Land of Nod, The Prophet (Land of Nod Trilogy Book 2)

by Gary Hoover

  “Ha!” The old woman scoffed loudly. “Raja? You’re no Raja.”

  Jeff looked up at her from his crouched position with a look of complete incomprehension.

  She picked up the birds, turned on her heel and made a gesture with her head that Jeff interpreted as an invitation to follow.

  Jeff straightened shakily, and then fell into step behind her. The others shared puzzled expressions. Baldwin watched Jeff and the woman walk then looked at Dave and Nahima. He shrugged and moved to catch up with Jeff. Dave shook his head before moving to join Baldwin and the others followed close behind.

  Chapter 57:

  Don handed Artimus his notes. “You ready?”

  Artimus smiled uncomfortably.

  “Hopefully. Thanks.” Artimus tried to mask his disappointment that Don, who was a great and enthusiastic assistant, was taking Codi’s place.

  The bell on Artimus’ communicator sounded, and he stepped toward a corner for some privacy.

  Codi!

  Artimus felt a mixture of relief and excitement as he read the name on the screen.

  “Hello! Codi?” he said excitedly.

  “Artimus... ”

  His excitement turned to concern as he heard an uncomfortable reluctance in her voice. “Yes, how are you? What’s going on?”

  “Artimus... I... I just want to say how sorry I am.”

  “Sorry? What? What do you mean?” Artimus felt as if his heart would leap out of his chest, and he was beginning to feel nauseous. He was unsteady on his feet. He fumbled to find someplace to sit.

  Don had an expression of concern and started toward him, but Artimus waved him off.

  “What’s happening? Where are you?”

  “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I mean it, that’s all.”

  Artimus heard the sound of the connection ending. He stared at the communicator for several moments feeling completely lost. He looked at Don, who was watching him nervously, then back at the phone. He stood up and felt like he needed to go somewhere, but he didn’t know where. Codi had not been home, or at least, she hadn’t been answering for Artimus. He sat back down and just stared. He lost track of time and wasn’t quite sure if seconds or minutes had passed when Don finally mustered the courage to try to get his attention.

  “Bishop? Bishop? It’s time to go on.”

  Artimus looked at him blankly and nodded. He rose and began adjusting his clothes. He was just going through the motions but not really paying attention to anything he was doing. “Where are my notes?”

  Don pointed to the handwritten cards that Artimus held in his left hand.

  “Oh... right.” He said dully as he looked down at the notes. He exhaled loudly as he made his way to the walkway that led to the lectern. He shook his head as he walked, trying to clear it as he went.

  As he arrived at the microphone, he squinted in the bright lights and scanned the applauding, shouting audience. He saw their hands moving and their mouths shouting encouragement. He knew there was noise, but he couldn’t hear it. It felt as if he were under water, and all he could hear was a dull murmur.

  As the applause stopped, and the audience – the largest yet with people crammed and standing all through the church – waited expectantly, Artimus tried to clear his throat. His mouth was dry, and he could feel his lips sticking to his teeth. He could feel the dryness at the back of his tongue.

  “I... uhhhh... I... thank you... thank you for–” Artimus glanced back at Don, who was off to the side and appeared nervous and expectant. “I... uh... I’m sorry I–” He looked at Don again, and this time Don moved forward.

  “Why don’t you have a seat?” Don said quietly and gestured to a chair that was behind and to the side of the lectern. He took Artimus’ arm and led him to the chair. After he was seated, Don went back to the microphone.

  “I’m sorry. Bishop Winfred hasn’t been feeling well.”

  The audience voiced a rumbling mix of disappointment and sympathy.

  “But we’re here, and we’re ready to carry on his message!” Don said enthusiastically, and the crowd cheered. Artimus stood and made his way to an area offstage.

  “We’re here to tell our leaders that we won’t bury our heads in the sand beside theirs!” The audience cheered again.

  “We’re going to march, take it to them, and we’re not going to stop until they agree that we need to organize and face the threats to our state, either with them or over their worthless bodies!”

