The Island of Two Trees

by Brian Kennelly

  One of the knights nudged the children and motioned for them to move. Entranced by the view, they failed to notice Anastasia had kept moving up the pathway, which spiraled along the edge of the cave wall. She was a good thirty yards ahead. Connor and the girls picked up their pace.

  “Is the Mysteria Tree down there?” Connor asked Anastasia when they caught up, glancing down into the gorge, though staying a good foot or two back since the pathway had no guard railing.

  “Yes, of course,” she answered without turning around. “We are within the Tabernaculum. But it is far too deep from here to see it.”

  “The Taber-what?” Lucy asked from behind.

  “The Tabernaculum,” Anastasia repeated, “the hollow of the mountain that shelters the Mysteria Tree.”

  “Daddy didn’t mention this was called the Taber-whatever,” Lucy whispered to Maggie. Maggie only shrugged.

  “Will we get to see the tree?” Connor asked.

  “Soon enough. But we must go higher into the castle first. We are already late for your meeting with the queen.”

  “So what do we call this queen when we meet her?” Connor asked. “My dad said her name was the Mysteria Queen?”

  “Yes, this is one of her names, but she answers to many titles. The Mysteria Queen, Queen Mysteria, Lady Mysteria, Guardian of the Sacred Tree, Protectress of the Water Roots, Mother of the Island. I could go on and on, but you may call her Lady Mysteria if you like, or simply My Lady.”

  After a few turns around the circular pathway, the children saw openings in the stone wall every so often, holes leading to other tunnels extending deeper into the mountain. These openings looked similar to the one they had emerged from moments ago, the one that led down to the sea and the waves. These new hallways seemed to lead to other caverns. This reminded the children that Daddy had said part of the castle was actually within the mountain.

  Peeking down these other hallways, the children saw other people for the first time. Up until then, it was only the three of them, Anastasia, and the two young knights. But it seemed they blinked and suddenly there were other knights standing on guard in the doorways, and other handmaidens dressed like Anastasia, and male servants as well. Some walked along the spiral pathway, while others navigated the various hallways and caverns. Most of them were going about their business, as if it was an ordinary day inside the mountain castle, but many stopped to stare at Connor, Maggie and Lucy. The children felt self-conscious when some of them whispered and began to point, especially some of the little children who walked by holding their parent’s hands.

  After more turns up the spiral pathway than the children would’ve cared to make (for they were very tired now and wishing this mountain castle had an elevator), Anastasia finally curved off into one of the top-most caverns. The jagged top crust of the mountain was only a few feet above their heads now. Through the holes, they could hear the whistle of the high, mountain winds.

  Anastasia placed her torch in an iron cradle hinged to the wall. Meanwhile, the knights behind them stopped, and instead of following them, did an about face, so as to stand watch back in the Tabernaculum.

  “Come,” Anastasia said, “I know it is a long climb up, but we’re nearly there.”

  For a few paces, the children walked through another cavern hallway similar to the others, but after a few turns they found themselves in what looked more like a real castle. They entered a long hallway built from massive, gray stones, with decorative banners hanging on the walls in between arched wooden doors. Sunlight filtered in through circular windows on the outer wall, spaced about twenty feet apart. As they passed one, Lucy stopped and said, “Look! There’s Kristoff’s ship!”

  Maggie and Connor leaned over their younger sister to look at the wide view of the cliff and the sea beyond where the afternoon sunlight danced on the top of the water like sparkling crystals. They were nearly to the top floor of the castle, up where the clouds roamed. And there down below, still docked just past where the waves crashed against the rocks, they saw the ship that had brought them here. Seeing it from so far away made them realize how high their journey had brought them into the sky.

  “I hope that monkey’s still not angry with me,” Maggie said.

  Connor and Lucy chuckled.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it,” Connor said. “Come on, we better keep moving.”

  A minute later, they turned down a new hallway and approached yet another staircase bordered by two knights standing watch.

  “The queen’s throne room is just up here,” Anastasia said over her shoulder.

  Again, the children climbed higher and higher. They couldn’t even begin to guess how high they were now. Would they soon look down upon the stars?

  They eventually approached two massive wooden doors at the top of the circular staircase. Once past the last step, Anastasia approached the doors and lifted her hands to where they met in the middle. She stopped and turned around. “I hope you’re ready to meet a queen.”

  When she pushed forward, the giant doors creaked and swung open, banging against the inside walls. A loud boom! echoed throughout the long throne room. The children hesitantly followed her inside, preparing themselves as best they could to meet a queen.

  8

  VISIONS OF THE ISLAND

  Mommy led Daddy to the couch in the den. She wanted to take him up to their bedroom, but he was too weak to walk on his own and she couldn’t carry him up the steps; it was all she could do just to get him to the couch.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  Before he could answer, Mary cried from her swing in the kitchen. Mommy ran to retrieve her and bring her back into the den, now resting squarely on Mommy’s hip.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  Daddy replied, “Just give me a minute,” as he rubbed the sides of his head.

