Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (88 page)

An irregular break in the clouds let the moon shine through.
The marble gravestones looked cold and shiny under the
pale
light.

"Wh
y
are
those arched stones lined up so?
”
Bone inquired
.

"They mark where dead people are buried
.
” Glory explained. “
We couldn’t afford one for
my mom
, so I’m going to make her one myself—at least that was my plan until you three got me sentenced to death.”

Glory
glanced out of t
he corner of his eye, wanting to see if the
star riders
felt at least a little guilty,
but the
ir faces remained impassive
.
Glory
frowned and
then told them to follow.

As they climbed over the fence,
White Feather asked,
"
D
ead
Tullah
ns
be
in the ground beneath each of these stones?"

"Yep."

“I guess I
already
knew that,”
he said.
“
But a bit d
isturbing
, nonetheless
.”

Glory
stopped walking, looking at the three
Wybbils
in confusion
.
“What do you do with dead people on Wybb?”

“Not an issue,” Bone said.

“Don’t
Wybbil
s die?”

“Well, yes, “Bone said
.
“But those that pass on
don’t
g
et
buried
.
At death a
Wybbil
’s body evaporates into stardust,
floating upward, not downward into
dirt.”

Glory
raised an eyebrow.

"Your last request
be a strange one,” Bone said, rubbing a finger inside his shirt collar
.
“
Do ye really like the idea of being buried?"

"Just like treasure."
Glory
responded,
pretending to
sound
pleased at the idea.

The
Wybbils glanced at each other, shrugging.

“You
guys
act
as if
you've never known anyone who’s died.”

"I’ve known
plenty
of
Wybbils
who have died
,
” Needle said
.
“B
ut m
y kind
be
so long-lived that
I’ve
only gone through it
twice
in my own family
.
”

“
At your age
—
y
ou’re kidding?
”

The
Wybbil
s shook their heads
.
Needle explained, “A
person doesn’t travel as far
as
we have without seeing death at its worst, even with other species
it
be
something I’ve never gotten used to.
”

As if
concerned about
waking the dead, Bone
’s usually loud voice
became a snarly whisper
.
"Show us where ye want to be interred.”

"Interred
?
W
hat the heck does that mean?
”

Bone rolled his eyes. “Show us where
to bury ye
after
the
extraction
.”

“Why didn’t you just say so?
”
Glory
didn’t try to hide h
er
annoyance
.
Being nice was getting h
er
nowhere
.
T
ime for action
.

“
My
M
om’s o
ver there in the welfare lot
.
I’ll show you the exact spot.
"

As they walked over
grass
stiff
ened by
the cold
,
she continued to talk
, hoping
the
more she
blabbed on about stupid things,
the less the men would listen
,
thus
allowing her
to sli
de
in
the forbidden
word without the sky riders noticing.

“I
wish
my mom had a stone marker,” she said, “but my family can’t afford one.
”

“Be careful with that word,” said White Feather.

“You mean
wish
—
why?
”
Glory
tested, arching one brow
.

“
Ye know
why
.”

Glory
led
the
m to
the poor section of the cemetery—a field of dirt devoid of grave markers
.
It
bothered h
er
to think of
Mom
out here all alone and forgotten
, but
s
he
was working on
remedying that.
Despite the cold
,
her palms felt sweaty
.
He
r he
art thumped all the way up to her ears
.
Victory or death seemed the only possible outcomes
.

As they got closer to the g
rave
,
she scanned the ground
,
hoping to find a circle of some kind. Oh, Clash, please have come through!
And
there it was, sticking out of the snow in just enough places to let her know
of
its presence
,
a huge ringlet of
willow
switches
c
oiled together
like a rope
.
Back in the cathedral
,
the sky riders had said
:
things that once had life, but don’t any longer, makes the best vessels for conducting magic. The blueprint of life
be
there, but
it’s
neutralized, making the consequences predictable.
Willow switches were perfect
—
way to go, Clash.

The p
ale
switches
blended in with the faded grass
and formed a circle about eight feet in diameter.
In places
,
Clash
had covered it with leaves
, and in other places he had used
loose grass,
creating a subtle ring
over Mom’s grave
.
He
must have worked furiously
to get it done so fast. She stole a glance around the perimeter, knowing he was probably lurking nearby
.

Glory
’s heart skipped a beat when
the first
sky rider
walked over the willow branches
and
into the circle
.
Bone had entered
the
lair
and hadn’t even noticed
!

N
either did his companions
.
S
o far, so good
.
Spreading an arm o
ver
a
bare
patch of ground, Glory announced,
"Meet
my mo
ther
.”

The
sky riders
gave
her
a somber nod in unison.

“
My dance in the daisies is gonna be cut short, but on the bright side
,
I
’ll
get to see
my mo
ther
again real soon.
”
A
Father Winter’s tune came to mind, and she s
a
ng the words
out loud.
“
On this night, on this
most
wonderful
of
night
s
, children’s wishes
all
come true
.
”
The song gave her a chance to throw around the offending “wish” word some more, as she p
retended to search about for some unseen object on the ground
.
“On this night, on this most wonderful of nights,
hearts and spirits are renewed
.
”
Suddenly,
she stopped singing and
stood up with a jerk.
“
Oh, no!
”
s
he exclaimed. “
I
t all looks the same
—
w
hat if you
sky riders
can’t find this
exact
spot again?"