by Joe O'Brien
Josh reached out his hand and shook Bortwig’s. It was warm, very warm. Much too warm for such a cold night.
‘You know my name. How?’ asked Josh.
Bortwig looked over his shoulders and became twitchy and uneasy all of a sudden.
‘Another question not worthy of an answer on this side of the Great Tree.’
Bortwig turned and ushered Josh with a wave of his hand.
‘It’s time, Master Bloom.’ Then the creature walked closer to the tree.
‘Time for what?’ asked Josh, with frustration in his voice.
‘Time to go beyond the cherry tree, Master Bloom,’ smiled Bortwig. ‘Isn’t that why you are here? Didn’t you say that is where your destiny is?’
Josh walked over toward Bortwig.
‘Why are we standing here?’
‘Quiet now, Master Bloom!’ hushed Bortwig. ‘Great work to be done … magic and stuff.’
Bortwig reached out his hand and touched the shiny polished skin of the tree’s trunk.
Slowly, the gleam of the trunk dulled and a line of button-like markings appeared above Bortwig’s hand.
As if he was tapping in some kind of code, Bortwig pressed his fingers randomly against the buttons in all sorts of orders, then stepped back. The buttons disappeared back into the tree and its shiny appearance returned. A knot fell from the tree’s trunk, leaving a small hole. The skin around the hole began to turn in circles and the hole became bigger and bigger until finally it stopped, leaving a big, round opening.
Bortwig walked closer to the hole and then stepped inside the tree.
Josh didn’t move. He just stood in front of the tree, mesmerised.
Bortwig’s head appeared back out from the tree.
‘Come along then, before it closes.’
‘You want me to go into the tree?’ asked Josh.
‘Hurry, Master Bloom,’ insisted Bortwig. ‘You must go into the Great Tree to go beyond the Great Tree. It’s the only way.’
Josh felt himself walking toward the opening and before he could change his mind, he was indeed inside the tree. He watched the hole seal itself and noticed the world outside the tree slowly shrinking and shrinking until it looked as if he was peeping out through a spy hole.
Then, it was gone.
Chapter 7
Bortwig’s Abode
‘Come along, Master Bloom,’ urged Bortwig, ushering him in. ‘We must get you dry.’
Josh was in no hurry to follow. He was too busy staring up at the unusual ceiling of the grand entrance hall of the Great Tree.
Joshua Bloom, to his knowledge, didn’t know of anyone who had ever been inside a tree before. It was unbelievably spacious inside the tree, much bigger than it looked from the outside, and to Josh the ceiling was mind-boggling.
It was made of wood, as Josh would expect, but it wasn’t flat or smooth like the ceilings of the manor, rather it was a maze of twists and turns, sort-of like the inside of a brain. Maybe this was the tree’s brain that Josh was standing beneath?
Could it really be? thought Josh. And where is the heart? Would I be able to hear it? Feel it? Is this tree actually alive, unlike other trees that don’t think or feel or serve any other purpose other than to be a tree?
‘You’ll catch your death, Master Bloom,’ Bortwig said with urgency.
Josh dragged his eyes away from the ceiling and followed Bortwig out of the hall and along a long narrow corridor. Just like the ceiling in the hall, the corridor was intriguing. Its walls were not flat, but round. In fact, the whole corridor was round.
Strangely, it appeared that the walls were moving, circling around Josh as he walked along; yet, mysteriously, the floor beneath his feet did not move at all.
Josh also felt like he was walking downwards.
This was making him feel a little dizzy, to say the least, and he was finding it quite difficult to keep up with Bortwig, who kept disappearing around bends.
Josh noticed pictures of creatures like Bortwig moulded into the floor every time he came to a bend. Naturally, with his curiosity, Josh would stop to look at each picture, then realise that Bortwig was out of sight and he would run a little to catch up again.
Finally, the corridor came to an end and Josh found Bortwig standing in the middle of a large round room with a sparkling fire behind him.
‘Come in, Master Bloom,’ greeted Bortwig. ‘Over here, sit beside the fire midgets, but not too close,’ smiled the creature, pointing to a small three-legged stool.
