16

Muddy Waters

THE ONLY PERSON around when I got to Free was the custodian who waved cheerily at me as I went upstairs to the big theater and my favorite chair under the stage. There, with Sparx curled on my chest, I fell asleep again.

“Kalvan, hsst, wake up.” I blearily blinked my eyes open and found Dave crouched beside me. He was wearing some kind of long, elaborately patterned robe-thing that pooled around his feet, while his right arm was tucked into a sling that concealed his alien hand.

Sparx hopped down and I twisted in my chair so I could hug Dave. “Oh, hey, man, it’s great to see you! After I talked to your mom last night, I really didn’t expect you today.”

“It was a close-run thing. For a little while there, I didn’t think Mom was going to let me come back to Free at all.”

“I’m so sorry I got you wrapped up in all this! It was my fault that—”

“Don’t!” Dave’s voice came out hard and sharp. “This”—he lifted his otherworldly hand free of the sling—“is on me. I wanted magic. Bad. And I got it. Real bad.” Now he laughed. “Actually, I’m already starting to get used to it and sort out some of my new powers. I can even get a few things to stay closed for me.”

I tugged on the robe. “So, why this?”

“It’s part of winning the fight with my mom.”

“I think you maybe skipped a step in your explanation there,” I said.

“Part of my argument for coming back to Free was that I could wear my dad’s old dashikis here and totally not get hassled for it, unlike at a regular school. Mom dug them out for me once she saw the dress and I explained why I was wearing my sister’s clothes. I’m pretty sure she’d ultimately be okay if I wanted to cross-dress, but she was still seriously relieved the dress was all about wearing something that would stay on.”

“What about your feet? It’s only April and it still gets cold out there.”

He tugged up the hem of the dashiki, exposing a pair of high-tops with the laces knotted about seventeen ways from Sunday. “I have to retie them all the time, but they’re mostly staying on.”

“And the sling?”

“Gotta keep the hand out of sight until I can figure out a solution or a good story, and I still can’t keep a glove on. Not even by holding it in place with my other hand—the seams unsew themselves when I do that.”

Sparx spoke then, “I wonder if we might be able to make an illusion of some sort work. Let me see your hand.”

Dave dropped to sit cross-legged on the floor so Sparx could have easier access. The hare started by sniffing along Dave’s fingers and thumb before carefully looking at the hand from a number of angles.

“Hmm, tricky. I don’t know where you pulled that thing from, but it’s a very long way from our plane of existence. It’s quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

“Which means what?” asked Dave.

“Which means I don’t know. Illusion isn’t a primary power of fire, though there are a few exceptions—say, for example, you needed to look like an oasis in the desert. But that wouldn’t help here. I know the two of you don’t get along with him, but it might be worth talking to the bitter water boy. His Rusalka friend could certainly do it. That’s a mighty power of water, and water rules illusion, but I don’t think approaching Mississippi is the best idea.”

“It certainly wouldn’t be my first choice,” said Dave. “But I really do need to get this thing covered up.”

“What about us?” I asked. “I mean, is your mother cool with me now?”

He shook his head. “Not even a little bit. We’re still friends here at school where she can’t see us, but I’m not supposed to be hanging around with you at all. That means no phone calls or e-mail until I can talk her down, and absolutely no out-of-school visits. Sorry, man.”

I shrugged. “It is what it is. I’ll miss hanging out after school, but we’ll make it work. By the way, what time is it out there? Am I late for checking in with Evelyn, or early?”

“Early. My mom didn’t want to make me take the bus with this on.” Dave pulled at the sleeve of his dashiki. “Not the first day back. Not with the way things have been going with the country lately. She brought me in on her way to work. Morning advisory isn’t for another forty minutes. But enough about me; what’s happening in the Kalvan saga? You know, that whole delvers are trying to kill you, your mom is getting worse, dead aunt end of things. I cut you off pretty hard the other day and we really haven’t talked since.”

“It’s complicated.” I quickly filled him in on the details he’d missed.

Dave glanced over at Sparx, who nodded and added, “The boy is a lightning rod for weirdness.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Said the weirdness his ownself.”

Dave laughed. “He’s got you there.”

