Copper
1506 Words
Candice led her mare out and she just walked next to her for a while.
It was chilly, and soon the moon was going to disappear and dawn would colour everything pink.
Soon, snow was going to fall and it would've made that impossible.
"Not being able to sleep is not very good when you're supposed to be a Dream Catcher, yeah?"
she asked her horse as they were entering the woods and Epona moved her ears.
Candice put her hands in her jacket's pockets and inhaled the cold air.
They walked for a little longer and once they reached deeper in the woods, Candice stopped.
"Do you want to go for a run?"
She asked when a sudden wave of fear washed all over her.
She looked around, but she couldn't see anything.
Epona hadn't registered any movement, either, because she was grazing the turnips they were walking on.
"Stop eating those."
Candice knelt, trying to stop Epona from devouring the plants and paused.
She saw Imprints on the soft ground. Some were covered by the fallen leaves, other well defined and deep.
She cleaned up some of the small trigs and leaved and saw more traces.
They were recent and she tried to follow them.
Epona followed, but their search ended soon when they reached the lake.
The trail ended, besides Candice wasn't as good at tracking as Jamie or Ty and she most likely had missed finding the right direction they had taken at some point.
She knelt by the shore and looked around.
The wave of fear seemed to have passed, but she still felt like something was happening.
Or it was more like- someone was watching her.
She looked down at the black water, but it was still.
There was no movement, besides the wind whistling in the trees and Epona's breathing, the sound of her coming from somewhere near.
"Ok, let's go back."
Candice said out loud- whether to her horse, or more to break the creeping silence and they headed for their house.
They got back home, and even though no one noticed her coming back so late, her secrecy was going to have been in vain, because she was going to have to tell her brothers about the traces.
***
"Hey, dad..."
Candice asked, while pouring her cereals in the milk, adding extra choco chips and picking the bigger choco pieces from the box and eating them directly.
Tyler rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Candice?"
Jack asked.
Her father had returned very late last night after guarding the borders and probably had slept even less that she had.
But even if he was exhausted, that never showed on his face.
"Are the wolves back?"
She tried to sound as casual as she could, and continued stirring her breakfast, but when she didn't hear anyone speaking for a while, she looked up.
Her brothers were watching her, and she saw her mother and father exchange a look.
"What is it?"
She asked and stiffed her mouth with a spoonful of the choco pieces.
"What do you mean?" Jamie asked.He was trying to sound as calm as ever.
"I saw some prints last night when we were walking with Epona."
"Are you out of your damn mind, Candice?"
Ty was a different matter when it came to keeping calm and he obviously was angry.
Very angry.
"What's your problem?" She asked him.
"You can't randomly go out at night!"
"So you can and I don't?"
She left her spoon and leaned back against her chair.
"I am capable of taking care of myself."
"And I can't?"
"Oh, I forget you're all big bad-assed grown ups."
"What's your problem!"
She almost shouted, when their father's deep voice resonated in the room.
"Enough, both of you."
He didn't have to raise his voice to sound intimidating and Candice and Tyler stopped taking. She made a face at her brother and he pointed her the finger.
"Who's childish now?" She muttered.
"Candice, what Imprints do you think you saw?" Jamie asked.
"Wolf's."
Silence.
"What?"
"Are you sure?"
"I think so. I tried to follow them, but then..."
"Jesus." Ty rubbed his temples.
"Ty." Jamie said and his brother only lifted his hands in surrender.
"Okay fine. Go on."
"That's all. They ended somewhere close to the lake. "
"Did you see anything else?" Jamie asked.
"No, not really. It might have been just a big animal, because they seemed smaller. Kind of."
" Compared to what?" Her father asked.
"I don't know. The wolves I saw when I was a kid seemed bigger. So I guess they left bigger imprints."
"Or it could've seemed so because you were twice smaller." Tyler said.
"Anyway, don't go out at night. Whatever it was."
"I'll check the forest tonight. " Jamie said.
"Good.I 'm sure there's nothing to be worried about, though."
Jack said.
"Most likely it was something else."
"Of course, you have been keeping guard."
Elleanor smiled, speaking for the first time since Candice had opened her mouth about the wolves.
"I'll come with you tonight, Jamie. " Ty finished his coffee and got up.
"Come on, Candice. I'll take you to school today."
She eyed him " Nothing will happen to me during the day."
"I'm not saying anything will happen to you. I just have free time this morning."
Candice knew something was off.
If it wasn't, Tyler would've never insisted on driving her to school.
"Okay. But Eadan will probably wait for me to go together."
He wasn't, because he'd sent her a message earlier he wasn't going, but Candice had a theory and she wanted to make sure she was right.
"Then tell him you'll meet him directly at school."
Something was off and she only nodded and picked her bag up and followed her brother.
***
Eadan found Felix at his usual spot in the family's study, leaning over a huge book.
Eadan hesitated whether to greet him, or leave his friend finish what he was looking for.
Interrupting him would probably mean Felix had to go through everything again later, so he just quietly closed the door.
Eadan sat in the chair closest to the door and crossed his legs, hoping his friend would soon notice him.
Silence tended to begin gnawing at him if it persisted for too long, so he was hoping it wouldn't take too long. And Felix was going to kill him if he saw him smoke inside.
A few minutes later Felix lifted his head.
"Eadan?" he said surprised.
"Ready?"
"How long have you been sitting there for?"
"An hour, maybe?"
"Really? I'm so sorry, I was reading..." he gestured at the book.
"I'm kidding. But you seemed occupied.
I didn't want to interrupt you. Anyway." He got up and approached the desk. "I have a question."
"About?"
"About the healing you do."
"Ummm... What about it?" Felix leaned back in his chair.
"You heal people in dreams, right?"
"Yes?"
Eadan began pacing around.
"But you can't always save them?"
"Eadan, are you all right?"
"Yes, I just wanted to ask some things."
"Okay..."
"So?"
"So no, I sometimes can't save them. That's why I am trying to learn as much as I can about medicine now, so that I can use some of the knowledge in the dreams."
" But isn't it the same?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you heal someone in the dream..."
"It often heals them in real life, yes."
"But not always."
"Well, no, not always."
Why?"
"Because..." Felix ran his hands through his hair "Because I don't have physical contact with them, and..."
"And you can't control what happenes in real life, yes."
"Exactly. But I think it's the same with all of us, right?"
"Mhm."
"And I can't know if they'll get better in real life temporary, or if it will be permanent."
Eadan went closer to the widow and looked out.
"Is there any way to do it?"
"Do what?"
"Have physical control over..."
"Eadan" Felix got up. "You can't possibly think that."
"But there has to be a way?"
"Eadan, listen to me. " He approached and laid a hand on Eadan's shoulder.
Eadan tried not to flinch and resisted the urge to pull back.
This is only Felix, don't break into a run, he reminded himself. So he asked
"What is it?"
"Promise me you won't speak of anything like this and you won't try to pursue the idea."
"So there is a way?"
"I don't know. No one does, but thinking about is dangerous enough as it is."
Felix looked really worried. "Promise me you won't start trying to find ways to change the way things are, all right?"
"All right?" Eadan tried to sound casual.
"I'm serious."
"Okay, okay. Fine." He pushed away from Felix. "It was just an idea, jeez."
"You haven't tried anything stupid, have you?"
"You mean in general, or?"
"Eadan."
"I haven't. It was just a...thought. It's not an idea."
"Okay. I hope so."
"It is."
Yeah, I hope so too, Eadan thought.
- Writer
