When the dinner bell rang that evening, Riley walked past the young warriors who were filing into the dining hall and continued up the hill toward the base of the forest, where Ned Turtle was waiting for her. He smiled as she approached.

“My cabin is up the trail a bit,” he said almost apologetically. Several small brownish-red cabins were visible in the distance through the trees past the Elder Lodge. They moved slowly up the hill together.

Ned was a small man with gray hair and dark brown eyes. His light was the color of wet sand. He had a peaceful expression and his demeanor seemed to have been calculated to put people at ease. For once in her life, Riley didn’t feel like she was rushing to keep up with someone.

“I noticed the last time you were here for dinner that you don’t eat much meat,” Ned observed. “I never have either. We’re having fruit and fish for dinner.”

Perfect! “That sounds wonderful. Have you always been the only turtle at Greenwood?”

“No. There was an elder turtle woman at camp when I was a boy. She mentored me until I was twenty. Since she died, I've been the only one.” Ned grinned at her over his shoulder. “Until you.”

He turned left onto a side trail and gestured to one of the cabins. “We have twelve of these cabins for married elders, in addition to the Elder Lodge building, which is where unmarried and widowed elders live. We need to build more cabins, but there’s been some resistance to that. Twelve is Greenwood’s sacred number, and there are a few folks here who get carried away with the symbolism. I mean, heaven forbid we have a thirteenth cabin.”

Riley laughed. I like Ned.

He pointed a few hundred yards in front of them. “That’s my home. Cabin One.”

Cabin One was the same color as the Lodge and dining hall, although unlike them, it had no porch. Something that looked like a large barrel was embedded into the side of the building just under the roof. The cabin’s gutters flowed into the barrel. “You’re collecting rainwater?”

“Yes. It feeds the sink. We have composting toilets, and our showers are down by the lake.”

Riley was aghast. “No indoor plumbing in the elder homes? Can’t you move all the young people out here to the cabins and put the elders in the Warrior Lodge where it’s more comfortable?”

Ned laughed merrily as he ascended the stairs. “I appreciate your sense of chivalry, young lady, but there are way too many of us old folks to fit in the Lodge. Also, I don’t care to contemplate the sleeping arrangements that would develop if your cohorts took over the cabins.”

“You’re probably right about that,” she admitted as she followed him inside.

The interior of the cabin was bright and cozy. The left side was set up as a bedroom, and the right as a combination living and dining area. Near the door, a thin woman with auburn hair and a soft aqua glow was stirring a pot of soup on top of a tiny wood-burning stove. She turned toward Riley and smiled. “Welcome! Please make yourself at home. I’m Jane Copperhead.”

Riley stopped abruptly. Copperhead?

“Don’t worry,” Jane said with a wry smile. “I haven’t bitten anyone in years.”

Ned chuckled. “Snakes are healers, Riley. All us reptiles can heal ourselves, but snakes like Jane can heal other people as well. Jane is our clan’s doctor. Anything from the common cold to cancer, she can either ease or cure depending on the physical strength of the patient. She can also make most types of pain go away.”

What an amazing gift! “And that’s just a normal part of being a snake?”

Jane nodded. “In small doses, viper venom can do all kinds of amazing things. Please have a seat.” Jane gestured to the table as she spooned fruit salad into bowls. “Do you cook, Riley?”

“Every day.”

While Jane put the food on the table, Riley admired how pretty and graceful she was. She had to be sixty at least, but her skin had a moist pink-and-white glow that Riley associated with youth. And her movements were so sliding and smooth it appeared as though she’d spent a lifetime studying ballet. It was almost hypnotic to watch her.

She reminds me of my mom. Riley frowned and shook off the unwanted thought.

“Who do you cook for besides yourself?” Ned asked.

Riley talked about her home and her brothers. “They eat constantly,” she lamented. “Both of them.”

Jane chuckled as she and Ned sat down at the table. “All young men eat constantly. Ned used to eat me out of house and home when we first got married.”

While the three of them ate, Riley looked from one of her hosts to the other. Ned’s sand-colored light next to Jane’s aqua reminded her of the beach.

“Well, Riley,” Ned drew back from the table a little, “what do you think of Greenwood so far? You can be honest with us. We won’t tell any secrets.”

Riley believed him. “I’m more confused than anything. Everyone acts like it’s safe here, but they also talk about enemies being all around us and how they need to protect themselves ‘in case.’” She made air quotes. “I just don’t understand why all the patrolling is necessary if Greenwood is secure.”

