The hand-drawn map of the peninsula crackled as Velanna spread it across the top of the table. Tolan took the far end of it and weighed it down with glasses from the cabinet while Danny did the same with a pair of rocks he’d found somewhere.
The family kitchen smelled of baked bread and roasting meat as Jenny bustled in the background assembling more sandwiches than an army could eat.
Meg leaned against the counter on the opposite wall with Tzaitel at her side. Quietly, Meg tucked her arm into Tzaitel’s elbow and rested her cheek against her shoulder. Tzaitel set her cheek against Meg’s head.
“You are doing it again,” Tzaitel mumbled quietly in Celtican.
Meg scowled. “Doing what?”
“Carrying too much.” Tzaitel patted her arm.
Meg lifted her head and looked up into Tzaitel’s eyes. “There’s a lot to carry.”
Tzaitel smiled. “There is much happening, yes, but there is no need to carry all of it.”
Tzaitel turned her gaze back to the table as Jenny bombarded Barb and Jim with plate after plate of food. Towering sandwiches, fresh vegetables, papadum with chutneys, and three different salads. Barb wore an expression like she expected it all to be poisoned. Jim hadn’t looked so excited since he’d first seen the library.
“There are many others who can carry this weight, Margaret,” Tzaitel said softly, still in Celtican. “You needed hold it all on your own.”
“Some weight is best borne alone.”
Tzaitel sighed. “Yes, as Mother has said.” She nudged Meg with her elbow. “But not all weight, yes?”
Meg looked up at her again and tightened her grip on her arm.
“We’re in real trouble here, Tzaitel.” The Celtican words felt comforting to speak after so long only speaking Terran for Barb and Jim’s benefit. “If we don’t stop this—”
“I know what will happen.” Tzaitel thumped the bridge of her nose. “I also know what will happen if you try to find this Dr. Fallen by yourself.”
Meg blinked at her.
“Do not claim you had planned anything different, bhaina.”
Meg leaned against Tziatel and watched Barb finally take a bite of her sandwich and grudgingly nod to Jenny. Jenny bounced like a rubber ball, clapping and rushing back to the counter to make Barb a second sandwich that she wouldn’t be hungry enough to eat. Knowing Jenny it would be a “just in case” sandwich.
Velanna had a clipboard and a pen, busily scratching notes and staring at the paper, furious light in her eyes.
“We must find the human doctor,” Meg said to Tzaitel. “We can’t delay any longer.”
“And you will find him on your own?”
Meg shrugged. “We should all split up.” Meg continued softly in Celtican. “Find the rips that are open, the ones we haven’t found yet, and send each of us to investigate the area. It’s the most efficient option.”
“And the humans?”
“They should stay here.” Meg didn’t like the slight wobble in her voice as the words left her lips. “They will only slow us down.”
Jim was glowing with visible happiness as he finished his sandwich and beamed as Jenny brought him another one. Barb said something Meg couldn’t hear, but apparently it was something funny because both Jenny and Danny collapsed in fits of laughter. Even Tolan smiled.
“Yes, they are both dreadfully incompetent and would add no positive aspect to a search party.”
Meg rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
Tzaitel pulled her arm out of Meg’s hold and gently took her shoulder. “Yes, I do. But I do not agree with you.”
“On which part?” Meg straightened her shoulders.
Tzaitel patted her cheek and stepped away from the counter to the table just in time for Jenny to shove a sandwich at her.
Tzaitel was trying to be helpful, but she was as bad at clarity as Velanna was. Meg crossed her arms and eyed Velanna as she made more notes on her clipboard.
“Meg!” Jenny bounced over to her with a sandwich. “I made your favorite.” She shoved a plate into Meg’s arms. “Paneer and tandoori chicken.”
Meg’s stomach grumbled in response.
“See, your tummy is hungry even if your face isn’t!”
Meg sighed and accepted the plate. “Thanks, Jenny.” She wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders and drew her in for a hug, which Jenny enthusiastically returned.
Velanna set her clipboard down and folded her arms across her chest. “My calculations are complete,” she said. “I have located several other interdimensional rips across the peninsula. Your Dr. Fallen may have been ejected from any of them.”
“How many is several?” Barb asked.
