The Tessellation Saga. Book Two. 'The One' (26 page)

‘I’m going
back,’ he said again turning around, Mayan and Gideon as unsure as
Jed as to what was happening turned to follow him back the way they
had come. The rest of the company halted. Within seconds a blur of
silver streaked past them all barring the way, Blue stood on the
narrow trail in front of the retreating youngsters with his hackles
high and his teeth bared, he seemed taller somehow, his growl low
and threatening.

‘Me fam’ly
Blue…’ Jed said angrily, ‘me fam’ly ‘r’ ‘eld ‘ostage an’ I’ve gotta
‘elp get ‘em out,’ he shouted, rage building in his heart. Mayan
burst into tears of frustration as young Jed put his hands to his
head trying not to let loose the tears of anger that threatened
him. Inching slowly forward, stiff legged and still growling Blue’s
hackles bristled slightly, giving the effect of extra height. He
looked longer too with his tail held out vertically and slightly
curled toward the back, his muzzle, which was normally roundish and
very fluffy now looked as long and thin as the rest of his body and
with his ears pointed forward stiffly, it just added to the
frightening effect. Blue forced the three dissenters back into the
small clearing and unnoticed by the party, the forest trail behind
Blue slowly disappeared as the trees and branches cleaved together.
The way back was now lost to them. Jed felt his head buzzing as the
wolf stared hard at him.

‘
HOW?’
Young Jed heard through the anger and the fuzziness that seemed to
engulf him, not wondering how he was able to hear the wolf.

‘I’ve got me
wages...,’ Jed answered and he thought of the AWOL notice he had
seen outside the pub. He felt suddenly helpless and sank to his
knees as he realised any wages due to him would have been
confiscated, he had nothing.

‘I, I’ve… not
got a penny… not a brass…Gid!’ He said in despair and the burning
in his throat eased as the tears finally fell. Blue, his growling
stopped hooked his nose under Jed’s arm, offering comfort and love.
Gideon placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder and looked
meaningfully around the assembled group.
This is all my fault…
all of it,
he thought, his heart breaking for Jed’s
distress.

‘Gath wants
me,’ he said finally, his anger at the king building. ‘Iffen I go
ter ‘im in exchange fer the village folk, ‘e’ll let ‘em go,’ he
added. Cries of horror rippled through the party.

‘No, Gideon,
you still don’t understand…,’ began Rhoàld as he shook his head
sadly.

‘Then make me
unnerstand!’ Gideon said loudly, interrupting Rhoàld; suddenly his
own anger was bubbling to the surface threateningly. ‘Tell me
what’s goin’ on; tell me why ‘e wants me, who I am…, what I am?’ He
finished quietly as he sank to the ground beside young Jed his
anger gone as quickly as it had appeared. With tears still wet on
his face young Jed echoed his brother’s thoughts.

‘What’s goin’
on Varan, yer been promisin’ ter tell me fer weeks an’ always
sommat stops yer. Me fam’ly are in more danger now than they ever
were an’ I’m not movin’ till I know, an’ don’t just say it’s sommat
ter do with Gid, coz that much we ‘ave already figured out.’ Jed,
still angry but now composed, looked at Varan for explanation and
Varan in turn, looked at Gideon’s father as if for help.

‘Don’t yer be
lookin’ at me,’ said Jed, Gideon’s father, as he played with his
small beard, adding ‘I wanna know mesel’…, think on this,’ he
added. ‘Me boy turns inter a magician under me nose… e’ can’t leave
his ‘ome in case ‘e explodes and kills folk iffen he gets angry an’
ter get ‘im back, king Gath is prepared ter beat up on me folks an’
enslave an ‘ole village… I wanna know what’s goin’ on too, coz
d’yer know as ‘ow stoopid this all sounds, an’ iffen I hadn’t seed
those dead bodies mesel’ I may not ‘ave believed it!’

Lemba sat to
one side watching as the glade erupted with angry questions and
half-hearted explanations. She had not had a chance to communicate
with young Jed properly for days and she was feeling lost and
alone, even Rhoàld had stopped trying to talk to her in the
finger-speak he had been attempting to learn during their travels.
She picked at her hair braid as the company argued and jumped
visibly when the wolf suddenly howled, loudly, causing an awkward
silence to descend once more. Varan and Sonal held hands as Blue
looked toward them.

