Page 32 of The Wicker King

He shifted his dark eyes to August, and August’s heart thudded like the monstrous march of time. Jack tilted his head to the side and stared into the depths of him.

“Everywhere you go, everything is wilder around you. You brought the birds, but they’re staying for her … I think. It’s a good omen.”

He offered a smile, then looked back out at the town.

“The buildings fade to trees, the trees fade to bramble, the bramble fades to dust, and beyond is the land of forgotten kings. The Wastes. Where nothing lives, nothing grows, and nothing dies.”

“Nothing dies?” Rina asked, huddling closer to Jack.

He slipped his hand back into hers. “Nothing dies. At least that’s what they write on the walls. They write all sorts of things on the walls of stone buildings—prayers, jokes, news. But mostly warnings. They say that beyond the wild woods, which is the area closest to the town, there are large, rabid beasts and swarms of gore crows. Those are like dead birds that eat living flesh.”

Jack shivered.

“They say that if your milkbeasts get lost in the wild woods, you should just leave them there. That it is less costly than going out to find them and paying with your life.”

“How do you live like this?” Rina whispered.

Jack shrugged.

“Where we are, it is light.” The wind blew hard from the east and the trees rustled their branches.

“From where I’m standing … it is warm enough.”

Frost

Winter break was coming up.

Daliah was really riding his ass about deliveries. More and more kids were getting pinched, and she had more supply than people who could hawk it. Honestly, August wanted to just quit, but his mom’s disability benefits had been cut and he really couldn’t afford to.

Along with that looming over his head, his notebooks were getting pretty full and it was becoming clearer than ever that Jack’s condition was getting worse and worse every day. It was good to feel like they were doing something proactive about it, though. They’d nearly mapped out the entire town and a bit of the woods.

It was also good to have some other people around who knew what was going on. The twins had been remarkably helpful when August wasn’t there to watch Jack at all times, even though Jack still deeply resented their involvement. Peter was still an asshole about it, but at least they hadn’t told anyone yet.

DUST

“We need to find a way for you to interact with my world so you can put the Rapturous Blue on its stand and have it actually work. The Cloven King rides closer every day and the city is decaying all around me. I can’t do it by myself.”

“Yeah. I know.” August kicked at a pebble as they trudged to the toy factory. “Do you have any ideas?”

Jack grimaced sheepishly. “I have a couple, but none of them are good.”

August pulled out a loose panel of glass and they scrambled inside the factory. Jack climbed down from the windowsill and offered August a hand. August ignored it and leaped down instead, landing hard and rolling to his feet. Jack watched appreciatively.

“You’re getting good at that.”

August shrugged off the compliment. “Where is the stand?”

“Is there anything in here that’s in the middle of the room? I can remember there being like some kind of—”

“The only thing in the middle of the room is one of those water coolers that people have at offices that give cold and hot water,” August interrupted.

Jack lit up. “Really? Oh sweet! I’m pretty sure the Rapturous Blue goes in the area where you’d put a cup. I see it like a really decorative metal tower thing with a square slot in the middle. Also, for your information, we’re in the city’s town hall–slash–church-museum thing. It’s really fancy in here.”

“Even if we find the Rapturous Blue, we can’t put it in now because…?”

“It won’t work, August. We’ve gone over this,” Jack said, sounding annoyed. “There needs to be, like, some conduit that allows you to reach through this world into mine. Otherwise, it would be like putting a dead battery in a flashlight and expecting it to turn on.”

August scoffed in exasperation. “Okay. So, what we’re looking for is something that would give enough of a charge? All right. At least that’s an achievable goal…” He walked around the room looking at all the machinery. He casually picked up a plastic doll head off the floor and tossed it in the air, catching it deftly in his hand.