“He must have gone up,” Zale said.
Geth moved onto the stairs and climbed them quickly. Zale stayed right behind him, his body feeling rested and full. At the top of the thin stairs there was a spiral staircase that wrapped around the tree trunk and twisted up out of the roof and toward the top of the trees. Those stairs led up through the roof. Geth could see the crowns of other trees and a large wooden platform at the very top of the stairs. The platform was square, and the stairs met up with the bottom of it, where there was a round hole in the middle to climb through.
Geth cautiously climbed the last few stairs and stepped up onto the platform. He kept his eyes on Lars, who was standing near the far edge. Geth reached down and helped Zale come all the way up.
The two lithens stood there facing Lars, about ten feet away from him. The platform was painted white and had a wooden railing around the entire square. The railing came up about three feet high, making the whole structure look like a splintery boxing ring at the top of the world. Glancing around, Geth could see the entire valley. They were standing atop the highest point and could clearly see all the mountains that circled the valley and the hundreds of caves that looked out and over toward where they now were. It was a beautiful, frightening sight.
The entire platform swayed gently under the rocking of the soft winds. The creaking and blowing added to the overall feeling of uncertainty and surrealism. Lars stared intently at the two brothers as they stood there.
“I’m not sure that anyone but a lithen would follow me up here after I had threatened to kill them,” Lars said. “Impressive.”
“I’m pretty certain you’re not sure of a lot of things,” Geth said honestly. “It’s not just lithens who have spines to stand up to fools like you.”
“Well,” Lars said. “You’d be hard-pressed to find any others in this realm who would do the same.”
“I’m not sure who’s worse for this place,” Geth said. “You or Payt.”
“I only harm those who bother me,” Lars said. “Payt destroys everyone he can.”
“You both make me sick,” Geth growled.
“What a pity,” Lars said. “We were getting along so well at the start.”
“You mean back when you were pretending to be human?” Geth asked.
“Such bite,” Lars snipped. “I have to kill you two. I mean, I have no choice. You understand that, don’t you?”
“We’re pretty clear on the fact that you are unstable,” Zale said. “That and the fact that you love to hear yourself talk.”
“It’s a shame you don’t understand,” Lars scoffed. “There’s no stopping Payt. I simply am smart enough to understand that. I have found a way to live comfortably despite him.”
Geth shivered.
“Oh, that’s right,” Lars said, smiling and waving his hands as if it were a friendly conversation. “You lithens see no value in comfort. I must say, I’m not terribly impressed by your breed. Your brother is useless, and you, Geth, are too passionate for justice to ever succeed. Don’t you know that the truly wise understand and accept that some must suffer so that others can enjoy?”
Geth’s simmering blood began to fully boil. He hated Lars. And whereas it was pretty uncommon for a lithen to hate, it was even more uncommon for a lithen like Geth to hate as heavily as he now did.
His blue eyes sizzled, competing with the sun for rays of heat.
“You see all those hundreds of tunnels,” Lars said, motioning with his hands to the caves in the far-off mountains. “Almost all of those have telescopes that are looking down at this platform. Look.”
Even from a great distance away, it was clear to see that all the many tunnels had tiny figures gathered at the mouths of them.
“This is where I signal others,” Lars said. “This is where I instruct and lead. This is where I trick the realm of Zendor to believe in me as a mythical figure. There’s not much entertainment for Stone Holders as they hide. They’re a captive audience that lives off my whims. In a moment they will see you lunge at me. They will then see me defend myself and witness once again that even a lithen cannot destroy me. Correction: even two lithens can’t destroy me. My legendary status will only climb. This is a very good day for me.”
“Do I ever sound that crazy?” Zale asked with concern.
“A little,” Geth said honestly. “Only when you talk about doing nothing for the rest of your life.”
“Well, look what doing something has gotten us,” Zale argued.
“You two,” Lars said with a smile. “Stop fighting one another and attack me.”
Geth’s insides were threatening to jump out of his outsides. His inner Ezra rose up into his throat like bad soup after a heavy meal. Clover was invisible and now sitting on Geth’s right shoulder. Like a tiny, hairy angel he whispered into Geth’s ear.
“It’s not worth it,” Clover said softly so that only Geth could hear. “Let’s get away from this nutcase.”
Geth took another deep breath.
“It’s not worth it,” Clover whispered again.
Geth looked out at all the tunnels and caves in the distance. “We’re not going to attack you, Lars,” he said calmly. “We can accomplish what we need without your death. Come on, Zale.”
Geth motioned for his brother to follow him back down the stairs.
“Good for you,” Lars laughed. “But before you go, I want to tell you something I’m reminded of. This is just like the time a man from New York was snatched into Zendor. After he heard about me, he found me, thinking I would help him save the realm. I invited him up here to see how beautiful things were and then forcefully expressed to him how much I could never let him live. He too did the valiant thing. He climbed back down those stairs, only to die half an hour later from the poison I had earlier put in his food.”
“You poisoned our food?” Geth asked happily, his insides growing excited by the fact that he might still get the chance to set Lars straight.
“The way the boors tell that story is that the man died because of the air.”
