“What are you doing?”
“Duh. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m sinking. Do you suppose you can give me a hand here?”
The two came to me immediately. Carlos positioned himself on my right, Tony on my left. I laced my arms around their necks, and with a gentle, steady pull, they extricated me from the sand.
“How did that happen?” asked Carlos.
“I don’t know, but something freaky is going on. I think we better get out of here.”
“I agree,” said Tony. The words barely left his lips when we all began sinking.
I remember the look on Ursula’s face. Horrified. I could see her starting to wade into the soft sand, her hand outstretched for anyone who could take it.
“Ursula, get back!” I warned. “Don’t come any closer!”
“Thou art in trouble. What can I do?”
“Find a stick, a long branch. Anything!”
Tony turned his back to me. “Climb on. I’ll carry you out.”
“Carry me out? Who’ll carry you out?”
In just talking, I could feel myself sinking several inches deeper. Carlos waded over and came up behind us and hoisted me up on Tony’s shoulders, causing him to sink even more.
“Go!” he said to Tony, as if just saying it would make it possible. Tony did go, or tried. He trudged forward, plowing through the sand and sinking faster for his efforts.
In the meantime, Carlos figured out that if he fell forward on his chest, he could levitate. In effect, he could swim on top of the sand. He kicked his feet and employed his powerful arms, using them to drag himself along until Ursula could reach him with a branch.
With those two safely on solid ground, I felt our chances of making it were better. The only problem was that nothing immediately changed. Tony was still trudging forward, sinking with every step, and all I could do was weigh him down, making matters worse for both of us.
After catching his breath, Carlos took the branch from Ursula and held it out. His reach was considerable, though still not enough that I could get to it.
With Tony up to his chest in sand, I knew I had to do something fast. I palmed the top of Tony’s head and pushed myself up. Then, planting my feet on his shoulders, I stood, swung my arms out and made a perfect swan dive.
Splat.
Okay, not so perfect. I landed hard and flat. Knocked the wind right out of me. I felt my toes sink into the sand, but the rest of my body stayed afloat. I realized that as long as I didn’t move, the ground did not try to swallow me. It seemed a fair compromise.
Carlos, perhaps thinking I was dead––and who could blame him, as I lay motionless and sprawled out on my stomach with my arms over my head––began poking at my hands and fingers with the tip of the branch.
“Uh, Lilith?”
Poke. Poke.
“You all right? Lilith? You want to take the branch?”
I looked up and shook away the sand that stuck to my forehead. “Carlos?”
“Yeah?”
“Poke me again with that damn stick and I’m gonna shove it up your ass.”
Tony piped in. “Are you guys going to do something? It’s getting deep here.”
I grabbed onto the branch and Carlos pulled me in. The problem now was Tony. We couldn’t reach him with the branch, and he couldn’t get any closer. I told Carlos there was only one thing to do.
“I’m going back in.”
“No. You can’t.”
“If I can shimmy out on my belly and reach him with the branch, you can pull us both in by my feet.”
“It’ll never work. He’s too vertical. He’s gotta come up to come out.”
“How are we going to do that?”
Ursula said, “Methinks an idea hath come to mind.”
Carlos and I looked at her. She was looking up at a lissome conifer.
“What are you thinking, Urs?”
She shook her head. “`Tis no thought to it, but to do it. Remember?”
“What?”
She pointed to the treetop and gestured a broad, sweeping arc across the sky and downward. The treetop followed, bending the trunk in a supple curve as if tied to an imaginary rope.
Tony saw the branch lowering and raised his arms above his head to get it. Unfortunately, it remained just out of reach and the added struggle only served to drag him down deeper. Now, only his face from his nose up remained above the surface. Tiny grains of sand blew in and out his nostrils with each breath he took.
“It’s not low enough.” Carlos yelled. “Get it closer. He can’t reach it.”
I glanced back to the tree. It had yielded to Ursula’s will as far as it possibly could, its graceful bow straining nearly to the snapping point.
