The voice boomed. “What have you done?”
Ranth replied, “We have brought a soul who requires rescue. She was taken by the Tene to another world, and her death does not meet the laws.”
The voice boomed again. “She should not be here.”
I straightened up. “But she is here. Expel her back to her original place and form.”
This time the boom echoed in my head and dissipated, as if it were leaving us. “I cannot. She is no longer of that world nor this one. She must return to the Tene.”
“Nooooo! I bargained for her. You need to make her whole again and send her home with me. That was what you promised.”
From a distance, the voice carried. “We did not make any promise. She is past return.”
“Sorrel?” My mom’s voice sent shivers down my spine. I turned and blinked, not believing as my mother, with her gorgeous long, brown hair and huge, green eyes, walked out of the forest toward us. I ran to her and threw myself into her arms. Warmed resin, rosemary, and champaca flowers flooded my senses. She smelled like home, like Mom. I sobbed against her chest as she stroked my head.
“Let’s go home,” I said, pulling back from her. I met her eyes, huge and green, with heavy lashes.
“Home? Yes. We can go home and sit in the garden. Antimony will be waiting. How I’ve missed her. Is the Lady Banks rose blooming or the clematis?”
“The Lady Banks is just starting. The garden is full of the scent.” Tears poured down my face. I couldn’t tell her the garden was ruined, and the house was burned. We could rebuild it together when we got home. Home was here, or there, or wherever she was.
“Oh sweetheart, how I’ve missed you.” Her hand grazing my shoulder ripped me apart.
I laced my fingers through her fine-boned ones. Fingers I knew from my first day. “I missed you so much, Mom.” My voice was cracks and bumps. My mother’s skin pulsed under my touch as if I had found part of me again.
Her other hand cradled my cheek, but her gaze swept over my shoulder, and I turned.
Ranth’s jaw was tight and his stance rigid as if he were rooted to the ground.
“How do we get home now?” I asked Ranth.
“Come on,” I said, tugging Mom forward. “It’s time to go.”
Ranth shook his head, and tears streaked his cheeks. “She can’t go back.”
“What are you talking about? That was the plan the whole time.”
“I’m sorry, Sorrel. She can’t return as she was. She’s dead to your world. Bringing her out of the Sisters’ caves did not change that her life has passed.”
“She’s alive. Look at her.” I raised my voice, as if that would make a difference.
“She’s alive here. That is the power of the Trees.”
I hugged Mom. She felt so real and warm, like home. “Then the Trees can grant that. Technically, you were dead here, and you were alive in our world. She can be like you were.”
“It’s not the same. I was cursed, and my power came from the Trees. I was born to be in the Garden and to take care of it. Your mother does not have a place here. She can’t stay.”
I turned away from Mom. “If she’s dead, then what now…” My voice wavered.
“She can pass through to the place of rest and prepare for rebirth if she passes the tests.” Ranth’s voice wasn’t his again.
I turned away and buried my face in the indigo shibori dress Mom had been buried in. Her favorite. I choked remembering the funeral where I could barely breathe. “I need you. You can’t leave me. You have to come back.” Tears soaked the fabric.
“Sunshine, no more crying. You did way more than any mother could imagine a daughter would do. You literally crossed worlds to save me. The love is so deep in you. I am so incredibly proud of you. But your friend is right. This is no longer my time, and my place is no longer with you. I must go to our ancestors and beat their drums and dance with them. I want to dance now. I want to see my Mother and Father.” She covered my heart with her hand, and I covered it with both of mine.
“But Mom, I need you. There’s so much I don’t know, so much you can still teach me. We can stay here in the garden, together.”
“My sunshine. I have experienced the greatest joy watching you grow into the amazing woman you are. The world is your teacher, and you only need what’s inside of you. I will always be here in your heart. I cannot stay here, and you must go back. There is so much more of your life to live.” She trailed her fingers over my moon pendant, then gently pushed me back.
