Time to Heal Read online

  Suddenly she looked up and realized she couldn’t see Skahr. The path ahead of her wasn’t clear anymore either—it was crowded with vines and leaves which blocked her view. Had he gone on ahead of her and left her behind? But if so, why wasn’t the way clear? He’d been cutting a path for them—how could he have disappeared? Unless the vines and creepers he had cut had grown back in a matter of seconds. But that wasn’t possible—was it?

  Emmeline took a hesitant step forward, thinking that she had better follow the path and see if she could find the big Kindred. But instead of hitting the smooth, even stone, she felt her booted foot sink into something soft. Looking down, she saw she was standing on the grassy forest floor—the path was nowhere in sight.

  “Oh no!” she exclaimed. “Where am I? How did I get off the path?” She couldn’t help remembering how sternly Skahr had spoken of keeping on it and now she had gone and lost the stone ribbon of road by taking only a single step.

  Panic wrapped choking fingers around her throat. Where was the path? Where was Skahr? And worst of all, where was she?

  Emmeline looked around her, moving in a circle, but everywhere the view was the same—vines and creepers and leaves blocking the way and no path in sight.

  “Skahr?” she called, but didn’t want to shout too loud for fear of waking any predators that might be sleeping in the near vicinity. “Skahr, are you there? I seem to be lost. Skahr?”

  There was no answer. Emmeline’s heart sank.

  “What am I going to do?” she whispered, her stomach twisting into a knot. “What am I going to do?”

  At that moment the little butterfly person—who had remained perched on her finger all this time, suddenly fluttered up and away from her.

  “Oh, not you too!” Emmeline exclaimed. “Please don’t leave me! I’m all alone in here.”

  But the little creature only fluttered a little way and then looked over its shoulder. It beckoned with one tiny hand and Emmeline saw that it wanted her to follow it.

  “Do…do you know the way back to the path?” she asked in a trembling voice. “Can you help me get back to it?”

  The miniature head nodded and the jewel-green eyes—as bright as any insect’s—winked at her in the shadows.

  Tentatively, Emmeline took a step in the direction it was leading. To her surprise, the broad purple leaves with their blood-red veins parted before her, allowing the little butterfly person to flutter a little further on.

  “Are you making the leaves part?” Emmeline asked it but it said nothing, only beckoned impatiently for her to follow.

  A part of Emmeline felt that this was a rash idea. After all, she didn’t know the little creature’s intentions. It said not a word, only stared at her with those brilliant, beetle-green eyes and motioned for her to follow.

  What if it’s a trap? whispered a little voice in her head. What if that thing is leading you to your doom?

  Don’t be ridiculous, Emmeline argued with it. It’s probably repaying me for rescuing it from the tangle of vines. It’s going to lead me back to the path because it feels grateful.

  Pushing her uncertainty aside, she took another step and then another, following the fluttering butterfly person further and further into the forest.

  But though she would have sworn the path was just a few steps away, the glimmering silver wings kept flapping forward.

  Where am I? Emmeline wondered, looking around in alarm. How could I have gotten so far from the path so quickly? I should go back!

  She turned her head and saw, with a sick feeling in her belly, that the leaves, which had parted for her and the little creature she followed, had closed again behind them. She was lost in the impenetrable maze of the Bervoten and she was beginning to doubt her guide. Still, when the little creature fluttered forward, she followed. What else could she do? Where else could she go?

  But just as despair filled her heart, her boot hit something solid. Looking down, she saw that her feet were on the path again. The smooth, even stones had appeared as suddenly and as they had vanished and now the way ahead seemed clear.

  “Oh, thank you!” she exclaimed rapturously, speaking to the butterfly creature. “Thank you so much!”

  The perfect little person only stared back at her with a blank face and glittering eyes. Then it fluttered on ahead, down the path, and looked back, as though expecting her to follow. It seemed to be saying, “Are you coming?”

  “Of course I’m coming! Everything’s all right, now that we’re back on the path,” Emmeline told it, smiling.

  Hurriedly, she raced ahead, eager to find Skahr again. The road ran straight for about ten feet and then took a little jog to the right, making a sharp curve which she couldn’t see beyond. So eager was she to find the big Kindred, that Emmeline would have run right around the bend if the voice hadn’t stopped her.

  “No, my daughter—be careful!” it exclaimed, just as Emmeline was about to rush around the bend in the path.

  “What?” The words slowed her progress, but didn’t quite stop her as she looked around, trying to see where the warm, feminine voice had come from. But it seemed to be gone.

  The warning was not repeated but it kept Emmeline from rushing headlong around the curve. Still, her butterfly guide was going that way, so she followed, but at a much more sedate pace. Even when the little creature fluttered its wings impatiently, she didn’t hurry. And when she turned the corner, she was glad she hadn’t. For there, standing right in the middle of the path and blocking it completely, was a huge tree.

  I will have to find a way around it, Emmeline thought. But how?

  Its trunk was so thick that seven large men could have stood around it clasping hands and still not encircled its girth. Its branches were thick too—almost the width of the other trees’ trunks. Truly, it was massive and there didn’t appear to be any room on either side of it to pass by. The forest grew right up to its trunk, the wide purple leaves of the other trees brushing it and encircling it intimately.

  Speaking of that, there appeared to be something strange about the massive tree’s own leaves. Instead of being broad and purple with the red veins, it had silvery, delicate adornments that looked not unlike her guide’s wings. In fact, as Emmeline took a step closer, she realized they weren’t leaves at all—they were more little butterfly people. Hundreds, possibly thousands of them were curled up along the tree’s branches, giving it the appearance of being crowned in silver.

  “Did you bring me to your home?” Emmeline asked her tiny guide. “Did you want to introduce me to your family? Is that why you were so eager for me to come?”

  The tiny head seemed to nod and the green eyes sparkled. The butterfly person fluttered even closer to the massive tree and beckoned for Emmeline to follow.

  Emmeline took another step forward and frowned. The bark of the immense tree’s trunk looked…strange. There was a jagged crack in it, running horizontally across its surface. The crack looked almost like a mouth. And there were two knotholes just above the mouth which looked a bit like closed eyes. As though the tree was an old man taking a nap, she thought.

  No, don’t be silly, Emmeline told herself as the little guide beckoned her closer. Trees don’t have eyes or mouths!

  They don’t have fingers either, whispered a dark little voice in her head. And yet one of them managed to grab you in the middle of the night and drag you almost to your doom before Skahr stopped it!

  Skahr—how she wished the big Kindred was here now! He would know what to do. He would tell her if she should go forward and try to get around the massive trunk or if she ought to go back.

  The butterfly creature fluttered around her head, clearly agitated, beckoning for her to come closer.

  “Just wait,” Emmeline told it. “I know you want me to meet your family but I’m not sure if I should.”

  When it saw she was holding back and no longer following it, the little creature became even more upset. Fluttering a little way from her it faced the tree and made