The Soulkeepers

Chapter 24: The Small Print

Chapter 24
The Small Print

“There’s something you should know about Oswald,” Dr. Silva said as she approached the wrought-iron gate that led from the back garden to the maple orchard. She and Jacob had just returned from their visit to the Achuar medicine woman.

“What do you mean?” Jacob snapped.

“There are some rules, some cautions, I feel I must share with you,” she said, holding open the gate for him to walk through.

“Like what?”

“Well, you must always keep this gate locked. This is very important. And, you must never, ever, travel through the tree without me.”

Dr. Silva locked the gate behind them and sat down on the little hill at the base of the orchard. “There’s something I haven’t told you about the tree, Jacob. You know that Oswald’s blood is a portal. That means we can travel places using it, but it also means that others can travel here. See, we put down tracks, more like vibrations. How do I explain this? It’s like we unravel string. We are in the string, wrapping around time and space, and when we travel, others can slide down our string. Things can follow us back. We must be very certain that doesn’t happen.”

Jacob’s vision went red. “Rules! Cautions! Don’t you think you should have told me these things before I went through the tree?” He paced in front of her. He was sick of her releasing information little by little on her own terms. “Is there anything else I should know? Will I come down with the bends in an hour? Oh wait,” he said, throwing up his hands. “If I do get the bends, it will be for my own good, right? You won’t know or care what it feels like because whatever you are, you don’t feel!”

Dr. Silva didn’t acknowledge Jacob’s tirade. She continued as if he’d said nothing. “The gate is a failsafe. It’s enchanted. It keeps people here from finding out about Oswald and keeps them,” she said, nodding toward the tree, “if there should be any, from gaining access to our world. I cannot stress enough how important this is.”

He stared at her, waiting for more, waiting for her to show him some shred of understanding and decency. He needed answers. The silence was deafening, so he nodded, not so much because he agreed with her but because he was sick of standing there in the expectant stillness. She stood up and brushed off her seat. But Jacob decided he wasn’t finished. Nothing made sense anymore and it was her fault. It all started with her.

“What are you?” He dug in his heels, determined to get an answer this time. “You said the gate was enchanted but before you said you weren’t a witch?”

“I’m not a witch, but I can perform sorcery,” she said toward the house.

“Show me.”

She turned around to face him. All of the casual energy she usually displayed was gone and her face took on the icy hard look of sculpted marble, the same as the night before when she’d grabbed his wrist. Looking taller and straighter than ever, her presence knocked into him as if her aura were a living, physical thing. It was so unsettling Jacob took a step backward.

Exposing her right palm, she circled her left over it and a ball of blue fire appeared. It crackled as it burned, more than a flame. She threw the ball into the air and caught it in her left. Again she tossed it above her head, but while it sailed through the air she circled her palm and another fireball appeared. She repeated the trick until she was juggling three balls of glowing-hot energy.

This was no illusion. Jacob could feel the heat against his face as the fireballs sailed by, several feet away. He could only imagine how hot they must be in her bare palms. Then, as he watched, awestruck, she tossed them all in the air, tilted her head back and caught them one after another in her mouth. Jacob heard a sizzling sound as they hit her tongue. She swallowed them down in one gulp and then blew a ring of smoke over his right shoulder.