Once back home, Schuyler spends the remaining afternoon getting ready for the first day of sophomore year. He turns on his cell phone, which was left behind due to spotty coverage, and finds two text messages from Ayana. “Call me ASAP” read the subject line. Before he is able to respond, his phone rings. The caller id reads: “A. Brown.” He answers. “So, you’re spying on me with your sniffer. I take it you’ve spoken with Tate already?”
“He wasn’t home five minutes before telling me about your little campout,” she answers with more than a hint of disdain. “Look, if we’re going to be successful in this quest thing, we need to stick together and not exclude anyone.”
“Take it easy, I didn’t know camping was your thing. Besides, Tate’s mom arranged it all. I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into.”
“I know. I believe you. I know how it went down,” she concedes. “How did it go between you guys?”
“Fine,” he answers. “Tate’s surprisingly a pretty good guy. His mom is outrageous. She’s got this deep presence about her.”
“See, I knew he’d start to grow on you. And yes, I heard all about that fox thing. Actually, I’m good with that. Beats being a skunk or porcupine. Somehow, though you don’t look like an eagle to me.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure what all that means yet. But I had this weird dream...”
“Come over,” she interrupts. “I want to show you something.”
“What’s up?”
“Well, while you guys were camping with a medicine woman, I stumbled across something. I’ve been practicing it all morning. It’s amazing. It tells me a lot about myself.”
“Really, what might that be?”
“Just come over, I’ll show you.”
Minutes later, Schuyler is down the street in Ayana’s living room.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been playing with a magic eight ball,” he says jokingly.
“Kind of, but a little more accurate and advanced,” she answers.
“Wait a minute!” he exclaims. “You’re not pulling out your Ouija Board? That’s how ‘The Exorcist’ started, and it doesn’t end well.”
“It’s not like that,” she says. “Hmm…at least I don’t think so. I look at it like it’s one of those old divining rods that people used to find water under ground. Only this helps you find answers buried deep within yourself. At least is seems to for me.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” he replies. “Those things give me the creeps.”
“Let me just show you how it works, and then you can decide for yourself,” she says. “There’s a pendulum exercise I want to show you in this book.”
“Where did you get it?” he asks.
“My dad got it at some corporate event,” she answers. “It says here on the cover that he’s a phenomenalist, whatever that means. My dad was very impressed about what he could uncover about people. He was able to hone in on someone’s tendencies or weaknesses – and the person’s co-workers were able to confirm it. It was very embarrassing.” She opens the book and takes out a nylon cord that has her gold ring attached to it. “We start off by getting into a clear frame of mind.” She sits up straight on a chair with her feet flat on the floor, closing her eyes. Schuyler stands back watching her intently. She begins to breathe deep and slowly, relaxing her entire body. She holds the suspended pendulum still, away from her body between her thumb and forefinger.
“I’m now going to ask the first question,” she continues.“Is my hair blonde?” Schuyler stifles a laugh. Silence fills the room like a living thing as Schuyler gazes at the pendulum. At first, there is only slight movement, and then the gold ring begins to sway, irregularly at first, and then rocking from side to side. A moment later, the ring is moving in a circular motion beneath Ayana’s outstretched hand. She opens her eyes slowly and smiles in approval.
“Is that the no answer?” Schuyler whispers to her.
Without answering him, she closes her eyes again and asks, “Is my skin brown?”
Schuyler continues to focus on the gold ring. The circular motion gives way to irregular swaying. Soon it is rocking back and forth, straight out from her. She smiles again after opening her eyes.
“You’re making it do that,” he insists.
Again, without answering him she asks, “Is this project we are working on part of my own personal quest?”
Schuyler takes note as the gold ring continues its steady rocking motion. He’s relieved at the answer, but still cautiously curious.
“How does it work?” he asks. “Are you intentionally making those movements?”
“I’m not trying to,” she answers. “It’s very difficult to do intentionally. I tested it by trying to move it in the wrong direction, and after a while, it changed direction to answer the question correctly. It’s hard to override.”
“Does it work with any object?” he asks examining the pendulum.
“Not very well. I tried other objects but it works best with this gold ring my parents gave me for my birthday. The hardest part is focusing my mind. It’s usually racing with thoughts. It takes some practice.”