“Three at the moment.” She turned to grab the salt and pepper shakers from the counter. “One on the coast, near Namaka Village.” She set the pepper shaker down on the map. “One further north near the foothills of the Forbidden Mountains.” She set the salt shaker down. “And one more in the south, beyond Crescent Canyon.” She pointed at the map until Jenny set a small bowl of chutney on the place Velanna indicated.
“So they’re spread out,” Barb said, leaning forward to look closer at the map. “What’s the deal with this big mountain here?” She pointed to the black smudge in the southern portion of the peninsula.
“That’s Centaur Mount,” Danny said. “We don’t want to go there.”
“Centaurs?” Jim yelped.
“Yeah, I guess they have Centaurs too.” Barb smirked at him.
Jim crunched on a pickle, his eyes wide with awe. “Wow.”
“So how are we going to divide this?” Barb turned her eyes to Velanna. “That’s a lot of ground to cover.”
Velanna lifted her chin, considering, and then shifted her gaze to Meg. “Yes, it is much ground to cover. Margaret, what is your recommendation?
Meg froze under her gaze.
Oh, so that’s how they were going to play it? Put her on the spot to divide teams in the most logical way. Meg swallowed her first response and forced a smile. Even if she divvied out teams according to her best understanding, Velanna would still change it.
She only asked for Meg’s recommendations to show that Meg didn’t know as much as she pretended.
Velanna’s eyes were like lasers, boring into her. Danny and Jenny waited with eagerness, like puppies who knew they were going to get to play with a favorite toy. Barb glared at her with narrowed eyes, and Jim glanced in confusion between Meg and Velanna.
Interesting.
Was he wondering why always-in-control Velanna had turned over the responsibility of assigning teams to Meg? Maybe he was paying closer attention than Meg had given him credit.
Tziatel leaned on the far wall, smirking. Because of course she was. For some reason, she always found it amusing when Velanna put Meg on the spot. Tolan just looked concerned.
Velanna tilted her head. “Have you any thoughts, Margaret?”
Meg swallowed her first response again.
I’ve got plenty of thoughts, Velanna. She forced another smile. “I’m considering our options carefully before I speak.”
Velanna nodded.
Tolan looked more concerned.
Meg stared at the map and took a deep breath. The deafening tangle of emotions wasn’t helping. As quickly as she could, she shoved it all to the back of her mind, in the little imaginary closet she’d built when she was a child. It would stay back there until it stopped making so much noise.
With three rips spread out over so much ground, it made sense to split up. Jenny needed to stay in the castle. She’d already been in too much danger for the day, and as much as Meg wanted Danny to be safe too—he was better at handling danger than Jenny was.
Tzaitel would be fine by herself. Tolan and Danny always made a good team. Velanna should stay to monitor the rips. That left her alone, assuming the humans stayed at the castle.
And that was a wise assumption. The humans needed to stay. As much as she was beginning to like Barb, she was still an unknown factor.
Meg should go alone. That would be the most efficient means to obtaining the goal. Bringing anyone else along would only slow her down.
She eyed Barb, smiling at Jim about something.
But I don’t want to.
Strange. She’d always been alone, always done things alone, so why did it feel like a bad idea now?
Is not wanting to go alone just me being emotional? Meg narrowed her eyes at Velanna. I shouldn’t be emotional about this. It’s too important. I should be logical.
A logical choice would be to separate everyone according to their capabilities, and Velanna knew that. That’s why Velanna was making her assign teams. Either Velanna wanted to see if Meg had learned anything since the last time she’d done something like this—or she already knew Meg hadn’t learned anything and wanted to rub her face in it.
I can be logical. I can show her that I can be logical.
Meg dug her fingernails into her palm.
But I don’t want to be logical.
The tangle of emotions clamored loudly behind the closed door in her mind. Usually it didn’t make this much trouble in her thought processes. She shook it off and cleared her throat.
“I believe we should divide our forces,” Meg said. “Tolan and Danny should go north. Tzaitel should go east. I will go south.”
Velanna arched an eyebrow. “And our guests?”
“Yeah, what about us?” Barb held up her hands.
“You should stay here.”
An instant thundercloud formed in Barb’s expression.
“Jim and Velanna can work together to identify any more rips,” Meg said. “And I thought you would want to stay with him.”
Velanna flashed a small smile. “A well thought out strategy, Margaret.”
Would you look at that? I actually developed a plan the same way she would have. Score one.
