by Tom Hoffman
“Our little mishap? Wait, you said the creatures were slithering?”
“Ahh, the muffins are done, and your oatmeal will be ready in less than a minute. Doesn’t it smell tasty?”
Proto was a master of avoidance.
An hour later Orville was hunched over a cart in the Book Emporium, marking prices in the new books and placing them on the shelves. He spotted two of the strangers meandering through the bookshelves, drifting toward the rear of the store. Several minutes later they had surreptitiously slipped behind the blue door.
When he started working at the Book Emporium these strangers had been an unsolved puzzle. Now he knew they were members of the Shapers Guild visiting the Shapers Guild Library, the largest and most complete collection of shaping books in all of Symoca. Orville also knew when Master Marloh opened the blue door using the paw bearing his Metaphysical Adventurers ring the door opened to an ancient spiral stone stairway leading down to the Metaphysical Adventurers headquarters. The headquarters was a vast underground complex containing many thousands of technologically advanced devices brought back from other worlds by MA members.
Orville was prying open a crate of new books when he was startled by a voice behind him.
“Ready for lunch? I shaped each of us a sandwich. I thought we could eat in the meadow behind the old barn where we keep The Glowbird.”
Sophia was referring to the flying machine which resembled an enormous glowbird, a craft built by Mirus Mouse, the inventor fondly referred to as the Mad Mouse of Muridaan by the Metaphysical Adventurers. They often relied on his legendary ingenuity to create unique vehicles and devices for use on their missions. Sophia and Orville had flown The Glowbird deep into Pavorak Gorge when they were tracking the mysterious glowbirds. It was also where they discovered Proto the Rabbiton living in a huge stone cube abandoned many centuries ago by the Elders.
Orville glanced around the shop, whispering to Sophia, “I have something to show you. Watch this.” Orville took the blue marble out of his pocket and set it down on the wooden floor. Sophia watched as the marble rolled down the sloped floor.
“What? Why are you rolling that marble?”
“It’s supposed to roll up the slope, not down.”
Sophia stared at Orville. “Are you trying to be funny?”
“No, I’m not joking. When I rolled this marble in my room, it rolled up the sloped floor, not down.”
“You’re certain?”
“Yes, I’m certain. I tried it five times in a row, and each time it rolled uphill.”
“Let me see it.” Sophia took the blue marble from Orville’s paw. “This is the marble your papa gave you before he disappeared?”
“Yes. Wait, do you think it might have something to do with why he’s missing?”
“I don’t know.” Sophia scrutinized the marble. “It doesn’t look like anything special, just blue glass with some little white lines in it. There’s nothing to suggest why it would roll uphill.” Sophia closed her eyes. Orville could almost hear her brilliant mind working. Seconds later she opened her eyes and gave the marble back to Orville.
Orville looked at her questioningly. “What do you think?”
“Here’s what I think. If the marble rolls uphill at your house but not uphill here, there must be a force present in your home which is acting on it, a force which is not present in the Book Emporium. This mystery force is either attracting or repelling the marble, and is more powerful than gravity, the force which causes objects to roll downhill. We need to go to your house and identify the force responsible for the strange behavior of your papa’s marble.”
“Why would there be some weird force at my house making the marble roll uphill?”
“How would I know? That’s what we have to find out. Let’s go eat lunch and I’ll stop by your house after work. I have to blink back to school, but I’ll meet you after dinner.”
Chapter 5
Blue Molasses
Sophia appeared on Orville’s front doorstep precisely at six o’clock. The front door swung open before her third knock had ended.
“My mum had to work late today so we’ll have plenty of time to investigate the blue marble.”
“Show me where it rolled uphill.”
Sophia followed Orville as he dashed up to his room. He sat on the floor next to his bed and put the marble down in front of him. “Watch what it does.” The marble rolled across the room to the opposite wall.
