“Augh!” More stabs. More ripping pain. She panted, wheezed, groaned. As the roaring spasms climaxed, she cried out, “Jesus, help me!”
Within seconds, the spasms eased. Still breathing heavily, she closed her eyes and let her hands fall away from her stomach. It was almost over … almost over.
As she lay on the cold ground, she let her mind wander to images of apple pies and ice cream sundaes. Maybe this place was all a dream. Maybe she had eaten too many goodies and her stomach ached from the overindulgence. Soon she would wake up from this nightmare and find herself in bed snuggling one of her stuffed animals, probably Winnie, her longtime favorite. Oh, when would that alarm clock go off? When would her father come in with a cheery greeting? “It’s time to get up, Shiloh!”
She blinked her eyes open. No bed, no alarm clock, no Winnie, just the town’s central garden with the dead eyes of the high-riding man still staring at her.
She climbed to her feet, brushed the dirt from her clothes, and strode to her alley hideaway. She pulled crates to the side and arranged the straw and horse blanket she had found at the stables the day before. Then, after pulling the crates again to hide her from any peering eyes, she nestled into her bedding.
It would be all right. Billy would come. And a dragon, too. And maybe even the noble steed. No matter how long it took, she would wait patiently. If God could help her endure this place for forty years, surely he could do the same for a few days. Just a few more days.
As evening fell, darkness arrived with it. It felt heavy, oppressive, and lonely … very lonely. Shiloh pulled her knees close to her chest and wept.
Chapter 19
The Protected Weed
Billy knelt next to the tiny plant. With only two circular leaves, each the size of a quarter, and a thin green stalk supporting them, the plant seemed fragile. The leaves weren’t even green. They were black on one side and orange on the other, more like a fungus than a harvestable plant.
He looked up at the field. Elam struggled toward the garden, his head down as if in deep thought as he pushed through the waist-deep snow. His dark cloak fanned in the cold breeze and floated above the drifts.
When Elam reached the garden, he picked up his pace, now walking on mud between two rows. Although the dragons had done a great job keeping the snow from freezing the plants, the huge green leaves still seemed cold as they trembled in the breeze, as if the babies inside were shivering.
After sidestepping a bone and hopping over another, apparently honoring the man who once owned them, Elam arrived, shivering as he set his hands on his hips. “So this is it?” he asked. “It’s not even in the right place. It’s in between the rows.”
Billy touched one of the sickly leaves. “I’m not sure if it’s the right one. That’s why I called you out here to witness the test.”
Elam stooped beside him. “Have you heard from Semiramis yet?”
“Not a word. With all the snow, we might not hear for a while.” Billy pulled a small glass vial from his pocket and removed its cork stopper. He stared at the red liquid inside and gave it a swirl. “I have to hurry, or it’ll clot.”
Snow flurries began to dance around their faces. “No argument from me. The clouds look pretty ominous.”
“I noticed. That’s why we canceled Mount Elijah again. Dad did a flyover. The flat part on top has a mound of snow and ice. He tried to melt it, but with no place to land, he couldn’t do much, and the path up the side is impassable.” Billy tilted the vial and let a drop of blood fall on the tip of one of the leaves. Instantly, it curled and rotted. As if burning, the rot spread toward the stalk.
Billy pinched off the tip and dropped it to the soil. The leaf, now only three-quarters its original size, no longer shriveled.
He put the stopper back in the vial. “Exactly the way she said it would happen.”
Elam picked up a clump of dirt and crushed it. “Witchcraft!”
“Witchcraft?” Billy straightened to his full height, adrenaline pumping his muscles into tight knots. Of course, Elam had good reason to doubt Semiramis, but how far would he take his lack of trust? “So do you think she’s a witch?”
“Whether she’s a witch or not, it doesn’t really matter. The connection might be real, even if her black magic caused it. So now we have to protect something that Arramos put here.” Elam shook his head. “It’s like giving a burglar a gun and the keys to your house.”
“What choice do we have? We can’t uproot it.”
