Treader to find the seven lords who were banished when Miraz took over the throne
They clumped around the players, but I drew the largest crowd, and I did not notice the woman in the red coat until most of the well-wishers had vanished.
My mother was wiping lipstick from my cheek with a wet handkerchief when the woman meandered into my peripheral vision. She appeared normal and pleasant, about forty years old. Her deep brown hair framed an intelligent face, but I was perplexed at the way her pale green eyes had fixed upon me. She stared, scrutinized, studied, and pondered, as if dredging up an inner mystery. She was an utter stranger to me.
”Excuse me,” she said. “But you’re Andrew Day?”
”Henry Day,” I corrected her.
”Right, Henry. You play wonderfully.”
”Thank you.” I turned back to my parents, who intimated that they were ready to go.
Maybe she saw my profile, or perhaps the simple act of turning away set off something in her brain, but she gasped and drew her fingers to her mouth. “You’re him,” she said. “You’re the little boy.”
I squinted at her and smiled.
”You are the one I saw in the woods that night. On the road? With the deer?” She started to raise her voice. “Don’t you remember? I saw you on the road with those other boys. It must have been eight or nine years ago by now. You’re all grown up and everything, but you’re that little boy, no doubt. I was worried about you.”
”I don’t know what you are talking about, ma’am.” I turned to go, but she grabbed my arm.
”It is you. I cracked my head on the dashboard when I hit the deer, and I thought you were a dream at first. You came out of the forest—”
I yelped a sound that hushed the room, a pure raw cry that startled everyone, myself included. I did not realize my capacity for such an inhuman noise still existed. My mother intervened.
”Let go of my son,” she told her. “You’re hurting his arm.”
”Look, lady,” I said, “I don’t know you.”
My father stepped into the middle of the triangle. “What is this all about?”
The woman’s eyes flashed in anger. “I saw your boy. One night I was driving home from the country, and this deer jumped right onto the road in front of my car. I swerved to miss her, but I clipped her with my bumper. I didn’t know what to do, so I got out of the car to see if I could help.”
She shifted her attention from my father and began addressing me. “From the woods comes this boy, about seven or eight years old. Your son. And he startled me more than the deer did. Out of nowhere, walks right up to the deer like the most natural thing in the world; then he bent down to its mouth or nose or whatever you call it. Hard to believe, but he cupped his hand over her muzzle, and breathed. It was magic. The deer rolled off her side, unfolded her legs, stood, and sprang off. The most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me.”
I realized then that she had experienced an encounter. But I knew I had not seen her before, and while some changelings are willing to inspire wild animals, I never engaged in such foolishness.
”I got a real good look at the boy in my headlights,” she said, “although not so good at his friends in the forest. It was you. Who are you really?”
