The Omega Children - The Return of the Marauders (A young adult fiction best seller): An Action Adventure Mystery

by Shane Mason

‘We pull this behind us. Make good hide our tracks and smells.’

  ‘Why are you talking like that?’ Lexington asked.

  Melaleuca thought of the weird speech she had used since donning the detective costume and laughed at her.

  ‘What’s so funny?’

  ‘Tell you later,’ Melaleuca said.

  They all made sure their bracelets were on tight and high-tailed it out of there, dashing back the way they had come.

  ***

  Captain HeGood sprinted out the back to a boy barely in his teens.

  ‘Well, where is she?’

  The youth cowered.

  ‘Who sir?’

  ‘Bloody fool,’ Captain HeGood shouted, smacking him hard across his face. ‘My steed!!! What else!!!! Do you think I am going to chase them on foot?’

  The youth fell to his knees and with two upheld hands cried out, ‘Who sir? I did as I was tolds. She’s in the pasture!’

  Captain HeGood kicked him. ‘Are you blind and deaf? Did you miss entirely what happened? You should have run to the pastures and got my horse ready. And you wonder why you are still here. Cretin. I’ll do it myself.’

  ***

  Ari insisted they zigzag across the land, weaving through and around trees, and walking in streams. He said it would make it harder for anyone to track them. Just before twilight they had made it back to the hills.

  ‘Okay stop, please,’ Lexington panted, her legs giving out on her.

  They stopped and she fell to the ground, sweating.

  ‘Bracelets off,’ Melaleuca commanded.

  They slid their bracelets off, and Quixote giggled at Lexington. ‘Next time choose a less smart costume.’

  Lexington pushed herself up and threw the detective costume on the ground.

  Melaleuca moved toward Lexington.

  Oh no – here she goes.

  ‘How can you still laugh?’ Lexington said. ‘Those kids back there are suffering.’

  ‘I had lots of fun and so did Mel and Ari. Eh guys?’ He looked at them for support.

  ‘Yes. I enjoyed this costume.’ Ari said, though he knew what Lexington meant. ‘However ─ ’

  ‘The costumes are a lot of fun,’ Melaleuca said.

  Lexington swung her head around them aghast and clenched her hands.

  ‘What happened back there cannot happen again!’

  ‘Lex. You charged in after Quixote,’ Melaleuca said.

  ‘Exactly. Hardly like me! These costumes ─ ’

  ‘Are fun,’ Quixote said. ‘Anyway, we are supposed to play and have fun.’

  ‘Mel?’ Lexington appealed to her. ‘Our mothers must have meant something more when they said keep on playing. Those children...they…..they...’ She choked on her words. ‘They…..it’s horrible….what they were doing to them……how can we play…...’

  Melaleuca remained unaffected. ‘We will work it out.’

  ‘I think we are here to rescue the kids,’ Quixote said.

  ‘Makes sense.’ Ari nodded. ‘I could make a raiding plan.’

  Lexington tried to stamp her foot hard.

  ‘NO! That’s just the point. We don’t know anything about this land and who lives here. The children did not want to be freed. If we just keep on charging around without being smart then who knows what is going to happen.’

  Quixote sauntered up to her.

  ‘I’ll do what I want.’

  ‘Oh really. And what’s that then?’

  ‘Whatever I want!’

  Melaleuca placed a hand on Lexington’s shoulder, sensing her need for them to listen to her. Lexington calmed herself, shrugged Melaleuca’s hand off and pulled on the detective cloak.

  ‘What if?’ She tapped her chin. ‘We map the land out? Find the best area to attack?’ She eyed Ari. ‘Note our finds, perhaps even rank them in importance.’

  Quixote put his bracelet back on, booming at her in a raspy voice. ‘Sissy! What say we round us up a posse and storm that town over yonder.’

  ‘No,’ Lexington said, shaking her head. ‘Mel?’

  ‘I’ll explore,’ Ari said.

  ‘Sensible,’ Lexington said. ‘Let’s find explorer’s costumes, a geologist perhaps, maybe even an archaeologist, hmmm?’ She adjusted her hat with a smug air.

  Ari slipped his bracelet back on and an idea lit up his face.

