Quixote crept through the secret passages until he found himself outside his Aunt and Uncle’s room. He spied through the peephole, seeing them lying in their bed asleep, illuminated by a solitary weak candle.
The earth shook and he tumbled over, landing on the floor. He pulled himself back up and peered back through the spy hole. They had not woken.
Good. I will try them as a test.
He felt around in the darkness, discovering he could see if he willed it, as if a dull grey light had been turned on. He located the mechanism that opened the secret panel and pressed it, and then slid the panel silently to one side.
Heart pounding, he slipped into his Aunt and Uncle’s bedroom, feeling excited, yet on edge, as if he was creeping into a den of sleeping lions.
In a large four poster bed Uncle Bear-Nard and Aunty Gertrude slept. He walked right up to them, pulling faces, though the fun of it soon wore off. The ninja suit, he reasoned, would make him nearly invisible. What would happen though if he made a noise, woke them up and then tried to sneak out?
***
‘Ah guys. Come look,’ Ari said.
The girls came and stood by him, as he pointed to the mirror, now pulled out from the wall and twisted half way round.
‘What has he done?’ Lexington asked.
Melaleuca stared into the side that Quixote had exposed and saw herself as a sleek, muscled gymnast. Shocked, she stepped back and studied the person more.
‘Ari, Lex, look.’
They stared into the mirror. Staring back at them was the gymnast, and a small, ancient-looking, aged North American Indian, and Lexington merely holding her bracelet in her hand.
‘Who are they?’ Ari asked.
Lexington dashed on the detective outfit and looking in the mirror saw herself as a tall, gangly, big-nosed detective.
‘This reverse viewing apparatus shows us what other people see when we don the costumes and bracelets. Simple really. But how does it work?’
‘So Quixote discovered another thing,’ Melaleuca said without thinking.
Lexington prickled at this statement, though held her silence.
‘What I meant was...’ Melaleuca said.
Lexington shoved her hand up to block Melaleuca’s words, saying, ‘Tut. We have not found Quixote yet and look.’
She bent down and picked up two small paper labels and held them up for the others to read.
‘Ninja and Sumo,’ Ari read out. He looked at Lexington for the why.
‘Quixote wanted to go and scare Aunty Gertrude,’ Lexington replied, pulling the bracelet off so the others would understand her. ‘It is logical that somehow he discovered this mirror and upon seeing how he looked, decided to go and scare her. If anyone is going to give us away, perhaps it might be him.’
‘Right let’s go and find him,’ Melaleuca said.
***
They arrived at the peephole of their Aunt and Uncle’s room in time to see Quixote prodding the face of Aunty Gertrude.
‘What is he doing?’ Melaleuca said. ‘We have to stop him.’
Lexington pulled at her.
‘Let me see.’
Melaleuca moved aside.
Quixote kept on prodding the face of his Aunt, and her eyes blinked open, startled to see him bending over her. He pulled back into the shadows.
‘Uh oh,’ Lexington said, narrating what she saw. ‘Looks like she is awake.’
Aunty Gertrude looked around, though could see nothing. She held up the candle, sweeping the room with her eyes. Seeing nothing, she lay back down.
Lexington relayed what she saw again.
‘What does he think he is doing? Ari get in there and get him out,’ Melaleuca said.
Aunty Gertrude appeared to have fallen asleep again and Quixote approached the bed and prodded her cheek. Like lightening Aunty Gertrude threw her bony hand out and grabbed Quixote’s finger.
‘You will pay,’ Aunty Gertrude said.
Uncle Bear-Nard stirred beside her.
Quixote yanked his finger back.
Instead of moving back into the shadows, he stood there. Aunty Gertrude grabbed the candle and held it up.
Quixote leant forward and yelled at her, ‘Arrrrgggghhhh!’
‘Ahhhhhhhhhhh!’ Aunty Gertrude shrieked, throwing the candle backwards in her panic, causing it to land on Uncle Bear-Nard.
