Changing the Prophecy Chapter 2 Episode 1

Chapter 2 Arrival Part 1 -- Episode 1

Doshmisi landed in a familiar field of flowers in the place that the People Beyond the Lake had named Debbie’s Circle after her mother. Debbie had traded years of her life to Sissrath in an act bound by deep enchantment to protect the people of the land from harm and she had consequently died young of a heart attack. That was how Doshmisi and her siblings had wound up moving to Manzanita Ranch to live with Aunt Alice and had learned about Faracadar. Doshmisi stood up and brushed the residue of green powder off her shoulders. When she heard him call her name, she turned to see Jasper with his dog Cocoa bounding joyfully toward her. She felt so happy to see him that she laughed out loud. In a moment he arrived in front of her, threw his arms around her, and planted a kiss on her lips. “I missed you so much,” he said.

“I missed you too,” she replied. She could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest, thumping against her own heart.

“You did? I imagined you were so busy in the Farland that you hardly thought of me,” Jasper confessed.

“I thought about you every day. But I figured that you were too busy here to think about me,” Doshmisi said.

“How busy could I possibly be without anyone to guide?” Jasper pointed out. Jasper had traveled with the Four the year before as their guide. He had spent many years training as a guide and he did a good job. “Where are the others? Where’s Denzel?”

“That’s a good question,” Doshmisi answered, as she realized with growing concern that her brothers and sister were nowhere in sight. Last year they had all arrived in the field together at the same time. She remembered Elena’s last-minute catapult onto Maia’s cushion. That irregularity had been compounded by the fact that Crystal and Ruby had never done the passage before. “Something must have gone wrong,” Doshmisi said. “Crystal and Ruby did their best, but this was their first passage. The others should have come through with me like they did last year.”   

“Where do you think they went? What could have happened to them?” Jasper asked in alarm.

“How should I know? They might still be stuck at Manzanita Ranch. Especially Maia because…” Doshmisi trailed off.

“What happened to Maia?”

“Someone else tried to come with her on her cushion.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maia has a friend who was there and she tried to make the passage with her and it might have caused Maia to be left behind.”

“But that doesn’t explain about Denzel or Sonjay.” Jasper pointed out, with a note of confusion.

“I don’t know what happened. I hope they turn up soon,” Doshmisi said, anxiously.

“And that they turn up here,” Jasper added.

“Here?” Doshmisi echoed.

“Well, they might have made it through and turned up somewhere else. But let’s wait for them here for a little while,” Jasper suggested.

“You’re right. They could have come through somewhere else in Faracadar.” Doshmisi found this thought reassuring. Even if they weren’t in Debbie’s Circle then they could still be somewhere in the land, perhaps nearby. If they were, then she would find them, or they would find her before long. She felt certain of it. “If they turn up here in this field, they’ll remember how to get to your house,” Doshmisi pointed out. “So I don’t think we need to hang around here waiting.” Jasper nodded in agreement.

They began walking across the field as Doshmisi asked, “So what’s going on in Faracadar? What do you know? What can you tell me?”

“I don’t know much. You would probably learn more from a conversation with the trees,” Jasper replied in all seriousness, since he knew that Doshmisi could communicate with trees.

“I’ll consult the trees soon, but right now I asked you. Tell me whatever you know.”

“My father received a message from Mole via the Crystal Communication Dome,” Jasper related, as he and Doshmisi wended their way along a path that led through a field loaded with a variety of brilliant red flowers. “Mole asked us to get his message to the Four. That’d be you.”

“Where did Mole send the message from? The Passage Circle?” Doshmisi asked. Mole lived at the Passage Circle, where he worked as the head battery maker, which meant he ran the mechanics shop. He talked like a Rastafarian and he had an absolutely brilliant ability to build or fix just about anything. He had become one of Denzel’s best friends in Faracadar.

“Mole disappeared a couple of weeks ago. Sissrath kidnapped him,” Jasper replied grimly.

“How do you know? Why was he kidnapped?”

