The Soulkeepers

by G. P. Ching

  Chapter 15

  The Root Of The Problem

  “There’s no sense hiding it from you now. I’m going to need your help keeping this a secret. Let’s go back to the house and get you cleaned up. I’ll explain everything over lunch.” Dr. Silva reached for his elbow and helped him to stand.

  Jacob’s knees wobbled. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t get his mind to form coherent words, his thoughts a jumble of images lost in translation. Without asking permission, she grabbed his arm and rolled him onto her back, piggyback style.

  “Don’t worry, the feeling should clear up in a half hour or so,” she said. Dr. Silva navigated the cactus maze with astounding speed considering his added weight. He could already see the sand dune.

  “It’s amazing that you made it through the cacti unharmed. Some of them are quite poisonous—even deadly. Of course, I planted them myself to keep people out. You can see why, I’m sure. There could be … complications, if Oswald was accessible to the wrong people.” She stepped down the stone pathway, between the snapdragons and past the blue cucumber.

  “That bloody knee has my Dracaena Daemonorops in a state.” The plants swayed violently and he could feel Dr. Silva accelerate across the stones, dodging the yellow heads. When the teeth of one succeeded in latching onto the bloody sock again, she casually reached into her pocket and pulled out garden shears. Without missing a step, she clipped the flower at its neck and the head dropped to the stone walkway.

  Moments later, he was overcome with the stench of rotting flesh. He buried his face in his arm to escape it.

  “Yeah, that will bring you around.” Dr. Silva laughed. “They are Amorphophallus titanum—very rare. The smell is to attract flies and beetles, which pollinate the flowers. Totally harmless but, again, meant to deter. Apparently, you were not to be discouraged.”

  She bounded through the gate, carefully unlocking and locking it behind her. Before he knew what was happening, he landed on his backside beneath the shady maples, a mass of achy joints and throbbing temples. She handed him a bottle of water from a pocket in her cargo pants. He drank greedily, his blood bounding in his veins. A moan escaped his lips as he broke contact with the bottle to catch his breath.

  “Right. Keep drinking. I’ve heard it feels like altitude sickness … to your kind.” In her hand was his sweatshirt. She wrapped it around him, pursing her lips against the puff of compost that escaped the fabric, and helped him get his flaccid arms into the sleeves. He noticed she was wearing a sleeveless black T-shirt but didn’t seem the least bit cold. She tucked the empty bottle into her pocket and hoisted him onto her back as gracefully as if he were her cape.

  When they reached the sunroom off the kitchen, she dumped his body into a rattan chair.

  “What the hell?” he stammered.

  “Now, Jacob, relax and listen to what I have to say. There’s a logical explanation for all of this. Wait here, I’ll be right back.” She left the room and returned several minutes later with a tray of pita bread, hummus, cheese, and assorted fruits and vegetables. “I hope this is all right. I’m a vegetarian.” She poured them both a tall glass of water and settled into the chair across from him.

  Hunger is a powerful motivator. Jacob started in on the tray with no regard for manners. “I’m listening,” he said between bites.

  “It was a mutual love of plants that brought Oswald and I together,” she began, and as she did she turned her head slightly and stared at a spot on the wall. “I was a graduate student studying the plants of India when I made the most remarkable find while visiting the Bengali marketplace. It was an amazing specimen that any horticulturalist would be proud to display. The seed of the Coco de mer can be found naturally only in the Seychelles, a group of islands off the coast of Madagascar. It was a truly incredible find, easily forty pounds or more, and I was haggling with the shopkeeper for it. I can be very persuasive. The seed was as good as mine.

  “Oswald swept into the shop and recognized my prize immediately. I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t immediately taken with him. He was quite an attractive man, my husband. But I was more concerned at the moment with acquiring the find of my career. In perfect Bengali, he told the shopkeeper he would pay whatever he asked and proceeded to buy the seed right from under my nose for the equivalent of fifty U.S. dollars. I followed him out of the shop, of course, demanding that he return the seed to me at once.

  “‘Lady,’ he said, ‘I know that you probably want this as a decorative mantelpiece but I will have you know this is a—’

  “‘—A priceless seed! It is the largest in the world. A truly remarkable botanical find,’ I said.

  “We agreed at that moment to join each other for dinner, to discuss who was the rightful owner of the seed. I learned he was a young professor and also from the United States, California specifically. After spending two weeks together in India, Oswald gave me that seed as an engagement present. We returned to the United States and I convinced him to move here, to my house.

  “Our marriage was one adventure after another. We traveled all over the world, you see, studying plants of all sorts and discovering new species. At one point we had the largest natural seed collection of anyone in the United States. But he died, as all men do.”

  Jacob stopped eating at “died.” Her face was different as she talked about Oswald and he could tell this was a difficult memory for her. “I’m so sorry. That must have been horrible. What did you do?” he asked softly.

  “Once I confirmed he was dead, I buried him in the garden.”

  “Wha—excuse me?” Jacob spit out a bite of pita and looked Dr. Silva in the eye.

