by Dale Furse
‘It’s amazing, isn’t it?’ Sam said.
Nell jumped. She hadn’t noticed him coming alongside her.
‘You all right?’ he asked.
‘Yeah. I thought ...’ She ran her fingers over the stone eyes. They were cold, greyish pink and unmoving. ‘Never mind.’ She moved to the easel. Was she going to see those eyes and hear that voice everywhere? Was she was going to end up like Shahs?
No. She refused to worry about the voices or eyes until she knew what they all meant. Focusing on a colourful painting, she frowned and called to Kale, ‘Did your mum paint this?’
‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘Good, isn’t she?’
Sam scratched his head. ‘What’s it supposed to be?’ he whispered close to Nell’s ear.
‘Don’t know,’ she whispered back, gazing at the avalanche of colours surrounded by a messy black border. ‘She isn’t a realist painter, that’s for sure.’
CHAPTER FOUR
KALE TRIED TO STALL THEM WITH QUESTIONS WHEN Nell, Sam and Mekie had to leave.
Nell smiled at Kale. ‘It’s still early. Do you want to come to Dar-Seldra’s with us?’
‘Yes,’ he said, beaming. ‘If you don’t think Dar-Seldra would mind.’
‘Don’t worry, she wouldn’t.’
While they strolled along the hall, Nell contemplated seeing Shahs, the other Wexkian the statue had spoken about, but her senses tingled at the sight of Tanat leaving Dar-Seldra’s house. Oh, he wore his usual garb, a white, long-sleeved shirt that hung loose to make way for his wings when he needed them and black, baggy pirate-trousers, but the look was spoiled – his curly, sable hair was matted, pink flushed his fair-skinned face and his clothes, wrinkled, especially his shirt. He started at seeing them.
‘There you are.’ His lips opened and he gave a tight smile. ‘Can’t stop, I’m running late,’ he said, and headed toward the elevator.
Nell cocked her head to one side at his receding back. Something had happened between him and Dar-Seldra.
Confirmation of that became obvious when they entered the house. Dar-Seldra was watering a tall, black plant that looked long dead. Her clear-skinned cheeks had deepened into burnt sienna as she gazed adoringly at the ugly stick. Some of her long, golden hair had escaped the clasp that was supposed to hold it at the nape of her neck and the front of her lavender dress was crushed. Nell almost laughed aloud. Her Phib aunt and hero had been making out.
‘Mother?’ Mekie said.
Dar-Seldra gave a small start and looked at them. ‘Where have you been?’
Nell glanced at Mekie.
‘Your note told us to go to Tish’s,’ Mekie said.
She put the watering can down on the floor. ‘Yes, yes, that’s right.’
Nell gave Dar-Seldra her coy look, and said, ‘And we always do what you tell us.’
Dar-Seldra shook her head and smiled. ‘What am I going to do with you?’
Nell pushed Shahs out of her mind; she had to take the opportunities as they arose. ‘Take me to Linque so I can see the book again?’
‘I was wondering how long it would be before you asked.’ Her golden hair fell over the shoulders of her V-necked, empire dress as she held out her arms. Mekie moved in for a hug first, then Nell.
Sam went to shake her hand, but Dar-Seldra took him into her arms and hugged him too. His body went stiff and his mouth formed a silly grin as he endured the embrace politely. She was only a touch taller than he was and to Nell, her aunty still looked about the same age as him.
‘Nice to see you again, Kale,’ Dar-Seldra said. She sat on the porch swing that stood in the corner of the sitting room.
It looked out of place with its yellow and white stripes. Even though it was inside, they hadn’t bothered to remove the canvas sunroof. Nell gave a small shrug. Dar-Seldra liked it.
Swinging her legs under her, Dar-Seldra began to sway. ‘How does tomorrow sound?’
‘Great.’
‘I thought we were going to walk the corridors?’ Sam whispered to Mekie.
‘There’s plenty of time for that,’ Mekie said, narrowing her eyes at Sam. ‘Don’t you want to see my home world?’
‘Yeah, of course I do.’
Nell laughed. His disappointment didn’t last long. ‘Can we swim?’ she asked Dar-Seldra.
