The Soulkeepers (22 page)

"Jacob, stop being stubborn and just try the
second ski. That was a really good try, but trust me you are not
getting up on this ski today." Malini smiled but there was a note
of frustration in her voice. Mrs. Gupta frowned over the side of
the boat. Jacob realized he was testing their patience but for
reasons he didn't fully understand it was important to him that
Malini knew he was strong, that she could trust that he could
protect her. He knew it was a childish thing to do, but he couldn't
stop himself. He wanted to impress her.

"One more time. I'm fine really!" Jacob said
and then closed his eyes and called the water. The hum started
again and the feeling of vibration on his skin. Malini threw the
rope and he snatched it out of the air with one hand. His ski back
on, he willed the water steady beneath him. Once the rope was
taught, it was less like being dragged then standing on an
underwater conveyor belt that was moving at the same speed as the
boat. Everything became clear. He could feel the water and
everything in it. He was the water.

"Hit it!" he yelled, and
couldn't help remembering the day in Dr. Silva's garden when he'd
thrown the bowl of water on the dirt.
If
I'm a Soulkeeper, shouldn't I be able to walk on this stuff,
he'd said. Today, he was about to find
out.

The boat lurched forward and he concentrated
on keeping his body straight. Only now it was not only his muscles
that did the work but also the water around him. One thousand hands
lifted him to standing. When the wake hit, it didn't knock him down
like the last time. It flowed around a patch of smooth water the
exact size of his ski that carried him forward as if he were
coasting across glass.

Jacob decided to push his luck and swing out
to the side of the boat. There was a moment of panic as he jumped
the wake and lost contact with the water, but when he landed the
water adjusted, steadying the ski. He stole a glance toward Malini.
She was facing him in the spotter's position, her mouth hanging
open. One more lap around the lake and he felt like he'd proved his
point. He let go of the rope and willed himself to sink.

The boat circled to him and the Guptas gave
him a round of applause before helping him up the ladder.

"That was amazing!" Malini said. Her eyes
twinkled, flecks of gold and red breaking up the chocolate brown in
the light reflected off the water.

"I had a good teacher," he replied, placing
an arm around her waist.

"Have you kids had enough?" Mr. Gupta asked,
reaching for the rope in such a way as to wedge his body between
them.

"Yeah, I'm through," Jacob said. Malini
nodded.

Once everything was safely stowed, Mr. Gupta
sped toward the cedar cottage. He was talking about dinner,
something about hamburgers on the grill, but Jacob was hardly
listening. He was watching the way Malini's hair flew back from her
face in the speed driven wind. The sun was a red ball of fire
surrounded by streaks of pinks and purples behind her. She smiled
and in that moment, there was not a thing that he wanted or needed
in the world. He had everything.

Fire and Ice

The sand in front of the Guptas' cottage was
dark and coarse, littered with clamshells and stones. It wasn't the
type of beach Jacob was used to, not an ocean beach, but as he lit
the pile of driftwood under the starry sky and saw the gold in
Malini's eyes spark in the glow of the fire, he could think of
nowhere he would rather be. She spread a blanket a few feet from
the blaze. Sparks floated into the night sky.

Mr. and Mrs. Gupta sat on the balcony of the
cottage having an after-dinner cup of coffee. The path from the
beach to the cedar steps of the balcony was sufficiently wooded to
give Jacob the privacy he wanted to tell Malini what he needed to
tell her. He'd been thinking about it for a long time, rolling it
around in his brain. If his plan had any chance of working, she had
to understand what she meant to him.

He took Malini's hand and sat down with her
on the blanket. His arm wrapped around her back in a way that was
instinctual for him now. She felt like a puzzle piece, fitting into
his side where there had always been an empty space.

"You did really well today Jake. I can't
believe this was your first time skiing," she said.

"You too. You're amazing. Is there anything
you can't do?"

"Lots of things. But none that I'll admit."
She smiled at him and he couldn't resist leaning in for a gentle
kiss. He pulled back a fraction of an inch.