“Why did you try this?” he asks. “Isn’t this spooky?”
“Not really any more spooky that what you guys encountered up in Sedona,” she answers pointedly. “Besides, I’m more mechanical in my thinking. That’s why I tried this tool to see if I could use it to unlock my subconscious mind. The trick is you have to ask it good ‘yes or no’ questions.”
“Well, I’m not going to try it,” he insists. “My parents have always frowned on parlor games such as this. Isn’t it like some sort of divination, like crystal balls?”
“I wasn’t looking at it that way,” she says. “It seems to work well for me. Any way, I now feel like I own part of this project, not just as a research assistant. The answers I’ve been getting seem to center around the first knight quest: Listen to Your Heart.”
“Well, I’m glad for that,” he concedes. “Now all three of us have something in common. We’re all going crazy.”
“Crazy like a fox,” she says with a wink.
“Just be careful with that thing,” he says. “I’m not sure who is really answering your questions. I don’t want to have to bring over one of our Catholic Priests over perform an exorcism on you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind – thanks,” she replies. “You know this really isn’t that unusual. My mom speaks of the ancient Chinese ‘I Ching’ which was their way of approaching the oracle.”
“What’s an oracle?” he asks. “Wasn’t that a character from the Matrix movies?”
“It’s probably based on the same principle,” she answers. “Generally, an oracle is a go-between or intermediary. As we learned in religion class, Mary is an intermediary between God and man. You don’t pray to her as God, you pray to her for help in getting God to answer your prayers. Same principle.”
“Maybe it’s just my Catholic upbringing, but I’m more at ease with the idea of approaching Mary via rosary beads. She’s good, loving and will intercede for me. Since I know her by name, I know who is answering. I don’t think you know who is answering your ring on a string.”
“What do you mean by that?” she asks.
“Don’t ask me how I know this, but I sense darkness can be called as well as light,” Schuyler answers. “You have to test it. You know, find out which side it comes from.”
“Seriously?” she asks. “You really think it’s that easy.”
“I know it,” he replies. “If you establish contact, you need to ask it if it comes from light or dark, good or bad. And here’s the weird thing. The rules are such that it needs to tell the truth in reply.”
“Wicked,” she replies.
“It might be,” he answers. “You just be careful with that thing. I wouldn’t do it if I were you.”
“Schuy look, rosary beads work for you,” she says. “My dad’s a Protestant. They don’t see Mary in the same light you do. Nevertheless, I thin
k we can still find some common ground here. I think you’ll find that various practices have similar principles involved, there’s just differing personalities or customs.”
“You might be right,” he says. “I’ll try to keep an open mind about how this quest is achieved, but be really careful - and ask the question. In the end, I guess to each, its own,” said Schuyler.
“Sounds like a quote I can capture for our charter,” she answers.
Schuyler looks at her with a raised eyebrow.
“What, why are you looking at me like that?” she asks.
“I’m still wondering what this is all about, and you’re talking about crafting a charter,” he answers.
“Yeah, I’m going to start a blog on this eventually,” she continues. “So what about it?”
“So you believe all this stuff, you’re in total commitment to this knight’s order?” he asks.
“I wouldn’t say that, but I find it very intriguing,” she answers. “Anyways, I sometimes find it takes works before the faith comes. It’s best when I busy myself first. I have trouble conceding things.”
“We won’t have any trouble staying busy now,” he says looking at his watch. “School starts up again in almost 14 hours, and I’ve got to have a conversation with Jamie LaFrance – which I’m dreading.”
“Dish me on that, Schuy,” she says eagerly.
“Ayana, I have neither the time, nor the inclination to speak with you about my girl problems,” he replies. “Besides, it gives me a stomach ache to think about the conversation.”
“Well, all I can recommend is listen with your heart,” she smiles.
“Funny, when I bring my mind back to Sedona, the path feels very clear,” he replies earnestly. “But then I start tripping on what everyone will think of me, you know, what damage Jamie might do to my reputation, and the picture gets dark and uncertain. I start hyperventilating and want to puke.”
“There’s probably a clue in all that,” she surmises.
“Yeah, ya think?” With that, he leaves.
Chapter 10: Release the Hounds
This above all; to thine own self be true. –William Shakespeare
Knights of Light: Knight Vision Page 9