Spark (Legends of the Shifters) (30 page)

Cal,
the giant, lifted him and brought him below decks. I followed them
closely. Once Cal placed Kurt on one of the hammocks, he left me
alone with my former trainer.

I
studied him. His clothes were still wet. I wondered if we had any dry
ones to offer him. Finding anything dry would be tough, but it was
the best bet we had to make sure that Kurt didn't die.

I
climbed onto the deck and confronted Roland. “Do we have any
dry clothes for Kurt?”

His
brow furrowed. “I think we should. The storm got everything
soaked, but the last time I was in the storeroom, I saw that many of
the clothes and blankets had been laid out to dry.”

“
Good,”
I said. “We need to get him dry and warm as soon as possible.”
I was about to head toward the stores, but stopped short when I saw
Burton already headed out with dry clothes in his hands.

As he
walked past me, he said, “Do me a favor and talk to Roland for
a little while.”

I
knew what he meant. “Gladly,” I replied to his back.

I
sighed and turned to Roland. He was facing away from me, toward the
ocean. He seemed like he was content in being alone, and I didn't
want to ruin his peace. Instead, I walked over to the storeroom that
Burton had just come out of. It was the only place I hadn't gone on
the ship.

I
opened the door and peeked inside.

The
walls of the dimly lit room were lined with shelves of supplies. The
wood on the floor was dark from the water that had gotten in during
the storm. It smelled like mildew and rotting wood. There wasn't
anything remarkable about it, but I had nothing else to do, so I
ventured in anyway, shutting the door behind me.

I
studied the items on the shelves. There was a section of food, a
section of clothing, a section of tools, and a section of
life-jackets.

Like
Roland had said, clothes were drying on several lines that had been
strung across the room, cutting it in half. I walked past them,
further into the room, and eventually ran into a wall. The smell had
gotten stronger, and I was beginning to feel claustrophobic. I
hurried through a couple rows of clothes and blankets before I ran
right into Roland.

“
Oh!”
I said as I bumped into his chest. I took a hasty step backward. “I
didn’t realize that you were following me,” I said with
an embarrassed smile.

I
waited for him to move out of the way or reply, but he didn’t.
After a few seconds of discomfort, I took another step back. That
broke him out of his silence. “Sorry,” he said. “I
was just thinking about something that Sophia told me earlier.”

I
clamped my mouth shut. What had Sophia given away? She hadn’t
told Roland what I'd said to her, had she? It didn’t seem like
something that a friend would do.

“
What
did Sophia tell you?” I questioned suspiciously.

He
thought for a moment, and opened his mouth to reply, but apparently
changed his mind. He shook his head. “Never mind about that…
But there is something that I was wondering about earlier and I
thought that you might know. How does Burton know Kurt?”

I
wasn’t sure what to say. “I think that is something that
you’ll have to ask him,” I said slowly.

He
sighed. “I guess so.”

We
were silent for another awkward moment. “Let’s go see if
Kurt is doing okay,” I said, wanting to get out of the growing
suffocation of the storeroom.

Thankfully,
Roland nodded and turned.

I
followed at a distance. He was behaving very strangely. I didn’t
know how to act around him when he was like that.

Roland
went first to see if Burton had finished helping Kurt into his
clothes. He motioned for me to come down after a few seconds.

I had
expected Kurt to be unconscious still, but instead, when I came down,
he was wide awake. He looked drained and tired, but color was
starting to return to his cheeks. I felt a lot less worried now that
he had warm clothes and a warm bed.

“
Hi,”
I said, coming closer to the bed.

He
turned his head to look at me, his eyes droopy with exhaustion.
“Ivy,” he said, reaching for my hand.

Roland
looked back and forth at us, his forehead wrinkled and his mouth
pressed into a firm line.

“
I’m
glad to see that you’re awake,” I said. I wondered if I
should ask the question that had been bothering me since they first
brought him on board. Curiosity got the better of me. “What
were you doing on that ship, Kurt?”

His
mouth quirked up in a failed attempt to smile. “I was trying to
catch up to you… I couldn’t stop thinking to myself that
if I didn’t go after you, you might die. And if that happened,
I would blame myself for the rest of my life.”

“
And
now look at whose life was in danger,” I said with a sigh.

Kurt
chuckled, but the chuckle quickly turned into a cough.

I
looked over at Roland, and was surprised to see him looking closed
off, almost angry.

I
didn’t have a clue what he would be mad about, and I found
myself searching over the conversation for anything that would be
offensive. I couldn’t find anything in the least.

Burton
was watching Roland also, but he had an understanding look on his
face. He stood up and excused himself, walking over to the fuming
Roland and pushing him up the ladder and out of the hatch in his
gruff manner.

