The witch doctor opened a door at the back of the hospital's lobby. Her patients' room was outside because she believed sunlight healed the weary. The ledge had a soft, bed-like mat, and a few unlit candles surrounded it. There was a fantastic view of the Paperblank Forest.
Sam sat cross-legged in the center of the mat. He looked much better than he had the night before. With his eyes closed, he listened to the forest. His arm was in a sling.
The witch doctor gestured for the camp crew to stop. She approached Sam's back and said, "Dear child, some friends are here to pick you up."
"Really, Evergreen?" Momentarily, Sam thought he was back in his own time. He opened his eyes. At the sight of Evie and her friends, his smile vanished. "Oh, it's them."
Evie glared. She moved in on the boy and asked, "What kind of greeting is that?"
Evergreen held her staff up to her chest. "At ease, child. The boy is still recovering." She lowered it. "Now, Sam, until we can get you back to your own time, the camp has agreed to take care of you." She winked. "Trust me."
Sam smiled. "You know I do, Evergreen. After all, you saved me."
Ashlynn crossed her arms. "Um, not to be Captain Obvious here, but who exactly is he?"
"Ah, I'm glad you asked." Evergreen gestured everybody over to Sam's mat. "Let's come together, children."
The children gave her a funny look, but they complied. They pushed through the candles and joined Sam and Evergreen.
Mateo and Evie sat shoulder to shoulder.
John followed, but he stayed well behind the mat. He lifted his foot to get comfortable. Warm, summer air ruffled his feathers, but then the zephyr died.
"Now, Sam." Evergreen glanced at him. "I have something that belongs to you. Autumn trusted me with it sixty years ago."
Sam, the children, John, and Mateo watched, intrigued.
Evergreen waved her staff in small circles. Sparks of magic leaped out from the skull. They looked like firecrackers. The sparks came together and took on the form of a bag—the bag Sam had with him the day he disappeared.
He recognized the leather satchel and plucked it from the sky. "My bag." Sam opened it. He dug through it and pulled out his sketchbook.
"You've been gone for sixty years, little boy," Evergreen explained.
Evie and her friends looked shocked, but Mateo and John merely nodded.
Evergreen peered over her shoulder at them. "Legend has it that the Green Guardian trapped a little boy in time sixty years ago. Only two people could bring him back." Her eyes rolled over to Evie and Mateo. "The Pebble Masters."
"But why us?" Evie clutched her heart. "Mateo and I have never met before."
Evergreen smirked. "And whose fault is that?" She tapped Evie and Mateo's noses with her staff. "Why, y'all don't know who you are."
Evie and Mateo did not like those words. Both shivered.
All eyes landed on them. The silence went on for an excruciatingly long time.
Evergreen brought her staff back to her care. She propped her head up on the skull. "You two have a connection that dates back to when Mr. Sam vanished."
Evie and Mateo grew more anxious. Sweat trickled down their faces.
"Speaking of which..." Evergreen smiled creepily at Mateo. "I'm sure y'all didn't know Mateo here can use magic."
"Wait, what?" The children's voices squeaked.
Mateo blushed. He hated it when someone put him under pressure.
"Of course." Evergreen nodded. "Every Pinta Ranger can. Remember, they rely solely on nature to succeed in their missions."
Oh gosh. Mateo was screwed.
"Ah ha!" Evie's voice was so loud that her friends jumped. She pointed at Ashlynn. "I told you he was a ranger!"
"Stop it, Evergreen!" Mateo snapped, leaping to his feet. "It was supposed to be a secret!"
She shrugged. "But you can't hide a secret from your family forever." She winked at Evie.
"Wait, ‘family’?" Evie's smile vanished.
"Of course, dear," Evergreen explained. There was a very amused look on her face. She fumbled with her staff. "You want to know why y'all are the Pebble Masters?" She paused. "Because, Evie, you and Mateo are cousins."
The area fell into complete utter silence.
Evie and Mateo's faces grayed. They looked like they were about to throw up. They didn't even blink.
"Whoa, really?" Ashlynn said.
"Indeed." Evergreen grinned her creepy grin. "To defeat the basilisk, the Pebble Masters must regain lost trust between humans and magical beings—trust that was broken before they were even born."
"I don't believe you!" Now Evie was on her feet. Tears ran down her cheeks. "Mateo and I have never met before!"
"That's because your mothers vowed never to see each other again," Evergreen said gently.
"I don't believe you!" Evie's life was just one big lie. She turned on her heel and stomped away from her group. She threw open the door of the hospital and vanished inside.