  “I buried him in the garden,” she said again. “It was what he always wanted. It was in his will. He loved plants. He wanted to be part of nature, eternally.”

  “But didn’t you have to go to the emergency room or call the police or something?”

  “Jacob, this isn’t TV, it’s Paris. I called the coroner, he was pronounced dead, and I buried him. That’s all. No fanfare, no funeral, no autopsy. It wasn’t required back then.”

  Jacob sat back in the cream futon and raised his eyebrows. The only thing he could think to say was “okay,” which must have been enough because she continued.

  “I did the best I could to bury him. It was probably not deep enough. Not as deep anyway as they bury you in a cemetery, but he was my first grave. I buried him in the fall. The ground froze over that winter and I trudged through the snow to visit his grave. In the spring, I was ecstatic to find a sapling growing there. I knew then that his blood had unlocked deep magic.”

  “Magic? Are you a witch?” he blurted.

  “No. I. Am. Not.” She held up a finger in front of his face. No further explanation was offered. She continued with her story.

  “As the year progressed and the tree grew faster than any, I realized that the air around the tree was always warm and humid, no matter what the temperature. I began planting some of our collection of rare seeds around Oswald. Everything grew, faster and larger than possible. It is always around eighty-five degrees there, three hundred sixty-five days per year. I took precautions—the hedge, the corpse plants, the cacti maze—to make sure that I was the only one who knew the secret of the garden.

  “Even I did not learn of Oswald’s greatest secret until later. I was transported the first time in the summer, when Oswald had reached his full height. I was lucky to be found by a medicine woman. She was a Healer and an elder of the Achuar tribe of the South American rainforest. See, they have none of the preconceptions about time and space that we do. She just assumed my presence was a sign from the spirit world and took me in. She showed me what I needed to know. That’s when Gideon came to me.” She looked across the room at the cat. “I’ve been traveling with Oswald ever since.”

  Jacob blinked. Was she serious? “So, you can travel anywhere in the world through the tree?”

  “Well, to anywhere there are trees. They are connected … spiritually.�
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  He didn’t really understand but nodded his head anyway.

  “But, Jacob, that’s not the most important thing I have to tell you.”

  At that moment, Gideon rushed across the room and jumped into the chair next to him. A growl escaped his throat. Jacob rubbed the bite mark on his wrist. He was beginning to think the cat was downright moody.

  “Oh, Gideon, it’s time he knew. How long do you expect me to wait?”

  Jacob interrupted. “There’s something you have to tell me that’s more shocking than the news that you’ve buried your dead husband in the garden and his body has grown a magical tree?” Saying it out loud sounded even more ridiculous than hearing it.

  “Yes. It’s about you, Jacob. About who you are and who you are becoming.”

  “Me?”

  “You. See, my garden, the other garden, is enchanted. Only a spiritual being can find Oswald. Spirit finds spirit. A normal human being would wander aimlessly, if they ever managed to get through the gate at all.”

  “But that’s me, normal human being.” He waved his fingers, just to make the point.

  “Really? Nothing has ever happened to you to make you think you might be something more?” Dr. Silva raised an eyebrow.

  Jacob looked into his glass. The fight with Dane at the grocery store came to mind, but he didn’t answer.

  Dr. Silva’s eyes bore into him.

  “Admit it or not, your genealogy is written in records that are not of this world.”

  “Huh.”

  “Here, look at this.” Dr. Silva poured a drop of water from her glass onto her saucer. “What do you see here?”

  “A drop of water.”

  “And what do you know about water.”

  “You drink it.”

  “No, no. That’s not what I mean. How do I start? I guess I should just say it. Water is alive, Jacob.” She touched the water with her finger and watched it roll down her hand to her wrist. “In every drop of water live over one hundred thousand microbes, so, it is quite literally alive. It is the universal solvent, required for all life. It is the beginning of all things. Water is strong enough to wear down mountains but agile enough to move through the tiniest crevice. Your body is two-thirds water and every cell in it responds to that water.”

  “Yeah, uhm, it’s amazing,” Jacob said. He reached for his glass and gulped down half of it, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and belched.

  Dr. Silva’s mouth pulled into a straight line.

  “A long time ago, there were two people, a man and a woman, the first two people who ever walked the Earth. I think you know them as Adam and Eve.”

  “Uh, yeah, I’ve heard of Adam and Eve.”

  “Then you know that the serpent persuaded them to eat the fruit and as their punishment God cast them out of the Garden of Eden.”

  “So?”

  “God knew they would need help resisting the temptations of the Serpent, of the evil that existed on the Earth. He allowed some of the water from Eden to run out of the garden, down to where Adam settled. The water was made to be undetectable to all but those who had a sincere desire to devote themselves to ridding the world of evil. When the pure of heart drank the water, it changed the drinker. That water infused into the person’s cells, changing their DNA, changing their blood. It gave them gifts, power they could use to defend themselves against evil.”

  “Uhuh. Right. Gosh, I gotta go.” Jacob looked at his watch, and then pushed his chair back from the table.

