“What if we have a map?” Gabriel said.
Mr. Brooks blinked. “A map to the fountain?”
Tristan rolled his eyes. Was there anything they weren’t going to tell the old man?
“There is only one map to the fountain.” Mr. Brooks looked each other them over carefully.
Tristan said, “How do you know?”
Mr. Brooks sat back down and started bouncing his knees again. “Legend has it that a Spaniard named Francis de Leon came to Avalon hundreds of years ago, found the fountain, and drew jugs of water from it. He boasted his treasure to the Avalon natives and claimed he’d made a map of how to get back to the magic water. Shortly after, Francis returned to Spain, taking his precious jugs of water and the map with him. It is rumored that the map was stolen by his sister, Ana, and was never seen again. That is how I know of the map.” He looked around the room. “The better question is, what makes you think you have the map that belonged to Francis de Leon?”
Lifting her chin, Scarlet said. “Because Ana was my mother.”
Gabriel watched Mr. Brooks scratch at his whiskers. “If you do, indeed, have the De Leon map, then you should already have found the fountain.”
Nate shook his head. “We have the map, but we don’t have a starting point.” He pulled off the backpack he wore and unzipped it, carefully removing the aged map from between two pieces of plastic. Nate handed it to the old man. “There is no way to know where we are supposed to begin.”
Mr. Brooks examined the map for a long moment. “This is fascinating.” He inhaled. “People have been searching for the fountain for thousands of years and here you have the map!”
Nate said, “Can you make sense of it?”
Mr. Brooks eyed the parchment for a long time, then shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. But I might have something that could be helpful.” He quickly stood, swinging his cane. “Follow me to the cellar.”
Everyone made their way back down the dark, narrow hallway and into the cellar. Once there, Mr. Brooks bustled around until he pulled out a preserved map from the very back corner.
“This,” he said, using nimble hands to smooth out the map on the large square table in the center of the room, “is a compilation of all my searches from when I first arrived in Avalon. I made note of every hill and valley in the outer forests, hoping to find an ideal place for a marsh or stream or whatever form the fountain of youth would take. And this,” he pointed to a spot on the map, “is where the natives say Francis de Leon traveled.”
Nate squinted at the map. “So the fountain is most likely near that location.”
Mr. Brooks nodded. “Which is about a hundred miles outside of town. If I had to guess, I’d say the fountain is within a mile radius of this area.” He pointed again to the spot on the map and then ran his finger in a large circle around it.
Nate set their map on top of Mr. Brooks’ and squinted at the comparison. “So if we can just get to that spot, then we might be able to make sense of our map and find the fountain?”
“Maybe,” Mr. Brooks said.
Suddenly, the map turned blue and Gabriel looked at Scarlet. Her eyes were glowing brighter than ever.
“Scarlet?” Heather said, concern filling her voice.
Then another light, a green light, fell across the map as well. Tristan’s eyes were glowing too.
“What…the…hell?” Gabriel stared at his brother.
Tristan started rubbing his eyes and Scarlet started blinking. Just as suddenly as they had started glowing, both sets of eyes went back to normal.
Gabriel’s gut tightened. Something was very wrong. He’d never seen Tristan eyes glow like that before.
Nate looked first at Tristan, then at Scarlet. “What just happened?”
Tristan blinked. “I don’t know.”
Nate pinched his lips and murmured, “The curse is changing.”
Mr. Brooks looked at Tristan, then at Scarlet, and narrowed his eyes. “What is this curse?”
Scarlet, still blinking, cleared her throat. “I basically die, vanish, and then come back to life at some point in the future.” She swallowed. “Except, last time I died, I didn’t vanish. Which is weird, but a lot less complicated. I tend to come back to life without my memories,” she explained.
Mr. Brooks’ face stood frozen for a moment. “You die and come back to life?”
Scarlet nodded.
He tapped his cane and took a quick step toward Scarlet, standing with his nose close to hers. “That explains everything!” he said, examining her through his thick spectacles.
“What does it explain?” Scarlet looked at Nate for answers. He shrugged.
“You and I,” Mr. Brooks pointed at Scarlet before stepping back and stretching his hands out, “have met before. You came to me many years ago and tried to buy my Bluestone weapons.” He bounced on his feet. “You begged, in fact. I thought it was a strange request and I, of course, refused to sell them because they were my family’s greatest possessions.
“But when you arrived on my doorstep a few weeks ago, looking exactly the same as you had years ago and did not remember me, I was perplexed! But now I understand! You have come back to life.”
Everyone in the room looked at Scarlet.
Gabriel’s heart started to pound. Scarlet had been here before?
She looked panicked. “I don’t remember…I don’t remember.”
Nate eyed the old man. “You said the weapons were your family’s greatest possession. Why are they so valuable?”
Mr. Brooks shrugged. “Because they can kill immortals.”
Tristan narrowed his eyes at Mr. Brooks. “And Scarlet tried to buy the weapons from you?”
He nodded. “But I refused to sell them. At the time, I was wealthy and did not need the money.”
Scarlet’s shook her head. “But you sold them to Laura!”
“To who?” Mr. Brooks looked confused.
“The red head that smelled like cinnamon and coffee,” Scarlet said. “You sold the weapons to her a few months ago. Why?”
Mr. Brooks inhaled. “I lost all my money. I needed more.”
Nate scratched the back of his head and looked at Scarlet. “Why do you think you were trying to buy those weapons?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“I am intrigued by this curse.” Mr. Brooks looked at Nate. “You said the curse is changing?”
Nate nodded.
Mr. Brooks looked at Scarlet. “And you said your body didn’t vanish last time you died?”
Scarlet shook her head.
Twitching his lips, Mr. Brooks looked at Scarlet. “Well, my dear. It sounds like you’re borrowing a life-force.”
“A what?” Scarlet was incredibly confused. She had met Mr. Brooks before? She had tried to buy Bluestone weapons? What was going on?
Stupid amnesia.
Mr. Brooks scratched his chin. “When I first came to Avalon, the natives told a story of a man with everlasting life. No wound could kill him, no illness took him. He was immortal. He lived a quiet life in Avalon and kept only the company of a white female wolf.
“The white wolf would help him hunt and, in return, the immortal gave her food and companionship. But the wolf was attacked by a bear and the man, distraught at the thought of losing his pet, tried to heal the wolf using his immortal blood.