4: Thoughts of the Veldt
“So. Where'd you disappear to yesterday?”
Alice focused on Carol, finally noticing how she and Eric regarded Alice with suspicion. “Huh? Yesterday? I was on the Veldt.” Alice changed her focus back to the task of loading her things into her pack, once in a while shooting Gau a glance as he spoke with the kids around him. “I always go to the Veldt after school. You know that.”
“Yes, but this time you went with Gau and didn't invite me.” Carol's melodic tone sounded heavy with hurt. In fact, her expression confessed that she felt actually insulted by the slight.
Alice sighed as she buckled her pack closed. “Nothing exciting happened, Carol. He's just answering some questions about the Veldt and showing me around a bit. Nothing major.” Would Carol have been so eager to trek onto the Veldt if Alice had told her the story of the Baskervor?
Carol's arms dropped swiftly to her sides. “Are you serious? You're on the Veldt for who-knows-how-many hours with a hero who happens to be drop-dead gorgeous and that's ‘nothing major’?”
Alice rolled her eyes as she slipped her pack onto her shoulders. She brought dinner this time. “Look,” she began as she turned toward Carol, “I'm sorry you're insulted, but we're just doing research. It's boring. You know it is.”
Before Carol could retort, Ms. Aimes called her over. So, instead, Carol shot Alice a look of death and daggers before making her way to the teacher's desk. Ms. Aimes was a pleasant enough sort. A little on the strict side, but it wasn't too bad.
Alice sighed and moved her gaze to meet Eric’s. He didn't say anything. He only turned to leave the building. Alice sighed again. She hadn't meant to hurt their feelings.
“Alice?” Gau came to stand beside her. “You good?”
She faced him and forced a smile. “Yep. Ready to go?”
He nodded and followed her from the building to the main--and only--street out of town. “Carol and Eric no look happy, Alice.”
“I know. They must think we're just playing around. I tried to tell them we're doing work.” Alice shrugged. “They'll get over it.”
“You sure we no bring with us?”
Alice glanced at him, but he continued to stare out toward the Veldt. “Tomorrow. Please? You don't know them like I do.” How would she explain to someone like Gau how she felt more like herself when alone on the Veldt? Whenever Carol, Eric, or any of her other classmates ventured out with her, she felt like a door was shut. No one ever really understood what she did. They didn't seem to care, either. "I won't get a bit of work done if they're here."
“That no matter, Alice. They friend. You spend time with them. Like family.”
She gripped the straps of her pack. Her mom had said the same thing on multiple occasions. “Tomorrow, Gau. If you can show me the places where you took the seeds and the water today, we can bring them tomorrow. Good enough?”
“Tomorrow last day of school for week. Right?”
“Yeah.” Alice peeked over at him as they exited town. “Why?”
“No school next day.”
“Yeah,” she agreed again, slowly.
“Have camp out.”
She halted, blinking at him. “What?”
Gau met her gaze. “Be much fun. Hike all ‘round Veldt. Tell stories. Laugh. See sunset. Sunset best part of Veldt color. Look like Relm's paintbrush fall against sky.”
A camp out on the Veldt. With the one person who understood all its secrets. She would be free to wander, ask questions, observe and enjoy the wildland from sundown to sunup. “Sure. That sounds like fun.” It sounded absolutely glorious.
“Eric and me fish and hunt. Become friends.”
Alice laughed. “Well, don't hold your breath on that one.”
Gau's features twisted in confusion, but this time he didn't ask. He simply looked away again. “Alice, was plant too sick?”
“Plant? Oh. Plant. Right.” She worried her lower lip and absently kicked at a stray pebble. “It's too soon to tell, Gau. My mom and I repotted it after I got a sample, so we'll have to wait and see.”
“If get better . . . you think Veldt get better, too?”
Her throat tightened. “I certainly hope so, and I plan to do my best to make it happen.” The desire dogged her every step onto the Veldt for the last three years.
“Me, too.”
“Good.” She peeked at him, her lips teased with a smile. “I could use the help--ah!” Alice fell forward with a frightened squeak, scuffing her palms and knees on a few pebbles before Gau could catch her under the arm. Turning to sit on her butt, she blinked at the ravaged prairie-rat hole and then examined her palms. There were a few scratches, but nothing bloody. She slapped her hands together a few times as Gau crouched near her right foot. “Well, now I feel about as graceful as an I-don't-know-what,” she admitted with a reluctant smile.
Lowering his concerned gaze to her foot, Gau felt and probed her ankle with gentle motions of his fingertips, occasionally glancing to her face to watch her reaction. Then he picked up her foot and slowly rotated it, first one way and then the other.
Alice smiled. “It feels fine. Doesn’t hurt at all.”
Gau’s features relaxed as he set her foot down and straightened to help her to her feet. She tested her right foot before completely standing on her own power.
Alice released a fast breath, relief making her laugh. “Thank goodness. It was such a tumble that I felt sure I twisted something.”
“Your boots do good in keeping foot way should be. No let get twisted.”
Alice dropped her gaze to her well-worn boots. “Thank you, gents,” she told them. “I knew there was a good reason I saved for three months to buy you guys.”
Gau chuckled. “You much funny. Talk to shoes. Talk to Baskervor.” He gave a slight shake of his head as he continued onto the Veldt.
“I'm sorry. You thought I was normal? Poor thing. I had you completely taken in.” She noticed his odd glance and gave his arm a nudge with her elbow. “I'm giving you a hard time, Gau. Just joking?”
“Me know.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Then what's with the funny face?”
He shrugged and looked away. “Not know.”
“Oh.” She regarded him a moment more before giving a shrug and asking “You're taking me to the water or the seeds today?”
“Place with water be too close to Deep Veldt. Not go. We go where me plant seeds.”
“Oh. When did you plant them?”
“Many months ago.”
“And you've kept them watered and protected?”
Gau nodded. “Protect with leaves and things from Veldt.”
“How often did you water them?”
“When soil too dry. I keep damp.”
“Hm. Sounds like everything should be perfect.” She peeked at him. His features were taut, his brows furrowed. “But no sprouts came up?”
Gau shook his head, moving his gaze to the ground at their feet. “No life come.”
Alice rested a hand on his arm. “Gau, I'm sure we'll find something to help.”
“Me afraid may take too long.”
A fear she could completely understand. One she had herself. “The Veldt's lasted this long. I'm sure it will hold on a little longer.” And it was the same assurance she told herself every day, week, and month.
He smiled briefly before halting in front of a patch of mulch. Alice stared at it for a long moment, lowering her hand from his arm as she hoped and wished something positive would be found. Then she knelt and removed her pack from her shoulders, setting it aside before gently exploring the seeds' protective shield from heat and cold alike.
"That's so weird. It doesn't even seem like the stuff is decomposing," she mumbled. Gau knelt beside her, intensely watching her actions. “Do you remember where you planted them?”
He nodded and reached out to brush away the debris. Alice rifled through her pack and handed him the trowel. “Can you get me the seeds and the mulch t
hat's on them?”
He nodded again, turning to perform the retraction with as much care as a surgeon. She carefully re-sealed the container. “Don't worry, little ones,” she whispered to the seeds as she stood, “we'll get you grown. You just wait.” Gau watched her without a word. “Right.” She bent to grab her pack, set the seeds inside, and slung it onto her back as she straightened. She caught his gaze and offered him a reassuring smile. “Don't you worry either. We'll figure it out.”
He stood with a nod and smile and then escorted her back to town.