Behind the Curtain

by Shannon Ainslie

  Suddenly, the lights in the school went out. The students cheered in the darkness, expecting the lights to flicker back on. But they didn’t. After several noisy minutes, the dim silhouette of the principal filled the doorway. He told everyone to go home. Rowdy could see the school busses approaching through the waves of rain.

  He grabbed Jordyn and Thomas, and the three headed into the driving rain to the bus, leaving homework and books behind. There was a toothbrush peeking out of Thomas’ back pocket for the sleepover. They had to get to Granny’s right away. Rowdy sensed his orange-haired friend was afraid.

  They ran without stopping from the bus stop to Rowdy’s house to get his dad. There was a note on the table. He’d left for Granny’s already.

  The terrified trio ran full speed to Granny’s house. They screeched to a halt as a fork of lightning hit a power box on the pole above them, showering sparks everywhere. Jordyn screamed. An ornamental tree hit the ground across the street. Rowdy grabbed his comrades and ran.

  By the time they burst into Granny’s warm house, they were soaked to the skin and trembling. Granny hastily brought them all towels and warming tea.

  “Is it Cern?” Rowdy asked, toweling his hair dry. Thomas looked at him blankly. Granny did not respond. Her lips were pursed tight. She pointed to the steaming cups of tea on the table.

  Thomas sat down tentatively. His orange curls were plastered to his head. He was shivering. He pulled his microscope close to him and held one of its legs as though it were a lifeline to reason.

  “Sorry, pal,” Rowdy said to Thomas with sympathy. “You’re just going to have to follow along.” Thomas nodded and sipped at his tea.

  Granny began the meeting, standing at the head of the table with her eyes blazing.

  “Today we take Bill and Thomas to Sionnin, assuming we can figure out how to get Thomas there.” She reached into her pocket and produced a liathroid that she handed to her son. It was his ticket into Sionnin.

  “We are in search of an antidote to the black slime Cern has created that is now seeping into the regular world through the portal.”

  Thomas took the liathroid from Rowdy’s dad. He held it up to the light. Inside there was a violent storm happening. He squinted and stared hard at it, turning it in his fingers. Rowdy patted him on the back reassuringly.

  “I’m taking Jordyn to the heartland to finish severing Cern’s horn. Wizard Ondag is waiting for us with an army assembled.” Granny looked at Jordyn and nodded. She addressed the rest of the companions. “The rest of you will guide and protect Thomas as he finds the antidote. The flora is different there. You will have to collect all you can and get back to your equipment, Thomas.” Granny sighed.

  The companions finished the tea that would keep them warm for several hours. Thomas looked very doubtful.

  “Are you doing all right, Thomas?” Rowdy asked. Thomas nodded and maintained his usual silence.

  They followed Granny up the stairs to where the worlds overlapped. Rowdy put his arm around Thomas’ neck. “I’ll protect you. Don’t worry,” he whispered to his bewildered friend.

  An odd odor hit their noses as they entered the upstairs room. Black goo was seeping into the cracks in the ceiling.

  Thomas stuck his nose in the air and inhaled. He furrowed his brow at the blackened ceiling and inhaled again. He scratched his damp curls, thinking.

  Rowdy didn’t think Thomas could see the group around him passing into another world.

  Jordyn was chanting her commitment to Sionnin. Granny was growing young.

  “My old room!” Rowdy’s dad said. “Sionnin!” he shouted. He ran to the wall of gems and looked at it with awe, overcome with emotion. Thomas looked at him funny, obviously not seeing the gems.

  Rose discovered she could no longer pass through now that her spell had been broken and grown cold. Granny winked at her and pulled out a single crow feather, glossy and black. Rose wove it into her hair. “Ah, the glittering stones!” she said with a satisfied smile.

  Rowdy and Jordyn were in Sionnin, already armed and dressed for battle. Rowdy would keep his dad’s belt, but he gave his dad the leather boots. His dad put them on and danced around the room. Thomas stared at them uncertainly, obviously believing the people around him had all gone mad. Granny approached him gently. She handed him a liathroid. Thomas accepted it.

