Jack Staples and the Ring of Time (6 page)

Chapter 9

A BAD DREAM

Jack was lying on the floor and could taste blood from where he’d bitten his lower lip when he landed. Unsure of whether he’d awakened from a nightmare or if he was going insane, he sat up.

Arthur was standing beside him. “What are you doing down there?”

Jack felt his chest. A small, half-moon–shaped hole had been burned into his shirt from where the strange being had touched him. Yet when he pulled the shirt aside, there wasn’t a mark on him.

“How’d that happen?”

“I ... I don’t know,” Jack lied. He was careful not to disturb the contents on the desk as he stood. He trusted Arthur completely, but the events of the day were making his head spin. The dark fog, the other Jack who’d tried to kill him, and now the map all were making him feel very uncomfortable.

The papers still lay scattered across Mrs. Dumphry’s desk, but every one of them was blank. Jack took a step back. “I think I might be sick,” he said.

“If you are sick, then I am a spring chicken,” Mrs. Dumphry said wryly.

Both boys jumped, turning to see their teacher sitting in her rocking chair by the fire.

“What you saw was a Masc Tinneas. It is a map of sorts, though it does not show where, but when. This map always reveals both the past and future.” Mrs. Dumphry stood and poked the fire with her walking stick. “Tell me, child, what did the Masc Tinneas reveal to you?”

Jack had no reason to fear his teacher. She’d always been kind and was a close friend of his mother and father. She often came by the house to visit, though it was usually after Jack was already in bed. He’d spent many a night falling asleep at the top of the stairs listening to Mrs. Dumphry and his parents talk. But the idea of telling his teacher what he saw was unnerving.

Jack remembered what happened five years earlier. Mrs. Dumphry had sent a boy named Ethan Wild to the asylum. Ethan had been one of the older students at the Ballylesson Schoolhouse. One day during class he had gone mad, clutching at his eyes and rolling on the floor. Ethan kept screaming over and over again about the “searing light.”

Every student had stood against the far wall, watching Ethan writhe and claw at his eyes. That was the last day he’d been seen in Ballylesson. Everyone around town said Mrs. Dumphry had personally taken him to the asylum all the way out in Wallydrom, at least three days’ ride from the town. With this memory clear in his mind, Jack decided it best he not tell his teacher anything at all.

Yet Mrs. Dumphry wasn’t the type of woman you kept waiting. Everyone in Ballylesson sat up straighter when she walked into a room, and even Jack’s mother spoke to her only with the utmost respect.

“My mother is probably worried sick by now,” Jack said as he looked longingly at the front door. “I was supposed to be home ages ago.”

“Your parents are on their way.” Mrs. Dumphry’s voice held a demanding tone. “They will be here momentarily. You need to tell me what you saw, child.”

Jack felt like a worm being studied by a bird. “I d-didn’t see anything,” he stammered. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw something dark slithering across the schoolhouse floor. “The dark fog!” he screamed as he ran back a few steps. But when he looked again, there was no fog, merely Whinny, the black cat that lived beneath the schoolhouse.

Mrs. Dumphry’s eyes never left Jack. After a moment she let out a long, slow breath. “After so long, can this be how it begins? Can we have been so blind?” Her voice came out in a whisper. “Two children?” She sounded amazed. Mrs. Dumphry looked from the girl to Jack. “Child, you must tell me when and where you saw this dark fog. If the Shadowfog is here, then the entire town is in grave danger.”

Jack felt his chest tighten. Part of him had hoped he was crazy. But Mrs. Dumphry’s reaction was far too serious. “Just a few hours a-ago,” he said. “It was in the woods just outside the school.”

Arthur began muttering under his breath. “Dark fog, lions, crazy girls, and maps. What’s going on?”

“With the Author’s blessing, we are not too late,” Mrs. Dumphry said. “What you saw has many names; some call it ‘Shadowfog’ or the ‘Assassin’s Cloud’ or ‘Black Death’ to name a few. Regardless of its name, it is pure evil.” Mrs. Dumphry stepped closer. “Tell me, how have you been feeling since the circus fire?”

The question took Jack by surprise, yet before he could say anything, Mrs. Dumphry continued, “There is much to be done before morning.” Glancing at the mud on the floor, she spoke in a brusque tone, “Both of you have tracked mud into my schoolhouse. When I return from my trip, you will each write, ‘I will not treat the schoolhouse like a barnyard,’ one hundred times on the blackboard.”

Before either of the boys could think how to respond, Mrs. Dumphry turned toward the front entry. “Ah, it seems your parents have arrived.” Without another word she walked out the back door.

The boys just stared at the door with their mouths opened wide. A moment later, Arthur’s parents and Jack’s mother entered through the front.

“Arthur Reginald Alexander Greaves, just what do you think you’re doing?” Arthur’s mother was a large woman, yet much of her size was muscle that just so happened to be covered by a thin layer of fat. His father was even larger, but in his case, it was all muscle. Arthur’s father had spent his childhood as a blacksmith’s apprentice, and the muscles he’d gained in that time had not gone away. Mr. Greaves now worked as a tanner, but he still forged his own horseshoes.

Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but his mother cut him off. “Minister McCarty told us about the beast in the woods! When you didn’t come home, well, I thought … I thought …” When Arthur’s mother burst into tears, so did he. Without another word he ran into her open arms.

“What were you thinking, Jack?” Jack’s mother asked. “On your first time out since the fire, you pull a stunt like this!”

Jack didn’t know what to say. Had it only been a few hours since he’d left the house? It felt like a lifetime ago. Hot tears sprang to his eyes.

“I was—” Jack stopped. “I didn’t—” He cut off again, unsure what to say.

His mother walked over and wrapped him in a hug. “I was worried about you, especially after we heard about the beast in—” His mother stopped midsentence. Jack couldn’t see her face, but he felt her body tense. As he stepped back, he saw that she was looking at the girl lying by the fire.

“Jacksie, who is that?”

Jack had forgotten all about the girl. “She’s—”

“She is the one who was chasing the lion!” Arthur burst out excitedly. “And she can climb a tree like you wouldn’t believe. And when she tried to kill Jack with a stone, Mrs. Dumphry saved him. You should have seen it!” Arthur stepped away from his mother, becoming more animated by the second. “She wasn’t this dirty before, but Jack and I dropped her in the mud when we were trying to get back to the school. She is actually quite beautiful.” Arthur stared at her, lost in thought, but before anyone could say a word, he began again.

“When I first saw her, I thought she was a boy. Can you believe that? She’s far too pretty to be a boy. But then the lion came and jumped on Jack, and she”—Arthur motioned to the girl excitedly—“tried to save him. She is very brave. Except Jack didn’t need her help because the lion apparently just wanted to lick him!” He threw his arms in the air.

Arthur was breathing heavily now, his eyes wide as he remembered the events of the day. Jack’s mother walked to the girl and knelt beside her. “Oh yeah,” Arthur continued, “when we got back, Mrs. Dumphry was acting crazy! She’s going to make us write lines for tracking mud into the school, but it was only muddy because she left the girl in the woods in the first place.” Arthur shook his head dramatically.

“There’s a … lion in the woods?” Arthur’s father sounded more incredulous than believing.

“It licked Jack?” Arthur’s mother was clearly alarmed.

Before anyone could say a word, Jack broke in. “She’s the girl from the circus, Mother—the one who was walking the tightrope.”

Jack’s mother had placed the girl’s head on her lap and was running a hand through her hair. He couldn’t see his mother’s face, but he could tell something was wrong. Was she crying?

“Megan, what wrong?” Mrs. Greaves asked, stepping toward her.

Standing quickly, Jack’s mother dabbed at her eyes and began to laugh. “Nothing! Absolutely nothing.”

“You know this girl?” Mr. Greaves asked.

His mother didn’t answer, but changed the subject. “I assume Mrs. Dumphry has gone, then?”

Jack nodded, confused.

“For the time being at least, this girl needs somewhere to stay. She will come home with us until we can find her parents.” She looked at Mr. Greaves. “Would you mind carrying her out to the wagon? Jack and I will clear a space in the back.”

“Of course,” Mr. Greaves said. “Whatever you need. And, Megan, you will let us know if there’s anything we can do. We are more than willing to help with the girl.”

“Thank you, but I am sure we will be fine. It’s late, and apparently”—she offered a rueful smile—“there’s a lion on the loose. It’s past time we all returned home.”

Alexia ran through a field of blood-red flowers. The sun shone brightly overhead, and she felt … happy. It had been many years since she’d been truly happy—ever since the day of her fifth birthday.

She slowed at this thought. “What happened on my fifth birthday?” she wondered aloud. For a moment, she felt a stabbing in her heart, but just as quickly, the pain was gone. She darted forward again, laughing as she ran.

I’m going to pick some flowers for Mother. I just know she’ll give me a big hug when I bring them home!
Once again, the thought of her mother brought a sharp stabbing to Alexia’s heart. Pushing it aside, she slowed and began collecting the most beautiful red wildflowers she’d ever seen. Laughing aloud, she grabbed armfuls of them, so many she was barely able to hold them all.

Mother will be so surprised
. Why did the thought of her mother make her feel sad? For some reason, Alexia couldn’t make her mind stand still.

Alexia suddenly realized she had no idea where she was. As she turned to look, her jaw dropped. In the valley below was an arena of sleek black stone that stood as tall as a mountain. As she looked at the arena, panic rose inside her. She felt it calling to her, willing her to come.

“I need to find Mother and Father,” she whispered. “I need to tell them about the …”

Fire
.

Alexia dropped her armful of blood-red flowers. Why couldn’t she remember? Something bad had happened. She placed her hands on her head.

Raging fire
.

Dropping to her knees, Alexia was unable to breathe.

“NO!” she screamed. In the ground in front of her were three freshly dug graves.

“Mother!” Alexia shouted as she sat up in bed.

It took a moment to realize she’d been dreaming again. It was a dream she’d had many times since her fifth birthday, and each time she awoke, she experienced the heartache all over again. Yet this time, when she woke, she heard the voice of her mother.

“Ah, my girl. Everything is all right. You are here with us now, and it’s going to be all right,” her mother said as she ran her fingers through Alexia’s hair.