  “What did you mean when you said they’re at the island?” she asked, sitting down on the ground beside him and lying the baby down as well. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I know it doesn’t,” Daddy said, still rubbing the sides of his head. “But that’s where they are,” he added, closing his eyes. “I…I can see them.”

  “You can see them?”

  “Well, not really…I can’t see them, not like I can see you right now,” he said opening his eyes and looking at her. “But when I close my eyes, it’s like they’re in here somewhere.”

  “In where?”

  Daddy pointed to his head.

  “What on earth are you talking about?” Mommy asked, now very worried that her husband had lost his mind in addition to her children being lost.

  “I can see them in my mind’s eye, like when you try to picture someone in your mind, you don’t actually see them, but you have a foggy picture of them in your head, ya’ know what I mean? I can see Connor, Maggie, and Lucy. They’re on the island… they’re…” he closed his eyes, as if trying to find them behind his eyelids. “They’re in the mountain now, or…I’m not sure, it’s not clear. But I know they’re on the island. I’m sure of it.”

  “What am I supposed to make of this? This is impossible. I’m going to call the police.” Mommy stood up, but Daddy grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to the ground.

  “No, we can’t call anyone about the children. They won’t understand. They won’t believe us.”

  “They’re not on that island!” Mommy screamed. “Someone took them. We need to call the police right now!”

  “Look, I know how this sounds. You have every reason not to believe me, but trust me, they’re on that island.”

  Daddy suddenly screamed and grabbed the sides of his throbbing head. “Ahhh!!” The pain was so strong he almost passed out.

  “What is it?” Mommy cried. “What’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with your head? What am I supposed to do? Should I call an ambulance?”

  Mommy began to cry again. Daddy pulled her in close so her tears could fall on his shoulder.

  “You don�
�t need to call an ambulance,” he said softly. “I’ll be okay.” And then he paused quietly. He wasn’t sure if he believed what he was going to say next. “I think these pains I’ve been having in my head are the reason the children are on the island right now.”

  Mommy pulled back from his shoulder and wiped at her teary eyes. “What do you mean?”

  Daddy proceeded to tell Mommy that he began having the pains in his head a long time ago, about the time he started building the island with the children and telling them the story. The pains were slight at first but grew with time, so that now they were nearly unbearable. They felt like headaches, but more piercing, as if his head was being ripped apart.

  Mommy knew all about these head pains he’d been having, and that they had been getting worse, but she didn’t understand any connection his head trauma had to the island. Daddy couldn’t give much of an explanation because he didn’t fully understand it himself. But he knew that each time he felt the pain in his head, he saw a vision of the island. A flash of light would wash over him and he’d see the mountain, or the castle, or the lake or the village, or the forest, or the…or the…

  “Or the what?” Mommy asked.

  “Or the Shadow Tree in the east,” Daddy finally said. “I see that most of all when my head aches.”

  “So when you have this aching in your head,” Mommy said, trying to make sense of it all, “you see parts of the island?”

  “That’s right,” Daddy confirmed. “And now when I have the pains, as of this morning, I mean, I see the kids on the island.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this before now?”

  “Because the kids weren’t gone before now.”

  “You still should’ve told me that you were seeing the island while you were having these pains.”

  “I knew you wouldn’t believe me. You’d think I was crazy.”

  “I still think we should call the police.”

  Daddy shook his head. “No, we can’t do that. If we call someone else, they won’t be able to do anything, and they’ll think I’ve lost my mind. I know without a doubt that’s where they are. I don’t know how they got there, or even where there is, exactly, but I need you to trust me.”

  “I want to,” Mommy said, and her voice was really choking now because she missed her babies and didn’t know what to think of everything Daddy was telling her. “But I just can’t, not without some kind of proof.”

  Daddy understood her hesitation. If the situation was reversed, he wouldn’t believe her either. But then a thought came to him like a bolt of lightning.

  “You want proof?”

  Mommy nodded.

  “Okay, c’mon, let’s go back to the garage.”

  9

  MEETING A QUEEN

  Maggie had just one thought as she entered the throne room between her brother and sister, and it was a very silly thought considering she was about to meet a queen. She couldn’t help thinking that she was still in her pajamas. She glanced down at her pink nightie and then to either side of her, where Lucy walked forward in her princess PJ’s and Connor in his sweatpants and raggedy Clemson t-shirt he always slept in. She was embarrassed that they were not better dressed. It seemed one should gussy up and put on something nice when one meets royalty.

  But she knew there was nothing she could do about it, so she marched on behind Anastasia, who led them through a large room that was so long it seemed more like a hallway. It was at least the size of a football field and the ceiling stretched hundreds of feet in the air. On the walls hung banners adorned with gold crests and other beautiful works of art, those of landscape scenes and also people and castles. Sunlight poured in through rows of tall, stained-glass windows decorated with various colorful designs, giving the colossal room the appearance of a church. But there were no pews like a church; in fact, the room was mostly empty. The children walked forward behind their guide, over the stone floor and beneath several candle chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

  At the other end of the room, a group of people—knights and other dignitaries and servants dressed like Anastasia—were standing in a semi-circle, talking just beyond some steps on a raised platform, almost like a stage. They were huddled before a large chair, although calling it a “chair” did not really do it justice. It was at least ten feet tall with gold carvings around its frame, and the back was covered in a beautiful rich, blue cloth. But since the people were all huddled before it, the children could not see who was sitting in it.

