Curse Of Wexkia (7 page)

‘You lot can do bloody spells too?’

Nell’s father laughed. ‘No, but my friend can. She is of a different world. Now, I must go.’

‘Why do you have to go to Corl?’ How could he just leave Nell after everything that had happened?

Her father put his fingers under her chin and lifted her face up. ‘I have to stand before the Three World Council to answer some questions, and I want to find out who is looking for you. I won’t be gone long.’

‘No. I don’t want you to go.’

Deep lines again creased her father’s forehead. He sighed, long and deep. ‘I’m sorry, but it is the law.’ He eyed each in turn. ‘Dar-seldra, you and Cay-meka stay with Nell, and don’t let her go far from the house. Sam, tell your father I’ll speak with him soon.’ He held his arms out to Nell.

She stiffened but let him hug her.

‘You stay close to Dar-seldra, do you hear?’

‘I’m scared.’

‘I will be back by tomorrow at the latest. Just stay close to the house and the protection will keep you safe.’

She tightened her lips and frowned. ‘You don’t think I’m safe?’

‘Of course you are. We don’t even know for certain if wintars are here, but I
will
find out.’

He kissed her forehead. As he passed Dar-seldra, he placed his hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t take your eyes off her.’

‘I won’t.’

‘Cay-meka, heed your mother.’

‘Yes, Uncle Dar-tern.’

‘How’s he going to go?’ Sam asked, as soon as Nell’s father left the room. ‘In a spaceship?’

‘Yes,’ Dar-seldra said simply.

‘Of course!’ Sam hit the side of his head with his hand.

Nell heard the words of their conversation, but their voices sounded far away.

‘W
hy don’t we leave Nell alone for a while and prepare something to eat?’ Dar-seldra said.

‘Sure, I’ll show you where the kitchen is.’ Sam beamed at the mention of food and headed out of the door.

Cay-meka followed Sam out of the library. Patting Nell’s shoulder once, Dar-seldra left the room and quietly closed the door.

Nell was alone. Tears stung her eyes as she gazed around the room. She was unable to focus but after a minute the walls of books appeared menacing. She half expected them to fly from the shelves and attack her. At that moment, she wouldn’t have been surprised if they had.

With her arms wrapped around her aching chest, she sat on the coffee table. She’d never felt so alone. Her father had left her with strangers and Sam didn’t seem to care how she was or that she wasn’t coping with everything. Silent tears fell at first but as she thought about everything her family had told her, sobs racked her body. She didn’t care that her nose ran as she rocked backwards and forwards. ‘Daddy, Da-addy.’

She didn’t know how long she sat there before her tears dried and she stopped rocking. As still as the bronze statue on the desk, she sat for a while longer trying to collect her thoughts.

Straightening her back, she stared hard at nothing and mumbled aloud, ‘Dad doesn’t care. He tells me I’m some sort of alien then abandons me. I’m just supposed to accept it all.’ She huffed. With an aunty and a cousin and she didn’t know what
other
relatives. Rubbing her wet nose, she looked at the ceiling. ‘I need Dad.’

Sniffing noisily, she felt behind her for the tissue box, and again wished her mother was still alive.

Numerous questions filled her mind. Her father should have stayed and explained what might happen to her. He treated her like a baby.

She couldn’t believe how calm Sam was. He not only accepted that aliens lived on the beach but he actually seemed to love the idea.

After long moments of wrestling with all she had learned, the tips of her fingers began to tingle and a tiny wave of excitement passed through her body. What sort of abilities might she gain? Even though she hoped she was one of the mixed children who didn’t inherit any abilities, deep down she knew that wouldn’t be the case. She thought again about her horse, the crocodile and Sam, now certain she had touched each mind. While she didn’t look like her father or her new family members, she was definitely gaining phib traits. A least her new extended family should be pleased. They obviously didn’t like wintars. Tears filled her eyes again as she thought about her mother. She was a wintar and Nell looked like her. Would it be so bad if she was exactly like her?

She pulled two white tissues out of the box and blew her nose. No, it was better she be like her father. She sniffed. Her new family might like her better then. She sighed loudly and pushed up from the coffee table.

Of course. That’s what the croc was talking about. He
knew. He said she had to embrace who she was or who she would become, something like that. Huh. He really was some sort of guardian.