I’d have done nothing if I thought of something, knowing that in the ES, witchcraft seldom behaves the way you want it to when you’re thinking about it.
However, without thinking, I was able to do something in a big way. I pointed at the treetop, which hung only inches from Tony’s reach, and I stretched it out another foot simply by splaying my fingers.
Tony grabbed the branch with both hands and hoisted himself out of the sand past his shoulders. I could see him trying to climb further, but the poor boy just didn’t have it in him.
“He’s exhausted,” I said to Ursula. “You gotta pull him out using the tree.”
“No. That’s not a good idea,” said Carlos.
“Why isn’t it?”
“Because when the sand gives up its grip, the tree will catapult him. He could break his neck.”
“We have to do something. He can’t hold on much longer.”
“Methinks thou should shrink it.”
“What?”
“Thou hath made it longer. Use thy powers to make it shorter.”
“Yes,” said Carlos. “Shorten the tree, but do it slowly.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I have to do it without thinking about it. How am I going to do that now that you told me to do it?”
“Then don’t do it, but do something.”
“Like what? I can’t just... Wait, what’s that?” I pointed to a patch of sand just behind Tony left shoulder. “What is that?”
“What’s what?”
“That. Sticking out of the sand. Is that a tail?”
Carlos strained to see what I was pointing at. “It’s Jerome!” he yelled. “He’s buried! Tony! Get Jerome. Grab his tail. He’s right behind you!”
Tony reached behind him and grabbed the six-inch nub of spiny tail sticking out of the sand. He gave it a yank and freed up another two feet of it, but was unable to pull Jerome completely to the surface.
What happened next shouldn’t have surprised me, especially knowing that Carlos was able to drag the flame off a burning log on our first night in the ES. Still, in the grand scheme of things, it was genuinely impressive.
While Tony held on to the treetop with one hand and Jerome’s tail with the other, Carlos proceeded to pull off one of the most spectacular displays of spontaneous matter manipulation I had ever witnessed in my life.
Without physically leaving my side––and Ursula could attest to this––Carlos split himself into two completely separate entities. I know, as if one Carlos wasn’t enough already, right? Trust me, though, this time it was a good thing.
Carlos number one, standing rigid and unblinking, stayed on solid ground with Ursula and me, while Carlos number two, a more translucent version of the first, marched out onto the fluid sands without leaving so much as a footprint in his wake.
He squatted down behind of Tony, slipped his hands up under Tony’s armpits and lifted him out of the sand. Tony released the tree branch, allowing it to snap back in an upright position. He then handed Jerome’s tail tip to Carlos, who gave it a yank, pulling Jerome’s limp body from the sand as if passing it through vapor.
As Tony started back, Carlos returned ahead of him with Jerome’s body, setting it on the ground by Carlos
number one’s feet.
Meanwhile, Tony, had already begun sinking again. He had trudged through the sand up to his waist before reaching a point where Ursula and I could haul him in with the branch.
As he lay on the ground catching his breath, the metaphysical Carlos number one and translucent Carlos number two rejoined forces into a single body.
I waited for him to blink himself back into focus before telling him how impressed I was.
“That was unbelievable. Absolutely amazing.”
“What was?”
He looked down and saw me helping Tony to his feet. “Tony! Hey, you’re all right!” Then he saw Jerome. “W...what happened to Jerome?” He knelt by Jerome’s side. “He’s not breathing.”
I reached down and put my hand on his shoulder. “Carlos, you tried to save him. You pulled him from the sand and brought him back here. You did everything you could.”
He looked up at me through glazed eyes. “I brought him back here?”
“Yes, and you pulled Tony out of the sand, too.”
Tony had found his footing by then. He set his hand on Carlos’ other shoulder “She’s right. You saved me. I don’t know how to thank you.”
I watched Carlos’ gaze fade across the sand. He didn’t cry. It’s not his style, but I could tell he was fighting it.
