The Dragon's Descent

by Laurice Elehwany Molinari

  “How do we find out if He will?”

  “Ask Him.” Leo smiled. “It’s not only human prayers He hears.”

  Karael flapped his wings. “If He grants your prayer, we can get on it much quicker if we’re already at the prayer grid.”

  Vero nodded and sprouted his wings. Off the three angels flew. Vero soared over the vast green hills below. He saw animals of every type peacefully grazing. Soon they reached the crystal coliseum that was the prayer grid. As Vero, Leo, and Karael hovered above, they saw the thousands and thousands of angels who were seated in the stands. Brightly colored rays of light shot up from the grid in the middle of the coliseum, which angels caught into their hands. Soon each flew off and other angels arrived to catch new shards of light. Vero was in awe of the spectacle.

  “Go ask,” Leo said to Vero. “We’ll wait here.”

  Vero nodded and flew off to a peaceful cluster of trees just outside the prayer grid coliseum. He landed on the thick branch of one and pulled in his wings, then sat and closed his eyes. The atmosphere around the prayer grid was so tranquil that Vero had no problem concentrating. He asked God with all his heart to hear his prayer. After a few moments, he opened his eyes, grew his wings, and flew back to the prayer grid.

  “Vero, over here!” Karael waved to him.

  Vero looked over and saw Leo and Karael sitting on the top bleacher. He flew to them and sat down.

  “Any word?” Vero asked.

  “Not yet,” Leo answered. “Patience.”

  “We need to hurry. Because I willed myself here, time hasn’t stopped on earth for me,” Vero said. “Can you see if my dad is still asleep?”

  “Sawing wood.” Leo chuckled.

  Without warning, two vivid purple rays of light shot straight toward Leo and Karael. Their hands instantly went up, and they caught them.

  “All good?” Vero asked them.

  Karael smiled and nodded. “But remember, all we can do is plant the seed in his mind.”

  “I know,” Vero said.

  “And don’t expect me to push for first class.” Leo smiled.

  “No worries. Business class will be fine with me,” Vero said, meaning it.

  Vero woke the next morning with a crick in his neck. When he returned from the Ether, he was so exhausted that he’d slept with his head hanging off the bed, the exact position from when he had transitioned to the Ether. He threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then went to find his father.

  “That one could work,” Vero overheard his mother say.

  He walked into the kitchen and saw his parents sitting at the table, hovering over his dad’s laptop.

  “What are you doing?” Vero asked.

  “After sleeping on it, I sort of had a change of heart,” Dennis said, looking up from the screen.

  “Dad’s taking the whole family to Sri Lanka with him!” Nora said excitedly.

  “Really?” Vero asked.

  Clover walked into the kitchen in her pajamas.

  “What’s going on?” Clover asked.

  “We’re going to Sri Lanka!” Vero said.

  “All of us?”

  “Even Tack,” Dennis said. “We called his parents and they’re okay with it. He already has a passport. I guess he was supposed to go on some dowsing trip to Central America with his dad last summer, but then the trip never happened.”

  “And our passports are still good from when we went to Cancun. Dad just needs to get the visas,” Nora said.

  “This is crazy,” Clover said. “What changed your mind?”

  “When I woke up, for some reason I felt like we really needed to spend more time together as a family,” Dennis said. “And then everything just seemed to magically fall into place. You guys won’t miss any school. And somehow I had a ton more frequent flyer miles than what I had remembered . . .”

  Clover shot Vero a suspicious look. He shrugged.

  “So we’re only actually paying for one ticket.”

  “Come on, you two.” Nora turned to Clover and Vero. “Hurry up and eat so we can get your pictures taken.”

  “Dad,” Vero said. “This is all so amazing. But is there any chance you have enough miles for business class?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep,” Dennis said. “Mom and I will be in business. You, Tack, and Clover can sit in coach.” Dennis smiled. “Unfortunately, the only seats available for you kids were the ones right across from the bathroom.”

