ancient knowledge. Gnomon is the ancient Greek word for the vertical piece on a sun dial that casts the shadow. Thus acts as the interface between light and dark yet always points to the truth. The Gnomon are neutral. Untouchable to both sides. Were one side to aggress on a Gnomon, well it would be an outright declaration of war. I suspect they have taken Martin but will treat him well. They would never risk actually hurting him. None the less, it’s concerning that they are even willing to accost him at all.”
“So what should we do?” I was starting to think about the time. School was out and my mom would be expecting me home. I really didn’t want to freak her out again so soon after our last fight. I couldn’t tell what the right thing to worry about was. Mambo seemed to believe Mr. Silver would be fine so I guess my mom’s mental stability seemed like the right thing to focus on at the moment. Plus, it was still pretty hard for me to take much of the sun and moon stuff seriously.
Mambo thought for a few minutes, rolling back and forth in the cozy kitchen. I grew more and more agitated.
“Alright, I think we should remain calm. I will get in touch with my superiors and see what they think. Sadly, we won’t be able to do much without confirmation. The Solaris will be unwilling to accuse the Lunates of anything without proof. My superiors are…over cautious I feel. Plus, a plea from me won’t exactly help.”
“Why, aren’t you one of them?”
Mambo smiled sadly, “I am, but Martin and my relationship is forbidden by the Solaris hierarchy. I’m a Solaris and he is a Gnomon. Martin is supposed to be neutral. Loving a Solaris makes everyone question his ability to do his job just as they question my loyalty to my people.”
She shook her head sharply, “But no matter. I still need to go to them. You two should go about your business as if nothing happened. Don’t talk to anyone about this. Leave me your cell numbers and I will call you if I find out anything about Martin.”
“We can’t just sit back and do nothing!” I protested.
“Yeah,” Raf agreed. “If Mr. Silver is in trouble, we want to help.”
Mambo considered. “You’re right. You can be my eyes and ears at the school. Keep an eye on things there, let me know immediately if anything seems off. I know there is a Lunate presence there but have no information beyond that. But we aren’t just going to sit on our hands. Give me a day to organize a plan and I will be in touch soon.”
As we drove away, Kaska and Mambo stood rigid in the door and I could see the tension written on both their bodies. Despite her protestation otherwise, Mambo was afraid that Mr. Silver was gone forever.
Wolves in the Mist
I started to really worry about my mom as we crawled down the dirt road back toward Waterford. Raf’s poor Prius bounced angrily, not built for navigating rutted mud.
“My mom is going to kill me when I get home.”
“I’m actually a little more worried about her killing me.”
“Heh, you might be right. I’ll call and hopefully that will diffuse some of her anger.”
I flipped open my crappy phone. No signal. I looked up at the trees. Though it was only 4:30, the canopy made it dark as night. It was a disconcerting darkness, like we’d been torn from the progression of time experienced by the rest of the world.
“Dammit, no signal here. I’ll try again when we get out of the trees.”
“So, is this why…I mean, is the Solaris versus Lunate thing why your mom is so worried about you?” Raf asked.
“Yeah. She just told me about it two days ago. But obviously, she’s been scared for a long time.”
“Is that why you went to Belize?”
“Yep. We were hiding from some crazy group of Lunates that are supposedly still after my mom.”
“How do you feel about all that?”
His concern pulled the flimsy scab off my emotions. All the fear and anger and uncertainty hit me like a train that I wasn’t braced
“So what should we do?” I was starting to think about the time. School was out and my mom would be expecting me home. I really didn’t want to freak her out again so soon after our last fight. I couldn’t tell what the right thing to worry about was. Mambo seemed to believe Mr. Silver would be fine so I guess my mom’s mental stability seemed like the right thing to focus on at the moment. Plus, it was still pretty hard for me to take much of the sun and moon stuff seriously.
Mambo thought for a few minutes, rolling back and forth in the cozy kitchen. I grew more and more agitated.
“Alright, I think we should remain calm. I will get in touch with my superiors and see what they think. Sadly, we won’t be able to do much without confirmation. The Solaris will be unwilling to accuse the Lunates of anything without proof. My superiors are…over cautious I feel. Plus, a plea from me won’t exactly help.”
“Why, aren’t you one of them?”
Mambo smiled sadly, “I am, but Martin and my relationship is forbidden by the Solaris hierarchy. I’m a Solaris and he is a Gnomon. Martin is supposed to be neutral. Loving a Solaris makes everyone question his ability to do his job just as they question my loyalty to my people.”
She shook her head sharply, “But no matter. I still need to go to them. You two should go about your business as if nothing happened. Don’t talk to anyone about this. Leave me your cell numbers and I will call you if I find out anything about Martin.”
“We can’t just sit back and do nothing!” I protested.
“Yeah,” Raf agreed. “If Mr. Silver is in trouble, we want to help.”
Mambo considered. “You’re right. You can be my eyes and ears at the school. Keep an eye on things there, let me know immediately if anything seems off. I know there is a Lunate presence there but have no information beyond that. But we aren’t just going to sit on our hands. Give me a day to organize a plan and I will be in touch soon.”
As we drove away, Kaska and Mambo stood rigid in the door and I could see the tension written on both their bodies. Despite her protestation otherwise, Mambo was afraid that Mr. Silver was gone forever.
Wolves in the Mist
I started to really worry about my mom as we crawled down the dirt road back toward Waterford. Raf’s poor Prius bounced angrily, not built for navigating rutted mud.
“My mom is going to kill me when I get home.”
“I’m actually a little more worried about her killing me.”
“Heh, you might be right. I’ll call and hopefully that will diffuse some of her anger.”
I flipped open my crappy phone. No signal. I looked up at the trees. Though it was only 4:30, the canopy made it dark as night. It was a disconcerting darkness, like we’d been torn from the progression of time experienced by the rest of the world.
“Dammit, no signal here. I’ll try again when we get out of the trees.”
“So, is this why…I mean, is the Solaris versus Lunate thing why your mom is so worried about you?” Raf asked.
“Yeah. She just told me about it two days ago. But obviously, she’s been scared for a long time.”
“Is that why you went to Belize?”
“Yep. We were hiding from some crazy group of Lunates that are supposedly still after my mom.”
“How do you feel about all that?”
His concern pulled the flimsy scab off my emotions. All the fear and anger and uncertainty hit me like a train that I wasn’t braced
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