Choke: 2 (Pillage Trilogy (Pillogy)) (12 page)

I slid the tiny board that covered the eyeholes back into place and began searching the small, narrow room for some way out. I was just about to try climbing back up the slide when I noticed that one of the boards on the wall had an indentation in it about waist high. I stuck one of my thumbs into the indentation and a lower section of the wall slid to the side. I crawled through the opening and out into the large room. The door was actually part of the room’s dark wood wainscoting and once it was moved back into place I could hardly tell where it was. I found a small thumbhole on the baseboard that let me open it back up, and I studied the location for a few minutes.

I stood up and looked at the portrait above me on the wall. It was a painting of a lady with a high feathery hat and wrinkly eyes. As I looked at her closely, I saw that the peepholes I had found in the adjoining room were right where her eyes were. I hadn’t slid the board all the way back into place so she sort of looked like a loon. A small, gold plaque on the bottom of the frame said, “Lady Harrington.”

I left the room and went down a long hall and out one of the rear doors. The back gardens had once been completely overgrown but now Scott kept up a large section directly behind the manor. Sunshine spread across the trees and the mountains like butter. The simile probably would have made me hungry, but I was stuffed from lunch.

By the time I got to the boulder fields Kate was there waiting. I thought she would have a hard time getting away from her house, but she said her parents were in town. As usual she looked bored and considerably older than sixteen.

“Think Wyatt will come?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “He was pretty shaken up last night.”

I gazed out over the rockslide. It was an amazing sight. It looked like a massive stone river flowing from the middle of the mountains all the way down into the valley—with the sun out, all the rocks sparkled brilliantly. There were rocks of all sizes, but the majority of the stones were about the size of the one I had thrown into them so many months ago.

“Maybe we should start without Wyatt,” I suggested. “This might take a while.”

“You think?” Kate asked. “What area did you throw it in?”

I re-created my steps on that fateful day. “The last dragon had just been killed and the stone dropped,” I narrated. “I picked up the stone and ran through those trees. I got to the edge of the stone field and was about to throw it when my father stopped me. We talked and then I threw it right over there.”

“Did you see where it landed?”

“I turned around so I wouldn’t see,” I told her.

“How noble,” Kate said. “How far do you think it went?”

I shrugged. Kate picked up a rock from the ground and handed it to me.

“Thanks,” I said politely, wishing somebody would actually give me a good gift.

Kate shook her head. “No, if you throw that as hard as you threw the stone, it will help us figure out where it might have fallen.”

I moved to where I thought I had been standing all those months ago. “I’m not sure this is a good idea,” I said. “It won’t be completely accurate because I’m probably stronger than I was then.”

“Give me a break,” Kate said. “Throw it.”

The stone I was holding was actually pretty heavy. I swung my arms and then threw it. I turned around so I wouldn’t see it fall.

“Why are you turned around?” Kate laughed.

“Oh yeah,” I said, embarrassed. “Did you see where it went?”

Kate nodded her head and pointed. It looked like she was pointing only a few feet away.

“It had to go further than that,” I asserted.

“Maybe you’re weaker now,” she suggested.

“Funny, get me another rock.”

Kate handed me a second rock and I threw it as hard as I could. This time I didn’t look away. It wasn’t a very impressive throw either.

“Let’s just start looking,” I suggested.

We slowly began to walk through the rocks searching for the one I had thrown originally. The rocks all looked so similar. I tried to feel as many as I could, hoping the real rock would glow under my touch.

“Is this it?” Kate asked, holding up a stone.

“No,” I said. “The end’s too square.”

“Maybe it got chipped off when you dropped it,” Kate said.

“I didn’t drop it, I threw it.”

“Right,” Kate smiled.

I walked over and touched the rock she was holding. It didn’t glow. After about half an hour I started to get depressed. I thought it would be a little easier to find, but I was starting to see stones that weren’t even there. The sunshine didn’t help either, it just made the rocks look like billions of bleached bumps.

