Scarlet and the Keepers of Light Read Online Free PDF Page B

lights that swirled around her, she could just make out the foliage, and as the speed of the luminescent cyclone grew, so did the size of the tree above her. Within moments the ferns that had been underfoot now seemed as tall as trees, and the great oak, which had already been a mighty specimen, was now incomprehensibly vast. After a few moments the tornado of light slowed, and Scarlet could see that each light was actually a person, dressed in shimmering cloth, floating gracefully to the ground on wings that seemed made of the same iridescent material. This, Scarlet correctly guessed, must be the Tounder.
    One of the Tounder landed in front of the family. “I am Xavier,” the winged figure said. “Elder of the Tounder and Keeper of Light.” He bowed elegantly and then waved his arm to introduce the many winged figures behind him.
    The little man looked very old, with a long beard and hair that matched the glistening white of his wings. He was smaller than the other winged figures, and quite thin. The eyes that lit up with his warm smile were clear amber and shone with a radiance of their own.
    “Ch—er—Charles. Charles Hopewell,” Mr. Hopewell mumbled. “I’m with the talking dogs.”
    Xavier laughed. It was the most beautiful sound Scarlet had ever heard. “But of course you are. Come with me—you must be exhausted.” He beckoned them toward the massive archway at the base of the oak.
    Confusion washed over Scarlet in waves. Nothing from the moment she had woken made any sense. It was as if she had never left her dream, and when she thought about it, that really was the most likely explanation for what was happening to them. A desperate need to wake warred within her with an insatiable curiosity, a sense of wonderment she could not shake. Perhaps if she focused on one unbelievable thing at a time? Work backward, if she must, to a final explanation. She took a moment to study the world around her, focusing not on the whole of the evening but simply on what was before her now.
    Finally it came to her. It wasn’t the forest that had grown. They had shrunk.
    Xavier looked at the bewildered family and frowned. “Have you told them nothing?” he asked Dakota.
    “There was no time,” Dakota answered faintly. “I barely had time to reach some degree of maturity. The Mortada came earlier than expected. I lost a lot of blood and strength in the fight.”
    Xavier nodded. “We couldn’t know how long it would take to get you over. That’s my failing. . . . You must be more than a little confused,” he said apologetically to the family. “Come into my home. You can rest while I do my best to explain what I can.”
    He turned to Scarlet and smiled, bending down so they were eye to eye. “Yes, my dear.” He chuckled. “We shrank you.”
    I didn’t say that out loud, did I?Scarlet thought. As if in direct reply, Xavier winked at her.
    ***
    Mr. Hopewell was an easygoing sort of man, but still, he liked to consider himself a rational person. It wasn’t that he lacked imagination or didn’t enjoy the occasional fantasy movie or book, but when it came to the world of nonfiction, what you see is generally what you get. He tried to wrap his mind around what he saw in front of him. Rational really wasn’t going to cut it. There was no rational way of explaining the circumstances of following a winged man, who called himself what amounted basically to “the old fairy,” through a hole in a tree that moments ago he wouldn’t have been able to fit his hand into. Not to mention that the tree was now twice the size of the tallest skyscraper Mr. Hopewell had ever seen.
    He reached out and took Mrs. Hopewell’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. To her credit, she just smiled and shrugged, having obviously given up her earlier confrontational attitude as futile. Perhaps she was right. There was no point in trying to rationalize away any of this, for the moment at least.
    Hand in hand, they walked beneath the arch