Changing the Prophecy Chapter 20

 

Chapter 20 Vinegar, Flan, and Reinforcements

“I’m going back out there,” Denzel declared, as he picked up his diving suit, which lay in a heap on the floor.

“You will do no such thing!” Reggie snapped authoritatively.

“Daddy’s right,” Maia agreed. “What if that squid comes back? Besides, we don’t know about the squid ink. It could eat through the diving suit.”

“Hold up!” Denzel shouted. “Wait, wait, wait! I know what to do. Maia, where did you put that window cleaner?”

Maia went to the supply cupboard and pulled out the bottle of window cleaner.

“Is that it? Is there any more in there?” Denzel asked. His amulet had begun glowing with red light.

“Woo-hoo,” Sonjay rejoiced as he pointed to his brother’s amulet. “Cool idea incoming.”

Mole held his hand up to Denzel for a high five, which Denzel gave him. “Vinegar,” Mole announced with a bob of his head that set his dreadlocks bouncing. “You’re brilliant, mon.”

“Vinegar,” Denzel repeated. “The window cleaner has vinegar in it and it should clear the squid ink out of those thrusters.”

After a thorough search of the supply cabinet, Maia produced three bottles of window cleaner, which Mole and Denzel proceeded to pour into the chambers of the flushing mechanism for the thrusters. Mole pressed a button and the window cleaner burst through the thrusters as the sub shot forward and emerged well clear of the billow of squid ink left in its wake. With renewed speed, the sub lurched up toward the surface while the expedition team cheered their victory over squid ink.

As the clock in the sub ticked down to zero, the sub reached the surface of the water and slid alongside the dock. They just barely made it back in time.

When they emerged from the hatch, they found Cardamom, Iris, Elena, and Guhblorin waiting for them. Elena flung her arms around Maia and both girls laughed and cried at once. “Guhblorin was timing you,” Elena informed her friend, “and we didn’t think you would make it back before you ran out of power.”

“We almost didn’t,” Maia admitted. “We were saved by window cleaner.”

“Good one,” Guhblorin said with a suppressed giggle.

“Seriously,” Maia told him.

“No lie,” Jasper backed her up. “Denzel put window cleaner into the flushing mechanism to clear the thrusters of squid ink because it had vinegar in it.”

“Squid ink? I didn’t know squid knew how to write,” Guhblorin replied. Elena attempted to cast a stern look in his direction, but her smile gave away her amusement.

Sonjay pointed to the beach next to the dock and asked, “What’s going on over there? Why is everyone on the beach?” People had indeed crowded onto the beach. They stood or sat on the sand and gazed out over the water. From where they stood on the dock, the Four and their companions could hear the murmuring voices of those on the beach punctuated by the sound of weeping. The people hugged and comforted one another, while many of them stood unmoving at the water’s edge, some with their arms wrapped around each other.

“News of the oil spill at the North Coast has reached Whale Island. We have had messengers. The spill moves slowly but steadily in our direction across the water. The whales fled even before it happened. And the algae is disappearing, which we can tell because of the dull, gray color of the water,” Cardamom informed them.

“Island People have lived for thousands of years as neighbors to the ocean and now this spill will kill it and all that inhabit it and therefore us as well,” Iris said despondently. “My people have come to say farewell to our dear friend, this beautiful beach, this beautiful water, which will die when that oil washes in,” Iris explained. “I have said nothing to my people about the Emerald Crystal because I didn’t know if you would find it and I still don’t know if it will avert this disaster. Did you retrieve it from the Coral Caves?”

By way of response, Doshmisi held the Emerald Crystal up to the light so Iris could see it. An admiring sigh escaped Iris’s lips as she gazed at the beautiful jewel. Having emerged from the depths of the ocean, the Emerald Crystal glinted in the sunlight with such intense green that it hurt their eyes to behold it. Doshmisi wrapped it in a swatch of cloth and stored it in her pocket.

“We need to get to the North Coast quickly to stop that oil spill,” Sonjay reminded them, as his eyes swept across the beach and took in the people mourning the approaching devastation the oil would bring to their home.

“What about Clover’s memorial?” Reggie asked. “Shouldn’t we stay here for that?”

“We can’t waste that precious time,” Doshmisi reminded her father.

“She would certainly prefer that you go,” Iris reassured them. “She has plenty of people here who love her and who will attend her homegoing.”

“We can’t go until we eat dinner, though. Guhblorin and I cooked,” Elena reported.

“No doubt you did,” Denzel said with a pleased smile. “And flan?”

“Absolutemente. There’s a chocolate flan with whipped cream and it has your name written all over it,” Elena told Denzel, as she folded her arms across her chest and tossed her blue-black hair in the sunlight.