  The audience erupted in loud and thunderous applause.

  Chapter 58:

  It took a few moments for Jeff’s eyes to adjust to the dark interior of the cabin. It was small and sparsely furnished but filled with clutter. There were animals everywhere. Jeff could see them scurrying and hopping across surfaces, and he could feel them brushing against his legs. Most of them were bipedal, rabbit-sized animals with short, vestigial forelegs and long, rat-like tails. Jeff had seen a very similar animal when he had first arrived in the dimension. The cabin smelled of stale urine and feces.

  Jeff saw a round aquarium that appeared to be filled with sand and a few rocks. He leaned close to see if there was anything else and could see a lump moving beneath the surface of the sand.

  The lump erupted suddenly and something hit the glass, causing Jeff to jump back in surprise. It seemed to be nothing but a gaping jaw and sharp teeth with a small animal attached to it. Almost as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared beneath the sand.

  “Hey! Don’t tease him, plooch-pie,” the old woman scolded.

  Jeff looked at her then turned his attention to Nahima and Dave, who were smirking.

  Jeff shook his head and rested his hand on a small cabinet that seemed to be in some state of partial repair with clamps attached. He tried to think of some sort of small talk. “You don’t seem to have any real protection, like a fence or anything to keep things out. Aren’t you worried about–”

  “The forest creatures?” she said, finishing his thought. “They don’t bother me. They seem to sense my connection to The Elder,” she said as she poured something to drink out of a pot. She was in what appeared to be a kitchen area.

  Jeff looked for a spot to sit, more as a way to attempt to relax himself and the uncomfortable mood than any real need to get off his feet. He had a hundred questions, but he wasn’t sure where to start. The old woman didn’t seem very chatty or sociable.

  Jeff felt something on his arm and looked down to see a three-inch long roach-like insect crawling up and quickly approaching his shoulder. He jumped, yelped, and shook his arm violently. The insect fell to the ground and landed on its back with a relatively loud sound. It seemed a bit stunned, and Jeff watched its legs jerk a bit spastically for a moment. Then it righted itself and crawled away, leaving a trail in the thin layer of dust that covered the floor planks.

  The old woman laughed heartily. “Plooch-pie is a bit flowery, isn’t he?”

  Dave looked at Jeff with a satisfied grin. “You said it.”

  Jeff began to lower himself onto a wooden chair, but nearly lost his balance before he was fully seated as he noticed rodent pellets on the seat surface.

  “Don’t make yourself too comfortable,” the woman said sharply.

  That won’t be a problem.

  “I know why you’re here,” she continued. “We’ll go to The Enigma shortly, you’ll fail to solve it, and then you can all go away and leave me in peace.”

  She looked down and saw one of the rabbit-sized rodents sniffing at her cup from a raised counter. She swatted it violently. It flew several feet then dropped to the floor with a sickening yelp.

  Chapter 59:

  Artimus pressed the buzzer at the door of Codi’s apartment one more time then stepped back. He clenched both hands, raised them then let them fall limply to his sides.

  He looked all around the door frame as if he expected some answer to be written there somewhere. When he saw that there wasn’t, he turned in frustration and heaved a loud breat
h.

  What should I do? Should I call the police? What if she simply doesn’t want to talk to me? She probably just thinks I’ve gone too far; let my paranoia get the best of me - and she’s sick of it all, Artimus thought as he walked back to his vehicle.

  He was over the initial shock and ready for action. He just wished he knew what, if any, action was appropriate.

  He flew home in a daze. His body was on autopilot as thoughts raced through his mind during the three minute trip.

  When he arrived home, he got out of his car and entered without consciously noting any of the things he was doing. He stood in his entrance hall for a few minutes. He ran his hand through his hair and then pulled his communicator from his pocket. His finger hovered above Codi’s name, but he didn’t push the button. He just stared at it for about a minute before putting the communicator back in his pocket.

