Valerie laughed and put her hand on her son’s arm.

  “Probably not the important part at the moment.”

  “You’re right. Okay, what did this person want from Bryan?”

  “Help.”

  “Good grief, is it possible to get more information and what this has to do with me or us?”

  “I thought it would be better if Bryan told the story. He’s on his way.”

  This time it was Johnny who laughed. “Well, I hope you two enjoyed stringing me along this way.”

  “Oh, we did,” Grace and Valerie said together, clinking their coffee cups.

  Finding Bryan had been easy. The trees in the little park had told him where he would be. It had taken Pax a few days to understand what they were saying. The park was full of open spaces, with only small clumps of trees scattered around it. The trees had done their best to connect with each other and provide for the rest of the park. But too few trees, too much grass, and the concrete made it difficult.

  Pax was used to the underground root system that spread across his world. The trees were the primary fabric of the earth, and mushrooms and other plants connected underground and above ground.

  The destruction of that network in this world was what had been the most disorienting for him. The world was noisy, but it wasn't just that noise that drowned out the voices of the trees and plants. It was what they had to fight through to be heard.

  One day he climbed the highest tree he could find. It was still small compared to the tree he lived in in his world, where he was often above the clouds. But as he sat in the tree's top watching the children play in the park, the traffic stopping and starting, the people rushing by, he finally heard the trees whisper like a thread running through his veins. He had often thought that hearing the trees speak was like the sap rising, and that was how he heard it that day.

  He had stayed all day in the tree, knowing that Koda and Ceya would wonder where he was. But he had been so happy to hear what the tree had to say, and the tree had been so delighted to have someone listen, he couldn't bring himself to come down.

  That was how he had learned about the man called Bryan. A man in Doveland, the place Isira had told him to go, who listened to the trees too. So Pax had done what Akotas had taught him. He imagined himself to Bryan's woods. Once there, he stood in the pathway where he knew Bryan would walk, and waited.

  When Pax saw Bryan coming toward him, he couldn't stop smiling. It felt as if he was meeting someone he had known his whole life. He smiled at the rabbit, who hopped in front of Bryan, leading the way. The rabbit had stopped at Pax's feet, nose twitching, and Pax had leaned over and petted him.

  Bryan watched, thinking he was seeing someone from the in-between, and said, "Ah, the rabbit sees you. That's different."

  Pax had smiled at Bryan and said, "I'm not what you think. Shall we follow your friend? I have a favor to ask of you."

  Bryan, who had become much more used to seeing unusual people in unusual places, agreed immediately. But when he learned why Pax had come to him, he found it hard to believe.

  They walked together and enjoyed the beauty of the spring day. Talking first of the joy of the woods and then of what Pax had come to ask. Bryan had said yes, and the two of them had hugged. Bryan almost cried when Pax had explained his world. It sounded like heaven to him.

  After Pax left, Bryan had gone to Grace and told her, knowing she would put into motion whatever needed to be done to prepare for Pax and his friend's arrival.

  And Pax had returned to the shack to find Ceya and Koda and Maya waiting for him. He didn't tell them about Bryan then. It wasn't the time. But now that Ginny had missed their meeting, he knew what he had to do.

  And Johnny, after hearing Pax's story, knew what they needed to do too. Part of him was excited. It was another adventure. The other part was worried. What if they failed? It could mean the destruction of an entire world.

  THIRTY FIVE

  Ginny felt as if her heart would flutter out of her chest, and she could barely breathe. Was she having a panic attack?

  Calm down, she told herself. Because no matter what was happening, she could not let Fred see the terror she was feeling. Unclenching her hands, she breathed in as deeply as she could, exhaled slowly, held her breath, breathed in again, repeating it until the flutter had stopped and her fear had ebbed down to where she felt in control again.

  That Fred had let her hear the conversation with the man he said was his boss might have soothed her if she still believed that Fred was who he said he was. But she didn’t. And that she had fallen for his pack of lies was almost more upsetting than where she found herself now. Almost.

