47

In that standoff, which lasted no more than two seconds, I noticed that Mr. Stewart's eye-patch was made from wrought iron. All across, the metal was etched with delicate designs. In spite of my situation I wondered, Where could he get such a thing?

Mr. Stewart bent down a bit and I knew he was about to jump. I prepared to avoid his lunge but my chances, I knew, were no better than even.

The slave boss grinned.

'Begone!' The word boomed all around us.

I was amazed by the splendor of that voice but Mr. Stewart grabbed his head and fell to his knees. When he went down I could see John a few paces behind him. He was standing tall and regally.

'Begone!' he intoned again, and Stewart raised up on all fours and scampered away like a cur running from a lion.

'Quickly,' John said to me then. 'We must be away

from here.'

'What about Mama Flore?' I cried.

'There is no time,' he said. 'Big trouble will be here

soon.'

20.

The next thing I knew we were running through the woods, moving quickly between the boughs and branches. My feet were sure and swift and I didn't have to rely on holding onto my friend.

After we had had run for some time I stopped. When he realized that I was no longer following him John stopped too.

'Come on,' he said. 'We have to get away from here before he comes.'

'You already chased Mr. Stewart away,' I argued.

'Not the ghoul but his master,' John said.

'Who?'

'The one you know as Andrew Pike.'

I remembered the tall man on the chestnut mare who had interrupted poor Ned's funeral. For some reason it set off a thrilling in my heart. But I refused to give in to fear.

'Why would he be coming after the Corinthian?' I asked. 'I thought he was only after you and that green powder.'

'He is,' John said. 'He thinks we're on the plantation. He'll go there first. In the meantime we can get away. You don't know enough yet to protect yourself from his power.'

'But what will he do to the peoples on the plantation?'

'I don't know,' John said. 'But I'm sure that he will come in force.'

'But what about Mama Flore and Champ and all the

other slaves?'

'All we can do is hope that they survive the attack,' the strange bronze-colored boy said, hanging his head down.

'Attack? What attack?'

'It's like I told you before. Pike wants something that I have my machine. It has the power to dig into the earth and excavate the green powder. With that he could start a chain reaction that would disrupt the entire universe. He would kill every being on this planet to obtain my machine. So you see I can't go back and help the others.'

Something about the light that John put into my chest allowed me to understand his words. I understood the word planet and what that entailed. I could almost see all the species of life throughout the world: trillions of hearts and minds from the lowliest insect to the great sperm

whale.

'But every life is holy,' I said, somehow knowing this was the truth. 'And without Mama Flore I'm sure I would have died a long time ago. If she had let me die I would never be able to help you and your people.'

'We can't go back,' John said.

'We have to,' I countered.

When our eyes met I understood the relationship between the disguised alien and me. He had seen stars up close and the infinite variety of the place he called Universe. I had seen suffering and hard-won survival for every moment of my brief existence. And, while he knew much more than I did, I had a deeper knowledge of what it meant to be on the brink of losing everything. That's why he needed me, because I would make the choice for living

against any odds.

I think these same thoughts went through Tall John's

mind because he bowed his head again.

'You are the chosen hero,' he said. 'I must follow.' And even though I wanted him to say that he would go