Elfhome

Tinker forged on. “Construct a hypothesis, test your hypothesis by doing an experiment, analyze your data and draw a conclusion.”

“And communicate your results.” Oilcan added as always.

“But we never tell anyone anything,” Blue mumbled.

“Sama.” Merry was holding her bulky olianuni case to her chest. “I can tell Rustle.”

They blinked at her in surprise, and finally Oilcan sputtered out, “How — how exactly would you tell him?” as Tinker murmured, “I thought you said they weren’t telepathic.”

“I’ll join him inside the spell.” Merry edged closer to the spell.

“No, no, no, no, definitely not.” Oilcan reached out for her and she flinched away.

“It should have been me!” Merry circled around the spell, keeping away from Oilcan’s outstretched hand. “He’s hurt! He can’t even drum! And he has nothing to drum with. I love him and I couldn’t bear it if I never saw him again and I know I might have been able to save him.”

“Merry,” Tinker said. “I don’t want to lose both of you, cause I don’t know if I’m right. I might be totally wrong on this whole resonance thing. Music might not have anything to do with it. I probably am wrong.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Merry said. “I’d be with him. I’ll be where he is.”

“You should let her go,” Blue said. “It would be right to let her go.”

Tinker stared at him surprised and a little horrified. Even worse, when she looked to Pony, he nodded sadly.

“What is the worth of your life if you can’t protect the ones you love the most?” Pony said.

Of course the bodyguards would think that way. They were lucky to see the world in black and white. The world was so clear-cut to them. If it was her, yes, she’d throw herself into the spell heartbeat to save Oilcan, or Windwolf, or Pony, or Stormsong, or Blue Sky…Gods, the list kept getting longer and longer the more she thought about it — which probably only proved their point.

Yes, she would chance it. That wasn’t the point here. She was the adult and Merry was just a child of approximately thirteen. Although some people would say eighteen wasn’t an adult. And to be fair, at thirteen she had started her own business and lived by herself.

And had risked her life to save a total stranger from a saurus.

If it been Oilcan on the ground unconscious, she wouldn’t have even done a hit and run on the saurus. She would have beat on it with everything she had. She hadn’t known Windwolf, had no reason to think that saving him was her responsibility, and yet, she felt like she had to do something, and that hitting and running would be an acceptable risk. That it would be best to strike once, strike hard, and flee.

Stormsong said that her mother’s talent made Tinker ruthless on the racetrack. Maybe her talent had guided her that day. Maybe she knew deep inside that Windwolf would someday be someone that she would risk everything to save.

How sure did she feel that she was right now? If she had nothing but a hunch, how strong was that gut feeling? “Okay.”

“Tink!” Oilcan cried.

“I think it will be okay.” Tinker said. “It feels right.”

#

While the tengu and the laedin set up a new perimeter, her Hand stayed close, keeping her shielded so she could focus on saving Rustle. She was glad that Thorne Scratch shadowed Oilcan, keeping him safe. Merry played all the tones the olianuni could make, starting with the deep rumbling notes, while the other children listened intently.

“Do it again?” Barley suggested after Merry finished hitting the highest chime-like notes that the instrument produced. “None of them seemed special.”

“They’re just sound.” Cattail Reeds grumbled.

Baby Duck quacked nervously.

“I don’t think they can recognize it,” Oilcan murmured, and behind him Thorne Scratch nodded, agreeing with Oilcan’s assessment.

“If we could recognize it normally, then Rustle and I would already know it.” Merry had been stoically silent up to now. “We’ve studied music our whole life. Really! Whole summers just practicing chord progressions!”

“She has a point.” Tinker considered the problem. “Here’s what we know. None of the other kids had the problem of losing stuff like Rustle did. Right? The enclaves are on a strong ley line, but none of the other kids’ powers activated. And Merry didn’t do this,” she waved toward the gleaming spell, “when we just did a divination spell.”

“We established those as given.” Oilcan pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Could we just null all magic in the area?” Riki asked.

“That might destroy the only link we have with him.” Tinker made Merry meep and Baby Duck quack in distress. “Providence exists elsewhere without a body? He needs a combination of magic, what’s left of his body, and Jin to manifest?” Riki nodded to this, so Tinker plunged on. “If the kids have the duality of intelligence, there might be information they can only access while connected to large amounts of magic.”

“That’s a huge leap in logic.” Oilcan gave a sad smile to Thorne Scratch, who had laid her hand on his shoulder.