Eighth Fire (22 page)

Mark woke to the sound of his mother yelling.
“I’m his mother for crying out loud! You should have told me! Now
look what’s happened. He’s just a child for goodness sake. Last
year the labyrinth and now this!”

He was in familiar surroundings: a hospital bed
with the curtain drawn closed. As soon as he peeked around the
curtain Chenoa walked up and put her arms around him gently. “I was
so worried! Everybody thought you had to be dead. I’m glad we
didn’t give up.”

Throwing the curtain open, Shirley followed
close behind Chenoa and forced her out of the way while she hugged
her son. “Oh hon, look at your head. What have they done to
you?”

“They didn’t do anything to me. It was an
accident.” He pushed himself out of her arms. “I might be just a
child like you say, but I had to do this. No one else could. Mr.
Giancoli died trying to do it!”

He looked around and saw a multitude of people
in the healing ward. His friends, Jamal, Nick, LeOmi and Cap’n Ben
were standing in front of Shana, Jeremy, Tim, or rather Mr.
Fairbanks. He wondered if he’d ever be able to think of Tim as Mr.
Fairbanks.

His brother and dad were walking toward him.
Chenoa’s father was there as was just about everyone else that had
been part of the support crew. There were even some of the warriors
that he had encountered when he first arrived at the cave and a lot
of warriors he had never seen before.

His mom reached for him and said, “Hon, you
didn’t have to do it.”

Mark backed another half step away. “You don’t
understand. Mr. Giancoli died because they tried to keep me from
having to do it. He died trying to save me and you and dad and
everyone else I care about. You know what Benrah said.”

His mom started to say something else when
Slone, Ralph and Keith walked in. Slone burst out laughing and said
through the chortle, “Master Yoda, the force wasn’t with you.”

Mark had never seen his mother move so quickly.
She turned and was on Slone in a blink. His dad reached out to grab
her but missed. She slapped Slone so hard he stumbled back two
steps. It evidently caught him by surprise too since he didn’t even
try to block it, or didn’t have time to react.

“How dare you!” She closed on Slone about to
strike him again when Mrs. Shadowitz caught her arm and spun
Shirley to face her.

“That’s enough of that. I know you’re a little
upset, but you will compose yourself or I’ll have you removed.”

Slone straightened himself and said, “I didn’t
know you lost your hair. It caught me by surprise, that’s all.” He
acted like nothing had happened. He didn’t even touch his face
where the handprint was glowing red.

Mark noted there was no apology in his
explanation either, and thought that anyone else might have said
they were sorry for laughing. “I didn’t lose my hair.” He reached
into Aaron’s Grasp, removed it—scalp and all—and tossed it toward
Slone.

Slone sidestepped and watched it hit the floor.
“That’s pretty gross. What happened?”

“I was steamed, all right? Parboiled Mark,
that’s funny isn’t it? I’ve had enough of you Slone. You can turn
your skinny little self around and march right out of here before I
do something that will get me in trouble. If I never see you again
it’ll be too soon.”

Mary, the healer walked over and picked up
Mark’s hair and scalp. “I wish I’d known you had this.” She
examined it a little closer. “It looks like it can still be
reattached.”

Slone continued, “No, I’m serious. What
happened?”

“I told you!” He started toward Slone. “What
word didn’t you understand?”

Slone made a “T” sign with his hands, but Ralph
and Keith drew their riotous before Slone could say, “Time out.”
Mrs. Shadowitz moved in a blur and had both of their riotous in her
hands.

Mrs. Shadowitz said, “There will be no fighting
in the healing ward.” She turned to Mark. “I know you’ve been
stretched to the breaking point, but you will calm down. No one has
been told of the events that happened there. Only those that were
present know anything of what happened and that’s not much. The
last images on the video showed you falling, so none of us know the
details. It appears obvious that the power source for the sunstone
was lost. Do you feel like sharing the details of what happened
publicly or would you rather it done in private?”

Mark looked around at the crowd and knew
everyone was there not only to see how he was, but to find out the
fate of the power source as well. He didn’t answer Mrs. Shadowitz.
He just backed up, sat on the bed, closed his eyes and remembered.
He remembered all too well those events he wished to forget.

