Meadowcity by Liz Delton Read Free Book Online Page B

attention, and his eyes darted to meet hers.  She mouthed cubs , and his eyes widened in understanding, he nodded, minutely moving his head down once.
    He motioned to her again the signal to fall back, and he began to retreat himself with small, slow steps.  He reached the base of her tree as she finished her descent.  Together they paced backwards, eyes never leaving those of the mountain lion.
    After they reached a safe distance, Lark pointed to a different direction, one that would skirt them around the mother lion.  Adrenaline coursing through her veins, Sylvia tried to slow her pounding heart.
    They walked quickly for several long minutes in near silence, putting distance between themselves and the danger.  After a while, they reached a ledge, the stone drop off giving them a place to look out at the valley ahead of them.  Lark lowered his shoulder pack to the ground and sat on a nearby boulder, pulling his water container out to take a drink.  Sylvia leaned against a tree, looking out at the valley, playing out the scene with the mountain lion in her head.
    She had seen only drawings of the animal from books that her father had.  At the time, the images seemed intimidating enough, but in person, the lion was more terrifying than she could have imagined.  She could feel those yellow eyes on her, staring deep into her own, freezing her in her tracks.  Sylvia shook her head to clear it, but couldn’t help looking around the nearby woods for a set of yellow eyes.
    Lark handed her his water and said, “You seem to be handling this well,” as his face cracked into a smile.
    Sylvia could not help but laugh, the spent adrenaline making her almost giddy at the thought of surviving her first encounter with the mountain lion.  “Well enough,” she replied.
    *  *  *
     
    The memory of her first mountain lion encounter made Sylvia smile.  She looked at her father from across the kitchen table and remembered how the rest of the journey he had let her lead, and merely told her which ways to take.  He had let her learn the trail on her own.
    A loud knock on the front door cut through the conversation and pulled Sylvia out of her reverie.  Knowing it would almost surely be for her; Sylvia rose out of her chair and walked toward the door, her heart pounding.  Upon opening it, she found the girl from the Healer’s Hall, Caylee, looking slightly out of breath, still in her Healer’s dress.
    “Sorry to interrupt,” she said, as she looked in on the family, still eating dinner.  “You’re to come to the Hall straight away,” she said to Sylvia, who nodded.
    “Thank you,” Sylvia said.  “I’ll be there in just a moment.” 
    Caylee raised a hand in greeting to the rest of the family and left.  Sylvia drew a deep breath and saw her parents exchanging a look.  The thoughts in Sylvia’s head, having been circling and clouding her mind all afternoon finally sharpened— the boy is awake .
    Trying to appear casual, as if urgent messages to report to the Healer’s Hall came for her all the time, Sylvia said, “I’ll just see what the matter is and be back for dessert, I promise.”  She directed the last part at Sonia, since the girl was looking down at her plate, clearly thinking Sylvia would soon be leaving her.
    In her room, Sylvia took some deep breaths as she slid her boots on, slipping her great knife into her boot.  She became aware that someone was watching her, and she looked up at the door to see Sonia standing there half smiling at her.
    “I told you, I’m not leaving yet,” Sylvia began, forcing a smile to her face.
    “I know,” Sonia said, still smiling at her.  She took a step forward, holding out her hand.  “But I still wanted to give you this.  For your birthday.”
    In her hand she held a glass bead the size of an acorn, but it was decorated with very intricate blue designs—no doubt done by her mother’s hand.  Sonia lifted the bead, which hung from a leather cord, and held