‘Fire midgets,’ said Josh as he cautiously approached the ball of sparkling fire that hovered near the stool he was to sit upon.
‘What are they?’ Josh was fascinated. He squinted to try to see these little creatures within the fire.
‘Are they dangerous?’
‘They’re tiny fairies that magically make sparks of fire when excited or angry or happy. Actually,’ chuckled Bortwig, ‘they just always seem to be making sparks of fire, and, no, they’re not really dangerous. But they are feisty little creatures. Always fighting each other. The more they fight, the larger the fire and the warmer the heat they provide. They’re the best way to warm the inside of a tree – real flames could burn the whole tree down!’
‘Where did you get them?’
‘They’ve always been here to warm the hands of the tree keeper,’ answered Bortwig. ‘They date right back to Grinif, first keeper of the Great Tree.’
Josh stayed close to the fire, rubbing his hands together while Bortwig disappeared out the far side of the room, through another small door.
Josh gazed all around Bortwig’s room. It was very cosy for the inside of a tree, cosier than he would ever have imagined. It had simple furniture: a chair with a small table beside it; a small bed in the corner; and some strange ornaments hanging from the walls.
A ledge close to the floor was lined with candles lit by fire midgets, as were the hall and the corridor.
‘Tell me, Bortwig,’ Josh called out. ‘What’s it like?’
Bortwig leaned his head around the doorway. ‘What’s what like?’
‘Beyond the cherry tree?’
Bortwig’s eyes widened, and a smile appeared.
‘Like no other place you’ve ever been or even dreamt of being, Master Bloom. Beyond the cherry tree lies a land so wonderful and enchanting, inhabited by so many amazing and magical creatures, and peoples of great bravery and character.’
Josh was intrigued. Bortwig had made beyond the cherry tree somewhere he really wanted to go.
‘I can’t wait to see it Bortwig.’
As Josh’s eyes almost completed a full circle of the room to where they had begun their journey, he noticed something strange yet familiar on the wall facing him. He stood up and reached out to touch it when Bortwig scurried back into the room carrying a tray with a teapot and two wooden cups.
‘Be careful, Master Bloom,’ warned Bortwig, placing the tray on the small table. He carried a cup over to Josh.
Josh looked at Bortwig, his eyes wide open. ‘I know this!’
‘You do?’ smiled Bortwig, pushing his chair closer to the fire.
Hanging from the wall with its crimson ribbon was a bronze medal.
‘I’ve seen this before,’ insisted Josh.
‘Really?’
‘Yes,’ said Josh, turning his head towards Bortwig. ‘Where did you get this?’
Bortwig sat down and began stirring the tea.
He looked up at Josh. ‘Sit, Master Bloom. Have some cherry blossom tea. It will give you strength for your journey.’
Josh sat down but he wasn’t going to let Bortwig distract him from his interest in the medal by talking about tea.
‘Where did you get it, Bortwig?’ he persisted.
Bortwig looked straight at Josh, his piercing green eyes fixed upon the boy’s. ‘A friend,’ smiled the creature. ‘A very dear friend gave it to me before he disappeared a long time ago.’
Josh’s face lit up. He looked up at the medal th
en back at Bortwig who seemed to be hiding behind his cup of tea.
‘I know where I’ve seen it before,’ smiled Josh.
‘You do?’ Bortwig placed his cup back on the table.
‘In the portrait on the wall,’ said Josh.
‘Portrait? Wall? What wall?’
‘The wall in the library. That’s where I’ve seen it. It’s pinned on the general’s coat in the painting hanging on the wall in his library – the painting that spoke to me.’
‘Spoke to you?’ quizzed Bortwig. ‘How strange!’
‘There were lots of strange things about the general’s manor,’ Josh told the elf. ‘It was very spooky. I could see horrible creatures and it – the house – felt sort of alive, like it was watching me, and not in a good way …’
‘Strange,’ said Bortwig again. ‘Very strange.’
The elf reached up over the fireplace, took down the medal and rubbed it fondly between his fingers.
‘You know the general, don’t you?’ asked Josh.
Bortwig looked up at Josh, his eyes watery.
‘I did,’ he answered, his voice strained.