“Of course not. I’m just venting.” Elam gestured with his head. “Let me show you something.”
Billy followed him to the rear part of the garden. They reached a circular area that contained no growth except for a single plant near the middle, smaller than the one they had just tested. This one, however, was green and lively.
Elam crouched and touched one of the twin leaves. Like the others in the garden, the leaves resembled praying hands, though these weren’t yet touching each other.
“Cliffside told me that when the leaves come together, the baby usually shows up in between within the next week, though sometimes it takes a month. He enjoys shining a light through the leaves to see its early development stages, and he has a journal filled with drawings that show the typical growth pattern of the plants and the expected shape and size of the baby inside.
Billy nodded. “That’s very cool. He must really love babies.”
“He does. He wants one of his own, but he has never married, so he can’t be part of the parent lottery.”
“Any candidates?” Billy gave Elam a wink. “I mean, is he looking?”
“I heard just today that he and Emerald are betrothed. You should have seen Cliffside. He was like a young buck, picking snowball fights with the other unmarried males, and he even went door to door and left candy boxes for the kids.”
“Nothing like requited love to perk a man’s spirits.”
“Trust me,” Elam said. “I know what you mean.”
“Sapphira?”
Elam’s smile provided the answer.
“I heard the story from Acacia,” Billy said. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“It hurts too much. I have loved that girl for thousands of years. Ever since she risked her life to feed me stew on her fingers, I knew there would never be another one for me. When I worked in the shipyards in Glasgow, lots of girls tried to charm me. A few even proposed marriage. Some were very attractive, both in appearance and in depth of spirit, but I couldn’t entertain any notions like that. They were nice, but they just weren’t Sapphira.”
“Does she feel the same way about you?”
“Well, I saw her briefly a few weeks ago. I was standing near Heaven’s Gate, and she was on Earth. I guess that’s about as far away as you can be from someone and still see her. She wiggled her fingers at me, so I have hope.”
Billy cocked his head. “Wiggled her fingers?”
“That’s our love sign.” His voice pitched a notch higher. “It reminds us of when she fed me.”
Billy grasped Elam’s wrist. “Then there’s no doubt about it. She’s as tied to you as you are to her.”
“How about you?” Elam asked. “Do you miss Bonnie?”
“Well … sure. I mean, it’s not like I’ve loved her for thousands of years or anything, so I can’t compare with what you’re going through, but …”
“Come on. I spilled my guts. It’s your turn. No one’s listening but me and the birthing plants.”
Billy looked into Elam’s eyes—piercing, wise, gentle. He would guard any secret. “I love Bonnie. She’s the most amazing girl I’ve ever met. It’s like she’s so perfect, it’s unbelievable. I mean, if you described her to someone—her kindness, her faith, her self-sacrifice—most people either wouldn’t believe it was true or they would hate her for being so good. Do you know what I mean?”
“Jealousy, I think. The spitefulness of inferiority that tries to defame their betters in order to drag them down to their pitiful level.
”
“Something like that, but Bonnie would love them anyway, no matter what they thought of her.” Billy rubbed his finger gently across the top of the plant. “She’s a gem, a lump of coal that God made into a perfect diamond.”
Elam stroked the side of the plant as if caressing a girl’s hand. “It’s amazing what suffering can turn someone into. Some become bitter and hateful, and others reach out with love.”
“Right. So, yeah. I miss Bonnie. I miss her a lot.”
“Anyway,” Elam continued, “there’s something special about this plant, too. This is the place where Abigail landed. A plant sprang up here much faster than the others, and Roxil came out of it. When I looked at the remains of the plant, I found a seed-like thing, kind of egg-shaped in the roots. I decided to plant it to see if it would grow.”
“And this is the result?”
Elam nodded. “It grows slower than anything Cliffside has ever seen, maybe a fourth of the normal rate.”
“Any idea what it means?”
“Not really. I’ve had dreams that a dragon came out of this one, like Roxil did. But it was probably because of the swamp peppers on my sandwich. Fire breath, you know.”
