Free Elemental by Antony John Page B

Hatteras Island.
    â€œThey’re not coming yet,” said Rose. “We’ve been checking.”
    â€œWhere’s Griffin?” I asked.
    â€œIn the shelter. I gave him some food, but he wouldn’t even look at me.” She seemed frustrated. “I figured he was feeling better after he paddled across the sound earlier.”
    I could tell the others were concerned too. It would be hard enough for us to survive, without having to look after Griffin.
    â€œLook, I don’t know what he saw yesterday,” I said, “but it must’ve been terrible. Think about it, though—if he could paddle earlier, it’s only a matter of time before he can do even more.”
    â€œAre you sure we have that much time?” asked Rose.
    â€œI’m sure we need him. Griffin’s smart. He sees things the rest of us don’t. Trust me: He’ll be all right.”
    I sat down and emptied my bag, mostly as a way to change the subject. The canisters and rusted cutlery paled in comparison to Dennis’s bundle of clothes, but Alice seemed fascinated.
    She reached for a fork and studied it. “Where did you get this?”
    â€œA storeroom in one of the buildings. Why?”
    â€œThere’s something familiar about it. I’ve seen this before,” she explained, pointing to an emblem on the handle.
    Rose didn’t wait for Alice to continue before revealing her discovery: a bag full of pawpaws. I hadn’t eaten one of the delicious, succulent fruits since the previous year. Just the feel of the smooth green skin in my hand made my mouth water.
    â€œAre there more?” asked Alice as we all helped ourselves.
    â€œNo. There were lots on the ground, but they were rotting. Must’ve been the storm.”
    â€œOne piece each, then. We have to ration ourselves until we know how much we have.”
    Before anyone could complain, Alice unwrapped a blanket and laid her discoveries before us. Then there was a different kind of silence.
    There were pecans, blackberries, huckleberries, figs, and elderberries. She’d even found grapes. We hadn’t eaten so well since Ananias and Eleanor became Apprentices.
    While the others cracked the nuts and gorged on berries, I watched Alice. Food wasn’t all she’d found. She pulled a length of rope from her bag, and a canvas sheet.
    â€œWhere did you find all this?” I asked.
    â€œJust . . . around. Go ahead and eat. I’ve had my fill.”
    I didn’t eat, though. I couldn’t, until I knew the truth. “How did you know about the building with the clothes? You took Dennis straight there.”
    â€œGot lucky, I guess.”
    I had to stifle a laugh. “And the fruit and nuts were just lucky too, right? Come on, Alice. We’re in this together.”
    Alice pursed her lips and pulled something from her dune box. She laid it gently on the ground, and carefully unfolded it until it filled the space between us.
    It was a map, but unlike any I’d seen—impossibly large and precise. It might have been even bigger once, but now a tear ran vertically along the left-hand side where the mainland ought to have been. Everything about Roanoke Island was indicated on it: elevations, forests, even roads and buildings that surely didn’t exist anymore. The island filled the center of the map, with Hatteras Island pushed to the far right-hand side like an afterthought.
    No one in our colony could have created anything so perfect, I was sure of that. But then, where had it come from? Surely not Skeleton Town. The state of the buildings suggested a terrible past. How could a flimsy paper map have survived if stone couldn’t?
    Something didn’t make sense. As I looked at the expressions on everyone’s faces, it was clear they knew it too.

CHAPTER 12
    I found the map in the dune box,” explained Alice.
    We scanned it together. The Guardians had taught us how to visualize the