He brought vivid images from his dreams about
Xocotli to the front of his mind showing how Xocotli had used the
power source to defeat attackers. Next he remembered knocking the
ice away from the power source and realizing he had it. Then he
remembered dropping it after he was surprised when it fired. Next
came the rumbling earthquake and being surprised by the ice
plummeting down the slope toward him, running for the ladder and
not quite making it across in time. He remembered the sinking
feeling of failure when he saw the lantern and the power source
fall into the pit. He heard loud moans and some shrieks from people
in the room when he remembered the pain of being scalded alive, his
desperate climb over the edge of the pit and the pain intensifying
as he fled. He showed them his fraught struggle just to stay
alive.

He opened his eyes and looked around. His mother
was on her knees sobbing in great heaves, as were a few others.
Everyone he could see had eyes wet with tears, everyone except one.
Even Ralph and Keith were crying a little, but not Slone. He just
looked solemn.

He looked Mark directly in the eyes and said
nothing.

Mr. Day folded his arms across his chest. He
spoke and everyone knew his words were directed at Slone, Ralph and
Keith. “If you ever again raise a finger against this young warrior
you will answer to the entire Occoneechee Nation.”

Another Native American warrior close by folded
his arms across his chest and said, “And the Cherokee Nation.”

Another did the same, “And the Chippewa
Nation.”

Yet another, “And the Blackfoot Nation.”

“And the Sioux Nation.”

“And the Cheyenne Nation.”

“The Shawnee Nation.”

“The Arapaho Nation.”

Apache, Seminole, Iroquois and Hopi brought the
number to twelve.

The healing ward became still and quiet. Slone’s
eyes never left Mark, but Ralph and Keith looked quite flushed.
They didn’t utter a sound; didn’t move a muscle. After a long
moment Slone said, “You have your truce, you’ve earned it. In fact,
if anyone lifts a finger against you, they will answer to me and my
group first.”

Mark’s mind started racing, Slone was up to
something and he had no idea what it could be. Why would Slone come
to his defense? Surely it couldn’t be that he was touched by the
events he had just witnessed, that he thought Mark had proved his
courage. Slone wasn’t touched by anything that didn’t deal with him
directly. Maybe he thought this did affect him. Maybe it was a ploy
to make him seem like he was no longer a threat to Mark, but there
had to be more to it than just that. Slone didn’t do anything
without an ulterior motive.

Confronting Slone was no good. If he just flat
out asked Slone what he was up to he knew he’d get an altruistic
explanation designed to make Slone look good and that explanation
would be anything but the truth. He could wait and let Slone’s
actions prove his intent, but that could take too long if Slone’s
intent was sinister, and it likely was. No, he’d have to find
another way to figure out what Slone was up to. The only thing he
could think to say was, “It’s about time.”

Slone gave a little smile. “I know you think I’m
up to something, but the truth is I’ve had enough time to think
about the way things happened from your point of view. I understand
you better. I know you just have to prove yourself to yourself.

“Last year, you walked out onto the school
grounds and saw three bigger boys taunting a smaller one. You
thought, three against one, and stepped in to even the odds a
little, only you didn’t have to butt in. You butted in to prove to
yourself that you could, just like your older brother did for
you.

“Nick was in no danger. Ralph, Keith and Ricky
were just teasing him a little to get acquainted with him. They’re
from rough neighborhoods. It’s done that way where they’re
from.

“Everything that happened after that was a
result of your false assumptions. We even tried to make friends
with you by doing it your way and you snubbed us. Things escalated
from there.

“We’re willing to forget the past and start
fresh, if you are.” He turned to Ralph and Keith.

Keith looked puzzled and said, “What about
Ricky?”

“I’ve thought about that too. What Ricky did was
my fault. I encouraged his animosity toward Mark. Ricky went much
farther than I expected him to go. It’s time to end this before
something else happens.”

Keith and Ralph shook their heads slowly. It was
obvious they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

Slone said, “Trust me.”

