Шеннон Мессенджер - Keeper of the Lost Cities

Sophie wasn’t sure how, but she knew what to do. She raced for the shed, grabbed the alchemy torch Edaline used when she made solutions for the animals, and raced back outside. A pile of dried umber leaves sat in the middle of the pasture, waiting to be dispersed to the animals for breakfast. Sophie ran straight for it and lit the mound before she could change her mind.

“What are you doing?” Edaline screamed as Sophie jumped back from the enormous blue flames that smelled uncannily like fried chicken. “Someone get some quicksnuff.”

“Just wait a second,” Sophie said, pointing to the pterodactyl, which had quieted down. “I know what I’m doing.” She really hoped that was true.

The creature circled once, then dived nose first into the blaze. Sophie couldn’t help shrieking as the fire engulfed its golden body, but the pterodactyl flapped its wings in the flames like a bird in a birdbath. Sophie had to back away to avoid the flying sparks.

“What on earth were you thinking?” Edaline demanded, jerking Sophie farther away from the fire. “What would possess you to do that?”

“It was cold.” Sophie pointed to the pterodactyl, still playing in the flames.

“Cold?” Grady asked, joining them. He was covered in bits of grass and mud.

“Yeah,” Sophie told him. “She needed fire.”

Grady stared at Sophie, then at the creature. “I think you’re right. I bet this is a flareadon. They have fire-resistant fur—and they have to be around flames or they’ll freeze to death. It’s why they’re so rare. But how did you know that?”

“I’m not sure, but I think . . .” She tried to replay the moment. It wasn’t a triggered memory—she’d been worried about that at first. It was more like . . .

“I think I read its mind. Is that possible?”

Grady ran his hand across his face. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anyone reading an animal’s mind before.”

“Who cares?” Edaline interrupted, her voice an octave higher than normal. “You could’ve been burned! You could’ve been killed! And you’re supposed to be in bed, resting from your last brush with death!”

Sophie backed a step away from the wild-eyed Edaline. “I was just trying to help.”

“We don’t need your help, Sophie. We need you inside—where it’s safe. Now go!” She pointed to the house.

Sophie glanced at Grady, hoping he’d defend her—she did solve the problem, after all. But Grady was too busy holding a trembling Edaline. That’s when it hit her.

Fire.

Death.

Jolie.

“I’m—I’m sorry,” Sophie stammered, not sure what to say. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“It’s fine,” Grady said, as much to Edaline as to Sophie. He turned to Sophie. “Go back inside and rest. We’ll talk in the morning.” He sounded calm and quiet. But something in his expression warned her not to push.

“Okay,” she mumbled, dropping her eyes. “I guess I’ll see you when I wake up.”

Neither of them said anything as she walked back to the house. No good night. Certainly no hugs. And when she turned back to wave, they’d already turned away.

THINGS WEREN’T MUCH BETTER ATbreakfast the next morning. Grady and Edaline’s smiles looked forced, and neither had much to say.

“So where did the flareadon come from?” Sophie asked, trying to fill the silence.

“She flew into our pasture, screeching her head off, and we scrambled to calm her down,” Grady answered. “That’s when you found us. It’s strange. Flareadons live near volcanoes—that’s why it didn’t occur to me to use fire. Gildie strayed a long way from home.”

“Gildie?”

“We were up late with her, calming her down, and it felt silly calling her ‘flareadon.’ So when we figured out it was a female, Edaline named her Gildie.”

“It’s a good name.”

Edaline gave a forced smile, and looked away.

“You really think you read her mind?” Grady asked.

“How would I have known about the fire? I think I might go practice with Gildie for a few minutes before school.”

“Absolutely not,” Edaline snapped, instantly on her feet. “You’re staying home to rest. And you’re not to go anywhere near those animals. Is that understood?”

“But I’m fine now. And I always help you guys outside.”

“Well, that was a mistake on our part—one I’m correcting now. I don’t want you outside in the pastures anymore.”

Grady wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Is this about last night?” Sophie whispered.

“It’s about a lot of things. We haven’t been looking out for your safety, and I’m trying to correct that.” Edaline sighed. “Why don’t you go study? Finals are less than a month away.”

Unfortunately, Edaline was right.

Sophie spent the rest of the weekend trying to wade through the horrible firecatching book Sir Conley had assigned her to read the day of the Quintessence debacle. She had a feeling firecatching would be on the final exam. But it was so dry, she kept taking breaks to experiment with Iggy.

Most of the time she couldn’t decipher what he was thinking, but she suspected it was because Iggy didn’t think before he acted. Like when he wrestled with one of her socks and rolled off the bed, or shredded her homework for no apparent reason. But other times she did wonder if she could feel his thoughts. It was more of a vague emotion than a concrete thought—which actually made sense. Human thoughts felt different from elvin thoughts. Maybe each creature’s mind was different. She’d have to ask Tiergan to know for sure.

“IF ANYONE ELSE TOLD MEthat, I would question their sanity.” Tiergan chuckled. “But with you, I’m learning anything is possible.”

Sophie blushed. “You’ve really never heard of anyone reading animals’ minds?”

“No. I’ve also never heard of anyone transmitting across impossible distances, or having an impenetrable mind, or tracking exact locations, so I can’t say I’m surprised. In fact, I wonder . . . Do you think you could transmit to an animal? Or track them?”

“I guess I could try.”

His face lit up. “Yes—you must. And if you can, I think that would qualify as passing your final exam.”

“You’d pass me—just like that?”

“Sophie, you have the greatest telepathic abilities I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure I’m qualified to test you. Even if you can’t do this, I’ll find some other excuse to pass you. It’d be wrong not to.”

Her heart lightened at his words. One exam down. Seven more to go. “I’ll work on it tonight and let you know on Thursday.”

“I look forward to hearing your results.”

SOPHIE DECIDED TO PRACTICE WITHa different animal, so she chose their resident T. rex. Verdi’s thoughts were more defined than Iggy’s but less intense than Gildie’s, and when she sent Verdi an image of her right paw over and over, Verdi finally got the hint and raised it. Then Verdi’s thoughts told her she wanted a tummy rub as a reward. Sophie giggled and rubbed the soft, downy feathers. She could transmit thoughts to animals—how awesome was that?

“What are you doing out here?”

Sophie spun around, backing up a step when she saw the fury in Edaline’s eyes. “I’m reading Verdi’s mind for homework. I think she wants to eat the verminion, so you might want to keep her away from him.”

She waited for Edaline to laugh—or at least smile. Instead her eyes narrowed. “I thought I made it clear that you’re not supposed to be outside.”

Sophie kept waiting for things to go back to normal after the allergy incident, but it’d been four days and Edaline was getting worse. “I have to be allowed outside sometime.”