“Actually, to be fair,” I said, “Sparx is only about the tenth strangest thing in my life at this point.” I put the faintest spin of silvertongue into my words—just enough to really sound sincere. “I told you about the lizard people, right?”

“Lizard people?” Dave’s jaw dropped and Sparx gave me a hard look.

“Yeah, they wanted to make me their thane, but I couldn’t handle the diet.”

“The diet?”

“You know, live mice, frogs, all that.”

“I…” Dave blinked and shook his head, then absently rubbed one ear with his alien hand. It was like flipping a switch. His eyes narrowed sharply and his expression went skeptical. “Wait, you’re pulling my leg now. That was silvertongue!”

“Maybe a little.”

“Jerk.”

I laughed and he punched my shoulder. Then he laughed, too. It felt good to have my best friend back and I wanted nothing more than to take the morning off and hang out, but the first bell would be ringing any moment and that meant I had to get moving if I didn’t want to get in real trouble.

“Look, after check-in I’ve got to drop this note off with Scott.” I waved it in the air. “Josh’ll have to stop in there, too. I’m not his favorite person, especially right now, but do you want me to ask him about an illusion for your hand?”

“I don’t know, Kalvan. What if he wants to take me to the Rusalka? She kind of scares me.”

“That’s because you’re sane and have a reasonable sense of self-preservation,” said Sparx. “Unlike the Bad Idea Kid here.”

“Come on, Sparx. I know Mississippi can be bad news, but she’s helped us in the past. Dave can’t wear that sling forever, and a glove’s no real solution. The sooner he gets it fixed, the better. Besides, Josh might be able to handle it himself.”

Sparx rolled his eyes, but he finally nodded.

Dave did as well. “All right.” But he looked dubious.

*   *   *

Dave reached out with his six-fingered hand and touched the door marked EMERGENCY EXIT. It swung silently open—a particularly useful piece of magic, that. “I can’t believe Josh offered to take us to Mississippi so soon.”

“I was a little surprised myself.”

More than a little, but Josh had just shrugged when I brought up the idea of illusions and said, “I can’t handle it, but She wanted to see you anyway and it’s your funeral.” I didn’t share that part with Dave, only, “Meet me at the bridge, lunch hour.”

With Dave along, we took a more cautious route down to the river. Under normal circumstances, he draws three times as much of the wrong sort of official attention as I do simply by being black. With his colorful robes on top of that, we wanted to be super careful not to get stopped. That meant staying on low-traffic side streets, but out of alleys and other shortcuts that might make us look suspicious. It took half again as long as it would have taken me alone.

Josh was waiting on the other side of the railroad bridge we used to talk to the Rusalka back in the deeps of winter. When we reached the far shore, he ducked between two bushes and silently led the way to a small muddy flat masked by trees. There was still a lot of snowmelt coming down from up north, and the river was high and angry—a snarl of brown ripples and whorls ready to devour anyone who came too close.

“I can’t believe I let the two of you talk me into this. I don’t like the look of it,” said Sparx. “Not even a little bit. Perhaps we should come back another time.”

“She already knows you’re here,” replied Josh. “If you leave now, She might take it as an insult. Your choice, but I’m staying.”

“Point taken, but I think I will make myself as unobtrusive as possible. Water does not love fire.” Sparx slid into the depths of my pack.

“You ready?” asked Josh.

I wasn’t, but I nodded anyway and he picked up a big chunk of rock, tossing it into the madly swirling waters. For several long seconds nothing happened. Then, just when I was beginning to think we weren’t going to see Her, a surge of water rolled up the shore, drenching us to mid-calf and nearly pulling us into the flood. Josh’s face went deathly white and he fought his way to the edge of the flat where he grabbed on to a small tree.

“She’s wild today!” he yelled as Dave and I followed his example. “Dangerous because of the flooding. I was wrong. We shouldn’t have come.”

But it was already far too late to change our minds. As the wave slid back into the main body of the Mississippi, there was a great splash and a broad brown waterspout rose in its wake, rising a good fifteen feet above the surface of the river. For a long moment, it hung there, angry and elemental, like some huge snake preparing to strike. Then, slowly, it began to change—taking on the shape of a woman.

