by Stuart Jaffe
Holding up the green book, she said, “You want this? Come and get it.”
Like a puppy offered a treat from a stranger, the hellspider approached with its fear and desire fighting out upon its face. Roni watched each footfall. The closer it advanced, the more its massive size loomed over her. Her throat tightened, and she hoped the creature could not sense her deception or worse, her fear.
One more step. That was all she needed. One more step, and she thought the hellspider would be close enough.
“You’re acting a little unsure. How about this? How about I set this book down so you can pick it up?” Putting words to action, she placed the green book upon a sturdy section of the pile. Then she backed away a few steps.
The hellspider lurched forward. Its sudden movements sent a mini-avalanche of books tumbling downward to the floor. As it took hold of the green book like a greedy child on Christmas morning, Roni opened her own book.
Flames belched into the air. The hellspider shrieked as fire engulfed it. Cradling the green book, the hellspider skittered up the wall onto the ceiling, smoke trailing off its burnt limbs.
Roni shut the fire book. If her hands had been burned as before, she did not feel it. While Gram took care of locking down the damage created, Roni kept her focus upon the hellspider.
At first, she thought the creature would open the green book and inhale the smaller hellspiders within as it had done previously — heal before it went on further. But the hellspider had had enough of Gram and Roni. With a slight limp, it gingerly worked its way across the ceiling until it reached the crevice from which it had come. Without hesitation, it crawled in and disappeared deeper into the caverns.
For several minutes, Roni did not move. She stared at the hole in the ceiling, and she breathed. She might have spent hours in that position, but rain fell upon her. The arrival of cold water upon her face snapped her attention away from the ceiling. Gram had opened a book of rainstorms and used it to extinguish the few books that had caught fire after Roni’s attack.
Carefully, Roni descended, making sure not to send any more books spinning to the floor, causing more problems. By the time she reached the bottom, however, she had a new focus for her concerns.
Before Gram could say a word, before she could touch her cross or offer a conciliatory smile, before she could raise an eyebrow or cross her arms over her large chest and glare down, Roni lifted an index finger and pointed it at her.
With a sharp scowl, Roni said, “This is all your fault.”
Chapter 17
Neither woman spoke a single word as they handled the remaining books. Roni sifted through the piles, separating out the unchained books and stacking them for Gram to deal with. Thankfully, the majority had managed to stay closed — many had retained most of their chains, and many more were difficult to open at best. They resisted. Feeling the covers pull back against her grip, Roni pictured a muscular arm on the inside looped around a ring bolted to the cover.
As she watched Gram working, she wondered if some of those chains could create that resistance. Or perhaps, whoever created the books themselves could imbue them with different properties of strength.
After an hour, Gram chained the last book. Without any acknowledgment or word of any kind, she turned on her heels and walked back through the tunnel toward Sully and Elliot. Part of Roni did not want to follow. She knew what was expected of her, and that alone made her not want to comply. But thinking about the books and their creation only served to increase her frustration over Gram’s leadership.
As they trudged through the tunnel, as stone gave way to subway tile, Roni struggled to put her thoughts in order before she spoke. It would have been difficult under any circumstance, facing down Gram had never been easy while growing up, but part of Roni’s mind remained back in the courtroom filled with books. They were now chained down. They were secured. But none of those books — at least, none that she was aware of — came from that room. Many of them had been stolen from other parts of the cavern. Didn’t they have to be returned?
She supposed not. At least, not by them. Few of those books, if any, had originally been placed by Gram and the Parallel Society. Many would have been secured by other groups from other universes. They had done their part to protect the cavern and those universes held within the books. Perhaps it was somebody else’s problem to get the books back where they had originally been stored — if that was what was required.
Perhaps that was simply more evidence of Gram’s poor leadership.
By the time they entered the small junction with benches, Roni had worked herself up enough. “You are not facing up to reality,” she began.
Elliot and Sully lifted their heads, their expressions revealing joy at seeing their teammates again yet shock at the scowls they witnessed. Sully got to his feet and opened his mouth. A swift gesture from Gram silenced him. She whirled around, taking the center of the room.
“Until just over a year ago,” Gram said, “you didn’t even know what reality actually was.”
“And now I bring fresh eyes to this reality. Or maybe other, more seasoned Society members may have simply grown complacent.”
Clearing his throat, Elliot said, “Your hands are injured. Come. I will heal them. I promise I am not too weak for that small task.”
Roni hesitated, but mentioning her burned hands, only ignited their pain once more. Trying to maintain a position of strength on her face, she settled next to Elliot and put out her hands. He lifted his cane to the side of her hands and began motioning a curious circle over her injuries. In seconds, she could feel the pain subsiding.
Though she already felt the fire of their speech dwindling, she knew it was important to continue the argument. Even if in a calmer voice. “I have no doubt you have been a fine leader to this group for a long time. But by your own admission, you brought me into all of this because I am the future of the Society for our world. There’s an implication to that — the idea that you’ve passed your prime in that position.”
