The Nexus Ring Read online

  I had no idea what she meant, and then one of the stars winked at me. I looked closer and it was still, but it made me ­smile.

  I lay back, drinking it in. The sky was deep ­blue-­black, with a gazillion stars scattered across, some in brilliant clusters, others shining alone. They took turns sparkling, first one then another across the sky, as if they were talking to one ­another.

  As the fire died down, Aleena left to sleep near the water. Maddy and I sat staring at sparks dancing into the night like tiny shooting stars, until Maddy leaned against me and fell asleep. I settled her in the ­lean-­to, then lay beside her, trying to tease apart my tangle of emotions. I was longing for home, and afraid of that awful troll, and worried about Mom and Dad, and weighed down by responsibility for Maddy, and at the same time this beautiful world filled me with excitement and awe. Finally, I gave up trying to figure it out, and just lay watching the ­stars.

  Chapter Five

  Storm Clouds

  Squawking birds woke me. I stumbled around in the early light coaxing the embers of our fire into flames. The air smelled sharp, like a cold new apple. Mist rose off the water, but the sky above was a luminous blue. Maddy and I peed in the bushes, then washed in the ­lake.

  Aleena caught more fish for breakfast. Last night, fish had been wonderful, but I’d rather have toast first thing in the ­morning.

  Just as I was choking down my last bite, the ground started to shake, a low rumbling beneath my feet. I looked around. The shimmer of the mountain across the lake faded, leaving it dull and slightly greyed. Then the rumbling stopped, and the greyness ­vanished.

  “What was that?” I asked Aleena. “That rumbling?”

  “There was a train in the tunnel in that mountain.” She pointed across the lake. “Humans cut two tunnels in the mountains for trains to spiral through, because the pass is so steep. And when a train is in the tunnel in the human world, we can feel it rumbling here.”

  “What happened to the light on the mountain? It faded, and turned kind of grey.”

  Aleena closed her eyes for a moment. “The veil can’t keep out human changes that reach deep into the earth, like tunnels. They touch our world, and they weaken our magic.”

  Quietly, we finished ­eating.

  As soon as we were done, Aleena leaned back and said, “It’s time to talk about the ring. What do you want to do?”

  Maddy sighed. “What I want more than anything is to get home.”

  Aleena smiled. “Give me the ring and I’ll take you home.” She walked over to Maddy and held out her hand. Her fingers ­trembled.

  Maddy pulled the ring off her finger, then ­hesitated.

  “Give me the ring,” Aleena ­said.

  Maddy frowned and tightened her grip. “No. Everyone wants to take my ring from me, but I’m going to keep it.” She glared at ­Aleena.

  What? How could she not understand? We needed Aleena to help us get home! I jumped up. “Maddy,

  let’s get more firewood.” I turned to Aleena. “I’ll talk

  to her.”

  Maddy and I walked into the forest. I growled at her, “What is your problem?”

  “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “Oh, Maddy, not again! First the troll, now Aleena?” I snapped dead branches with great bursts of ­anger.

  “Josh, when I think about giving it to her, I get a stomach ache. And when I think about not giving it to her, I feel better.”

  “Aleena just wants the ring so she can visit our world and go kayaking and stuff. What’s wrong with that?”

  “I don’t know!” Maddy wailed. “I just feel it. I don’t want to keep the ring, but I can’t give it to Aleena. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Just give her the stupid ring!”

  Maddy glared at me. I glared back. Arms full of branches, we faced each other, like we sometimes do in staring contests. Except this wasn’t a game. Finally, I threw down my branches and stomped off. Maddy can be so stubborn! She had to give the ring to Aleena so we could get back to Mom and Dad!

  I watched her struggle with her branches while I worried about what to do. I shoved my hands into my pockets and banged a finger on the rock from Bridal Veil Falls. I pulled it out and looked at it. What I needed was a compass like Dad’s, right in my pocket. But not for finding north. I needed one to help me figure out what was the right thing to do. Maddy always seemed more sure than I was. I sighed and tossed the rock away. Maybe she really did know something I didn’t. Maybe I could stall a little, to give us time to figure it ­out.

  I walked back to Maddy. “Okay, I’ll tell Aleena you need some more time.”