I took Tony’s hand and pulled him back to give Carlos a little breathing room. It seemed only right. Carlos closed his eyes and fell into a slump. He released a heavy sigh and allowed his emotions to finally give life to his tears. After a while, he looked over his shoulder at me and said, “Can you bring him back?”
I felt my heart break. “Carlos... ” I shook my head softly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to do that.”
His eyes crossed over to Ursula. “But you—”
“It’s different, Carlos. I’m sorry.”
He nodded. Ursula joined us and we all gathered around Jerome. He seemed so pathetically small, lying there on his back, shriveling before our eyes. His mouth and nostrils pinched unusually tight; his toes pointed up, their little suction cup tips wilting like dead flowers. His arrow-tipped tail lay perfectly still, forming an S-shaped impression in the dirt like a snake frozen in ice.
I mused over the fossil such an imprint would make if we had taken him back with us and buried him on Earth. I imagined someone discovering him one day in the eons to come. What would they think of this marvelous creature? Would they know of his intelligence? Would they know that his chameleon-like scales had changed color to match his surroundings in the moments before his death?
It’s funny how he didn’t seem so damn ugly to me anymore. I guess the little shit grew on me more than I would have admitted.
“Should we bury him?” Tony asked.
Carlos didn’t hesitate. “I’ll do it.”
That seemed reasonable. I looked at Tony. He gave me a nod in the direction of the brobble bushes. “Lilith, what do you say we go gather up some more fruit for the journey?”
“Yeah, sure. Ursula, you want to join us, give Carlos some time to be alone?”
“Aye, that would be good.”
She reached down and brushed Carlos’ cheek with the back of her hand. As I waited for her, I heard her say to him, “`Tis time we have if naught, when last we give to thee our tender thoughts. Rest well ye weary heart; take comfort for thy wounded soul shall once someday be whole.”
Carlos smiled up at her and mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
As we turned and walked away, I put my arm around Ursula and pulled her in close. She laid her head against my shoulder. “That was sweet, Urs. You have a tender spirit. You know that?”
Tony said, “She gets that from you, Lilith.”
“Me?” I laughed, and tried to think of something smart to say in response, a joke maybe, or a quick comeback framed in the obvious implications that comes with a setup like that.
Before I could utter a response, Carlos startled us all with a yell as if someone had poked him with a cattle prod. He was still on his knees, though leaning back on his heels, stiff as a board.
“What is it?” Tony asked.
He pointed at Jerome. “It moved. His tail. I saw it move.”
We hurried back and circled Jerome. Carlos was right. Where once Jerome’s tail had formed a perfect S-shape in the sand, it now formed a lazy L. I said to him, “You sure you didn’t move it accidentally?”
“No, I swear. I was just kneeling over him when his tail came up and slapped me upside the head.”
“Maybe it’s just muscle spasms,” said Tony.
As he said that, the tail moved again.
“See! I told you!”
“Is he alive?” I knelt down to get a closer look.
Tony shook his head. “I don’t see how. He’s not breathing.”
Ursula, sometimes more practical than I give her credit for, reached out and kicked Jerome in the side. The scaly little peapod lurched as if zapped with defibrillator paddles. He opened his eyes and gasped for air, expanding his withered chest like a balloon.
“Jerome!” Carlos grabbed him under the arms and pulled him in for a hug. Already, Jerome’s natural color was returning. He exhaled a lungful of air and drew in another, filling in the shriveled wrinkles throughout his entire body.
“Carlos. Ease up! Let him catch his breath.”
“I’m sorry, Lilith. I’m just so happy!” He squeezed Jerome one last time before releasing him.
Jerome fell back onto the sand, but was looking better with every passing second. Eventually, Carlos stood and helped the green peapod back onto his feet.
“Jerome.” I gave the dog-eared driget a pat on the head. “What the hell happened to you? We thought you were dead.”