‘We will have
reached our destination by this afternoon, most of our answers will
be found there. Please, follow me until then, sit now though and
rest for a while.’ Sonal said, translating Blues mind-sent
comments. Blue turned his back on the small group of people and
moved off taking the trail once more.

‘Well Sonal,
did Blue say anythin’ else?’ Gideon’s father asked as the wolf
walked away.

‘No, just for
us to be patient and follow him a little longer,’ Sonal answered
wearily as he sat down on the ground against the base of a tree.
‘We need to rest here a while.’ He added to the rest of the
emotionally drawn group.

The preceding
months had been hard for them all; from Mayan, coping as she had,
with both the attempted rape and Toby’s successful attack, to
Gideon finding out the circumstances of his birth and knowing his
incestuous natural father wanted his blood. Each and every member
of the party was tired, all of them worried about the fate of the
villagers and all knowing that somehow Gideon was at the heart of
it.

‘Gideon, Jed…’
Gideon’s father said quietly, ‘we
‘ave
followed Blue this
far an’ like I said, ‘e’s never steered me wrong in me ‘ole life,
yer would’ve died along with yer ma Gid, iffen ‘e hadn’t made me
follow ‘im inter the wood. Come on boy, we can trust ‘im,’ he said
as he helped Gideon to his feet. ‘Jed lad,’ he said addressing the
boy who had been named for him and holding out his hand to help him
rise. ‘…we’ll get ‘em back Jed, we jus’ need time ter figure it all
out.’ He added, thinking of Dotty, Jayse and his parents who had
put themselves in the way of danger for the people of the village
knowing they would try to save them, all of them. Young Jed stood
and faced the older man.

‘I’ll not be
waiting fer ever Jed but I’ll give Blue ‘is time,’ he said as he
moved on up the path slowly following along behind the wolf, only
this time as they walked the path behind the group continued to
close quietly and unnoticed, as if it had never been.

The sun had
begun to sink when they stopped again, the food rations exhausted
and the water nearly gone, Blue finally led them into another
glade, only this time the clearing was larger.

The ground was
covered in small spring crocus flowers, alive with colour, white,
gold and purple blossoms grew in clumps around the edges of the
open space with huge trees growing tall and strong in an almost
circular fashion. The spreading canopy of green leaves and brown
branches far above their heads joined and melded, leaving a
lattice-like effect showing a clear blue sky, directly over the
centre of the glade, albeit darkening slightly as the sun went
down. Beneath their feet pink, yellow, purple and white primroses
spread like a carpet, bursts of colour, jewels amidst the greenery
that covered the floor in abundance. The sprigs of green and yellow
ivy fought in competition for space to grow, to stretch their
tendrils toward the light and warmth as forsythia bushes full of
tiny yellow trumpet like flowers grew tall and wide between the
trees. Blood red berries filled the holly trees and even more
vibrant yellow, in the laburnum trees as they dripped their golden
flower heads over the scene. The air felt warmer too and the
atmosphere somehow felt hopeful.

Gideon had
never seen such vivid growth or colour and guessed the other
members of his party felt the same way as they all remained quiet
and staring, absorbing every detail, shade and hue imaginable. The
sweet heady fragrance was like a drug, calming and soothing and the
group’s recent altercation, was for the moment forgotten. Blue sat
quietly on the edge of the glade, after a while, he walked in a
small circle as if he was in front of Jed’s fire back in the
cottage, he finally lay down amidst the flowers sighing, his huge
head resting on his paws and his eyes firmly fixed on Gideon.