“You’re mad,” Geth growled. “You’ve poisoned us.”
“I’m not stupid,” Lars said.
“I changed my mind,” Clover whispered, switching shoulders and acting more like a little devil now. “I think you should hurt him.”
“He didn’t poison us,” Zale argued. “He’s bluffing.”
“Can you be sure?” Lars asked.
“Get ready,” Clover whispered to Geth.
Geth looked confused and wondered what Clover meant. Clover, on the other hand, was quickly moving into position. He jumped from off of Geth and quietly hopped back behind Lars. He climbed up on the wooden rails and with one swift leap he sprang out and, as kindly as he could, jabbed his claws into Lars’s derriere. Lars screamed and leapt forward, directly toward Geth. Geth spun and kicked Lars in the chest with the bottom of his right foot. Lars flew back, crashing into the same spot on the rails where Clover had been. The hit looked horrific, but Lars jumped up immediately.
Geth charged at him.
Geth wrapped his arms around Lars’s waist, twisted him back, and threw him onto the platform with such force there was a pop. The noise echoed through the valley like a single clap of applause. Geth rolled off of Lars as Zale backed away from the action.
Lars sprang right up onto his feet once more. Aside from the blood where Clover had pierced him, he looked no worse for wear.
“Dirty play,” Lars said. “You have an invisible helper. Of course, if I know anything about the curiosity of sycophants, I know that yours probably snuck at least one bite of that food. And with his small body, the effect will work even quicker.”
“Well, then, I’d better strike fast,” an invisible Clover yelled, slicing his claws down Lars’s back.
The cuts caused Lars’s knees to buckle and send his body forw
ard. Once again it looked like Lars was attacking Geth. Geth grabbed Lars by the ears and threw him to the ground. He then put his foot on his back to keep him pinned down. Lars bucked and threw Geth’s leg up into the air while hopping back onto his own feet.
“You can’t keep me down,” Lars bragged. “I’m too powerful. This air has made me super strong. And everyone watching will witness my greatness grow in leaps and bounds as I finish you. Come on, Geth, be a man—attack me.”
Clover hopped back up onto the rails behind Lars. He jumped as hard as he could and slammed his feet into the back of Lars’s head. Lars stumbled forward and Geth used the motion to attack. A thin blade of metal slipped out from Lars’s wrist as he produced a hidden knife. He aimed for Geth’s chest, but Geth was too quick. The knife nicked Geth’s left shoulder as he moved to the side and twisted around.
Geth had a surprise of his own.
Geth produced a fork he had taken from Lars’s kitchen and shoved it into Lars’s right side. The super-strong vacuum salesman from New York went down. He crumbled to the ground in a heap of heartless human.
Geth bent over, grabbing his own shoulder and trying to catch his breath. Zale moved to his side.
“Thanks for the help,” Geth said sarcastically, breathing hard.
“Sorry,” Zale apologized. “I used to fight.”
“Well, we need you to fight again,” Geth said angrily. “Things must change. Clover!” Geth called.
“Right here, toothpick,” Clover said, appearing on Geth’s right shoulder.
“We’re so lucky you’re on our side,” Geth complimented him. “Smart moves.”
“I’m happy for any chance to use my claws,” Clover said, waving off the admiration. “And I’d hate to sound all braggy like Lars, but I do come in handy.”
“Geth!” Zale yelled.
Lars was back on his feet and lunging toward Geth from behind. Zale charged into Lars, and with one huge movement he pushed him across the platform. Lars slammed into the rail, and Zale pushed him harder, sending the selfish hermit over the edge and hundreds of feet down to the bottom of the hill below him.
Zale fell to his knees and looked down over the edge of the platform. Geth and Clover moved in and gazed down with him.
“Wow,” Clover said reverently. “Why didn’t he fly? I thought he was supposed to be all super strong.”
“Being super strong doesn’t make you fly,” Geth said solemnly. “Nobody could survive that.”
“I don’t know what came over me,” Zale whispered. “I just reacted.”
“You probably saved my life,” Geth admitted.
“Hey, do you guys remember how I helped Geth earlier?” Clover asked, bothered that the conversation wasn’t revolving around him anymore. “I helped him at least a couple of times.”
“You were pretty amazing,” Geth praised him.
“Not that any of this really matters,” Zale said sadly. “If we were poisoned, things are about to grow pretty dark.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Clover said. “I just may have been in the kitchen when Lars was pouring that stuff on the food. It wasn’t poison.”
“Are you sure?” Geth asked hopefully.
“Yeah,” Clover insisted. “He had two little bottles. The one he poured on the food was piñon.”
“Piñon?” Geth asked, confused.
“I’m sure of it,” Clover promised. “The other bottle was artichoke juice. Look, I saved the bottle.”
Clover fished out a small glass bottle from his void and read it aloud.
“Piñon.”
Geth took the bottle from Clover and read it himself.
“Poison,” Geth said with concern.
“Is that how you pronounce that?” Clover asked. “I thought the s was silent.”
“Do you have that other bottle?” Zale asked frantically.