“Ladies,” Sully said, with a grandfatherly smile and a gentle waving of the hands. “The two of you are family. There is no need to fight. We can talk about this and —”
Gram arched an eyebrow toward him. “I need you to do what you’re best at. Build us a golem.”
“With what?”
“Stones, of course. Lord knows, there are enough around.”
Gesturing to the meager pickings on the floor, he said, “I suppose. If I had a pickax, I could make a real golem, but with just the loose rocks, it won’t be much.”
“Make do.”
Roni said, “Unless fire is an option.”
“It’s not,” Gram said, whirling upon her granddaughter. “You would know that if you spent your time focusing on your job and not trying to do mine.”
Roni tried to stand, but Elliot tapped her shoulder with his cane to keep her in position. She twisted her head to give Gram a sharp look. “You’re not doing your job well. After Elliot’s injuries, we should have stopped. It’s that simple. When we got to this room you split the group — another bad decision. And when you and I spied the location of the hellspider, we didn’t go back to regroup, strengthen up, and come up with a plan. No. We bumbled in there and nearly got killed. Your Ahab-like obsession nearly cost all of us our lives unless Sully could find his way back on his own. And no offense, but I don’t think he’s up to the task.”
Sully chuckled from the floor where he piled stones into the shape of a man laying on the ground. “I think none of us would be up to the task of getting back on our own. Except perhaps Elliot.”
Holding her commanding position, Gram glared down at Roni. “By the foolish look on your face, I can see you are still wondering about why Sully can’t make a fire golem. Think about it, dear. How is he going to write his spell on a piece of paper and stick it in a golem if that golem is just going to burn it all up? It would kill itself.”
Roni slouched back against the wall. As Elliot’s hand
motions changed direction and pattern, she was reminded yet again that she had no powers. Apparently, she didn’t even understand the basics. But that didn’t mean she was wrong.
Jutting her chin toward Gram, she said, “Just because I don’t know every detail of being in the Society doesn’t mean I can’t assess your leadership.”
“They say everybody’s a critic.”
“So now I’m a cliché?”
“No, dear.” Gram said. “You are just young and inexperienced. Your heart is in the right place. That’s worth a hundred people who know all the rules and details. But that does not make you the leader you will need to be. The role of the leader is so much more than simply barking out orders and gaining a benefit here or there.” She raised a hand though Roni had not intended to speak. “It is my job to make sure the team is at its most effective level. It is my job to make sure the team is at its best readiness. With the fact that there are sometimes years between events requiring our attention, I have to stay on these boys to make sure they keep practicing their abilities. I have to learn and stay up on the best tactics and military strategies. I’m also responsible for monitoring the entire world, looking for anomalies that might require our attention. That’s not all. I also act as a liaison between the Parallel Society and the few religious leaders and government leaders out there who know of our existence. When we have to travel abroad, who do you think is responsible for all the legal hassles involved? It’s not like it’s an easy matter to take a book containing an entire universe inside it across borders. And that doesn’t even touch the surface of what I must do. Because sometimes we end up in a situation like this — out in the field, dealing with an adversary we know nothing about. It is my job to stay a few steps ahead, to improvise, and always, under all circumstances, to make the hard call.” Gram’s stern look faded, and briefly she warmed into the grandmother Roni had grown up with. “You know I love you. That never changes. And it’s with that love that I tell you, you are not ready yet.”
Roni did not respond at first — a good leader did not speak rashly. She weighed Gram’s words, deciding which ones were worth responding to, and most importantly, what response would sway Sully and Elliot to side with her point of view. With the Old Gang staring at her, waiting, she felt like a defendant on a witness stand. Perhaps even an unfortunate soul forced to sit in that hard, stone chair in the courtroom.
At length, she said, “The Parallel Society is an old institution. It is vital to our survival. All institutions develop traditions, behaviors, cultures of their own. And the longer an institution exists, the more complicated and ingrained those traditions become. They become rules. While they may have begun for a noble or practical purpose, nobody knows why it is still done — other than habit. In other words, just because you’ve always done something a certain way, doesn’t make it right. You taught me that last bit.”
Gram’s mouth tightened into a small dot. She never liked having her own words thrown back at her.
Roni went on, “I understand and respect that you have a lot to teach me. I know that. But it is clear from the risks you have taken with our lives on this mission that some leadership skills are no longer at your fingertips. Or perhaps it would be better if I said that the leadership skills you utilize have not changed with the times. Decisions you have made on this mission, that you all seem to act as acceptable, should not be.”
As Sully wrote Hebrew words on a piece of paper, he said, “You have to pay attention to experience. Experience can be the wisest teacher.”
“I agree. But too much experience can lead one into thinking they know all the answers. Which is just as dangerous as not knowing enough.”
Sully chuckled. “You got me there. However, I’m still with your grandmother on this one.”
“Of course you are.” Roni pulled her hands away from Elliot and stood. To Gram, she said, “It’s abundantly clear to me now that this is and always will be your team.”
Dropping her hands, Gram said, “This team belongs to us all.”
