Charlie had regained consciousness a few minutes after Julia had gone to
tend the others, but kept it to himself. Soon after he regained his bearings he
started listening intently to anything Paul or Karma might be saying. For the past
few days he had been afraid to because Karma had caught him and nearly killed
him, but now he had to take the chance. He could hear Paul and Karma talking
about their new dilemma. They mentioned the name Pyro and how he did not get
out of Darkwood. Charlie realized that they were talking about the fire boy. They
continued to talk and addressed the fact that he could not divulge any information
because of a spell Mira had put on him.
Charlie sat up. He could still feel the cool wind and he knew the sun had not yet
come up. Silence hovered around him. People's breaths came out evenly and
soft. He listened for any irregularity, any footsteps in he leaves. Someone had to
be awake.
"You OK Charlie?"
Charlie turned in the direction of the voice, he had not even heard this person
approach, but he knew the voice. "Dakota, yeah, I'm OK," he whispered. "I was
listening for you. But somehow you snuck up on me."
They stood and walked out of the park, so as not to wake everyone else up.
The smell of burnt wood still heavily coated the air and the crackling of a small fire
somewhere in the remains of their home echoed in Charlie's sensitive ears. He
tripped over a burnt down stump and laughed a little. His cane had probably been
destroyed in the fire.
"So, do you feel better?" Dakota asked. "You had us scared for a minute there."
"Yeah, it'll take more than smoke inhalation to get me down," Charlie said.
Dakota laughed. "You're a tough kid." They stood in silence for a moment, and
the Dakota's curiosity got the best of him. "So, what'd you want to talk about?"
"OK, I know that David doesn't want to sink to Paul's level and retaliate, but you
guys have got to do something, right?" Charlie said.
"Right."
"Well, I was listening to Paul and Karma talking all night and I found out some
stuff-"
"Wow, I'm pretty impressed, last time you did that you and Karma had a little
run in," Dakota said.
"Paul has a witch," Charlie continued. "Mira's her name I think. She's controlling
the fire kid, and she's the one who let Paul know about Bip."
Dakota's jaw clenched. Now they knew how Paul found out. A plan formed in
his head quickly. All he needed was a little sleeping gas.