Secret Places and Hidden Things

Chapter Sixteen

Jack and Elliot were relaxing up on Wynne's balcony. That morning, they had awoken to warm weather and the sound of gulls squabbling outside. When Jack had looked out the window in his room, the little courtyard had gone, replaced by a stretch of seashore. He'd been able to climb out and feel the sand in his toes, but large cliffs extended from either side of the helm out into the sea—waterfalls picking their way carefully over the many jutting stones. The courtyard had become a private cove.

Now he was laying in a hammock. Wynne seemed to have a few stowed away for warm days. Her balcony was, as always, high above the landscape, and the steady crash of waves could be heard far below. Even looking straight over the edge of the side, you couldn't see a shoreline. Jack had the distinct feeling he was on a ship. For some reason the tower was swaying ever so slightly in the wind.

Wynne had brought out a bit of stale bread, and Elliot was throwing bits of it off the side of the balcony. Large sea birds that Jack couldn't identify were catching them in the air.

"Jack, have we done this before?" Elliot asked.

"I'm pretty sure we haven't."

"Really? Okay. I won't say anything, then."

Jack sat up a bit. Elliot had a half-smile on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, never mind. I just remember this from before, but it must have been from after this point. Something happened."

"Something happened? What do you mean?"

"Well I—" Elliot stopped. His eyes blanked out for a moment, and then he looked down at the bread.

"Was I saying something?"

"Yeah, you were saying something was going to happen."

Elliot shook his head. "I guess I don't know. This is a nice day though, isn't it?"

One of the birds Elliot had been feeding landed on the railing and clicked its beak. Up close, Jack could see it was almost half his size.

"What do you suppose it wants?" Elliot asked, looking at the bird.

"You were feeding it the bread," Jack said.

"Oh, right." Elliot tossed a big chunk of bread into the air and the bird took off, catching it in its long beak.

"What do you suppose they'll do if I run out?"

"They'll probably attack," Wynne said, her eyes flashing as she walked out the door with a pitcher of lemonade.

There was a loud bang from inside the tower. They all turned around to see Marelle standing by the trap door looking utterly confused.

"How did I get here?" she asked, squinting in the sun. "I was just walking through a door."

"Hello Marelle!" Wynne said. "I don't think you've come up here before."

"Who are you?" Marelle asked, the tone of suspicion ever-present in her voice.

"My name's Wynne, would you like some lemonade? Or maybe a slice of fresh bread? I've been doing some baking." Wynne motioned to the oven at the back of her tower.

"Why are you baking when it's so hot out?" Marelle asked, staying where she was.

Wynne shrugged. "It didn't occur to me not to."

Marelle stood for a moment longer, then walked out onto the balcony. "More ocean," she said. "The whole place is surrounded." She leaned over the edge to look down. Suddenly, she slipped and fell head first over the side. Elliot leapt up to catch her, but he was too far away. Her scream slowly faded out.