  Ginny wanted to keep calling herself a fool, but she knew it wouldn’t help her. After this was all over, she would allow herself to wallow in her stupidity if that was what she wanted, but not now. If not for her, for her mother. Because what had caused the terror was hearing the voice on the other end asking about Maya, and Fred said it was under control. What was under control? How was this about her mother?

  She had thought that Fred taking her was just about him and her. He wanted her for something. Something terrible probably, but it was just about her, and she was determined to escape and make her way home.

  But Fred let her know it was more than that when he deliberately allowed her to hear the conversation. He wanted her to know, but why? Why would someone target her and her mother?

  After that conversation, Fred had laughed, and taking his eyes off the road for a moment, he had looked at her and said, “We can probably stop with the daughter talk.”

  “There is no daughter, is there?”

  “No, daughter. No parents. No need for a school.”

  She had felt her last hope drain away at that moment. That tiny bit of hoping that she had misread the situation, and he was talking to that man about a different Maya, and her seat belt really was just stuck.

  He smiled, a genuine smile, pleased with himself, and looked back at the road.

  “And now that you know that this is about your mother too, don’t bother trying to escape because that will only make it worse for her.”

  Ginny didn’t know if that was true. But what if it was? So she sat quietly, controlling her terror. Finally, she asked what Fred had been waiting for her to ask all along.

  “What is this about, then? Why me? Why my mother? What is it you and that guy on the phone want?”

  “I’m going to tell you, Ginny, but since you probably won’t believe me, let’s wait until we get someplace safe.”

  “Safe for whom?”

  Fred laughed. “Whom. You said ‘whom.’ Most people would have said, ‘safe for who.’ But not you, Ginny. You pay attention to details. How did you miss that I was lying? Or the bigger picture of your life? How did you miss that your mother has lied to you your entire life? Why didn’t you force her to tell you what was actually going on with your lives?

  “Why not, Ginny? Is it because you are exactly what you have been telling yourself. That you are stupid and an idiot? That you were too afraid to ask for the truth?

  “Only you know the answer to that. But what I know is, if you had, then you might not be in this situation. You might have had a chance. But as it stands now, you don’t.

  “So my suggestion to you is to lean back, close your eyes, get some sleep, because you might not get much of it once we get where we are going. Because, Ginny, I need answers and I am not afraid of asking the questions and doing what I need to do to get them.”

  When Ginny said nothing, Fred glanced over at her and wondered what she was thinking. She had shut herself off to him.

  That’s not a good thing, he thought. I wonder if I should have approached this differently. No matter, I’ll find the answer, eventually. How long it takes is entirely up to her.

  For Ginny, Fred’s words had opened a door that she had kept shut her entire life. She had woken up, and she wouldn’t go to sleep again. She wanted answers, too. And just like Fred, she was going to get them.

  Never again would she play by rules that she knew weren’t right, someone else’s rules because they said so. Never again would she agree to something she knew wasn’t true. She would trust herself and not believe what someone tried to convince her was true. She would stop separating herself from people, turning her thought inward on herself. And most of all, she would never agree not to do something she knew she could do.

  She was awake. And she would stay that way. But she wouldn’t let Fred know that. She had to continue to act as if she was under his spell, under the world’s spell, even under the illusion that her mother had spun for her. Perhaps her mother had meant well and was trying to protect her, but by not letting her know the truth about something—she didn’t know what yet—look where it had gotten them both.

  Her mother lonely, old, miserable, and she, Ginny, had been following in her footsteps. No, she was over and done with this. All her life, she had felt as if she had a calling and ignored it. She did her best to feel fulfilled teaching, even though she knew it wasn’t enough.

  Yes, she loved teaching. She loved the kids, helping them become themselves, but she hadn’t helped herself first. She hadn’t become herself, whoever that was. Ginny would stop allowing herself to feel unwanted.

