Shadows of the Redwood - By Gillian Summers Page 0,22
the extra power she needed to block out the redwoods. She shrugged, feeling a little more in control. She was getting better at balancing the magic. But Keelie’s head was still reeling from the trip down the tree. She hoped someone would teach her how to travel the sap herself—she couldn’t rely on Kalix to be her elevator operator every time she wanted to come or go.
Norzan smiled at her. “Exhilarating, isn’t it?”
She swallowed. “If you say so.”
Knot was trotting beside Keelie. He seemed to be in a jovial mood, ready for a jaunt in the woods, probably searching for some poor unsuspecting feithid daoine as a midnight snack. No such luck. There weren’t any here.
The motley crew of elves started walking. Keelie realized she was turned around—she’d thought the highway was in the other direction, but within moments they were in the festival parking lot and Keelie could hear the sea, its waves pounding against the rocky shore on the other side of the highway. The soothing sounds of the waves calmed her unease, and she smiled when she remembered the huge sea lions sunning themselves like sunbathers on the beach.
As they followed the path leading into the festival grounds, the fog thickened and the sounds of the ocean faded. Keelie thought about the water sparkling in the daytime, the tide pools filled with different marine life. The beaches here in Northern California were different from the L.A. beaches, with their swimmers and surfers in the golden California sun. Here, in Juliet City, driftwood was scattered everywhere and huge rocky outcroppings sprouted out of the water.
In the distance, Keelie heard thunder rumbling. A storm was blowing in. She wished she had an umbrella, but Grandmother seemed oblivious to the fact that it might rain. She was acting like this was a field trip, walking fast like a giddy school girl. Around them, sounds of the festival at night rose and fell. The smell of cooking wafted on the sea breeze, along with the faint rhythmic pounding of a drum circle.
The Globe Theater stood alone on the edge of the festival grounds, near the town of Juliet City. The long-ago actors had started performing here when the highway was just a dirt path, and the festival had grown up around it. As the elves walked toward it, more and more tree spirits drifted down to join them. Surrounded by the ghostly figures, Keelie felt uneasy. Once again she could hear the waves crashing on the beach, and she saw a flash of red and green in the distance. Probably some player, still in costume. Some of these guys were in character day and night.
Norzan, with staff in hand, strode with a determined gait and observed all that was going on. Keelie liked him; he reminded her of a wise shaman. Seeing Norzan looking so sage and powerful, she couldn’t help but wonder about the missing Redwood Tree Shepherd. How strong was his magic? He must be powerful to deal with these super trees.
The thunder rumbled again. Whatever this meeting was about tonight, Keelie hoped they finished before the storm let loose and they all were soaked to the bone.
They climbed up a tall hill to the Juliet City Globe Theater. It was a circular, two-story, half-timbered building, and looked just like the pictures Keelie had seen of the original Globe Theater in England. But this one was draped with a banner proclaiming “A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Preview Tomorrow!” You could see it from the road.
Keelie felt like she was living her own version of Shakespeare’s play tonight, except hers would be called “A Midnight Promenade of the Redwoods.”
A fog seemed to be drifting in. As Keelie watched, a thick patch of ground-level clouds floated in from the sea, merging with the ghostly trees around the Globe. Keelie now knew how the trees were able to camouflage their spirit-walking when among humans. Fog could hide a lot of secrets. She remembered when she’d first seen her Uncle Dariel in the Dread Forest. He’d been a vampire then, and had been able to turn into fog. She shivered and hurried to walk next to Grandmother, who was strolling serenely, as if they were in a parade.
The Globe was full of humans rehearsing the play. The elves stood by the theater doors, watching Master Oswald in the middle of the action, surrounded by people holding pages in their hands. A woman with glasses resting on top her head was reading something out loud.