‘How did you know him? … Is that what this is all about?’
‘What do you mean, Master Bloom?’
‘All of this!’ said Josh. ‘My being here. You said the general gave you the medal before he went missing.’
‘Yes.’
‘Is he missing beyond the cherry tree?’ quizzed Josh. ‘Am I here to find him? Is that my destiny? Why was the general here, Bortwig? How did he go missing? What happened to him?’
‘Stop! Stop! Stop!’ cried Bortwig. He jumped up from his chair. ‘So many questions and yet we’re still not beyond the Great Tree.’
‘Won’t you tell me?’ pleaded Josh.
Bortwig leaned over and pinned the general’s medal back on the wall, above the fire.
‘Please, Master Bloom. Do have some tea.’ He sat back down and began to answer the boy’s questions.
‘You see, Master Bloom, the general loved travelling beyond the Great Tree,’ Bortwig began to explain while Josh sipped on his cold cherry blossom tea. ‘Actually, you could say that he lived for travelling beyond the Great Tree.’
‘Why?’ Josh interrupted, slurping.
‘Adventure,’ smiled Bortwig, clapping his hands, and twitching his head in joyous celebration of the weirdest kind. ‘And danger.’ Bortwig’s smile faded and his face hardened into a more serious mask. ‘The general loved both, Master Bloom, and both are plentiful beyond the cherry tree. Indeed! It’s true; the general lived a risky life on your side of the Great Tree. Many battles to his name. And when the battles were gone he had his hunting trips.’ Bortwig paused, looked up at the medal and smiled. ‘Oh, how he used to sit where you are now, and tell me great stories!’
‘How did he go missing? What happened to him? Is he alive, Bortwig?’
‘Alive?’ cried Bortwig, his hands covering his face. ‘I don’t know. No one knows’
Bortwig’s face filled with rage and hatred, and his eyes changed from green to black.
‘Only one evil being can answer that question.’
Josh shivered, waiting in anticipation for Bortwig to continue, but he did not.
‘What evil being, Bortwig? Who knows what happened to the general!?’
Bortwig clenched his fists, jumped up off his chair and angrily and rebelliously danced around the room.
This startled Josh.
‘I can’t. I won’t!’ raged the creature.
‘Won’t what, Bortwig? What’s the matter?’
‘I won’t say his name. Not here. Not in my home,’ insisted Bortwig.
‘Please, Bortwig?’ pressured Josh.
Bortwig stopped dancing, sat back on his chair and sipped some tea.
‘Won’t you tell me?’ Josh asked one more time. ‘Why won’t you say his name?’
Bortwig drew a deep breath, and suddenly Josh could see the fury leave his face.
‘All right! All right! I’ll tell you’ he agreed. ‘But I hate him. I loathe him.’
Josh was all ears.
‘Krudon, that’s who,’ snarled Bortwig. ‘We were captured by him as he brought terror across the land beyond the Great Tree.’
‘Who is Krudon?’ interrupted Josh. ‘Why would he capture the general? Were they enemies?’
‘Great enemies,’ nodded the creature. ‘Krudon is a powerful and great sorcerer, but he is also the greatest of evil beyond the Great Tree. And he’s not alone. He commands the goblin army of the lands north of Mount Valdosyr and he is master of the fearful and deadly dragolytes. Additionally, there are many others who are loyal to Krudon’s evil ways.’
Josh felt a huge gulp in the back of his throat.
‘Is the general dead?’
‘I’m not sure, Master Bloom.’ Sadness and a sense of guilt filled Bortwig’s face.
‘Something strange happened – darkness – great darkness. When I woke up Krudon was gone and the general was missing. He’s never been seen since. I hope he is not dead, but only Krudon truly knows the answer to that question.’
Josh jumped to his feet.
‘I’ve got to find him, Bortwig. I just know he’s alive. I think this is my destiny.’
Josh couldn’t stay easy now. He paced up and down Bortwig’s living room, just as he did back home. All of a sudden, he stopped right in front of the general’s medal and turned swiftly to Bortwig.