  Yes, Ginny thought again. I have woken up, and I will stay awake for myself and my mother, even if that only means staying alive until someone comes to help.

  Who that would be, Ginny hadn’t a clue. But then, she hadn’t a clue about anything up to now.

  So she had to hope that her mother would get help because the one thing she knew about her mother is that she would never believe a story that Ginny just didn’t call. Her mother would know something was wrong, and she would move heaven and hell to find her. That she knew about her mother, and what else there was to know she’d find out later. She just had to stay alive until help arrived.

  And Ginny knew how to play the victim. I’ve practiced it long enough, Ginny said to herself.

  So she let none of her newly found resolve show in her manner or her voice. Instead, she slunk down in her seat, and closing her eyes, said in a weak voice, “What are you going to do with me? What have I done to you?”

  Fred didn’t bother answering. She’d find out soon enough.

  THIRTY SIX

  Ginny was right. Her mother was ready to move heaven and hell to find her daughter. She wanted to do something, anything. Whatever was going on was happening because of who they were. It wasn't random. She had to find Ginny and tell her the truth.

  The knowledge that she had waited too long to tell her, and now it might be too late, was tearing her apart. Having nowhere to vent her feelings, she was sobbing so hard she couldn't breathe, barely registering that the boy Pax had his arms around her and was whispering that everything was going to be alright.

  How could it be alright? Ever? Maya felt the familiar black cloud of despair heading her way. If she let it, it would take over, and she would be useless.

  "It's okay," Pax said, and she experienced a wave of warmth, and the black cloud scuttled away.

  "Let's go," Koda said, reaching for Maya, and between them, they helped her walk away from the coffee shop, Ceya staying behind to scan the crowd.

  Was there anyone watching they needed to worry about? Seeing and feeling nothing other than curiosity about a woman sobbing, Ceya sent out another wave of warmth, this one to everyone in the shop, so that they all sighed and turned away, feeling as if everything was fine and the world was a wonderful place.

  And because she was cautious by nature, Ceya also sent out a frequency that made everyone's cell phone delete everything that had happened in the past fifteen minutes. Most of them would never know. Only the few that had taken a picture and videos moments before would wonder why they weren't on their phone anymore. But no one would ever connect it with what they just witnessed, because they had already forgotten about it.

  Both Pax and Koda looked back at her and smiled, knowing what she had done. From now on, they needed to be even more vigilant. Someone had made their first move, and all of them knew who that person was. Dradon might not possess the same skills they did, but he had people who did what he told them to do.

  For Dradon, everything was for his personal gain. His version of a better world was the one where he was in control. So Ceya's destructive wave of energy included all cameras that might have seen them. Ones Dradon would have trained on them. Perhaps he didn't know exactly where they were at that moment, but he had known where Ginny had been all along and had finally chosen to do something.

  So when they reached the shack, all of them agreed when Pax said, "It's time to go."

  Maya wanted to say no. She was afraid that if they left Ginny would never find them. But like her daughter, Maya decided to stop pretending everything would be okay if only she followed Dradon's rules. She had fooled herself long enough.

  Instead, she said, "We need to stop at the house. There is something I can’t leave behind."

  "How important is it?" Koda asked.

  "It's something Akotas gave me in case I ever wanted to go back to Crann. Dradon cannot find it. I'll drive back to the house as if it is a regular day, get it, and we can leave from there. I'll act like I am running off to the store to get something."

  "What if Dradon is waiting for you?" Ceya asked.

  "I don't think he will come for me. It's always been Ginny he has wanted. I was just the person keeping her safe until he needed her."

  "For what?" Pax asked. "Why doesn't he just leave the two of you in this world and go back to Crann on his own?"

  "That's the thing," Koda said. "He can't. He doesn't know how to return."

  "Do you?" Pax asked.

  Ceya and Koda looked at each other and sighed. But it was Maya who answered.

