“Can you take us to her . . . to them?” I asked, my pulse racing at the thought. Could our father and mother really be together right now?
“First things first.” Beth looped her arm through mine. “We have to get you cleaned up for the wreathing ceremony.” She wrinkled her nose. “No offense, but you smell funny.” She tugged on my arm. “Come on, everyone’s waiting.”
“What’s a wreathing ceremony?” I asked as my brother lagged behind with the bags.
“It’s very special.” Beth led us along the lakeshore. “It only happens once every seventeen years. A week before the ritual, the chosen daughter from the Larkin bloodline picks a boy from the Mendoza bloodline to walk the corn with on the summer solstice. Your bloodlines have been specifically bred for each other. For this occasion. It’s so romantic.” She took in a giant breath of air like a two-year-old. “Normally, you’d get to choose your own intended, but since you don’t really know anyone, Katia chose for you. You’re so lucky,” she said to me, sighing dreamily. “Wait till you see him.”
“Hold up, you mean I have to do this wreathing thing?”
“Oh, don’t fret. You don’t have to actually walk the corn. The vessels have already been found. But since Nina’s away, we thought you could stand in for her, experience your heritage. Tradition’s important around here. Wouldn’t want to miss a chance for a celebration. Your mother and father will walk the corn on the summer solstice before becoming Katia’s and Alonso’s vessels.”
“What does that even mean, being a vessel?” Rhys called from behind.
“Oh my stars! You don’t know?” She yanked me to a stop, waiting for Rhys to catch up.
“On the summer solstice, Katia will transfer her soul into Nina’s body so she can break her blood bond with Coronado. Then the Great Spirit will return Alonso’s soul, placing it in Thomas’s body. They’ll be together at last. They’ll finally be free. We all will,” she added wistfully.
“Uh-huh . . . sure.” Rhys shot me a weary sideward glance. He still thought all this was some kind of a hoax, but I was beginning to wonder. Maybe the legends were true. All of them.
Beth started walking again, pulling me along with her.
“But you can leave Quivira, right?” I asked. “It’s not like you’re being kept here against your will.”
“Why would anyone want to leave?” She waved her hand around. “We have everything we need. The community was sealed in 1861.”
“Sealed?”
“Because of the Arcanum.” She nodded, matter-of-fact.
“‘Arcanum’?” my brother asked.
“Coronado’s guards are called the Arcanum.” Beth lowered her voice, as if someone might be listening. “In 1861, Coronado brought the Arcanum here, and threatened to slaughter us all. That’s when Katia enraptured the corn.”
Rhys shook his head in dismay as he looked out over the fields.
“Oh, don’t worry, they can’t get in. The corn protects us.”
“The corn protects you?” Rhys burst out in a fit of nervous laughter and then dropped the bags at his feet dramatically. “So, you’re telling me Katia and Coronado are alive, like, living, breathing, alive, and immortal?”
“Of course, silly goose.” She bounced on the balls of her feet a few times.
“And you think our mom and Thomas are some kind of magic vessels.” Rhys pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Whew.” Beth pretended to wipe her brow. “For a minute there I thought you might be a little touched,” she said as she continued to pull me up the cobblestone path.
“Touched?” Rhys called after her as he regathered the bags. He looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. He pumped his legs harder to catch up to her. “What’s your deal?”
I shot him a look to be nice, but Beth didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m a seer. Seers can see into the future. But I’m broken. See?” She flipped her stick-straight strawberry-blond hair over to one side to reveal a large scar running the length of her skull. “I took a fall. I don’t remember anything. I guess it made my third eye clog and I was seeing all kinds of cuckoo banana things. I saw the two of you coming months ago—the path that will lead us from darkness—but then I also saw a monkey eating a walnut and I thought to myself, Beth, don’t be daft, we don’t even have walnut trees.”
“So, you’re saying you have monkeys?” Rhys’s voice cracked under the pressure.
Beth swirled a finger next to her temple making the crazy sign. “Apparently, I’m not the only one who hit their head,” she said, smacking his arm playfully. “I’m joshing you. No, we don’t have monkeys. But that would be grand, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, that would be grand.” Rhys looked around for an escape route.
Beth grinned. “You’re weird, but you’re cute. Are you intended?” She smoothed her hair down, tucking it behind her ears.
“What, like engaged? No.” Rhys jutted his head back, like he was disgusted by the idea. “Why, are you?”
A soft blush settled into her delicate skin. “Oh, I’m unintendable.”