  He climbed the stairs and entered Baldwin’s room. He walked toward the nightstand Jeff had used. When he reached it, he opened the drawer and pulled out Jeff’s keys. He sat down on the bed and stared at the keys.

  What should I do? What’s going on?

  Artimus couldn’t feel any answers or insight flowing from the keys. He just felt the same mess of jumbled, confused thoughts that he had felt since Codi’s call.

  He stood up and headed back to his room toward the dresser drawer where the keys had led him before but with no real sense that there was any reason to do so.

  He kneeled, opened the drawer, and stared. He pushed some socks from side to side, and then he pulled a pair out and studied them.

  Idiot! He thought to himself and threw the socks forcefully into the drawer. He grabbed the drawer handle and tried to slam it shut, but in his frustration, the drawer cocked and jammed. “Damn it!” Artimus pushed and twisted the drawer, but it wouldn’t slide back in. The frustration was building to a point that Artimus felt his head might explode. He yanked the drawer out.

  And then he saw them.

  Stacks of notes were tucked in the space between the bottom of the drawer and the floor. Artimus pulled the notes out and began to flip through them. His mouth hung open as his eyes darted across the pages. He flipped through the pages reading only bits and pieces but absorbing enough that he began to get the picture.

  His hand dropped to his side, and he stared at the wall. His heart was pounding so furiously that he felt it might burst from his chest. He dropped the notes back in their hiding place and returned the drawer. He fumbled in his pocket for the signaling device Blackbuck had given him.

  He keyed in the code with shaking hands.

  Chapter 60:

  Jeff pushed aside one branch, only to have another whip around and hit him in the face. He cringed in pain then shook his head, trying to throw the pain off like a dog shedding water.

  As they entered a small clearing, he scanned the sky with gun drawn.

  “I told you, plooch-pie, you don’t have to worry about any dangerous animals around here. They don’t come into The Elder’s realm, not even since he’s been gone,” The Prophet said, and then cackled loudly and inappropriately. “If you want to worry about something, worry about how you won’t solve The Enigma.” She stopped and looked at him. “You’re no Raja,” she said then cackled again, louder and longer.

  They had been walking more than three miles through some very rugged and overgrown terrain. Jeff was feeling exhausted, but he wasn’t about to say anything. There was a sharp cliff rising in front of them, and they were moving into thick vegetation at the base.

  I hope we don’t have to climb that.

  Jeff had a very sudden, unpleasant feeling that someone or something was watching them, and he snapped his head around to see.

  There was nothing there.

  He stood and looked for a moment, scanning the trees and then shifted his eyes down to the thick brush. He saw a bird with a very large beak hopping from one branch to another. It paused and looked at Jeff. The two of them stared at one another for several moments. Then the bird launched itself suddenly and took off in the opposite direction with a loud flurry. Jeff realized he was being left behind and turned to catch up with the others.

  They worked their way very slowly through vegetation that was so dense that Jeff began to wonder if it was even passable. He had to contort himself as he pushed heavy branches and ground vegetation out of his way. He wasn’t sure how Benji and Dave were managing at all, but they seemed to be making it through out of pure spite and anger.

  They group broke through the dense foliage into a small clearing, and Jeff saw something very unusual.

  They were next to the face of the cliff, and there was a large gold or brass metal rectangle fused into the rock. There also seemed to be a circle etched into the rock beside the rectangle and cut very deeply into the smooth rock surface. It formed a black ring approximately seven feet in diameter.

  “Well?” The Prophet looked at him with a smirking smile.

  Jeff stared at her blankly.

  “Are you ready to solve The Enigma? Or perhaps I should say, are you ready to fail to solve The Enigma?” She cackled, and Jeff felt his eyes drawn to her rotting teeth.

  What do I do now?

  Jeff didn’t have any idea where to even begin.

  He moved closer, and he could see that the etched circle seemed to be cut clear through to a cavity. A door?

  Jeff looked at the metal rectangle and saw that the alphabet was etched onto squares.

