by J. M. Wilson
Berty excitedly said, “Brilliant!”
CHAPTER 6
NEW POWERS
‘The gods help them that help themselves’
(Aesop 620BC-560BC)
Ruby could fly. She didn’t know how, but there she was flying with the other two.
All of them the size of bugs, flying through the Lincolnshire Wolds. It must have been harvest time as there were rows of yellow straw piles waiting to be bundled into bales for animals’ winter feed. Ruby could smell the wet straw and the land as she sped over it. Like a newborn deer with four big long legs to master, she struggling with her new ability.
This was madness.
Utter, unbelievable, crazy, fabulous, madness.
Dena stayed at Ruby’s side to steady her a bit. Yes she could fly, but, like a baby just learning to walk, she wasn’t too steady. It was about harnessing her mind, and if she got distracted by conversation, or by the things she was seeing, her ability to fly was seriously affected. She would have fallen to the ground a couple of times had Dena not caught her. After a couple of bumpy moments, and almost falling out of her own orbit, Ruby felt she might just be getting the hang of it.
As she got more confident, her speed increased, as did the sense of fun.
“Using your mind effectively, and learning to do several things all at once, efficiently, is a skill.” said Dena. “One that the Manushi have been perfecting for many generations. As a female Human, catching on to this wont take you too long!” she chuckled.
Ruby’s world had once again changed in a split second. Everything she had ever known had been blown apart by the events of the last few weeks. The world, from her new size and with her new abilities, could not have been more different if she had been transformed into a fish, swimming and breathing under water. Indeed Ruby had changed. The protected little girl she had been, cocooned by her parents’ love, and her mother’s overly cautious nature, had created a child without worries, certainly, but also a child without back-bone. Until recent times, Ruby knew she had never been scared, never felt alone, and had never had a real worry in her life. She had felt all of those things recently, certainly, and she had managed.
Things were changing.
She was changing.
She had tackled each day with a determination to rebuild her life.
Ruby, the girl she used to be when her parents were alive, was gradually disappearing.
Berty’s take on the recent happenings was different from his sister. He wasn’t worried by events, just excited. But due to Dena’s behaviour, he was beginning to grasp the magnitude of what had happened. He had never seen her like this before.
She did seem a bit worried, he thought.
Dena was explaining, as they whipped through the flower meadow, how no-one was to know about Ruby. At least until Dena had figured something out.
For Dena, what was happening was to be feared.
It was a serious flaw that had happened to the rules of nature.
For both the Manushi and the Human race, what had occurred could fatally impact upon both species.
For now, what she had to do was to figure out what, and how, this might have happened, and what immediate impact it would have upon Ruby and the ‘Manushi of Myton’.
They were taking Ruby back to their village. Dena felt she did not have a choice about that. Ruby could hardly be sent home now. No one would, or no one in her world should, should she say, be able to see her, let alone look after the child.
But how was she going to explain her to the people of Myton?
Questions would be asked.
Who is she?
Where does she come from?
How long is she staying?
Dena had no answers. Maybe, then, she thought, she should sneak her in. Just for a little while. Just until she had had time to research this matter and think.
With Ruby safely hidden and settled in Dena’s room, and Berty sworn to absolute secrecy, Dena went to the Book House in search of some answers.
It was past the hours when people popped in, and so Dena had the place to herself. The light outside was fading, and so was the light in the book house. Dena searched the rows and rows of books and research papers. Frantically flicking through page after page, straining her eyes against the failing light.
She looked for something.
Anything.
Pulling out books and manuscripts, and anything that recorded information relating to contact between the Manushi and the Humans. ‘The study of Humans and the Impact on our Lives’… ‘The results of Mind Manipulation over the Human’... ‘Human Language and Behaviour’... ‘Human Interaction’.., and so on, and so on. There were lots of studies of Humans, but nothing on Humans interacting with Manushis.
This was not good.
There was nothing.
Nothing!
Nothing!
Dena pulled at her chestnut curls, straightening them with the pull, lengthening the hair as she did to below her ribs. She then let go. The hair coiled and bounced back into position just below her shoulders. When she was concentrating she always did this with her hair. It was just her way of focusing her mind. Placing herself in the right mindset to seriously think.
It had been dark a while now.
Using the silence and the dark as a soother for constructive thought, Dena mulled over the events of the day, and the possible consequences. She had spent several hours reading and researching, and then sat there in deep thought.
She had come to a decision.
She was, she decided, merely a normal young Manushi girl, who had been thrust into an abnormal situation.
She had no idea what, or how this situation was to be handled, and so, she considered, the only way forward was to involve the Highest Council. After all, this is why it existed, to help with the laws that governed all, and ultimately, that leads to the smooth running of Lincolnshire Manushi life.
Dena thought twice about the lateness of the hour, but she knew what had to be done. This situation was, she figured, probably one of the largest problem situations the Manushi had ever had to consider.
In Dena’s mind it had to be considered sooner rather than later.
She could only imagine the impact this was going to have on their lives.