“Mole used one of Violet’s crystal communication shards to send a message to the Dome and they forwarded it to my father. According to Mole, Sissrath enslaved him as well as many other proficient battery makers, who must work as forced laborers on a project at the North Coast. Unfortunately, Mole has not yet figured out the exact purpose of the project so he couldn’t provide any further information. But his message was important because until it came though, no one had any idea that Sissrath had something going on at the North Coast.”

“Then I think the siege is a diversion,” Doshmisi told Jasper firmly.

“How do you figure?”

“I don’t think Sissrath has any interest in retrieving the Staff of Shakabaz. He understands that he will never get it back. Sonjay took it from him for good. Sissrath’s up to something else and he doesn’t want anyone to figure out what. So he sent Compost with an army of people from the Mountain Downs to blockade Big House City as a distraction and to keep Cardamom and High Chief Hyacinth far away from his secret project, whatever it is.” Cardamom was the only enchanter in the land whose skill at enchantment matched that of Sissrath.

“Should we try to lift the siege at Big House City?” Jasper asked.

“I don’t think so. I think Sissrath wants us to spend time doing exactly that. Instead let’s go to the North Coast and find out what Sissrath is up to. We need to rescue Mole. I bet Mole will figure out what Sissrath’s doing there pretty quick,” Doshmisi said.

Jasper stopped walking abruptly and grinned broadly.

“What?” Doshmisi asked, as she stopped walking too.

Jasper shook his head and chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Doshmisi insisted.

“It’s straight up terrific to have you back. No lie. You’re one of the Four. You figure out what to do and you do it. I feel great,” Jasper exclaimed, as he continued to flash his grin.

“Puleez.” Doshmisi rolled her eyes and began walking again. “You’re pretty good at figuring out what to do all on your own. I’m not as brilliant as all that. Trust me.”

“Whatever you say,” Jasper said as he fell in beside her.

“Let’s go to the Garden. I want to talk to the trees. Then we can head to the North Coast.”

“What about the rest of the Four?” Jasper asked worriedly. “What if they turn up after we’ve left?”

“We can leave a message for them here to let them know where we went. They could have turned up anywhere in Faracadar or they could be stuck back at Manzanita Ranch. We can’t afford to waste time doing nothing. Obviously the passage didn’t go smoothly. We’ll just have to wing it.”

“Wing it?” Jasper looked puzzled.

“Make things up as we go along,” Doshmisi explained.

“We pretty much did that last year and it worked out.”

“Sure enough.” Doshmisi agreed. She gazed up at the familiar green-tinged Faracadaran sun. It felt so good to be back that she wanted to dance and sing or whoop and holler.

“I need to stop at the house to pick up a few things,” Jasper said.

Doshmisi smiled at him. “You’re totally jazzed to get on the road again aren’t you?”

“I’m totally jazzed to be in the same place with you again. And to get on the road. What other purpose is there for a guide than to do the guiding?”

“It feels pretty great to be back,” Doshmisi told him.

When they arrived at Jasper’s house, he went inside to grab his backpack, which he had packed in advance because he knew he might have to rush off on a journey with the Four immediately upon their arrival. While Jasper was in his house, Doshmisi went to the paddock to greet the tigers, which people in Faracadar rode like horses since they had no horses anywhere in the land. The tigers were herbivores (meaning they didn’t eat meat) and were as gentle as kittens with those they befriended. Doshmisi had ridden Sheba on her last visit to the land. In the paddock she put her arms around the beautiful sleek feline’s neck and gave her a hug. Sheba licked Doshmisi’s face with her large scratchy tongue and purred deep in her throat with pleasure. “I guess you remember me,” Doshmisi said.

Jasper’s mother Crystal and his sister Ruby would remain with Aunt Alice at Manzanita Ranch for the night and would be there in the morning when Doshmisi returned. Doshmisi knew how it worked from the previous year. Even though she would travel in Faracadar for many days, when she returned (at the appointed time) only one night would have passed at Manzanita Ranch in the meanwhile. If her brothers and sister had gotten stuck back at Manzanita Ranch, then she would be on her own this year and would not see them until her return. If they had managed to pass through into Faracadar then she hoped she would meet up with them soon, or at least in time for their return to Manzanita Ranch from Angel’s Gate near Big House City by the fourteenth day of Loma.

