Elena Vasquez's Arc

Chapter 4 of 11

Elena walked back to the shack where the stranger lay sleeping. The boy was gone from the banana trees. She'd heard him scramble down the moment the figures disappeared, footsteps slapping against the dock as he ran toward the square. She found the boy's mother at dawn, standing at the river's edge where the lavender mist had begun to spread. The woman held a small woven sandal, its bright flower patterns stark against the gray morning light. "He didn't come home," she said. "I found this in the trees where he watches the boats." Elena took the sandal and looked up at the banana grove. A rope hammock swung empty between two trunks, its frayed edges moving in the breeze. The boy had made himself a lookout there, a hidden place to see everything that happened at the water. Now the lavender glow pulsed beneath the dock pilings, spreading like blood in water. Elena walked to the fishermen's houses and asked each family the same questions. No one had seen the boy since dusk. No one had heard him come through the square. She returned to the boathouse and unwrapped the skull-shaped artifact, feeling its warmth through the canvas. The hooded figures had said they would follow where it went. She could take it upriver, away from town, and they would follow. The boy might follow too, if he was still able. Or she could keep it here and wait for them to come back, to demand answers about what they'd done. She wrapped the artifact and carried it to the town square. People gathered when they saw her standing there with the pack. She didn't wait for them to ask. "A boy is missing. He saw something at the river last night, and now he's gone." She held up the canvas bundle. "This is what brought them here. I'm taking it north, away from town. If anyone wants to stop me, speak now." No one moved. No one spoke. Elena turned and walked toward the boathouse, the pack heavy in her hands. Behind her, the boy's mother stood holding the small sandal, watching the lavender mist creep farther up the bank.