Dar-Seldra nodded. Her laugh was as melodic as always but Kale looked terrified.
‘What’s up?’ Sam asked Kale.
Dar-Seldra spoke for him. ‘Kale – all Corls for that matter – dislikes water. As you may have noticed, all Corl cities, with the exception of a few remaining ancient towns, are built far inland on the largest continents. Corls can’t swim and hate being wet.’
Nell and Sam looked at each other, at Kale, then at each other again. ‘But ...’ Nell started to say that Corls looked like some type of amPhibian, but she wasn’t sure how to say it without appearing insensitive.
Mekie giggled and Dar-Seldra said, ‘I know and yes, once, Corl was covered by water, and their ancestors lived in the oceans and waterways but that was a long time ago. Once most of the water had been trapped in the poles, Corls lost the ability to swim.’
Sam screwed his nose up at Kale. ‘Don’t you lot have baths?’
Kale returned the expression. ‘No. Not baths. However, we do bathe.’ He shot Sam a many-toothed grin. ‘We have short showers.’
Laughing, Sam said, ‘So do I. Don’t worry, mate, you don’t have to swim or even go anywhere near the water if you don’t want to.’
Nell frowned at him. ‘You don’t have to come at all if you don’t want, Kale.’
‘I don’t see why you want to go to Linque,’ Kale said. ‘Reading that book again won’t give you any more clues to your heritage. I have so much more to show you here on Corl.’
‘Come on, mate, don’t be a killjoy. I want you to come with us,’ Sam said. ‘We promise you don’t even have to look at the water if you don’t want to.’
Kale hesitated. ‘I do want to spend more time with you, and I could go to the libraries on Linque.’
‘That’s settled then,’ Sam said.
After Kale left, everyone retired for the night. Nell shared Mekie’s room. Too restless for sleep and not wanting to wake her cousin, Nell decided to go down to the kitchen – the alimentary. A room that provided nourishment, Dar-Seldra had told her. Blow it. It was easier to call it the kitchen. She shouldered her way through the revolving door.
The red disc on the wall turned green as he fingers brushed over it and the ceiling filled with a warm glow of golden light. Nell froze. Was someone else was there? She scanned the room. As well as the bench in the middle of room and the wall of shelves crammed with cooking appliances from all over the galaxy, there was something, or someone, else there ... Nell kept her back against the opposite wall as she moved around.
‘I’m not scared,’ she whispered. A few more side steps and Nell came face to face with a small painting of Dar-Seldra’s mother stirring what looked like a witch’s cauldron.
It sat on a corner shelf above a small table with a replica of the same cooking pot. The image in the picture smiled into the pot.
Nell bent closer to the picture. That was strange. Dar-Seldra’s mother was looking into the pot, now she gazed out from the picture.
The woman in the picture gave Nell a sideways glance.
She blinked then peered at the painting. Everyone thought eyes in paintings followed them, but those black eyes were way too familiar. Nell let out a shaky breath.
The woman turned her head toward Nell.
‘Aagh.’ Nell jumped back. As she tried to refocus her eyes, a white, billowy form coursed out of the frame. Her mouth dried.
The form solidified.
She searched her mind for where she had seen that face before.
‘Close your mouth, Nell,’ a male voice said. ‘And breathe.’
She shut her mouth. The black-eyed, white face from the elevator.
A bubble of anger squashed do
wn her fear. ‘You’re the one who’s been spying on me,’ she said. ‘Who are you and what are you doing here?’
‘Calm down.’ It reclined back against the bench and folded it’s arms across it’s bare chest. ‘I’ve been asked to watch over you, although I have better things to do than baby-sit a spoiled child.’
Nell decided to ignore his jibe. He didn’t know her. She looked him up and down, from the tight topaz-coloured curls to his bare feet. He wore black trousers and no shirt covered his white, hairless skin. Nell couldn’t see any ears under the black tight curls covering his head. Something about the way he stood set Nell’s teeth on edge. It was as if he wasn’t used to being questioned and something else ... did he expect her to be attracted to him? Well, he might be a catch to beings of his own kind, but how egotistical was he to think that would include her. ‘Who sent you to watch over me?’
