CHAPTER 4
A blue chest lay on the ground. Adriane slowly walked towards it, and fingered the rough material. She lifted the latch, and a light which was in the box shone. Adriane was momentarily blinded, then she looked inside. A blood red scarf and a pearl white strip of cloth were wrapped around something. Just as Adriane was about to pull it off, a large bang sounded. Adriane turned, and a masked somebody came in. 'Who are you?' Adriane asked. 'A friend.'
Adriane couldn't believe this. She was numb. She couldn't feel, she couldn't think. What would Kara and Emily think? She felt like running, running and never coming back. A gnawing cold cut into her. She felt like she was being cut up and thrown into a blender. At least, her life felt like it. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. A slow banging came from the door, and it was viciously thrown open. Kara and Emily came barging in the door.
"Adriane! We heard the news! We're so sorry! Were is she?" Emily asked.
Adriane pointed to the room across the hall. Kara and Emily dashed out of the room, and Adriane stared blindly after them. Her face was pale, and her mind was blank.
Kara and Emily came back. "She's going to be okay!" Emily screamed at Adriane. But it was an echo. Adriane remembered.
"Adriane! Listen to me! Older brother is going to be okay! Listen Adriane! Aric is going to be okay! Aric is OKAY!" Adriane's mother had screamed over and over, as she sat and hugged Adriane, tears streaming down her face. Adriane's brother lay in a cot, slowly dying.
Adriane walked through the fields of Ravenswood, picking all the wildflowers she could see. She walked a little more, and saw what she was looking for. A little gravestone, laying on a cliff. That had been Aric's favorite spot. Adriane put the flowers on the rocky dirt. She bowed her head for the very first time to pray. "Dear God, please let Aric be okay. And tell him I love him. Amen."
Then, Adriane had her first encounter with magic. A swirling wind came from the sky. Adriane saw her older brother standing before her. But, when she touched him, her finger went through, like he was a ghost. He spoke to her too, and said, "I love you too, Adriane." Adriane reached out, but Aric was pulled away again, and Adriane felt the tears come. She lay in the grass shaking silently. Her tears came like rain, falling to replenish the Earth.
It's a strange thing, the death of a loved one.
Even as Adriane stood now, looking over another loved one, she couldn't believe this was happening again. Gran clasped her hand, her face pale and white. Gran. She looked at Adriane.
"Adriane, get me that box from the closet." She pointed to the closet across the room.
Adriane shuffled over to the closet. She flipped on the light, and gasped. It was the one she had seen in her vision! Adriane grabbed the box and handed it to Gran, who fingered it with her withered fingers.
"Little Wolf, open it," Gran said.
Adriane lifted the latch on the box like she had in her dream. She looked inside. The clothes were there, the riding glove, and the book. Gran took the red silk cloth and shook it. Out fell a shiny, old box. A light from the inside of the box shone, and Gran smiled.
Adriane's eyes were wide. It was like half of her was finally being found, like Aric coming back, like coming…coming home. She closed her eyes and felt the feeling on full blast. How could one little box make her feel so good?
"Open it," Gran smiled at her.
Adriane lifted the top of the box. Inside was a diamond necklace. It had a thick, silver chain and it met the middle. A blue, diamond sapphire dangled from the chain. Adriane stared at it with her black eyes.
"Gran! How long have you had this?" Adriane asked.
"Many years. Would you like to hear a story?"
"Gran…your…your dying! And you want to tell me a story?" Adriane asked incredulously.
"Please."
"Whatever will make you happy." Adriane rolled her eyes in spite of herself.
"Night Blossom, Rainbow Girl, and Delilah Dream…" Gran began. She recounted the story told by Whistle Bird.
Adriane looked down at the necklace, and asked, "Gran? Do you believe this story? That I am Night Blossom's decendant?"
Gran chuckled. "I was once a defender of that necklace as well, Little Wolf. protect with your life. By putting on the necklace, you are deciding to protect this pendant."
Adriane looked up, with a determined look in her eyes. Without a second thought she latched the gorgeous necklace onto her neck.
Adriane's memory is still clear. The last thing Nakoda ever did was smile and say, "Believe in the Magic. Let it be your partener. A quarter Magic, three-quarters heart."
As Gran's eyes closed, she mumbled, "Aric, meet me be the gate."