‘What am I thinking, Bortwig? I can’t go off on some mad adventure. I’ve got to get back home. Aunt Nell and Uncle Henry will be home soon. If I’m not there, there’ll be questions, lots of questions, and I don’t fancy giving them the answers you’ve given to me.’
Bortwig looked concerned as Josh bolted for the doorway.
‘Wait! Stop!’
Josh turned round anxiously, his heart pounding in his chest.
‘You don’t have to worry about them, or getting into trouble. Nobody will ever know.’
‘They will if I’m not there! I can’t just go missing.’
Bortwig took hold of Josh’s arm and led him back into the room.
‘Magic!’ smiled Bortwig.
‘I don’t understand, Bortwig. What do you mean, “magic”?’
‘Master Bloom, have you forgotten what great and marvellous magic you encountered on your journey here?’ asked the creature.
Josh shook his head.
‘You’ve seen so many extraordinary things already, and yet you still doubt. The Great Tree is magic.’
Josh’s eyes widened.
‘Yes, Master Bloom! Magic that can stop all clocks from ticking in your world.’
‘But how?’
‘Think now, Master Bloom. Do you remember seeing the petals falling?’ asked Bortwig.
‘Yes,’ replied Josh, thoughtfully.
‘As long as the Great Tree is in flower, then time does not travel with those who venture beyond. The tree alone is the same in both worlds – it flowers in both worlds, and those with the courage to believe can travel between the worlds while it flowers. That’s how the general had so many adventures, travelling back and forth while the Great Tree was in flower, and nobody was the wiser.’ Bortwig’s head dropped. ‘Until his last trip …’
It was all clear to Josh now.
‘So as long as the tree is in flower, I can spend as much time as I want. But what if the tree stops flowering in your world while I’m there?’
Bortwig raised his head.
‘Then all clocks start ticking again. Every second beyond the cherry tree is a second away from home. You cannot travel through the Great Tree unless it is in bloom.’
‘How much time do I have before the tree stops flowering, Bortwig?’
Bortwig shook his head.
‘I can’t be sure. Four, maybe five sunsets. The tree is already losing its flowers. I will know when the time is near, but that time is not now, Master Bloom.’
‘I’m going, Bortwig’. Josh’s mind
was made up, but still he had worries.
‘What if I’m wrong?’
‘Wrong?’ repeated Bortwig.
‘My destiny, Bortwig. How do I really know if I’m right or wrong? I don’t even know where to begin looking for the general. I don’t even know where I’m going first. Tell me Bortwig: what lies ahead?’
Bortwig took Josh’s hand.
‘I will help you as much as I am destined to help you, but I too don’t know the fate of the general or whether it is your destiny to search for him. But I do know one person who can help you find the right path.’
Josh’s head lifted and his heart beat faster.
‘Wilzorf,’ smiled Bortwig.
‘Who is Wilzorf?’
‘A great wizard. Come, Master Bloom. I will tell you on the way,’ instructed Bortwig, leading Josh out of the comfort of his cosy living room and out through another small doorway.
Chapter 8
A Vision
Bortwig told Josh about Wilzorf as he led him along a winding tunnel.
‘The wizard Wilzorf was a great friend of the general’s,’ said the creature. ‘He will have answers for your questions before you even ask them. I’m sure he’ll be sending for us.’
‘Sending for us,’ repeated Josh. ‘I thought we were going to see him.’
Bortwig stopped and turned to Josh. ‘Nobody just goes to see the wizard Wilzorf.’
Josh shook his head.
‘Nobody actually knows the exact location of the Wizard’s domain. He has lived in isolation for many years.’
They continued walking, Bortwig upping the pace.
‘Then how do we get to see him?’
‘There’s a place,’ explained Bortwig, ‘a place where you go if you want to see the wizard. Once Wilzorf knows we are at this place, then he will send for you.’
‘Then what?’
‘Then you are taken to see him.’
‘Do you think he might know where Krudon is keeping the general?’ asked Josh, just as the tunnel ended with a large round door.
Bortwig turned. ‘Don’t get your hopes up, Master Bloom. Remember, I’m bringing you to see Wilzorf to try to find the right path. Where that path leads is not for me to say, but it may not lead to the general.’
