I'm going to apologize to Franscesca Lia Block for the paragraph of Pearlie singing. I had to put it somewhere, and since Varda is too quite to be loud and Mara is too loud to be quiet, I figured Dawn would be perfect.
Chapter II: Fields of Gold.
Varda and Dawn shared a tense look.
"Shall we tell her?" Dawn asked. "Does she know already, like you did," her voice was not accusing, but it sounded betrayed.
"No, and I would have told you sooner, but would you have believed me if I said that Callie and Catarina were still alive?" Varda's voice got louder when she was upset. Luckily, Brenda didn't seem to notice. Her hands were still shaking, making the teacup rattle against its plate as she drank.
"Should I call Rabbi Weir?" Dawn asked. Her mother had been Jewish, but Dawn never bought into religion. Besides, Ken had run away a few times before.
Brenda shook her head. She was Wiccan, and never believed in rabbis and such. "Ken was just gone. Whoever it was that took him reduced his car to…scrap metal!"
Dawn took one look through the window and said, "I'll call Lyle, see if he'll pick you up. It's too dark to walk home now."
"No, don't bother Lyle. He's so nice, and I know he's busy at the office today," Brenda said absently.
Dawn called anyway. Both Brenda and Lyle would thank her later.
"Has the line moved at all?" Dawn sighed, brushing the hair away from her face like she had twenty times in the last ten minutes.
"Dawn, I've been here two hours longer than you so that you could sleep in," Mara chided. She rarely got frustrated, but when she did, everyone knew to stay away from her.
"Blue suit yellow case is staring at you," Dawn whispered in their code. It meant that a man in a blue suit with yellow baggage was ogling Mara. Dawn could hardly blame him. Mara's brown hair gleamed wonderfully, her perfectly-shaped ears were well set back, she had picturesque freckles, her eyes were green and yellow and brown all at once, and she was perfectly proportioned. Even without makeup to flaunt her beauty, heads turned hopelessly.
"Orange sundress orange purse is making eyes at you," Mara whispered. As average as Dawn looked, she wasn't straight. Dawn turned to look at the woman who quickly turned away. Dawn looked at Mara, who nodded wordlessly.
"It's no shame to be gay, you know, unless you're doing something stupid with it," Dawn said when she was next to the woman.
The woman blinked twice. "I'm engaged, I'm pregnant, and I don't know what to do."
"Where are you headed?"
"California," the woman said in the same whispery voice as before.
"And you are…"
"Maxine Valera."
"Well, Miss Valera, being gay is nothing bad unless you make it bad. Tell him, and you can still have children. I live with a mom and a dad who aren't married, and I don't have a mug shot or a record, or even a sing—well, I failed one class, but that was because…never mind," Dawn crept back into her line. But she periodically checked Miss Valera. The first time she looked, the woman seemed to be conflicted. The second time, she was on her phone. Then she looked happy, but tired. Satisfied, Dawn began wondering why people decided to take flights that were shorter than the preparation and all the security checks before the flights.
Mara, Varda, Sam, and Dawn were the only ones still awake as the bus drove past California beaches. From the San Francisco Airport, they had hopped a bus several miles south to Rainbow Valley. The white sands and salty scents tantalized the group.
"I hope you guys brought suntan lotion," Dawn said. She didn't intend on swimming, especially a bikini that looked like it couldn't wrap a donut. She had more dignity than that, and besides, water was cold.
"I hope I still fit in my swimsuit," Mara looked at her yellow one-piece. It didn't reveal enough to send her home from school—indeed, some women on the streets in Idlewild County walked around wearing what looked like a bra and thong underwear, and shirtless guys were nothing new.
"I hope I can get a good surfboard," Sam said. He stared at a beachgoer's cleavage. She waved at him and he waved dumbly back.
Mara, Varda, and Dawn looked and each other and made gagging motions before each went back to their respective soft drinks.
"I hope there's no earthquake," Dawn said. She was expert at saying what nobody wanted to hear. All seven in the car were afraid that there would be an earthquake and someone would die. You always hear about Californian earthquakes. They're famous.
When the adolescents had all arrived at their destination, Holiday Inn, they hopped off the Jaguar and took out their luggage. From there, they were each given their rooms and bade Sam goodnight.
Elke was a short and sunburned girl with big brown eyes, black hair, possessive, and brave to a fault. Jaunie was short with wavy hair that was almost black on her head, brow, and lashes, clear back eyes, and she wasn't really pretty, but she had a pale, overwhelmed beauty. She kept secrets told jokes that were actually funny. Coralie had olive skin, jet-black hair, beetle-black eyes, a pug nose, and was enthusiastic and assertive. Although she was often angry, it was the fearful anger. The three were rooming with the other three girls, and each had brought their favorite romantic comedy to share on the portable DVD player that they had all chipped in for.
"Guys, it's nearly 3:00. Shouldn't we be asleep by now?" Dawn asked worriedly. "I mean, really, security's come up three times saying that we need to bring it down."
"Fine," Varda grumbled. She was always in the mood for fun, but she could get sulky if she didn't get her way. But the mattresses were so deliciously soft that soon the girls were asleep. Pity they didn't stay that way.
