Fire Study
Page 37

Yes, sir, I replied.
He flashed me a smile before he left. Opal hurried into the store to finish her deliveries. While Leif and I waited for her, I returned to examining the glass animal statues in the window. Leif joined me.
“Look at how they glow!” he said. “Which one would you pick? The snake?”
“No. I’ve had my fill of snakes. I like the horse, but the eyes are the wrong color. They should be blue.”
Leif laughed. “You’re biased. I’d buy the tree leopard. The detail is amazing. I wonder how the artist is able to get the leopard’s green and yellow pattern just right.”
“The pattern is inside.” Opal exited the store. “There’s a thin layer of clear glass on the outside.”
“Did Tula make these?” I asked.
Sadness welled in her eyes. She blinked back tears. “No. Tula ’s are too precious to sell.”
“Opal, I’m—”
“Don’t say it,” she said. “Starting anew, remember?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s go.” Opal led the way.
I worried the girl’s parents wouldn’t be so forgiving, but they greeted us warmly. Their house and glass factory had been built on the edge of the city, surrounded on three sides by the Avibian Plains. The location explained why Ferde had chosen Tula . Keeping the kilns hot, Tula had been in the factory all night alone where no one could witness her abduction.
Opal guided us on a tour of her family’s business and we met her remaining sister, Mara, and her younger brother, Ahir. The promised meal consisted of beef stew served in a bowl made of bread.
“Less to wash,” Opal’s mother, Vyncenza, said with a grin.
Leif sat next to Mara and flirted with her. He even joined her in the kitchen to help clean up. I couldn’t blame him, the beautiful loose curls of her golden-brown hair hung past her shoulders. Kindness radiated from big tawny eyes, and she listened to Leif’s tales with rapt attention.
While the others cleared the table, Opal’s father, Jaymes, regaled me with stories about his business and his family.
“…she wasn’t paying attention and set fire to her mother’s apron! It was another four seasons before we would let Tula handle a punty iron again.” He laughed and launched into another one.
When he had run out of anecdotes, I asked him about news from Booruby.
“The Cowan elders are always arguing about how many trees to cut down, and now they want to start taxing the sand I import for my glassware.” He tsked over the prospect. “Rumors about the other clans have always been good fodder for the gossips. This year’s is about those Daviians. Everyone’s worried about them, but the magicians have Tula ’s killer in jail and I’m sure the Sandseeds will take care of the rest. They always do.”
I agreed, but my mind snagged on the fact that he still believed that Ferde was locked away. Not good. Why hadn’t the Council informed the populace? Probably to avoid frightening them. Ferde was still weak, and they had hoped to recapture him by now. Should I tell Jaymes? He had two other daughters. The people should also be told about the Vermin’s Kirakawa ritual. They could help find the Vermin and keep their families protected. But would they panic and hinder our efforts instead?
It was a difficult choice to make on my own and the benefits of having a Council to vote on important issues became clearer to me. No one member could be held responsible for a bad judgment.
Delaying a decision, I asked him if his children still worked alone at night.
“No. No. I work the entire night shift. We’ve learned our lesson and won’t be caught unaware again.”
“Good. Keep vigilant. The Cowan Clan leaders are right to be worried about the Daviians.”
Opal returned, giggling. Water splotched her long skirt and she tucked a few stray strands of damp hair back under her kerchief.
“Water fight,” she said. And before her father could scold, she added, “Mama started it!”
He sighed but didn’t appear to be too upset. Opal grabbed my hand, wanting to give me a tour of the house. The room she shared with her sister resided on the second floor of the stone house. The air smelled of honeysuckles. Hanging over the one empty bed was Tula ’s grief flag. The white silk banner had been part of her funeral ceremony. The Sitians believed that once raised, the flag released Tula ’s soul into the sky. Having freed Tula ’s soul from Ferde, I knew the Sitian custom just helped comfort the families.
“Why is the flag hung over her bed?” I asked.
“It’s to keep her spirit from returning to earth,” Opal answered. “All the things that she might want to come back for are under the flag. She can’t see them there.”
I looked under the banner and spotted a small shelf filled with glass animals. The figurines were lifelike and well-made but had not captured the inner fire like the ones I had seen earlier.
“ Tula gifted a couple statues and sold many others, but those she kept for herself. I tried to copy her, but mine come out differently. I have only sold a few.” She shrugged.
“You made the ones in the store window. Didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Again she made a dismissive shrug. “The store owner is a kind woman. She knew I was coming today and put them in the window. My animals are dull in comparison to Tula ’s.”
“Opal, they’re stunning. How did you get them to glow?”
She pressed her hands over her heart as if she couldn’t believe what she heard. “You see the light?”