Enchantment Page 9

  She picked up one of the trail guides and glanced over it. It included a smaller map that might come in handy. She stuffed it in her pack and coasted back down through the campground, stopping in an empty camping space where she parked her bike while she walked over to the creek.

  The water was pretty low this time of year. No gurgle, just a whisper of a trickle as the creek threaded through its rocky bed. Holly crouched at the edge, watching water skeeters dance across the surface.

  “Illassa?” she called softly.

  She waited a while and called again. No answer. She gazed into the creek, looking for a hint of a face, any movement besides the water’s, trying to see into the water. Nothing.

  “I’m a friend of Ohlan’s,” she said, hoping that might help. “He’s got a problem.”

  A splash made her look upstream. A cream-colored dog was bounding toward her, sending up scatters of flying diamond drops. Holly stood up just in time to avoid being bowled over. The dog ran a circle around her, tongue lolling from its grin.

  A spirit? In dog form?

  “Chauncey, heel!”

  A woman with a brown ponytail hurried up, and the dog bounced over to her. She was dressed for hiking in shorts, a tank top, and boots, with a water bottle strapped to one hip.

  “I’m sorry,” she said as a similarly dressed man joined her. “He’s not dangerous.”

  “It’s OK,” Holly said. “Hi, Chauncey.”

  The dog wagged his way over to her, looking delighted. His paws were chocolate with mud. Holly kept him from jumping on her by rubbing his head and scratching behind his ears, then the couple called him over to their camp, a couple of spaces away.

  Holly glanced back at the creek. Still no sign of Illassa. Looked like the easy way wasn’t going to work. She got back on her bike and headed for the library.

  At a catalog terminal, she ran a search on Enchantment Spring and came up with the same entries she’d seen on her first visit: the hiking guide and Amanda’s memoir. The rest of the list was a bunch of reference entries that she’d ignored before, but now she skimmed through them and found one that looked promising: a Forest Service conservation report.

  She wrote down the number, then went to the reference section and found the report. It was thick, an annual report covering all activities in the district during the previous year, put out in January. She couldn’t check it out, so she took it to a table and scanned the index, looking for mention of the spring.

  Several other springs showed up on the list. Holly hadn’t been to any of them. She wondered if they all had guardians like Ohlan. Maybe he could take her to visit the others—if they could figure out what was making him weak.

  She flipped to the chapter titled “Resources Management Summary” and found the section for Enchantment Spring. A short paragraph of history proved the scout leader right: the concrete coffin or “housing” as the article called it had been built in 1953, to keep the spring from washing over the trail and causing erosion problems. The scout leader must have read this report, she thought, grinning.

  Reading on, she found that the Forest Service wasn’t any more impressed with the coffin than she was. The article described it as “poor,” “uninviting,” and “disharmonious with the natural environs.” The last paragraph of the article froze her to her chair:

  As part of the 2010 Rehabilitation Project for Enchantment Spring Trail (see section 7g), this work will be demolished.

  ~ 9 ~

  Holly stared at the report in dismay. Demolish the spring?

  What would happen to Ohlan?

  He said he had come into being with the spring. If the spring was destroyed …

  They couldn’t do that! She had to stop them.

  Heart racing, she read on, slogging through a dry, boring description of the Forest Service’s rehabilitation project for the spring. It was a pretty massive undertaking from the sound of it. Enchantment Springs Trail was going to be completely redone, with new signs and safety improvements all along its seven-mile length. The trail would be closed from early September through next March.

  Holly’s stomach sank. How would she get up there to see Ohlan?

  She closed her eyes when she got to the part about demolishing the concrete housing. Maybe she wouldn’t have to worry about getting up there.

  “No!” she whispered.

  Going back to the index, she found a couple of other references to the spring, but she just couldn’t make her brain focus on the technical language. She kept thinking about Ohlan. No way was she going to lose him! She’d have to find a way to keep the Forest Service from destroying his home.

