Free Fire Star by Chris D'Lacey Page B

smoothing his palms. “The bullet had touched his lung but the injury was more impediment than fatal. It will heal quickly. When it does, we’ll fly him north and let him go.”
    “This is just too spooky,” said Zanna. “Read the story, Dr. Bergstrom.
Now.”
    Bergstrom glanced at the open laptop, weaving colored pipework on its flat gray screen.
    “No, I’m destroying it,” David said. He stepped forward and moved the mouse. Bergstrom immediately clamped his arm.
    “You have a contract, remember?”
    David looked into the scientist’s eyes. It wasn’t clear whether Bergstrom was referring to Apple Tree Publishing or the personal promise David had made him tokeep on writing about the Arctic. Even so, David said, “I’m wiping it.” And he dragged the file into the computer’s trash can and emptied it.
    This was still not enough for Zanna. “Defrag the disk.”
    “What?”
    “I don’t want it in memory, even in bits. Run a defrag over it. Now.”
    “But —?”
    “Just
do it,
David.”
    “Be my guest,” said Bergstrom, wheeling his chair away.
    Silently furious, David ran the program that would rearrange the disk so all the files were contiguous and any scraps of deleted files were eliminated. “There. Happy now?”
    “No, not really,” she said. “First you keep secrets about Gwilanna, then you won’t tell me
why
I’m not supposed to touch that bear, and now you’re trying to act like you’re some kind of hero. Well, you’re not.
    You could have died out there! Oh, and do you want the
really
bad news?”
    “What?”
    “We’re finished.”
    And then she was gone, leaving David and the door frame shuddering in her wake.

17 T AKEN
     
    H ow?” demanded Lucy. “How will you make Gawain come back to life? You’d need his fire tear. You’d need —”
    “Be quiet,” snapped Gwilanna. “I know what I need. Everything is in motion, child.”
    Lucy’s gaze dropped to a furious squint. “That’s why you set Gretel free, isn’t it?”
    “What?” said her aunt.
    “Don’t lie,” Lucy said. “I know you sent Groyne.”
    “Groyne?” said Gwilanna, and it was clear then, and somewhat frightening to Lucy, that her aunt had no idea about that dragon.
    “He was invisible,” Lucy muttered. “He gave Gretela flower and G’reth —” Here she stopped, realizing that what Gwilanna didn’t know, she should not be told. That could mean more fish tails or feathers.
    But Gwilanna merely turned away deep in thought. “Interesting. So the girl must be at work.”
    “Girl? You mean Zanna?”
    Gwilanna breathed in deeply. “Gretel has gone over to her, has she not? The girl must have sensed her powers and been active.”
    Lucy thought about this. It did make sense. Zanna had been devastated when Grockle had turned to stone. But if Zanna was involved in setting Gretel free, why had Gretel not confessed to this?
    “No matter,” said Gwilanna, wheeling away. “Her abilities are useless compared to mine. Without guidance, she is like a poor, lost sparrow. In time, she will grovel just to do my bidding, and so will your foolish unfaithful mother.”
    “What’s Mom done to you?”
    Gwilanna loomed up close. “She has put aside herduty to the ancient ways and sided with this boy. But when the star looms bright in the February chill, she will come back to me, to her true kind.”
    “February?”
    “Three months. We must prepare.”
    “We?”
    “You and I.”
    “Are you staying again?”
    Gwilanna laughed and her features began to change. Her hands grew thin and her face became gnarled. With a tapering finger, she made a vertical, shimmering fissure in the air, as though she had torn through the fabric of the universe.
    “W-what’s happening?” said Lucy, pulling her knees up under her chin.
    In his basket, Snigger turned circles of fear.
    “Come,” said Gwilanna. She put out a hand and the air around Lucy rushed toward it, pulling her toward the sibyl’s grip.
    “Mom!” she