He puffed out his puny chest and beat on it like a gorilla. “Jerome hold breath. Keep sand out.”
“You held your breath all that time?”
“All the time. No breathe.”
“But how?” asked Carlos. “I mean you didn’t––”
“Suspended animation,” I said. “I read about that. He put himself in stasis.”
“What’s that?”
“Biologically speaking, it’s a form of spontaneous hypoxia: metabolic flexibility at the cellular level. He used carbon monoxide to reduce the oxygen tension in his blood, in effect, dialing down his heartbeat and respiratory rate to virtual zero.”
“You mean like temporary hibernation?”
“No, more like temporary dead.”
“Dead.” Carlos looked at Ursula, his brows tightly gathered. “You brought him back when you kicked him. How did you know to do that?”
She shrugged a little. “I saw my Dominic do it.”
“To who?”
“The television.”
“Nice,” said Carlos, and he nodded. Jerome had no idea what that was, but appeared equally satisfied with her answer. He mimicked Carlos’ nod, and the two of them turned and walked off, their heads bobbing like dashboard Chihuahuas.
After dusting off, Tony, Ursula and I picked up our stash of brobble fruit and followed the two back into the Dark Forest.
It was shortly afterwards when Ursula pulled on my shirtsleeve and whispered in my ear.
“Really?” I said. “Not even once today?”
“I had not the urge.”
“All right then.” I called up to the others. “Hey guys! Hold up. We have to take a break.”
Carlos said, “You can’t be tired already.”
“It’s not me. It’s Ursula. She has to go.”
“Go where?”
“You know.” I jacked my thumb up and gestured into the woods.
“What?”
“PEE! Damn it! She has to pee. All right?”
I saw him and Jerome exchange stupid grins. “Can’t she pee on the go? That’s what we do.”
I shook my head in exasperation. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
Tony said, “Okay, let’s get on with this.” He nodded into the woods
. “Ursula, go do what you gotta do. Take your time.”
She scurried off like a rabbit and disappeared into the trees. While waiting on her to return, I took a seat on a fallen tree trunk to tighten my moccasin lace. Tony, perhaps needing to give his ankle a rest, sat down beside me. Carlos and Jerome were just about to join us, when we heard a ghastly scream echo from the woods.
“What was that?” asked Carlos.
I stood and palmed my chest to quell my racing heart. “That’s Ursula!”
Chapter Sixteen
Tony and Carlos tore off into the woods. I ran after them as fast as I could, but lost them in the thick of the undergrowth. By the time I caught up with them, I found they had rendered the situation under control. Mostly.
“Stay back,” Tony warned, splaying his hand to stop me as I stumbled out of the brush and onto a patch of open ground behind him. They had cornered an old man against a wedge of boulders and held him there in a stalemate.
He seemed harmless, yet his dark, hooded eyes told me different. I kept my distance. Tony and Carlos tightened their semi-circle around him. Movement to the left caught my eye. It was Ursula, stepping from the shadows into the clearing.
“Ursula!” I reached out and she ran into my arms. “Are you all right?”
“Aye. Fine, sister. T`was a fright is all.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“I didn’t hurt her,” the old man cawed. “But she done scared the bejeebers out of me, I can tell ya that! Whaddya mean by sneakin` up on an old man?”
“Quiet,” I said. I moved in for a closer look. He appeared unarmed, save for a sharpened piece of tree branch he clutched in his gnarled right hand. I imagined he’d been using it to stoke the campfire burning in the clearing. There a charred dog-sized rat, skinned and skewered over a makeshift scaffold of twigs and vine, sizzled over a low flame.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Name’s Yammer.” He gestured toward Jerome with a nervous twitch. “That creature there, he’s dangerous, ya’ll. He’ll kill ya soon as look at ya.”
Carlos laughed. “Who, him?”
“Yeah him. That there’s a driget. A bloodthirsty carnivore is what he is. You got a gun, you ought to shoot him.”
8 Gone is the Witch Page 19