Mateo didn't take the reveal too well, either. "There must be a mistake," he argued.
Evergreen shook her head. "There is no mistake, child. It was destiny for you and Evie to meet at this camp. The Union sent you here because they also know the truth."
"What?" Mateo's own colleagues lied to him? "I... You're crazy, lady."
She chuckled. "It's not the first time someone's told me that. Before you can even start your real mission, though, we need to heal you." Evergreen moved her staff toward Mateo's belly, but he slapped it away.
"Don't touch me!" His cheeks puffed out. He also stormed away from the group. Mateo slammed the hospital's door shut; it looked like it would fall off.
The group members shivered.
John sighed. "Well, that went well," he mumbled under his breath.
***
"Is it true?" Ashlynn fixed her eyes on Evergreen, who made herself comfortable again on the mat. "Are Evie and Mateo cousins?"
"They are. Only the Pebble Masters can free the Green Guardian and save the forest." Evergreen glanced at Sam. "Sam, you're here for a reason. You're friends with both their grandmother and Euphorbia."
"Their grandmother?" Sam thought for a minute. "Is it... Autumn?" he guessed.
Evergreen nodded. "Yes. The trust you have with Autumn and the fairy... Evie and Mateo's family need it back more than ever." She took his shoulder. "This is all I'm going to tell you now. You'll learn more later. Once you complete your mission, the Guardian will return you to your own time."
"I understand." Sam shook Evergreen's hand. "I won't let you down."
Ashlynn jumped into the scene. "I want to help, too! Boy, this camp keeps getting better and better! First, a talking bird, and now this!"
"Me, too." Amanda joined her. "Evie and Mateo need us."
"What about the boys?" Ashlynn smirked at Tate and Emrys.
Both were lost in thought.
Finally, Tate shrugged. "I wasn't planning on helping a dysfunctional family, but I supposed it could be fun. Besides, it's nice to have another boy in the group." He exchanged smiles with Sam.
Emrys had to think a little longer. He wasn't a massive fan of adventures—let alone family—but he did like Evie and Mateo.
John appeared behind him. "Come on, Emrys. You know you want to do it." He bumped Emrys with the top of his beak.
Emrys stumbled. He fell right into his group members. "Oh, all right," he said with a slight smirk.
"Eee! I'm so excited!" Ashlynn jumped up and down. "We need a name for our group! Oh, I know. How about the Unbeatable Rangers?"
Her group members gave her a weird look.
Ashlynn tried again. "Too cheesy? What about the Never-Ending Rangers? The Guardian Rangers? The Paperblank Rangers?" She saw that none of the names amused her group. "I'll just shut up."
***
Evie and Mateo ventured to the stream before Paperblank's gate (the cave) to think. They stayed a fair distance away from each other, trying to make sense of the reveal.
Evie plopped down in a flower bed filled with white flowers. She played with an ant and stick. One ant turned into two, then three, and it wasn't long until a whole colony crawled all over her body. Evie didn't mind ants. She broke her stick and asked, "Why didn't Mom and Dad tell me? Why?"
A few ants on her hand stopped moving. They glanced at the girl with their beady eyes.
"I want Grandma Gilbert," Evie sobbed. Tears fell from her eye sockets. A few ants used them as slides. She reached into her pocket and wrapped her fingers around the pebble. It felt warm to the touch.
Mateo picked up stones from the riverbed. He chucked them into the stream and said almost the same thing as Evie: "Why didn't Mamá tell me? I'm sick of lying parents. Grandma Autumn never lied." He picked up an enormous rock. Mateo strained under its weight. He couldn't even stand straight. Yet, he managed to drop the rock into the stream. Warm water splashed his jacket, soaking it. He fell onto his backside and buried his face in his hands.
Evie was angry, but she still found herself drawn to her counselor. Was it because he was Ranger Anthony, or were they indeed family? She looked over her shoulder at him. Evie almost got up, but she stopped herself. "What should I do?" she asked the ants tickling her skin.
They whispered, "Trust nature," in her head. "Trust the Green Guardian." The rest of the colony hopped off Evie's arms, stomach, and legs. They piled together on the forest floor and now looked like a black mound of dirt.
"Trust nature." Was that it? How could nature fix Evie's family?
"Trust nature." Nature always helped Mateo through his missions, but this was a rare exception. He had the same question as the little girl.
He unburied his face and rubbed tears from his eyes—not only from despair but also from pain. The rash itched under his glove, but at the same time, Mateo felt a tingling sensation, like when somebody hit their funny bone.
Nature asked him to use magic to speak with it.
