Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers (18 page)

IN LATER YEARS, Kendra could never clearly remember the journey home. It was all a blur, filled with hazy memories that moved about her mind like a dream. Her faulty recollections were mostly due to illness, for only a day after leaving the mountains, Kendra came down with a raging fever. What caused it, no one could say, but she had been fighting her secret for so long that she herself supposed that everything had just caught up with her. Whatever the case, her condition deteriorated so rapidly that she soon couldn’t even walk, and her uncle and friends had to carry her on a makeshift stretcher. What she did remember of the journey was mostly just smatterings of conversation that she overheard as she tossed and turned in her delirium.

“What will you do, Elder Griffinskitch?” she heard Professor Bumblebean ask her uncle one night. “Will you tell the other elders that Kendra helped the Unger? They may well wish to expel her.”

“You know, we could keep it a secret,” Ratchet declared. “Myself, I’ll never tell, I swear.”

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered. “No more secrets. Have we not learned anything from all of this? We will tell the truth.”

And that’s the last Kendra remembered hearing. Uncle Griffinskitch might be on her side, but it seemed that she would be left to face an uncertain fate. She slipped further into the delirium of her illness.

The next thing Kendra knew, she was back home, in her own bed. She wasn’t sure how she got there, though she had a vague recollection of Ratchet carrying her through the curtain, holding her as they traveled down the River Wink (Jinx must have steered the boat), and bringing her to the house. When she opened her eyes, the raccoon was still there, sitting at her bedside.

“Well, it seems your fever’s finally broken,” Ratchet said. “Soon you’ll be strong enough to take on the world again!”

Kendra smiled weakly. “Where’s Uncle Griffinskitch?” she asked.

“Oh, he’ll be back soon, not to worry,” Ratchet said, holding her hand. “He’s just off talking to those elders. Lots to talk about now, you can imagine. With all the secrets released, there’s quite the hullabaloo across Een.”

“Everyone must be angry at me for releasing their secrets,” Kendra murmured.

“Oh, no, not really,” Ratchet said. “Most of the secrets weren’t all that serious, you know. Mostly stuff like so-and-so stealing another so-and-so’s recipe for twinkleberry pie. In a way, I think most of us are glad that the whispers were set free. It’s cleared the air, quite frankly.”

“What about the elders?” Kendra asked.

“What about them?” Ratchet asked.

“They want to banish me,” Kendra stated, as if she were sure of the fact.

“No, no,” Ratchet said quickly. “No decision’s been made yet. Don’t go worrying about anything except getting some rest and eating your soup. Old Griffinskitch made you a whole pot.”

So Kendra did what the raccoon said and spent the next few days recovering her strength. Ratchet rarely left her side. Uncle Griffinskitch came in and out. He was kind to Kendra, more so than he had ever been, but she couldn’t help noticing how worried he looked. Part of her wanted to ask him about his meetings with the elders, but part of her was afraid. So she let it lie. There would be time enough to face it when she was stronger.

She had other visitors too during this time, including Professor Bumblebean and even Captain Jinx. Oki had to sneak over to the house, for his mother was convinced that Kendra was contagious and didn’t want her son contracting some “horrible dragon disease.”

Then one morning, as Kendra was gobbling down her breakfast (she was strong enough now to get out of bed), Uncle Griffinskitch announced: “Today we must go before the elders.”

A shiver went down Kendra’s back. “Must we?” she asked timidly.

“Humph,” her uncle grunted. “I’m afraid so, Kendra. But I will be there with you. We’ll face them together.”

Kendra nodded, but she stared into the bottom of her cereal bowl, unable to look up at him.

She tugged her braids (or what was left of them, for they were still growing back after being burnt by the dragon) all the way to the Elder Stone. When they arrived, the rest of the company was awaiting them: Oki, Jinx, Professor Bumblebean, and even Ratchet. Together they went into the council chambers and stood before the elders.

“I see our young champion has recovered her strength at last,” Winter Woodsong said, looking directly at Kendra.

“Aye,” Uncle Griffinskitch uttered when Kendra didn’t reply. In truth, she was too nervous to speak.

“It seems the orb chose well, young Kandlestar,” Winter told the girl.

“Ma’am?” Kendra asked.

“Why, you defeated the Red Thief,” Winter said. “Quite an achievement for an eleven-year-old, don’t you think?”

“Ah, but no normal eleven-year-old,” Elder Nora Neverfar said with a smile.

“Indeed,” Winter agreed, “she possesses the qualities that many of us do not. Now I see why the orb chose her. She was able to face the truth. Her truth.”

“But now the whispers have been released,” Kendra said, trembling before the old woman. “The secret of the curtain has been lost.”

“Perhaps we were foolish to lock our secrets in a box, trying to ignore them,” Winter said. “For countless years we have hidden behind the curtain, but if we mean to reclaim its secret, we’ll have to go into the world and search for it.”