  Checking her watch, she was alarmed to see that it was almost five. Her mom would be wondering where she was.

  She carried the report to the copy machine and spent all her pocket change making copies of any articles that referred to Enchantment Spring and the rehabilitation project for the trail. Stuffing the copies in her pack, she returned the Forest Service report to the reference section and left the library.

  Outside it was sunny. Beautiful. She looked at the shadows of the cottonwood trees on the sidewalk and felt only gloom.

  It would really, really suck if Ohlan … died.

  She winced. Unable to bear thinking about it, she hopped on her bike and headed for home.

  “There you are!” Mom said, smiling as Holly came in from the garage. “Just in time to help with the salad.”

  Holly put away her pack and came back to the kitchen, where she chopped veggies and got out salad dressing. Mom chattered away happily, and Holly made encouraging noises now and then, but her thoughts were up at the spring.

  Should she tell Ohlan what she had learned? Her stomach clenched at the thought. She didn’t want to tell him, but how could she let him remain unaware of what was coming? She had to at least warn him about the plans for reconstructing the trail. Maybe he’d figure out the rest on his own.

  She swallowed, feeling miserable. This was worse than the lake spirit’s guess that the spring was failing. This was destruction, coming on short order.

  It seemed like she’d only just discovered Ohlan, only just welcomed his magic into her life, and now she was going to lose him.

  “You feeling OK, honey?”

  Startled, Holly realized she’d quit chopping celery halfway through the stalk. She started up again.

  “I’m fine. Just tired. I biked around a lot.”

  “Yeah, you were gone most of the day. Did you get sunburned?”

  Holly pulled away from Mom’s hand reaching for her forehead. “I’m fine, really.”

  She blinked back angry tears and finished chopping, then scattered the celery over the salad. Before Mom could give her some other food prep chore, she offered to set the table. At least that got her out of the kitchen.

  By the time the table was set, Dad had arrived to distract Mom, and Holly could slip away to her bedroom. She flopped onto the bed and hugged one of her pillows, fighting a fresh bout of tears. She’d have to pull herself together if she didn’t want Mom and Dad asking a bunch of questions she wouldn’t want to answer.

  Sniffing, she rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. The stars glowed faintly with the daylight they’d absorbed. Her window faced east and was shaded by a big cottonwood in the back yard, so her room was dark enough that she could see the greenish glow.

  She wanted to gaze at the real stars with Ohlan. How much time did she have for that? A couple of weeks?

  A cold realization went through her. She wanted to spend a night—all night—up at the spring. If she was going to lose Ohlan, she wanted to share everything with him first.

  The thought scared her a little. Was she crazy? Contemplating losing her virginity to an illusion? Would that even count?

  Yet she wanted it, deep in her gut. She wanted Ohlan to be the one.

  A gentle knock at the door; three taps.

  “Holly? Supper’s ready.” Mom’s voice, sounding worried.

 
“’Kay. Be right there.”

  She sat up, wiping at her cheeks. She waited until she heard Mom’s footsteps fading down the hall, then got up and ducked into the bathroom to wash her face. It looked like she did have a touch of sunburn, which was good because otherwise she would have looked dead pale.

  She did her best to act normal at dinner, but the way Mom kept glancing at her told her she wasn’t doing a great job. She asked Dad about work, hoping to shift the focus to him, but he turned it right around and asked what she’d been doing all day.

  “Biked around.”

  “Where to?”

  “Well, the library.” Remembering the Forest Service report froze her. She didn’t want to talk about that. “And I went up to Palomas Creek Campground.”

  “Hey, that’s a great idea!” Dad smiled. “What do you say we celebrate your last weekend before school with a camp-out?”

  Holly felt herself start to frown and made an effort to stop. She took a drink of her iced tea.

  “Too many tourists. There were three there today, and it’s a week day.”

  “Well, there are other campgrounds …”

  “They’ll all be crowded.” Holly glanced up at him. “Maybe we could just go up to Enchantment Spring and camp there.”