The young man took a deep breath, relaxing his consciousness. He inhaled deeply, placing his hand on the forest bed.
Evie and the ants observed him. Evie rose to her feet. Early morning sunshine shimmered over her shoulders, and the forest felt dreamlike.
Mateo thought about nature. He freed his mind from the witch doctor. "Trust nature," he repeated. A beautiful yellow flower with emerald green leaves sprouted under his palm. Mateo said to himself, "Trust is the only way the Pebble Masters are going to save the forest." He shifted to his knees and admired the flower. "Hi, little guy." He scratched the plant under its petals, treating it like a dog.
The flower's stem drooped.
"Are you lonely?" Mateo inquired. "Believe me, I know how that feels. Here." Again, he placed his hand on the dirt. At his command, a second flower sprouted. It was sky blue with a dandelion core.
Instantly, the two plants fell in love. They cuddled the other flower with their leaves.
Mateo feebly smiled, but it faded when he heard Evie behind him.
"Wow, you do know magic. How did you do that?"
Though conflicted, Mateo still enjoyed her company. He couldn't turn down a sweet, curious face like Evie's. He offered her his hand. "Here."
Evie took it and sat down beside him. She gulped but relaxed when Mateo friendlily patted her shoulder.
"Nature is like us, Evie. It's a living, breathing phenomenon." He waved his hand over each of the flowers. "To be a Pinta Park Ranger is to be one with it."
"What's the secret?"
"Well, first, you need to fix your posture." Mateo straightened Evie's shoulders. "Sit up straight and hold your hands in front of you. This will tell nature you want to offer it some of your life energy."
Evie listened to him. She offered her hands to the forest.
Mateo pointed his own at the stream. "Relax. Feel for the connection. Once you become one, you and nature can do incredible things—like this." Mateo gave his hands a slight shake. A whirlpool lifted out of the stream and danced over it. Rainbows shimmered in it.
"Wow," Evie squealed.
The whirlpool burst, spraying the two youths in a summer shower. "Now you try," Mateo told Evie.
She did. She tried to feel for the connection, but she got nothing. No whirlpool appeared over the stream, and no flower bloomed. "Why can't I do it?" Evie asked.
"It takes practice," Mateo said. "Learning to manipulate nature is something only seniors at the Ranger School learn. At the end of the day, it all boils down to how well you get along with it."
Evie whispered, "'The Pebble Masters will never shine the same again. Instead, they will regain'. Oh, Mateo, what if we are cousins?"
Mateo could not answer because Ms. Julie's voice interrupted the tender moment. "Evie Amanda Madison!"
Evie shivered. She and Mateo turned their heads.
Ms. Julie stood between two flower beds, only a few feet away. She gestured for the little girl to follow her. "Come on. It's time for your briefing."
Oh, right. Evie still had to face the possible consequence of getting sent home early for breaking the rules. She rose to her shaky legs and approached Ms. Julie.
She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder and glanced at Mateo. "As for you, Anthony Mateo Brook, someone is looking for you." She playfully raised her eyebrows.
Mateo looked bewildered. "Who?" he inquired.
Right when he asked that, a gust of wind picked up a woman's voice: "I demand to see my son, Hopscotch!" The ranger's dark eyes landed on a figure wandering the village close to the stream. She stopped a woman trying to get water.
The frightened girl set her vase down. She propped her back against a tree. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't know where he is," she said in a panicked voice.
That was when the woman's eyes landed on Mateo. She pushed the water woman off to the side and pointed at him. "He's right there!"
"Oh, no," Mateo said. She did not.
Ms. Julie chuckled, but Evie merely stared.
Ms. Brook—or better said, Evie's aunt—stomped toward her son. Her boots picked up dirt, dust, and a few of the ants Evie had been playing with. She looked furious. She jumped into a run because she knew Mateo all too well.
He tried to hide. He leaped to his feet and prepared to dive into a deep section of the stream.
Ms. Brook caught him before he could. She grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him to the ground.
Mateo clawed at the dirt, but there was nothing to seize. He just got dirt on his clothes and face.
Ms. Brook lugged him toward Paperblank Village. She passed Ms. Julie and Evie, with her face glowing crimson. "How dare you not tell your own mother you love her! You're coming home right now, young man!"
Mother? Evie's jaw dropped. That thing was Mateo's mom?
Ms. Julie burst out laughing. She patted Evie's shoulder. "I really do feel bad for your family, little one. Now, let's go. The mayor's waiting." Keeping her arm around the little girl, she and her went opposite of Mateo and Ms. Brook.
Mateo kept on clawing, but he failed miserably. "Help!" he screamed.
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