by KD Blakely
It felt like my eyebrows were trying to climb on top of my head. The strange mix of emotions swirling inside me made me dizzy. Pleasure at getting a long held question answered warred with irritation for living through years of crazy stories. I blurted, “Chimera caused all the TSYE fits!”
Confusion washed over Ronny’s face. “Caused a tizzy-what?”
“THE-STRANGEST-YEAR-EVER! All those crazy stories.”
She continued to look confused.
“You’re the reason I had to hear about birds flying backwards all these years!”
Faith rolled her eyes. “And Mrs. Rodriquez’s roses.“
“And Dad complaining about dozens of calls to get cats out of trees. Every month,” Olivia added.
Okay, I admit it, I was starting to get into this. “And all those stupid toads on Main Street!”
Faith’s grin looked like she was into it too. “And Mom talking about her boss sleeping in the bank every month because something kept unlocking the vault. He thought the bank was haunted.”
Olivia laughed. “Don’t forget all the fire and burglar alarms in town going off every month. It took hours to get them shut off.”
“And every car on Main Street flipped upside down the same night. Even those inside garages.”
“And –“
Ronny interrupted, raising her hands, a flush staining her pale cheeks. “Stop, please.”
“There’s more,” I said. “We haven’t mentioned how every sprinkler in town went off at midnight. For an entire month. Even when they shut off the water.”
Ronny’s face was nearly as red as the ketchup. “No, no. Please, you must let me continue.”
I sat back and nodded. I was very interested in what she was going to say.
“The tree in the cemetery was planted the year Chimera was created, hundreds of years before this town was in existence. It has been our doorway, a safe barrier between our worlds. Then, twelve years ago, when the fighting in Chimera was at its worst, the pressure of so many spells forced more and more of our magick outside.”
Olivia was definitely awake now. “The tree is a doorway! So that’s what happened.”
Ronny hurriedly motioned for us to keep our voices down as we broke into excited explanations. I wasn’t sure how much she really understood, since we were all speaking at once.
“Wait. You must tell me one at a time. What happened yesterday?” Ronny leaned forward intently.
“I’ll go,” I said quickly. Olivia scowled but sat back next to Faith. I didn’t think she’d be able to keep quiet for long — she was practically bouncing in her seat. “We fell through that tree in the cemetery. It was horrible. I thought I was going to die!”
Ronny shook her head, frowning. “What do you mean? Going through the doorway cannot make you die.”
“When you can’t breathe, can’t see, can’t feel your arms and legs, and start falling through space, it feels like you’re going to die!”
Ronny’s eyebrows pulled together and she bit her lip. “That is not what the doorway feels like. I thought you went to Chimera, but maybe I was wrong.”
“Well, we went some other place. It was sunny and warm, and it smelled really different.”
I’d been right. Olivia bounced forward and said, “The plants were totally strange. The only thing I recognized was the tree.”
Faith added, “Our cell phones wouldn’t work. We were totally freaked out.”
Ronny gave a shaky laugh and pressed a hand to her heart. “Mother was right! You got in. I am sorry it felt so bad to you. Maybe it felt that way because you are not magick.”
Ronny usually didn’t show much emotion, but she was showing it now. “Mother was sure babies created that year would absorb the escaping magick. Like one of your kitchen sponges. She thought it could allow you to pass into Chimera. That is the reason I was in Santa Ramona twelve years ago, when first I met Chris. Mother requested that I observe the effects of the magick leaking out of Chimera into your world.”
Her smile was wistful as she continued, “Mother asked me to keep a close eye on babies born that year. She was sure the magick would have some affect upon them. And now, when it is most important, it has happened!”
Ronny closed her eyes, rubbing them with the heels of her hands. There was a trace of moisture on her cheeks when she pulled her hands away. “You can enter Chimera. You can find what happened to my mother.”
Faith cleared her throat and took a deep breath. When she spoke, she sounded calm and sure of herself. At first. “No offense, but — you believe something bad happened to your mother. And you want to send the three of us into that strange place, all alone. You do remember we’re twelve, right?”
I wasn’t surprised that going back made Faith nervous. Chimera was a real place. Too bad we couldn’t tell her we were checking out a monster. Then she’d be fine.
Faith’s breath began to hitch and her words came faster and faster. “I mean, a grown woman who can do magic is missing. And you expect us to go into that magic place all alone? Not going to happen!”
“I understand you want to be on the safe end.” Ronny held out her hands. “Please, I have shown too much worry if I have made you feel so afraid.”
“You said your mom was afraid, that there was, like, some kind of takeover going on,” Olivia challenged.
“She handles those things often. That does not worry me.” Ronny gave a small laugh. “I do not think someone kidnapped her or murdered her, like one of those crime shows my Christopher likes.” For a moment she looked distracted and her smile turned positively gooey. I had to look away.
Eeow!
She pulled herself together and continued, “Mother is too powerful for that. I am only concerned that she is ill or injured. No one can let me know because I am banished. I want you to find for me what has happened. Please.”
Ronny looked at Faith for only a moment, but something in her face made Faith sit back and rub her forehead, hiding her eyes. Ronny continued, “Magick is much more powerful the week of the full moon. We do not know why. Mother believed if any child born that year could enter Chimera, it would only be possible around the full moon.”
