Erasing: Shadows (The Erasing Series) (15 page)

“Scruff?” asked Mira, her eyebrows raised. Ada Jo was explaining things really fast. Mira was trying to take it all in.

“Oh sorry, a friend of mine with one problem that we can’t seem to fix. He won’t mind a demonstration. Then you can see. We’ll probably run into him somewhere along the way. If not, I’ll call him when we’re back to my place.”

“You have phone’s here?” asked Mira, confused.

Ada Jo started laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach. “Sorry, Mira, sometimes you’re funny.”

She explained. “No, I would call him with my mind. Haven’t you been listening? Everything here is controlled by our minds. That is why the Ancients had to create some order. There are too many people who show up here unaware and end up—”

“—in a dark, scary forest,” finished Mira. “I’m starting to get it.”

“Or worse!” whispered Ada Jo with her palm up to Mira’s ear. She continued in a normal voice. “So sometimes it’s best to show people things and talk about other things and eventually, memories or whatever will come back, only it won’t be in a bad way. That’s what I do when I find lost people who aren’t in the Circle of Lost Children. I don’t go there.”

“Wait, wait, wait, you’re going too fast,” said Mira. “Circle of Lost Children… I can’t remember all this.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Ada Jo. “We’re touring so you can see it all for yourself. Just come this way.” She turned right. “We have to make a quick detour to see a couple things.”

They crossed the road called Main Street. “That’s where the McArthur house is!” exclaimed Mira, excited.

“Yep, that’s down the road. It’s one of the permanent fixtures here,” said Ada Joe. “I thought it was totally solid, but when you got scared, your forest made it disappear temporarily. You have a lot of power underneath that little head of yours.”

“Really?” Mira didn’t feel very powerful.

“Really.” said Ada Jo. “All the more reason to get you straightened out. I like you, Mira.” She smiled. “But I don’t need powerful, undisciplined minds mucking up things either.”

“I’m so sorry.” Mira looked down at the ground, shoulders slouched.

Concerned, Ada Jo responded, “It’s not your fault Mira. Don’t worry. We’re gonna figure it all out, and everything will be back to normal. So this way!” They trekked on toward the foothills of a taller mountain.

***

Stu ran back to his house. He didn’t have much time. He knew Trina would be waiting. He had hoped for help from Mrs. Ross, but since she was against it, it was all up to him. He wasn’t really sure if he could pull this off. Bursting into his door, he ran to his futon and grabbed the picture of Ed he had handy in his Journal of Studies. Everyone seemed to have one of these, he thought. He wondered what miracles there would be if they were to put all the journals together. A lot of knowledge there. Several generations’ worth. He put that thought aside and looked at the picture of Ed. He was going to have to concentrate more than ever before to pull this off. And then, teaching Trina to use the form of Ed, all under pressure and no time. Stu rarely experienced a lack of confidence, but this was one of those times.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Hard.

***

Mira and Ada Jo finally exited the woods. Mira could see Main Street and the McArthur house just across. Ada Jo dashed her hopes of going there however, when she said, “You’ve already seen that house. This is for the rest of the astral. Besidesyou might be disappointed at what you find there.” Mira didn’t bother to ask why. This girl was full of mysterious knowledge, and she only had enough energy for some of it.

As Mira was about to take another step, Ada Jo grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her to the right. “What was that for!” said Mira, miffed.

“You were about to step into Nothing.” said Ada Jo, still composed. “It’s one of the circles you
really, really
want to avoid, but it’s the only circle you can’t really tell is there, unless you already know.”

“Circle?” asked Mira

“Yeah, most of them look like circles, about fifteen feet in diameter, but they’re really spheres, and inside them, they are whole worlds. Kinda like a hologram.

“Anyway, this is the Nothing Circle. We still call it a circle. First-timers end up here, in nothing and they either wake up in their world, or they have to figure their way out. It’s a way of keeping out looky-loos from this place and people who don’t know what they’re doing but just want to try to come here.”

“The Ancients, again?” guessed Mira.

“Yep,” said Ada Jo. “If you can’t create with your mind on purpose, the nothing place can be really scary. There’s literally nothing there. It will react to your thoughts really fast. It’s hard, even for someone like me to keep it on even keel.”

