Nick disappeared for a couple of days.
He hadn’t left the camp because he was always there for breakfast and supper;
he just wasn’t around the rest of the day. When I asked one night where he was
running off to, he replied it was a secret. And, of course, I was too stubborn
to admit I missed his company or to provide any decent answer as to why he
should cease running off. I wanted to tell him to stop going away and just talk
with me, like we had been doing, or join in the game du jour. But my lips
refused to emit words.
The fourth day into his disappearing
act, Nick scared me half to death, sneaking up behind me and shouting, “Boo,”
in my ear. He fell over laughing, his hair mussed and a grass stain on the knee
of his jeans.
“Don’t do that again,” I commanded, a
hand still covering my poor heart, my pulse slowly returning to normal.
Nick sat up, laughter still playing
behind his eyes; “Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.”
A few of the children were watching
us, expecting some kind of trouble that distracted them from the game.
“You’re back early today,” I stated,
trying not to be angry with him still.
He waved a hand dismissively at
Mikael, Kora, Derek, and Xenia, who had begun the climb towards us. Nick smiled
as extra assurance that everything was well, and they ran to join back in the
chaos of a game I didn’t know the rules for.
“I want you to come with me,” he said
in response to my earlier statement. “You’ll love what I’ve found.”
“Not today,” I replied, indicating
with a tilt of my head the reason before us. “I don’t abandon responsibility
for just anything.”
“It isn’t just anything;” he smirked
secretively. From behind his ear he pulled a small blossom of lilac. “I don’t
have the fancy tricks of flying flowers or anything,” he admitted, taking one
of my hands and setting the bloom in my palm, “but there’s more where that came
from if you come with me.”
“Not today.” I was intrigued by the
lilac, though. Part of me wanted to go, but I was still holding out against him.
Our conversation repeated in a
similar fashion over the next week. Different blooms were pushed into my palm
with a plea to join him, that the children were fine without me. But I
declined, later to add the bloom to a bowl of water in my room, the petals floating
elegantly as they slowly wilted.
The eighth day he asked, I agreed.
“I’ll go if you watch over them for a
week; I might need a break.” Being in charge of watching over them wasn’t
eventful, but it was like watching a TV show or something. Interesting and mind
numbing in the same instant. It didn’t require much work except for the
occasional accident or conflict, and even those were few and far between
because the older children were handling most of it lately.
Nick pulled me to my feet, a puppy that
finally receives his walk.
He never let go of my hand,
half-pulling me along a path and through trees where the way wasn’t marked. It
didn’t slow him, as though he saw landmarks I failed to see. When the trees
thickened he treaded more carefully, pulling branches and tall grasses out of
the way for me.
“You’ll love it,” he said, and I knew
then exactly what we were coming up to. The flowers had been a hint, but the
scent that hit me was undeniably familiar: the same blend of essences that
seemed to follow Drei everywhere.
Though I was expecting something
spectacular, I was nowhere near prepared for what I saw as we cleared the
trees. The colors, the disorganization, the heavenly scent and sheer mass of flowers
caused me to lose my breath. It was stunning, and, strange as it was, seemed to
give me a sense of peace.
“I knew you’d love it,” Nick replied
to my poorly hidden gaping jaw and wide eyes.
“It’s gorgeous,” I managed in a
choked whisper.
He took my hand again, leading me
carefully through the flowers so I could see which I recognized—mostly the
common ones: lilacs, violets, bluebells—and touch those I didn’t. There were
paths laced through the field, little more than the width of my foot. In the
center was a grassy area, soft and lush, where Nick and I sat for a moment.
“How?”
“I was exploring those days I wasn’t
around. And I just happened across here and knew you’d love it.”
“Is the path marked?”
“To here? Of course. Subtly, though. I
haven’t figured out all of the symbols, but if you pretty much go in where we
did and go straight, you’ll smell the flowers when you’re close.”
“So who marked it?”
Nick shrugged. “Does it matter?”
I shook my head, feeling warm in the
sunlit area. It felt like summer here with the trees trapping heat and the
flowers in full bloom, staring at us, wondering what would happen.
“We have to get back for dinner,” I
said suddenly, not meeting Nick’s eyes, afraid I wouldn’t have the courage to
leave them.
I stood up, dusting off my pants, and
Nick led me back through the woods, a satisfied smile on his lips the entire
way. It wasn’t until I noticed how much I looked at him, or how easily we made
each other smile, or any number of other things we shared, I knew what I wanted
to do next.
“Meet me there tonight?” I inquired,
knowing how it must sound to him, hoping he didn’t take it the wrong way.
He stopped mid-step and faced me. “Really?”
The time I hadn’t kissed him ran through his mind, a caution I might be
stringing him along again.
“We can spend time together there,
and don’t have to worry about anything else.”
“Or anyone else,” he added,
expressing his own thoughts. I knew he meant Drei.
Though Drei hadn’t been around much,
he disliked Nick and disapproved of my spending time with him—Valetta’s words,
not mine. While his fears were rational, I wasn’t too worried and I hoped he
would stop worrying as much as I knew he was.
“So?” I pressed, needing a definite
answer. No way was I sitting around all night for someone who wasn’t coming. Then
again, I would have deserved it. At least the first time, anyway.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he
replied, grinning crookedly.
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