Dena flew through the quiet settlement of Myton with a clear sense of purpose.
The Highest Council had to be gathered and alerted.
With a calm demeanour and a clear sense of what was right, Dena knocked on the door of Mr Poynter Proffer’s home. She waited for the door to be answered, and as she did, she couldn’t help but admire the entrance. Mrs Proffer had a liking for flowers and had organised a selection of differing plants to grow around their front door. They were very pretty, even in the dark.
Always aware of the need not to draw attention to themselves from the Humans, just in case they had a mind to see, the Manushi had never embraced the notion of ‘false light’. It was because of the lack of ‘false light’ being used, that they had evolved to be able to see in the dark. Although Humans could not, or just did not see the Manushi, they could, and would, it was assumed, see ‘false light’. Therefore ‘false light’ was used only in an emergency. Hundreds of years ago, long before the Humans had invented electricity, the Manushi ‘Pyrologists’ had created a chemical light. Simple ingredients found naturally, harvested from the Earth’s pantry, so to speak. These common elements of bonemeal, bone charcoal , and limestone, when fused together in a small Blacksmith’s brazier furnace, react when water is added. A small wick is pulled up into a glass cylinder, and ‘Hey Presto’. This was ‘false light’. All Manushi had the chemical pack for light in their homes, a bit like a first aid kit. As there were not many emergencies to deal with, this invention was rarely used. However, the night-sight of the Manushi was limited. Things such as reading, or needlework, or anything fiddly, was not practical in the dark, as their night-sight was not that sharp. But being able to see each other, and socialise, was not an issue.
> Mrs Proffer opened her door, and as always, was delighted to have a visitor. With the older ladies chubby red cheeks glowing, and a large toothy smile, Mrs Proffer warmly greeted her.
“Dena, dear! Do please come in!”
The Manushi ‘Highest Council’ of Lincolnshire was an elected body of people, made up from the twelve Manushi settlements, scattered throughout the County of Lincolnshire. Each settlement elected an elder. One who is considered to be wise and experienced. It was an honour of the highest regard to be considered for these positions. Should a person be elected to be one of the twelve, well, this was the greatest of achievements. Poynter Proffer, albeit considered stuffy by the children of Myton, was in fact a highly respected Myton, and as such, the other eleven elected members had showered Proffer with their respect and admiration, by voting him Chief Councillor of the Highest Council.
This time of year made the homes of the Manushi warm. The Earth warmed in the day by the sun, retained the energy through the night and kept the homes in the Earth settlement warm. Mr Proffer was sat comfortably in his social room, pondering over his next move in a board game he was in the middle of playing with Mrs Proffer. Looking up to greet his visitor, he too was pleased to see it was Dena. She had recently been singled out as a superior mind, and he was in the process of having her appointed as a Clerk to the Highest Council, with him being her mentor. This process had meant he had had many meetings with Dena and her parents over the last couple of months, and as is usually the way, he was becoming very fond of all of them. Berty though, thought Mr Proffer, was a bit of an anomaly. Too high spirited, but only time would tell. He was after all still very young.
With all of the niceties of greeting a visitor out of the way, Mrs Proffer left Dena and her husband to talk. Dena had apologised for the lateness of her call, but added that under the circumstances she did not feel she had a choice but to be there. With a troubled look, and full of apologies, she had told Mrs Proffer she needed to urgently speak with her husband in private.
Bemused, and intrigued, Mr Proffer squeezed his round body out of his comfortable armchair and took Dena’s hand and arm, directing her to where his wife had been sitting.
“Come! Come, Dena, now, now.”
He tried to soothe Dena, as she looked visibly troubled.
This in itself was unusual.
Dena was a very measured and thoughtful girl, in her work, and in her demeanour. Nothing was ever too much trouble.
Nothing, as far as he knew, ever flustered her.
Mr Proffers face soon changed from delight at his guests arrival, to concerned, to outright shock and bewilderment. Dena considered that this great man, with all his years of experience, and wealth of knowledge, would probably be more afeared than she, for he would know more of the impending consequences, even though she had only told him half of the story. She had prudently kept back the fact that Berty was involved, and that the girl had actually changed into a Manushi, and was, at this very moment, in her bedroom, back at home.
Why she had done this she did not know.
Maybe she wanted to see how he handled the first part of the story?
Human and Manushi interaction.
In truth, where it had been Berty, she told the story as if it had been her.
Maybe she wanted to keep her brother out of it?
To keep him out of trouble?
After all, he had gone to ‘The Wood’.
How had that happened?
That would be mystery enough for the Highest Council to work out.
All knew of ‘The Wood,’ but no-one was truly sure where it was.
Why she had decided to only tell half of the truth, she wasn’t sure?
From the moment she began to retell of what had happened, she felt as if a force from within her, a feeling never known to her before, was guiding her to silence.
And so, without a fight, Dena allowed herself to be guided somewhat, by what a Human would call, a ‘Sixth Sense’.