  “They do, but they can't because we’re here. Their mission is to protect us. They won't abandon us, and we can't go back without what's at the house, and I won't go back without Ginny. Isira and Akotas also knew how to travel between worlds, but they hid that secret from Dradon.”

  "You mean I am stuck here with you?" Pax hissed. "Ceya, did you know?"

  "I did."

  "And you came anyway?"

  When she didn't answer, Pax forced himself to not walk away. How could Ceya have done this? How could she have come, knowing she might have to stay? But then she would be with Koda, Pax thought. He would have no one. He might never get to leave this hateful version of the world.

  "Why didn't Isira tell me?" he whispered.

  "She told you. You didn't listen. She and Akotas told you that you have a mission and that your future depends on your coming here.

  "If you complete this mission, then all of us can return to Crann. I didn't know how that would happen. But Isira said it, so it has to be true," Ceya answered.

  "Do you believe I can do this?"

  "I wouldn't have come otherwise," Ceya said, and then looking at Koda added, "Well, perhaps I would have."

  This time it was Maya who comforted Pax.

  "All of us can do this together, Pax. The four of us can do this. You don't need to convince me to return to Crann if that is part of your mission. I should have never come back here. All we have to do is to get what Akotas left me, find Ginny, and we can leave here."

  "As lovely and ridiculously simple as that sounds, Maya," Koda said, "we are leaving out one key element. We can't just rescue Ginny and leave. It's much more complicated. We can't leave Dradon here to continue to harm this world. So we'll have to take him with us or stop him here. Do any of you have any idea how to do that?"

  Pax realized there was no use in wishing away the problem or wondering why he was the one entrusted with the mission. It was time to do what he had come to do.

  "We can't do it alone. We need help. And that's why we have to get to that town called Doveland. They can help, and they're waiting." Pax said.

  When Maya, Koda, and Ceya started to ask how they could be waiting, Pax held up his hand.

  "Later. Let's get what Maya needs from the house and get going."

  "But Ginny!" Maya wailed, despite her determination not to fall into despair and already knowing the answer. "We can't leave her."

  "We're not," Pax said. "I promise."

  And at that moment in time, Pax believed what he said. They would find her daughter. But he had to admit to himself that what was driving him to find Ginny was not only that she was in trouble, but that they needed to rescue her before he could go home.

  He needed to get home. He couldn't live here in the noise and concrete. So no matter what it took, he would return to Crann. But first, they would get whatever Akotas gave Maya.

  Secrets, he mumbled to himself. Why did everyone keep so many secrets? Couldn't Akotas have told me what I am supposed to do and how to do it?

  Then he heard again what Ceya had said, "Isira told you, Pax, you just didn't listen."

  Maybe Akotas had told him, too, and he didn't listen. Or perhaps at the time, he hadn't understood what Akotas meant.

  "Let's go," Koda said.

  They agreed that Koda and Ceya would fly, and Pax would hide in the back of Maya's car until they were out of town. Pax wasn't ready to tell them he could get there another way. Not yet. Yes, he was keeping secrets, too.

  Was it a wise thing to do? He didn't know. But it was what he would do, anyway.

  THIRTY SEVEN

  After telling Johnny, Valerie, and Grace about Pax, Bryan returned to his woods. On the way, he saw a few in-betweeners, but none of them were looking for help from him, so he let them be.

  Rachel and Hank were meeting about a renovation of a home she wanted to sell to a young couple moving to town. The original owners died a few years ago without leaving the house to anyone, so when the house went up for sale at an auction, she and Hank had gone in together and bought it.

  It was the first time Hank and Rachel had worked together, but it was going well so far, and Bryan was happy that Rachel was doing something that gave her so much joy. Even though he understood being in the woods was where he needed to be when not helping others, he had at first felt guilty about it until Rachel assured him enough times that it was not only okay, it was necessary. For both of them. They both needed him to spend time with the trees.