Valentina gasped when the craft disappeared and she could see the scenery behind where the solid bulk had been the moment before. She had no idea how the system worked, but she found it fascinating nonetheless. “Wow,” she breathed as she looked over at her brother with wide eyes.
Behn nodded at his sister’s comment even as he began to look around. He recognized this place. “Is this where we came before?” He turned to Juila and waited for confirmation to his question.
“Yes,” Amanda answered for her. She had tucked the box under her arm and held both gloves in her left hand. She was anxious to get to the spot Copa had shown her so she could retrieve the crystal skull. “Why don’t you three go and explore the area. We can meet back here in twenty minutes.”
“You’re not coming with us?” Valentina asked with apprehension. It was one thing to travel to Tuala, it was quite another to be wandering around the place unescorted.
“Behn and Juila have been here before, they can give you a tour. I have something to take care of first. If we have time, we can explore together after I get my task done.”
Valentina noticed the box and asked, “Are you bringing something for someone here?”
“No, I’m picking something up,” Amanda said and did not elaborate further. She turned and started walking toward the brush line with her back to the ocean. The kids fell in line behind her. They continued on a narrow path until they reached the creek. After they spetched it, Amanda said, “Why don’t you kids go down and investigate what’s left of the village. I’m going to walk along the creek for a bit longer. Remember to meet back at the telepod in fifteen minutes.”
Amanda watched the kids turn down the other fork in the path before she continued walking beside the water. She felt certain she would know when she neared the samara. Thinking it would be similar to the feeling she had gotten when they were in New Orleans, she had her senses on high alert.
From Copa’s exact instructions, Amanda walked confidently along. When she reached the location from the implanted memory, she looked around in confusion. She could not feel any energy at all. Even the samaras in the hidden room exuded a palpable energy although they were not keyed to her specifically. There was absolutely no energy from this area.
Amanda knelt down at the base of a tree. She knew if she brushed away the leaves and debris, she would find a hollow area in the roots. Setting the empty box down, Amanda donned her gardening gloves. She did not want to accidentally touch the crystal, nor did she want to get her hands dirty.
Amanda scooped up handfuls of leaves and moved them off to the side. She found the hollow. It was empty. She leaned closer and could see a depression in the soil where the samara had once rested, but it was clearly gone. She rocked back on her heels and let out a deep breath.
She should have known her luck would run out eventually. Every adventure she had gone on had been successful right away. She expected no less from this one. After closing her eyes, Amanda concentrated on the details given to her by Copa. She had the distinct impression from the wise-woman about this location remaining undisturbed. What was she missing?
She hastily brushed the leaves back over the hollow in the roots. Amanda clapped her hands together to dislodge any remaining debris from her gloves before she removed them. With nothing else to be done, Amanda picked up the empty box and retraced her steps back to the path where she had separated from the kids.
Thinking she would meet the trio either along the trail or near the house where the two kids had grown up, she turned off of her path and onto the new one. As she had guessed, both Behn and Valentina were inside the log cabin and Juila was waiting outside to give them some privacy.
Juila turned suddenly when she heard twigs breaking behind her. She smiled with relief when she discovered it was only her mother and not some stranger. She had monitored the area for signs of life when they had arrived, yet she had let her guard down when she found it deserted. “Did you get what you came for?”
“It wasn’t there,” Amanda admitted.
Juila’s eyes widened as she said, “What? Are you sure?”
“Very sure. I found where it had been stashed, but it was gone.”
“How long ago do you think it was put there?” Juila asked suddenly as an idea occurred to her.
Amanda cocked her head to the side as she considered the question. “I got the impression it was hidden about a year ago,” Amanda answered.
“Where exactly was it hidden?”
Amanda turned back toward the creek, which was hidden from view by several yards of brush and trees, and pointed as she replied, “Under a tree along the river over there.”
“Was it near where we walked with Behn the last time we were here?”
“Yes. Very near there. What are you thinking?” Amanda asked slowly.
“Those samaras have a lot of energy. If it had been there the last time we were here, we would have felt it. Someone must have taken it before we arrived the last time. If we were to go back in time to before our last visit, we might be able to get it before the other person does.” Juila smiled at the look on her mother’s face as she finished her summary of what they should do.
“Timing it is dangerous, Juila. Besides, how would I know when to come back here? It could have been more than a year for all I know.”
“Anon, Mom. We are in Tuala now. For starters, try timing it to the mesan before we arrived last time. If it’s still not there, then skip back another month. You don’t have to do it all in one day since it’s extremely taxing on the body, but at least give it one try today.”
“I don’t know. I can’t risk Behn and Valentina’s lives on a theory.” Amanda weighed her options. She could leave the kids here while she attempted to go back in time, or she could take them home and come back later. An idea struck her and she asked, “Can you talk to your sister through your mind link?”
“I haven’t tried. Just a second,” Juila held up her index finger and her eyes lost focus as she concentrated on communicating with Jena. She smiled and nodded her head.