Keith asked Mrs. Shadowitz, “What’s going to
happen to Ricky?”

“Ricky committed suicide and tried to pin his
death on Mark. Even if Mark were to ask for those charges to be
dropped, Ricky will stand trial for other things discovered during
the investigation that I’m not at liberty to discuss.”

Mark blurted, “I didn’t know I
could ask for the charges to be dropped.” It had unnerved Mark that
Ricky had even considered such lengths to get back at him and felt
somewhat guilty about Ricky’s fate. He never intended for anything
like that to happen. He remembered,
Intentions have no substance…

Mark looked at Slone, then at Keith and Ralph
before turning back to Mrs. Shadowitz. Even if Slone were lying
about everything else he was right about one thing; this feud
needed to end here and now. “Ma’am, I’d like the charges
dropped.”

There was the sound of mild surprise from some
of the people in the room.

Mrs. Shadowitz frowned, closed her eyes and
nodded.

Grinning, Slone approached Mark with his hand
extended. “It’s a done deal then, we have a truce.”

Mark felt a wave of deep foreboding as soon as
he touched Slone’s hand. He thought it couldn’t feel any worse than
if he was shaking hands with Benrah himself. He pushed the thought
from his mind and offered his hand to Ralph and Keith in turn. They
both shook his hand haltingly as if they were in shock, not
realizing exactly what was going on or what they were doing.

Slone said before turning to leave, “We’ll keep
our end of the deal as long as you do.” Ralph and Keith followed
him out the door.

Mark knew that as soon as the door closed behind
them and they were out of earshot Ralph and Keith would start
hounding Slone for an explanation. He doubted they’d get a straight
answer. He wondered if it were really possible that he had
misconstrued what was going on when he saw Ralph, Keith and Ricky
taunting Nick on the first day at The Seventh Mountain. Could his
instincts have really been that wrong?

He watched as most of the people in the healing
ward started funneling out onto the balcony and disappearing. A few
left through the main door that led back into the interior of the
school.

“Hon, why didn’t you tell us you were going to
do this?”

Mark glanced up at his mother who was now
standing beside the bed along with his father and friends, except
for Nick. Her face was red and puffy. He could tell she was
struggling to hold back the tears. He spotted Nick off talking with
Mrs. Shadowitz, Mr. Young and Mr. Diefenderfer.

How could he tell his mother and not hurt her
more. She was his mother after all and the last thing he wanted to
do was to alienate her or start severing that special bond they had
developed over the course of his life. But he knew that if she had
been told she would have tried to stop him and that would have
caused grief too.

He saw her lose the battle with her tears. She
nodded and held a tissue to her nose. “Hon,” she got down on her
knees and cradled his hands in hers, “please don’t leave me out of
your life again. I promise; I’ll try not to interfere anymore. I
beg you; don’t just throw me away like an old shoe.”

Mark slid from the bed, put his arms around his
mother and stood her up. He tasted the salt in the back of his
mouth from his own tears. “You will always be my mother and I will
always love you. But you must understand… you cannot always be at
my side to protect me.” He drew her close and squeezed her tight.
“I will make you this promise though, one way or another I will
always try to keep you informed about what’s going on in my life.”
He tentatively released his mother watching to make sure she could
stand.

His father put his hand on his shoulder and
said, “I know how traumatic what you’ve been through has been, and
maybe this isn’t the best time, but I have to agree with your
mother. You should have told us.”

Mark thought that a little bit hypocritical
coming from a US Marine, a group that prided themselves on
self-sufficiency. But at the same time he knew his dad’s concern
was that of a father who loved his son and his wife.

“I’m sorry dad. I’ll try not to let it happen
again.”

His dad’s hand tightened on his shoulder and
gave him a little shake. He knew that was all the understanding
they needed between them. The subject would never be brought up
again unless he proved absolutely untrustworthy in keeping his
promise.

LeOmi stepped up in front of Mark with her hand
extended. “I’m impressed. I thought you did great, but if it were
me, I’d have come out with the power source. I want the whole story
when you feel up to it, not just snippets from here and there
either. I want the whole story.”