When Jasper emerged from the house, he joined Doshmisi at the paddock and they led their tigers out.

“Where’s Granite?” Doshmisi asked. Granite was Jasper’s father.

“He had to go to my uncle’s house,” Jasper replied. “We said our good-byes already since he knew I’d probably leave with you today.”

“I wish I could have seen him,” Doshmisi said regretfully.

“He sends you his regards,” Jasper told her as they mounted the tigers and headed out on the dirt road to the Garden, with Cocoa yapping delightedly and running alongside.

It took Doshmisi a few minutes to reacquaint herself with how to sit a tiger and how to grip Sheba’s sides with her legs. She had barely settled into the rhythm of Sheba’s stride when they arrived at the Garden, managed by Jade the Gardener.

Jade emerged from the potting shed to greet them, wiping her hands on her overalls as Doshmisi and Jasper dismounted. “Doshmisi! Good to have you back. We need you now more than ever,” Jade called out.

Doshmisi gave Jade a warm hug. “I need to visit the Grove of Shakabaz and listen for the words of the trees. I hope they have something useful to tell me.”

“The trees always have something useful to tell,” Jade encouraged her. “Would you like some strawberries? I just picked a heap of giant juicy ones.” She held a basket of bright red strawberries out to Doshmisi, who took a handful and thanked Jade. The strawberries made her think of Bayard. He would have loved them. She would have to stay focused on the task at hand and not waste time worrying about where Bayard, Sonjay, and the rest of them had gone.

“This won’t take long,” Doshmisi promised Jasper.

“Take as much time as you need. I’ll wait for you here,” Jasper replied.

As she stepped onto the trail to the Grove of Shakabaz, Doshmisi heard Jade ask Jasper about Denzel, Maia, and Sonjay. Doshmisi popped one last sweet strawberry into her mouth and licked the juice from her fingertips.

Doshmisi had visited these wise, ancient, and enormous trees once before and to her amazement she had discovered that they spoke to her in a tree language that she understood. After that first revelation, she had communicated with trees frequently. When she reached the deep forest, populated with the largest trees, the mossy forest floor felt like a springy carpet beneath her feet and the thick, lush overhead canopy blocked her view of the sky. Amidst the giant red oaks, her amulet began to glow green. She heard a rush of whispers inside her head and a great heaviness overtook her so that she had to sit down on the cushiony ground strewn with pine needles, moss, twigs, fallen lichens, and leaves.

She closed her eyes and the language of the trees that she remembered well entered her in thought and energy through images and mutual understanding. She wrapped her hand around her glowing amulet and her spirit danced joyously up into the high branches. In their language, the trees expressed their delight at her presence. Then their intentions shifted. They sent her an image of her grandmother, Clover, lying in her bed on Whale Island, while her assistant, Iris, brought her a cup of tea. Clover appeared fragile, weak, and unwell. She had dark circles under her eyes, her face was pale, and she was frail and thin. The mighty trees wanted Doshmisi to go to Clover and she sent them a thought to convey that she understood their desire.

The image of Clover faded and a different image planted itself in her mind’s eye; a baffling image. The trees sent the image of piles of algae washing up on the beach. The delicate blue-green algae, usually glowing with lively energy, hung lifeless and limp. Heaps of algae washed up in greasy mounds. And then little tiny mouths opened up in the algae. The mouths screamed in a high-pitched wail, like a tea kettle whistling, except completely lacking the cheerfulness of a tea kettle’s whistle. The scream sounded like the total opposite of cheerful. In the distance, the whales moaned despairingly. Their moans sounded almost like the moans of a person grieving for a loved one who had died. The sheer size of the whales made the water vibrate with their moans and the vibration set Doshmisi’s teeth rattling. Although she did not understand what the images and sounds meant, they alarmed her and filled her with sorrow. She could feel the trees caressing her face in the form of a breeze and blessing her for the journey ahead. Then they withdrew and fell silent.

Photo by Daniela Duncan