“Even you?” Mira had come to believe this little girl could do anything.

“Now I want you to think.” Ada Jo prodded Mira. “What this place is for?”

Mira stared back with a blank expression on her face. Then she thought about what Ada Jo had said. After a few minutes Mira squeaked out an “Uh oh.”

“Exactly,” said Ada Joe, who already knew that Mira had caught on. She waited for Mira to say it.

Mira didn’t disappoint. “I didn’t end up in the Nothing Circle. Whoever I am, I’m not a first-timer.” Mira gasped. She just couldn’t believe that.

“It’s okay, kid.” Ada Jo consoled Mira. Sometimes it seemed as if Ada Jo were much older.

Something about being called kid sparked a hazy memory in Mira. She closed her eyes and tried to recall. It was on the tip of her mind, but she couldn’t quite get there.

Ada Jo picked up a walking stick, then another and handed it to Mira. “Here, and don’t worry about your memories,” she said as if reading Mira’s mind. “They will come back at the right times.”

This made Mira feel better, and she put one foot in front of the other with her new walking stick.

***

Mira and Ada Jo were up in the foothills at the base of a mountain when Ada Jo stopped. “This is as far as I go here,” she said, mystery in her voice.

“This is the Mountain of Lost Children?” asked Mira.

“Yep,” Ada Jo said, then became very still.. She seemed to be waiting for something.

Mira waited with her. Then she started thinking. “Ada Jo?” she asked.

“Yep?”

“Was this put here so children would have a safe place if for some reason they appeared here?”

“Yep,” said Ada Jo.

“Is there someone there to take care of them, to get them back?”

“Yep,” said Ada Jo, suddenly circumspect.

Mira thought some more.

“But I’m four!” she finally said. “Why did I have to go through all that scary stuff?” she asked.

Ada Jo stayed silent.

“Ada Jo!” Mira almost whined. “Why aren’t you helping me?”

“I am,” said Ada Jo, staring straight into Mira’s eyes. Mira looked down.

“I…I’m…not really four?” she asked Ada Jo, her eyes questioning.

It was Ada Jo’s turn to look down. She never knew what to say in these situations.

Mira said it again, with more authority. “I’m not really four!” At that, she suddenly filled out and grew. Mira was twelve. Just like that.

Ada Jo didn’t seem surprised.

Mira looked at her. “Wow.”

Ada Jo smiled. “Yeah, wow.”

Then Mira had a troubling thought. “But I’m still a child here. That means something isn’t done.”

“Very astute! That’s my word of the day. Astute! And astute you are! Don’t worry,” Ada Jo said, putting her arm around the newly taller Mira. It made for a comical scene; a four-year-old advising a twelve-year-old. “We will figure it all out together, in time.” She smiled again. “I don’t get much company you know. It’s been kinda nice having you here.”

“Aww,” said Mira.

“Okay, enough of that!” commanded Ada Jo. “Next stop, Teachers Mountain. That’s another place we won’t go up but I want you to see it. It’s just a little bit over to the left from where we are, and then it’s back across Main Street.”

“You sure know your way around,” said Mira.

“Like the back of my hand,” said Ada Jo. “Like the back of my hand.”

***

Meanwhile, Michael and Jonathan were not having an easy time of it, mostly due to Michael.

“Michael!” yelled Jonathan, “I’m telling you, the forest was getting better, and now it’s getting worse. You have got to control your worry. We’re gonna make everything okay. But your fears will do nothing but slow us down.” Indeed, the forest was becoming thick with worry brambles, stemming from Michael. The two men were stumbling every few steps.

Michael stopped. “I know it, you’re right. I had forgotten how water-like this atmosphere is. The slightest thought…but I can’t stop worrying.”

Jonathan put a hand across his brother’s back. “You know the old saying, ‘think happy thoughts’?” said Jonathan. “Well I am deadly serious. Here, I’ll start. Think about Mira’s smile.”

“Right,” said Michael. He concentrated and thought about Mira’s smile. He thought about when they were younger. Mira had a crush on him, and he used to pretend that he didn’t have one on her too. He thought about their trip to New York. He thought about the birth of Madison and the kids. He thought about long conversations over coffee on the porch when they were up early in the morning before the kids awoke. He pictured how Mira’s glasses perched on her nose when she was reading in bed. He felt his heart area get warm. The brambles started to ease up. He concentrated on the happy thoughts and nothing else and tried to march with no forethought and no attention to his surroundings.