Chapter 26 - Day Two
Argus North teetered at the edge of a ravine, hearing a fast moving river way below him in the darkness, and pulled himself back in a hurry.
Great. Which way now.
By his calculations this was the second alluvial valley, and this was the first ravine. Something inside him told him he should have known about the ravine.
‘SHUT UP!’
Haunting memories had been coming back; glimpses of the men of Ori; horrid slaying of animals and eating them raw. With his old body, he had suppressed his entrenched memories, but now it seemed his young body forced the memories up from below, stirring up a burning desire for revenge.
All he could do was sit and wait for daylight, as now he needed to head west, but nightfall alongside a ravine could prove too risky.
***
The candle landed on Uncle Bear-Nard, and he yelped and thrust himself up.
Ari fumbled at the secret panel.
‘Hurry Ari,’ Melaleuca said.
Lexington carried on peering through the peep hole, while Melaleuca bent down to help Ari.
Aunty Gertrude grabbed at Uncle Bear-Nard, gripping her blanket tight.
‘B...B...B...B...’
Soothing his head he peered around to see what perturbed her.
‘What is it dear?’
‘L..l...l..l...look.’
She pointed at her assailant in the shadows.
A calm Uncle Bear-Nard stared at the figure, grabbed the still burning candle, and held it up.
‘What do you want?’
‘Be nice to the kids!!!’
Ari and Melaleuca rushed into the room and grabbed Quixote, though Aunty Gertrude and Uncle Bear-Nard saw a gymnast and an Indian rushing at them.
Aunty Gertrude clambered up onto the headboard of the bed, yelling, ‘It’s them...they are...b.b.back...the m...m...m..Marauders....Bear-Nard do something.’
Uncle Bear-Nard hopped out of bed, and approached them, while Aunty Gertrude fell to her knees, screwed her face up and started pleading.
‘Please...not again...stop...it was Captain HeGood and that boy Deth...he betrayed you. Not me.’
‘Please she is upset,’ Uncle Bear-Nard said, ‘go that I may calm her.’
Melaleuca and Ari pulled Quixote back, wrestling with him as his costume started to take control.
‘I’ll cut your spleen out and feed it to the dogs,’ Quixote yelled.
Once behind the panel, it took all of Ari’s strength to pin him to the ground and pull his bracelet off.
Melaleuca knelt.
‘What on earth were you thinking?’
Quixote grimaced, trying to suppress a grin. ‘Not sure. Wanted to scare her and then, there I was.’
Ari sighed.
‘You lost control again.’
‘I know….I know…sorry.’
‘A serendipitous discovery though,’ Lexington said.
‘Simple words?’ Ari said.
‘Aunty Gertrude and someone named Deth had something to do with the Marauders. And a betrayal.’
A loud sob came from the bedroom, and Lexington spied through the peephole again.
‘What’s happening?’ Melaleuca asked.
‘She is crying. For real I think.’
Uncle Bear-Nard had his arm around her, comforting her until her sobbing stopped.
‘I know who is to blame,’ Aunty Gertrude said. ‘Those children. Did you see them after school? Did you?’ Her voice rose in pitch. ‘Tomorrow I shall instruct the Head Discipliner to run them through the tests, all the tests, all of them, all in one day.’
Firm spee
ch replaced Uncle Bear-Nard’s stutter.
‘Oh dear. I am greatly concerned for you now.’
‘Why?’
‘You told the council you bought in outsiders because if the appointed time arrives we must be prepared.’
‘Who told you?’
‘I may be a doddery old fool, fallen from grace, but there are those who remember the name this family once held. What happens to your plan if they fail?’
She pulled away from him.
‘You were always soft. And this mess is entirely your fault, your fault, all of it.’
‘Maybe. But now you have to help them or you will look foolish. You told the council I wanted to stop them going to the Vahn, so it’s on your head now.’
He softened his gaze in thought, adding, ‘I have asked too much of you. I am truly sorry, but events bigger than you and I are at risk here. They must not fail at the Vahn. Tomorrow you shall instruct the Head Discipliner to back off and let them undergo what all normal students get there.’