Except it didn’t feel like a victory.
Getting back on a horse, riding all the way south on her own, investigating the rogue interdimensional rip—all by herself? It sounded lonely.
Barb pushed her chair back. “I’m not staying here.”
“I thought you didn’t want your brother left alone with us.” Meg smirked.
Barb set her hands on her hips and scoffed. “I can change my mind, can’t I?”
“How positively human of you.” Meg frowned.
Tzaitel chuckled from against the wall. She wasn’t helping at all.
“None of you know Dr. Fallen.” Barb leaned on the table. “I mean, sure, he’ll be easy to spot. But if one of you finds him, you’re going to struggle getting him to talk to you, let alone tell you anything about his research. He won’t trust you.”
“We will bring him back to the castle, and you may obtain the information then.” Velanna began rolling up the map.
“I thought we were in a hurry,” Barb fired back.
Velanna froze.
“Wouldn’t it be more efficient to take me along in the chance that we find him in the field?” Barb asked. “That way I can get information from him immediately.”
“The chances of you encountering him—”
“One in three.” Barb set her jaw. “I’m okay with those odds.”
Barb and Velanna stared at each other in the increasing silent tension in the kitchen. Meg swallowed hard. No one ever questioned Velanna. No one ever pushed back against what Velanna wanted. It was just easier to do what she said, and since she was usually right about things anyway, it was just better to go along with her.
But Barb didn’t know that.
Barb apparently was used to doing things her own way. Maybe it was a good sign that she was suddenly willing to leave Jim with them unattended.
A chair rattled against the tile floor as Tolan stood up from the table. “Perhaps Miss Taylor is making a good point.”
Velanna turned to him with both her eyes raised.
Meg blinked in surprise. Tolan never disagreed with Velanna in front of them. Ever.
He showed a gentle smile. “She should accompany Margaret.”
Velanna’s gaze shifted to Tolan, and Tolan didn’t flinch. He just smiled. Without turning, Velanna tilted her head.
“Margaret, your thoughts?”
And again, she wants my thoughts. Meg steadied herself. “I agree with Tolan, Velanna.”
Velanna swiveled her head to stare at her, and Meg scrambled for the fortitude not to crumble in the ferocity of her gaze.
“It makes sense,” she said. “If we find Dr. Fallen, we can get the information back faster. I recommend each team takes a falcon since radios aren’t always functional that far away from the castle.”
Velanna didn’t give any outside indication of her displeasure, but her disappointment shone in her eyes. Once this crisis was ended, Meg would pay for her attitude on the training mat.
But that was in the future. Tolan was right, and Barb was right. All that mattered now was finding Dr. Fallen.
Velanna folded her arms. “And you believe traveling with Miss Taylor is the best solution for you? Are you not concerned you will become distracted in your mission?”
Barb scoffed. “You’ve already told us the world is going to come crashing down if we don’t find Dr. Fallen. How much more motivation do we need to get along?”
Velanna regarded her in silence.
She finished rolling up the map and secured it with a leather strap.
“Very well then.”
Jenny cheered and clapped and turned back to making sandwiches.
“Daniel, retrieve three falcons from the aviary.” Velanna turned toward the door. “The rest of you prepare your mounts and pack a medical kit. Jennifer will bring food for your journey. James, you and I will set up a command center here and monitor their progress.”
She stepped out of the kitchen into the hallway without looking back. Meg crossed her arms and tried to ignore the building nausea rolling in her stomach.
Velanna didn’t like this plan. She’d approved of Meg going alone, but apparently having Barb tag along was one variable she didn’t think would be beneficial. Velanna was usually right, so was she right about this?
Meg had discovered long ago that placing the right people together in teams with a common goal usually resulted in a favorable outcome. It wasn’t that she could manipulate circumstances. It was just that situations were easier to predict if you already knew all the variables.
No one could control Barb Taylor.
Meg had learned that much already. Barb Taylor was like a lit match in a dry field. She could set anything on fire without even trying, and fire was dangerous.
Velanna saw it. That’s why Velanna wanted her to stay in the castle.
Meg should want the same thing.
But she didn’t.
Maybe Barb’s rebellious attitude was wearing off on her. And right now, even though it meant Meg didn’t have to ride off into the Dark Forest alone, only the future could tell if having Barb Taylor as a friend was a good thing.

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