‘A friend.’
‘A friend of mine?’ Nell thought about everyone she knew but none stood out.
‘And mine,’ he said. ‘Come, sit down and I will explain what I can.’
He smiled; at least Nell thought it was a smile. She could see no teeth. Blackness filled the void made by the parting of his creamy-white lips. Her eyes narrowed at the tone of his voice. He spoke as if he were talking to a year one student.
He chuckled. ‘Are you going to sit down?’
She sensed an ‘or else’ to the question and slid onto a stool beside the bench, not because she was scared of the brute, but because she wanted to know who asked him to watch her.
‘I am an Eldorap,’ he said. ‘We are divine beings.’
Nell wanted to ask who in the universe decided they were divine beings, but she managed to stay quiet.
‘And ... ah ... our friend was worried that you were on Corl.’
‘Friend? I don’t believe you. If I had a friend who knew you, they would have told me about you.’
He grinned. At least Nell thought it was a grin. It was an elongated line like a grin. However, she was certain there was a twinkle of a star in the black void that was his left eye. He’s laughing at me.
‘You haven’t met this friend yet but believe me, when you do, you will become close to him.’
‘That will be up to me to decide and if he or she is anything like you, I doubt it very much.’ She took a breath. ‘So why bother to say anything? You’re obviously not going to explain further. Anyway, what business is it of yours or anyone else’s where I go?’
‘I believed my friend had a right to know that the unruly child of Wexkia had defied her father and is on Corl.’
Nell jumped off the stool. ‘Who in the hell do you think you are?’
‘I am an Eldorap,’ he said as if that answered any questions.
‘So what!’ Nell fought to contain her anger. ‘I don’t care what you are and you’re not divine to me, so get out.’
‘Be quiet. You’ll wake the house.’
‘I don’t care. You come slinking out of a picture, and,’ she pointed to her fingers as she listed his misdemeanours, ‘you were in Tish’s statue, prowling around the elevator, the crocodile, hell, you were the snake and bird in the forest outside the Kafir city too.’
He nodded.
‘How in blazes did you do all that?’
He shrugged.
Throwing her arms up in the air, Nell spun away. ‘Ooh. Just stay from me.’
‘I can’t do that.’
Nell turned and snickered at him. It was her turn to treat him like a child. ‘Aw, come on now. You haven’t even tried.’ She wagged her head. ‘Didn’t your parents ever tell you if you can’t do something, keep trying until you can?’
Laughter erupted out of the black void of a mouth.
Nell turned at a movement out of the corner of her eye. Kale. ‘How long have you been there?’ she asked.
‘Not long,’ he said without acknowledging Nell’s unwanted visitor, ‘Who are you talking to?’
Frowning, Nell looked from Kale to the Eldorap and back to Kale again. ‘You don’t see anyone else here?’
Kale twisted his head around the room. ‘No.’ His little green eyes filled with concern. ‘Can you?’
‘Say no,’ the Eldorap said. ‘He will think you’re losing your mind.’
‘Huh? No, no. I was arguing with myself,’ Nell said, giving the Eldorap her meanest look.
‘What about?’
‘Um, what I should do first, see Shahs or try to find the second book.’
‘I don’t think you should do either,’ Kale said. ‘Why don’t you take the time to enjoy your visit to our galaxy?’
‘I can enjoy the visit and try to find some answers, can’t I?’
‘Yes, but you’re wasting your time. You have a book and when Nadar gets better you can ask him about the missing pages.’
She supposed he was right, but not wanting to give up her quest, Nell changed the subject. ‘Have you ever met an Eldorap?’
Kale laughed a hee-haw laugh. ‘Not yet. They are divine beings who abide in the next phase. No one can meet one unless they have died in this phase.’
‘I told you,’ the Eldorap said.
‘They’re like gods or angels?’ Nell stared past Kale at the intruder.
‘Not like your Earth gods or angels. They help us from one phase to the next. They are real, carbon-based beings, I think.’
