focus when I’m in class every day. I focus when I talk to my friends. I focus when I pour milk on my cereal. I never know what the English teacher is about to say next, or what’s going on in Agatha’s head, or Humphrey’s.”
His voice is patient, but the impatience in his eyes is hard to miss. His green eyes. Hmmm.
“ Focus is the key to every one of your gifts. They haven’t developed because you were unaware. Your powers will reveal themselves despite your lack of experience; it’s your birthright.”
I screw up my face, forgetting that it makes me look like a field mouse. “I’m not really following this.”
“Had you been on Javoria, you would be fully developed and your skills would be perfected. You have had no stimulus on Earth and as a result, your powers have been…um…asleep.”
“You can say that again.”
He ignores me. “Now you have come of age and your powers are waking.”
“You’re telling me that my fourteenth birthday was the trigger for all of this?”
He nods.
“Oh man. That’s harsh. I thought sixteen was the big one.”
He allows himself a half smile. “How soon after your birth date did you start getting the dreams?”
He knows about the dreams. I’m at once relieved beyond belief and terrified, because bit by bit this nightmare is becoming real to me. I weigh up my options – they don’t amount to much - so I go back to the beginning and tell sandal man about the guy in the yellow raincoat. I dreamed of him before my birthday.
He dismisses it with a wave of hi s weathered hand and mumbles,
“T hat’s nothing, it’s not connected. What about the Hunter? How soon after did you start dreaming of him?”
Not connected? Not connected? I’ve been dreaming of a guy in a yellow raincoat for months and it’s not connected? Oh, well, that makes it all OK then!
Breathe, Jelly, breathe.
I shrug my shoulders (just to emphasize that if he doesn’t care, I don’t care).
“The night of my birthday I dreamed of yellow raincoat guy , as usual, and the night after I had a new, less pleasant, visitor.”
Wow! Sandal man actually swears in front of me and I’m not talking about a minor, ruffle some old lady’s feathers kind of curse; this is a full blown, out and out, gutter curse. I’m impressed.
I can’t seem to wipe the silly smile from my face, but it disappears soon enough when I catch his eyes.
“This is what we feared the most. Many graclings were sent from Javoria fourteen years ago, but your signal was stronger than the others.”
“Signal? I have a signal?”
He nods. “All living beings have a signal, Camile. Each one is a little different and unique. Some can tune in to other people’s signals. It’s a skill the bashrak have. They knew that you had left the planet when your signal faded. They assigned a Hunter to track you down. He’s been looking for a long time, waiting all of these years, attuning himself to you, trying to pinpoint you. When you turned fourteen and unlocked your birthright, it would have been like a telepathic beacon. He would have picked up on it immediately.”
His eyes slide away from mine.
“Come on,” I say, arms crossed. He’s hiding something. I know it. “Finish.”
He won’t look at me.
“Your signal must be stronger than we thought for the Hunter to pick it up so quickly. It will help him find you and he is desperate to find you.”
That’s just fabulous.
“Let me get this straight. The day I turned fourteen, I opened up a telepathic link between me and this Hunter psycho bloke which makes it that much easier for him to track me down and kill me? That’s fantastic, just fantastic.”
I kick the dusty ground between us. Whichever way I look at it, the outcome’s the same: I’m screwed. I round on him with a speed that surprises us both.
“How long have I got before he reaches me?”
The corners of his
His voice is patient, but the impatience in his eyes is hard to miss. His green eyes. Hmmm.
“ Focus is the key to every one of your gifts. They haven’t developed because you were unaware. Your powers will reveal themselves despite your lack of experience; it’s your birthright.”
I screw up my face, forgetting that it makes me look like a field mouse. “I’m not really following this.”
“Had you been on Javoria, you would be fully developed and your skills would be perfected. You have had no stimulus on Earth and as a result, your powers have been…um…asleep.”
“You can say that again.”
He ignores me. “Now you have come of age and your powers are waking.”
“You’re telling me that my fourteenth birthday was the trigger for all of this?”
He nods.
“Oh man. That’s harsh. I thought sixteen was the big one.”
He allows himself a half smile. “How soon after your birth date did you start getting the dreams?”
He knows about the dreams. I’m at once relieved beyond belief and terrified, because bit by bit this nightmare is becoming real to me. I weigh up my options – they don’t amount to much - so I go back to the beginning and tell sandal man about the guy in the yellow raincoat. I dreamed of him before my birthday.
He dismisses it with a wave of hi s weathered hand and mumbles,
“T hat’s nothing, it’s not connected. What about the Hunter? How soon after did you start dreaming of him?”
Not connected? Not connected? I’ve been dreaming of a guy in a yellow raincoat for months and it’s not connected? Oh, well, that makes it all OK then!
Breathe, Jelly, breathe.
I shrug my shoulders (just to emphasize that if he doesn’t care, I don’t care).
“The night of my birthday I dreamed of yellow raincoat guy , as usual, and the night after I had a new, less pleasant, visitor.”
Wow! Sandal man actually swears in front of me and I’m not talking about a minor, ruffle some old lady’s feathers kind of curse; this is a full blown, out and out, gutter curse. I’m impressed.
I can’t seem to wipe the silly smile from my face, but it disappears soon enough when I catch his eyes.
“This is what we feared the most. Many graclings were sent from Javoria fourteen years ago, but your signal was stronger than the others.”
“Signal? I have a signal?”
He nods. “All living beings have a signal, Camile. Each one is a little different and unique. Some can tune in to other people’s signals. It’s a skill the bashrak have. They knew that you had left the planet when your signal faded. They assigned a Hunter to track you down. He’s been looking for a long time, waiting all of these years, attuning himself to you, trying to pinpoint you. When you turned fourteen and unlocked your birthright, it would have been like a telepathic beacon. He would have picked up on it immediately.”
His eyes slide away from mine.
“Come on,” I say, arms crossed. He’s hiding something. I know it. “Finish.”
He won’t look at me.
“Your signal must be stronger than we thought for the Hunter to pick it up so quickly. It will help him find you and he is desperate to find you.”
That’s just fabulous.
“Let me get this straight. The day I turned fourteen, I opened up a telepathic link between me and this Hunter psycho bloke which makes it that much easier for him to track me down and kill me? That’s fantastic, just fantastic.”
I kick the dusty ground between us. Whichever way I look at it, the outcome’s the same: I’m screwed. I round on him with a speed that surprises us both.
“How long have I got before he reaches me?”
The corners of his
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