  Granny walked him through the usual drill, trying to find Thomas’ key to Sionnin. The liathroid didn’t work. The chants and spells she had him recite didn’t work, nor did winking, blinking, or waving crow feathers. She stared at him, puzzling. She felt for something in her pocket. She pulled out a food pellet and smiled. “Of course, plants for the plant chemist.”

  *

  “This should work, Thomas. Chew it up and swallow it.”

  The group waited for him to eat it, but he was skeptical. Rowdy and Jordyn nodded at him. He frowned and put the pellet in his mouth, grimacing at its grassy flavor. It was dry when he choked it down his throat.

  He watched as Granny grew younger before his eyes. His heart pounded, and his palms grew sweaty. He could see the goo was far thicker here than the seeping layer it had just been. And there was a wall of gemstones unlike any he had seen. He turned to see Rowdy and Jordyn donning chain-mail suits of armor. The blades in their hands were glowing orange and white. He felt light-headed and sat on the floor, focusing on his breathing.

  “What did you smell in the goo?” Granny asked him, bringing him back to a scientific topic. Thomas relaxed a little bit.

  “Licorice root and mushrooms,” he stammered. “It isn’t a bacteria. It’s some kind of fungus.”

  Granny nodded at Rowdy. Then she motioned to Jordyn, and they went out the window to find Wizard Ondag and saw off the rest of Cern’s horn.

  Rowdy, Rose, Mr. H, and Thomas sat quietly, making a game plan.

  “I will scout ahead of you,” Rowdy said to Rose. Rose nodded. She would keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

  “I will help Thomas collect the plants and mushrooms he needs,” Bill said, looking at poor terrified Thomas.

  Thomas, of course, said nothing. He was feeling full and warm from the tea and pellet. He was too warm. He looked at the open window. The crew slipped out onto the slippery, wet branches of the tall tree. Thomas held on to Rowdy, trembling.

  When they hit the bottom, they splashed into puddles. Rowdy ran ahead to scout for danger. Rose walked along, waiting for Thomas to see something he wanted. Mr. H. held the liathroid up to cast some more light. He kept an eye out for mushrooms and licorice root. He had to ask Thomas to describe the root to him. The two whispered back and forth while they walked. They told Rose what they needed, whether it was an area close to water or a well-drained rise in the landscape.

  *

  They moved slowly but steadily, Rowdy, and probably Rose too, thinking only of the safety of their comrades who would now be entering the heartland.

  It was loud with storm. They could see the lightning show in the distance. They were relieved to be assigned to the safer fringes, yet Rowdy remained alert, ignoring the rain that pelted his face incessantly.

  There was a kerfuffle of excitement when Thomas found the mushrooms he had been looking for. An hour later, he got excited again when he found the licorice root. The rest of the ingredients he needed were a mystery. He knew if he could find the recipe for the goo, he could find the antidote. His fear of the magic around him dissipated as the keen scientist inside of him took over. He collected many different shoots, herbs, and plants. Rowdy’s dad peeled bark off every tree he could find. The crew’s pockets were overflowing with specimens when they returned to the window three hours later. The stormy skies in both worlds were falling under the cloak of night.

  “Here, Granny left you some pellets. Just eat another one and you will be back,” Rowdy said.

  He dropped a handful of pellets into Thomas’ shirt pocket. Thomas ate one and returned to the real world. When
Rowdy and the others returned, Thomas had his microscope and distiller.

  It was a long wait for Rowdy, Rose, and Rowdy’s dad. They wanted to know how Granny and Jordyn were doing. They wanted Thomas to find the antidote. They tried to make conversation to pass the time. Rowdy showed his scar of protection on his chest to his dad and explained its significance. Dad admired it, tracing the pattern with his finger. Rowdy felt it burn sharply, as though Boc were present.

  Thomas was working on his next combination when there was a hard breeze at the window. Granny and Jordyn rushed in, then slammed the window shut behind them. Granny tucked the curtain in snugly. The two were soaked. They walked straight into the room and passed back to the regular world, heaving and panting.

  “The war has begun,” Granny declared. She had run home faster than she had before. She fell into a chair, trying to catch her breath.

  “We got the horn!” Jordyn gasped, collapsing on the floor. “Ondag has it. His army is stowing it away in the Great Mountain for safekeeping.”

