The House in the Cerulean Sea(61)

Arthur shook his head. “It’s not that. It’s … He sees things. Perhaps more than the rest of us. The good in people. The bad. He’s come across all kinds in his short life. He can see what others cannot.”

“I’m just me,” Linus said, unsure of where this was going. “I don’t know how to be anyone but who I already am. This is how I’ve always been. It’s not much, but I do the best I can with what I have.”

Arthur looked at him sadly. He reached out and squeezed Linus’s hand briefly before letting go. “I suppose the best is all one could ask for.” He stood, smiling, though his smile wasn’t as bright as it usually was. “How is the bounty, explorers?”

“Good!” Chauncey said, swallowing an entire sandwich in one bite. It sank down inside of him and began to break apart.

“It would be better if there were actual treasure,” Lucy muttered.

“And what if the treasure was the friendships we solidified along the way?” Arthur asked.

Lucy pulled a face. “That’s the worst treasure in the world. They already were my friends. I want rubies.”

Theodore perked up and chirped a question.

“No,” Talia said through a mouthful of potato salad. Bits of egg and mustard dotted her beard. “No rubies.”

His wings drooped.

“But there is pie,” Zoe said. “Baked especially for you.”

Lucy sighed. “If I must.”

“You must,” Arthur said. “And I do believe you will enjoy it as much as any rubies.” He glanced back at Linus. “Are you hungry, dear explorer?”

Linus nodded and joined the others.



* * *



It was in the din of food (Chauncey facedown in his pie) and laughter (Chauncey spraying bits of pie when Lucy told a rather ribald joke that was highly inappropriate for someone his age) when Linus noticed Zoe and Phee slipping out the door. Arthur and the other children were distracted (“Chauncey!” Lucy cried happily. “You got pie in my nose!”) and Linus felt the strange and sudden urge to see what the sprites were up to.

He found them just inside the tree line beyond the house. Zoe had her hand on Phee’s shoulder, their wings glistening in the shafts of light that pierced the canopy.

“And what did you feel?” Zoe was asking. They didn’t glance in his direction, though he thought they knew he was there. The days where Linus could move quietly were far behind him.

“The earth,” Phee said promptly, her hair like fire. “The trees. Their root system beneath the sand and dirt. It was like … it was like it was waiting for me. Listening.”

Zoe looked pleased. “Precisely. There is a world hidden underneath what we can see. Most won’t understand it for what it is. We’re lucky, I think. We can feel what others cannot.”

Phee looked off into the forest, her wings fluttering. “I like the trees. Better than I like most people.”

Linus snorted, unable to stop himself. He tried to cover it up, but it was too late. They turned their heads to look at him slowly. “Sorry,” he said hastily. “So sorry. I didn’t mean—I shouldn’t have interrupted.”

“Something you’d like to say?” Zoe asked, and though there was no heat to her words, it still felt pointed.

He started to shake his head, but stopped himself. “It’s just that … I have sunflowers. At my home in the city.” He felt a sharp pang in his chest, but he rubbed it away. “Gangly things that don’t always do what I want them to, but I planted them myself, and cared for them as they grew. I tend to like them more than I like most people.”

Phee narrowed her eyes. “Sunflowers.”

Linus wiped his brow. “Yes. They’re not … Well. They’re nothing so grand as what’s in Talia’s garden, nor as the trees here, but it’s a bit of color in all the gray of steel and rain.”

Phee considered him. “And you like the color?”

“I do,” Linus said. “It’s something small, but I think the smaller things can be just as important.”

“Everything has to start somewhere,” Zoe said, patting the top of Phee’s head. “And as long as we nurture them, they can grow beyond anything we thought possible. Isn’t that right, Linus?”

“Of course,” Linus said, knowing both of them would be listening to his every word. The least he could do was be truthful about it. “I admit I miss them more than I expected to. It’s funny, isn’t it?”

“No,” Phee said. “I would miss this place if I ever had to leave.”

Oh dear. That wasn’t what he was going for. He’d stepped in it now. “Yes, I can see that.” He looked up into the trees. “Certainly has its charms, I’ll give you that.”

“Populus tremuloides,” Phee said.

Linus squinted at her. “I beg your pardon?”

Zoe covered up a laugh with the back of her hand.

“Populus tremuloides,” Phee said again. “I read about them in a book. Quaking aspens. If you ever see them, you’ll find them in large groves. Their trunks are mostly white, but their leaves are a brilliant shade of yellow, almost gold. Like the sun.” She looked off into the forest again. “Almost like sunflowers.”