Amanda said, “Tell your sister where we are. Let her know about your idea about my going back a mesan and see what she thinks.”
Juila nodded at her mother words while still not looking at anything in Tuala. Her eyes refocused and she looked up at her mom and said, “Jena thinks you should give it a try. She said I should go with you so if anything goes wrong then she’ll still be able to tell Dad where we are. Jena thinks we should leave Behn and Valentina here at the cabin until we’re done.”
Jena’s idea had merit and Amanda nodded in agreement. “Okay, let’s tell them what we’re up to,” Amanda said as she began walking toward the cabin.
Valentina did not much like the idea of be stranded in the deserted village, but Behn said, “It’s okay. You two do what you need to and we’ll be waiting here for you to return. I’d like to take some time wandering though the village to see if it brings back any new memories anyway.”
“Don’t wander too far,” Amanda admonished. She still thought it would be wiser to return the two kids back to Earth.
“Come on, Mom. Let’s hurry and get this done!” Juila began jogging up the trail back to the telepod.
Amanda looked over her shoulder at the two kids she was leaving behind. They smiled and waved at her to encourage her to go. They seemed content to stay, who was she to tell them they had to go? Making up her mind, she began running to catch up with Juila.
Chapter Twenty-Five
VALENTINA WATCHED THE only people who knew where they were leave. While she agreed with Behn about it being nice to have more time to explore, she could not help wondering if it were wise. Since she had traveled by telepod and seen where they used to live, she was thoroughly convinced of their heritage. Now she had some alone time with Behn to talk about what they were going to do about it.
“Behn, can you show me the first crystal lesson? Since we are here at our old home, maybe it will come back to me easier somehow.�
� Valentina began to walk back into the old cabin and assumed Behn would follow her.
Behn was torn between wanting to walk through the village and doing as his sister asked. It seemed as though she were coming around to believing everything which had been told to her. The more prudent choice seemed to be with his sister. He turned and followed her into the old homestead.
They faced one another at the worn wooden table just as Behn recalled from his earliest memories. He pulled the pendant out from under his shirt and held it in his hand. He spoke quietly to his sister, “Hold your birth crystal in your hand. Concentrate on feeling the energy living inside of the crystals. Focus your thoughts on the energy and feel it expand outside the confines of the stone. Imagine the energy circling around itself in a sphere of energy which you can control.” Even as he spoke, he put action to his words and demonstrated what he intended her to do with her own necklace.
Valentina felt a spark of recognition in the furthest recesses of her mind as she listened to Behn’s instructions. She knew she had heard these exact words from their mother as she showed them how to use their birth crystals. Even as she began to feel the energy building in her own pendant the memories burst forth from her subconscious. She dropped her pendant and looked wide-eyed at her brother.
“What?!? Did you get hurt? Did your birth crystal do something to you?” Behn questioned even as he jumped up from his seat and came to kneel beside his sister. He began to be afraid as Valentina continued to stare at him without saying a word. Reaching up, Behn shook her shoulders and asked, “What’s going on, Val? Talk to me!”
Valentina’s eyes refocused on her brother and she suddenly grinned broadly and declared, “I remember everything, Behn. I remember our mom, our life here, and our lessons with the birth crystals. It’s amazing, Behn!”
“Jeez, Val, you scared me half to death!” He rocked back on his heels and let out a sigh of relief. Now he knew Valentina would be on his side since her memories had returned. Behn stood up and stepped back over to his seat. With another sigh, he slumped down into the chair and said, “Tell me what you remember.”
“Mom sat right here,” she gestured to her right. “She taught us the first five lessons of the crystal skills and told us we had to keep it a secret from the villagers. She said they wouldn’t understand and they would treat us badly if they ever found out we had powers which they could not possess. Behn, none of the villagers had birth crystals!”
“Wow! I wonder why not?”
“Mom said they were an old community with strange customs. They did not trust outsiders and did not welcome anyone into their lives who was not born there.”
“Our mom had a birth crystal. How did she come by one if the villagers wouldn’t allow it?” Behn wished he could recall the things Valentina obviously had no trouble remembering.
“Let me think for a second,” Val said as she thought about her brother’s question. She nibbled on her lower lip as she reviewed her new memories. “Ah,” she said and looked up at Behn. “Our grandfather was not from the village. Our grandmother brought him back with her when she went on a journey. She told the village leader she was pregnant and married so they allowed him to stay. They never made him feel welcome. When our mother was being born, he insisted that a wise-woman come in for the delivery and to make sure the child was healthy.
“The leaders tried to stop him, but even they had to admit the birth was not going well. Grandma was going to die unless someone came in to help. As it was, the delivery damaged Grandma beyond repair and she was never able to have any other children. The wise-woman was able to stop the bleeding, but she couldn’t fix the damage.
“Before she left, and while Grandma was weak in bed, Grandpa insisted the wise-woman perform the crystal ceremony for his daughter. He didn’t want the ignorance of the villagers keeping his daughter from her birthright and the protection of the birth crystal.