I was about to complain some more when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around expecting to see Wyatt, but instead I saw nothing but a tree.

“Um, Kate,” I said as she continued looking down at the stones. “Kate!”

Kate looked over toward me and gasped.

One of the tallest trees on the edge of the stone field was bending over. A long branch near the bottom of it was poking me. I stepped back and my left foot got wedged in between two stones. As I pulled it out, I lost my balance and fell hard on my rear. My teeth bit down on my tongue.

“Aawuch.”

Kate was now standing behind me, and we both were staring up at the bending tree. It was tall and curved like a rainbow. Kate and I scooted back. It creaked and chirped as it further contorted itself. Squirrels and birds were leaping out of the branches and scrambling down the arched trunk.

“Unbelievable,” Kate whispered.

I was pretty impressed, but after all the things I had seen since I had moved to Kingsplot, it wasn’t actually
unbelievable
to me.

The top of the tree bent further and further until it was two feet from the ground. It thrust its crown forward, reaching for something.

“What the heck is it doing?” I whispered.

Kate was too in awe to answer. So we both watched in silence as the tree extended some of its upper branches to stretch even farther.

“It’s trying to get something,” I said.

The tree was bent over as far as it could, reaching over the river of rock. The longest top branch extended from the top of the tree by a good three feet. The thin branch shook and wiggled trying to reach farther. The tree’s roots began to slowly pull up from the dirt as it stretched and lengthened.

“It’s looking for the stone,” I said in amazement. “It wants us to find it.”

I stood up, and both of us stepped carefully toward where the top of the tree was. It yanked its roots out a couple of more inches. The long top branch lowered just a bit more and gently touched the back of a single stone that was half buried by other small boulders.

Kate pushed me forward and I bent down to get the rock. The tree kept its branch on it until I had picked it up.

Instantly the stone glowed in my hands. I felt chills running from the bottom of my feet up into my forehead. I held the stone in one hand and reached out to pet the top of the tree with my other.

“Thanks,” I whispered.

“It’s not a dog,” Kate pointed out.

The tree creaked and wriggled and then with one loud slap, it sprang back up. A squirrel that had not been wise enough to get off went flying through the air as the tree wobbled to a stiff stop.

“That was helpful,” Kate said, staring at the once again tall tree.

“They’ve been so mean to me lately.”

“I think they just wanted you to do what you’re supposed to.”

Wyatt came running out of the forest and stopped at the edge of the rocks. He was breathing hard and his hair was sweaty.

“Sorry I’m late,” he heaved. “You already found it?”

Kate and I both nodded.

“Was it hard to find?” he asked.

“Not really,” I answered.

We made our way back to the manor watching out for signs of anyone else. Just to be nice, I let Wyatt carry the heavy stone so he could feel needed.

I’m not sure he appreciated it as much as I thought he should.

Illustration from page 20 of
The Grim Knot

CHAPTER 11

We placed the stone in the water beneath the twisted snake statue. Then I took Kate and Wyatt inside. I showed them the cool little green door and we went through the mirror and hiked up the slender, winding staircase. When we got to the top of the slide I warned them about staying to the right if they saw a fork. I also told them that if they ended up in the other room they should just look through the painting until I got there.

Kate practically jumped down the slide, and, after waiting a few moments, Wyatt followed. I took my turn, and when I reached the end, they were both standing there begging to go again.

“You could travel anywhere in this house without anybody knowing,” Kate said excitedly. “Let’s go again.”

It was tempting, but I knew we had to get back to the cave while it was still daylight. Wyatt wanted to opt out, but after I promised him he could just wait outside of the cave, he agreed to go.

We retrieved the stone from the fountain and I put it inside a backpack. It was heavy, but not half as bad as actually carrying it with my hands. I definitely preferred hiking through the woods during the day versus trudging through them at night. We made much better time and the trees didn’t attack me like they had before.