Sophia’s eyes followed the small blue sphere. When it hit the wall she reached into her pocket and pulled out a brass cube with a bright yellow circle on one side. She set it on the floor and waited. There was a small beep and she scrunched down to examine it. “You were right. My leveling cube says your floor has a three degree upward slope. The marble is definitely rolling up the slope, not down. We need to figure out why. Let’s think about this logically. Your bed is on the outside wall. I don’t see anything under your bed, so if a force is pushing the marble, it would have to come from outside your house, which seems unlikely. That means a force inside your house is attracting the marble. It’s not an electromagnetic force because the marble is made of glass, not metal, so it has to be another form of energy. What’s on the other side of your bedroom wall?”
“My mum’s room.”
“Okay, let’s try something.” Sophia picked up the marble and stepped out into the hallway. She set it on the floor, watching as it rolled up the sloping hall, veering to the right. The marble stopped in front of the bedroom door. “Something in your mum’s room is attracting it.”
Orville looked dubious but opened the bedroom door. The marble rolled briskly across the room, stopping at the base of his mum’s dresser. Sophia got down on her knees and examined the marble closely, being careful not to touch it. “The marble is quivering, vibrating. Whatever is attracting it is very close.”
Orville grabbed Sophia’s arm. “I know what it is. I know exactly what it is!” He stepped over to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer. Reaching in, he withdrew the velvet box containing his Mum’s birthday necklace. He stepped into the hallway, his gaze on the marble as it trailed behind him.
Sophia’s eyes were wide. “This is incredible, but I don’t understand the forces at work here. Why would the marble be attracted to your mum’s necklace?”
Orville shook his head. “I don’t know.” He removed the necklace from its velvet case and set it gingerly on the floor.
The marble sped across the floor, halted six inches from the necklace and began to emit an eerie glow. Sophia gasped, pointing her paw at the necklace. The beautiful translucent blue stone was melting, becoming a viscous fluid.
“It looks like blue molasses. What’s it doing?”
Orville watched in astonishment as the blue liquid ran across the floor toward the glowing marble. The liquid flowed over it and was absorbed into it, the marble growing to twice its original size.
Sophia and Orville stared in silence at the now motionless marble, trying to fathom what they had just seen. It seemed impossible, and yet they had both witnessed it.
“The stone is gone from Mum’s necklace! What am I going to tell her?”
Sophia picked up the necklace and held it in front of her. She flicked her paw and with a flash of light a blue gem appeared in the silver mounting. “This new stone looks exactly like the original one. Put the necklace back in your mum’s dresser and let’s figure out what just happened.”
Orville returned the necklace and they hurried downstairs. Sophia flopped down on the sofa and held up the blue marble with one paw, studying it closely. “It looks identical, except it’s larger now. It’s the same sky blue color with some barely visible white wiggly lines inside it.”
“And now that it’s merged with the gem from the necklace it doesn’t roll uphill.”
“This is a good puzzle. Let’s try to figure it out. Your papa gave you this marble and told you it was magic. He may have known something about the marble that he wasn’t tellin
g you, but it’s also possible he thought it was simply a glass marble and was being silly when he told you it was magic. Either way, we know it’s not an ordinary marble. We also know the necklace that your inner voice told you to buy contained a gem made of the same material as the blue marble. For some reason they were attracted to each other and when they were close enough they merged.”
“It could be important that the stone from the necklace is the one that turned to liquid and joined the marble, and not the other way around.”
“That’s a good thought. A very good thought, as a matter of fact. The marble your papa gave you is the driving force behind this strange event. Now, how does all this help us?”
Orville frowned. “It doesn’t help us at all, really. It’s still a complete mystery and we have no idea what’s happening. Do you think Master Marloh might know something about it? We could show him the blue marble and see if he can identify it.”
“Good idea. I’ll do some research in the school library and you show the marble to Master Marloh. Even if he doesn’t know what it is, he might know a Metaphysical Adventurer who could help us find out.”
Orville nodded. “I’m getting a strong feeling about this. If we follow the trail of the blue marble it will lead us to whatever is trying to stop time in Symoca.”
“I know it will. That’s how the universe works.”
Orville woke up in the middle of the night with the sudden insight that Proto might be able to identify the marble. The following morning he grabbed the blue marble and ran downstairs.
“Hey, Proto, you know a lot about geology and stones and gems, right?”
