Bumblestook: Book 1, The Accidental Wizard (17 page)

Walther paused to peer out of the cave at his audience. “Lesson over!” he barked abruptly. “Any questions?”

The Asian gentleman raised a forefinger. “Most interesting,” he said. “but I must respectfully ask—what bearing does this have on communing with the Earthbound?”

“I was getting to that!” Walther snapped, sticking out his chin in a huff. “As you know,
my
search for the Humanchild, has led me to Australia—to the outback, or the bush as they call it. I’ve been monitoring a young Koori girl—a
much
more likely candidate than that bumbling boy! Consequently, I’ve become acquainted with members of the child’s clan.

One day, I was invited to accompany some of the men on a hunt. The trail led us up the side of a large rock formation. I paused to rest—just for a moment, mind you! I may be old, but I can keep up! And don’t let this white hair fool you.” He tapped his temple with one gnarled forefinger. “Mind like a steel trap! And these old eyes are plenty sharp—nothing escapes them!”

Walther fixed each member of the group with a fierce stare, daring them to deny it. Wisely, no one disputed his claim. He gave a sniff and returned to his tale.

“As I said, I had paused to rest, when something, hidden behind a bush caught my eye. I pushed the branches aside and found a small cave, barely large enough to shelter a child. Just inside, was a rock painting of a red kangaroo, painted in the
X-ray
style, like so—”

Walther touched the tip of his wand to one of the tiny shapes, then dragged it out of the circle to a clean space on the rock wall. Rapidly, it expanded in size, revealing itself to be a crude, line drawing of a reddish-brown kangaroo. Inside its body were various shapes and patterns; stylized representations of the kangaroo’s skeleton and organs.

Turning back to the group, Walther continued. “One of the hunters saw what I was doing and quickly backtracked to join me. He pulled me away from the mouth of the cave, telling me that his Great-grandmother, Alkirrah, had painted it—but it was a family secret.

When Alkirrah was a child, there came a time of great drought and the tribe was starving for lack of game. One day, Alkirrah told her parents that a spirit in the cave had spoken to her, telling her the location of a mob of red kangaroo. Her parents begged her to tell no one, as only men were allowed to become Shamans and speak with the Ancestors.

But, her father was a Hunter and times were desperate. He decided to follow the path his daughter described. To his surprise, it led the hunting party directly to the kangaroos!

After that, they allowed their daughter to create the rock painting to honor the Ancestor, but they kept it a secret and hid its location. Alkirrah continued to pass on information to her father and, later, to her husband. As a result, their tribe never went hungry again. But her children did not inherit her ability to commune with the spirit in the cave. When she passed away, only her story and the hidden painting of the Kangaroo Ancestor, were left behind. ”

Walther waved a hand in front of the cave wall and a sharp wind arose. It blew across the width of the wall, blasting the rock painting into dust and carrying it away into the night. Placing the flat of his hand against the tip of the wand, he collapsed its length with a loud snap.

“Show’s over,” he snarled, tucking the shortened wand into a pocket and returning to his place around the rock pool.

Bartholeumous thanked him, then addressed the group.

“It is time.”

Everyone closed their eyes and, as one, breathed deeply. The sounds of the park’s nightlife were suddenly magnified by their silence. Cricket-song vibrated softly through the night air, as a lone coyote gave voice and was answered by another of its kind. An owl hooted softly, as rustling sounds betrayed the scampering of tiny creatures in the bushes. Then, in a deep, bass voice, pitched low to blend with the night music, Bartholeumous spoke.

“Mighty Osheanna, Ruler of the Deep, Mistress of the Shallows and all that lies between. Arise and Attend! Let the Binding Ceremony begin.”

In response to the Wizard’s words, the water in the center of the pool began to bubble furiously, rising into a fountain. As the fountain cascaded down, it sculpted itself into the torso of a women, whose featureless face and fluid form shimmered and rippled with the constant flow of water.

The Wizard placed the fingers of his left hand into the bubbling water of the pool. Reaching out to Kali, who stood to his right, he grasped her hand. She, in turn, grasped the hand of the man to
her
right and so on down the line. The last in line, the green-eyed triplet, nodded to Bartholeumous as her sister’s fingers entwined with her own; linking the entire group.

“Mighty Osheanna, let the power of the Great Water flow freely through our veins,” Bartholeumous said, addressing the Water Spirit. The water in the pool began to shimmer with cool green light. The light traveled up his arm (casting an eerie glow upon his face) then spread to each of the others in turn, ‘til all were lit up, like a bizarre string of party lights.

“Let our powers be joined to multiply our strength. Let them combine to become a force as great as that which shaped this place,” Bartholeumous intoned.