“I’m going to find my family out there,” Kendra suddenly declared. She didn’t even know what made her say it. But she knew it was true. Through all the days of her recuperation, it was the one thought that had given her the strength to get better, to get past whatever fate the Council of Elders was going to decide for her.

Winter looked at her with a start.

“Maybe not today or even tomorrow, but one day I will,” Kendra said. She could feel her spark again inside of her. She was starting to get used to it.

“I, for one, believe she will find them,” Elder Enid Evermoon said, leaning forward and looking intently at Kendra. “She’s got a wee bit of her mother in her, wouldn’t you say? In my opinion, that means she can do anything, if she sets her mind to it.”

“Is that so?” Elder Burdock Brown growled, his one eyebrow knotting angrily on his forehead. “You may be right. After all, she will have plenty of time to look once we banish her from Een!”

“You can’t banish her!” Ratchet cried, shaking his fist.

“Easy, Mr. Ringtail,” Winter said, turning to cast a critical eye at Burdock. “Elder Burdock does not speak for the council alone. No decision has been made yet about Kendra’s fate.”

“Kendra,” Skarab Strom said, leaning forward. “Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Why did you help the beast?” Burdock demanded.

“He would have died without my help,” Kendra said.

“Good!” Burdock snarled. “It would have been just one less Unger!”

“You weren’t there!” Kendra said hotly. “You didn’t look into his eyes and see how scared he was.”

“Then you’re not sorry for your actions?” Burdock asked.

Kendra stared hard at the angry old elder. “No,” she admitted in a firm voice.

At once, the elders broke into heated debate.

“Not sorry!”

“An Unger!”

“Should there be any further discussion?” Burdock demanded, his voice reigning over the others. “The girl helped an Unger, and she doesn’t even repent for her mistake. Cast her through the curtain, I say. Let’s be done with her!”

“Now wait a minute!” Uncle Griffinskitch cried, hobbling over to stand between Kendra and the elders. Up until that moment, he had been hanging back, and Kendra had worried that he wouldn’t speak in her defense because he was ashamed, too. “Did my niece not save all of Een? Will you praise her one action, only to punish her for the other?”

“According to Een laws, she did indeed commit a grave crime,” Elder Skarab Strom said.

“Humph!” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered. “You heard her. You weren’t there. None of us were. Who’s to say what any of us would have done in the same situation?”

“So you condone her helping the Unger?” Burdock demanded. “Pity, Gregor. You should be ashamed of her.”

“Ashamed?” Uncle Griffinskitch exclaimed in his deep, booming voice. “I am ashamed of many things in my life, but my niece is not one of them. Indeed, if anything, I
. . .
I
. . .
I am proud of Kendra!”

Burdock gasped.

“You heard me right!” the old wizard said, shaking angrily. “Proud. Because Kendra has shown the ability to think for herself, not of herself. She helped the Unger because she felt it was the right thing to do.”

“This is nonsense!” Burdock shouted. “I demand that Kendra Kandlestar be expelled!”

“If Kendra goes, then so do I,” Uncle Griffinskitch proclaimed loudly.

“Me too,” Ratchet said, stepping forward.

“And me,” Oki said in the bravest voice Kendra had ever heard from him.

“I won’t leave her,” Jinx said.

“My word, neither will I!” Professor Bumblebean declared, joining his companions by stepping forth.

“Fools!” Burdock growled venomously. “How can you talk such nonsense?”

“With all due respect, Elder Burdock,” Professor Bumblebean said, “you simply have not been through the adventures that we have experienced. I think I speak for us all when I say we shall stand together. If one goes, all go.”

“Well put, Professor,” Uncle Griffinskitch said.

“Then banish them all!” Burdock sneered. “Such fools should keep good company!”

Once again, the elders broke into argument, until at last Winter raised her hand to silence them.

“We will vote on this matter, for this is the way of Eens,” Winter declared. “Elders, make your choice. Shall we cast Kendra Kandlestar from Een?”

Kendra couldn’t bear to watch. With a gulp, she closed her eyes. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind. If she were banished, would Uncle Griffinskitch and the rest of the company really come with her? Where would they live? How would they survive? Then she felt the tiny paw of Oki shaking her excitedly, and Kendra opened her eyes. The council sat gravely before her, but only Burdock and Skarab Strom had raised their hands.

“The council has spoken,” Winter announced. “Kendra, you shall stay in the land of Een. Indeed, may you go forth a hero!”

“A hero?” Burdock huffed.

“Indeed,” Winter declared, and with these words she dismissed the council.

The chamber emptied, and soon only Kendra and Uncle Griffinskitch remained.

“Did you really mean what you said?” Kendra asked the old wizard. “Are you really proud of me?”

“Well
. . .
I, that is to say
. . .
yes,” her uncle replied. “More than you can ever know, Kendra.”

She could no longer hold back her tears. Kendra threw her arms around the old Een and buried her head in his long white beard. She hugged him so tightly that he wheezed for air.

“And about your family,” Uncle Griffinskitch said after she released him. “I would be honored, Kendra, if you would let me look for them with you.”

“We’ll do it together,” she said happily.

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