Billy laughed. “Trust me. I know.”
“Yes, you would.” Elam rose to his full height and scanned the skies. The snow had thickened across the darkening canopy. “If we get another storm like the last three nights, the dragons will have to clear the garden again. They’ve been working much too hard. They haven’t even had a chance to build good regeneracy domes.”
“I know what you mean,” Billy said. “I asked Legossi and Firedda to get some rest. I’m hoping they’ll take Acacia and me back to Mount Elijah tomorrow. By air is the only way now, but if we don’t get more sunshine, no Earth dragon will be able to take us. Valiant said he would help us get there on Grackle and Albatross, if we can find them.”
Elam tilted his head upward and let the tiny flakes collect on his forehead. “No one’s seen them. Candle even tried to use Listener’s spyglass from the top of the ridge, but no luck.”
“How is she?” Billy asked. “I haven’t seen her since this morning.”
“Still on the heart machine, but Dr. Conner thinks she’ll be off it in a few days.”
“Speaking of Dr. Conner, did he and Hartanna reunite? I remember when my mother and father got back together after he became a dragon again. It was pretty clumsy for a woman and a dragon to show affection.”
“They spoke,” Elam said. “They were friendly, but, like you said, there’s a barrier they really can’t cross. And since he was part of the reason she died … yes, clumsy is a good word. But I think they’ll warm up to each other.”
“Look.” Billy nodded toward the field. “Here comes the dynamic duo.”
Walter and Ashley plowed through the snow side by side. Soon, their chatter reached Billy’s ears.
“If you had worn boots,” Ashley said, “your socks wouldn’t be wet. Didn’t your mother ever teach you how to dress for the snow?”
“Of course she did, but my boots are in my closet back home. If you know how to get Federal Express to deliver something across dimensional barriers, I’ll use your new radio to give them a call. I’m sure they’ll rush my boots here by overnight delivery.”
Billy grinned. “Will they ever stop?”
Elam shook his head. “They enjoy it. Look how they’re smiling.”
“I’ll give you a Federal Express package!” Ashley scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at Walter, smacking him in the chest.
Walter covered his heart with his gloved hands. “Oh, no! You opened the wound! I can feel blood in my lungs.”
“Really?” A look of concern flashed across Ashley’s face. “Let me see.”
When Walter leaned close, Ashley pulled his collar, grabbed another handful of snow, and stuffed it down the front of his shirt. “That ought to seal the wound!” Laughing, she ran toward the garden. Walter followed, but at a much slower pace. As he shook out his shirt, his grin stretched from ear to ear.
Billy held up his hand. “Stop! Wait!”
Ashley halted. “What?”
Quick-marching through the mud between the rows, he pointed at the weedlike plant just a few feet in front of Ashley. “Don’t step on that.”
She edged closer and stooped. “What is it?”
When Billy arrived, followed by Elam and Walter, Billy retold the story. Of course, Walter and Ashley asked so many questions, it took longer to tell it this time than the first. By the time he finished with Semiramis’s claim that Bonnie or Shiloh was imprisoned in the northern lands, the snow had thickened in the air, and a thin coat of white dressed the soil.
Walter grasped Billy’s arm. “Let’s hit the northward trail right away. Ever since I saw those fountains from the top of Mount Elijah, I wanted to see what was out there.”
“If Semiramis is telling the truth about where Bonnie or Shiloh is,” Ashley said.
“What’s the consensus?” Billy asked. “Is Semiramis on our side or Arramos’s?”
Elam raised his hand. “Arramos’s. I don’t buy her story.”
“I agree,” Ashley said, lifting her hand. “The murder I sensed in her heart didn’t feel like righteous indignation to me.”
Billy lifted his eyebrows at Walter. “And you?”
“I think Semiramis is working for Semiramis. She’s playing both sides. You can’t argue with real burns. They were recent, and her care for Hunter wasn’t fake. She doesn’t like Arramos, but she’s no friend of ours, either.” He gripped Billy’s arm again. “But it doesn’t matter. If she comes back and says she found Bonnie or Shiloh in the northern lands, and you want to head that way, then I’m at your side, no matter what.”