That much was similar to my previous meetings with the Rusalka, or Mississippi, as She was more properly called—though neither human-given name accurately represented the language of the waters, according to Sparx. What was very, very different this time was the scale of Her. Her arms were as big as tree trunks and Her hands the size of basketballs.

Her features were rougher as well. In the past, She had reminded me of some beautiful queen of faerie, elegant and cold, with skin like a clear window into deep waters. This time, She was an angry giant, as muddy and opaque as the river itself—more ogress than princess. White rills rippled wickedly across Her surface, suggesting hidden snarls and deadly undercurrents. Her fingers bore long, cruel talons, and a pair of tusks jutted from Her lower jaw.

“What do you want?” Her voice held the roughness of floodwaters clawing at a riverbank.

What I wanted was to get as far from Mississippi as I could as quickly as possible. What I was going to get, on the other hand …

“Or have you only come to waste my time?”

She glared directly at me and I realized the only thing in common between this form and Her earlier appearances was the eyes—those terrible, drowning eyes. I’d intended to ask her about the spell in my basement as well as Dave’s stuff, but there was such an obvious threat in the question I decided to keep it short and simple. My problems would have to wait.

I hurried to answer, running my words together in my rush. “No-not-at-all! We-wanted-that-is-Dave-wanted-to-ask-your-advice! This-is-Dave-go!”

The Rusalka turned Her massive head, focusing an angry glare on Dave, who practically wilted. Finally, with an obvious effort of will, he lifted his alien hand out of its concealing sling. “I came about this.” His voice sounded surprisingly calm.

A tiny flash of surprise rippled across the face of the great elemental, and She bent to look more closely at Dave, whose grip on his small tree tightened. “Interesting, if not unprecedented. Why should it matter to me?”

“I … I don’t know,” said Dave. “I was hoping you might know some way I could make it look like a normal hand.”

“I know many ways to do such a thing. I see no profit in any of them.”

Dave nodded, looking resigned now as well as frightened. “I’m deeply sorry we bothered you.”

She dismissed him with a glance and turned back to me. “Why did you bring him here on such a foolish errand?”

I shrugged. “You’ve helped me in the past.”

“Only because your needs flowed between the same banks as mine for a time. That time has ended, child of stone.”

“I don’t think—”

Her voice cut across mine with a roar. “Do not believe for an instant I am a fool, boy. I know what you are by the mark on your forehead, Summer’s Prince. And I know what you wish to do. My disciple showed me the spell you would master—a tool fit only for the hand of a Season King. That alone would give me reason to doubt you. Add in that you are the law-son of the last Winter King—even if you opposed him for a time—and that you now share in his powers…” She shook Her head. “I regret the help I gave you, son of stone and Winter.”

“I am not the Winter King’s son!” I was terrified but I flat refused to be tied to Oscar. I stepped away from my tree and walked forward to glare up at the Rusalka. “I never was. Not in any way. I was only ever a means to an end for him.”

“You may not wish to own him. But in all the ways that matter most, you are his bond son and natural successor, and not merely where it comes to the Corona Borealis. I should destroy you now, but for past services I will spare you to seek destruction in your own way. Do not approach me again unasked, if you value your life.”

“Gosh, thanks. But if I’m so dangerous to you, or might be in the future, why don’t you go ahead and get it over with?” It was a dumb thing to say, but my mouth gets away from me at the most inopportune times.

“Uh, Kalvan, ix-nay with the aunts-tay!” Dave called from behind me.

The towering figure of water bent down so those drowning eyes were inches from my own. “Child, I have given you my main reason for sparing you. But here is a second. I am Mississippi, and you are mortal. Even if it were possible for you to wholly become what your law-father was and hold the Corona Borealis for more than a single season, you are a danger mostly to my peace of mind. That is not a small thing, but it is a fly’s bite when measured against the long years of my span. No, I said I would spare you this time for past favors, and I stand by my word.”

I had more to say about Oscar, but my sense of self-preservation belatedly kicked in then. “Come on, Dave, let’s get out of here.”

Mississippi laughed. “Run away, child. It is the wise choice. But, in the end, it will avail you nothing. Reach out your hand to take the Crown and it will destroy you utterly. You have not the years to hold it.”

