Silverworld by Diana Abu-Jaber

Author:Diana Abu-Jaber [Abu-Jaber, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2020-03-17T00:00:00+00:00

After another windy day and stormy evening of walking, Sami realized they were again approaching the beach. They were headed to the hidden route Lamida had described, winding over seagrasses and between dunes. The sand, kicking up in whirlwinds, looked gauzy in the sunrise.

This was a new place, a new land. There were streaks of black and gold in the morning sky, and Sami could hear the songs of strange birds with deep voices like flutes. In the distance, rising above the waves, she could see a landmass—the first of the Bare Isles, Natala told her.

Also, past the edge of the sand and surf, she could make out some sort of towering shape. She studied it for a few moments until gradually her eyes focused: it was a woman. Ten stories high, rising straight out of the water. The gigantic grayish-white statue rose eerily, impossibly before them. It stood in the water on wide-apart legs rising into a long waist and broad shoulders; there was a fan of wild hair that pointed and curled in every direction, and its arms were held above its head, fingers splayed. Sami stared at it without blinking, half expecting it to break out of its frozen stance at any moment and seize them.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“The Stone Keeper, I believe it’s called,” Dorsom murmured. “Nixie created it long ago, to frighten away intruders from the hidden route.”

“It works,” she said.

“I’ve heard stories of this creation,” Natala said with the faintest smile. “And scarce believed it existed.”

“Are you positive we should go this way?” Sami asked. “What if Lamida was tricking us? Maybe this is a trap….” She gulped. She was still trying to figure out Silverworld, who and what to trust. And things seemed even stranger and less familiar out here in the Bare Isles. On the horizon, the bronze-colored half sun had a slightly fizzy edge, as if someone had dropped it in a soda.

Dorsom smiled and said, “That is, to be sure, a risk we must take. But I do promise, this is only a statue. A big one. Having its intended effect on you.” He brushed hair out of his eyes and frowned; Sami saw his anxious expression clearly in the sparkling light. “Unfortunately, a statue is the least of our worries.”

The morning was turning hot, but Sami was the last to wade into the cool surf. She’d never liked going into the ocean, and she had to close her eyes and take deep breaths as she inched forward into the water. A big surge nearly knocked her over and her eyes flew open to see the enormous bronze legs and crashing waves. Sunlight glinted off its metallic lips, its wide, wild eyes, its outflung arms. It looked lit up, alive, just as if it were marching through the waves about to snatch her up. She shivered and looked away.

The water itself seemed ominous here, very different from the water at the pier. Though it was a brilliantly sunny morning, this water was streaked with deep navy, and cobalt currents.

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