  Behind the chair, a massive tapestry draped the entire surface of the back wall. The scene depicted a tree with many branches sprouting from its trunk, all lushly covered with healthy, green leaves. At the base of the trunk, roots sprawled out in all directions, filling up the bottom half of the tapestry. Streams of water dripped from the tips of the roots and trickled down onto a congregation of people. Hundreds and hundreds of little figures were gathered together, either bathing in the water or drinking it straight from the roots.

  When they reached the steps, Anastasia stopped. “My Lady, they’re here.”

  The conversation on the platform came to an immediate halt. The knights and dignitaries and servants slowly turned ‘round. Some were young like Anastasia and the two knights who had rowed out to get them, but others were older, their hair made white and gray by time. They stared past Anastasia at Connor, Maggie, and Lucy.

  A figure rose from behind them, a middle-aged woman but with a youthful face. She was draped in a vibrant blue gown with long, dark hair flowing beneath a golden crown adorned with stars. She had been seated on the large chair, which the children now understood was her throne, for surely this was the queen. The group of people began to sift apart, forming a pathway. She walked to the edge of the last step and peered down at the children, smiling in such a way they felt like she was someone they already knew.

  Anastasia bowed. Lucy and Maggie followed her lead and did the same, but Connor was too taken with the queen’s beauty to notice; he just kept staring until Maggie pinched him.

  “Ow!” he said, rubbing his arm. “What was that for?”

  Maggie nodded toward the ground.

  “Oh, right!” he said, finally bowing himself.

  “Welcome, children,” she said. “We have been waiting on you. I trust your journey here was a safe one?”

  “Oh, ah, yeah, I mean yes ‘mam, M-M-My Lady,” Connor said. “It was fine. A little hard to believe, but we made it here in one piece.”

  “Well I am glad for that, because I must have a very important conversation with you.”

  She turned and nodded to the group she’d been speaking with, prompting them to all take their leave through a side door.

  “My Lady,” Anastasia said, “is there anything else you need of me?”

  “Yes, sweet child. If you would ensure the children’s accommodations for the evening are in order, and help begin preparations for dinner. I know they are hungry,” she added, smiling at Connor, Maggie, and Lucy, who realized for the first time that they had not eaten since the day before and were quite famished. “Please also visit Sir George’s chambers to let him know they’re here. He will need to be prepared for their training tomorrow.”

  “Training?” the children all thought at once.

  Anastasia bowed before departing down the long room. The queen, meanwhile, descended the stairs to meet the children.

  “Walk with me,” she said, prompting the children forward with a gesture of her arm. “I know you must be confused about why you have been summoned here.”

  “Where exactly is here?” Connor asked. “I mean, I know it’s the island we built with our dad, but…”

  He didn’t know how to finish his thought.

  “You are correct and wrong all at once, Connor. You see, this is the island you built with your father, but this is the real island. What you built in your parents’ garage is simply a manifestation of this place.”

  “What does that mean?” Lucy asked. She was becoming very curio
us what this “manifestation” word meant since Anastasia had used it as well.

  “A manifestation is a symbol, or a sign, for something else. Some realities go beyond the reach of our senses. There are things that we cannot see, smell, hear, taste or touch, so physical signs are created for them in order to make them better known.”

  “I still don’t think I understand,” Lucy admitted.

  “Do your parents wear wedding rings, Lucy?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Those rings are a manifestation of their love for one another. Love is not something you can touch, or taste, or smell, or hear, or see, at least not in your world. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. In fact, love is more real than anything we can understand with our senses because it lasts beyond the reach of time. But despite the fact that love is eternal, it is invisible, so we search for ways to make it visible, to help us ‘see’ it, like when a couple wears wedding rings. In the case of this island, here it is real, but it is invisible where you come from, that is, until you built that model with your father. You made it come alive in your world by giving it matter, or substance. There is a mysterious way that something very simple in your world can signify a deeper reality. But what makes it into your world—these manifestations—they are only glimpses of what you’ll see here.”

  “Glimpses?” Maggie asked. They were the only four in the throne room now and even her little voice echoed within the vaulted ceiling.

  “That’s right…glimpses,” repeated the queen, “partial visions of the truth. There is more to this island, and to this story, than even your father knows. The human imagination is powerful but it is clouded by a veil that hangs over it, keeping each storyteller from seeing and understanding the full truth of what lies in other realms. Your father created a beautiful thing with you in your home, a worthy manifestation, but the real island, in its entirety, lives here within his imagination, and that’s where you are now.”