Jonathan smiled. His strategy had only been a guess, from some basics Stu had taught. Thank goodness, he’d been right. The path was abruptly clear, except for the usual things you’d find in a light, wooded area.

***

After Teacher’s Mountain, the girls, currently ages four and twelve, re-crossed Main Street and headed straight in between two obvious Circles of….something. Ada Jo warned Mira, “Stay close to me, and whatever you do, don’t step into either of these circles.” For there was a circle on each side of them and while one looked horrible, the other looked fairly normal with buildings and traffic. If Ada Jo hadn’t warned her, Mira could see she just might have stepped inside out of curiosity.

“This area is the world of drug users,” said Ada Jo, pointing to an ugly circle on their left, a conglomeration that looked like a bunch of smoke over miles of field. “These areas are all kinda circles, but big. The people come here accidentally, and they are like arrows right to the circles. I mean I guess some people come on purpose but I wouldn’t know why. Anyway, sure makes it easier on the rest of us—or at least me.”

“How does the arrow thing happen?” asked Mira.

“I’m not sure,” said Ada Jo, “but the rumor is that the Ancients set it up that way.”

“Who were those Ancients?”

“I don’t know much about them. Only that this was a big nightmare-all chaos and people’s minds uncontrolled and scary—much scarier than even your forest—”

“Ooh.” Mira cringed.

“But the Ancients came and put some order to it, so now there is a place for everything and everything in its place.”

“But you have your own space, you said.”

“That’s right!” Ada Jo said with satisfaction. “I can control my mind and myself so no one messes with me. That’s all it takes here. I can hold my own space.”

“Wow!” said Mira looking up at the blue sky. “But you’re so young! You’re as young as me, err as I was.”

“Well, first, I’m not sure how old you
actually
are. We’ve already seen you grow, and, second, I’ve been here forever. I don’t know how old I am in your world, but in this world, I’m really old. Like thirty!” said Ada Jo with triumph.

In a flash, an arm appeared from inside the smoky circle. It was followed by a body in a crumpled suit.

The man looked scruffy, not completely there, and menacing. Mira shrank back. He held open a shaking hand toward the two girls as if wanting them to put something there. Ada Jo put her left hand out in front of Mira to back her up. Then she put her right hand in her pocket and took out something Mira couldn’t see. Then she blew, right through her hand and immediately dozens and dozens of beautiful butterflies came swirling out toward the man. His head seemed to be completely engulfed in them. Mira watched them with amazement. They were all sorts of colors and sizes. The man shook his head and headed back inside the circle.

“And that, is how you get rid of those people,” said Ada Jo with some pride.

“That was beautiful!” exclaimed Mira.

“Not everything has to be scary. Even if it seems like it sometimes.” Ada Jo smiled and took Mira’s hand again, the four-year-old urging the twelve-year-old farther on down the path. “Now,” Ada Jo pointed again to the other normal looking circle on their right. “Don’t ever go in there and don’t ever let anyone you care about go in there. Understand?”

“It looks so normal!” said Mira.

“Exactly!” said Ada Jo, “And that’s why it’s so dangerous. People can lose their whole lives in there and never know it.”

“Oh my!” said Mira, taken aback. “What is it?”

“It’s the Circle of Illusion,” said Ada Jo. “Only it’s much bigger on the inside when you are there, or so I’ve heard. I only know a few people who have escaped it. It’s a whole world, and you think you’re in ‘your’ real world, only you aren’t, so people waste their whole lives there, living in a false reality. Sometimes people can’t accept a real reality and other times people just end up there accidentally.”

“I thought the Ancients fixed all those problems?” said Mira

“Well, they couldn’t control down to every individual , could they? They created that world for people who were too dangerous for this world, their minds would create havoc, but in a replica of the world they are used to, they are okay.”

“Wow. These Ancients thought of everything!” exclaimed Mira. “Have you ever met one?”

“I’m not positive I would know if I had….” Ada Jo said pondering, and left it at that.

“Where to next?” asked Mira. She was enjoying this tour, scary parts and all, as long as she was with Ada Jo. She smiled.