“I have read quite a number of books on those subjects. Why do you ask?”
“I’m trying to identify this stone.” He held the marble out for Proto to see.
Proto took the marble from Orville’s paw and held it up to the window, letting the morning sunlight pass through it. “Quite lovely. I will use my full spectrum magnosensor to examine it more closely.” Proto’s eyes glowed with a brilliant orange light as he studied the marble, turning it slowly in his hand. “Very peculiar.”
“What’s peculiar? What do you see?”
“What is peculiar is that I have no idea what I’m looking at. The marble is not glass and is not a naturally forming stone or crystal. I’m afraid I am unable to identify this. It is almost certainly a synthetic material, but what it might be I cannot say.”
“Thanks, that actually helps a lot to know it’s synthetic. I’m going to show it to Master Marloh and see if he knows what it is.”
“Whatever it is, it’s quite stunning. It reminds me of the blue gem in the necklace you gave Mum for her birthday.”
Orville nodded, but said nothing.
Proto turned back to the stove. “Ahhh, the snapberry flapcakes are done. Have a seat, they’re best when they’re nice and warm.”
Chapter 6
The Dragonfly
Orville arrived at the Book Emporium to find Master Marloh unlocking the front door.
“Good morning, Orville. You’re here earlier than usual.”
“I had something I wanted to ask you before any customers arrived.”
“That sounds serious. What did you want to talk about?”
Orville held out the blue marble for Master Marloh to see. “I’m trying to find out what this is made of. Proto thinks it’s a synthetic material but he’s never seen anything like it before.”
“Interesting. How did you come to possess such an object?”
Orville told Master Marloh everything, including Sophia’s dream about time stopping in Symoca, and that Papa had given him the marble. Master Marloh’s eyes had widened slightly when Orville told him how the stone from his Mum’s necklace had liquified and merged with the marble.
“You’re certain your inner voice told you to buy that particular necklace?”
“More than certain. Sophia felt it just as strongly as I did.”
Master Marloh absently rolled the blue marble around in his paw, lost in thought. Finally Orville said, “What do you think?”
“Sorry, you’ve given me a great deal of information to process. Something is most certainly afoot here. Your search for the true origin of this marble must continue. If you would be so kind to keep an eye on the shop, I will take the marble down to the Metaphysical Adventurers headquarters. If no one is able to identify it, you and Sophia will have to visit a very reclusive mouse who most certainly will be able to tell you what it is. Unfortunately, he resides in a rather inaccessible area and your trip will require a certain amount of preparation.”
Master Marloh looked as though someone had just told him a humorous anecdote. Orville’s eyes narrowed. Things that amused Master Marloh never seemed to amuse Orville.
Half an hour later Master Marloh returned from the Metaphysical Adventurers headquarters far below the shop. There were customers in the store so Master Marloh spoke in a hushed voice. “No luck, I’m afraid. They all agree with Proto that it’s a synthetic material, but were at a loss to explain how it could transform into a liquid and then back to a solid again. Whatever the substance is, it’s many, many times harder than glass or stone or crystal, maybe even harder than Morsennium, the material used by the Anarkkians to build their interstellar ships.”
“So we have to visit this reclusive friend of yours?”
Master Marloh gave Orville the amused look again. “Yes, I’m afraid so, but first you’ll need to pay a visit to Mirus Mouse. Tell him you need to visit Ollo the Rock Mouse.”
Orville tried to sound enthused. “We’ll talk to Mirus. You think this Ollo the Rock Mouse fellow can identify the marble?”
“I will tell you this much, if Ollo the Rock Mouse doesn’t know what it is, then no one on this planet will know. I’ll send a thought cloud to Sophia and tell her to meet you at Mirus’ complex tomorrow morning. I’ll also let the dean of her school know she’ll be gone for a day or two.”
“A day or two? How far away does Ollo the Rock Mouse live?”
“Oh, I think it’s about five hundred miles or so southwest of Muridaan Falls. Finding his house will be a little bit tricky, I’m afraid. Mirus will give you a map showing the general location of his hideaway.”
Orville was quite certain Master Marloh was not telling him everything he knew about Ollo the Rock Mouse.