“Let’s not pretend. This is your team. And that’s fine. In fact, it makes everything clear and easier to deal with. This is your team, and one day you want me to take over and be leader of a new team. In order to do that, I need to become a leader, and that won’t happen under your tutelage. After seeing the way you’ve handled our lives in this mission, I’m not sure I can survive long enough to become a leader. I think I’d be better off as a team of one for now, and in the coming years, I’ll find others out there, people who can replace you guys when the time is right. I will train them to work under me just like you did with Sully and Elliot.”
“Stop it.” Gram’s stern face had returned. “You’re acting like a child, not a leader. How do you expect anybody to follow you if the moment things become difficult, you bail out?”
“You bailed on us. You let us down. I suggest you help the rest of your team to safety, while I figure out how to deal with the hellspider on my own.”
Roni didn’t wait for a response. She blustered off, fuming more than she felt. In fact, she felt very little anger now. She had let most of it go. It had flooded out in words that she knew she could not take back. She believed most of them — that much was good. But not all. The idea of taking on the hellspider alone did not seem wise. On the other hand, she had no team, and the creature had to be dealt with. And after all, leaders had to make the tough calls. This was her first. She would find a way to take this thing on.
After two minutes of walking she realized she had not gone back down the long tunnel toward the raft. Nor had she gone toward the courtroom filled with books. This was a new path. And as she reached a T-junction, she decided to pause and regroup her thoughts.
Looking the way she had come, the urge to rush back into her grandmother’s arms and blubber for her forgiveness had to be beaten back with the hard knowledge that any step in that direction would forever destroy her chances of moving forward toward her leadership position.
“Well, that sucks.”
She heard a repetitive thumping coming through the tunnel. Perhaps Gram hurried after her to welcome her back, to suggest that Roni had made an important point, and that she was ready to help her granddaughter learn. Perhaps the Lord would strike down the hellspider and save all of humanity with a magic arrow of love. Roni figured both scenarios held the same likelihood of happening.
The thumping grew louder but did not sound threatening. Moments before it appeared, Roni smiled as she realized what came her way. Sully’s golem jogged out of the dark until it reached her. Shaped like a person with two legs, two arms, torso and head, the golem Sully made from nearby stones had only enough material for it to reach Roni’s stomach.
Patting its head, she said, “Looks like I’ve got a team of two.”
Chapter 18
Bending down, Roni spotted two divots in the head of the stone golem that reminded her of eyes. She wondered if Sully could give his golems the ability to see through such markings. Possibly.
“You may be a little fella, but you’re with me now. I’ll do my best to take care of you.”
With stone stumps for hands, the golem pounded its chest twice.
“Oh, I guess you like that idea. I do, too. I suppose I should give you a name. How about Rocky? It’s a bit on the nose, but I’m in charge here. I might as well go with my gut. Rocky it is.”
As before, Rocky pounded its chest twice. Roni chuckled and straightened her back. She gazed up one route and down another. Neither direction called to her as a sensible way to go.
Gazing down at Rocky, she said, “How about you decide which direction?”
Rocky backed up a few steps and considered both paths. The longer it took to make a choice, the more Roni wondered if it could weigh the decision. After all, how much brain function could a stone golem have? It didn’t have a brain. Yet Roni had seen Sully’s golems in action before. Many of them appeared to exhibit thought and free will.
Punching the air to the l
eft, Rocky jogged off in that direction.
“Wait!” Roni walked in the same direction, pleased to see that Rocky had stopped until she caught up.
They entered a low-ceilinged section of cavern. Stalactites connected with stalagmites giving the sense of pillars sporadically placed in this open hall. Roni traced her fingers along the ceiling as they walked. Chained books fit snug into carved ceiling alcoves. Each one hummed with energy, creating a low frequency of tones that bordered on the musical. It was like standing in a Tibetan monastery while every monk used a different, single tone as his mantra.
At the far side of the hall several tunnels broke off in different directions — some even curved downward. As before, Roni allowed Rocky to pick one. They walked into the new tunnel, and the humming subsided. But it left behind a strange sensation like a residue of sound upon Roni’s skin.
She had experienced an overwhelming number of new things on this journey — new creatures, new universes, new concepts of existence. Now humming books. Were they harmless? Or had she just been exposed to something dangerous? Perhaps even a form of radiation. Better leaders would have ensured the upkeep of the Grand Library so that such knowledge was always at members’ fingertips. That would be a future project under her leadership. But she couldn’t really blame Gram for that problem — it had been one she inherited from previous leaders. Which made Roni wonder what other problems she stood to inherit when the Parallel Society truly came under her control.
Calling Rocky back, Roni settled on a protruding boulder. It had a natural, banana curve that begged for her to rest against. “You know, the real problem isn’t the Old Gang or even Gram. I was lashing out at them. I was angry. And, to be honest, I’m more than a little scared.” She nodded at Rocky as if the stone golem had spoken. “I know. Hard to believe. But they just won’t put themselves in my shoes. If I had learned about all of this, if I learned about things like you, if I had known any of it while growing up so I could be prepared, then perhaps I wouldn’t feel so smothered and unqualified. But I received no training, no teaching, nothing to set me up to succeed. I was just thrown into it all.”