by JB Rowley
Godmother’s wand is not the magic that you need
Nellie read the sixth tablet.
Just as a king sits upon a golden throne
So the orb fits into its golden home
“The seventh one mentions the orb as well,” she said as she read the rhyme out to the others.
Find the place where the orb must rest
Like a diamond that is pure and best
Nellie threw up her hands in despair. “I can’t make any sense of these riddles. How are we going to work out where the gold has to go before sunset? We can’t even see the sun from here so we don’t know how much time we have left.”
“I’m guessing it’s about seven o’clock,” said Hamish. “That means the sun has almost set, and we have no idea what to do to get out of this place. I don’t think that blue creature ever intended to let us out. It’s just a perverted game he likes to play. We’re probably in some sort of theme park, like a survival game.”
“We can’t give up, Hamish. Meg and I solved the puzzle in my adventure and I got out. I just chose to come back.”
“How do you know you got out? Did you get back home?”
“No, but I was on my way out.”
“You might not have been. You might have been on your way to another of his survival games.”
“I don’t think so. We should at least try.”
“Yes,” said Charli. “I like Gondvan. I don’t think he is as mean as you think, Hamish. He’s tough but he’s fair. Let’s do as Nellie says and try to work out the riddles.”
“I wonder why there are seven of them,” said Nellie.
“Seven is the number of power,” boomed a voice above them.
They all looked up. Gondvan sat on one of the entwined branches of the hugging trees.
“Gondvan,” said Nellie. “I knew you would come. What do we have to do to exit Gondwana?”
“When odd becomes even and the order is true, the gold returns home and so do you,” said Gondvan.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Charli.
“Listen, you damn blue elf,” said Hamish, stepping toward Gondvan. “You’re just playing stupid games and you’d better let us out or else.”
Hamish moved closer to where Gondvan sat. Gondvan did not flinch.
“I am Gondvan, the master of the adventure. My power to let you go is equal to my power to keep you here.”
“It’s true, Hamish. There’s no point threatening Gondvan. If you do anything to him, we’ll definitely not get out.”
“Fine! Then tell us what’s the big deal with these stupid riddles so we can go home.”
Gondvan stood where he was and waited.
“Hamish,” said Charli.
Reluctantly Hamish stepped back. “Fine! Have it your way. All I want to do is get out of here.”
Gondvan spread his hands out toward the tablets. “The gold must be returned to its home. You cannot leave my Gondwana adventure until then.”
Hamish held the orb of gold toward Gondvan. “Here, put it back where it belongs and we’ll be on our way.”
Gondvan gave Hamish a pitying look. “It is you who must discover where it belongs,” he said.
“But what do these tablets have to do with where the gold belongs?” asked Charli.
Gondvan looked at her and then across at Nellie. Nellie understood. She turned to Charli.
“It’s a puzzle we have to solve. That’s how we earn the right to go home.”
Gondvan nodded. “Your task is elementary. The home of the gold is here. Return the gold to its home and the gold will return you to your home.”
Charli frowned and looked at the tablets. Hamish groaned. Meg scratched his head. Pari grunted.
“I return at sunset,” said Gondvan. “Complete your task before I return or stay in Gondwana with Meghashyam.”
“Do the words on these tablets make a spell?” asked Charli.
Gondvan repeated what he had said earlier. “When odd becomes even and the order is true, the gold returns home and so do you.” Then he was gone.
“Well, that’s just fine and dandy,” said Hamish. “We don’t know for sure how much time we have left to work out his stupid puzzle.”
“Hamish, there’s no point being negative,” said Nellie. “Let’s just make a start and see if we can work it out.”
“Yes, Nellie’s right,” said Charli.
“Clearly,” continued Nellie, “the tablets or the rhymes or both have something to do with where the gold belongs.”
She looked at the stone tablets thoughtfully. Hamish lifted up the closest one. There was nothing underneath except a soft layer of moss. He stomped on the moss with his foot. “There might be a secret opening underneath one of the tablets.”
One by one he lifted the tablets only to discover more moss.
“Gondvan doesn’t make things that easy,” said Nellie. “In my adventure I had to arrange the names of gemstones to form an acrostic that spelt Gondwana. Maybe this is similar.”
“You mean if we put the riddles in the right order the first letter of each line will make an acrostic that spells something?” said Charli.
“Maybe,” said Nellie.
“Well, it won’t spell Gondwana,” said Hamish. “That’s only got eight letters and there are fourteen lines here.”
“Maybe it spells out a phrase,” said Charli.
“Well, let’s look at the letters,” said Nellie. “The first rhyme has T at the start of the first line and A at the start of the second line. The second rhyme is also T, A, and then we have S, B, T, E, T, G, J, S, F, L.
“There’s no O or D so we can’t make the word gold,” said Hamish.
“I don’t think we can make much at all,” said Charli. “There are too many consonants and not enough vowels.”
Meg nodded. “These letters are not good for making sense. Perhaps this is a magic spell, friend Nellie.” Pari grunted as if in agreement.