It was only as we started to walk away that I realized Josh had gone already, choosing some earlier moment to make himself scarce. Behind us, I heard the giant form of the Rusalka fall back into the river with a mighty splash. Icy water spattered my head and shoulders, but I didn’t look back as we hurried to put distance between us and the river.

Once we’d gotten a few blocks up from the banks, Dave caught my shoulder and pulled me to a halt. “Kalvan, what was that all about with you getting in Her face? You realize you could have gotten us killed, right?”

I sighed. He wasn’t wrong. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I don’t know. My mouth got ahead of my brain.”

Sparx poked his head out of my bag. “There’s a surprise.”

Dave turned his attention to the hare. “You were on the chopping block with the rest of us. Why aren’t you madder about this?”

“Because I understand what drives Kalvan in moments like that. I understand it in my bones. The boy is a child of fire, just as I am, and fire is never temperate. It flares and sparks and reaches too far. Always. Fire will not stop of its own accord. It will burn every ounce of fuel if it is not checked.”

“And then?” asked Dave.

Sparx shrugged and his expression held no hint of humor. “And then, fire dies.”

Dave looked me square in the eyes. “From the horse’s own mouth, my friend. You have got to get yourself under better control.”

I didn’t have any comeback, so I simply started walking. The rest of the journey passed in uncomfortable silence as I spent more time staring at my feet than looking at Dave, while Sparx retreated to the privacy of my bag.

When we finally got back to Free, we headed for the same fire door we’d used to slip out. With Dave’s magic to quietly open the way, it was the best and most protected route. Since we still had a bit of time before the afternoon round of phys-ed classes, we were golden.

Dave used his alien hand to open the door and we both stepped through … only to find Tanya waiting for us on the other side with her arms crossed and a very grim look on her face. “Munroe, Harris, my office. Now.” Without another word she turned and started walking, and we fell in behind.

“Tanya,” I began, but she simply held up a hand in the universal stop gesture.

Once we got to her office, she pointed me at the little darkroom where I had so often gone to practice magic. “Kalvan, you wait in there. I know how good the two of you are at concocting a plausible story when you have time to put your heads together, so I’m dealing with you individually. Go.”

I went. As soon as the little airlock door closed behind me, Sparx poked his head out of my bag. “Do you want me to talk to her?” He sounded like he’d much rather pretend not to exist for the moment.

I couldn’t blame him. “No. You tried to talk us out of it. This is on me. I’ll take the heat.

“As you wish.” He disappeared back into the bag with a relieved look.

At which point, time seemed to screech to a halt. I tried pressing my ear to the metal of the door, but all I could hear was a gentle whooshing that told me Tanya was using her powers to prevent being overheard, so I moved away from the door. I didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping, especially if it wasn’t doing any good. I kept glancing at my watch, but someone had clearly magicked it to move at one tenth speed, and it wasn’t until after several hours—or fifteen minutes by my watch—that the door rotated again to reveal Tanya.

“Your turn.”

I left my bag behind. As soon as I came out, Dave went through into the darkroom. We didn’t get the chance to so much as exchange a meaningful glance, and I had no idea what he’d told Tanya. My mind spun in mad, useless circles as I followed the teacher back to her desk.

I’d never seen her look grimmer as I took the seat across from her, and her first words were a gut punch. “Can you give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have you suspended?”

“I … uh…” What did she know? How could I spin this so I didn’t get in a world of hurt? What if she wanted to talk to my mom? That last was what decided me on my next words. “No, I can’t.” If there was ever a time to throw myself on the mercy of the court, this was it. “Not one. I’m incredibly sorry for my behavior, and I hope you won’t have me suspended, but I take full responsibility for my actions.”

If anything, Tanya’s expression became grimmer. “That’s a very nice tactic, Kalvan. It sounds like you’re sorry and that you understand why you should be sorry, but it’s completely empty of content. You’re going to have to do much better if you want to get out of this without a suspension, or even being expelled.”

At the word expelled my heart pretty much bricked itself. “I…” What had Dave told her? “I…” I couldn’t know the answer to my own question and I had to assume he’d told her everything.