  Somehow, Vero knew that Leo was also smiling.

  13

  TRACKING SAPPHIRES

  Sri Lanka?” Tack said to Vero as they pushed the hospitality cart down the sterile hospital hallway.

  “Yeah.”

  “Why can’t the book be somewhere like Hawaii or Alaska,” Tack said. “I always wanted to see Alaska.”

  “Sri Lanka’s supposed to be beautiful,” Vero said. “After we’re done here, can you come over to my house?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I need you to practice looking for the book,” Vero said. “I now know what it is, so we can fine-tune your dowsing skills. Okay?”

  “What is it?”

  “A gem.”

  Vero saw a worried look come over Tack. “What?”

  “I’ve only ever detected water. I’m not so sure I can find a gem.”

  “I thought dowsers can find a whole bunch of stuff like oil, metals . . .”

  “Some can. I just hope I don’t let you down,” Tack said.

  Tack’s face then turned white. Vero saw fear in his eyes. Then he realized they were standing in front of the same elevator where they were attacked, and that Tack had stopped pushing the cart.

  “It’s all right,” Vero said. “They’re not gonna come back . . . at least for now.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because they need me right now. They need me to lead them to the book.”

  Tack shook his head.

  “What?”

  “It’s still hard for me to make sense of all this,” Tack said. “How did you deal with it? You know, when you first found out.”

  “Part of me was relieved because it explained all the weird stuff that was happening. I really thought I was going crazy. But then I worried that my family would hate me if they knew the truth . . . You too.”

  “I’ll admit it freaked me out, but I could never hate you,” Tack said. “You know my family. We go to Mass every Sunday, but I guess I focused more on video games than religion. I kind of thought all those old Bible stories were just stories about how not to behave.”

  Vero nodded. He understood.

  “But here you are, an angel,” Tack said. “I don’t know if I would have believed if you weren’t here, and if I hadn’t seen those monsters.”

  The elevator bell dinged, signaling its arrival. Vero looked to Tack.

  “I’ll get in,” Tack said, eyeing the elevator. “I’m not scared anymore.”

  The elevator door opened, and Tack screamed at the sight before him. Not a malture, but Nurse Kunkel walking off the elevator. She gave him a look.

  “Get a grip, Kozlowski,” Nurse Kunkel told Tack as she walked past.

  Vero searched through his mother’s jewelry box, which sat on top of Nora’s dresser in her bedroom. Tack stood in the doorway keeping watch.

  “I feel weird about this,” Tack said.

  “We’re not stealing, just borrowing them,” Vero said as he pushed a pearl necklace to the side of the box.

  “Hurry up.”

  “I can’t find them,” Vero said, frustrated.

  “Can’t we just use something else?”

 
“Wait! Here we go!” Vero said, excitement in his voice.

  He held up two blue stone earrings. Tack looked closely at the earrings in Vero’s hand.

  “So that’s a blue sapphire?”

  “Yep,” Vero said.

  “You sure?” Tack asked.

  “Yeah, let’s go.”

  Minutes later, Tack stepped out of the Leland’s back door into the backyard. Vero stood under a tree.

  “You ready?” Vero asked Tack.

  “Did you hide them together or separately?” Tack asked.

  “You tell me.” Vero grinned mischievously.

  Tack narrowed his eyes at Vero. “Okay, I will.”

  Tack spread his fingers and held both hands out over the ground. A serious, focused look came over his face. He walked toward the picnic table then stopped. He stood still for a moment, concentrating. Vero watched, with bated breath. He was hopeful Tack would find the sapphire. But then a look of disappointment came over Vero as Tack turned and headed toward the house next door.

  Vero shook his head as Tack walked into the Atwood’s yard. Tack made his way around Mrs. Atwood’s vegetable garden and walked up their back porch. Panic flooded Vero’s eyes. He raced over to Tack.

  “Come back, I didn’t hide it in their yard!” Vero called to Tack.

