Evertaster by Adam Glendon Sidwell

Author:Adam Glendon Sidwell [Sidwell, Adam Glendon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Future House Publishing
Published: 2012-06-27T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13 — The Castaways

They made their way quickly down the glacier to the longhouse, where they mounted the sleds. Torbjorn placed Mom down carefully on a blanket in the middle, then fetched a barrel of butter.

“Feed her some of the butter-gold. It can cure wounds,” he said, putting the barrel in Guster’s lap. He and Storfjell kicked off toward the airstrip. The sleds sped along the crusty snowfield toward the mountain, even faster than they had come the first time.

Guster had to try. He popped the lid off the barrel, scooped up a spoonful of butter in a wooden spoon, and held Mom’s jaw with his other hand. He forced the butter to the back of her throat until she swallowed.

He counted the seconds, hopeful. There was no reaction to the crisp breeze, no notice of Henry Junior howling in her ear. Mom’s eyes were shut fast.

“It didn’t work,” Guster said, the panic building inside him. He looked to Torbjorn for help.

“Then I do not know what can save her,” Torbjorn said.

Ten years. It was a long time. She would sleep through family vacations, the first day of school, even Christmas. He needed her. He had done this to her, and now he had to fix it. “We have to get help,” said Guster.

“From who?” asked Mariah .

“I don’t know. Maybe a doctor. Maybe someone like the Master Pastry Chef,” though he knew Renoir was dead. The thought popped into his mind: maybe Archedentus, but he knew that was impossible too.

If not the butter, then maybe another ingredient would help. If they stayed on the trail of the one recipe, maybe, somewhere along the way, there would be a chef or someone or something that could cure Mom. It was their only option.

“We’ve got to follow the Gastronimatii,” said Guster.

“Are you crazy!” Zeke said. “Mom is practically a zombie and all you can think about is getting your taste buds tingled!”

He couldn’t blame Zeke for thinking that. This was his fault and he knew it. He felt sick with himself.

“Guster is right, Zeke,” said Mariah. “Going home isn’t going to do us any good. It was the Gastronimatii’s gravy that did this to Mom and only some food just as rich will be able to undo it. We’ve got to keep going.”

Just then it hit Guster. He’d been so worried about Mom he hadn’t realized it until now. It’s gone, he thought as the sled zipped along the snow. Palatus had gotten what he wanted. “I lost it,” he said. “The eggbeater is gone.” He started to shake. After all he’d done to hold on to it, it had been wrenched out of his fingers.

Mariah put a hand on his shoulder. “Doesn’t matter,” said Mariah.

“Of course it matters. Without the One Recipe the trail is cold!” shouted Guster angrily. Didn’t they understand?

“After all that time you spent studying the symbols, don’t you remember any of them?” she asked.

Guster shook his head, “Vaguely. But there are so many details. And there’s no way I can remember all the measurements and mixing instructions,” he said.

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