Nellie laughed. “We tried some magic spells in my adventure,” she explained. “But none of them worked.”
Hamish snorted in disbelief. “Magic spells! Of course they didn’t work.”
“Well, they might have,” said Nellie. “After all, we are in a place where magic things happen.”
“Yes, Hamish,” said Charli. “You saw for yourself how the plant that cured you had magical powers.”
“That’s different. I know the plant worked quickly but it was an antidote for the dragon’s poison. That’s just nature. Chanting words and hoping they will have some effect on what happens around you is just pathetic. I suppose you even tried Open Sesame.”
Nellie had tried those magic words from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves but she was not going to admit it to Hamish. She turned to Charli.
“You are right, Charli: there are not enough vowels to make words. Anyway, I don’t really think Gondvan would give us the same sort of puzzle as the one I had.”
“I agree. That blue creature is way too devilish for that,” said Hamish. “Wait! What was the clue he gave us? Something about odd making things even?”
“When the order is true, odd becomes even,” said Meg.
“I think I know what that means,” said Hamish. “If each tablet has a pair, that would make them into groups of two. Two is an even number.”
“But there are seven tablets so one would be left over and that one would be an odd number.”
“Not if we count each pair as one. We have three pairs so the final single tablet will be number four - an even number.”
“Oh,” said Charli, “so odd becomes even. You are clever, Hamish.”
“That’s great, Hamish,” said Nellie. “So it’s not just about the right order but also about making the tablets into pairs. We have to work out how to pair the tablets off.”
Charli looked at the tablets again. “I think these two are a pair,” she said, pointing to the first and fifth tablets. “They sort of go together because one is about Cinderella and the other one is about a fairy godmo
ther.”
“That’s right,” said Nellie. “Number one and number five go together.”
“Let’s do the second one,” said Charli.
They read out the riddle on tablet number two.
The home of aurum sleeps within
And this is where you must begin
“Sleeping Beauty!” said Charli.
“What do you mean?”
Charli’s eyes shone with excitement. “I think the tablets refer to the fairy tales we were in. The first pair, number one and number five, refers to Cinderella and a fairy godmother. This one mentions sleep which is Sleeping Beauty.”
“So we are looking for a riddle that has something to do with Sleeping Beauty to match tablet number two,” said Nellie.
“Number six,” said Charli. “Look. Number six mentions the king on a golden throne. Remember the king in the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale was on a golden throne. So number two and number six are both about Sleeping Beauty. They make a pair.”
“Yes, you are right, Charli,” said Nellie. “Now we have three left. Two of them will make a pair, which gives us three pairs, and one will be left over to become number four.”
“This one is about Mr Fox,” said Charli, pointing to number four. “Is there one to make a pair with Mr Fox?”
They looked at the final two riddles. Nellie pointed to the seventh tablet. “This one, of course.”
Like a diamond that is pure and best
Such is the place where the orb must rest
“Why that one, Nellie?”
“The diamond. Don’t you remember, Charli? Mr Fox was wearing a diamond ring. Number four is about a fox and this one is about a diamond. They must go together.”
“And I know where tablet number three goes,” said Hamish. “It has seven and nine and I know exactly what it means.”
“You do?”
“Yes, it means 79 which is the atomic number for gold. Terrestrial heart must mean the centre of the Earth. And what is at the centre of the Earth?”
They shrugged their shoulders.
“Gold!” said Hamish triumphantly. “This one has to be the final tablet, which will be number four.”
They moved the tablets around making six into three pairs and a separate final one as suggested by Hamish.
That is where the orb will neatly slip
As the shoe on Cinderella’s foot did neatly fit
To find this golden home, with wits you must proceed
Godmother’s wand is not the magic that you need
The home of aurum sleeps within
And this is where you must begin
Just as a king sits upon a golden throne
So the orb fits into its golden home
Tis knowledge that you need and intellect, too
Even a fox’s cunning cannot help you
Find the place where the orb must rest
Like a diamond that is pure and best.
Seven is half the magic of core design
But terrestrial heart yearns for nine.
21: Home
“Well, nothing has happened so we must have done something wrong,” said Nellie.
“Remember the second part of Gondvan’s message, friend Nellie; when the order is true.”
“Yes,” said Charli. “When odd becomes even and the order is true.”
“Oh. The tablets have a special order,” said Nellie. “Obviously we don’t have them in the right order yet.”
“This one,” said Hamish, pointing to the tablet that was now in third position, “says ‘and this is where you must begin’. If they have to be in some special order, I reckon that one might be the one that comes first.”
“You could be right, Hamish,” said Nellie.
“Or we just have it completely wrong,” said Hamish.
“Oh, don’t say that, Hamish,” said Charli.
They all studied the rhymes, reading each one carefully.
“I think I’ve got it,” said Charli. “Put this one first as Hamish said.” She started moving the tablets around again. When she had finished, she stood back. “Look. Now the pairs become one big poem,” she said.
They read the poem together.