Now that Orville’s mum knew he was a member of the Metaphysical Adventurers and a proficient shaper, it was a far simpler task to go adventuring with Sophia. His mum was familiar with the routine, having seen Orville’s papa Eldon go out on hundreds of missions. Orville told his mum he and Sophia would be gone for two days, assuring her it was not a dangerous trip, they were just going to visit a Metaphysical Adventurer named Ollo the Rock Mouse.
Orville’s Mum furrowed her eyebrows. “Ollo the Rock Mouse… now why does that name sound so familiar? You know, I think your papa may have gone to see him once.” A light blinked on in her eyes. “Oh! Ollo the Rock Mouse!” She gave a silly grin.
“What? Why is everyone laughing about this mouse? He’s a geologist or something, I think. He knows all about rocks and gems.”
Orville’s Mum smiled and said, “Have a safe trip, sweetie. Say hello to Sophia for me.”
Orville shrugged and gave his Mum a hug. He’d find out soon enough about Ollo the Rock Mouse. Slinging his pack onto his shoulder he headed for the front door. Less than an hour later he stood at the gates of Mirus Mouse’s sprawling twenty acre complex. He eyed the rows of long buildings and enormous barns, containing a multitude of vehicles built by Mirus over the years. Orville remembered when Mirus had taught him how to fly The Glowbird. There was no doubt Mirus was a brilliant and innovative inventor, but he was also a smidgeon on the eccentric side. Maybe a lot more than a smidgeon. Orville grinned to himself, abruptly realizing it was the same silly grin his Mum had given when she mentioned Ollo the Rock Mouse.
Orville swung the gate open and strolled into the complex. His ears perked up a
t the sound of voices emerging from a low green building. When he reached the structure he peered in through an open door and gave a squeak of fright, skittering backwards. A thirty foot long green iridescent dragonfly was perched in the middle of the cavernous room, its wings moving lazily up and down. A raucous laugh resembling the cry of the wild Kukululu bird echoed through the building. Orville recognized the laugh and poked his head back through the doorway.
“What’s the matter, never seen a Dragonfly before? Get in here and I’ll show you how to fly her. It’s as easy as walking!” Mirus Mouse stepped out from behind the Dragonfly and let loose another screechy bird laugh.
“Hello, Mirus. I wasn’t exactly scared of the Dragonfly. I thought I heard Sophia so I went to check.”
Sophia popped out from behind the huge green insect and waved. “What do you think? Mirus invented Dragonflies. It’s amazing, it has two duplonium motors and flies way faster than The Glowbird. It’s what the Dragonfly Squadron uses. He said I could name this one The Dragonfly.”
Mirus slapped his leg and cried out, “Flies faster than The Glowbird? That’s nothing! It can take off straight up into the air and hovers like a real dragonfly! You could land her on top of a pin if you wanted to. This one’s an early version of the Dragonfly Squadron ships. Hop in and I’ll show you how she works. You’d better be a fast learner, because you leave in a half hour for Ollo the Rock Mouse’s secret hideout.”
Orville stepped across the room, his eyes sweeping the gigantic mechanical insect. “This thing really flies?”
Mirus Mouse gave a great screech. “Great heavens, mouse, of course she flies! Hop in and I’ll show you how.”
Orville looked hesitant, but climbed into the cockpit next to Sophia. Mirus Mouse clambered into the seat behind them. “She’ll carry four mice easy as pie, she’s three times faster than The Glowbird and even easier to fly. Hey, that rhymes! All right, my young friends, fly her just like The Glowbird but you don’t need to get her up to forty miles an hour before you lift off. Both front seats have controls, just like you’re used to. Push the left stick forward and her wings start flapping, the farther you push it the faster they flap. Push it more than halfway forward and she’ll go straight up like a red rocket on Symoca Day. Left stick left, she rotates left, left stick right, she rotates right. Got it? Push the right stick and she’ll fly forward, pull it back and she’ll fly backwards. You heard me right, she’ll fly backwards, I said! Push it left, she flies left, push it right, she flies right. Got it? Ready to go?”