Existence

Chapter 18

 "Don't trust— okay, Sarah?"

Jed's voice echoed in her head as she went down the stairs. The house was crowded. Women in dark-colored dresses clustered together in groups to talk about random gossip and a number of men were having drinks out on the front porch.

Sarah wandered over to the back garden. She didn't want to run around the house. Not today. But why was that? What was she doing here?

"Sarah, wanna play with us?" A girl around eight called from where she was running with a few other kids. Susie, the name floated up into her head.

She shook her head. She wasn't in the mood to play today either.

Sarah glanced down at herself. She was in a knee-length, blue dress and matching doll shoes. Her hair felt tied up in tight pigtails. It was like she was seven years old again. She studied her hands. She was seven years old again.

"Sarah! Sarah over here!"

She frowned, scanning the garden for the source of the voice. It didn't sound like Jed this time. It sounded like...

"Over here, cousin!"

Alex.

Sarah ran through the garden, trying to pinpoint her cousin's location. She followed his voice to the hedge maze, taking turn after turn, not worrying about getting lost.

"You just let him?" Jed's voice came from the other side of the right hedge wall. "It's dangerous— look at what—through—"

A pair of hands landed on her shoulders. Sarah glanced up to see Alex's smiling face. At the same time, Jed rounded the corner, something shiny in his hand.

"Sarah, get away from him!"

Sarah jolted awake. The green leaves overhead confused her before she remembered where she was.

"Sarah! About time, sleepyhead." Casey called from the other side of the fire pit as she sat up.

Sarah stretched and mumbled a good morning, her dream slowly receding into her memory as the scent of fresh pastries reached her nose. All that remained was the small, nagging voice in her head telling her to get away. But why?

Casey was stuffing his face with pie, a piece in each hand. Alex was helping himself to a meat bun. The boys had gotten some supplies from the Solquis bakery, free of charge according to Casey.

They'd walked for hours last night until they'd reached a tunnel entrance a good distance away from Solquis. Casey and Alex had tried to keep her entertained on the journey, chatting and joking around. Azazel had been his usual quiet, condescending self and Byron had frequently scouted ahead for Shifters.

Alex had decided it was best to get some sleep and enter the tunnel by daylight. Not that it mattered, Azazel had pointed out, since it would be dark underground either way. But everyone had agreed to set up camp for the night.

Sarah glanced over now to Azazel, who was whispering to the willow's tree trunk. She hadn't quite realized why the others had called Willa their tree spirit. She had simply passed it off as coincidence, the boys using willow trees as their campsite both in Notpan Forest and Solquis.

A familiar woman walked out of the trunk, placing her hand in Azazel's as she did so. Her long green hair flowed around in an invisible breeze, her white eyes taking in the scene before her.

"Willa the willow spirit," Sarah said as she accepted a bun from Alex.

Willa was a 'traveling tree spirit', Alex had explained last night. She inhabited other trees, with their permission, and shielded the boys from view as they settled down for the night. Her rather long hair reflected the tree's abnormally impenetrable green curtain.