  Maddy smiled in relief and followed me back to ­Aleena.

  Aleena watched us as we carried wood into the clearing. “Are you ready?”

  I spoke quickly. “Maddy doesn’t want to give up her ring yet. We’d like to spend more time here. Maybe you could show us some magic.”

  Aleena stood perfectly still. Her pale skin, almost blue in the shadows, looked colder. Her eyes narrowed, and her voice deepened. “Give it to me. Now.”

  “No,” said ­Maddy.

  “give it to me!”

  “No!”

  Aleena’s eyes darkened, and she raised her arms to the ­sky.

  I stepped forward, ignoring my wobbly knees. “I’m sure she’ll be ready soon, but…” I stopped as Maddy pointed over my head. I looked up and saw black clouds churning and ­growing.

  Her face dark with rage, Aleena danced her hands across the sky, building clouds, raising a howling wind. The sky turned black as clouds boiled above us. Lightning leapt from mountain peak to mountain peak. Thunder filled the ­valley.

  I felt paralyzed. Maddy shuddered, but thrust her hand deep into her ­pocket.

  Aleena roared, “I want that ring. You won’t keep it from me, you little brat. i want it now!” Her thunder crashed back and forth across the ­valley.

  I stared, frozen. “Maddy, give it to her. Maddy…”

  “No.”

  “Maddy, you’re only seven years old. Give her the ring!”

  “No!”

  Maddy faced Aleena, shaking but stubborn, with me beside her. Aleena stared at us, lightning and thunder ripping up the sky behind her. We stood like that for what seemed like hours, until Aleena lowered her arms, and the thunder and lightning subsided. The clouds settled into a dark ceiling, not as wild as before, but still ­ominous.

  Aleena glowered at us, her eyes dark as the clouds. “If you won’t give it to me, I’ll just have to take it!”

  Maddy backed ­away.

  “Give me the ring,” Aleena ordered, stepping ­closer.

  “No,” Maddy shouted, and she darted to the far side of the ­fire.

  Aleena followed, closing in on Maddy, who jumped out of reach. Aleena stalked her around the fire. Maddy looked more and more ­frantic.

  I grabbed a burning branch, and stepped between them. “Stop,” I ­said.

  Aleena stopped. I moved forward, and she backed away, never taking her eyes off the fire in my hands. She jumped to the side, trying to get around me to Maddy, but I thrust the branch at her. She stepped back, panting. I kept pushing her back, to the edge of the ­lake.

  Her face grew angrier and angrier, until she stepped into the water and said, “Let’s see how you like it here on your own, with just the bears for company!” Then she dove into the ­lake.

  I stood staring at the ripples where Aleena had ­disappeared.

  “I should have given her the ring,” said Maddy, ­sniffing.

  “Yes,” I said as I watched the ripples vanish. “You should have given her the ring. You should have given the troll the ring!” My voice rose as I burnt off my fear in anger. “You should never have picked up that awful ring in the first place! And you should never have involved me in your stupid game with Mom. But you did, and now we’re stuck here, and I’m the one who has to rescue us!”

  By the time I was done, Maddy was sobbing. I didn’t care.
I stomped into the forest, smashing past branches and leaping over fallen ­logs.

  I crashed through the forest all the way to the berry patch, then stood watching the mama and her cubs eating together. After a while, the anger eased out of me, and I started to feel lonely – and really, really mean. When the bears left, I did ­too.

  I walked back to Maddy, knelt and hugged her. “I’m sorry,” I said. “You knew something was wrong.” I held her until she stopped ­crying.

  “But what are we going to do?” Maddy said, sniffing. “She’s left us here all alone.”

  “We’re not alone,” I said. “We have each other. We’ll figure this out together.”

  Chapter Six

  Trapped

  Maddy looked up with ­tear-­soaked eyes, waiting for me to come up with a plan. I turned away, overwhelmed by the pressure. I would get us home. I just had to! But ­how?

  I started sketching down my pant leg, and as my hand worked, my brain did too. “Let’s pick some berries,” I said, “and we can check how many are there.”

  Maddy felt better as soon as she was eating. I just kept worrying about Aleena. I remembered drawing

  her – how I had to use a dark pencil and deepen the shadows before I was satisfied. I should have known not to trust ­her.

