Sember (Forestfolk, Book 2)

Chapter 25b

I stepped around them and pulled Goben's arm. "Hey, I wanted to talk to you."

I saw Jastin throw me a glance, but he was too polite to interrupt Nirrin, who babbled on about his bravery.

"That Nirrin works fast, doesn't she?" Goben said as we started walking along the path away from the lake.

I kicked a small stone. "Always has. But I don't mind. She makes me feel normal."

"You don't mind?" He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Well . . . okay. Maybe sometimes I mind a little. She's so good at charming boys."

"Charming? Sember, she overwhelms them! Why do you think she's still single?"

"Really?" Was this true?

"I'll bet you a week of fetching water buckets that, right this moment, Jastin is wishing he was talking to you instead."

My face warmed. "How would you know?"

"I just spent a week with him. You were a frequent topic of conversation."

"Me?" I winced at the elated squeak in my voice.

Right then, scuffling noises drew my attention to a group of three small boys playing tag among the trees.

"You're it!" one of them yelled.

"No, I'm not. I'm touching home base," the other one replied, hand still on a tree.

"That's not the right tree," the third one said.

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Hey, Sember's here!"

The three of them stampeded over to us. One of them tugged my hand. "Sember, which tree is home base?"

"She wasn't here, how would she know?" His friend crossed his arms over his little chest. "You just don't want to be it."

"Sember's smart. She killed the plague beast when no one else could." He turned his large brown eyes up at me. "Right?"

I laughed, pleased by their attention. "I think you should choose a new home base, and then mark the tree with this." I picked up a large twig and scorched the end of it in my fist. The end blackened, and I handed it to him.

His eyes were huge as he took it. He dragged the end of it along the bark of a nearby tree, leaving a black mark. "Neat! Thanks, Sember!" The boy ran off, bellowing at the top of his lungs, "Look what I got!" The other two followed him, fading into nothing more than playful shouts in the forest.

When I looked back to Goben, his mouth gaped, forehead wrinkled in astonishment. "They're not afraid of you anymore."

I grinned. "It seems not."

"Not only are they not afraid of you, they talk to you!"

"It's been different since I got back."

When we reached the commons and sat down for a snack, we were immediately beset by four girls, each of them about twelve or so, who sat down at the bench with us.

"See? I told you he wasn't dead!" a girl with a long, brown braid said to the one next to her.

Goben shot me a perplexed look. "People thought I was dead? What have you been telling them?"

"I said you stayed behind. I didn't tell anyone you were dead!"

To my surprise, the girl with the braid reached across the table to pat my hand. "Leela's father likes to exaggerate when he tells stories. Wow, your hand is super warm!"

I pulled my hand away and busied myself with munching on a carrot to hide my embarrassment.

Leela scooted closer to her braided friend. "Move, Gwinny, I want to feel it."

I looked from one to the other, nonplussed. "You're not afraid I'll burn you?"

"Why would you burn us?" Leela asked as her other two friends, who had been quietly watching, also pressed in closer.

"Well . . . " It still astounded me that these girls weren't afraid of me anymore. Not long ago they avoided me like poison ivy. It seemed new stories circulated about me now. Ones that didn't involve me nearly blowing up my parents.

I slid my eyes back to Leela. "I wouldn't burn you. But I did kill someone with my gift. Doesn't that scare you?"

"See, Gwinny?" Leela bumped her friend's shoulder. "Pa was right about that. She did kill the plague beast." She turned back to me. "I wish I was Gifted."

"Me too!" Gwinny chimed.

The two silent friends nodded in agreement.

I sat back, baffled. Never in my life had anyone wanted to be like me.

"I want to see you make fire," Gwinny said, leaning in.

"I start the campfires every night."

"Anyone can do that." She waved away the idea. "I want to see you do something neat!"

Encouraged, I snapped my index finger up, producing a single flame right on the tip of it. "How about this?"

"Wow . . . " Four pairs of young eyes stared in utter amazement.

"Watch this," Goben said as he held his palm directly on the flame with nary a flinch.

"Hey, you're blocking the fire. I want to see the fire." Gwinny tried to peer under his hand.

I laughed at Goben's failed attempt to show off.

He smiled sardonically, pulling his hand back. "Tough crowd."

"What else can you do?" Leela said, eyes still fixed on the small flame.

I thought for a moment, then cupped four carrot pieces in my hands. Their stares were unwavering for the minute I spent cooking the carrots. When I was done, I blew on them a little, then held the carrots out in my palm for the girls to inspect.

They all leaned in for a closer look. Gwinny, obviously the braver of the bunch, took one and bit into it. "It's already soft. You cooked it so fast!"

The other three girls each collected a carrot and took careful little bites.

"I'm going to show Pa!" Leela said as she ran off with the remainder of her carrot.

The other three soon followed suit. "Thanks, Sember!" Gwinny tossed over her shoulder as she departed.

Goben watched them disappear. "Wow. You're like a hero to these kids now."

"You think so?"

"They're the opposite of afraid of you. They seek you out! How does that feel?" He looked at me intently, completely aware that I'd been a pariah most of my life.

"It's a little strange."

"But good?"

"Yes." I smiled. "Definitely good."

Aww it's nice when good things finally happen to good people. Let's give them a vote.