Faery Worlds - Six Complete Novels (39 page)

Becky jumped up and down excitedly, her smile back in full force. "Yes! Which one?" She looked around eagerly, seeking out a candidate.

"Let's move closer to the camp. Maybe it's just this area that has the special mojo."

"Good idea."

We walked about thirty feet back towards the clearing. We were still out of sight, but we could hear the others, their voices a low murmur.

"How about this one?" I suggested.

I pointed to a skinnier tree - one that had different bark and leaves too. Our experiment required a change in variables like the age, species, and location of the subject. I knew my science lab teacher would be so proud right now with the integrity of my study variables, or whatever the hell he always called it.

I went up to the new tree but didn't start hugging right away. I felt like it might be kind of presumptuous of me to just walk up and do that, so I started talking first.

Becky was standing next to me, and I saw her eyebrows go up a little, but she was letting me run the show. She remained quiet, listening patiently.

"Um, hello, Tree. I'm Jayne ... and this is Becky. We wanted to hug you, so here we are. You're ... um ... a really nice-looking tree, so that's why we picked you. I mean, all the trees here are nice looking and all ... "

Becky sighed, her patience running thin. "Just hug the tree already, would ya?"

"Fine. Don't rush me." I turned back to the tree. "So I'm going to hug you now, and I hope you give me one of those tree-hugs back."

I reached my hands out and put them on the trunk. My arms easily went all the way around. I instantly felt the energy coming back to me; this time it was more vibrant, more green, if a color can be used to describe a feeling. I didn't think about cotton candy this time. I thought about a cool breeze on a hot day, fireworks on the fourth of July, the excitement of being chased by someone who I hoped would catch me. Above all, I felt love. Just plain love. There was a connection here that went much deeper than flesh and bone, bark and wood.

"Can I join you now?" asked Becky, smiling at the look of happiness on my face.

"Yep. You're gonna love this."

Becky stepped up quickly, obviously anxious to feel the sensation again. She wrapped her arms around the tree, making sure to touch my arms as well. Her face radiated joy as soon as we were linked. "Oh my
goodness
, this is nice - different, but nice. This is a younger tree, I can tell."

She was right. The feelings were younger somehow. The bigger, older tree had given us something just as wonderful, but more ancient, more mature. It was impossible to describe with words - I couldn't even think about it properly in my own head.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Spike's smiling voice penetrated our euphoria. "Are you hugging that tree? What ... did I take a wrong turn somewhere? Am I in Berkeley?"

We broke away from the tree, smiling nervously as if we'd been caught doing something we shouldn't have been doing.

"Yep, just thanking the tree for some toilet paper is all," I said, trying to brush him and his suspicions off with an overly casual tone.

Spike nodded his head in appreciation. "Well, that's just the polite thing to do, isn't it?" He smiled right at me with those damn teeth of his, and I was glad to feel the familiar sparks warming my insides. This time I didn't see the blood smear image generated by memories of that awful vampire creature thing.

I smiled back, still feeling the tree's energy and now basking in Spike's sexual vibe.

He moved a little closer to me than he normally did.

I forgot Becky was there entirely.

"I never took you for a tree hugger." He was still smiling, only now it was down at me; we were so close I was practically under him. I had never realized before that he was this much taller than me.

I could feel my face starting to burn. "You are going to set me on fire one of these days, you know that?"
Holy shit, did that just come out of my mouth?
What the hell was wrong with me? I looked back at the tree for a second. That damn thing had loosened my tongue or something.
Shitshitshit.

Spike looked amused. "Is that so? I think I'd like to see that - so long as it isn't actual flames you're talking about."

I stepped back to get some breathing room, suddenly very nervous. "Um, yeah ... I mean, no ... not actual flames. Not a fire. Not ...
shit
, never mind. We need to get back." I stepped around him and walked briskly towards the camp. I didn't look back to see if he was following.

Becky, who had observed the whole embarrassing interaction, ran to catch up to me. She had a sly grin on her giddy little face. "What was
that
all about?"

I hit her arm with the back of my hand. "Nothing, shut up."

She chanted in a singsong voice, very quietly, "Somebody likes Spiiiiike, somebody likes Spiiiiike."

"Seriously, Becky, what? Are you in second grade? Shut up before someone hears you."

"Don't worry, Jayne, your secret is safe with me ... I mean, your
secrets
are safe with me." She smiled at me conspiratorially and winked.

I couldn't help but smile back. She was the first girl friend I'd had in a long time. Hopefully we wouldn't die in this forest before we could go shopping, talk about boys, or do whatever it is that girl friends do together.

Chapter Sixteen

By the time we reached the others, they were standing there with backpacks on, waiting impatiently for us to leave for the first waypoint.

"That has to be the longest pee break in history," said Finn, shaking his head as he walked towards Jared. "Women ... "

"Come on, everyone, let's get going," said Jared, going with Finn back towards the path leading out of the clearing. Chase followed them. Spike came from behind, jogging to catch up to the guys. Becky was just in front of Tony and me.

"Did you all come up with a plan of action?" I asked, coming up next to Tony.

"Yep. Jared thinks he knows where we are in relation to the first waypoint. He found a river last night, and it's not far from here. All we have to do is follow it and we'll come to the waypoint."

I walked and pulled my map out at the same time. "Did you look at the map yourself?"

