The Wand & the Sea Read Online Free Page B

dripping wood, the only sound the squish-squish of their boots in the mud, until the drizzle gave way to intermittent sunlight. Holly halted at the stream, which was even more engorged than it was the day before.
    â€œThat’s the tree bridge I found.” She pointed downstream.
    â€œOh yeah,” said Everett. “I’ve crossed that way loads of times.”
    â€œOf course you have,” Holly muttered.
    Her cumbersome poncho slowed her down, and the boys got farther and farther ahead. At one point it snagged on a thorny shrub. She yanked it free and lurched forward. Her boot sank into the muck and stuck fast. “I’m coming!” she called ahead, though no one answered. Typical. She grabbed the loops of the boot and braced herself against a sapling, preparing to yank her foot free. But something caught her eye in the gurgling water.
    Several smooth river rocks were embedded in the near bank, as if someone very small had built a stone spigot. Out of it poured a stream of clear water.
    Holly peered at it—was it a pipe from a sewer line? But she could see none. She held out her finger to the stream, then drew it quickly back.
    The arctic water burned her fingertips. Under her poncho, safe in its leather scabbard, the iron key vibrated. Holly pulled it out. Suddenly she heard the familiar hum that had been missing from the wood: a steady flow of current like from a live wire. Magic was still alive in this forest. And the key . . .
    It started to pulse in a pattern—a short buzz followed by two long vibrations, then a distinct pause. Over and over, buzz-vibrate-vibrate . As if she’d set it as a ring tone.
    It was calling her.
    â€œHey, are you coming or what?” said a whiny voice beside her.
    She startled, nearly dropping the key into the rushing current. “Gosh, Ben, way to sneak up on a person.”
    â€œWe’ve been waiting at that tree bridge forever. Are you stuck?”
    â€œI’m listening.”
    â€œWhat’s going on?” called Everett.
    â€œShe’s listening .” Holly refused to look at Ben, though she knew he was rolling his eyes.
    Everett walked up and took hold of Holly’s hand—the one closed around the key. She wanted to shake him off, but he stood very still. He was listening too.
    â€œCan you feel something?” Ben grabbed her other hand. Holly remembered how this worked; they could only feel the key’s vibrations through her. “Wow!”
    â€œHush,” said Holly.
    â€œNo, wait,” said Ben. “It’s like . . . it’s Morse code.”
    The other two stared at him. “Since when do you know Morse code?” Everett asked.
    â€œThey use it on Planeterra Six, the deluxe edition.” Of course he was talking about his favorite computer game. “See, in order to enter the alien king’s mother ship, you’ve gotta crack this pass code, which is set in a series of dots and dashes. As if that wasn’t hard enough, you have to negotiate with this six-eyed dude from Alastra, who’s got a complicated social ritual—”
    â€œBen!” Holly interrupted. “Do you know what this means or not?”
    â€œYeah, it’s a W . Just the letter W , over and over again.”
    The three of them fell quiet as the key continued to pulse.
    W  . . . for water ?
    â€œSee these weird rocks, like a pipe or something?” Holly said. “The key is trying to tell us something about the water, like Mr. Gallaway said.”
    A shrill screech sounded above their heads. The red parrot landed on a high branch, looking at her very hard with one black eye.
    Telling her something.
    Holly dropped the boys’ hands and thrust the key beneath the stone spigot. The water poured over it, freezing it to her fingers. She gritted her teeth; the key was still pulsing its letter W , faster now. She couldn’t pull away until it was finished, but finished