by Martha Carr
Bernie got out of the car and followed behind her. Maggie turned and walked back to the car as the branches settled back into place. She narrowed her gaze and stared at the tree a moment before walking back up the driveway, more slowly this time. Again, the branches swayed ever so slightly toward her.
“What the hell?” Maggie stood there with her hands on her hips.
Bernie rolled his eyes and walked past her, muttering, “You’re waking up to the magic inside of you. Of course the trees would all know. Your average Peabrain knows the trees can talk to each other. That’s basic information.” He threw his hands up in the air, still walking toward the door as Maggie walked backward behind him, watching the branches slowly drop. Her mouth opened in surprise as she saw the branches sway in nearby trees like a rolling wave down the street.
Bernie turned and waited for her by the steps. “The word’s out, sister. The Earth knows you’re the Elemental and the ship is spreading the word. It’s a good thing. The Earth will instinctively do its best to protect you. I mean, there are limits, mind you.” He shrugged and put out his hands. “That’s why I’m assigned to be with you, at least for the next few years.”
Maggie heard the word years and almost said something, but a memory was just taking shape in her mind, capturing her attention. She walked back by the tree and saw the branches sway. “I remember,” she whispered, her eyes moving back and forth between the tree in front of her and the other trees that lined the street. “Dad showed me.”
She was so young when he first took her to meet the trees, introducing them by name, making a game out of it. “I had to be only four years old. He said, they were all my friends. I remember the branches moving.” It felt like her head was swimming as her eyes glistened. She slowly walked over to the young redbud and put out her hand, touching the bark with her fingertips. “That hum, I’ve felt that before.” She turned and looked at Bernie who was walking over to her side. “I think I felt it when I was little. I know I felt it when I held the compass.”
“Makes sense. You are a connection between the ship and everything the ship helps to create. That’s the energy of the ship you’re feeling. Her energy’s moving through you.”
The tree’s branches rustled, and Maggie watched as one by one, trees rustled in response on down the street, passing into the distance.
Maggie felt an ache in her chest, longing for the memory to stay with her. “He was teaching me,” she said, as a tear fell down her cheek. Small leaves from the tree fell over her head, dropping onto her shoulders.
“If you’re close enough to them, the trees will feel what you feel. It feels your pain.”
Maggie felt a shiver go down her spine and a cool thread of energy pass through her head. She felt the longing pass from her chest and a sense of peace came over her, the humming traveling down her arm and into the tree. Again, the branches rustled, sending out a signal that passed down the line as the sunlight faded in the sky. Maggie smiled, keeping her hand still. “They’re telling each other, all is well. I can feel it.”
“I tell you, I’ve been a Huldu going on two centuries and this still gets me.” Bernie pulled a stained rag out of his back pocket and wiped his face. “You have anything to eat? Maybe a drink?”
Maggie ignored him and shut her eyes, feeling the energy flow through her, a crooked smile coming across her face. “He was trying to teach me.”
“Well of course he was teaching you. It was part of his duties. The trees would have been at the top of the list. I told you, basic even for Peabrains. Trees can talk to each other from miles away, even share water or food through their roots. They have their own kind of magic.”
Maggie removed her hand and felt the hum subside and the energy seep back somewhere deep inside of her. She was still left with a sense of calm. “For a second it was like he was back by my side, holding my hand.”
“That’s the Earth sharing its memory with you. Let go of it. Like I said, you can get stuck there.” He took her by the hand, grounding her as the calm faded. “I know, sorry about that but it’s necessary. You’re in danger and the compass is missing. Keep your head in the very deadly game. The Kashgars will want to use you to get the ship moving, but in the wrong direction.”
“I don’t think a Kashgar has the compass. I can’t believe I’m going to use this word, but I think a Peabrain took it.” Maggie stood on her lawn, pressing her lips together, looking around at her house and the street she had known all of her life. Across the street Mrs. Feitig waved to her as she got her mail out of the mailbox. “This is where we belong. We need to stay in this orbit.”