Tony shrugged. "Nope, I just watched Jared do it."

"Were you looking over his shoulder?"

"No, should I have?"

I frowned at him, scolding him silently. "Yes. Don't you think we should know where we're going instead of just blindly following
him
?"

Tony sighed loudly. "Not really."

"Tony, are we still a team here or what?" It was time for him to stop messing around and man-up. I wasn't just going to start going somewhere in these spooky woods without knowing where.

"Yes, Jayne, we're still a team."

"Then help me figure this stupid map out while we walk."

I folded it down, with Tony's help, into a manageable size, but I gave up trying to figure out where we were within thirty seconds. Tony took over, since he was much better at directions than me. I watched as a frown spread across his face.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't know, it's just ... "

"Just what?"

"It's just ... well, it seems like Jared's not going in the most efficient direction."

"Not efficient? In what way?"

"Well, he's headed towards this water, see?"

He tried to show me, but I tripped over his big feet and almost went down. Walking and reading a map is just a recipe for disaster as far as I was concerned. "Don't show me, just tell me."

"Well, he's headed towards the water, but that's kind of a roundabout way of doing it. We could cut off over here to the right and save ourselves at least an hour - probably more."

"Let's do it, then."

Tony folded the map down smaller, intending to put it away. "No, that's okay. This way's fine, too."

I put my hand on Tony's shoulder stopping him. "Tony, just because Jared says it's the way to go, doesn't mean it is the way
we're
going to go. We need to get to those waypoints and get the hell outta here, know what I mean?"

Tony was quiet for a minute, thinking.

The others continued walking, oblivious to our conversation.

"Just tell me what your problem is with Jared, before I decide what to do."

"It's just a feeling I have, based on looks he exchanged with Dardennes. And his disappearing act last night, and his basic attitude. Don't you think it's a little suspicious that Jared's the one who somehow got all of us together? And then all of a sudden we're in this study together, and magically the few other people in that meeting room, the ones he didn't pick up somewhere, were not accepted? It just makes me uncomfortable, that's all. And I'd rather just depend on you and me to get out of here. There's no one I trust more to have my back than you, Tones."

He pursed his lips a few seconds before nodding and saying, "Jayne, I know you can be kinda crazy sometimes, but I also know you're pretty perceptive. You see and sense things that I don't. And there's no one I trust more to have my back than you, so if you want to split off from these guys, then I'll do it. I just keep thinking about that vampire thing from last night. We might have a better chance of surviving something like that if we're in a group."

"I thought about that, too; but I also know that as a big group, we'll attract more attention. It's impossible for seven people to move through the forest quietly. Maybe with it being just two or three of us, it wouldn't be so loud."

"Three?"

I shrugged. "I thought maybe Becky might go with us, I don't know."

"Fine, come on. Let's at least tell them we're going a different way. She can choose to come or not. Maybe Spike will want to come with us, too," Tony said that a little too casually.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothin'."

"Nothin', my ass. What was that supposed to mean?"

Tony smiled. "I see how you nearly pass out every time he smiles at you. You think I can't sense that heart attack you get every time he's around? And now that we're on the subject, what the heck happened with you and Becky in the woods? If I didn't know you any better I'd say you had some sort of bi-awakening moment out there. You were feeling just too ... I don't know ... dreamy or something."

I whacked him on the arm. "I didn't have a 'bi-awakening moment' at all, don't be an idiot. I just so happened to have discovered the joy of tree-hugging, and it made me happy. And Spike has ... well, let's just say he has a nice smile. It makes me feel tingly all over."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Spare me. And what do you mean 'tree hugging'?"

"I'll show you later. Let's go tell those guys we're going the other direction."

***

Not surprisingly, the group was less than thrilled about our decision to go a different way. Becky gave me a stern look, but kept my secrets. Chase just stared at us for a second and then looked back in the direction they had been heading before we stopped them. Spike just looked at the ground, not saying anything.

"Now why in the sam hill would you wanna split up like that?" asked Finn.

"The way we're going is shorter," I explained. "Anyone who wants to join us is welcome. Becky?"

She shook her head. "No thanks, guys. I appreciate the offer, but I'm gonna stick with Jared and them."

"Suit yourselves. Guess we'll see you at the finish line," I said, not surprised that Becky had turned us down. She was totally Team Jared.

Tony stayed silent; he didn't like conflict.

"Just be careful, guys," said Jared, seemingly resigned to the fact that he was losing members of his crew.

"Yeah, Jayne, be careful," said Spike, for once not smiling.

"You too." Of all of them, he was the one I hated leaving behind the most. We parted ways, them continuing their roundabout towards the water, Tony and I angling off to the right, and all of us quickly losing sight of each other.

Tony took the lead, and neither of us said anything for a while. Now that we were alone, I was able to fully appreciate the immensity of the forest and it made me question the folly of my plan to be alone. It was probably too late, though, to admit I wished we had more people around us. Tony would kill me.

"It's kinda beautiful and spooky out here, all at the same time," said Tony softly.

I could see what he meant. The sunlight filtered through the treetops, narrow beams shooting like white lasers to the forest floor, lighting up dust motes that floated lazily, aimless in the air around us. The beating wings of a bird moving from tree to tree and the occasional falling leaf added to the whispering of the breeze that brushed past us on its way through to somewhere else.