“May I?” asked David. Bobby looked at him incredulously. She had just wondered to herself what would happen to the spectre if David were to hold it. It was him, and his family, after all, who were in some mysterious way connected to the Blue Seal, the island Crone and the future wellbeing of the island.
As soon as David held his hand on the spectre Bobby noticed that it started to vibrate ever so slightly. It also made a buzzing sound and even Madden stepped back and looked surprised.
“What is this?” Madden said, staring at them.
“I don’t know,” David said in a high-pitched voice, “but I have a feeling something very big is just about to happen and I seem to be unable to let go of this thing even if I wanted to.” Madden reached out to wrap his hand around the wand again but was flung back against the wall by what appeared to be an electric shock.
“I have never seen it do this before,” Madden said, “but it does know you and that isn’t really a surprise because all of the people of my tribe – when I was a boy – knew about the children, Bobby and David, who would come back to us from the future and rescue our people from the clutches of tyranny and injustice …” His speech was interrupted by a wave of pulsating and vibrational noise that was building in intensity, so that it was becoming louder and louder. Bobby and David looked to one another and shrugged their shoulders. This news didn’t surprise them; it wasn’t the first time they had been told something like that, but just how to break it to him that they had no idea what they were supposed to tell him or to do … They didn’t know anything about saving his people – even though they wished they did.
“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” Bobby shouted to be heard above the wave of noise.
“Only the two of you can tell us exactly what it is we need to know to get away from this place, the few of us that remain. Only you can lead us away from here and to a place that is like heaven on earth … it has been talked of in our dreamtime legends for hundreds of years and we have been waiting for you for a long time,” he shouted back at them. The noise was becoming intolerable. Bobby and David frowned at one another, obviously even more confused than before.
“But we’re just a couple of ordinary kids who are looking for a way to save our island,” David explained, “which is actually just a figment of our imaginations that came into our lives because our ancestors dreamed it up – it is actually a parallel dimension or reality – I suppose you’d say but …”
Bobby and David stared at each other wide-eyed with a sudden look of realisation on both of their faces.
“I see now,” Bobby said excitedly, “Madden and their people are the natives of our island. Oh, my gosh, how could I have not seen it before?”
“Yes exactly,” answered David, “and this is the tool that gets them there. Sweet mother of …” he said almost to himself. “So now there’s only one question left – how do we get those people remaining here back to the island with us?” he shouted, blinking heavily and looking rather excited. And then Bobby saw a movement in her peripheral vision. She turned to look out of the window.
“Oh, my gosh, David, look!” she yelled. They all went to the window and what they saw was beyond belief. Even Madden was shocked by what he saw and obviously had not expected it at all. Dozens of people (obviously from Madden’s tribe), men, women and children were walking toward the shack as if in some kind of trance. Right before Bobby and David’s eyes they saw trees that walked transforming themselves into people. Whole families of people were trees no longer. Bobby wondered if they had been trapped like that against their will and if so, how long had they been that way? Her question was answered when she noticed mothers embracing children and husbands reaching out for their wives. Even from where she stood inside the shack she could hear their shouts of joy at being released from the spell and able to be together again in human form. The women and children and even some of the men wept openly and Bobby thought that she might too, such was the emotion of the moment. Carefully holding the spectre, the small party made its way to the porch of the shack. The first of the wandering masses arrived at the shack. An important-looking man stepped forward and talked to Madden.
“You are Madden,” he said.
“Yes, that is right,” answered Madden and turned to look at Bobby and David. How could a stranger know such a thing?
“I see your surprise that I know your name. I knew your father,” and with those words Madden reached for the porch chair to steady himself and went quite pale in the face.
“Are you all right, Madden?” Bobby asked and she reached for his arm.
“No, no, I’m fine,” he answered. “It’s just that no-one has ever spoken of my father except the women of my tribe when I was a boy. Please tell me more,” he addressed the man.
“He knew that I would see you one day and he wanted me to tell you that you should take care of your mother and that all of the land here belongs to you now. I’m sorry to say but he died of pneumonia within months of being taken to the town, or of a broken heart some say. He was a fine man, my boy, and you should be proud that your papa was a man who stood up for what he believed in and didn’t cower under the rules of an oppressive enemy.” All of this was spoken in their own Aboriginal language but Bobby and David got the general gist of the conversation.
“Madden, is that you?” was the next thing they heard called out from the back of the crowd. Everyone turned to look at two elderly women, one with greying brown hair and green eyes and the other with white skin hobble forward.
“Mama, mama,” Madden replied and wept openly now. He took the small frail woman in his arms and swung her around several times until she screamed out for him to stop. And then he noticed the white-skinned woman.
“Wanda, my sister,” he yelled out and held her so tightly that it looked as though he might break her. She was younger than the other woman but still just as frail.
“My brother, at last,” she answered and she held him by the shoulders and looked him up and down. “You grew up,” she said and they all laughed. They hadn’t set eyes on each other for the longest time. Then she looked at the porch and saw Bobby and David.
“Bobby and David?” she asked, with perfect pronunciation. Madden nodded.