“Well, maybe.”
“No, really. For better or worse, this has become our home. It’s not a ship to us, it’s home. I’ll defend it, if that’s what we’re talking about, but I need more information.” Maggie put her hands on her hips and stood up straighter, her chin up. She looked at Bernie, determined. “It’s the only way I’ll cooperate with this whole thing. Otherwise, I find the compass on my own and I destroy it. If you can’t find it, you can’t use it to move the Earth anywhere else.”
“A little bit of extortion, but I get it.” Bernie rubbed his hands together. “I can work with it. Hell, we’ve been here this long, a few hundred more years won’t matter. We’ll negotiate.”
“No, we won’t.”
“Table that for later. I can see you’re fired up. Let me grab some chow from your kitchen and there’s something special I want to show you.” Bernie headed for the stairs, climbing to the porch.
“Show me now.”
“Come on, lady, give me a little food, some nectar of the gods. A little Lucky Charms. My cousin, Herbie loves those. I’d even take a bagel at this point. No salad, I can make that myself.”
Maggie was already walking back to the car, her hand on the door.
“Fine!” Bernie climbed down the stairs and looked around to see if anyone was watching. The street was empty. “Can’t afford to break any more rules today. Don’t need another oversight committee meeting about what Bernie’s done wrong this year.” He brushed his hands together quickly, increasing the speed until his hands were a blur. Just as suddenly, he pulled them apart creating an oversized bubble that found its way to Maggie, enveloping her.
“Bernie, you’re gonna have to warn me before you pull these stunts.” The bubble encased her as the sounds of birds and the wind muffled and the light dimmed. “Hey, aren’t you coming with me?”
“I’ll be right behind you. No worries.”
Chapter Eleven
His voice trailed off as the last of the day’s light came back and she found herself standing outside of the main library in downtown Austin behind the dumpsters. The bubble popped and the sound returned as a man in dirty cargo pants and three layers of sweat shirts ambled past her pushing a shopping cart. “More bubbles,” he muttered, walking past her. “Just look away, Johnny, it’s not real.”
Bernie appeared by her side, the bubble making a distinct ‘pop’ as the man twisted around and stared at the gnome.
“Not sure what it says that I keep dreaming up a small, ugly old man for a friend.”
Bernie arched an eyebrow. “Right back at you.”
“The girl’s an improvement. You got any food, imaginary friend?”
“Give him whatever it was you took from my house,” said Maggie, nudging Bernie in the shoulder.
“Who says I took anything?”
“I’m a pretty good detective, Bernie. You sent me ahead so you could magically pilfer from my house. Do it. Give it to him.”
Bernie let out a resigned sigh. “Fine, but I’m going to need food pretty soon. I can’t go forever without a little MSG and sugar.” He pulled a bag of Milano cookies from inside of his overalls and handed them over.
“Oooh, chocolate mint. My favorite. See you back here later?”
“He knows you, doesn’t he? This isn’t your first trip here.”
“Slim, here has an amazing knack for being at t
he dumpster just when I arrive. Come on, this isn’t why I brought you here.”
Slim called after Bernie. “Bring a Happy Meal the next time, but this time make sure it’s still warm.”
Maggie smiled, catching up with Bernie as they headed toward the main doors. “You’re taking care of him. No need to comment.”
They went into the lobby and Maggie passed through the metal detectors, setting off a loud beeping noise. She emptied her pockets into a yellow plastic bowl and tried again, with the same results. She took off her coat and handed it over as a guard patted her down, finding nothing. At last she was allowed to past through, but not without a few long looks from others.
Bernie walked through with no problem and caught up to her. “We’re going to the second floor, follow me. Don’t let the metal detector get to you. More odd things are going to keep happening to you now. Your peabrain is waking up and the element buried inside of you is activated. No going back.”
“Should make getting on planes fun.”