I
watched with confusion before turning back to Kurt, who had finally
managed to control his coughing fit, and was now rambling tiredly.

“
I
remember when you were a baby,” he was saying. “Your hair
was lighter than it is now, so light it looked orange.” He
smiled weakly. “Your green eyes were always lit up for a new
adventure—” he stopped talking abruptly, the smile
dropping from his face. “And then, the fire…and after
that, the orphanage. And still after, being picked up by…”
he shivered visibly, worrying me.

“
Let’s
talk about it later,” I said in a soft voice.

He
nodded and turned over in bed. “I suppose,” he said
tiredly. Not long after, his breaths became deeper, and I knew that
he had fallen asleep.

I
rubbed my temples, a thousand different thoughts circling in my head.
I sighed and climbed the ladder to the deck, where I found Roland and
Burton talking. I wanted to ask Roland what had been wrong, but when
I saw his face, it was no longer angry. His mouth was formed into a
slight smile and his eyebrows were raised.

When
he noticed me, he said something to Burton, who nodded. Burton headed
back toward the captain's quarters, and Roland strolled toward me.

“
Ivy,
I’m so sorry for my behavior. Burton just told me that Kurt is
your...
brother
,”
he said, his cheeks reddening.

“
So
Burton told you,” I concluded.

“
Is
that okay?” Roland asked.

I
nodded. I didn’t mind if Roland knew. I trusted him. “But
why were you acting like that in the first place?” I asked.

He
sighed heavily. “I don’t know,” he replied finally.

I
squinted my eyes. “You’ve been acting very strange
lately.”

He
smiled as he turned away and started walking. “I have my
reasons,” he said.

The
next day Kurt seemed a lot better when I checked on him. He was able
to sit up in his bed. Although his face was still drawn, I figured he
was well enough for me to ask one simple question.

“
When
did you leave the school?” I inquired.

He
thought about it, and cleared his throat. “Just after the last
survival test,” he rasped. “It was the soonest I could
get away.”

I
whistled. “You must have hurried to catch up to us.”

He
nodded. “I barely took any breaks until I got to Achron.”

“
No
wonder you're so exhausted,” I said. “You should get some
more sleep. I'll be back later to see how you're holding up.”

As he
sunk down into his bed, I stood and left. Once I had climbed up onto
the deck, I looked around for Roland.

I
found him mopping the deck.

“
Roland,
there's something we need to talk about,” I said.

The
mop stopped moving as he looked up as he drew his eyebrows together.
“Alright,” he said.

Although
I was confused by his reaction, I went closer, not wanting to be
overheard by the other crew members who were performing various tasks
nearby. “When are we going to leave the ship?” I asked.

The
look completely disappeared from his face, and he smiled slightly.
“Well...do you want Kurt to travel with us?”

I
nodded. “He went to a lot of trouble to find us, so I don’t
think it would be right to leave him here.”

He
studied the deck as he thought. “Then our journey will take a
few more days, or at least until Kurt feels good enough to fly
again.”

I
sighed inwardly and turned away as Roland returned to mopping. I
liked the view that the ship provided, but I did not like to sit and
wait. My instincts wanted me to take action, but I had to be patient.
I had no choice.

*****

Two
days passed slowly. I helped Sophia in the kitchen when she needed
me, and when she didn't, I talked with Kurt or Roland. Burton was
usually too busy.

Kurt
seemed to return to his normal self. He had even offered to help with
some of the easier chores on the second day. That night, I saw him
resting against the rail on the fore of the ship. I decided to
approach him with our plan.

I
rested my arms on the railing next to him. “When do you think
you'll be capable of flying long-distance?” I asked.

He
eyed me curiously. “I don't know. Perhaps tomorrow or the next
day. Why?”

I
raised my eyebrows. Leaving tomorrow would be pushing him too hard.

“
Roland
and I are wanting to go on with the trip. There is no time limit, but
we don't want it to take longer than it has to.”

Kurt
smiled and looked up at the stars. “And you want me to go with
you?”

“
After
all you've done, there is no way that we'd go without you.”

“
Then
we should plan to leave tomorrow,” he said firmly.

I
shook my head. “No. Tomorrow is too soon. I know that you are
trying not to be a burden, but you not being able to make it is more
of a burden than waiting a day or two longer. We'll leave the night
after tomorrow.”

Kurt
shrugged. “I think I could make it tomorrow, to be honest. I
feel fine right now.”

“
Just
in case,” I said stubbornly.

Kurt
rolled his eyes. “Fine, then. Have it your way.”

I
smiled. I had never been able to tell Kurt what to do before now.

For a
long time, we both watched the ocean, and I felt that for once, we
were doing something that brothers and sisters would do together.
After a few minutes, I looked over at him.