"How long have we known each other,
Malini?"

"About six months."

"You're my best friend."

"You're mine, too. I don't know what I'd do
without you."

"I feel the same way. I just…I want you to
know that I feel like we were meant for each other." Jacob reached
his toe forward until it touched the edge of the water. "I feel
like I can trust you. I want to show you something. Something
you've been asking me about for a while now. But don't freak out,
okay?"

"This is about that day at the grocery store
with Dane, isn't it? Something else has happened."

He nodded.

"Anything. You can tell me anything," she
said.

"You'll keep it a secret."

"Yes. Of course."

Jacob asked the water to climb his leg to
the hand that rested on his knee. Once it flowed into his palm, he
willed it into a chain, freezing each link as it formed. Instead of
the last link, he made a solid heart. The crystals formed facets
within its center, flickering in the firelight like a gemstone. He
wrapped the bracelet around her wrist. He didn't need a clasp; the
water melted and refroze in exactly the right size.

Malini's face was a mask of astonishment,
her mouth slightly open, her eyes wide.

"What is this, Jake? This thing with you, is
it getting stronger? You can control it now. When did that
start?"

"Malini, can't you just relax and enjoy
this?"

"No, I want to know, Jake. I'm worried about
you. Do you understand this at all? I want to help you."

"For tonight, just for tonight, can you just
enjoy it? Can we decide to talk about it tomorrow? I have something
I want to tell you."

Malini's mouth twisted into a disappointed
scowl but he could see how much she wanted the night to continue.
She was in as deep as he was, and she didn't want to get out. As
much as she was dying to understand the how of it, he was sure she
was more interested in knowing what he had to say.

"It's cold," she finally said, smiling
again. Her shoulders relaxed as she admired the ice in the
firelight.

"That's one of the problems. The other is if
I let go, it will melt. But I'll get you a real one someday."

"I love it," she said.

"There's something I want to tell you."

"What?" she asked. He watched the fire dance
inside the heart.

"I love you, Malini. I feel like I've known
you forever and I will know you forever. I love you. I know we're
young but I want us to stay together."

Malini looked up from the heart, into his
eyes. "I love you, too." And, then she was kissing him. She lifted
her wrist from his hand, the bracelet melting down her arm and
placed her palm on his face.

Jacob hardly noticed the cold water that
dripped down his chest. His whole world was her mouth, her face.
Even when the fireworks began, sending showers of twinkling light
over Lake Stelton, they had nothing on her. In front of the water,
stretched out on the blanket, something told him nothing ever
would.

The Hardware
Stone

Snakes are everywhere. They drip from the
branches of the tree, falling like strands of spaghetti to the sand
and surrounding his feet.

"Help Jacob! Help me," a voice calls from
behind him. He turns to see Malini, her eyes wide with terror. The
snakes close in. Jacob leaps into the air, flipping over the
serpents and landing directly in front of her. He reaches for the
canteen around his neck and pours the water into his hand. He wills
it into a scythe of ice and slices at the snakes writhing at
Malini's feet. Scaly skin flies, rubbery flesh piling in the sand.
They die but more come.

They talk to her in hisses, all of them at
once.

"Come with us." They ignore the slashing
scythe. "We will give you the world. Think of all the good you will
do when you control it."

Jacob glances back, expecting to see fear on
Malini's face but she is serene. She is resolved, calm as a stone.
She lifts her hand to Jacob's shoulder and as she makes contact,
everything becomes clear.

Jacob knows exactly what to do. He drops the
scythe; circles his arms and delivers a two handed push. Not a
human push, a push from somewhere greater, with power beyond his
own. The sky opens and the rain pours down. The serpents don't
stand a chance.

* * * * *

God, he hated his dreams. Jacob rolled over
and looked at the clock—five-thirty. What he wouldn't give for a
full night's sleep. He reached under the pillow to try to get
comfortable and something caught in his fingers. Rolling onto his
back, he pulled his hand out and the red stone came with it,
twinkling in the early morning light.

