Free Stones: Experiment (Stones #3) by Jacob Whaler Page A

“You’re still a little girl.”
    “No, I’m not!”
    “OK, you’re all grown up.” Leo stares at her. “Can you remember?”
    Yarah closes her eyes. “I’m trying.” Her head bobs up and down like she’s watching a scroll unfold inside her mind. “I went to sleep. When I woke up, I was standing in the middle of a huge grassy valley. I thought about a river, and then it was there. I remembered a jungle I saw in a book, and there it was. The castle was next. It all just happened.” She opens her eyes.
    “It all just happened?” Leo’s eyebrows rise on his face. “But how? No matter how much I try, no matter how much I think about it, it never happens for me.”
    Yarah props her chin up on her elbows. “You really want to make your own world, don’t you.” She states it as a fact, not as a question.
    “What do
you
think?” Leo says. “It’s not fair.” He drops his head as the emotion wells up in his throat. A tear streaks down his face. “You have your world. Matt has his. But I have nothing.”
    A tiny hand reaches out and brushes the tears on his cheeks. Yarah’s voice drops to a whisper. “I could ask.”
    “Ask who?”
    Yarah stares at the blanket. “I’m not supposed to tell. I promised her.” She twists the cloth with her hand.
    “What are you talking about?”
    Yarah’s face floats back up to the sky. “My fairy godmother.” Her eyes catch the light of the stars.
    “Fairy godmother?” Leo shakes his head and wipes his nose. “That’s just your imagination. She’s not real.”
    Yarah looks at Leo, and her eyes narrow. “She is real. She comes to visit me whenever I call her. She knows a lot about the Stones and says she was just like me when she was little. She wants to help me to grow up and be like her someday.” Yarah drops her head back to the pillow. “I’ll bet if I ask her she’ll be able to help you make your own world.”
    Leo speaks after a long silence. “A fairy godmother. She’s not something you created out of your imagination? Like the dragon.”
    “No!”
    “A real person?”
    “Yes!”
    “OK, I believe you. Do Matt and Jessica know about this?”
    “She made me promise to keep it a secret.” Yarah’s eyes drop down and she yawns, long and deep. Her cheeks come onto Leo’s leg. “I’m sure my fairy godmother will be happy to help you. Good night.”
    Another shooting star streaks over their heads, and Leo listens to Yarah’s soft snoring. He reaches down, stretches her body out on the ground, pulls her blanket up to her chin, and then lies beside her.
    Fairy godmother. If only I were so lucky.



CHAPTER 12
    “I ’m impressed with the work all of you have been doing.” Ryzaard leans back in his chair. “I know you’re tired. We can’t keep up this pace forever. When it all comes together, you’ll see that it’s worth it.” He lets a long silence pass. “But that time is not yet.” He pushes away from the table and stands up.
    As if on cue, everyone at the table moves to leave the room.
    “Dr. Ryzaard.” Jerek picks up his slate. “Could you please swing by my office when you get some time today?”
    “Happy to. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Ryzaard walks past the others to Kalani and intercepts him, gently taking his arm. He turns back to face Jing-wei and reaches out for her arm as well, standing between them.
    The others move to their individual offices through silent openings in the glass bubble surrounding the central room. The openings slide shut behind them.
    Ryzaard lifts his chin. “Opaque screen.” The glass bubble fades to metallic silver, cutting off the view of the outer lab and offices.
    Kalani exchanges glances with Jing-wei. Her eyebrows lift, as if to ask why they are being detained. He shrugs his shoulders.
    “Now, then,” Ryzaard says. “Is there something else you wish to tell me?” He looks at Jing-wei and over to Kalani, tightening his grip on their arms. “Something that you didn’t want to