Free Compis: Five Tribes by Kate Copeseeley Page A

gardens and found a path I had never noticed before.
    “Napalin is a mystical place, and there are things in it that no one could explain, except maybe the oldest of the elders. Even then I'm not so sure. In my haste to remove myself from the house, I ran down the path as fast as I could and ended up smack in front of the most interesting little cottage I've ever seen.
    “It had a nice tall door—for you can see I'm not the short stack you are—and two high windows. The interesting part about it, however, was that it was built into a tree, a very large tree. The roof of the house was no shingled roof, but a twisting mass of bark, swirling up into the dark maelstrom of leafy branches. It was an amazing sight, this tiny little house carved—or better yet, enchanted—into that giant old tree.”
    Zyander looked up at the tree they were under, which, being old was quite large, but it carried none of the magnificence of the tree in his story.
    “You went in, of course,” she said.
    “Of course,” he said, smiling. “I stepped through the door into a room that was made for comfort. On my left was a small wood stove, with an outlet pipe that I couldn't find the exit for when I went back outside. Next to the wood stove was a big soft chair covered with a fuzzy red fabric and a short bookcase filled with book titles I've never seen. On my right was a small round table with two chairs seated around it. It was set for one person and straight ahead was a little cook stove with a kettle steaming with hot water.
    “I pulled the kettle off the stove and set it on the trivet that was waiting for me at the table. The cupboard next to the stove held tea and sugar, and the cold cabinet had cream, jam, and small trussel cakes. I sat down and had a fine meal for myself—which was wonderful, because all the running had worked up my appetite.
    “After finishing my meal, feeling satisfied and drowsy, I collapsed in the chair and let the warm fire lull me to sleep. When I woke, I felt much refreshed, and I said my thanks to the empty air and left the cottage as it was. I tried many times to find that path on my own, but I was never successful. Yet every time I've needed a place to run away to, somehow that path has moved itself beneath my feet. The room has always been there waiting with whatever I need, which most of the time is a place to think and be away from the pressures of my tribe.”
    “Who do you think made the house?” she asked.
    “I'm not sure. I asked my father if he knew anything about a cottage in the woods, but he didn't and something about it made me keep its unique properties a secret. If you ever get a chance to visit, we'll have to see if we can find it.”
    She was silent for a while. “I'd enjoy that,” she said.
     
Luka
     
    Luka had left May behind with a kiss, and hurried on to where he knew Keran's camp was. Keran had pulled in his wagons a few days ago, forming a semi-circle in the area that the High Council had designated for him. The bright, colorful wagons were all the colors of the tribes, plus more than he could put a name to. Each wagon seemed to have a different theme, as well.
    One of the wagons was painted light blue with feathers and white wings on it. Birds swirled on the wind and the sun's rays glistened over the sides of the wagon. Another of the wagons was filled with ocean waves, cheery boats, fish splashing happily and a mermaid waving to all passersby. His favorite was the wagon with a starlit night painted on it. It had all the constellations sprinkled over it in their spreading way-- The Five Sons , The Bearded Goat , and his favorite, The Sword of Zython . He walked over that way to look at it again. There was a part of him that wanted to study the night sky and lie awake to see his way past all the stars he knew. Maybe he could discover new ones.
    “Do you like that one?” said a voice next to him. He looked up to see Ryd's sister, the tall girl that had been pointed out before,