  It seemed as if Tack was in some sort of trance. He stood staring into the Atwood’s family room. Vero arrived just in time to see Mr. Atwood’s eyes shoot wide as he lay on the sofa watching a basketball game on TV.

  “What in the world?!” Mr. Atwood shouted through the French doors.

  “It’s not here. Let’s go,” Vero grabbed Tack’s arm.

  Tack didn’t budge.

  “Wendy! We have unwanted visitors at the back door!” Mr. Atwood shouted. “Get rid of them!”

  “Great, now look what you did!” Vero tugged on Tack’s arm.

  The door opened. Mrs. Atwood stood there, her hair done, wearing a long overcoat.

  “Hi, boys,” she said. “Can I help you with something? Or are you looking for Angus? Because he’s not home right now.”

  “Um . . .” Vero faltered. “We were checking up on Mr. Atwood.”

  “Oh, aren’t you sweet,” Mrs. Atwood said. “He’s doing much better.”

  The loud, unmistakable sound of someone passing gas reached their ears. Mrs. Atwood cringed. Vero smirked. Tack remained serious.

  “You’ll have to excuse Albert,” Mrs. Atwood said. “The doctor has got him on all kinds of medications . . . including laxatives. I’d invite you in, but it’s really awful in here right now. Mr. Atwood can’t entertain guests for the time being.”

  “Are they gone?” Mr. Atwood shouted.

  “Quiet, Albert!” Mrs. Atwood yelled.

  “We’ll just be going,” Vero said as he stepped toward the stairs.

  “You look nice,” Tack said to Mrs. Atwood.

  Vero abruptly stopped and gave Tack a look.

  “Thank you. I’m on my way to a dinner at my women’s club.”

  “Okay, we have to go now,” Tack said.

  Vero arched his eyebrows. What was Tack doing?

  “Oh, Mrs. Atwood, before we go, do you happen to have the time?” Tack asked.

  Mrs. Atwood pushed her right sleeve up, revealing her watch.

  “Five forty-seven.”

  “Thanks, and what a stunning watch,” Tack said, smiling the biggest smile.

  Vero glanced over at the watch. A jolt of surprise shot through him.

  “I know it’s hard to believe,” Mrs. Atwood said. “But Albert got me this for my fortieth birthday. I was born in September. The sapphire is my birthstone.”

  She pointed to the twelve tiny blue sapphires on the face of the watch. Vero smiled to Tack, who gave him a sly look.

  “That was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself,” Tack said to Vero as they sat on the picnic table.

  “Yeah, since I thought you had totally lost it,” Vero said. “But you still need to find my mom’s.”

  “Fine.”

  Tack stood. He took a deep breath and tried to focus. He held his hands out over the yard, but after a few moments, he shook his head.

  “I got nothing at all.”

  “It doesn’t make any sense,” Vero said. “How were you able to find Mrs. Atwood’s? Especially since these were right under your nose.”

  Vero pulled both earrings out from the bottom of the picnic table. He had used a piece of duct tape to tape them to the underside.

  “Really? That is bad,” Tack said, sadly.

  “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Hide them again. We’ve got to keep practicing,” Tack said.

  “Okay.”

  “Boys!” Nora called from the kitchen window.

  Vero quickly stuffed the earrings into his back jean pocket.

  “Mary called. She wants Tack home for dinner.”

  “Right now?” Vero asked.

  “Yes. He was supposed to be home a half hour ago.”

  Nora shut the window.

  “We’ll practice tomorrow,” Vero told Tack.

  Tack nodded.

  As Vero lay on his bed in sweatpants, studying from his science textbook, Clover barged into the room.

  “You want to explain why I found these in your pocket when I was doing the laundry?” Clover asked, opening her hand to reveal the sapphire earrings.

  “Oh, I forgot to put them back,” Vero answered, sitting up.

  “Answer the question. You going to pierce your ears?”

  “No,” Vero answered, shocked by the question.

  “Nose?”

