We sat by the fire as the fish we’d caught earlier that day roasted, Adaline turning the fish while Theo and I huddled against the cold. Adaline caught two, I caught one, and Theo hadn’t quite caught any. Dad caught five whole fish! I edged closer to the fire, sniffing at the smoke.

  The woods were deep and open in the night, wonderful and terrifying all at once. I saw Theo staring into the black spaces between the trees.

  Scared?” I asked him. He jumped.

  “No,” he said. “I’m not scared.”

  Not that he would have admitted it even if he was. It was the first time he’d been allowed to come on dad’s annual fishing trip, and he would do anything to prove he was old enough to handle it. I dared him to put a raw fish in his mouth earlier today, and he would have done it if Adaline hadn’t stopped him.

  “It’s okay to be scared,” my dad said, and we both jumped at that. He’d been grabbing plates and forks from the tent. “It’s good. Fear is there to try to protect us. You shouldn’t always follow it, but you also shouldn’t dismiss it.”

  He sat by the fire and looked out at all three of us. “Your fear is telling you that the woods are a dangerous place at night, and it’s true. You can easily trip in the dark or run into a grumpy animal. That’s why you need to stay in the camp with your sisters and I; we can be safe together. That’s what family’s for.”

  “He’s in our camp, though,” I said. “He’s safe here, isn’t he? The fear is wrong about that.”

  “The fear can be a good reminder,” dad said, “but maybe a distraction would be good.”

  “Oh! Oh, I know what would be a good distraction,” Adaline said. “How about a story?”

  “Dad camp stories!” I shout. “The best! Like the one about how the whole world was created.”

  “Or the one about the guy who had to wrestle the giant,” my sister said. “Or the people who crossed the mountains.”

  Theo was wide-eyed. “I don’t know any of these stories!”

  “That’s because these stories are for camp time only,” I announced.

  My father put up a finger. “Dad’s camping trips only. These stories don’t get repeated anywhere else. Not to your friends, not to your teachers, and not at home.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Not even to mom?” Theo asked.

  “Your mother already knows,” dad said gently. “Do you know how you sometimes do little holidays with her that are very secret?”

  “Yeah, we can’t tell anyone,” Theo said. “Not at all!”

  “These stories are like that,” my dad said. “Your mother and I think it’s important that you know about those holidays and these stories, but they have to be our secret. You can’t talk about them. They’re dangerous, especially your mother’s holidays. No one can know.”

  “What would happen if they found out?” I asked anxiously.

  My dad was silent for a moment. “Maybe nothing. Maybe nothing would happen at all, but some very bad things could happen, too. They could take you all away from your mother and I.”

  “What!?” We exclaimed.

  “They can’t do that!” Adaline protested.

  “I hope they won’t,” dad said. “But there are things you kids don’t understand yet.” He looked at all of our shocked faces and sighed. “Do you remember the old Empire from the history you’re learning at school?”

  “Yes!” I sat up straighter. “It was bad, and there had to be a revolution to free everyone. The Mages were mean back then and controlled everyone, but now they help serve people instead of controlling.”

  “Yes,” dad said. “The Empire was bad, and very powerful, so even after it was gone people couldn’t forget about it. They decided that things like magic and religion, things they associated with the Empire, were also bad and outlawed them. But now that they’re outlawed, no one can learn about them to know if they’re actually bad. That’s why your mother and I want you to learn these stories, so you can decide for yourself what to think of them. And because they’ve been a part of our families for a very long time, and you are all the newest members of our families.”

  “I’m the newest member!” Theo announced. “I’m the youngest Heirdic!”

  Dad smiled. “You are indeed.”

  Adaline frowned. “So are these stories magic and religion?”

  “They’re religious,” dad said, “but not the same kind of religious as the holidays your mom teaches you about. I’ll tell you more about what that means on future camping trips. They’re also special to me, I learned them from my dad on trips like these, and I’m so happy to be able to pass them on. But you have to promise me you’ll be safe and never talk about them.”

  We all nodded solemnly.

  “I know you’re scared right now,” dad said. “Keep that fear as a reminder and don’t talk about these stories, but as long as you don’t we’ll be okay.” He reached around the fire to take Theo and Adaline’s hands, and I reached out to grab his hands, too. His face was serious, and I tried to make my face as serious as it could be, too.

  After a moment he released our hands.

  “Now,” he said with a smile, “are you ready to learn about Raphet, the man who tricked demons into making a mountain pass?”

  We were. Warm in the glow of the firelight, with the rumbling voice of my father and the familiar presence of Adaline and Theo beside me, I was ready for anything.