‘I wonder what other weird powers Dad meant phibs have.’ She threw the wet tissues into the paper basket beside her father’s desk and shrugged. ‘I suppose I may as well find out. If I can’t stop it, I should at least know what it is.’ She hurried to the dining room.

Sam came from the kitchen carrying a tray of glasses and a large bottle of sarsaparilla and grinned at Nell. He placed the tray in the middle of the table next to a plate of bread rolls and sat opposite Dar-seldra and Cay-meka.

Nell sat down next to Sam as he raised an eyebrow at her.

She realised her eyes were probably puffy and red from crying, but her answering shrug said she didn’t want to talk about it.

Over lunch, she learned phibs could speak with animals. Her excitement nearly banished the knot in her stomach.

‘You mean if this prawn was alive,’ Sam said, dangling a prawn over his plate, ‘You could speak to it?’

‘Of course not,’ Cay-meka snapped. ‘We don’t talk to our food. We only converse with higher animals.’

‘What do you mean, higher animals?’ Sam asked.

‘I mean,’ Cay-meka said in a haughty tone. ‘Animals with brains enough to allow us to link with their minds.’

Sam made a face at Nell.

Feeling safe beside her friend, she giggled.

‘We call intelligent animals, higher animals,’ Dar-seldra offered. ‘Although we don’t talk to them as we do each other. We see images and gain impressions of their state of mind. Of course, being so connected, we don’t eat those
animals. I’m not certain what Earth animals are higher, but I have read your elephants are intelligent. All mammals would probably fall into that category, but I am certain no connection could be achieved with your cold-blooded reptiles.’ She smiled at Sam’s plate. ‘Or prawns.’

Nell wondered if she really had connected with her horse that morning. But crocodiles were reptiles so she had more proof of her animal guardian.

Dar-seldra continued. ‘There are mid animals, those we can only gain vague impressions from. Their minds are haphazard to our way of thinking. I think your birds would be amongst these. We prefer not to consume their meat as we believe it is tainted with an obscure intelligence.’

So that’s why Nell and her father only ate seafood.

‘I’ll never look at a steak the same way,’ Sam joked.

Cay-meka glared at him with open contempt. ‘That’s not funny. It’s disgusting.’

‘Now, Cay-meka,’ Dar-seldra said. ‘The way of humans is alien to us and we have no right to judge. It is their way.’

Nell let out a laugh. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘But it’s strange to hear humans called alien.’

Dar-seldra smiled. ‘I suppose it would be.’

‘Are there other types of aliens like ones that look like crocodiles or maybe make themselves look like animals?’

‘There are other species, Nell. However, I have never seen or heard of any like you describe.’

Nell hoped she would see the croc again. He was the only one who could answer some of her questions.

‘Okay then. Can phibs talk to horses?’ Nell asked. She thought about her mare that morning, sure she knew what Shrewdy was thinking and feeling. ‘Can I talk to them?’ she asked.

  ‘If indeed you are phib, you may be able to connect with them, but as I said, we don’t talk in the normal way of things. It is not words you will hear.’ Lines appeared between Dar-seldra’s perfect, arched eyebrows as she spoke.

Nell wondered at the change in her new-found aunty. Did something Nell had said upset her?

With her mind turning to her mother’s people, she asked, ‘Can wintars talk to animals?’

Cay-meka snorted.

‘No,’ Dar-seldra replied absently, as if she was deep in thought.

Perhaps it was just her growing intuition, but something in Nell’s mind told her not to continue in that vein. She decided not to say anything about the crocodile. Maybe she shouldn’t say anything about her visions … hallucinations … whatever they were.

‘I’d like to go check the horses out,’ Nell said to Sam.

‘Can I come?’ Cay-meka asked, her eyes bright. ‘We don’t have horses on Linque and I’d love to ride one.’ She turned to Dar-seldra. ‘Do you think one would let me, Mother?’

‘I’m sure the horses would let you ride, but not this trip. Perhaps another time,’ Dar-seldra said with a patient smile. ‘Nell, I’d like you to stay here too. I have something to show you.’

Cay-meka pulled a face at the plate of bread rolls in the centre of the table, folded her arms across her chest and slumped back into the chair.

Nell’s curiosity pushed aside her disappointment at not seeing Shrewdy.

‘Can I swim then?’ The whine had returned to Cay-meka’s voice.