“Ah. Well, the answer is that part of our land is protected and part of it isn’t. There’s an energy shield around our camp. It takes in our living spaces, our crops and our water supply. Those areas are completely safe from our enemies. But the surrounding forest is not.”

“So there’s danger when I’m coming and going, but not inside camp itself?”

“Correct,” Jane said. “It’s great that you’re a turtle, though, Riley. You and Ned have extra protection.”

“Xander told me.” Riley shook her head. “Ugh! There’s so much to learn.”

“That’s where we come in,” Ned explained, gesturing to himself and his wife. “It’s our job to help you learn and adjust. That’s what mentors do here. Even people who grew up in the clan can have trouble adapting to life as an adult warrior. And because you’re a turtle, it takes you extra time to adjust yourself to new situations and new ideas. You have a quick sense of humor, but you’re slow in every other way. And if you don’t give yourself enough time and space to process things, you get overwhelmed very easily.”

Riley smiled. “Yes.” He gets it. He gets ME.

“Jane and I will help. Anything you need, you let us know. We’ll choose one night every week and get together for dinner so you can talk about whatever is on your mind. Don’t be afraid to ask the kids in the Lodge for assistance, either.”

Riley smiled at them. “Do you two have any children?”

Both Ned’s face and Jane’s fell. Jane stood and walked toward the sink.

“We had a son named John Drake,” Ned said. “Fifteen years ago, he went on a scouting mission. He never came back.”

Fifteen years ago… “Was he one of the warriors who was killed by the Poxinosa, trying to find out about the bundles?”

He drew back and looked at her. “How did you know about that?” There were tears in his eyes.

Riley reached over and took his hand. “I asked Xander why it was so important that the Poxinosa be stopped. He told me a little. I’m sorry.”

Jane returned to the table. She had tears in her eyes, too.

Ned nodded as he spoke. “Yes, he was one of the three. We knew the fire clans were up to something shady, but we didn’t expect such a vicious response. There wasn’t much of him left.” He swallowed, then glanced at Riley and shook his head. “It hurts to lose the people you love. You lost your parents, I believe.”

“Yes. They sort of... self-destructed.”

“Ah.” Jane smiled at her sadly. “A lot of people do. I’m so sorry.”

Again, Riley was reminded uncomfortably of her mother. She looked away from Jane, out the window beside her.

Ned cleared his throat. “Xander says you’re in school at Miami.”

Relieved at the change of subject, Riley nodded. “Yes. It’s going well, although it’s taken a back seat to this Miyala stuff lately.”

“What are you studying?” Jane asked.

They spent the rest of the evening discussing Riley’s classes and career ambitions. It was a warm and encouraging conversation, and Riley ended the evening full of reassurance and gratitude.

When she stepped outside to return to the Lodge, she saw fireflies sparking in the forest. Riley glanced down at her own glowing skin and felt a connection with them — and with life — that was completely new. She walked back toward the main trail with a sense of wonder, seeing the woods with new eyes and relishing the warm summer evening.

When she reached the main trail, she heard thumping and rustling and caught glimpses of blue light moving through the trees. Ivan was stomping downhill from one of the other cabins. He looked furious.

—He’s a good friend—

Really, little voice? HIM, but not Alley? “Hey, Ivan.”

Ivan stopped. “Hey. Did you have student-teacher conference night, too? Ned Turtle your mentor?”

“Yes. Who’s yours?”

“Peter Hawk. They try to match you to an elder who has your animal, or whose wife does.” Ivan glared as they continued downhill together. “I wish they’d put me with Ned instead. Peter and I always fight when we have dinner.”

Ivan’s a hawk. I think that means he’s a lot like Reed. What would I say to Reed if he complained like this? “I have a hard time imagining anyone arguing with you, Ivan.”

“Are you always this facetious?” He frowned down at her, but his tone was wry.

“Only on Saturday evenings.”

Ivan gave her a sideways shrug and half a grin, Reed’s usual indicator of an improving mood.

Win. I may suck at most things here, but I know how to handle a hawk.

They walked back to the Lodge in silence. When they got to the front porch, Gabe opened the door. “I built a fire for you,” he informed Riley.

'Will you walk into my parlor?' said the spider to the fly... Riley swallowed deeply as panic, out of nowhere, began swallowing her.

Then Gabe smiled his amazing smile, and all was sunny and bright.