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Chapters (102)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Map
  5. DRAMATIS PERSONAE
  6. BOOKI
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. BOOKII
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. 6
  36. 7
  37. 8
  38. 9
  39. 10
  40. 11
  41. 12
  42. 13
  43. 14
  44. 15
  45. 16
  46. 17
  47. 18
  48. 19
  49. BOOKIII
  50. 1
  51. 2
  52. 3
  53. 4
  54. 5
  55. 6
  56. 7
  57. 8
  58. 9
  59. 10
  60. 11
  61. 12
  62. 13
  63. 14
  64. 15
  65. 16
  66. 17
  67. BOOKIV
  68. 1
  69. 2
  70. 3
  71. 4
  72. 5
  73. 6
  74. 7
  75. 8
  76. 9
  77. 10
  78. 11
  79. BOOKV
  80. 1
  81. 2
  82. 3
  83. 4
  84. 5
  85. 6
  86. 7
  87. 8
  88. 9
  89. 10
  90. 11
  91. 12
  92. 13
  93. 14
  94. 15
  95. 16
  96. 17
  97. 18
  98. Glossary
  99. Acknowledgments
  100. Also by Andrea Hairston
  101. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  102. Newsletter Sign-up

Soot shook the bells on his cap and barked at the tangle of feet blocking the entrance to the garden. “Let him through,” an old woman shouted and the crowd parted for the mangy hound who wagged his tail and suffered pats on his big head. Kyrie led Mango through cheers. As Fannie trotted by, intrepid elders and awestruck youths reached up to shake Bal’s hands. (Rebels?) Bold singers ululated and threw flowers and seeds. The troupe marched in like returning heroes.

Djola banished terrible visions and gazed at Awa and Bal, not a cure, but hope. “Samina said: Impossible is a word for yesterday. We make change without a cure.”

5

Void-Spells

Cheery, familiar faces welcomed the elephant troupe to the oasis garden. Hearts pounded an eerie polyrhythm. Ancestors and haints filled the back beats. Awa sang, the past comes to carnival, and we juggle fire, over and over, but Elder discipline was failing. The seaweed and sea island shrimp she’d gobbled threatened to come back up.

Father and Kenu had spooked her worse than any haint or spirit slave. Kenu was hollowed out, as if by working for Hezram, he’d gotten lost in the void. All of her brothers probably worked for Hezram. At least unworthy daughter Awa had been spared that fate. She shuddered to think what happened to Mother. Father had built transgressor huts and Nightmare Gates in Holy City and preceded Hezram to the capital to build more here. Hezram tolerated Father’s insolence and paid him a pirate’s ransom, probably because he needed Father to turn gate-spells into void-spells. Maybe Hezram hadn’t mastered the conjure or maybe he didn’t want spirit debt.

Any conjure can be perverted. That’s what Father always screamed at Mother. He put the People and all the green lands in mortal danger for a few sky rocks. Kenu could be forgiven, but having such a father filled Awa with revulsion. Mother should have poisoned Father for selling Awa, even if Awa was someone else’s daughter. But Mother was a coward like Awa.

Fannie nickered delight at the terraced oasis garden and dragged Awa’s awareness to the here and now. They could have been stepping into a Smokeland region from her childhood. Lush fruit trees presided over an explosion of wildflowers. Bees swarmed tiers of honeycomb in several trunk towers. Tree song calmed Awa, as Fannie pranced down a winding pathway.

“No sign of poison dust damage anywhere.” Bal spoke Anawanama like a native and snapped vie’s fingers at green-land bounty. “Something protects this garden.”