At that moment Mole, who had remained behind in the sub to power it down and secure it, emerged from the hatch. He took one look at Iris and tripped over the edge of the dock. An assortment of equipment that he held in his arms went flying in all directions. A flare gun bounced on the dock and emitted a bright fluorescent-pink flare. The flare shot arced into the sky and burst like fireworks. A small package burst open and instantly inflated itself into a raft that knocked Guhblorin over the side of the dock and into the water where he spluttered and flailed while Mole stammered an apology.

Iris told Elena softly, “I’ll go home and set the table before I inspire him to do any further damage. I’ll see you at Clover’s shortly.”

Reggie reached out a hand and helped Guhblorin out of the water while the others gathered up Mole’s belongings and stuffed them into a large canvas sack that Denzel produced.

“I be hopeless,” Mole whined with self-pity. “I can’t even look at her without falling apart. She must think me the most ridiculous mon ever.”

“Don’t get so wound up about it. You need to relax,” Reggie advised.

“As if,” Mole responded dejectedly as the group began to walk toward Clover’s house and the library. “I better just go to my room. Bring me a plate of food, please? And some of that chocolate flan.”

“I think I have a sardine in my underpants,” Guhblorin announced with a giggle.

“We’ll get on the road as soon as we finish eating dinner,” Denzel announced.

“I disagree,” Reggie contradicted his son. “We need rest. None of us will function well if we’re tired.”

“Daddy, we can’t take the night off. We have to get moving,” Sonjay said firmly.

“I know that. I’m not suggesting we sleep through the night. But we need a few hours. A power nap. We can have Iris wake us at midnight. Would you agree to that?”

“That oil will continue moving while we sleep,” Doshmisi reminded.

“Maybe so, but I agree with Reggie. Food and sleep will make us more alert to handle whatever lies ahead,” Cardamom added. So they agreed to get some sleep after dinner and to start out at midnight.

Elena’s dinner did not disappoint. She and Guhblorin had prepared a totally scrumptious meal. While they ate, they filled Cardamom, Elena, and Guhblorin in on the events that had taken place under the ocean. When they finished relating their tale, Cardamom turned to Reggie and inquired, “I have a question I have wanted to ask you. How did you get back to Faracadar on your own? Without Debbie. I know you came once with Debbie, but, how did you find your way back without her?”

Reggie finished chewing a mouthful of chili rellenos and swallowed. “Do you not fear that if revealed this information could be misused?”

“I feel confident that no one at this table will misuse it or share it with another who might do so,” Cardamom replied without hesitation.

Reggie put his fork down carefully on his plate and paused. He glanced at the others seated around the table. “When Debbie and I returned from our visit on the one occasion that she brought me here, I tore a large sliver from the wood at Angel’s Gate as we passed through and I took it with me, hidden in my clothes. I didn’t know whether or not it could take me back to Faracadar until I tried to use it. When I found out what my wife had done, how she had promised years off her life to prevent Sissrath from using the Staff of Shakabaz in matters of life and death, I resolved to find a way to use that sliver of wood to return and attempt to reverse the deep enchantment that bound her. I took it to the cabin in the woods at Manzanita Ranch and I begged, with all my might, and all the love I have in me for my wife, to return here. Often wishing comes to nothing. But sometimes wishes become real. My wishes, and that shard of wood, brought me back. Unfortunately, once here, I proved no match for Sissrath.”

“It surprises me that you could travel by that method,” Cardamom said.

“I have learned a great deal while studying the Book of the Khoum and spending many solitary hours meditating and contemplating the nature of things,” Reggie told the enchanter, as his children listened attentively. “I have learned that love often opens doors that would otherwise have remained closed. I have come to believe that I managed to return because of the love I feel for my wife. I wish that my love could have carried me back to her while she lived. At least it brought my children back to me.”

“That it did,” Cardamom replied.

Just then, Guhblorin appeared in the doorway to the kitchen with a rolling cart that contained an enormous chocolate flan and a bowl overflowing with frothy whipped cream. “Dessert is served!” Guhblorin announced gleefully. After they devoured the spectacular flan, the weary travelers dispersed to their beds for a few hours of sleep before starting out for the North Coast. It would take them an entire night to travel to the Passage Circle. A ferry captain had agreed to make a special ferry run to Dolphin Island for them shortly after midnight.

At midnight, Iris went from room to room and woke each of them. When she woke Mole, he took one look at Iris’s face in the dim light of the glow-lamp and promptly fell out of bed. He sprawled on the floor at Iris’s feet and blinked up at her helplessly.

Iris sat on the floor next to Mole. “Don’t move,” she ordered Mole. “Just stay exactly where you are and don’t move a finger. Listen,” she continued, “I like you, but it’s entirely impossible for me to get to know you if you continue to self-destruct every time you catch sight of me. Understand?”