“Ah, so long have we waited for you,” she said in their own language, and Inuwatu translated for the people. “There will be plenty of time to share our news later. But now is the time; now we leave this land. All of us must form circles, one within the other and hold hands around David, who will stand in the middle of the inner circle and hold up the wand and point it toward the sky.” And so she instructed the people, and David. “Now come, David, come stand in the circle of our people, turn six times and we shall see what happens.”
Bobby looked around at all of the faces of the people who were surrounding her and saw many different expressions; some were apprehensive, some were nervous but most of the people looked completely relieved at finally having a chance to get away from there and very happy at the prospect of being permanently reunited with their loved ones. She watched as David turned himself around six times. Was this going to save her island? She couldn’t answer that question just yet. And she couldn’t ask herself any more questions because before she knew it, she found herself being swirled around and around with the others. A rainbow of brilliant colours which was the result of all of them becoming combined and she thought to herself, it’s so beautiful and there’s nothing to be afraid of. And then they were whisked at the speed of light through what seemed to be a long tunnel with many and varied lights of all hues of white and violet and gold. Her last thought was that she wished she could do this again one day very soon.
Chapter 18
What is the Blue Seal?
Bobby and David and the others arrived on the island. It wasn’t what she had expected. It wasn’t the same island they had left some short days ago. It was a brand new island with scarcely any inhabitants. It really was the original Garden of Eden, or how she expected t
hat to be anyway. The Crone was there and the professor and Sebastian but they were the younger versions of themselves.
“Ah, hip hip hooray,” the professor said, clapping his hands together gleefully, “this is what we’ve all been waiting for – some new people on the island.” He cast a glance over the many people standing before him and even though he had not met Bobby and David before, he knew from the Crone that they featured strongly in his and the island’s future. “Professor and Sebastian,” cried Bobby joyfully and she jumped into their arms to give them both a big hug.
“So you must be Bobby,” the professor said, hugging her just as enthusiastically and then holding her at arm’s length to study her face. “Ah, yes, yes, I see it. Indeed … the resemblance is uncanny.” But then he turned to David and proceeded to shake his hand, leaving Bobby with a feeling of confusion, which was usual where the professor was concerned. She realised that the past professor also seemed to have had some kind of secret; she wanted to know what it was and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.
“So very glad to meet you finally,” the professor said. “Of course you both know me as the future professor but I’m sure you’ll both understand that for me, this is all rather intriguing because, as you can see, I have never actually met you before and it is only just now that I can actually put some faces to some names. You see, I have been hearing about you for the longest of times and even though we are quite well acquainted in the future, right now in this timeslot this is the first time I have met you. I knew of your coming though; the Crone informs me of everything that’s about to happen now and in the future. I hope I’m making myself clear. I’m not waffling, am I?” The professor seemed to suddenly realise that the whole concept of time travel from one dimension to another was incredibly difficult to comprehend, but fortunately for him the two people he was addressing were quite familiar with it.
“Not at all, Professor,” said David sympathetically.
“We understand perfectly. I hope you’ll be happy with the new occupants on your island,” he said, gesturing to the Aboriginal people.
“Ah yes, perfect, perfect,” he said and went and shook the hands of all of the men, women and children. “This is a grand day indeed; not only do I finally get to meet the legendary Bobby and David, descendants of Ina and Henry, but we have a whole range of new people to add to our family here on the island. This really is the most perfect of days.” He was visibly thrilled to be meeting the people and made a special fuss of all of the little children as well. “Our island has long needed some new inhabitants. A peaceful folk that live a serene life is what we hoped for and what it looks like we will have, as well. So lovely to make your acquaintance and welcome to our Garden of Eden. Make yourselves right at home. I’m sure you’ll be quite happy here. It’s very safe and there’s nothing to be frightened of,” he said to some of the children who seemed a little shy.
Once he had introduced himself to all of the people, he took them to the area where the other people were sitting and working and chatting with one another. The two different tribes of natives embraced each other as if they had known each other once and then they all settled down together and went on with what they were doing, talking in their own tongue excitedly. It was obvious that the Aborigines would come to love their new home and would become acquainted with the friendly animals, so unlike the Australian animals that they were familiar with, and which, until now they had never seen before. These animals had been visualised by Ina and Henry, who had read about them in their story books, the story of the Garden of Eden having made an impact on them. The Aborigines were fascinated by these strange creatures and, like the other tribe before them, came to love and respect them.
Bobby looked on, feeling a little sad that this was not how the island was anymore in the future.
“A fine day indeed,” the professor said again. “But now to you two,” he said turning to Bobby and David. “You must be full of questions right now and I’ll do my best to answer them.”
“I suppose the thing I really want to know,” said David, “is how this has anything to do with what’s going on with the future island and the fact that the Crone is dying and being taken possession of by the Workhouse Oracle and it looks like the island might be coming to an end. I don’t know if you know but Bobby and I were sent back to get something the Crone asked for called the Blue Seal. I’m not sure what it is but apparently it will save the island somehow and it has something to do with my heritage, although what that is exactly, I’m not very sure.”