She looked at us expectantly, and seemed disappointed when we just stared back. “This weekend the moon is full. After tomorrow, if Mother is right, the doorway will be blocked to you until next month.”
Olivia interrupted, “So we fell through a tree into a strange place because your doorway just happened to be open this weekend? But only for people born the same year we were?” When Ronny smiled and nodded, Olivia rolled her eyes. “That’s weird!”
That made me remember something. “Speaking of weird, what’s up with time in there? We were only there a couple minutes, but when we got back it was almost half an hour later. How does that work?”
Ronny smiled again. “It is true that time moves strangely in Chimera. First, we believe all our magick interferes with time in some way. But mostly, it is because Chimera is outside the space and time of earth.”
She hesitated a long moment, her forehead creased. Then the lines smoothed out as she came to a decision. She said hesitantly, “Perhaps this will help you understand. If I had lived in Santa Ramona my entire life, I would be nearly seventy-five years old.” She chuckled at our expressions.
My mom would have told me to shut my mouth if I didn’t want to attract flies.
I glanced at Olivia. She could not have looked more surprised if the ketchup bottle jumped off the table and squirted itself in her face.
Next to her, Faith leaned back in denial, shaking her head back and forth so quickly her hair whipped against the sides of her face.
“I do not look seventy-five. And in Chimera time, I am in my early twenty’s. For those fully magickal beings who never leave Chimera, it is as if time has all but stopped. I am only one-half magick so I do age, but it is…was…very slow. I do not know exactly how it will work for you. But I am not surprised a few minutes there is a half hour here.
”
She looked at me and reached out her hand. “You must pay close attention to the time you spend in Chimera. You do not want to disappear for days.”
Faith moaned, “Days!”
Olivia sat up straight. “Just what, exactly, do you want us to do?”
“I do not want you to put yourselves at risk.” She smiled first at Olivia, then turned to Faith before continuing, “I just want you to go back, ask about my mother, Glenna Danaan, then tell me what has happened to her. I will know what to do once I know that.”
She sat back and looked at us solemnly. After a few moments of silence, she turned to me and pleaded, “We are family now, Kat. Blood is quicker than water, right? Will you not help me?”
I couldn’t bring myself to correct her muddled up saying. I wasn’t sure how I felt about all this, although the fluttery feeling inside my chest didn’t seem like a good sign. But I knew what I was going to do. I looked at Faith and Olivia, then put my hand on the table. Slowly, first one then the other placed their hands on mine. It was Faith who said, grudgingly, “Fine. All for one and one for all.”
Ronny put her hand on top of ours briefly. I was embarrassed to see tears in her eyes.
Note to self — Don’t make Ronny grateful in public!
She cleared her throat, but her voice sounded thick and hoarse. “I do not know how to thank you!” She turned to Faith and assured her, “I would not ask you to go if you would be in danger.”
She continued quickly, “There are things you must remember. You are not magick users and cannot create your own spells. But be very careful what you wish for in Chimera! You may have enough magick to activate simple spells that already exist there.”
Ronny tapped her forehead, as if coaxing out an elusive thought. “I can think of just one more thing. Do not forget to watch the time. Just ask the first person you meet about my mother, then return.”
“Are you going to the cemetery with us?”
“I do not know how long you will be, and I am afraid if I wait inside, it will attract too much attention. I would prefer not to do that if possible.”
“Okay, we’ll call you when we get back.”
She had to clear her throat again before she could continue, “I will be at home with Chris. Thank you all for your help.” She jumped to her feet and hurried out before I could think of anything to say.
Faith sounded stunned. “What did we just agree to?”
We all jumped when Doug Geller’s head popped above the partition on the other side of our table. He said, “You’re going to show me how you got into Chimera, and we’re all going to look for Ronny’s mom.”
Chapter 11
See You On The Other Side…
Faith jumped at Doug’s sudden appearance, knocking over her soda. As she scrambled to clean it up, Olivia frowned at him and complained, “You were listening to a private conversation. No one invited you!”
“Just a minute,” he ordered.
Typical!
He sprang out of his seat and rounded the end of the aisle, heading for our table.
When he took the seat Ronny vacated, Olivia continued belligerently, “Look at the mess you made.” She pointed to the orange soda making a puddle on the floor and to where Faith was still wiping at the orange stain on the knees of her jeans.
“Hey, don’t blame me. I’m not the one klutzy enough to knock over my soda,” Doug countered, laughing.
While Faith bared her teeth in a snarl, I sighed, resigned to the argument about to erupt. After growing up two houses apart, with parents who were best friends, I’d spent a lot of time with Doug. I knew him better then my own brother.
I watched him square his shoulders and shove his dark brown hair out of his eyes.
Yep, he’s ready for a fight.
He was totally stubborn and competitive. Even though he was shorter than most guys on the basketball team, he was one of the best players. He couldn’t stand to lose. I’d seen him intimidate guys a foot taller. He could freeze most people with one glare from his dark blue eyes.
I’m glad that doesn’t work on me!