  “Cern is after us!” Granny added. She looked at Thomas, needing to know how he was progressing. Thomas was lost in his own world of science, completely focused on the slides in his scope.

  Rose got up and took Jordyn by the hand. It was time to go home. They would have to weather the storm. Rowdy’s dad decided to go with them for the walk, worried about the falling trees and sparking power lines. The storm whistled and crashed against the window, showing no signs of abating.

  Chapter 17

  Antidote

  Granny, Rowdy, and Thomas stayed up late into the wee hours, poring over the ingredients spread out on the table. It was close to daylight when Thomas was finally able to recreate the black goo. It was now time to work on the antidote. Thomas looked exhausted but had no interest in stopping his work. Granny brought him food and coffee. Rowdy dozed lightly in the chair.

  Jordyn, Rowdy’s dad, and Rose came up the stairs groggily, carrying a pot of warming tea. They sat sipping, listening to the storm rage behind them while they watched Thomas work.

  “The news broadcasts are alarming,” Jordyn said. “My parents were around the television set all night. No one can understand what is happening.”

  “The streets are a mess. Disaster crews are being shipped in. I hear the river has burst its banks and the downtown is flooded,” Rowdy’s dad added, then sipped his tea.

  “Eureka!” Thomas yelled, making everyone jump. He reached for his distiller. “Water,” he commanded. Rose rushed downstairs. Thomas pulled some jars and vials out. The companions sat at the edges of their seats.

  When the distilling was done, the final test took place. Thomas stood on a stool and squeezed his tincture onto the black goo in the corner of the ceiling. They gasped as the fungus retreated. Rose rushed downstairs again and returned with a spray bottle. She moved around the room with a chair, spraying the black goo off the ceiling. It seemed to devour itself rapidly. A loud clap of thunder boomed.

  Thomas sat back in his chair, exhausted. His eyes were heavy, but he looked satisfied. Granny kissed him on the cheek, making him blush.

  “Your work here is done, young chemist,” she said proudly. “All of Sionnin will celebrate you soon.” Granny nodded at Rose. Rose stood and led Thomas down the stairs to go home. Thomas peeked at Rowdy as he descended with a broad smile across his sleepy face.

  Granny stared at the tincture, puzzling. She looked at her cauldron and sighed. She would have to figure out how to get the potion to Sionnin. If only to spray its edges and hope that the antidote could travel faster than the black stuff.

  “I need to be alone,” she stated in a powerful sorceress voice. The crew nodded and made their way hastily down the stairs to the kitchen. Rowdy relaxed in his chair with his eyes closed. He listened to Rose and Jordyn chatting as they watched the storm. He drifted to sleep to the sound of his dad pacing back and forth nervously.

  He felt groggy when his dad shook him out of his nap. It was time. Adrenaline coursed through him, removing any sleepiness. He looked up to see Jordyn and Rose, yawning and stretching. They shuffled back up the stairs. Granny was sitting beside a boiling cauldron with her eyes glowing.

  “Rowdy and I will be completing this mission alone,” Granny said. The others looked at each other.

  “Take Jordyn home. Return in the morning.”

  Jordyn instinctively reached out to Rowdy. They held hands briefly, sharing a mutual love and fear. She looked at him with worry as Rose put her arm around her and took her away. Rowdy’s dad embraced him. He gave him back the leather boots. The men looked at each other bravely, and Rowdy’s dad departed. Rowdy turned to meet the glowing eyes of his sorceress granny.

  He put his feet into the leather boots. He pulled his knife out and watched its edge burn orange. He went to the gemstone wall and retrieved his amethyst. The room was clear of any of the black sludge that had been there previously.

  Reading his thoughts, Granny said, “It spread on its own from our world to Sionnin. It is spreading fast.” She beckoned him to her. He stood stoically as she put pellets in his pockets for food, then slipped one into his mouth to warm him. She put a vial of potion into her pocket.

  “It is weaker after moving across the worlds,” she informed him. She tightened up his leather cap and doted on him, patting him and checking his armor over and over again. She was nervous. Rowdy placed his hand on hers. She looked at him and nodded before turning away. They slipped out the window to put the evil in Sionnin to rest at last.