Mr Proffer was well over a hundred and seventy Manushi years old, and so had a wealth of life experience to help guide him, and his fellow council members. As a rule, the greatest emergencies they had faced over recent years had been to do with food shortages caused by floods and droughts. As important, and as serious enough as these problems were, Poynter Proffer felt they were child’s play, when compared to Dena’s tale.
Should any other Myton have called at Proffer’s home, at this hour, and with this tall tale, Proffer would have sent them packing as grand storytellers.
Yet it was Dena.
Serious, studious, reliable Dena.
Proffers stomach churned at the enormity of what he had just been told, but his professionalism and years of experience in handling emergencies, kicked in.
First thing to do was to call the Highest Council to an ‘Extraordinary’ meeting.
Proffer told Dena to go home.
She was to wait for Mr Proffer to contact her.
In the meantime, she was to speak of this with no-one.
Dena decided not to fly.
Instead, she wanted to stroll slowly, quietly thinking about what she had done, and why?
She contemplated on the days events, and what it was she felt she should do right now.
Without knowing why, Dena whipped into the air and flew directly back to the Book House.
‘I must record the events of today’, was all she was thinking, and how she was going to write by chemical light.
If this could not be considered an emergency, nothing could.
Dena finished her writing as the sun dawned.
She must go home before her parents wake.
They would check her room if she did not get down for breakfast.
She crept into the warm Earth dwelling, quietly shutting the wooden door, so as not to wake anyone. Going into her room, without having disturbed a living soul, Dena crossed to Ruby, asleep on her bed.
Humans do wear strange clothes she thought, as she looked at Ruby, who wore red cloth on her legs, and big bits of rubber on her feet.
‘Strange?’ she thought.
She had never considered that fact before, but then, as a rule, she never really gave Humans much thought.
Ruby stirred, and greeted Dena with a worried.
“Morning.”
“It is, yes.”
Replied Dena, totally missing the implied greeting.
Then with an urgent, and worried tone, she spoke to Ruby about what had happened the night before, and what she had done.
“This is my hiding place. Under my prepping table.”
We call it a dressing table, Ruby thought, but she never said anything.
Under the prepping table there was a hole dug into the Earth. In it was concealed a medium sized tin box with a lid. It had been covered in earth and then covered by a rug.
“I’m going to put these recordings in here for safe keeping” Dena said.
“Why?” asked Ruby.
“Don’t ask Ruby, because honestly, I don’t know”, was the response.
She didn’t know why, only that she was still being guided by a feeling, from deep down inside of her.
After seeing her parents off, as they left the house to go about their work, she filled Berty full of instructions.
“Do not leave the house.
Do not talk to anyone.
Do not open the door to anyone.”
Dena left for her work at the Book House.
Berty and Ruby hung around the house.
Berty showed Ruby some in-house games played by the young Manushis. At first they were having fun, but as the heat of the sun began to warm the Earth, the Earth dwellings began to warm too.
Uncomfortably so.
This was no place for two young children to play comfortably.
“I’d like to practice my flying Berty, if we could? That would cool us down I think? If we could that is… But I know we can’t.” Said Ruby
“Well”, said Berty, “If we a
re really careful, and quiet, we could sneak out.”
“No!” said Ruby sternly, “We will do as Dena tells us.”
Ruby started out protesting against breaking the rules that Dena had set for the pair, but as the dwelling got warmer and warmer, and she felt them both toasting, she caved in and said,
“Ok Berty, we’ll just go out for half an hour.”
Most Mytons were out harvesting. Harvest time was very busy time for Humans and Manushi alike. Without getting spotted, which was fairly easy because of the busy time of year, Berty and Ruby flew to the closest flower-meadow. Berty had told Ruby to hold his hand.
“Let me do the steering Rube, and you can just fly.”
Ruby felt like she was being catapulted through the air. It was like being on a fast ride at the theme parks her mum and dad had often taken her to, except she had no machinery wrapped around her.
Ruby felt free, and full of energy.
As she was pulled along by Berty, the ground below blurred. The wind whipped past her. Her golden hair dragged behind her, as the pair sped forward. She was exhilarated by these powers, and the feeling of freedom they gave her. She hung on to Berty’s hand for dear life, whistling through the grasses and wildflowers. Ruby felt her hair pull back and flap behind her head. She tried desperately hard to keep her mouth shut, because the wind either dried up her mouth, or pulled at her spit, dragging spit dribbles across her cheeks. At the same time though, she wanted to open her mouth and squeal with joy and excitement. She realised that for the first time since her parents had died she was having fun, just like her Gran had said she would.
She was enjoying herself without feeling guilty.
As odd as life had become, there was something very right about being here.
“Look”, cried Berty, “Hummers!”
He had slowed them both down to a hover, sort of like treading water, but in the air. There in the meadow was what Ruby called bees.
Bumblebees.
Huge yellow and black furry balls.
Like gentle giants, they hummed as they worked, moving from one giant flower to the next. Some flowers were like helicopter landing pads, with all the pollen laid out as if on a dinner plate. Others were more like large funnels with a promise of something good, deep down inside.