They got to the second floor and he took her by the elbow, passing through the stacks to a back wall, where he kept on walking, easily pulling her through the wall to a hidden room. Maggie spun around, catching her bearings. “That was so cool! What just happened?”
Bernie rolled his eyes. “Basic magic. You’re too easily impressed.” He went to a large purple tome set up on an easel in front of tall wooden shelves filled with old books. “The mayor is an Elf and we go way back. When they started building the new library he offered to build this room. It’s a secure place to keep what we’ve managed to write down since the great fire. No Kashgar can get in here, those tall bastards.”
Maggie looked over his shoulder at the book. “That’s a family tree.” She touched the thin, gold lines that connected the names.
“This is my family line.” Bernie puffed out his chest, smiling. “Huldus tracing all the way back to when the ship was first boarded.
“There’s over a hundred names. You go all the way back to…” She squinted, reading out the name at the top of the tree. “Erie.”
“Erie was the head of all the Huldus on this ship and the one who came up with the idea to break apart the main parts of the engine. He fought Peres, the leader of the Kashgars and saved everything on the Earth with his quick thinking.”
Maggie smiled at him. “You come from a very noble line of gnomes.”
Bernie blushed and sputtered, small bubbles erupting from his mouth and tiny fireflies dancing in the air. “Okay, enough of that. Not why we’re here.” He turned the pages carefully, scanning the ancient text. “Yeah, yeah, here it is. Look at this. This is why I brought you here. It’s all that’s left about the Earth’s own Elemental and the compass. That would now be you.”
Maggie leaned over, rubbing the words with her finger, even though she couldn’t read the ancient hieroglyphics. “This was about one of my ancestors.”
“All the way down to you. This book can’t leave here but we can take some of the rules and spells and try them out. I’ll tutor you into being an Elemental. Sorry, but it’s gonna have to do. Look at this, it says you should be able to work a few spells. So much to learn! Try saying, regurus abilinum.”
“Regurus abilinum.” Maggie’s body shook and bubbles appeared in her palms, changing into flowers that dropped onto the floor, one right after the other. She tried shaking her hands but that only made the flowers drop faster. “Tell me you have an off switch on this, Bernie!”
“That was impressive even if it’s not exactly what was supposed to happen! You have some powers, kid. I’m looking, I’m looking. Somewhere… somewhere…” He flipped the delicate pages as fast as he dared, running his finger up and down the symbols, muttering pieces of spells.
The flowers continued to fall, piling up around Maggie’s ankles. The scent of magnolias filled the room with a sickening sweet smell that was making her nauseous.
“Killing weeds, fending off bears, helping trolls, finding mushrooms… Ah, here it is.” He smiled and tapped the book.
“Can you celebrate later? I’ve become my own florist over here.” Maggie lifted her hands in frustration, creating a cascade of blossoms.
“You have to admit, it’s kind of pretty.” Bernie plucked a blossom and smelled it, stuffing it into his pocket. “Right, okay, excalipis abilinum no more.”
Maggie felt a warm tingling in her hands and the last of the flowers appeared with some of their petals missing, fading into bubbles and harmlessly popping.
“Maybe we need a little more study before we try another spell.”
Bernie nodded, kicking away some of the flowers. “I see your point. This is more of a long-term project. No quick fixes.”
“Tell me what you meant when you yelled, I was living on borrowed time.”
“Oooh that.” He pursed his lips, twiddling his thumbs. “To be honest, I don’t know. All I have are the old stories, which are open to interpretation.”
“If you’re not going to be straight with me, I’m leaving, just as soon as I find a door.” Maggie pushed at the wall where they came in, but nothing happened.
“The Earth could sense at any given moment you’re not supposed to still be here and, shall we say, adjust appropriately.”
“You mean, kill me off.”
“That’s one way of putting it. Seems a little harsh but okay.” Bernie scratched the top of his head, wrinkling his nose.
“My death would seem harsh to me.”