  The tree was dripping with the black goo and slippery with rain. They moved carefully down the branches and were relieved when they hit the ground. Granny burst into light and emerged a unicorn, stamping her foot. She bowed down while Rowdy got on, holding her silver mane. He bent low against her neck, preparing for speed.

  Speed she did. Faster than Rose had ever flown as a crow. The scenery beside him whirred dizzily past. The rain pelted down. They could see up ahead the forks of lightning coming from Cern. The animals of Sionnin were stuck in the muck and cried out to them as they passed. As they approached the heartland, the muck grew thicker. More and more pleas for help came at them, but they charged on. Granny’s silver horn glowed a hot blue.

  Rowdy was warm despite the storm. The pellet in his stomach and the body heat from the back of his ride made his journey pleasant. But as he approached the battle ahead of him, his stomach churned. The army of animals were many but very weak. They were born to love, not to fight. The black little witch, Cern, had reclaimed her horn and was waving it around in the air, blasting everything and everyone with lightning bolts. Behind her was a phantom of Conan.

  Rowdy shuddered. Granny stopped running. He dismounted, falling a distance to the mucky, sticky ground. She burst into light and emerged in her human form. She dumped the potion around them, and they watched, mystified, as it ate up the goo and spread, eating at a fast rate. Cern had not noticed them yet. They waited until the potion spread far enough to cause a commotion. Animals were released and ran wildly around them, back to the safety of the forest.

  Rowdy could see Ondag. He was taking the brunt of the electrical blasts from Cern, trying to protect his kingdom. He was white and brilliant and beautiful. He rose powerfully, charging her again and again, only to be thrown back by the blasts coming from the severed horn.

  Rowdy waited for Granny to make a call. Herds of terrified animals were rushing past them, unglued from their slime. The so-called army was fleeing too. Rowdy couldn’t blame them. They were not made for war.

  “We need a diversion,” Rowdy said to Granny, remembering the note Rose had brought him when he was in Conan’s lair. Granny nodded.

  “I’ll go,” he said, knowing that only Granny had the power to defeat the evil Cern. Granny hesitated, looking at him fearfully. Rowdy put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Then he ran headlong into the fray, yelling and waving his blade above his head. He dodged through the oncoming tide of f
rantic animals, trying to find Ondag through the rain.

  He felt a bolt of lightning touch the ground behind his heels, and he ran faster, maneuvering this way and that chaotically. A blast of light came in from the side and was blocked by a huge white bear. Ondag was with him. This made Rowdy run faster across the land in a wide circle around the crazy witch. He ran and screamed, Ondag jumping in and out of the rain around him, taking hits and helping to create the diversion.

  Through the rain, he saw the looming phantom of Conan before him, trying to frighten him and block his moves. He’d had enough of being fearful of the stinky beast. He held his blade out before him and ran right through the ghostly blue outline, again and again, feeling stronger every time.

  He had no notion of what was becoming of Cern. Only that the blasts were gradually lessening. The ground beneath his feet was less sticky. The bear beside him was taking fewer hits. He just kept running and yelling until, at long last, the lightning ceased entirely.

  He stopped, panting heavily. When he straightened up to look around, he met the deep, kind eyes of a giant polar bear. He laughed with overwhelming relief. Wizard Ondag embraced him. His strong forelegs were hard and awkward. They stood in an embrace, catching their breath.

  They looked around them. They looked up into the night sky. The rain had stopped. The clouds were parting. Stars were appearing. They sighed with relief and looked for Granny. She was standing over a pile of black rags, her hands on Cern’s horn. She had pierced Cern through the heart with her own horn.

  Rowdy and the bear approached her. Ondag was struggling to walk now, his white fur seared black in many places. They heard Granny chanting and stopped. They felt a warm breeze pass around them. The sky was brightening with stars and a half-moon. They waited while Granny completed her chanting ceremony. Rowdy reached into his pockets for the pellets. He handed some to Ondag.

  There was a blast of white light, and Granny emerged a unicorn again. She whinnied and waved her blue horn at the sky. She pranced over to Rowdy and bent down. He climbed on, then turned to reach for the bear’s mighty paw. Ondag squeezed the young warrior’s hand with gratitude, and Rowdy and the unicorn ran into the night.