  A keypad? Do I have to punch in some code?

  Jeff closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind.

  Nothing.

  Aaaaah!

  Have I come all this way just to fail?

  Jeff’s heart started to race.

  He looked around at the expressions of his companions. They ranged from concern and anticipation to smug bemusement. The harder he tried to concentrate, the less he could feel.

  A sense of helpless frustration began to overwhelm him.

  Then The Prophet reached for some branches next to the metal keypad and pulled them aside. Jeff saw letters etched in the rock.

  Jeff moved closer and saw that they said. “Joltin’ Joe”

  Joltin’ Joe?

  A slight smile crossed Jeff’s face and he went directly to the keypad and pressed D-I-M-A-G-G-I-O.

  Almost immediately after he hit the ‘O’, light streamed out from the circle and the ‘door’ retracted into the cliff. That left space to enter on either side. Jeff tried to stay cool but couldn’t completely conceal a satisfied smile.

  The others’ expressions which had been either anxious or bemused had shifted to shocked amazement.

  Jeff looked directly at The Prophet and took particular satisfaction in her expression.

  Chapter 61:

  The room they entered reminded Jeff of his father’s office/lab. There were experimental devices scattered around randomly. Jeff felt certain – as he had regarding his father’s office back at their Princeton house – that they had real purpose and made sense to his father.

  It was brightly lit, which struck Jeff as odd. They were in the middle of nowhere, and The Prophet’s cabin didn’t seem to have any electricity.

  The materials seemed different than the ones his father had used back home. The devices seemed to have almost ‘organic’ textures though they weren’t recognizable as any naturally occurring materials. They seemed very high-tech but strange, in a way Jeff couldn’t clearly define.

  It was almost as if many items were made from cocoons or shells or other animal constructions, but they seemed formed in the shape of the devices. It was as if they had been grown rather than made.

  “Dad?!” Jeff called out in a loud voice but didn’t really expect a response. He felt as if he had just seen the first five numbers on his lottery ticket come up, and he didn’t realistically expect the sixth as well.

  “The Elder has been gone for over a year now,” The Prophet said.

  Jeff looked at her and realized her whole manner h
ad changed. Her eyes were cast down, and she almost seemed to be bowing.

  “But he’s only been here for a year.”

  “With all respect, Sir Raja, The Elder has been here since the beginning of time.”

  Jeff looked at her for a few moments, feeling she was almost less annoying when she had been more openly obnoxious. “Do you know where The Elder went?”

  “No, Sir Raja, I’m afraid I don’t.” She allowed herself a brief glance up at Jeff as she said the next part, “But I’m certain you’ll find The Child. I’m absolutely sure of that.”

  Jeff turned away to see if the chamber offered any clues that were lest cryptic. He had experienced so many emotions over the past few minutes that he felt almost numb. He was ecstatic that he had found what appeared to be solid evidence his father had been living right where he was standing, but he hoped it wouldn’t be a dead-end.

  Jeff ran a hand over some of the devices. Most of them were completely incomprehensible, but a few seemed recognizable. Some of the devices seemed to be tools and machines used to make other tools and machines.

  Everything was clean and the temperature was comfortable. The floor was polished stone, but Jeff could see some carpeting in other rooms. Everything appeared well maintained. It wasn’t at all what Jeff would have expected of an abandoned cave. He looked around the walls which were rougher than the floor, but still clearly carved as opposed to a naturally formed cave. Jeff could see vent-grills at a few different locations in the rock walls. That’s why it doesn’t smell stale or musty - seems to have some sort of active ventilation system.

  The whole thing seemed very strange to Jeff. It seemed too bright and modern and clean to be an abandoned cave in the middle of nowhere.

  “Did Dad, I mean The Elder have anyone else living here? Anyone doing any cleaning or maintenance?”

  The Prophet laughed lightly and shook her head. “No, he was pretty much a loner. I’m the only one he talked with. And it took me a long time to get him even to do that.”