A loud rumbling shook Dawn awake. All the books on her shelves quivered as if about to fall. Harry Potter 5 and 6 actually did. The girls were still half-asleep, unmoving.
"Earthquake!" Sam yelled in warning from the other room.
That got the girls moving! Dawn grabbed her stuffed cat Snow and tripped over her nightgown in the process. Her hand automatically reached for the window ledge, and she saw the thick black point rise from the ground. She turned around quickly to find the other five girls leaving.
"Guys, it's not an earthquake. It's a mound," Dawn said.
All the girls tried to squeeze themselves in a position to see the mound.
"It looks like a mountain," Mara said. "I can almost feel the burning." She had accepted the magick thing from her friends with surprising ease. Dawn didn't even dare to tell the other girls.
"It's a volcano," Varda's voice was awed.
"Right," Dawn said absently. There was an odd beauty in the volcano's consummation. What else could one feel, standing beside nature's awesome power, but being diminished and seeing so much possibility? It was like the ocean, but much, much closer and warmer. Still, the odd shape sent shivers down Dawns back. She felt something that could only be described as ominous.
"Let's tell Callie," Mara said, leaving the window.
"Callie. She changed her name to Calanthe, remember" Dawn reminded. But she got ready to leave anyway. Varda, an expert hacker, could alter records in a second. Callie had offered her expertise too, making Dawn see just how little she knew of her sister in the 15 years before Dawn was born. Still, she had to crack a smile. Yes, she understood how seriously bad events could turn with the rising of this volcano, but she couldn't help but feed off the adrenaline rush. ****
"Dear lord," Callie groaned.
"What was that for?" Dawn asked.
Callie grabbed Dawn's shoulders and shook them. "That volcano isn't naturally formed. Cailean made it appear because he knows we're here.
"More specifically, he knows you are here even though your records are changed," Varda was not especially famous for taking time to think about things before she spoke or acted.
"Great," Callie groaned. She started for her bags. "I have to pack up again."
"Maybe not," Varda looked sorry. "He's targeting this area, where there are many people, considering the island's size. Maybe there's a reason. Maybe those people are meant to help us. Do you like chocolate?" Varda was quite famous, however, for changing tack at the slightest or no provocation. She took the cellophane-wrapped muffin out. It was dotted with brown and black.
"Ew, I hate chocolate," Callie said as Dawn shook her head. But Callie took the muffin and a huge bite.
"So, why are you eating it?" Dawn asked, arms crossed and leaning sideways in curiosity.
"Because it has licorice bits in it too. I love licorice," Callie confessed smugly, pointing out the black spots with her finger. "Observe. As Mom always said, 'Don't just get so stuck on one puzzle piece.' The only reason people emphasize teamwork is because everyone gets so caught up in one area that they have to look at other areas to get a clue. To every season, there is a reason. To borrow an overly clichéd phrase, think outside the box."
Dawn and Varda stared for a second before bursting into laughter. All the girls (and woman) had their eccentricities, but only Callie would dare to be nonconformist before strangers in a strange place.
"Nice," Callie licked her fingers and wiped them on her butt.
"Mara Bennett," a man, who looked like he was born 40 years old, poked his head into the room.
"Yeah?" Mara appeared right behind him.
The man jumped, then tried to rearrange himself. "You're wanted in the caster's office. So are you," he pointed at Callie.
Tension landed on the group like a thick blanket. Everyone knew that the caster's recall meant that you were about to be replaced.
"Call someone to pick her up," said Varda's eyes.
"Who?" Dawn's expression was clear.
Varda shrugged. It was too obvious to everyone. That it the boy Dawn had been crushing on ever since they first met in middle school. No one could figure out why she liked him so much…
Pearlie finished her song letting the last note ring over the creek. There was something about Silver Creek and the maples ringing it that made Pearlie's barely audible singing voice so that each tree, dewdrop, grass blade, and flower sang with her until the song carried over mountains. Luckily, it was twilight, when people would be lulled to sleep by it. Pearlie lay down in the grass. In Silver Creek—Idlewild County itself, really—the worst crime which had ever occurred were a few trashcans being knocked down on Halloween, and maybe the person who always changed the Unitarian Universalist Church (the one that Pearlie's parents attended) sign. And that was why all the children could stay out until the crack of dawn. Nothing could ever hurt her here. Except perhaps the boy who was tripping over her.
"Sorry, I was looking for Cygnus, the Swan," the boy apologized.
"That Cygnus?" Pearlie pointed. "I was out here looking for Cassiopeia."
"Cassiopeia is right there," the boy showed her.
"Oh, yeah! That would be the throne. Thanks," she smiled.
"That song was really pretty," the boy said. "But it was real girly. Can't you sing something more manly?"
"Can't you say something girly?" Pearlie turned her head and the golden rose with tear-drop shaped diamonds for petals fell out. The boy caught it.
"Hey, I'll give this back to you if you'll marry me. All my friends say I like that stupid little Hanna Wilson," the boy offered it to her like an olive branch.
"Only if I get a carriage. A Cinderella kinda carriage," Pearlie said.
"Done," the boy nodded.
Next time on Sacrifice of Fire, a bunch of accidents that you can't even imagine happening (but really did happen, and I am an eyewitness) are going to happen.