Mack had slowed, hanging on to Dog’s collar to keep them out of trouble as they passed the far end of the pavilion. If she gave him time to catch up, he would try to stop her, for certain. She began to climb—then almost lost her balance still staring upward.
“If we’re really doing this, you better move it,” Nula said, giving her a shove.
“Poppy, wait!” Mack called.
Poppy dashed up the stairs, risking a glance back. Her best friend had skidded to a stop at the base of the stairs and was looking up at her with such a hurt expression that she almost turned back.
Almost.
She sped up, trailing one hand along the rough brown and black bark to keep her balance. The black streaks glittered like the sky at night. Poppy chanced a peek over the side. Her heart lurched, and she shot back, clinging to the tree. A moment later, she pushed onward again, higher and higher.
By the time she and Nula made it around the back side of the tree, Poppy’s knees had begun to shake. She stopped, pausing to catch her breath, and closed her eyes as she leaned back against the trunk. If she looked down again she’d fall. Mack was definitely upset with her. He could have come too, she argued with herself—Nula did.
The pooka wasn’t even out of breath. She stood at the outer edge of the steps, looking down the hundred feet or more to the ground as if she were looking for a place to have a picnic.
Poppy gave herself a mental shake. This was the right thing, even if it stressed Mack out. They had no time to waste. Can it be the right thing if it feels terrible? a part of her argued. She squeezed her eyes tighter and let her head thump back against the bark. She could feel Nula watching her. “Why are you staring at me?”
The pooka gave a bright laugh. “Sorry. I guess … I didn’t realize how interesting humans are. You wear all your feelings on your face. Did you know that? I mean … Do you do it on purpose?”
“What are you talking about?” Poppy asked, opening her eyes. When she did, a strange spinning sensation took hold. Nula felt it too, because her gold eyes got even wider as she gripped the bark next to Poppy.
It was like riding on a corkscrew. The stairs spun backward. There was a strong breeze, and Mack came back into view. The entire stairway had coiled back to the ground.
Poppy’s jaw dropped. “Thorns!”
Nula looked back up to where they had been standing a moment before. “Maybe if we ask nice, this thing will go the other direction,” she muttered, crossing her arms.
As predicted, Mack was angry. “You just ran off!”
“Then again, maybe not,” Nula muttered, ignoring him.
Poppy met Mack’s eyes. “Come with us!” There was a moment of stillness between them; then she spun to dash back up the steps. This time Eta barked too.
Poppy ignored all of it. She wasn’t going to be outsmarted by a tree, and she wasn’t going to give up. If she had to pass some high-flying stair-climbing test, so be it. She’d pass them all. Whatever the Holly Oak threw at her. She was getting in there.
She would wear it down.
She would go faster.
She took the stairs two at a time, with Nula’s cascade of laughter at her heels.
This time, Mack came too. “Poppy!” he shouted past Nula. “You can’t push your way in—the Holly Oak doesn’t work like that!”
“We’ll see!”
“Poppy’s right, you know,” Nula panted. “Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.”
Poppy could almost hear Mack’s scowl. “We should wait with the others,” he called defiantly. “Things work better in the wood when you follow the rules.”
Poppy’s answer came in harsh breaths. “The Soul Jar is loose, Mack! Someone might be in real danger.” As she said the words, she suddenly realized they were true. Whether she got to the malediction herself, or her parents did, someone was counting on them. But she still wanted to get there first. Her thighs were burning now, almost as much as her throat.
Mack’s silence was ominous. She hoped he was just thinking over what she’d said. “If anyone can help,” she added, “it’s the Oak.”
“Hey, look,” Nula said, pointing up into the thin branches above them. “There’s a little door up there.”
Poppy reeled back so fast she bumped into Nula and lost her balance. The ground spun up at her from below. Nula gasped and Mack lurched past her to yank Poppy back to safety.
“Let me go in front,” Nula said. “I have an idea.”
Poppy stood shaking and let the pooka by. “Thanks, Mack,” she managed to whisper.
He didn’t say anything, but his warm skin was a shade paler, and he stayed at her back the rest of the way up.
Poppy’s legs hurt, and her hand had gotten scraped on the bark. Also, her nose was running and she had no tissue. Sniffing, she slowed to a trudge. The stairs seemed to have gotten steeper.
Ahead of them, Nula’s pace was so steady it was almost a drumbeat. Behind Poppy, Mack was quiet, lost in his own thoughts. Dog brought up the rear, tongues lolling.
They had to stop and catch their breath twice. The second time, Poppy lifted her face to look out across the landscape. She stayed back from the edge, but beneath them the island fell away, and beyond it, the wide open Alcyon sea lay sparkling, the waters dark and still. She could see smoke rising from Strange Hollow chimneys in the distance beyond the trees, and farther still—the fog.
Poppy wondered how deep the sea was. She wondered how the Holly Oak survived here, surrounded by a fathomless salt sea … and if it was—fathomless—where did the roots go? They entered the water. She had