“No,” Clover said. “I thought that would be stealing . . . okay, I might have it.”
“Here,” Geth said sticking his hand out. “Where is it?”
Clover rooted around in his void and pulled out a little bottle filled with a dark liquid. It had a small label on the front that read:
“Antidote,” Geth cheered.
“You need to learn how to read,” Zale said sternly to Clover.
Geth handed the bottle to Zale, who took a quick drink. Clover took a smaller sip, and Geth had the rest.
“I don’t like the taste,” Clover complained while smacking his lips.
“It tastes better than dying.”
“Of course,” Clover agreed. “But it just seems like any real antidote should be mint flavored. I mean, if you’re going to live, you might as well have nice breath.”
Geth patted Clover on the head. “You saved us again.”
“Make sure you tell Lilly.”
“There’s no way I won’t,” Geth promised.
All three of them stood up and walked over to the stairs. The tops of the trees swayed just as they had before. Birds and warmth filled the air as if a life hadn’t just been lost. Being lithens, Geth and Zale knew the role that death played, but it was never comfortable harming another, even when the evil was obvious. They all took one final look and started down the stairs. Despite the fact that they were stuck in Zendor and there was still the problem of Payt, things seemed peaceful. Clover cleared his throat.
“So who do you think gets Lars’s house?” Clover asked.
Geth gave Clover a look strong enough to let him know that now was not the time to ask those kinds of things.
“Right,” Clover said. “It’s just that I know he doesn’t have any relatives here, and judging by how he acted, I’m guessing he didn’t have a lot of friends.”
“Clover,” Geth said.
“Right,” Clover said again. “I know I sort of saved all of our lives and all, but I’ll just ask later.”
Geth and Zale climbed down the stairs while Clover sat on top of Geth’s head trying to act respectful.
“What now?” Zale asked.
“Now?” Geth said. “Well, I’d say things just got a little worse for Payt.”
“That makes no sense,” Zale insisted.
“When he gets like this it usually means things are about to get interesting,” Clover explained. “It’s always dumbest before the dawn.”
“I think you’re quoting that wrong,” Geth said as they reached the bottom of the spiral stairs and descended the thin stairs into the kitchen. “But I think I have an idea and a use for this valley.”
“You know, Lilly would love this kitchen,” Clover cooed.
“You’re not getting his house,” Geth reiterated.
Clover frowned and disappeared.
Chapter Eighteen
Take a Long, Deep Breath
Some words are better than others. I like the word pavement better than asphalt. I just do. Sofa over plaza, chump is better than dump, and I’m a big fan of the word ambisinister while I have nothing but hard feelings for the word shunt. There is a social order in the world of words. Big words look down on little words, medium words have a difficult time with hyphenated words, and staple words like the and and would be nothing but th and nd without the help of some vowels. I met a woman who calls underwear breezies, and I know a man who calls soda pop. I think that one’s particularly sad—I mean, it’s like calling juice mom. Then there are the fancy speakers with their special words. They’re the kind of people who call teenagers ruffians and rears ends derrieres. Those kinds of people probably should be tagged and followed.
Words are like printed T-shirts: Some are fun to read, and some are just a waste of letters.
Geth, Zale, and Clover found Lars’s body on the hill below the tree house and buried him. Geth said a few words, and Clover tried to make himself cry. He couldn’t do it, so he pulled a bit
of tear gas gum from his void and chewed. The mist from his mouth caused not only Clover but Geth and Zale to weep uncontrollably. Like most good sycophants, Clover carried plenty of tissue to help, but even he didn’t have enough to help now. By the time they had reached the edge of the valley, their eyes were red and incredibly swollen.
“You’re cleaning out that void,” Geth insisted.
“That’s the hardest I’ve cried in my life,” Zale sniffed.
They hiked up to the same tunnel they had previously occupied. They could see Nick up on the stone balcony waiting there. Behind Nick were dozens of other Stone Holders. Geth looked around at some of the other tunnels close by. The entrance of every tunnel he could see was filled with Stone Holders looking out at them with quiet uncertainty.
“This kind of thing never happened in my cell,” Zale mumbled.
“You can thank me later,” Geth said facetiously.
Geth leapt up onto the bottom of the balcony and began pulling himself up. Nick reached over and helped yank him up. The two of them then assisted Zale in his climb over. Once they were both on the balcony, Geth and Zale stood up and faced the crowd. All eyes of all the Stone Holders rested uncomfortably on them. There was still no sound from any of them.
“Lars is dead,” Geth said straightforwardly.
There was no reaction from the crowd. Geth hoped there had been plenty of witnesses who had seen through the telescopes what had transpired.
“It wasn’t our plan,” Geth informed them.
“We saw the fight,” Nick said. “It was hard to tell who struck first.”
“We had no desire to kill him,” Geth told them. “He gave us no choice.”
“I believe you,” Nick said, holding his cowboy hat in his hand. “We all saw you bury him. That was real kind of you. You were mighty overcome with grief. I never seen anyone weep like that.”
“That wasn’t . . .” Zale started to say.
Geth elbowed Zale in the ribs to shut him up.