  Finally, I nibbled some berries. Energy surged through me, but something was making me nervous. I scanned the meadow. There was Maddy, a dark back bending over a bush. Except Maddy was wearing pink. I looked again. Beside it was another dark back. Bear cubs. Just then Maddy stood, right across the berry bush from the ­cubs.

  Choking back a yell, I looked across the meadow, trying to spot the mama bear. I couldn’t see her, but I knew she’d be nearby. Dad taught me you never, ever, want to get between a mama bear and her ­cubs.

  I had to get Maddy out of there. If I walked straight to her, I’d be moving towards the cubs, too. I might alert the mama. Instead, I moved towards the shore. Then, in a low voice, I called to her. “Maddy!”

  She looked up. So did the bear ­cubs.

  “I need you to walk straight to me, right now.” She started to speak but I put a hand over my mouth and shook my head. Maybe she saw the urgency in my face, because she began walking towards me without arguing.

  “That’s it,” I said. “Slowly, right to me.” I still couldn’t see the mama, but she had to be nearby. I kept looking. A movement at the edge of the trees gave her away; mama was coming. “Come on, Maddy,” I ­murmured.

  She reached me and whispered, “What is it?” I shook my head and took her hand. We walked along the shore until we were almost out of sight of the bears. Then we turned, and I pointed to the berry patch. The mama bear had joined her cubs and was standing on her hind legs, watching us. I could hear her growling. We kept ­walking.

  “I don’t think we can stay here,” Maddy ­said.

  “Are you ready to give Aleena the ring?”

  “No,” she said in a small voice. “I just can’t! It’s not right.”

  “Can you give the troll the ring?”

  “No,” she said, in a smaller ­voice.

  “Then we’ll have to find our own way home.”

  Maddy whimpered. “I’m scared.”

  I swallowed my fear. “I know, but I have an idea. What if we can find one of the doorways between the worlds? Maybe we can open it with the ring.”

  “Maybe – but where do we look?”

  I pointed to the mountain across the valley. “Aleena said one of the Spiral Tunnels runs through that mountain. I think we could hike to it. A tunnel would be a good place for a doorway, since the tunnels already link our worlds.”

  “But what about Aleena, and the troll? Won’t they try to follow us?”

  “Aleena expects us to stay here. And we’ll bring a torch, to fight her off.”

  “And the troll?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe we can go really fast, so he can’t keep up.”

  Maddy didn’t look convinced, and I didn’t feel it, but I couldn’t think of another plan, so we set to ­work.

  We built up the fire and put the end of a thick branch in the flames. Then we stripped down to our underwear. I stuffed our clothes and runners into my hoodie, then we walked down to the lake. We found a log floating near the shore. I held it steady while Maddy scrambled on. When I let go, the log rolled, dumping Maddy into the ­water.

  “I guess you can’t carry the clothes,” I said.

  “No kidding,” she muttered, wiping water from her ­eyes.

  I found a second log, and tied them together with our pants. Then Maddy climbed on top. She held the rest of our clothes in my hoodie, and waved the burning stick in the air. “Let’s go,” she said, pigtails ­dripping.

  “Easy for you to say,” I grumbled as I swam, pushing the raft ahead of me. Every time something brushed against my legs, I thought it was Aleena. I’d surge forward, then tire and rest. Then something else would brush past me and I’d be off again, struggling to push the raft as fast as my racing heart would let me. By the time we reached the shore of the lake, I was ­exhausted.

  Maddy untied our pants and wrung them out, then put her own clothes back on. I pulled on my dry ­t-­shirt and hoodie, then struggled into wet ­jeans.

  I picked up the smouldering torch and we set off. We oozed through mud to the edge of a stream, then waded across. The water washed off the worst of the mud, but soon we were walking through more on the other ­side.

  Squelch, ooze. Squelch, ­ooze.

  Finally the ground rose, and we found a fallen tree to perch on. We tried to bang off the mud, but it just splattered up our legs and onto our hands. We wiped our hands on some leaves and kept walking. It had to get better after ­this.