  ‘Need a shaman.’

  ‘Now look here!’ Lexington said. ‘We need facts. Facts backed by hard evidence.’

  ‘Tarnation,’ Quixote said. ‘We need a damn good raiding party.’

  As the tension rose and their opinions clashed, the costumes took over, until they argued in character.

  ‘I’s blow holes in all of youse.’

  ‘It heap no good. You listen to earth spirit.’

  ‘What utter poppycock. Drivel such as this belongs in a mad house.’

  Melaleuca stepped toward them to intervene. Instead of walking, her body flipped up in the air, pirouetted, and landed behind them. She tried walking again, though her arms and legs flipped all over the place. She fought for control, though the more she tightened her muscles, the more she wobbled and shook. Her mother’s instructions flashed into her mind and she tried pretending to be a gymnast. Relaxed, she went with it, trying to out-leap her body’s jerking and jostling, and as she did so, she brought her limbs under control.

  Oh my God, the instruction to play was right.

  She imagined being back home, feeling the thrill and safety of pretending to be something she was not, and launched into a series of back flips, stopping 30 metres up the hill, exhilarated and in control. Now she had to trust her trust, the very lesson she was to learn since embarking on this adventure.

  Behind her bickering cousins, the setting sun touched the low hills in the distance, and a sense of purpose stirred in her. Clearly they needed to learn to use the costumes before anything else; hypotheses, exploration, rescuing - anything. Her inner resolve toughened, and pulling her bracelet off, she walked to the others, grabbing the bracelets off Lexington and Ari. Surprised, they stopped fighting.

  ‘Ari. Take Quixote’s bracelet off.’

  Pouncing on him, Ari wrestled him to the ground, eventually yanking it off. Grime streaked down Quixote’s face, though a smile of great enjoyment travelled from one ear to the other.

  ‘That was so much fun,’ he said.

  Her mind clear, Melaleuca suddenly saw Quixote’s role. Out of all of them, only Quixote had a permanently irrepressible spirit that nothing could stop. If any of them could teach them how to play seriously, without being serious, it was Quixote.

  ‘Sit,’ Melaleuca beckoned them.

  ‘But…..’ Lexington protested.

  ‘SIT!’

  They sat - their faces grainy in the fading light of the day.

  ‘I have decided,’ Melaleuca said, ‘where we are to start. The costumes are not as simple as they seem. Each of us in our own way has lost control. We need to learn to use them before we use them again like we just did. If we are to rescue those boys, if we are to use them for anything, then we need to know how to use them, and...’

  She paused and held their gaze. The last rays of the sun struck at her hawk eyes, dark shadows falling below her neck. The sun flamed her dishevelled hair, the wispy bits appearing to catch fire. Like a warrior princess from another time and another place she held their gaze and the reigns of her small command tight.

  ‘......it is more important now, more than ever, that we play.’

  Quixote looked happily amongst the others. Ari puzzled at her words, while Lexington’s face showed she did not agree.

  ‘Lexington put your bracelet and Quixote’s costume on,’ Melaleuca said.

  With a begrudging willingness Lexington clad herself in the cowboy clothes. Quixote grabbed the detective hat, plonking it on his head.

  ‘Now what?’ Lexington asked.

  ‘Run up the hill and back,’ Melaleuca told her.

  Lexington shook her head, but tro
tted off, a surge of energy pumping through her. As her legs dashed across the landscape, she felt an ease of movement denied her by the detective costume. Her right hand twitched as it brushed the pistol, and she rapidly drew it out, spun around and shot at Quixote’s head, knocking his hat off. Elated she hollered out and dashed back.

  ‘Did you see that?’

  She spat on the ground.

  ‘Kind of fun?’ Melaleuca asked.

  ‘Yes. I guess.’

  Lexington’s logic fought within her. It was fun. She felt different holding the pistol, and the cowboy clothes made her stronger, tougher and more resilient. Though her mind wanted to know why and how they worked.

  ‘Our parents told us to play and play we shall,’ Melaleuca carried on. ‘Play is fun, not serious. Play is imagination. I know where we start – the costumes work best when playing.’

  Once again Lexington started to protest, but Melaleuca stopped her.

