Secret Places and Hidden Things

Chapter Ten

It was midmorning and Jack was wandering. All of the windows were open, and the smell of melting snow came through the corridors on a fresh breeze. The sun was low on the horizon but very blue, like it is in spring. As he passed by a set of French doors, he could see Michael sitting out on a marble terrace, his black hair a void in the light. It looked like Wynne's balcony, but he didn't think he was anywhere near her tower. He went through the doors, and Michael turned in his seat, peering at him with dark eyes.

"Oh, hello," he said. "Did you come to watch the waterfall?"

Jack looked out over the balcony. They were high up, perched over a deep valley surrounded by towering mountains. A thick spill of water was falling from a low point between two peaks, throwing rainbows and mist out over the gnarled pines in an echoing roar. It felt very close, maybe because the valley was so far below them, hidden in shadows.

He heard some faint singing and looked back through the open doors to see Wynne poking a needle through some checkered fabric. She looked up and waived at him.

"How did I even get here?" Jack asked, sitting next to Michael.

"I saw you come through the door," Michael said, arranging his cloak into a nest. It was draped around him in layers, glowing red in the sunlight and reflecting onto the marble. He had a small pot on his lap that he must have been working on before Jack arrived—there was a hand shovel and some black dirt by his feet. He pushed back his over-sized sleeves, his arms pale in the morning sun, and started massaging a tuft of green growing in the middle with his fingers, his head turned sideways to look at it.

"Wake up," he said. "It's spring today, you're going to be late..."

Thin fronds curled out of the pot and crawled over the edges like so many hands. A moment later, a long, thin stem snaked its way into the air and squeezed out a swift bloom like a firework. It was the strangest flower Jack had even seen.

Wynne came out the door. "Hello Jack. It's a lovely day, isn't it?" She stretched widely and pulled a flowery bandanna off of her head, her long gray curls swimming in the breeze. "Ahh, it feels so good to loosen the evening." She shook her head, and as her hair whipped out, a flurry of moths exploded from within and drifted off on the breeze. Jack watched them make their way down into the dark valley below.

"I asked Michael to help me with some stubborn seeds I was trying to plant."

Michael handed her the pot.

"What the heck is it?" she asked.

"I dunno," Michael said, "I think it's a new one."

Wynne carried the pot back into her room, the flower bobbing its head smugly over her shoulder.

Michael gave his dirty fingers a flick and the dirt burnt away into smoke. He held his clean hands up in the sunlight for a moment, examining the glow between his fingers, before setting them gently on his lap.

Jack and Michael sat watching the waterfall for a while. Wynne was humming pleasantly behind them, but her song slowly faded away. Jack looked back and saw that her room had disappeared. The hallway he'd come out of was back.

"Michael, do you know anything about this place?" Jack asked.

"I guess so," he answered.

"Well...what is it exactly?"

Michael thought for a moment. "Mostly fall, sometimes spring, occasionally Christmas." He stretched out his legs and put them on the curb at the base of the wall. They were just long enough for him to curl his toes over the smooth corner.

"I want to stay here forever." Jack said, watching a few hawks circling overhead. One of them gave a long cry, and it echoed quietly around the valley.

"I don't think you will," Michael said. "You have a bit more to do."

Jack looked over at him. He was staring at something beyond sight.

"I wonder if I'll make my way back."

Michael turned, tilting his head to the side again and squinting his eyes.

"Definitely. It won't be how you expect, though. You'll have to lose a part of yourself first."

"That's not always a bad thing," a voice said over his shoulder. "Maybe it's one of those nasty habits that seem impossible to get rid of." Daerk was standing there, paler than ever in the sunlight. His eyes were almost white, with blue-green starbursts glimmering like melted ice. "Good morning. Um... Why am I... Oh, right. Jack I finally found something I wanted to give you. Yes, yes." He handed Jack a small book.

"What's this for?" Jack asked. All the pages seemed to be blank.

"It's a guide. A guide to anything you want to know. Very helpful. It taught me seven different languages."

Jack started flipping through. In spite of the book's small size, the pages kept coming. They never seemed to stop. "How does it work?"

"Oh, well, it'll fill up with what you need. Be careful, though, it's endless. You'll never be able to finish reading it, so don't get obsessed about anything." He laughed airily.

"Why are you giving me this?" Jack asked.

"Why?" Daerk repeated. He put a finger on his bottom lip. "Because you're trying to do something," he said. "You're thinking all over the place. It's kind of distracting." He waved his long arms around over his head. "I don't really mind, though. At least it makes you interesting." He turned around without ceremony and wandered off through the door, repeating what he'd said in a small voice.

"Do you think I'm distracting?" Jack asked, turning to Michael.

Michael looked at him, his face inscrutable. After a moment, he smiled widely, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "No. I like your thoughts. They're very colorful." He leaned in close, watching something over Jack's head, then grabbed at the air with a quick thrust. When he leaned back, he had a bright yellow canary clasped in his fist. It was twittering in a cheerful way, its eyes closed merrily. Michael curled open his fingers slowly, and the canary hopped to its feet, shaking itself. It poofed out its feathers, then flew up onto Jack's shoulder and whispered into his ear. "Maybe you could use that book to figure out how to roll up the table!" It bounced excitedly a few times, chirping loudly, before exploding in a deafening burst of feathers and lighting.

Michael giggled madly. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were brainstorming."

Jack couldn't hear him. His ears were ringing.