The Eldorap winked at Nell. ‘Real? A life form has to be carbon-based to be real? Your Corl friend is a carbon chauvinist.’
Shutting him out, she focused on Kale. ‘You don’t sound too sure. That could be a myth or something.’ She glanced at the Eldorap. ‘I bet the Eldoraps spread the stories themselves.’
‘No. Lots of beings have died but they were brought back before it was too late. Their reports tell of a divine being, clothed in trousers and with skin white as the pole’s snow. The last report I read said they were hollow inside. It had pictures of what they are supposed to look like.’ He shrugged. ‘I guess we’ll all find out soon enough.’
‘Yeah, well, I won’t need their help then and I sure as hell don’t need it now.’
Kale picked up a small green bean from a bowl on the bench and popped it into his mouth. He swallowed it whole and said, ‘They don’t help live people.’
Whatever, Nell groaned silently.
‘You can read about them tomorrow.’ He swallowed another bean. ‘I’m going to bed, are you coming?’
‘You go. I’ll be up in a tic.’
As soon as Kale left, Nell rounded on the Eldorap, ‘How can you be here if you’re supposed to be helping beings through their phases?’
‘We are known to visit this plane every so often,’ he said. ‘However, we only show ourselves to those we wish to speak to.’
Kale and everybody else in the known universe thought they were divine beings so who was she to argue. She studied him. She should be in awe, but something about him grated on her nerves. Oh, he could be trusted. That wasn’t the problem. He was just ... too sure of himself. She asked, ‘What’s your name?’
‘It’s ... ah ... Deesc,’ he said.
She giggled. ‘Well, Deesc, you don’t seem too sure of that.’
‘I don’t care to state my name to others.’
Nell rolled her eyes. Smartarse. ‘You can find your own way out. I’m going to bed.’
Deesc said, ‘I know you have plans to go to Linque on the morrow, but I would prefer it if you stayed on Corl.’
She raised her brows at him, and thought, You would prefer?
‘Yes.’
‘You can read minds too.’ It wasn’t a question.
‘Yes. Listen to me, Nell. I have things to do here and I can’t watch you if you are on another planet now can I?’
There was that holier-than-thou tone again. ‘You can watch yourself then and leave me alone,’ she said and stormed out of the kitchen.
Thankful Deesc didn’t follow her; Nell had to stop herself from stomping up the stairs and waking everyone
. She wanted to hit something. That man or thing or whatever he was thought she couldn’t stop him from spying on her. We’ll see about that.
***
With no Eldorap’s eyes anywhere, Nell, Dar-Seldra, Kale, Sam and Mekie boarded a skark for Linque. Nell sat back and enjoyed the sensation of lightness. Deesc had been on her mind when she had awoken that morning. She smiled. If he couldn’t leave Corl, at least he wouldn’t be following her about on Linque.
Once there, they went straight to Dar-Seldra’s home.
In stark contrast to Corl, Linque’s houses were single storey, sprawling properties. They lined paved streets that were spotless and smooth underfoot.
Dar-Seldra’s Linque house was huge, with so many rooms that no one had to share. On the way down the hall to the east wing, they passed the living room. Nell grinned. As well as the usual sofa and armchairs, Dar-Seldra had installed another porch swing. It had the canvas shade over the seat like the one in her Corl house and due to the bright-red bougainvillea print all over it, all the other furniture faded into the background. Dar-Seldra had loved the look of the flowers on Earth.
After they had sorted out their bedrooms and returned to the sitting room, Dar-Seldra took Nell’s hand and patted it. ‘I will call the Linque council. Then she addressed everyone. ‘In the meantime, Mekie will take you for a small tour of our city.’
Sam and Nell had already changed into Phib clothes.
‘You coming, Kale?’ Sam asked. Kale looked as though he was about to answer in the negative but Sam didn’t give him time. ‘Oh, come on, you don’t have to go near the water.’ He exaggerated his best pleading look. ‘We won’t let you get wet. I promise.’
Kale smiled then bit his bottom lip with sharp teeth. ‘All right, I will trust your word.’
Sam shot him a wide-eyed look. ‘I should hope so.’
CHAPTER FIVE