by Jon Herrera
break.
She sat with her back to the ancient oak and felt his warmth giving her strength. Emptying herself and becoming a vessel for the light was a tiring thing but it was becoming easier the more that she did it.
“So you said that the missing people are in another world, Mr Domino,” Emma said. “But how does Minotaur get them there?”
“This tree has a twin,” Domino said. “In another place in this forest.”
“But why would the trees help him?”
“The trees all have their own identities and their own motives,” Domino said. “No one truly understands why they do the things they do, not even the Lord of Light. They are not with or against him, but only choose to do what they will. Not all the trees can make portals. In this forest there are only two, this one and his twin. Many of their brothers who once could are now dead.”
“Because of us?”
Domino nodded. “Because of you,” he said. “There will come a time, if we don’t stop him, when the Lord of Light will return. He will come through here because here lies his portal of old, and this ancient tree and his brother will open it once again.”
“But I thought Mr Oak wanted to help me stop him.”
“He does,” said Domino. “And he will. And when the time comes, he will help open the portal for the Lord of Light.”
“That’s very confusing.”
“It’s the way of the trees.”
Emma frowned. She looked up into the leaves of the great oak and sat for a moment and watched them dance in the wind.
“So is it our fault? Is he coming back now because the forests are getting chopped down?”
Domino smiled. “Indeed, I think that is the case.”
“Then why can’t we chop down the other tree? Wouldn’t that stop him?”
“I think you’d find that to be impossible, at least by normal means.”
After the break, Domino made her stand close to the edge of the clearing.
“Now I want to teach you to call the creatures of the world,” he said. “To reach them from afar you need to use the aid of your flute. You must become the vessel of light, and the flute must become an extension of you through which the light will flow.”
“Like a teapot!”
The faun laughed and it was a sweet, rich, and strange sound to Emma’s ears. “Yes,” he said. “Like a super-powered teapot.”
He instructed Emma to close her eyes and do what she’d been practising. It only took her a few minutes this time to become the vessel with the dancing spark inside it.
“All stories are true,” said the faun. “Do you know of Cerynitis? The Golden Hind? He now inhabits this forest. You must know his name if you are to call him.”
The voice of the faun changed and Emma knew that he was now speaking using the music. “Cerynitis,” he said, and the spark inside Emma danced in response.
Emma saw the creature in her mind’s eye and it was like looking at the wind, golden antlers in flight propelled by bronze hooves.
She said the name of the hind using the light that was inside of her and she directed it toward the flute that she held in her hand. The word flowed around her vessel and out through the instrument, and then the light exploded and shone forth into the world.
As soon as she said the word, she felt the wind. When she opened her eyes she saw first the creature, the Golden Hind, standing before her. He was like a great deer but for the antlers and the hooves made of metals. Next, she looked toward the faun and saw that his eyes were wide with something like fear.
Domino noticed her looking at him and he composed himself quickly but did not say anything.
Emma looked back to Cerynitis and reached out to touch him. Before she knew it, the creature was gone and it was as though he had vanished into nothingness, but for the wind of his departure.
“That was extraordinary,” Domino said. “It will do for today.”
The next week followed the same routine.
When Emma wasn’t at school, she would spend her time in the forest learning from the faun until it was time for dinner. Then she would go back home to be with her family and do homework and practise the things that she had learned.
Though Jake was becoming restless about going to the forest, Domino was not interested in meeting him and forbid Emma from bringing him. Jake was somewhat pacified when he got to meet Mr Jingles, the jackalope. The creature made Emma’s stories seem more real. Meeting Jingles gave Jake hope that his father really was alive in another world, waiting for rescue.
Emma made the time every day to call Lucy Leroux to see how she was doing. Lucy was appreciative of Emma’s phone calls and she seemed to be doing as well as could be expected. Emma decided that they had to have Lucy over for dinner very soon and so, when Friday came, Emma invited both Lucy and Jake over to the house.
It was on that day that the forest started to leak.
Lucy arrived an hour before dinner time.