“No, I had no idea about any of that,” said the professor, looking quite shocked. “What an awful turn of events and quite strange that the Crone hasn’t told me anything about it – perhaps even she doesn’t know about it.” The professor held his chin between his thumb and index finger and looked thoughtful. “How simply awful. And as for a Blue Seal – well I just don’t know. Perhaps the Crone can tell you.” The three of them walked to where the Crone was sitting. After greetings, David told her the plight of the future island and how they had been sent back in time to retrieve a Blue Seal that she herself had sent them for.
“You ask for something that I cannot tell you,” she explained, with a faraway look on her face. “We each have our own special destiny but at any time that can change and that is why I can only see certain things and not others. I cannot predict every single thing. But this turn of events concerns me – what has happened to upset the balance of the island? How was this thing wished into our reality …” and with that she stood up and walked away from them toward the beach, waving her hand at them as if to signal to them that they should not follow.
“A disturbing turn of events. And one that none of us quite understands, I’m afraid,” said the professor, who was again scratching his chin and looking very worried and concerned. “I wish I could help you,” he said to each of them. “I wish I had the answer for you right now but I’m sorry to say that I’ve never heard of a Blue Seal and I can’t tell you what you should do. Again, I’m terribly sorry.” Bobby could see how upset he was and understood at once how frustrating this must be for him – a person who usually had all of the solutions to all of the problems.
“Well, that’s it then,” said David. “There’s nothing we can do now except go back to the island in our own time frame and hope that there’s some other clue as to what we’re meant to be doing. You never know, maybe we’ll get back to the island and find that all of this has somehow been resolved,” he said, trying to be cheerful. But none of them really believed that that could be a possibility. Deep down all of them knew that the fate of the future island would still be in grave peril and that it would still be resting on their shoulders to find the answer and save the island.
“I truly cannot even for one moment think what on earth has happened to make this come about … it’s just beyond me,” said the professor shaking his head. “I’m just sorry I can’t be of more assistance.” Bobby felt sorry for him again, he looked so gloomy and downcast.
“Never mind,” she said, trying to sound more upbeat than she felt. “The Crone is right. Everything happens for a reason and we can’t understand why it’s happening but one thing is for sure by the end of all of this we’ll all be able to look back and know exactly why everything happened the way it did. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.” The other two shook their heads slightly and managed a little, fake smile each. Bobby wouldn’t even admit it to herself. She was feeling more scared and apprehensive about this than she ever had about anything in her life before. And she had good reason to as well. What was waiting for her back on the present-time island was going to make her wish she had never accidentally stumbled upon the island in the first place.
Chapter 19
Paradise To Evil
As Bobby and David stumbled out of the hut on the present-day island they noticed that the island was in a general state of unrest. People were running about wildly and the animals were scurrying about looking bewildered.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good,” Bobby replied. They made their way to the Crone’s hut which seemed to be where everyone else was heading. The professor was there with Sebastian. They came to their side and Sebastian took Bobby’s hand, as usual.
“Screech, screech, orch,” Sebastian said.
“Yes, Sebastian, I know and I was just about to say the exact same thing,” the professor said and then turned to Bobby and David with a grave look on his face.
“I’m afraid you’ve come too late,” he said mournfully. “I’m afraid I have rather bad news.”
“Yes, what is it?” asked Bobby feeling as though she might burst with the suspense.
“Well, I don’t know quite how to say this but … oh well, out with it old chap, come on,” the professor seemed to be arguing with himself, which was not unlike him, Bobby thought.
“Yes,” she and David said in unison.
“Well, it seems our little island paradise has been … well, I don’t quite know how to put this – ah, how can I say it – overrun with evil. It seems that the Workhouse Oracle has kept to her word of turning our beautiful little tranquil paradise into something akin to what you would find in hell. I’m afraid the worst has happened.”
“What –,” again Bobby and David spoke in unison.
“We experienced, well, a murder; that’s the only way I can say it really and I can’t believe I’m even saying it. It has never happened in the history of the island. I mean, all of the people who reside here are peace-loving folk and don’t know the meaning of the word violence but I’m afraid the Workhouse Oracle has somehow infected our environment – and I’m not sure how.”
“What happened exactly?” David asked.
“Well then, let’s see. It was the day after you had both left. Suddenly one of the native women accused one of the other women of deceiving her behind her back with her own husband. Both of the parties denied this but before we knew it, exactly the same thing happened with another woman and her husband. It seemed all of the men were suddenly being unfaithful to their wives, but the worst was yet to come. One of the men accused his brother of a wrongdoing and then he became enraged with jealousy and killed his own brother.” The professor choked as he was talking. Bobby could see that he was having trouble telling the story, especially one that was so violent and disturbing. “I just can’t account for it …” He again had the faraway look in his eyes. “For such bad tidings to come to our island now – it’s just unthinkable. Then the very next day, the animals started to bite the people, which, also has never happened in the history of the island. There has always been only peace and love between all of the creatures on this island – how has this happened?” Bobby put her arm around the shoulders of the professor and Sebastian squeezed her hand reassuringly. She looked at her primate friend; to think that he and all of the other animals might turn against the people was just too much to comprehend.
The Blue Seal of Trinity Cove Page 10