  It didn’t. Maddy wanted to follow the creek, but I insisted we walk along the flank of the mountain, so I could spot the tunnel. Except that took us straight into dense forest. We pushed our way through the trees, getting scratched and tired and more and more confused. I longed for Dad, or at least for his compass, a map and a lesson on how to use them. Finally, we sat on a boulder to ­rest.

  “I don’t know where we are,” I said. “I can’t see anything from here. Maybe I should climb those rocks, so I can look around.”

  Maddy looked at the rock face I was pointing to, then at me. “Josh, you don’t know how to rock climb.”

  “I can try,” I said. I handed Maddy the torch, then started climbing. The rock face was like a little cliff in the middle of the forest. I climbed quickly at first, then, when I realized how high I was, more carefully. Somehow I managed to pull myself high enough to see above the trees. To my right, the forest opened into sunshine, and I could see a mountain across the valley. I grinned. That must be where the second tunnel spiralled. Now I knew where we were! But as I looked to the left my grin faded. I started sliding down the rock ­face.

  “Maddy, the troll is coming,” I whispered. “Run, through there.” I pointed to the right, into the forest. “Get into sunlight.”

  Maddy stood, waiting for ­me.

  “Run!” I said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  She dashed off as I clambered down the rocks. Soon I was pounding along behind her. I could hear the troll cursing as he crashed through the forest. And then I heard Maddy ­scream.

  “Maddy, where are you?”

  I burst out of the trees, then slid to a stop, teetering on the edge of a cliff. I peered down. Maddy was clinging to a ledge partway down the cliff, her legs ­dangling.

  “Hang on, Maddy, I’m coming!” She twisted around to look up, but I shouted, “Don’t move. Just hang on. I’ll be right there.”

  The cliff was steep, but not vertical. And it was in the sun, so the troll couldn’t reach us. I could hear him, though, cursing at the edge of the ­forest.

  I lowered myself over the edge, aiming just to the left of Maddy. Slowly I worked my way down the cliff face. All the while I talked to Maddy, trying to sound like Dad. “Hold tight, Maddy. I’ll be the
re in a sec.” My foot slipped and I almost fell. I bit my tongue to stop myself from crying out. I could taste ­blood.

  Finally I could feel the ledge under my right toe, and I eased down to it. It was barely wide enough to stand on, but it widened towards Maddy. I worked my way along it, then sat with my back braced against the wall and grabbed Maddy. With me pulling and Maddy scrambling, she wiggled up beside ­me.

  We just sat there a while, Maddy filthy and scratched and scared, me with torn hands and bleeding tongue, heart thumping. Dark clouds rolled in, blocking the sun. All the time I was climbing, I was focused on getting to Maddy. But now, safe for the moment, words banged around my head like bumper cars. We’ll never get down ­– the troll will catch us – we’ll never get ­home.

  Finally Maddy took a huge breath, blew it out, and said, her voice quavering, “I was so scared. I thought I was going to fall all the way.”

  “I know,” I said. “You were really brave. Now you need to be brave again, so we can climb to the bottom.”

  Maddy looked way down between her feet, then at me, horrified. “I can’t, Josh. I just can’t!”

  “You have to,” I said. “We can’t go back; the troll is up there. So we have to go down. I’ll help you. We’ll do it together.”

  Maddy shut her eyes and took another breath. Then she ­nodded.

  I tried to sound confident, but I almost threw up when I lowered myself from the ledge and hung, groping for a foothold. Then I had one. I worked my way down to another ledge, then called to Maddy. “C’mon, it’s not so steep.”

  Maddy’s pale face peered down at me. She whimpered, then turned and slowly wiggled over the edge. I told her where to put her feet, then reached up to hold an ankle. “That’s it. Now to your left, a little further. Sure you can reach it. C’mon. You can do it.”

  And then she was beside me, trembling and looking ­sick.

  Slowly we worked our way down the cliff face, from ledge to ledge, until the steepness eased into a gentler ­slope.

  We were surrounded by towering mountains, tan and ­red-­brown and grey, with patches of snow near the peaks, and trees covering the slopes. Below us a river carved through the valley floor. It was milky white and roaring. The air was warm, with a cool breeze that smelled of ice and sweet ­spruce.