing. They should not have been harmed.”

Elianard turned to his daughter with raised brows. “Why did you stop? Continue. Our work is not yet done.”

“No, father, please don’t do this.” Elia’s haughty look was gone, and she seemed haunted and afraid. “Think of what will happen to you. Think of me.”