  ‘Please,’ Melaleuca said. ‘All you have to do is choose brainy costumes and then go play being brainy.’

  ‘It’s not that simple.’

  Ari understood and to help Lexington he said, ‘I want to explore this land, so I will select costumes that will help me do that, playing exploring.’

  ‘Good,’ Melaleuca said. ‘Make sure they are fun ones.’

  ‘And me?’ Quixote asked.

  Melaleuca cocked an eyebrow at him. ‘Pick the most fun ones. Ones that make you laugh and entertain you.’

  ‘YEEESSS!’

  ‘What?’ Lexington sized Melaleuca up and down. ‘I get Ari’s, even mine, but surely Quixote needs a...a...a...strait jacket costume!’

  Quixote chortled at the idea, and Melaleuca felt tiresome toward Lexington.

  And I thought Quixote would be the hardest to control.

  ‘Lex,’ Melaleuca said.

  ‘And what about the children at that horrid place?’ Lexington asked.

  ‘Costumes first,’ Melaleuca replied. ‘I am correct in this decision.’

  ‘We need to know what we are dealing with.’

  ‘Do you have all the answers?’

  ‘Of course not! It’s what I seek.’

  ‘When you have all the answers, then and only then will I give you command. Until then I say we play. Play is how we are to discover what is next.’

  ‘But ─ ’

  Melaleuca’s face steamed up.

  ‘My gut feeling on this is right!’

  ‘I think ─ ’

  ‘Do what I said and when you see it is right, then use your logic to work it out. Lexington my job is to make this as simple as possible.’

  Melaleuca tried staring into her, attempting to find a handle to calm her down, but something blocked her. She reminded Lexington of an instruction she would not like.

  ‘Lexington, gentle one, follow your mind, but use your heart to learn from Quixote.’

  Lexington’s face registered hurt, but then hardened a little bit.

  ‘Lexington, lover of all that is gentle, follow your mind but with your heart learn from Quixote. I think you will find are the exact words.’

  ‘Then learn!’

  ‘Learn from......why he should......we’ll see...,’ Lexington spluttered, and appeared to run out of words. She flashed her eyes toward Quixote. ‘What about him?’

  ‘What about him?’

  A momentary impasse formed between them.

  Melaleuca relented and said, ‘Lex, just take some time out to cool down.’

  Lexington threw her hands up and stormed off toward the forest.

  Ari and Quixote ran over to Melaleuca.

  ‘Where’s she going?’ they both asked.

  Lexington turned, and in a gentle voice, snarled cowboy-like. ‘Following my mind to solve this mystery using my methods.’

  ‘I’ll go get her,’ Ari said starting to run.

  ‘Leave her,’ Melaleuca said. ‘She’ll cool down and come back.’

  ***

  Lexington stormed her way through the forest, trail blazing her rage forward.

  ‘Tell me what to do. I have the brains.’

  Unable to resist, her hand drew to the pistol. She caressed it, feeling wild sensations shoot up and down her arm. She flipped it in and out, surprised at her skill despite knowing she had the costume on. The frustration at Melaleuca cooled off, and the stillness of the forest chimed her gentle nature back in time with her again, yet something else inside her felt strong.

  She knelt on the ground and scribed the letters, ‘why?’ in the dirt.

  ‘About time!!!!!’

  ‘Stuff it.’

  ‘That’s a bit off.’

  Lexington whipped the pistol out and pointed it at her head.

  ‘Behave or I’ll drill you full of holes.’

  ‘The costume is dominating you; take it off.’

  ‘I will be heard!’

  ‘Feel it. You are still you, but the costume is stamping itself on to you.’

  Lexington turned right, then left, and then right again. The logic made sense but something else controlled her.

  ‘Laugh’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Laugh’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘JUST DO IT! I WILL EXPLAIN AFTER.’

  ‘Ha ha?’ she said imitating a giggle.

  ‘Do better than that.’

  And on it went, her inner voice goading her to laugh, until finally Lexington chortled as much as she could, and the costume released its control on her. Feeling rational again, she pulled the bracelet off.

  ‘The same thing happened to me as happened to Quixote. It must be the costume.’