  “I don’t think you’re supposed to,” said Mom, glancing at Dad.

  Holly didn’t answer. Realistically, it was a bad plan anyway. Sneaking out of the tent to hook up with Ohlan—she just couldn’t picture it. She’d be thinking about her parents a few yards away.

  “Well, there’s an Isotopes game in Albuquerque,” Dad said. “I could get us tickets.”

  That was safe. He was always talking about getting tickets for a game, but never followed through. Holly let his voice drone over her while she stirred her succotash around on her plate. Now and then she made herself eat a bite, though her stomach felt awful.

  Ohlan. She wished she could sneak out tonight and go see him. Bad idea, though. Mom was watching her. Better stay home and do something normal.

  Fortunately, normal for her consisted of burying herself in a book. She waited through dinner, ate about half her serving of fruit salad, then helped clear the table and announced her intention of reading. Mom’s “OK, honey,” sounded slightly worried, but Holly managed to get away.

  In her room, she got out the copies she had made and tried again to make sense of the government techno-jargon, but her brain just wasn’t up to focusing on it and she found her thoughts drifting to Ohlan. Finally she shoved the pages into her desk drawer and got out her sketch pad.

  She was nowhere near as talented as Mad, but sometimes doodling helped her work out her feelings. Drawing from memory, she tried to capture Ohlan’s face, without much success. She wasn’t good at drawing people; she always made the shading on the cheeks too dark, and the forehead too big.

  Giving up on that, she drew the spring instead. Boxes she could do. The concrete coffin took shape on the paper, a good rendering. She sketched in grass around the bottom and a tiny bird sitting on its edge, then gazed at the picture, feeling sad.

  “There has to be a way out.”

  She just wasn’t seeing it, that was all. Too tired and anxious, maybe.

  She put aside the sketch pad and carried her pajamas to the bathroom where she took a long, hot bath. Closing her eyes and lying back in the tub, she imagined it was Ohlan’s spring, and that they were lying in it together.

  By the time the water had cooled she was sleepy. Dry off, brush teeth, and back to her room, yawning. She slept as soon as she slid into bed.

  ~

  The next day was Friday. School started Monday. A sense of panic came over Holly as she realized this, lying in bed after waking. She had dreamed, but she couldn’t remember about what.

  School would put a big kink in her time up at the spring, and Dad might cook up something to keep her busy over the weekend. Tonight was the best night to spend with Ohlan, she decided. She just had to figure out how.

  Claim she was sleeping over at a friend’s? No, Mom would check and she’d be busted.

  Sneak out seemed the most feasible plan. She didn’t love it, but she couldn’t think of anything better.

  She got up and pulled on some clothes, then wandered out to the kitchen. Dad was still eating breakfast.

  “You’re up early. Getting back on the school sleep schedule?”

  Holly made a noise that was non-committal but sounded positive. She poured herself some cereal and joined him at the table.

  “I’ve been thinking about the camping idea. You know we could drive up into the Pecos, or over to Ghost Ranch. I bet that wouldn’t be too crowded.”

  Holly shrugged, hoping Dad wouldn’t pursue this track. “I just spent three days out of town. Not really hot to leave again.”

  “Well, maybe just a hike. Would you like that?”

  “Maybe.” An idea came to her as she poured more milk into her glass. “I’m curious about Palomas Creek. Never been up that trail.”

  “It’s a pretty long one, isn’t it?”

  Mouth full of cereal, Holly nodded, then stood. She fetched the hiking guide from her bedroom and found the page on Palomas Creek. Several hiking trails started at the campground, but the main trail was what interested her. She read through the description, then passed the book to her dad.

  “Whew,” he said, reading. “Sounds like a tough hike.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why this one?”

  Holly shrugged, unhappy that she couldn’t share the real reason. “Never done it before.”

  “Maybe we should start with one of the shorter ones.”