Even so, I knew there was no way we’d discourage him now. Just to be contrary, I asked, “What makes you think you’d be able to get in?”
He snorted. “You’re kidding, right? I was born here the same year you were. You got in. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Fine,” I said. Darn! I sounded like I was pouting. Hopefully I didn’t look like it. “You can go with us.”
I ignored Faith and Olivia’s protests, knowing it made more sense to have him go on our terms. “Just don’t forget, we’re the ones Ronny asked to solve this. And we get to decide what to do. Understand?”
“I agree. Unless you start to do something stupid.”
I rolled my eyes, but turned to Faith and Olivia. “That’s the best we can do. He’ll just follow us or tell someone if we don’t let him come.”
“Fine,” Olivia snapped. She pressed her lips together tightly and breathed in loudly through her nose.
“Fine,” Faith repeated. But she sagged back against the booth in relief. I knew she’d prefer to be completely surrounded by people the next time we entered Chimera. None of the things that scared most kids bothered her. But give her something new, or make her deal with bullies, or even give an oral report in class, and she got more nervous than a mouse in a cage full of hungry cats.
And I could tell the idea of going back to Chimera had her really nervous.
Now that I knew where we’d gone and more important, knew how to get home, I was actually excited about the idea of going back. I just hoped it would be easier to get through that tree next time.
“We should go today,” Doug said.
I sighed loudly. “Faith can’t go tomorrow, so if we don’t go today we’ll have to wait ‘til next month,” I told him.
“Like I said! We should go today. We don’t want to wait a month.”
Urrrgh! He’s already trying to take over.
“Yeah, what a shame,” Faith muttered next to me.
Trying to keep Doug from butting in again, I asked quickly, “When do you want to meet?”
Faith sighed, resigned. “I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.”
“Let’s meet next to the cemetery,” Olivia said.
“Thirty minutes. By the cemetery. I’ll be there,” Doug assured us.
“Oh goody.” I hoped there was enough sarcasm in my voice. Sometimes Doug could be totally oblivious.
It was 10:00 am when Olivia, Faith, Doug and I met across from the cemetery.
“Should we take some lunch?” Faith asked. “What if we’re there a long time?”
“We can come back and get whatever we need,” Olivia said reasonably, a hint of irritation in her voice. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Yeah, let’s go!” Doug definitely sounded bossy.
“Don’t push it.” I knew I sounded impatient, but I didn’t care. “I just spent several minutes on the phone with Ronny, vouching for you. I told her you promised to do what The Three say.” Doug rolled his eyes at me, then turned to follow Olivia across the street.
We hadn’t gotten far into the cemetery when I stopped. I turned around slowly, trying to find whatever was making me so uncomfortable. The skin on the back of my neck was twitching.
Doug said, “What’s the matter with you.”
“I swear we’re being watched.”
“So what?”
Faith stopped and said, “That’s not good. What if it’s Andrew or the others?”
“Who cares if they’re out there?” Olivia asked, sounding annoyed. “As long as they don’t see where we go.”
I turned around again to look, but didn’t see anyone. “You’re right. It just makes me nervous, that’s all.” When we reached the tree without seeing them, I relaxed.
Olivia leaned against the tree first. This time, I got to watch her disappear. It looked completely and totally freaky, like the tree was swallowi
ng her up. Faith and Doug followed her quickly, and then it was my turn.
The feeling of plunging through something cold, thick, dark and damp was just as nasty as the last time. In fact, it felt even worse than I remembered. Did it really take this long last time? I felt panic creeping through me. Sweat broke out on my forehead, then chilled in the cold darkness.
Note to self — Wear a coat next time.
Then I realized we hadn’t warned Doug. For a moment, I forgot the terrible feeling of being blind, deaf and tumbling through space. I was glad I could feel the smile spreading across my face.
Serves him right— No one asked him to come.
“Holy Cow!” Doug yelped as we suddenly fell onto the dirt road in Chimera.
“I thought your mom told you not to watch The Simpsons.”
“Don’t have a cow, man,” he told me, turning to look around in amazement.
Faith made a gulping sound and I looked at her quickly. Then looked away. She was a pale sweaty green. Her stomach hadn’t liked this trip through the tree any better than the last one.
The four of us climbed to our feet, the huge fig tree behind us. This time, I was able to look around with interest. The sun was higher in the sky than at home and it was much warmer. The air was sweet, like a room spray made of strawberries and cinnamon toast. So different from home! A tingly sensation chased from my feet to the top of my head.
I murmured, “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”
Doug’s grin practically stretched ear to ear. “I don’t believe this!”
The dirt road we stood on stretched into the distance, looking narrow and indistinct where it finally veered to the left and out of sight. On the right, open fields were covered with strange brightly colored flowers, unlike any I’d ever seen.
Some were larger than dinner plates, while others were too small to make out individual shapes. Huge sections of the field were layered in shades of yellow, orange and purple. There were even colors I couldn’t name. It looked like a crazed painter had splashed an entire paint store over the meadow.
I don’t know how long I’d been staring at the flowers in amazement, trying to find even one I recognized when Olivia asked, “How’d they do that to the rocks?”
