Semelee stumbled pantin and sweatin along the path through the palms. She stopped and leaned against a gumbo limbo tree to catch her breath.
That same old lady…doin it again…causin trouble, gettin in the way…
She was stronger than Semelee. Somehow she’d just waved her hand and told the bees and Dora to get home and that was that. Semelee’s power got canceled like turnin off a light. Everything went black. When she come to, the sun was pretty much down and she was flat on her back in the ferns with the shells off her eyes but still in her hands.
She had to be stopped. But how? How do you stop someone with that kind of power?
Where did she come from? Who was she that she could protect herself from Dora and a swarm of bees—not only keep them out but give them orders?
Maybe she couldn’t be hurt. Maybe she was beyond Semelee’s special power.
She stumbled up to the bank of the lagoon and saw Luke sitting on the deck of the Bull-ship.
He looked up at her with sad eyes. “Bad news, Semelee. Devil’s dead.”
A wave of sadness washed over her. Feelin weak, she lowered herself to the ground and rested her back against a palm.
Poor Devil…her fault…if she hadn’t—
No, wait. It was that old bitch and her dog. They were the ones killed Devil. Not her.
She ground her teeth. Had to be a way to get back at her.
She glanced to her left toward the sinkhole and saw the glow of the lights seepin up through the darkenin air. Pullin herself to her feet she walked over. She stopped at the edge, then stretched herself out flat on her belly with her head pokin over the rim. She gazed into the flashin deeps and tried to remember more of what happened down there. But nothin came back to her.
She gave up tryin to remember and was just startin to get to her feet when she had an idea. She still had the eye-shells in her hands and figured, Why not? She put them over her eyes. For an instant they blotted out the lights, then suddenly she was seein them again. But they looked different.
Then Semelee realized she wasn’t seein the lights from above, she was seein them from within. She was inside some kinda creature down there and was seein things through its eyes. She looked around and saw wings and jaws and teeth—lots of long, sharp teeth.
An idea crept into her head, an idea so wonderful she started to laugh out loud.