  She finished her cereal while Dad read out bits of the descriptions of other trails. He was going off on the wrong track, but she wasn’t sure she needed to find Illassa after all. What could Illassa do, anyway? Even if he-she-it had advice about Ohlan’s waning strength, what did it matter when the spring was slated for destruction?

  “Well, hon, you think about it. I’ve got to get to work.”

  She walked him to the door and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Bye, Dad.”

  Mom was right behind her. Holly stepped out of the way, heading back to the table to clear her dishes, but glanced back from the doorway in time to see them smooching. She ducked into the dining room, feeling odd.

  For the first time in her life, not counting fantasies about make-believe people on TV, she wanted to have that kind of closeness. There was a real person that she wanted to touch that way. Ohlan was real. Maybe his body was an illusion, but he was real.

  She heard the front door close as she was rinsing dishes and stowing them in the dishwasher. Mom came into the kitchen just as she finished.

  “I thought maybe we could go shopping today, get you some new clothes for school.”

  Holly hid her frown by bending over to put soap in the dishwasher. She liked getting new clothes, but she didn’t want to shop today. She felt as though every minute was precious, now. Every hour she spent away from the spring was an hour of Ohlan’s company lost.

  “We could have lunch at Francoise’s,” Mom added.

  Holly’s favorite restaurant. She bit her lip. If she said no, Mom would definitely be worried there was something wrong with her.

  Well, there was, but it wasn’t anything Mom could fix. Holly put on a smile and looked up.

  “Sounds fun.”

  “Great! Go ahead and get dressed. I’ll finish up in here.”

  Holly slouched back to her room and looked through her clothes without enthusiasm. She did need some new tops, and a spare pair of jeans would be good. One of hers was wearing pretty thin.

  She dressed, grabbed her fanny pack, and caught up with Mom at the door to the garage. Maybe she could make this quick, and get up to the spring in the afternoon.

  She did her best to be cheerful so Mom wouldn’t fret. Mom helped by asking about her class schedule, what she thought of her teachers, and so on. As they were browsing through tops in
the department store Holly found herself wondering what Ohlan would think of them.

  That was just a bit crazy. Ohlan might not care what she wore—probably he didn’t care, since to him clothes were part of the illusion—but she couldn’t help picking up things she thought he would like. Blues, greens. A flowy, dappled green and gold blouse that was way more girly than Holly’s usual style.

  “Interesting choice,” Mom said.

  Holly put the blouse back on the rack. “Just looking.”

  She picked up a black tee, long-sleeved. More her style, but she had a top like it already. The same top in aqua blue, though …

  She wound up with an armful of clothes to try on. Mom waited patiently outside the dressing room, giving her opinion whenever Holly stepped out to model something, and collecting the rejects. Holly ended up choosing three tops: the aqua tee, a bell-sleeved pale green cotton thing with lace edging on the neckline and cuffs, and a v-necked tee that clung to her nicely and was of a blue that made her think of the evening sky. A pair of pale jeans completed her haul.

  Mom beamed as she paid for the clothes, then whisked Holly off to Francoise’s for lunch. Holly ordered her favorite shrimp étouffée and tried not to look at her watch. When Mom suggested dessert, she passed even though she loved the bread pudding.

  “Got to make sure I’ll still fit in those clothes we just bought.”

  “Well, if you and Dad are really going hiking, you can probably afford it.”

  Holly shrugged. “We never decided anything.”

  “What about the camping? If we’re going to do that I’ll need to pick up a couple of things.”

  “I don’t really feel like all the packing and carrying.”

  Mom tilted her head, gazing at Holly as she stirred her iced tea. “Seems a shame not to do something fun the last weekend before school starts.”

  An idea slid into Holly’s brain. “Actually, I was thinking about getting together with some friends and going to a movie. Could I borrow the car?”

  “Sure, honey. What movie?”

  Holly named the current film that she thought her mom was least likely to want to see—an action flick with robots and a lot of violence, that she knew was playing at the local eight-plex. Mom’s half-concealed grimace confirmed her guess.