‘Where are we?’
Mayan asked, in awe at the beauty and colour around her. ‘Did…, did
we miss the winter festival…?’ She asked hesitantly as she sat on
an ivy-covered log under a tree and stared at the growth of both
spring and summer flowers.
There is so much ivy…,
Lemba
thought as she looked at the trees around the clearing,
ivy, for
fertility, good luck and for aiding prophecy if used correctly,
helps headaches and cramps too…,
she thought, hearing her
mother and stepsister, Dotty behind the words.
Dotty would have
loved this place,
Lemba’s thoughts continued as she looked at
the various trees and shrubs that would not normally be seen
growing in harmony together. The tall thin leaved Ash tree, usually
used for bow making because of its strong and flexible nature, the
leaves of the tree often used by the gifted in soft down pillows to
induce prophetic dreaming, then water infused with ash leaves was
useful in warding off illness. She could see Poplar trees, some old
with rough deeply fissured lines of black diamonds in the bark in
places that broke up the smooth green and grey skin of its youth.
Some stretched so tall toward the heavens that she could not see
just how tall they actually were; again, the wood of which would
often be the base used for arrows, spears and shields. The most
surprising thing was that one was flowering, showing its spring
twigs covered in a soft white fur and budded catkins sprouting from
their short stalks like many fingers trying to catch the wind next
to the flowering Poplar, a smaller version in its spring clothes of
leaves. Each leaf different in size and shape spirally arranged by
nature herself, some circular, some triangular and as the breeze
caught them the tree seemed to wobble as if it was showing off its
twinkling new dress. By autumn, Lemba knew the leaves would turn to
a bright yellow and gold catching the sun and dancing just the same
way its spring clothes did, as well as warn of bad weather to come
when it turned its leaves.
We must be by a river,
Lemba
thought, knowing the majestic trees usually grew near water, she
heard her mother again, talking to the innocent children she and
her sister had once been.

‘
The Poplar
offers hope and optimism, the ‘Journey’ often takes us on painful
and difficult pathways, the poplar will offer strength and the will
to succeed.’
Lemba continued to be amazed at the variety and
season of the various bushes and trees in or near the glade, each
one offering something, the Hawthorn with its brown shallow
scaly-ridged bark, its twigs used for curing depression and to
protect travellers from misfortune. Now she looked, she could see
Hawthorn everywhere, again like the Poplar each in its various
stages and seasons of growth, it seemed to ring the outer paths of
the clearing like a hedge, protecting all within its
circumference.

The slender and
attractive Rowan tree, its silvery-brown bark and creamy-white
clusters of spring flowers standing tall and proud next to its
sister already covered in the brilliant scarlet of its autumn
berries, Lemba remembered the surprise she had felt when her mother
had sliced a berry from the Rowan in two, a perfect pentagram
revealed in all its glory.

‘It will
protect us from trickery and entrancement; will give you courage
should you need it, little one.’ Her mother had said as she sliced
and pulped the bright red berries into a sauce for the table. There
were Birch trees attractive and graceful, its bark used for tanning
leather, its sugary sap used for healing and wine and its branches
and twigs, not only used for protection against evil but also
symbolising love and fertility and there was the Holly, used for
protection and balance.
Balance,
Lemba thought as she both
recognised and characterised the abundant growth around her. A cold
shiver slide down her spine and her eyes turned to the wolf,
closing them she tried cautiously to enter the ether to find the
way to the root as she had so easily done before, there was
nothing.
What need’s all this protection, what is this all
for…?
She asked herself as her eyes slid to Gideon now sitting
quietly, also alone at the edge of the glade.

‘What do we do
now Sonal?’ Young Jed asked, as he sat beside Lemba amidst the
crocuses and ivy at the opposite edge of the clearing, he had said
he would give the wolf time and he would do so, but already he was
itching to move on, to go back, to follow his parents and family.
He resigned himself to be still. Sonal glanced at Varan and both
men looked to the wolf.

‘We wait,’
Sonal said without looking at Jed. ‘We wait,’ he said again, as he
too sat down.

Rhoàld walked
to the centre of the clearing where a raised tree stump also
covered in bright yellow and green ivy stood slightly proud of the
ground and looking up saw the darkening blue sky high above them.
He closed his eyes as he had done a thousand times that day and
felt for Bastian, there was no response from the magic but
strangely, he felt no despondency as he had done when he had
previously lost the connection.

There was
something familiar about this clearing but he could not fathom it
out, the answer was there in front of his eyes but somehow eluding
him and he had no Bastian to offer advice. He knew he had never
been here before, he had never been to this part of the country
before but he definitely recognised something. In an attempt to
figure it all out he also walked over to the edge of the clearing
and sat on another log only this time it was covered in moss.

Time passed
slowly, the light in the glade lessened as the sun passed its
zenith and eventually lowered and began to set; sending the light
in the sky above them orange and red, night flowers opened and
began to give off their own heady perfume.