Crow Boy by Maureen Bush Read Free Book Online Page A

winding through forests. The first of fall’s colours showed in flashes of yellow on the river bank.
    I knew the highway to Radium followed this valley in the human world; here it seemed darker and more wild. I could feel magic deep in the mountains, and could feel more of it in me, like it had been soaking in while I slept.
    “Why did you bring us here?” Maddy asked. I couldn’t tell from her voice if she was just interested, or warming up for another lecture.
    “Well, it’s not far from the Banff Springs,” Aleena said, “and we can walk up to the glacier.” She glanced down at me. “Humans call it Stanley Glacier.”
    A glacier? I thought. Why would she be interested in glaciers? Of course! Glaciers are made of ice – of water – and Aleena loved anything to do with water.
    Maddy didn’t ask any more questions, but I could see her thinking, planning, trying to figure out how to get the nexus ring back.
    As soon as we’d eaten and washed, Aleena was eager to hike up to the glacier. I wanted to linger, to study the colours of the wildflowers in the meadow and to memorize the shape of the mountains. But Aleena was restless, and Maddy and I needed to keep Aleena happy.
    I thought about Keeper as we walked, how he felt he’d failed because Aleena had the nexus ring again, how Maddy and I needed to get it back for him. But how? I couldn’t see a way.
    I could feel magic all around us, in the trees and the milky blue creek and the mountains, each with its own flavour. The creek was light and playful, the trees strong, and the mountains deeply powerful. As we walked I focused on first one magic and then another, getting to know each one.
    We followed the creek up a wide valley. Sometimes, as the path twisted, we could see Stanley Glacier gleaming above us. Finally we reached a plateau close to the glacier. The ice looked as if it had poured off the mountain behind it, filling the valley with white. Below the glacier the slopes were covered in small rocks – scree, Aleena called it.
    Trees and bushes covered the plateau where we stood, with small purple flowers blooming in patches. A stream wound past, icy with glacial meltwater.
    I stared above us at the glacier. It was fascinating, white with shades of blue and grey. It felt alive, almost pulsing. I stood totally still and listened; I could hear creaking. I remembered that glaciers are not unmoving lumps – the ice flows like a river, only very, very slowly. As I watched the glacier I started to feel it, a deep, old magic.
    Aleena stood staring, like she was filling herself with it. She smiled softly and turned to us. “This is so beautiful – much better than in the human world.”
    “What’s different?” Maddy asked.
    Aleena thought about it. “Well, the magic here is very powerful, and of course the glacier is much larger.”
    “Why?” I asked.
    Maddy shook her head. “Josh, you should remember. Glaciers are melting in the human world. But not here, because of the veil.” Maddy looked at Aleena, making sure she didn’t miss the point.
    Aleena sighed. “They’re still melting. Not as quickly, but still melting.” She made a face and muttered, “Humans!”
    “Not just humans,” Maddy snapped. “You’re damaging the glaciers, too. As magic leaks out, the glaciers will melt faster. Just like in the human world.”
    Aleena lowered her head, and sighed. Then she slowly nodded, as if she was beginning to understand. But all she said was, “Let’s walk up to the glacier.”
    I was eager to see the glacier up close, to figure out all the shadings of colour and to absorb the magic, but Maddy stopped me.
    “Look,” she said, pointing down to the scree. Two furry creatures were wrestling, tumbling across the rocks. “What are they?” she asked.
    “Marmots,” said Aleena. “Squeaky furballs. They love it up here – those things are all over the place.”
    Maddy was delighted. She knelt down to watch them.
    Aleena sighed. “Can we go? I want