Emma was in her bedroom with Jingles when she heard the front door open. She took the Christmas hat from her bedside table and put it on the jackalope to conceal his antlers. The two of them went out to greet Lucy and found that Mr Wilkins was already leading her toward the living area.
“Hey, Emma!” Lucy said when she saw her. Her eyes lit up with delight when she saw the jackalope walking along beside her. “And you!” she said. “Hello, little guy… or girl?”
“It’s a boy,” Emma said. “His name is Mr Jingles because he loves his hat.”
“Hello, Mr Jingles,” Lucy said and she knelt to the ground.
“Good morning, Miss,” Jingles said. He moved close to the girl and sat down in front of her. Lucy pet him and scratched the side of his neck.
“He just walks around like this?” Lucy said. “No cage or anything?”
“Yeah, he’s well trained.”
“I’ll start dinner, girls,” Mr Wilkins said. “You two have a seat. Would you like something to drink, Lucy?”
“No, thank you, Professor.”
The girls sat down and talked about animals.
Half an hour later, there was another knock at the door. Emma jumped up from where she was sitting.
“That must be Jake!” she said.
“Is that your boyfriend?” Lucy said. Emma went red and looked toward the kitchen and saw that her father was watching her.
“No,” Emma said. “He’s just a friend.”
She went to the door and, when she opened it, she was surprised to see that Jake wasn’t alone. His mother was there beside him.
“Oh, hello, Victoria Mrs Milligan,” Emma said.
“Just Vicky, please, Emma,” she said. “Hello, dear. Is your father home? I hope he doesn’t mind that I stop by unannounced like this. I got home and straightaway Jake says he’s coming over so I thought I’d stop by to talk with your father. I hope it’s not a problem.”
“No problem at all,” Mr Wilkins said from the kitchen. He came around the counter that separated it from the living room and the front foyer and approached her, hand outstretched. They shook hands and Mr Wilkins brought the visitors inside and they exchanged pleasantries before he went back to the kitchen to continue with the dinner preparations. Emma went with him to help and left the Milligans to get acquainted with Lucy Leroux.
Emma checked the roast in the oven while William Wilkins mashed some potatoes.
“How much do they know?” he asked her quietly so that the visitors wouldn’t hear.
“Lucy knows nothing, Jake knows everything, and his mom knows something in between, probably,” Emma said. “I don’t know what Jake has told her.”
She closed the oven door and looked up over the counter to see that Lucy saying something to Mrs Milligan. The older woman was sitting on a couch with Jake while Lucy was sitting on the one across from them. Next to Lucy, sitting like he was part of the conversation, was Mr Jingles.
“Okay,” said her father. “Let’s keep it quiet then.”
Will came in through
the front door and put his backpack in the closet before he turned and greeted the visitors. He then went into the kitchen and filled a glass with cold water and leaned on a counter to drink it.
“How was basketball?” Mr Wilkins asked him.
“Good,” Will said. “Joey broke his arm but we won.”
“Worth it then?”
“Totally,” Will said.
When everything was ready, they all sat down at the dinner table.
“The roast looks delicious, Professor Wilkins,” said Victoria Milligan.
“Thank you,” he said. “Oh, and just call me William, please. I’d say to call me Will but then we wouldn’t be able to differentiate between me and the boy.”
They all ate and the adults did most of the talking. They spoke about adult things like jobs and the economy. Both Mr Wilkins and Mrs Milligan seemed very interested in Lucy’s plans concerning her education. Lucy confessed that she didn’t really know what she wanted to do for a living but she had liked biology in high school and that’s why she had chosen the program.
“Lots of kids don’t know what they want to do,” said Mr Wilkins. “They’re too young when they finish high school. There should be at least another year.”
Mr Jingles ate a bowl of vegetables and then went for a nap in a corner.
After dinner, they all moved back to the living room and Mr Wilkins brought each of them a slice of cheesecake. He poured coffee for himself and Mrs Milligan.
“Lucy tells me her parents are missing as well,” said Victoria Milligan.
“Yes, that’s right,” said Mr Wilkins. “Most unfortunate.”
“Funny that both she and Jake are such good friends with Emma,” Mrs Milligan continued.