Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 20
keeps happening today, too. I’m still seeing it."
Emmy shook her head. "You are sick. Come on, we’ll
go see the surgeon."
"No, I don’t want to."
"Don’t be a baby."
"Okay, okay. But I can go on my own. You don’t have
to come with me."
"All right," she said reluctantly. He felt her concerned
gaze on him as he left.
The surgeon was busy with Willam’s broken leg. Jordan
stood around for a few minutes outside his door, but the sound
of screaming coming from inside made him feel worse and
worse, until finally he had to leave. He sat in the courtyard,
unsure whether to go back to work or go home. Something
was wrong, and he had no idea what to do about it.
He couldn’t stay idle, though. If he went home, his
father would treat him with contempt at dinner; Jordan always
felt terribly guilty when he was sick, as if he was doing
something bad.
He thought of the walk home, and that made him think of
the forest. There was someone there who could help him--and
maybe solve the problem of the stone mother too. It was a long
walk, and he didn’t like to be in the forest alone, but just now
he didn’t know what else to do. He stood up and left the
manor, taking the path that led to the church, and the house of
the priests.
The church lay several kilometers within the forest.
Jordan relaxed as he walked, frightening as the forest was.
Father Allegri would help him.
The path opened onto the church lands abruptly: Jordan
came around a sharp bend where towering silver maple and oak