The home of aurum sleeps within
And this is where you must begin
Just as a king sits upon a golden throne
So the orb fits into its golden home
That is where the orb will neatly slip
As the shoe on Cinderella’s foot did neatly fit
To find this golden home, with wits you must proceed
Godmother’s wand is not the magic that you need
Tis knowledge that you need and intellect, too
Even a fox’s cunning cannot help you
Find the place where the orb must rest
Like a diamond that is pure and best.
“Yes,” said Nellie. “It works. It all goes together.”
“And then the last one is kind of on its own,” said Charli.
They read the last rhyme together.
Seven is half the magic of core design
But terrestrial heart yearns for nine.
“But if they are in the right order, why isn’t anything happening?” said Charli.
“Maybe we’re too late,” said Nellie. “Maybe the sun has already set.”
“Or maybe we just got it completely wrong and we haven’t solved the stupid puzzle at all,” said Hamish.
Charli sighed. “What would that mean, Meg? Would we have to stay here forever?”
“Yes, friend Charli. You cannot return home until you solve the puzzle that releases you. After that you may return to Gondwana as a visitor.”
Charli’s shoulders slumped. “I want to be able to explore Gondwana but go home whenever I want to, like you, Nellie.”
She gave Meg a pleading look, as though he might have some magic to change their situation. Pari jumped onto Charli’s shoulder and snuggled into her neck.
“Oh, damn that blue creature,” said Hamish. “He can’t keep us here forever.”
“It is not so bad here, friend Hamish,” said Meg.
Hamish glared at him. “These stupid rhymes,” he said, pointing to the tablets. “What other order can they go in?”
“Friend Hamish, do you observe the last tablet? Do you not think it is askew?”
“Askew? What sort of word is that?” demanded Hamish. “What do you mean, askew?”
“He means crooked,” said Nellie. “Meg’s right, the final tablet is a little crooked. Look.”
Hamish went closer to the tablet and examined it. “It’s hardly crooked. I mean it’s just off by the slightest degree. Surely that’s not going to make any difference.”
“It might,” said Charli.
“All right. All right,” said Hamish. “I’ll straighten it.”
Hamish used both hands to carefully reposition the tablet.
As soon as the stone was perfectly in place, it sprang back to reveal an orb shaped hole in the ground.
“Look,” said Nellie. “It’s the same shape and size as the gold nugget.”
“The home of the gold!” said Charli.
Hamish placed the gold into the hole. No sooner had it slipped into place than sharp sprays of gold dust spurted from each of the seven tablets. A whirlpool of gold swirled high above the forest canopy before streaming back down again. The leaves of the hugging trees shone with golden light. Sparkles of gold danced all around them.
“Oh! It’s magic,” said Charli, her eyes wide open.
“Wow!” said Hamish.
“We did it! We solved the puzzle,” said Nellie.
Meg grinned. Pari jumped back onto his shoulder.
As they watched the wondrous display, a dazzling gold light appeared in the arch of the hugging trees. In that light they could see a paved path of golden stones that seemed to go on forever.
“It’s just like the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz,” said Charli.
“But this road doesn
’t go to Emerald City; it’s your road home, Charli,” said Nellie.
“And yours too, Nellie.”
Nellie shook her head. “I am going to stay a little longer. I want to explore Gondwana without being caught up in an adventure that I might never get out of.”
“Home,” said Charli but her eyes went to Meg and sadness clouded her face.
“Come on, then,” said Hamish. “I’m out of here.” He strode toward the hugging trees.
“You are a visitor now, Charli,” said Nellie, realising Charli wanted to stay. “You can stay if you want and you won’t get locked in forever.”
Hamish turned. “Well, I’m not staying and I can’t go back without Charli. I’ll get into trouble big time.”
“Nobody will know, Hamish,” said Charli. “Time is different here, remember.”
“Yes,” said Nellie. “We spent a whole day in this adventure but it was only a second in real time.”
“I don’t care,” said Hamish. “This place is weird. I don’t know what might happen if we don’t go together. Time might get split and we could get lost in time. Then we’ll never get home. We came into this Gondwana thing together so it makes sense that we need to go out together.”
Charli remained where she was.
“It is good that you go with your brother, friend Charli.” Charli looked at Meg. “But I would very much like you to come back,” he added, his white teeth flashing in a wide grin.
A tinge of pink coloured Charli’s cheeks as she smiled at Meg. Hamish walked back to them and grabbed Charli’s hand.
“Come on, let’s go,” he said.
Charli reached up and patted Pari. “Goodbye Pari.” Pari bobbed up and down.
“Goodbye, Charli,” said Nellie, giving her friend a hug.
“Goodbye, Nellie.”
“Yes, goodbye,” said Hamish. “Thanks for your help with the lizard dragon, Meg.”
“Goodbye, friend Hamish. Goodbye, friend Charli.”
Charli hesitated, but Hamish pulled her through the arch of the hugging trees. Charli turned, her face bathed in golden light.
“Wait,” she said. “Meg, how do I get back?”
Before Meg could answer, Hamish pulled her onto the path. In an instant they were gone. All Nellie could see was golden light.
Glossary
bandicoot: small, omnivorous Australian marsupials.