The Forest of Sleepers (Nowhere Book 2)

twenty-two: t r a n s l a t i o n

Wyatt was still in a daze after Birdie's episode. She, on the other hand, seemed to be invigorated with the knowledge of half the rune being revealed for them.

She went straight for the telephone, where she rang up Anubis Avenue and alerted Ophelia to retrieve Marigold from the mechanic shop and meet them at NiNi's soda shop in exactly thirty minutes.

Wyatt watched numbly as she flitted from phone to desk, stuffing all of the articles she had to organize into her bag to finish later.

Wyatt did not see how this was wise. They could translate the rune any time and it seemed like Birdie had a lot to do.

But then again, his way of thinking was usually different than hers.

He was still dazed even as Birdie perused the library, so immersed in her element that Wyatt had become invisible entirely.

It was strange to see a creature meld with its environment. Within minutes, she had forgotten he was there, moving like a wraith from book to book, her finger scanning the indexes, her face placidly content.

Here lies your King, the stone had read. Who was buried beneath that forest?

Wyatt was still thinking about this while Birdie rummaged through book after book in the historical section.

He'd always thought of Gwydyr as its own entity, without beginning or end, a self-sufficient power source. Why did it have a king? And who exactly had this king ruled over?

How had he died?

"Hello? Wyatt Best? Anyone home?"

Birdie was before him, waving her hand in front of his face.

He snapped back to reality. She held up a large stack of books that reached to her chin.

He blinked stupidly. "How did you find--"

"It's a gift. Now come on, let's check these out and get to the soda shop before Ophelia and Marigold have a breakdown over what's going on."

Once the librarian, who looked particularly suspicious of Birdie's sudden interest in Celtic history, had stamped the insides of each cover, Birdie and Wyatt were on their way to Nini's.

Outside, most people had gone home for the day, but a few stores were still open with one or two other people walking down the sidewalk.

Birdie was nearly buzzing with excitement, but Wyatt could still see her, just a few moments ago, writhing in pain and screaming at something to stop, stop, stop.

But now, she was a completely different person. And since they'd smoothed things over between them, she was chattering on like he'd never heard before.

He half-wished she'd go back to ignoring him, just for a little while. If a compliment warranted such a result, perhaps if he kissed her she'd never talk to him again.

At the thought, he had to suppress a small grin.

It wasn't that he didn't want to hear the things she had to say, but what she was currently saying was this:

"...and then the authorities got involved. It was the very early twenties, so it took weeks to find her body--well, half of her body, because of the crows and maggots--but what else did they find along with it?" Her voice came in a conspiratorial whisper. "The body of her missing child!"

Wyatt did not remember agreeing to this conversation.

He snuck a glance at her but found that she was hardly paying any attention to him at all, so he allowed himself to stare for a second longer.