Web of Fire Bind-up (60 page)

‘No, my child,' said Salus. ‘Not this time.'

And as Sam wept, Salus put his arms around him and said, ‘But you saved the one who once gave her life to save yours. And in time, your mother and father will find their way to different shores.'

Later, as they walked together beside the lake, Sam said, ‘You were here with me at the beginning of things, and now you are here at the end of them.'

And Salus said simply, ‘But the end is also the beginning.'

With a whole fortnight's leave stretching ahead of them, Sam and Skipper had set off the previous day on the first leg of their camping trip, pitching the tent on the side of the mountain and falling asleep to the sound of the wind in the pines. Now it was early morning and the inside of the tent was already baking; Sam could feel the sunlight warm on his face as it filtered through the brown canvas. Outside, Skipper was bustling about and he could hear the sound of wood crackling on a fire. Crawling from his sleeping bag, he stumbled out into the sunshine and watched her pour a pan of boiling water into two enamel mugs.

‘Smells interesting,' he said. ‘Bit like old socks.'

‘Don't knock it 'til you've tried it, Samuel,' said Skipper. ‘It's acorn coffee – one of my specialities.'

‘Yum,' said Sam without enthusiasm. ‘Can't wait.'

‘Trust me. You'll love it.'

Skipper had used a thin layer of coal as a base and then
constructed a neat pyramid of wooden sticks above it. Flames licked around the wood and the coals glowed red beneath, providing a steady heat with which to boil the water.

Skipper handed him a mug and sat down next to him. She flicked a small stone and Sam watched it bounce a couple of times on the rocks before disappearing over the edge of the mountain. He thought of all the dark times in the past when he had dreamed of this fishing trip, of how it had all seemed so distant and unattainable back then.

Now, in just a few hours' time, they would meet the others at Lake Orceia and the dream would become real.

‘Quite a view isn't it?'

Sam looked at the distant towers of Vahlzi rising up through strands of early morning mist and, beyond the plains, the vast green forests of the south stretching away as far as the eye could see.

‘It's beautiful,' he said. ‘You know, I feel as though I've never really looked before. As though I'm seeing it all for the first time.'

Skipper sipped her coffee thoughtfully.

‘You seem different,' she said after a while.

Sam frowned. ‘Different? How?'

‘You seem happier,' said Skipper. She put her hand on his arm. ‘I'm really glad, Sam. You deserve to be happy. After all, we made it back, didn't we? We did what we had to do and we made it home again.'

Sam thought of his dream then, of the cold lake and
the mountains, and although he could no longer remember it clearly, he knew that Skipper was right.

This was where he belonged.

This was his home.

‘Do you ever wonder what happened to us in those four years, Skipper?' he asked as they watched the sun burn away the morning mist, leaving little wisps of white cloud drifting high above the plains.

‘I used to,' said Skipper, whose memory of her time on Earth had already faded. ‘I used to think perhaps it was the Olumnus using their ancient powers to keep us safe somewhere until Aurobon needed us. But the truth is, I just don't know.'

‘Does it ever bother you?'

Skipper shook her head.

‘Not any more. I've come to the conclusion that the world has far more magic in it than we realise. But most of the time it's just disguised as every day things, hidden away beneath the surface, and there's not much point looking for it. The way I see it, you've just got to live the best way you can, and one day, when you least expect it, the magic will find you.'

Sam watched a yellow flame leap up from a piece of coal, dancing into the heart of the fire. He thought of the ancient sunshine, locked away in its dark heart until the fire set it free again.

He looked at Skipper and smiled.

‘I think it's found me already,' he said.

As they climbed up the stony path and disappeared into the trees, the place where they had been was silent once more; silent except for the sound of water trickling over the stones as the last of the snow melted and ran down the steep mountainside into the valley.

Here the water joined with other streams and tributaries, all of them merging and coming together until at last they were a single shining river, moving slowly across the plains toward the sea which lay hidden and endless, somewhere beyond the horizon.

Love & thanks to Tory, Tim & Daisy, my editor Julia Wells, my agent Ed Jaspers, all the good people of Faber and the Conville & Walsh Massive.

Steve Voake

STEVE VOAKE
is the author of
The Dreamwalker's Child
and
The Web of Fire
. A former headmaster of a boys' school in Somerset, England, Steve now writes full time.

www.stevevoake.co.uk

The Dreamwalker's Child

Text copyright © 2005 by Steve Voake

Illustrations copyright © 2005 by Mark Watkinson

First published in the U.K. in 2005 by Faber and Faber Ltd.;
published in the United States of America by Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc., in 2006

The Web of Fire

Text copyright © 2006 by Steve Voake
Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Mark Watkinson
First published in the U.K. in 2006 by Faber and Faber Ltd.;
published in the United States of America by Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc., in 2007

E-book bind-up edition published by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers in September 2012
www.bloomsburyteens.com

All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of
The Dreamwalker's Child
as follows:
Voake, Steve.
The dreamwalker's child / Steve Voake.
p. cm.
Summary: After being hit by a car Sam Palmer finds himself in Aurobon, a land of giant insects where some of the inhabitants are working to keep Earth's ecology in balance while others are trying to wipe out humankind with a lethal virus spread by mosquitoes.
ISBN-10: 1-58234-661-5 • ISBN-13: 978-1-58234-661-8 (hardcover)
[1. Insects—Fiction. 2. Environmental degradation—Fiction. 3. Virus diseases—Fiction.
4. Coma—Fiction. 5. Space and time—Fiction. 6. Fantasy.] I. Title.
PZ7.V8556Dre 2006     [Fic]—dc22     2005057068

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of
The Web of Fire
as follows:
Voake, Steve.
The web of fire / Steve Voake.
p. cm.
Sequel to: The dreamwalker's child.
Summary: Four years after vanquishing Odoursin and saving humankind from his evil plans, Sam and Skipper return to a devastated Aurobon where they must once again fight for survival against the reemerged Odoursin and his new army of robber flies.
ISBN-10: 1-58234-737-9 • ISBN-13: 978-1-58234-737-0 (hardcover)
[1. Insects—Fiction. 2. Environmental degradation—Fiction.
3. Space and time—Fiction. 4. Fantasy.] I. Title.
PZ7.V8556Wef 2006     [Fic]—dc22     2006042881

ISBN 978-1-59990-964-6 (e-book bind-up edition)

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