“He taught Mom how to use her crystal and he took care of our Grandma who never really recovered her strength from the childbirth. She died several years later when our mother was only six. The villagers had no choice but to put up with our Grandpa for our mother’s sake.”
“What an amazing story. Hopefully one day I’ll remember it as you do.” Behn leaned forward with his elbows on the tabletop and asked, “Show me what you recall of the first five lessons.”
Valentina smiled at the challenge and once again held her birth crystal in her palm. With renewed pride in her birthright, she proceeded to demonstrate all five levels with ease. When she was done, she smiled smugly at her brother.
Behn had to admit he was slightly jealous of the ease in which she had performed the tasks. She had performed seemingly without any instruction what had taken him days to perfect. Maybe he should have taken Juila up on her offer to implant the skill in his brain to speed up his progress. He grinned, shook his head slightly, and said, “You obviously remember Mom’s lessons!”
“This is so cool, Behn. I can’t wait to learn more! I know Juila offered before, but do you think she’d let me sit in on your lessons so she could teach me as well?” Valentina reached across the table and grabbed his arms in entreaty.
Behn smiled broadly and answered, “I’m sure she would. Now we just have to convince Jon about what we know! I think I’ll leave it up to you.”
“Thanks!” She sat back in disgust. Behn had a point. Jon needed to know the truth. She just was not sure how to break it to him. He never did have as many memories of their childhood; they had always blamed his sickness on it.
“Let’s go take a look around the village,” Behn suggested. He had an overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia suddenly. He needed fresh air and a nice brisk walk to clear his mind.
“Sounds good to me,” Valentina said. After all, she had gotten exactly what she had hoped for…her memories back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amanda and Juila sat in the telepod. Juila tried to convince her mom of the proper way to time a teleportation. Amanda remained unconvinced since she and Riccan had never gone over the procedure.
“Are you sure? This could be very bad if we were to do it wrong,” Amanda asked again. “Why don’t you ask Jena what she thinks? Maybe she could get ahold of your dad and ask him.”
Juila rolled her eyes at her mother’s paranoia. She humored her and consulted with Jena on the matter. In a few moments she refocused her eyes on her mother and said, “Jena agrees with my plan. Look, why else would there be a date function on the plascreens unless it was meant to program in the date you wanted to arrive somewhere? If I’m wrong, then we’d end up back right here at the same time as when we left. We really have nothing to lose by trying.” She sat back and crossed her arms with finality.
Amanda could not help but smile at Juila’s reasoning. She knew their lives would be at stake if they messed it up. However, she could not fault Juila’s logic about the date counter. Besides, she seemed to recall Riccan using the time function on his telepod to change the time of their return to Earth after visiting with his parents late one evening. “Fine! We’ll try it your way. Change the date to one month before our last visit to this location. Hurry before I chicken out!”
Juila looked strangely at her mother’s odd colloquialism.
“It means, before I change my mind!” Amanda laughed.
Juila chuckled even as she tapped the screen until the date she wanted was displayed. “Okay, we’re all set. Let’s go!”
“You’d better be right,” Amanda said even as she pressed the activation button and held onto the manual control stick just in case.
Darkness overcame them. Six seconds passed. Then another three seconds went by in darkness. Just as they were both starting to panic, light flooded through the windows and they both sighed in relief. Amanda hurriedly set the telepod down on the ground and performed the shutdown procedures. She noticed her hands were shaking and her heart was racing.
When she looked over at Juila, she knew her daughter was feeling the sam
e thankfulness at being alive. To cut the tension she asked, “Can you still contact Jena?”
“Let me try,” Juila said. A few moments later, Juila let out a loud breath and said, “That was definitely weird! Not only could I talk to Jena, but I could hear myself as well. I’m not sure I liked the sensation!”
“Well at least we know it still works across time. Let’s get outside and see if the samara is where it should be now!” She grabbed up the box and gloves, hit the button on the dash to open the side door, and hurried out of the telepod.
Juila was right behind her. As Juila stepped off the ramp, she hit the close button from the outside. As they walked away from the telepod, both looked behind them to watch it disappear when Amanda hit the cloaking button on her remote.
Amanda led the way back on the trail. She had an odd sense of déjà vu since everything looked the same as it had a few minutes before. She hoped the timing had worked. Her steps got longer until she found herself jogging. Her breath was coming harder and she realized she was going to have to slow down. She still was not in the best shape since coming out of the coma. Times like this demonstrated it very well.
Finally, they arrived back at the hiding spot. Amanda handed the box to Juila. She put on the gloves and knelt down at the tree. She knew about their success even before she removed the brush since she could feel the energy emanating from the samara. Once the crystal was exposed, both Amanda and Juila sighed with relief. Their mission was almost complete.
Amanda picked up the samara carefully and turned toward Juila. Her daughter fumbled with the box lid and bent forward for her mother to put the precious object inside. Juila put the lid back on and grinned at her mother.
Levels of Ascension BoxSet Page 49