  “No.”

  “Belly button?”

  “NO!” Vero shook his head. “I was using them to train Tack.”

  “Okay, now I’m even more confused,” Clover said.

  “They’re blue sapphires. The Book of Raziel is a blue sapphire. I hid them in the backyard to see if Tack could find them. We’re practicing for when the time comes.”

  “It can’t be going well.”

  “Not with those,” Vero said. “But how did you know?”

  “Because these are fakes.” Clover sighed. “Mom bought these because she needed them to match a dress.”

  “That would explain it!” Vero excitedly said. “So it wasn’t Tack!”

  “Use this.”

  Clover lifted a necklace out from under her shirt and unclasped it. She put it in Vero’s hand. It was a small blue stone.

  “This is the real deal.”

  “Where did you get it?”

  “When I graduated eighth grade, Mom and Dad gave it to me. It’s my birthstone. So don’t lose it!” Clover said. “Give me the chain back.”

  Vero took the stone off the chain.

  “Thanks, I won’t lose it.”

  “Not to change the subject, but what’s this I hear about you losing it with Danny Konrad the other day?” Clover asked.

  “It’s true,” Vero said as he placed the sapphire on his nightstand. “He’s moving to Colorado. His dad’s not gonna drive a truck anymore.”

  “So? Now he won’t be able to pick on you,” Clover said as she sat down on his bed. “You should be happy.”

  “I’m Danny’s guardian angel.”

  Clover looked straight at Vero.

  “Serious?”

  Vero nodded.

  Clover laughed.

  “What?”

  “Well, it’s kind of funny,” Clover said. “You can’t stand him, but you’re stuck with him.”

  “He’s not so bad anymore.” Vero shrugged.
>
  “So why are you upset if he moves?” Clover asked.

  “Because he’ll be in Colorado, far from you guys . . .”

  “And your point is?” Clover asked.

  “I’ll have to go with him. I thought I could at least be around you guys, you know, when the time comes.”

  Sadness came into Clover’s eyes.

  “Vero, you’re Danny’s guardian, which means you have to support what’s best for him. Going to Colorado and being settled with his dad will be good for Danny.”

  Vero looked down. “I know.”

  “I’ve only ever thought about how hard it will be for us to live without you, but I never really thought how hard it will be for you to live without us,” Clover apologized, her eyes swelling.

  Vero wrapped his arm around his sister’s neck. Clover rested her head on his shoulder.

  14

  THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

  Mrs. Luckett squinted through her cat-eye-style glasses at Tack and Vero, who stood before her. She was about seventy, and while her eyesight wasn’t what it once was, her hearing was still fantastic. And right now, she probably wished it wasn’t—for Tack was singing in music class. While Vero stood next to him, the rest of the class was sitting on plastic blue chairs that had tennis balls attached to the base of their metal legs.

  “Thaddeus, try that note again,” Mrs. Luckett said, pointing her conductor’s stick at him. “ ‘Hallelujah’ in B flat.”

  “Okay.”

  “Now I’ve heard there was a . . .” As Tack sang, a look of pain came over Mrs. Luckett. She looked as if an elephant just stomped on her toes . . . all ten . . . twice.

  “That is enough!” Mrs. Luckett shouted to Tack, then turned to Vero. “You try.”

  Vero started. “Now I’ve heard there was a secret . . .” Once again, Mrs. Luckett’s face squished up in pain—this time as if someone had slammed the car door on all ten of her fingers, then opened the door and slammed it shut again. She repeatedly tapped her wand on her music stand. “Thank you! Stop! Enough!” Vero closed his mouth.

  “It’s all art,” Mrs. Luckett told the entire class. “Whether you sing, dance, act, write, or draw, all art should be respected and held in high regard. And another wonderful form of artistic expression is pantomime . . .” She turned to Tack and Vero. “So from now on in my music class, you two will be performing pantomime whenever we sing. You will mouth the words while the rest of the class uses their full voices.”