Between his thumb and forefinger, he
examined the stone again, the light picking up the network of
facets under the smooth surface. When he would orient it in just
the right way, a black square was visible, as if the stone had
formed around something. He brought the stone closer to get a
better look and the redness seemed to grow larger with his shift in
perspective. It crept over him. A weightless shift, like free
falling overcame him, and he reached out to grab the bed but it was
gone. His room was gone. He fell into the black square at the
center of the red and stood up in the oddest place he could have
imagined. It was blank, an empty page.

"Where am I?" he asked. His body felt funny,
disconnected somehow.

"In between," a voice said.

In the blink of an eye, he was standing in a
hardware store. Behind the counter, an old man in overalls and a
cap was drumming his fingers.

"Who are you?" Jacob asked.

"You don't remember me? Well, I guess I
looked different when I gave you the stone." Abruptly, the man
shrank into the hunched dwarf woman, and then grew back into
himself. "I thought this form would be easier for you," he
said.

"What are you? What is this place?"

"A gift from the Achuar. The Healer felt
sorry for you, for the loss of your mama. She wanted to give you
something. I am a window."

"A window?"

"I am part of the Healer's medicine, her
gift of sight. I am a shadow of her mind. Ask me and I will
answer."

"So I can ask you anything?"

"You can. But I can only answer questions
about the future, as it stands today. The future is always
changing. Every decision is a fork in the road. I can tell you only
where the road leads, today. But mind yourself Horseman; knowledge
of the future is a dangerous thing. Are you prepared?"

"Yes," he said, too quickly.

"Then ask what you will."

"Where is my mother?"

"That is a question about the present, not
the future. I cannot answer."

"Then, will I find my mother?"

The man pulled out a hubcap from behind the
counter. He selected a variety of nuts and bolts from various
bowls, and folded them into his greasy palm. Shaking them
vigorously, he threw them like dice into the hubcap. They crashed
and clanged. When they'd settled at the center the man leaned over
them, reading their position against the metal. "Yes," he said.

"Is she alive?"

"I can't answer that question."

Jacob was beginning to understand. He tried
again.

"Will she be dead or alive when I find
her?"

The nuts and bolts made a sound like a
cymbal as they hit the pan.

"Neither."

"Neither. That doesn't make any sense.
Explain?"

The man shook his head. Frustrated, he tried
again.

"Will I use the tree to find her?"

Clang

"Yes."

Jacob thought hard about how to phrase his
next question.

"How will I find the notebooks about the
tree?"

Crash

The man studied the pattern of nuts and
bolts. "Gideon," he said.

The walls of the store began to turn
red.

"Looks like it's time for you to go. Ya'll
come back now, real soon," said the man, waving his meaty hand.
Backwards Jacob flew, as if the stone was spitting him out. He fell
onto his bed, into the square of light streaming through the
window. Someone was banging on his door.

"Time for church, moron," yelled
Katrina.

"I'll be right there," he called back,
sliding the stone back under his pillow. He bounded out of bed and
dressed for another long morning.

Gideon's Passage

As soon as his obligatory Sunday brunch was
eaten, Jacob crossed the street to Dr. Silva's. He didn't need an
excuse, it was his job to feed the cat and weed the garden. In
fact, he would do those things, but he would do something else as
well. He would find Dr. Silva's notebooks and learn how to navigate
Oswald.

The mosquitoes were becoming a nuisance
after dark, so he decided to work in the garden first. He finished
up by late afternoon, and then let himself in through the sunroom
to feed Gideon. The big red cat was waiting, pacing the tabletop.
The cat's eyes watched as he pulled the next plate from the
refrigerator and placed it on the floor.

"You must be hungry, huh, boy," Jacob
said.

Gideon didn't move. He sat on the counter,
staring at him, the tip of his tail twitching.