When we reached the side of the mountain where the stairs began, we all grumbled, but we knew there was no easier way.

“Actually,” Wyatt said. “If I’m just going to wait at the top of the stairs, I might as well just wait at the bottom.”

We made fun of him until he agreed to at least climb up with us. The stone stairs were very cool. I hadn’t been able to see too much of them last night so it was amazing to take them all in. They were carved right into the side of the mountain and covered by trees that grew sideways out of the stone wall. The trees did a fantastic job of hiding the stairs and the train tracks that ran up the slope of the mountain. On the side of the stairs were tiny carvings of small gargoyle-like beings that were pointing in different directions.

Halfway up the stairs I gave Wyatt the backpack to carry. I offered it to Kate first but she declined. When we reached the moss wall we were all breathing hard. The section of moss growing on the stone was at least twenty feet high and fifteen feet wide. And the hole we had made last night was about the size of a car standing up on its back end. I looked through the opening carefully.

“Any moths?” Wyatt asked.

“Only dead ones,” I said, pointing to the ground.

“Good,” Wyatt cheered. “After what they did to me on the train, they don’t deserve to live.”

The light from outdoors pushed in through the opening and lit the front cavern up pretty well. I could see the train and it looked like a giant metal monster that was sound asleep.

“Come on, Kate,” I waved.

Kate and I walked over to the train. We were kicking up dead moths and the sound of our shuffling bounced off the high stone walls. We walked back to the large steel door. Kate was holding onto my right arm, and I could see Wyatt right beside me. I stopped, and we all slammed into each other.

“What are you doing?” Wyatt asked.

“I thought you were going to wait outside,” I said.

“It’s the kid that waits outside who always gets eaten,” Wyatt explained.

“Yeah, that was our plan,” I said, walking again. I stopped after three steps.

“What now?” Kate asked.

“Well, since the lights aren’t on, the back cavern is going to be pretty dark,” I informed her.

“Just go,” Kate said. “We’ll close the door to the tunnel and then we can come back and turn the lights on.”

I knew the plan, I just wasn’t totally happy about having to walk through the huge, dark cavern. Luckily it wasn’t as black as I thought it would be. The large open door gave all the boxes and obstacles some definition. We made it to the back, closed the tunnel door, and slid the bolt into place. Kate noticed a switch near the back tunnels and, when she threw it on, the place lit up.

“Wow, this room is huge,” I said in wonder.

I unzipped the backpack and took the stone out. It glowed in my hand like one of the dim lights on the walls.

“Are you sure about this?” Wyatt asked, actually being the voice of reason for the first time in his life.

“I don’t think I have a choice,” I replied. “The trees will beat me up if I don’t.”

“It’ll just grow one dragon, right?” Kate asked. “That’s it?”

I nodded, pretending I was an expert on the subject. “That old guy said it’ll be the queen.”

“Will she have a crown?” Wyatt asked seriously.

Kate and I both stared at him.

“What?” he said defensively. “I don’t know anything about queen dragons.”

“Obviously,” Kate smiled.

“All right,” I said with just a touch of nervousness. “I’ll plant it now.”

All three of us just stood there.

“Go on,” Kate finally said as she nudged me forward.

I didn’t move.

“Don’t even try to stop me,” I insisted.

Wyatt took a turn nudging me. I’m not completely sure why I was so hesitant. Ever since I had killed the last dragon I had wanted to see another one. They were amazing, and the time Kate and I had spent with them provided some of the most incredible moments of my life. But I also knew what they could do. Not only could they tear apart houses and light buildings on fire, they also had the ability to make my family even crazier. My family’s history was filled with the ill effects that dragons and their power had on us. The women had gone mad. My own father had exiled himself to the top of the manor just so he wouldn’t be tempted to abuse the power. I knew it was in my blood to use them for the wrong reasons, and I was more than just a little concerned about that. I wanted to be a better person, and I wasn’t sure this was a step in the right direction.