  “They spread out across the globe, Jacob, doing the will of God.” Her voice was frantic now, anxious. She stood and was behind him in the blink of an eye. Her hands pressed into his shoulders, keeping him in his seat. “They kept the balance between good and evil in favor of good. But they married and had children and, as they did, the water became more and more diluted and the children became more and more human, their gifts diminished.”

  “Damn, the bad luck,” he said and tried to stand, but her nails dug into his flesh.

  “Hope found a way. When a descendant of a brother and a descendant of a sister married and had children the two halves became whole again. The water became more pure. The power returned. And now, today, there are among us the descendants of those the water changed, charged with carrying on the work of God. You are one of those descendants, Jacob. You are a Soulkeeper and you have the power to combat darkness. The power to fight evil.”

  “What power?” he laughed nervously.

  “Every Soulkeeper has power as individual as a fingerprint but each is an integral player in the battle between heaven and hell. You’ve probably heard of people with the gene for a certain type of disease. The gene is always there but the person may or may not get the disease. Something happens, a stressor, and the gene flips on. This is the same. People like you carry the gene. You’ve always had it, since you were born. But it takes something big to turn it on: something like losing your parents or being attacked in a parking lot.”

  “How do you know about that?”

  “It’s a small town. Word travels fast.”

  “But nobody saw but Malini.”

  “I didn’t have to see, Jacob. Not in the way you do. Why don’t you tell me what happened and we can get started?”

  “Started with what?”

  “I am your Helper. I’ve been assigned to help you discover your gifts. I can help you discover your true purpose.”

  “You’re crazy.” Jacob squirmed from her grasp, knocking the chair to the floor. Pain shot through his knee as he stood. “This is nuts. Why are you saying these things to me? I don’t even believe in God.”

  “Don’t believe in God?” Dr. Silva’s face twisted into a scowl. “Do you believe in the atom? In the air you breathe? How can you deny the very fabric of who you are?” She shook her head. “Believe or not, Jacob, I am your Helper. You are my assignment and I will help you discover what you were sent here to do.”

  “I don’t believe any of this,” he said in a whisper, shaking his head and backing toward the door.

  “The memory you told me about last Saturday, the vivid one, did it ever occur to you that it wasn’t entirely normal? Awfully odd how close to real life it played out, isn’t it?”

  “How do you know about that?”

  “You told me. And, what about that black eye, Jacob? It’s already happening.” She grinned. “Just like osmosis, the goodness in you will always attract evil. Have you ever wondered why trouble always seems to find you? You are discovering your power. Now all you need to do is allow me to help you figure out how to use it.” Her voice was breathy, almost hypnotic. She walked over to Jacob and reached for his hand.

  He jerked away, mind reeling. None of this made sense. All he wanted to do was get out of this house and never come back. Continuing toward the door, he saw alarm sweep across her perfectly carved features.

  “Don’t go,” she said, and the edge was back in her voice. The smell of fresh baked cookies washed over him like a fog, and his skin tingled.

  “What are you? What are you doing to me?” He forced himself to keep backing up even though the electric sensation, the attraction, hit him full force. He turned toward the door and reached for the knob.

  “Your mother! I can help you find your mother.” Dr. Silva’s voice was high pitched and quick.

  Jacob wanted to leave. He wanted to never come back. Dr. Silva scared him and he thought she was crazy. But months ago he’d made a choice to not give up on his mom no matter what. He couldn’t let this go, no matter how unlikely it was to be true.

  “Can you? Can you find her? Can the tree … take me to her?” He turned from the door and met her icy stare. The temptation was too great. If there was any hope, any hope at all…

  “Oh, it doesn’t work that way. You have to know exactly where you want to go and then concentrate on the longitude and latitude. Date and time have an effect. It’s not like boarding an airplane. It’s taken me decades to master.”

  “
Decades?” Jacob looked at the woman in front of him. She looked to be in her late twenties but clearly after all she had told him she must be much older. “How old are you?”

  “Another time, Jacob. I’ll explain everything in time. There is much to learn. But right now, what you want is to find your mother. And what I want is for you to work with me, to allow me to be your Helper.”

  “Will you take me to Oahu then, to look for her?”

  “Jacob, where would you stay? Where would you even begin to look? Who’s to say she’s even there? She could be dead.”

  Jacob rubbed his temples. He didn’t know the answer to her questions and was feeling awfully tired. Gideon weaved between his ankles. The soft fur was oddly comforting and his shoulders relaxed a little. Still, he couldn’t find his voice.

  “We could visit the medicine woman,” she offered. Her hand reached toward him, cautious, nervous, as if her life depended on his answer. “You could come with me and we could ask her. Maybe, she could tell us where your mom is. If you agree to train with me, I will take you to her and we will find out.”

  Jacob dropped his fingers from his temples and looked Dr. Silva in the eye. “Okay. I still don’t believe what you’re telling me, but if you help me find my mom, I’ll do it.”

  “It’s a deal!” she said. A smile crossed her face, like she’d just won the lottery.

  As she pumped his hand, up and down, up and down, he wondered what she had in store for him. His gut instinct was to run and never look back.

  Jacob regretted the agreement, even as he made it.