  ‘Perhaps the costume needs to get used to you.’

  ‘Or the bracelets need to be tamed like a wild horse.’

  ‘Whichever, you are right to be cautious. They need testing and investigating. You are better suited to the detective costume. Melaleuca is sort of right.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The play thing. Before you react, think of it this way. The costumes appear to work when a person is fully enthusiastic.’

  ‘You don’t just need play for that ─ ’

  A figure suddenly burst out of the forest with no warning and knocked her down. Dazed she tried to get up, but her head spun. A great stink, unlike anything else she had ever smelt before accosted her nostrils, just as she fell unconscious.

  Chapter 18 - Iam

  A hint of autumn hung in the air and the night would soon reflect it. Ari shivered in his loin cloth and rubbed his hands together.

  ‘I guess even Indians get cold.’

  ‘We had better find Lex and head back,’ Melaleuca said, ‘before it gets too dark.’

  ‘Let’s camp here,’ Quixote said. ‘It’ll be just like back at home.’ He pulled the detective cloak around him more.

  ‘Is that what your costume tells you?’ Ari asked.

  Quixote held up his bracelet in his hand.

  ‘Nah. This costume’s boring. I just wanna do it.’

  Melaleuca nodded, liking the idea.

  Ari built a small bivouac using the natural cover of a large rock protruding from the hill, insulating it with tussock and leafy branches. He dug up Bracken Fern roots and lit a fire to roast them on, while Quixote and Melaleuca picked berries from a nearby bush skirting the forest.

  In the darkness on the hillside, comforted by the glow of the small fire, snug in their shelter, they feasted on juicy berries and roasted roots.

  ‘What about Lexington?’ Ari asked. ‘Should we go find her?’

  Melaleuca paused before answering. Lexington needed to follow orders. Perhaps some more time alone would do her good.

  ‘What if she is lost?’ Ari asked.

  ‘Unlikely,’ Quixote said. ‘The cowboy suit would help her.’

  ‘Still, I bet she would like some of this.’ Ari motioned to the berries and roasted roots.

  ‘Alright,’ Melaleuca said, ‘Go and track her and bring her back. Play with her an
d get her to play as well.’

  Ari poured his way through the forest following her tracks. After nearly 30 minutes a large figure leapt out of nowhere and knocked him over. Stunned but still conscious, he raised his groggy head up. A vague, out of focus figure stood with Lexington in its arms. He thought of Lexington’s words about finding out all the facts first, and smelt an incredible stink and fell unconscious.

  ***

  As Daquan handed the object to Quesob, he rolled it around, examining it.

  ‘What is it?’ Quesob asked.

  ‘With it you shall track down the bracelets, especially now they are being used.’

  The small clear opening on the bottom of its spherical shape looked like polished see-through stone. It sloshed as he handled it, so he shook it gently, feeling the weight of the liquid inside.

  ‘How does it work?’

  ‘Look into the opening and place the bracelet under it. A small arrow points the way. It is a compass for the bracelets.’

  Quesob stared at Daquan. Sparse hair stubble matted his eyebrows, his head and his face, a sign of a return to normalcy.

  ‘Where did you get such an object, my Lord?’

  ‘Does it matter? Hmm?’

  ‘W...where m’lord, please.’

  ‘If you must. Found years ago in the north hills.’

  ‘The North Hills have been forbidden for years. I don’t like going there,’ Quesob said. He shuddered, thinking about the Ori and B’barakai’s Incognia.

  ‘You will go where I tell you,’ Daquan said with a great flourish of his arm. ‘Do you know why they are forbidden?’

  Quesob shook his head.

  ‘Neither do I, and nor does anyone else. That can only mean one of two things. There is something hidden up there or it is just silly superstition.’

  Quesob would think about such things later. He pulled the light-swallowing bracelet out and tried to put it under the bracelet-compass, but all the light disappeared.

  ‘Idiot,’ Daquan said, wrenching the bracelet out of Quesob’s hand.

  Pain shot into Quesob’s shoulder, and Daquan’s large hand closed around the bracelet and light rushed back into the room. Quesob muttered an anti-pain mantra under his breath, calmed himself and retaliated.