She sneered at him,
‘Why? Afraid they can’t handle a little pain?’
‘On the contrary, I fear they may overturn everything we believe in.’
She fell silent and stifled a few more sobs.
Uncle Bear-Nard touched her shoulder. She shrugged it off. Undeterred, he reached out again, placing a hand on her leg. She slapped his hand hard and he withdrew it.
As the cousins headed back to the attic room, it occurred to Lexington that Quixote’s recklessness once again turned up valuable clues.
I don’t know how he does it.
Half way there, and irked by Quixote’s behaviour, Lexington said, ‘Just as a reminder, Quixote. We agreed not to use the costumes until we knew more.’
His grin could not have been bigger.
‘Actually cousin, we decided not to use them to save the kids of New Wakefield until we knew more. Besides, now we know that two costumes can be combined.’
Lexington paused, shut her eyes, and rubbed them.
‘We need to know more. Lots more. Lots, lots, lots more. Does no one else get this?”
Melaleuca and Ari halted and turned to listen,
‘I mean, Uncle Bear-Nard mentioned an appointed time, and so did that Carrion Master Sah man today. We need to know what that appointed time is.’
Quixote rolled his eyes.
‘Why this, why that, blah, blah, blah.’
Lexington thrust her head at Quixote’s head, and everyone looked startled at her.
Gentleness.
With a light touch she squeezed Quixote’s mouth shut.
‘Hush cousin. Big people with big brains talking. Now I am not one for going on feelings, but if I did, I would say it feels like something really big is at stake and everyone is afraid of talking about it. A time of appointment in a society like this could only mean bad things, retribution or punishment.’
Quixote pulled her hand away and before he could speak, Melaleuca placed her hand over his mouth.
‘Oh?’ Melaleuca asked.
‘It’s logical,’ Lexington said ‘Why would a people hide themselves away from the world and then act like we have seen? Simple. They think they have a special purpose. Now, all we have to do is find that special purpose, and....and...’
It suddenly dawned on her the special purpose could be the linking theory she sought. ‘That’s it!!!’
With gusto, she ripped through an explanation of how her hyper-thesis needed a key linking theory.
‘How many theories is that now?’ Melaleuca asked.
Quixote sniggered at her, ‘I’ve got a theory.’
Ari gave him a small shove.
‘Qui, enough,’ Melaleuca said realising she needed to state what she felt as well. ‘We are part of something much larger. I’ve felt it for a while now. Our parents hid us from someone or something. Something happened thirty years ago, and yes somehow we are involved. But we are still to keep playing, pretending, moving forward. Lexington is most likely onto something. The costumes are another major key, but we must keep things fun. I think this all has something to do with our noble heritage, our bloodline.’
‘How can you just know that?’ Lexington asked.
Melaleuca let out a large breath.
‘I was defending you. I also feel we have to work better as a team. Sooner, not later. Now let’s get back to the rooms. We have more days to survive at the Vahn.’
In the dim, grey light of the candles, Lexington glared at her.
‘I told you I am not going back.’
‘You heard Uncle. The Vahn will be told to back off.’
‘But you don’t understand.’
‘Yes I do. You cannot bear to watch the children in their wretched state. You would rather stay here and help them by solving the mystery of the bracelets, the costumes, us, the land, and so on.’
Lexington dropped her mouth open, silenced. It was exactly how she felt.
‘I can see no other way.’ Melaleuca added. ‘After today, I know my feelings are correct. We will prevail.’
‘I just can’t go back Mel.’
Melaleuca felt herself getting impatient.
‘Think about not going back. Or, sure we could attack the Vahn, or run away, or just wander day and night as the so called “Marauders.” Who then is going to tell us what we need to know? How will we find this Karena? What about the door in the detention pit? Think straight. Do what you have always done. Use your logic. We have to go back. Besides we can’t be hurt like today.’
‘We don’t know that for sure.’
‘We will do tomorrow,’ Melaleuca said.
Lexington felt an immense anger at Melaleuca. How dare she think she could force her into going back.
