Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
He didn’t need to say a word for me to know he didn’t like me not explaining, but what was I going to do? Tell him that I was disappointed everyone thought we were flakes? I’d just told him last night that I’d been lonely.
Hoping he understood the timing being off, I reached back and patted his leg before taking the same chair across from the elders as in the past. This time though, I was alone. I missed Matti and Sienna. We had been texting as much as we always had—video calling once or twice a month, which was also the normal—but it was different now.
I eyed Henri as he went to stand in almost the same spot as before too. I thought he was a little closer to the table this time though.
Pushing my chair forward, I said, “Good morning, elders,” in the most non-hurt voice I could come up with.
They murmured something in return that sounded like “good morning,” but it didn’t exactly sound enthusiastic.
“Nina, tell them what happened last night,” Henri demanded, his irritation back in its full glory.
One of the women aimed a narrowed look at him through her tortoiseshell glasses; it was the woman who had spoken the most after Franklin our first day. Silver-Blue Hair. She coughed delicately. “I will handle the questions here, Henri.” She offered a smile that was deceptively encouraging. “Nina, tell us what happened last night, step-by-step and word for word to the best of your ability.”
The faster I did this, the faster I could get it over with. I started. “We were outside, Henri, Agnes, Duncan, and me. We had just finishing playing tag and were eating our popsicles, sitting there talking—”
“About what?” the cyclops asked.
I slid my gaze to Henri.
“That doesn’t matter,” he answered for me, his tone cool.
I didn’t smile, but a part of me wanted to. What I did do was tell them about the gnomes coming out of the trees and coming straight for us, like something out of a fairy tale. I told them about the color of their clothing and the way they had spoken in unison and what they’d said, at least how I remembered it, which was something I hadn’t even shared with Henri. I guess we’d both been too overwhelmed by the miracle of their appearance to notice. I told the elders everything, except for how we’d shared Henri’s popsicle and our conversation about my parents afterward. To me, those discussions weren’t any of their business.
The cyclops elder spoke up. “How do you know their language?”
“I don’t,” I replied. “I didn’t recognize that they were even speaking a different one until he mentioned it.”
“You have never met them before?” the woman with the glasses asked.
“Never.”
“Not even in a different location?”
I shook my head. “I’ve never seen, spoken to, or dreamt of a gnome in my life. I’ve only read about them.”
More stirring. More whispering.
A man with a faint green tint to his skin leaned forward. “Gnomes have long lifespans and equally impressive memories,” he noted, like that meant something to me.
It didn’t.
There were more murmurs from the group in what seemed like reluctant agreement over his comment.
“Now that you’ve heard that we both had the same experience, can we discuss something else?” Henri’s husky voice engulfed the room, less of a question than a statement.
“We only wish to understand why they would return after so long,” the woman said.
“If there’s more to it, they didn’t share it with us. Like I said,” Henri went on. “There’s no need to drag this out and have another meeting over it when there are other things around here that could benefit more from our attention. The gnomes are back, and it’s a good thing. We can leave it at that.”
The woman waved her hand. “We should continue this discussion. I would expect you of all people to be more understanding about our desire to understand why, Henri. This is unlike you.”
I was on Henri’s side with this. They could discuss hypothetical reasons and answers all they wanted, but if these were old, mysterious magical beings who could travel through a system in trees we couldn’t begin to understand… did it really matter? They hadn’t given either of us a single clue.
From the tension in the air, I could sense another round of arguing on the verge of starting, and there were other things I’d rather do. “Do you all need anything else from me?” I asked before they could begin.
“No, Nina,” a couple of them answered at the same time, dismissing me without a second thought before they turned on themselves and multiple people started talking at once.
Pushing the chair back, I slid out and went for the door, undisturbed. Forgotten again. I headed up to my room, grabbed the small cardboard box that had arrived a few days ago, and swapped into my hiking boots before I went right on back downstairs. The voices echoed from the library as I went in that direction, but I passed the doorway and ignored what was happening, going straight out the back door. The air was clean and sweeter than it had been earlier when I’d let Duncan out to pee, and I smiled wide when I spotted Randall, the redheaded security person for the ranch, outside of the building with the vehicles.