“I can see that. Good news, the earth may not notice this particular imbalance. Here’s the tricky part. You’re the basic Elemental that the earth can communicate with, which means she may see you as necessary and weigh things out. I’m not saying the ship thinks.” Bernie squinted his eyes, raising his shoulders to his ears. “But there’s a kind of intelligence that weighs what’s best for the greater number. It was built into the giant organism to help protect the voyage. She may see you as necessary for the greater good.”
“But if she doesn’t, if the compass is lost forever, poof.” Maggie felt a tightness in her chest just thinking about the prospect. Mom and Diana. Do I warn them?
Bernie had turned back to the book and was distracted, turning more pages and muttering words. “Here’s what we need right now. Yeah, that should do it, well at least get us started.”
“Give me more nouns, Bernie. I sense we’re off on another adventure and this time I’d like some warning.”
“We have the beginning of a plan to locate the compass. A way to track it that requires you. See here,” he said, running his finger along the raised symbols, “the Elemental of the compass can draw on the energy of the Earth and follow the vibrations straight to the compass.”
“Bernie, that’s great but I have no idea how to do that. Just because I was able to get in touch with one tree doesn’t mean I’ve mastered anything. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Take off my shoes, stand in the dirt, maybe.”
“Interesting idea but the dirt doesn’t talk back. It’s just dirt, come on, and you’re not that Elemental. Let’s start with the obvious. We’ll go talk to the trees and see if they will talk back to us.”
Bernie read the last lines of the page he had been reading and grimaced, looking around the room. “Yeah, that’s where it is. Hang on.” He went to a shelf in the third row and reached up on his toes, his fingertips grazing a wooden box.
“Let me help.” Maggie walked down the short aisle and reached up, easily reaching the box. She gave the Huldu a crooked smile as he grumbled under his breath about Peabrains and tall handsome bastards.
Bernie took the box from her, cradling it in his short, stocky arms and walked over to a small wooden table, laying it down. He waved his hand over the top, muttering, “Exegis be mine.” The brass lock on the front popped up and the top loosened. He easily lifted the top and revealed a brass sextant that fit in the middle of his large palm. “We’re good to go.”
“What is that?”
“The backup
plan just in case the compass was ever lost. You should learn that about the Huldus. We’re all mechanics, which means we’re practical and resourceful and always have another plan.
Chapter Twelve
Bernie pulled Maggie through the wall and back into the library, still tugging on her hand as they went down the stairs. He hurried along, giving a nod here and there to some of the people they passed. Maggie turned, looking back at each one that he chose to acknowledge looking for the common thread, but couldn’t see it.
She almost tripped on a stair, craning her neck to look back at a tall, elegant man in a cashmere jacket who gave a curt nod in reply to Bernie.
“Hey, watch where you’re going. Rule number two! I can’t use magic right here in the lobby to float you over the floor,” he hissed.
“You know a lot of people, Bernie. I don’t get it. I’ve lived in Austin my entire life and I don’t know this many people wandering through a library on a weeknight.”
“What? Oh, that.” He gave a snort of laughter and stopped for a moment. “I’ll give you one short lesson right here that might prove useful. Come stand right here and look around at everyone you see. Not everybody is actually a Peabrain. Some are elves or witches or wizards, your occasional fae and a few other magicals. The little lady behind the counter tugging at her pantyhose is an overweight pixie. Don’t look at me like that. This isn’t even the weirdest thing I’ve said to you today.”
Maggie looked at each of them, looking for signs of magic. “I got nothing.”
“Of course you do. Rule number two applies to all magicals who were on this voyage. A Peabrain that’s woke is a little tricky. You have enough magic to be dangerous but no knowledge on how to use it, and we can only help but so much. Each case has to feel their way on their own. It’s kind of funny if you think about it. Things blow up or get sent to a glacier, or some random street corner. You should see the gag reel Jack and I have underground. Too soon?”