Just wait until the morning; we’ll see who goes back.
Ari slid between both of the girls.
‘Can I say what I think?’
‘What?’ They both replied.
‘Lex, since we have got here, it’s your head and heart that have been fighting, I have seen you do it before, but not like this. Your hate of watching things suffer comes from your gentleness; this we know, but then your need to know “why” sits awkwardly with it. I think it means if something has to suffer for you to work something out, you are very conflicted. You were told to learn from Quixote with your heart, not be like him. I think this simply means have more fun, silly playful fun. And besides, the one thing you hate doing, despite being soft by nature, is feeling what other people feel. Quixote is to blame for that.’
‘Hey!’ Quixote protested.
‘Oh Quixote stop. You have loved bugging her for years, despite adoring her.’
‘Hey,’ he said sheepishly.
Melaleuca nodded to Ari.
‘That was well said Ari.’
That put Lexington in her place.
‘And Mel,’ Ari carried on, ‘you don’t have to make all the decisions. The instructions were for you to make a decision when one cannot be made. That means only make the decision when none of us can make one or we are all arguing. Sometimes we can make decisions.’
Melaleuca shuffled back, catching a smug smile from Lexington.
‘Have you been slowly thinking this out for a while?’ Melaleuca asked him.
‘Er, yeah, I guess. I just wanted to have my say.’
Lexington folded her arms and huffed her chest out.
‘So since everyone knows me so well. How am I going to go back to the Vahn then? Mmmm?’
Melaleuca and Quixote looked to Ari for the answer. Ari hesitated, not wanting to upset her.
‘I’m not sure, but I think Quixote, Mel and me are not as affected, so ─ ’
‘Oh! So now I am to be like all three of you, am I? It’s not enough I have to be like Quixote but ─ ’
‘We cannot be hurt,’ Quixote said and kicked her shin.
Lexington yelped in pain and grabbed at her shin. ‘Why did you do that?’
‘Huh? How come it hurt?’
&n
bsp; Melaleuca shook her head, and could see the problem. ‘Lex. This means the costumes only work when we are having fun, enjoying it, playing and pretending. You ─ ’
‘Oh terrific! So I am not protected at the Vahn then either now!’
Seeing that no amount of cajoling could shift her, Melaleuca finally said, ‘Don’t go then. Stay. We will figure something out. We’ll sleep on this and in the morning see how we feel.’
***
After waking up, Lexington stood in her bedroom while the others trundled downstairs. She hated to admit it, but she needed to go back to the Vahn, though she did not relish the idea. She needed a way to make the experience enjoyable? How though? Wear one of the costumes, perhaps? A scientist; a geographer; the archaeologist; any of them would make it more fun and interesting.
But I would be seen as a Marauder……
She stood in the attic staring into the mirror, checking how she looked in the new sackcloth uniform. Her face appeared to be hers, though she thought she looked a little more rugged than normal. Perhaps the sackcloth costumes would work.
Her thoughts turned to Quixote, wondering, how he made it fun, even without a costume. He just played all the time. Was that what it meant “to learn” from him? She reached for her notebook, and the idea struck her that she could use it as a shield by pretending to be a reporter. Her job would be to report as a spectator, and not get involved.
She shuddered. Jotting things down could not totally hold at bay the oppressive feeling that emanated from the Vahn, but it might be enough. Perhaps she could study Quixote and see how he copes with the day.
Tempted to talk to her inner voice, she went to write the word “why,” when she spied Pembrooke below pulling the cart and horses into place.
***
Ari, Quixote and Melaleuca stood at the bottom of the Grand Ascension Stairs. As the air had a slight chill in it, they had taken the liberty of donning the cloaks Antavahni had given them.
‘So Lex is not coming then?’ Quixote asked.
‘We’ll see,’ Melaleuca replied. ‘Could be good if she stays here. If she cannot play or pretend, or the costume stops working, she won’t make it through another day, let alone a week.’
Vahn and the Bold Extraction, The Page 5