Mole nodded his head silently in the affirmative. His dreadlocks bobbed up and down.

“If we’re going to travel together then this goofiness has to stop,” Iris said firmly.

“Travel together?” Mole asked.

“I’m going with you and the others to the North Coast. If the land is in peril and fighting for its life, I refuse to remain behind. I’ll go with you to see if I can help. And if the end comes, then I would just as soon meet it in the presence of Clover’s grandchildren. She would understand and not want me to stay behind for her memorial under the circumstances. So you see, you have to get a grip, Mole. You can’t keep acting the fool whenever I appear.”

“I know,” Mole agreed, with a dejected sigh. “I’ll try harder.”

“That’s probably the problem,” Iris pointed out. She placed a gentle hand on his arm. “You’re trying too hard. Stop trying. Just let things be what they are. Now do you think you can stand up and get yourself ready to go without destroying any of my furniture?”

“I’ll try,” Mole said and then quickly revised that. “I mean I won’t try. I mean I’ll try not to try.”

As Iris rose from the floor she told him, “Don’t think about it too hard, you’ll hurt yourself. Just take it slow.” She walked to the door and turned in the doorway. “I’ll see you in the courtyard in a few minutes.”

The Four, Jasper, Elena, Guhblorin, Reggie, Cardamom, Mole, and Iris assembled in the courtyard under the burst of colorful stars that lit the night sky. They spoke in subdued voices as they prepared for the journey ahead.

Cardamom drew Reggie aside and asked him quietly, “Have you noticed the air?”

“The air?” Reggie repeated, as he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

“Don’t say anything to the others. Not yet. I’ve noticed the air is thicker, making it a little harder to breathe. The blue-green algae that cleans our air lives in the ocean, and the Corportons have poisoned the ocean with the oil spill,” Cardamom explained with a worried expression. “You know what I mean.”

Reggie nodded. “I have a feeling my children have noticed it, but let’s not go there yet. We might have some luck repairing the situation before we get into serious trouble.”

Elena handed out sack lunches to everyone as they mounted their tigers. Doshmisi sat astride Dagobaz. Despite the late hour, many residents of Whale Island lined the streets to see them off as they rode to the harbor to take the ferry on the first leg of their journey. “May the work of the Four continue,” people called out.

They traveled through the night both by ferry and hard riding across the ocean bridges that connected the islands to one another and to the mainland. The sun had stood in the sky for a couple of hours by the time they arrived on the beach at the Passage Circle. As they neared the beach, riding along the ocean bridge, they saw a throng of people waiting for them. Word of their mission and their journey must have preceded them. At the front of the gathered people stood Governor Jay, flanked by the royal family on one side and Crumpet and Buttercup on the other. Jack, the intuit, drifted slightly above the sand with a few of his intuit buddies. The intuits had skateboards tucked under their arms. Sonjay smiled when he saw the skateboards. It seemed like forever since he had spent a carefree afternoon skating.

As the travelers came within earshot of the people from the Passage Circle, Sonjay called out to them, “What’s up? What’re you guys doing here?”

“We came to greet you and bring you provisions,” Governor Jay replied.

“And some of us will go with you,” Princess Honeydew informed them resolutely.

Denzel’s eyes glittered with excitement. “Like an army?” he asked.

“Do you want an army?” Governor Jay offered.

“An army is not a bad idea,” Reggie said thoughtfully.

“Yes, it is a bad idea,” Doshmisi contradicted her father. “If I learned one thing from those indecipherable whales last year, I learned that warring armies solve nothing.”

“What she said,” Sonjay backed up his sister.

Denzel shrugged and said, “whatever.”

“So who’s coming with us?” Maia asked curiously.

Crumpet, Buttercup, Honeydew, Saffron, and Hyacinth stepped forward. Jack and his intuit friends floated up to join them.

“Why am I not surprised?” Sonjay commented.

“We figure you must be headed to the North Coast to stop the oil spill,” Crumpet told them. “We want to know the plan.”

“You can uniform us on the way,” Hyacinth said as he mounted a tiger.

“Inform,” Princess Honeydew translated her father’s mangled communication. “You can inform us on the way.” She and the others mounted their tigers as well.

“I guess you won’t be staying for breakfast,” Governor Jay observed sorrowfully.

“No time,” Cardamom said.

“The oil spill won’t stop for breakfast,” Sonjay reminded the governor.

Governor Jay held his hand up in front of him, palm facing outward. “May the work of the Four continue,” he called to the departing travelers. Those who remained by his side on the beach repeated his gesture and his words as the travelers sped away in a flurry of sand.