For one brief second I considered trying to shift the blame and throw Dave under the bus. That made me feel even sicker—that I would so much as consider betraying my best friend like that … ugh! No. Like I’d said to Sparx, this was on me. I took a deep breath and tried to force my brain to work. This wasn’t simply about skipping out of school. I’d done that lots and only gotten in the more routine sorts of trouble for it. No, this was Tanya, which meant it was about the magic. But that wasn’t all of it. Come on, Kalvan, think! Think like an adult! Think … oh.

“Is this because of the Rusalka?”

Tanya’s jaw tightened briefly. “Getting warmer.”

“I thought she could help Dave hide his new hand. I know it was stupid.”

“Nearly fatally so!”

“I … maybe, yes. I should—”

“Do you have any idea how dangerous it is simply to go down to the shore of the Mississippi when it’s this high? Even without the magical component of the thing, you were on a mud flat on the edge of the most dangerous river in North America. It could so easily have been undermined by the waters without you ever knowing about it. Even without bringing the Rusalka into it you could have gotten yourselves killed and your bodies lost for weeks or forever. Three students could be dead without any of us here at the school or your homes even knowing about it!”

“I’m … I didn’t think about that.” She’d said three students, which meant Dave had told her about Josh, but maybe not Sparx. It also sounded like he’d told her it was all my idea—so, the truth, as much as I might hate to admit it. “You’re right. I just wanted to help Dave out, but it was pretty stupid.”

“Add in the Rusalka, and I can’t imagine what you were thinking! Dave says you actually got lippy with Her. Do you have any idea how…” She trailed off abruptly, possibly because of the look on my face, which had to be awful.

It wasn’t until that very instant that I recognized—really recognized—the implications of what I’d done. I could have gotten us all killed. And this was different than the stuff with the delvers or my uncle. For one, that was mostly my life I was risking. For another, it was adversarial. They had come at me. Yes, I’d had to fight to survive, but I hadn’t gone looking for the fight. But this … I’d risked Dave’s life and, to a lesser extent, Josh’s for a bit of cosmetic magic. And it hadn’t so much as occurred to me at the time what I was doing.

Tanya nodded. “Yes. I can see it’s actually sinking in. Here at Free we give you an enormous amount of room to make choices and to make mistakes, even big, painful mistakes. Failure is one of the most important ways we learn the big lessons. But we have to keep you alive in order for you to do that.” And now, for the first time since we’d come through the door, she gave me the ghost of a smile. “That’s not always easy with teenagers, but we do try.”

“I’m so sorry, Tanya. I was a fool and I take full responsibility for my actions.”

“And this time I think you mean it. More important, I think you understand it. All right, Kalvan. I’m going to hold the suspension in abeyance for the moment, but it’s not off the table.”

“Thank you.” My heart started to beat again, slowly and stiffly as though it were pumping molasses instead of blood. “Is there anything I can do to make amends?”

“There are several things you’re going to do as part of acknowledging the mistakes you made today. Once those are done, and you have met my expectations well enough to keep suspension from coming back into the mix, then we will begin to talk about amends.”

I nodded, but didn’t say a word. I deserved this, and I knew that even now I was getting off lightly.

“To start with, I want you to write me a paper explaining exactly what you did wrong, and why it was wrong. Once I have that, and I decide it is adequate, we’ll discuss what comes next.”

“How long should it be?”

“As long as it needs to.”

“I deserve that.”

“You do. Speaking of which, when you pick up your backpack, tell Sparx I want a few words with him. He should have known better even if you didn’t, and he’s on my list, too.”

“I’ll let him know.”

“Good.” She slid a sheet of paper over to me—another acknowledgment of responsibility form. “There’s this as well.” She took a deep breath. “Oh, and, Kalvan…”

“Yes.”

“I know your life is not a normal one. Even more than most of us who have the gift of magic, you are in an unusually dangerous position. I don’t expect you never to take risks. I don’t even expect you not to take some that will put your life in jeopardy—because those are the cards you’ve drawn. But that makes it all the more important that you don’t take unnecessary risks. There are so many things you will have to face that might kill you, it’s critical you avoid giving chance any more shots at you than you must.”