Ashley poked Walter’s stomach. “Not until you’re completely healed. You can’t even swing a sword yet.”
“Is that so?” Walter rotated his shoulder. “With all the tender loving care I’m getting, I think—”
“Uh-oh,” Elam said, pointing toward the field. “Speak of the devil.”
Billy and the others turned. A tall slender woman trudged through the snow. Dressed in a thick hooded cloak, red from head to toe, she broke through the final drift and walked into the garden. As she approached, she lowered her hood, revealing her familiar auburn locks.
“Semiramis,” Billy whispered. “Her timing is—”
“Suspicious,” Ashley interrupted. “I still didn’t sense her presence.”
When Semiramis came within ten feet, she dipped low, her head bowed, apparently unconcerned that snow and mud seeped into her cloak as her knee pressed down. “I have come, just as I said I would.”
Billy set a hand under her elbow and helped her rise. “Did you find her?”
As she straightened, she trained her eyes on Billy. “I have.” She reached under her cloak and withdrew a folded shirt. “Shiloh said you would recognize this.”
“Shiloh?”
“Yes. For a while, she concealed her identity, trying to protect Bonnie, I am sure, but I discerned the truth soon enough.”
Billy took it by the collar and let it fall open. “It says, ‘He’s not a tame lion.’”
“Aslan,” Walter said. “The Narnia shirt Bonnie gave her.”
Billy nodded. “I remember.”
Elam crossed his arms over his chest. “So why didn’t you bring her with you?”
“It is a complex situation, Elam. She is once again in the sixth circle of Hades, but it has been moved to the northlands of Second Eden. It is now behind a shield that is impenetrable to the living.”
“To the living?” Walter pointed at her. “Then are you …”
“Dead?” Semiramis gave him a sad nod. “Yes, Walter. I died millennia ago. Arramos received permission to use me in the Bridgelands for his purposes, and now, before I am cast into the Lake of Fire, I want to make amends for my many misdeeds. Perhaps by the grace of Elohim, I will be allowed to wander in the lands of the dead and d
elay my suffering.”
“Then how are we supposed to get her out?” Billy asked.
“You must break the shield. I know of no way to do this deed, but perhaps between your brilliant scientist and the many dragons at your disposal, you will be able to penetrate it.”
Ashley furrowed her brow but said nothing. Billy looked at Ashley’s narrowed eyes. It was easy to read her mind this time. She didn’t trust Semiramis, not in the slightest. This dead woman who seemed impenetrable to Ashley’s powerful mind was hiding something, something sinister, something deadly.
“We’ll discuss it,” Elam said, nodding toward the field. “Alone.”
“I understand.” As Semiramis bowed her head again, her eyes suddenly widened. “The plant!” She stooped and touched the torn leaf, then looked up at Billy. “You tested it.”
“Yeah. It worked, just like you said.”
“Then can there be any doubt about my allegiance?” She straightened and looked around, her gaze pausing at each person. “I have told you everything, Arramos’s plans regarding this plant, how it is tied to his prisoner, and the location of his prison. I have kept nothing from you.”
“Like I said …” Elam’s tone grew stern. “We will discuss it alone.”
For a moment, Semiramis just stared at him. Then, her lips trembling, she bowed her head again. “Very well.” She raised her hood, turned, and walked toward the field. “I will wait for word at the center of the village.”
Billy and the others watched her in silence. She retraced her steps through the furrow, and when she reached the forest bordering the village, Elam spoke up.
“She plays this game well.”
“Maybe.” Billy let the shirt flap in the snowy breeze. “But we can’t ignore this.”
“So what’s the verdict?” Walter asked. “Round up the dragons and assault the northern lands?”
Elam shook his head. “That’s exactly what she wants us to do. If we send our dragons up there, we’re vulnerable. There’s no way I can allow that, not with the Vacants lurking.”