‘You can’t swim here. There’re stingers, not to mention sharks and crocodiles,’ Sam warned.

‘I don’t know what is in your oceans, but our aura would keep anything primitive and dangerous at bay,’ Cay-meka said in a condescending voice.

‘Is that true?’ Sam asked Dar-seldra, as Cay-meka glared at him.

‘Yes,’ Dar-seldra said. ‘We emit a protection aura when in water.’

Nell, tired of hearing Cay-meka’s voice, wished she would go swimming. A small smile played on her lips. Maybe Earth’s sharks don’t know about the aura. Immediately, she was sorry for the thought. How many times had she wished she had more relatives? Even though Cay-meka was spiteful, she didn’t really want to see her hurt.

After lunch, Dar-seldra took Nell and Sam into the library. She withdrew two large books out of the safe in the wall that separated the library from the kitchen.

‘These are for you,’ she said to Nell. ‘They will help you understand your bloodline.’ She placed the books on the coffee table.

They were the size of Annet’s heavy cookbooks. The bottom book had a green binding, the top one’s brown cover was padded and had the words
Book of Gramlax
etched in gold. That was the name of her mother’s home planet. Underneath was a picture of a giant bird-man. She gasped. He looked just like the ones in her dreams, except he wasn’t ugly. He had short black wavy hair and open friendly eyes. They were bird-people?

Nell stared at the books on the coffee table.

Dar-seldra’s voice broke into Nell’s consciousness. ‘Your father asked me to give them to you. They are your birthday gifts. One is from your mother’s world, Gramlax,
and the other is from our world, Linque.’

‘Can I look too?’ Sam asked eagerly.

‘You may as well, young man, though I fear you know too much already.’

‘Could Mum fly?’ Nell pointed to the bird-man.

Dar-seldra nodded.

Sam picked up the book and studied the cover. ‘Wow,’ he said.

Dar-seldra still had the same slight frown when she left the room.

‘I know I connected with Shrewdy this morning and I know I felt your mind when you pushed me out of the way of the coconut.’ Nell looked over Sam’s shoulder at the book. ‘I’m pretty sure I’m going to be phib. I’m glad because I really don’t want to be one of those.’ The picture made her shiver, as though someone had pushed ice down her back.

‘They’re cool.’ Sam took the book. ‘I’ll check out this one first.’

They sat on the floor on opposite sides of the coffee table and studied the covers. Nell’s book looked as if it was made out of dark-green seaweed. It smelt a little fishy, like the sea too. The words
Book of Linque
were written in silver leaf. Underneath, also in silver leaf, was a picture of two girls wearing diving suits. They rode on the back of a giant, stubby-nosed fish. A wave of exhilaration broke gently in Nell’s chest. The picture reminded her of the only pleasant dreams and visions she had had.

The afternoon vanished in hoots of laughter from Sam and sighs of wonder from Nell. ‘You should see this,’ one would exclaim. The other would say, ‘Wow! Check this out.’ They often swapped books for a better understanding of what each was trying to explain.

Periodically, Nell’s thoughts turned to all she had learned that day. She watched Sam’s enthralled expression and decided it would have been much better if
his
family told him he was an alien from another planet. He seemed to love the idea and was openly envious of her change in fortune. No. Change of circumstances. She didn’t feel fortunate. If the croc was right, she was in danger. And the wintars were the first on her list of suspects.

‘That’s enough.’ She closed the book of Gramlax. It was wonderful, all those people and their amazing abilities, but she didn’t want to be anything like either race. She wanted to be human. What if she got all their abilities, phib
and
wintar? No, that wasn’t possible. Her father had told her she could only take after one parent.

She eyed the books, back and forth, and chewed the side of her bottom lip.

‘What’s up?’ Sam eyed her as he closed the book of Linque. ‘You should be excited. I know I would be.’ He rested his hand on the cover of the book. ‘What I’d give to see those planets.’ For the hundredth time that day, he said, ‘I’d exchange places with you in a split second, if I could.’

‘That’s easy for you to say.’ Nell regarded the books. ‘You haven’t had your world turned upside down.’ She sighed. ‘This morning I was just a normal girl and now I’m some sort of magic alien and I’m supposed to just go with it, like it’s normal, like I’d just been told I was going to get a puppy or something. Did you see Linque? It’s covered in water and they swim for hours without coming up for air. I can’t even swim.’