She was bouncing on her toes a little. “I taught Hemlock some tricks. Wanna see?”
This time it was my turn to smile. I slowly went to sit up, ignoring the throbbing in my head, and then frowned when I felt something … wet and sandy at my feet.
“What the hell is that?” I asked, just then noticing that my feet were buried in two flower pots.
“I wanted to strip you naked and have you sleep on the grass until you healed,” Isaac interjected, “but the pack insisted we head to get your staff, so this was the next best thing.”
Yeah, sleeping naked for a day and a half out in the open was not cool with me.
Danny’s head peeked down from the top bunk. He’d been there the whole time. “I told him I think it’s going to be the latest fashion trend. I want a pair of potted lavender shoes.”
I chuckled and looked at Isaac. “Can I take them out?”
He scrutinized me. “How do you feel?”
My head was still throbbing but I didn’t want to bring it up. It was probably just from that noxious paint smell. “I’m fine. What is that smell?”
Nadine grinned. “We were worried the yellow bus was attracting the druids, so Gear and I gave it a makeover.”
I felt my eyes widen. No doubt it was now covered in skulls or something equally sinister. Without waiting for Isaac to confirm I could in fact unplant my feet, I slowly pulled them from the potted plants. The second my left foot left the soil, my headache increased and I winced.
Logan noticed. “Sloane?”
I sighed, keeping my right foot firmly in the pot. “Alright, I have a monster headache.”
At that admission, Isaac was kneeling in front of me, looking me over. “You exerted too much from your physical body, Sloane. You must learn to take from Mother Earth.”
I sighed. “It’s not like I mean to. It just … explodes out of me.”
Isaac nodded. “Yes. Next time, less impulsive explosion and more focused direction with support of Mother Nature.”
He might as well be speaking Chinese, but I decided not replying was best. He gingerly took my unpotted foot and lifted it up, sticking it back in the planter. The moment my foot hit the cool dirt, the headache eased.
“Better?” he asked.
It was better. Which was freaky as all hell. I had become a plant … I nodded.
He sighed. “When we get to the Seven Sisters tree, you will need to take some time to heal in her energy.”
Of course I would. I was a plant.
Hemlock squeezed through Nadine and Logan and set his head on my knee, looking up at me with doe eyes.
“Were you a good boy while I was asleep?” I asked, rubbing behind his ear.
Nadine nodded. “Roxy is following us in your car. Hemlock and Mittens refused to leave your side.”
At that, Mittens mewed from somewhere in my bunk. I had to peel back a few covers to find her wedged at my hip. When I saw her, I smiled, pulling her close to my chest.
Danny popped his head down again. “You would make such a cool Disney princess. You have all of the right ingredients. Orphaned, weird undiscovered powers, loves to be out in nature, and of course, affinity for animals.”
I laughed then, which only made my headache throb harder. I loved this crazy bunch.
Nadine patted Hemlock's back. “Alright, wanna see the trick I taught him?”
I barely heard what she said over the smell of bacon that was assaulting my brain, so I just nodded.
Nadine plucked one strip off of my plate. Hemlock whined again, standing up and facing her. Nadine spoke in a firm voice: “Sit.”
Hemlock did.
“Shake.”
He did.
“Eat,” she said, and held the bacon in her mouth, letting the majority hang from her teeth. She bent down gingerly, and Hemlock tenderly took the piece of bacon from her mouth and chewed it.
“That’s disgusting,” Danny commented.
My heart soared at the sight of the once vicious dog taking bacon from Nadine’s mouth.
“That’s amazing!” I told her, ignoring Danny.
Nadine gave the sorcerer a smirk, and Keegan came up from behind her.
“I made that, so you better like it,” he declared.
I looked at the plate, impressed. The boys were finally learning how to cook.
Isaac made a tsk-tsk noise and I was reminded of his declaration that he didn’t kill anything so that he could eat. The strip of bacon was poised at my mouth.
“Eating meat weighs down your energy and gunks up your chi,” Isaac declared.
I stared at the bacon. I literally could not stop salivating; it was a learned response. But I’d promised to give this druid apprenticeship a try. “Okay … I declare, from now on, I give up all meat. No burgers, no chicken, or fish!”
Isaac beamed at me like a proud parent.
“Except...” I held up a hand. “Bacon. I am a veggie-bacon-tarian.”
Logan chuckled and I felt bad when hurt crossed Isaac’s face, his bright copper eyes dimming a little. My joke was not received well.
“Did your mother eat meat?” Isaac asked me, and it was like the wind had been knocked out of me. Talking about my mom still did that.
I shook my head. “No. She didn’t.” She would prepare it for me but never ate the stuff herself. Guilt washed through me at the memory of my mother trying to make me go vegetarian at age six, but I just wanted to eat what my friends ate, so she never pushed it after that.
“On second thought, Keegan, do we have any avocado? I’ll pass on the bacon.”
If I was going to embrace all of my druid powers and get a handle on this magic, then I needed to do what Isaac said … what my mother would have done.
Isaac just smiled sweetly and nodded, walking to the front of the bus and leaving me to my thoughts. I was now a vegetarian with potted feet.
“We’ll be at the tree in about an hour. Prepare for anything,” Isaac said over his shoulder.
Prepare for anything. Great, just what I wanted to hear as my feet were deep in soil.
“Isaac, wait.” I wanted to get my staff and start my training, but I also needed to see if my mom’s address book was in fact just an address book.
I took a deep breath and told the group about the book. I told them what I thought it was, and how important it was for me to check out the addresses.
Logan knew about it, but Dominic, Danny, Nadine, they gasped.
Isaac looked thoughtfully outside at the passing world. “We’ll get the staff and then we check out the closest address. If it’s nothing, we go home, start your training.”
“And if it’s something?” I stroked Mittens’ back nervously.
He sighed. “Then we start rounding up skyborn. You need to stick together. Now more than ever.”
I could feel Logan thrum with excitement. How long had he pined over being the last dragon? How long had he yearned to be with others of his kind?
Today was going to be a big day. It would prove once and for all that my mother had been doing something good. Noble even. That all those years she’d lied to me was for a higher purpose.
Please don’t just be an address book.