Above them, an aurora flickered into existence; translucent sheets of fluorescent color, shimmering against the dark night sky. The night music fell silent, as the air crackled with magic.

“Behold, the manifestation of our combined powers! Go forth, creature of our making! Seek out the Earthbound and make known to them our desire to speak.”

The awesome apparition moved slowly, majestically, trailing long twisting ribbons of light, till it came to a stop directly over the red sandstone boulder. It hovered briefly, before descending to cover the massive rock with a blanket of shimmering, rainbow light.

***************************

Approximately 50 miles away, in land as neatly ordered and tame, as Vasquez Rocks was random and wild, Big Grey sat in the left, front corner of a patch of green lawn. It was immersed, as usual, in the maelstrom of data flowing back and forth through the underground communications system; connecting the Earthbound to each other and to the Core. It sampled bits and pieces of information, in much the same way Humans sample dishes at a buffet. There were certain types of information that it relished above all others. Since forming a friendship with Farley, it had taken an interest in all things “Bumblestook”.

Although most of its fellow Earthbound had little to no interest in the Humans, others (like Big Grey) had taken notice of the fast-lived beings; collecting and sharing bits and pieces of data as a sort of hobby. Into this network of “Humanologists” Big Grey had added information about Farley, his family and friends.

Years ago, when Farley had visited Big Grey to relate the story of Bartholeumous the Bold and his Wonderful Magic Show, the rock being had added that name as well. Almost immediately, it received information regarding Farley’s new friend. The new data was forwarded by a quartz crystal, located within a Human structure known as a “library”. As the library was frequented by Bartholeumous himself, the crystal turned out to be a veritable treasure trove of data.

Through the Library Crystal, Big Grey had learned that Bartholeumous belonged to a group of beings known as “Wizards”. Wizards generated an electromagnetic field that was different from that of other Humans, making them easy to identify. This particular Wizard was involved in a number of interesting activities, including using the crystal to look into the affairs of other beings, one of which was the boy, Farley Bumblestook. At first, Big Grey did not know what to make of this, but subsequent research revealed that Humans used a variety of technology to connect with each other.

Then, one day, Bartholeumous had tried to use the Library Crystal to find the Earthbound. Having recently entered into a pact with Farley (to keep their friendship a secret) Big Grey relayed a warning to the crystal. As a small rock, it was able to process data much more quickly than its monolithic brethren. It reacted swiftly, succeeding in temporarily blocking the Wizard’s access. Since then, Big Grey and the Library Crystal had combined forces to monitor the Wizard’s whereabouts and activities.

On this particular evening, Big Grey became aware of Bartholeumous’ appearance in a location approximately 50 miles away. Instantaneously connecting with the Earthbound on the scene, it was just in time to witness a group of beings (all exhibiting the “Wizard” signature) engaging in an extraordinary activity. A powerful force, akin to a net woven of electrical current, emanated from the group and moved to engulf a large, red, sandstone boulder.

No actual damage was done to the boulder. Rock beings did not feel pain, nor could they conceive of being damaged. They were accustomed to being eroded by wind and water, split by earthquakes, even liquefied by volcanic action. Any impact on their physical being was considered merely a change of form. Thus, although the force was powerful enough to draw the attention of even far-flung Earthbound, it was not considered harmful. Big Grey and the other Earthbound observed with interest and something like deep amusement, as the crackling force spent itself upon the surface of their monolithic brethren.

******************************

Bartholeumous and company looked on in dismay, as their creation faded away without having any apparent effect. Their faces quickly drained of the eerie green glow as they released each others’ hands. The sounds of the park’s nocturnal life returned, filling the air with un-orchestrated music, as the gathering silently contemplated their failure.

“Well,
that
was a colossal waste of time!” Walther finally remarked with a scowl.

Bartholeumous spread his large hands apologetically. “It appears that our magic has, indeed, been ineffective. Most curious…” He tugged on his beard, head bowed, brow furrowed in thought. “Both the Earthbound and the boy resist our efforts to make contact with them. Our failure here could be proof that an unknown and extremely powerful force is at work.”

“
Or-r-r,
it
could
be proof that the Earthbound are just another silly Human myth, created to explain things beyond their limited comprehension!” Walther argued.

“But, that doesn’t explain the boy,” the Asian man, Gung-Ho Kim, interjected, lifting one finger delicately to make his point. “No
ordinary
Human has the power to cloud a seeking.”

“There
is
something—” the blue-eyed triplet began.

“—very odd— ” the brown-eyed triplet added, without a discernible break.

“—about the boy,” the green-eyed triplet concluded smoothly.

“I know!” Kali clapped her hands exuberantly. “Why don’t we combine our powers against
him
! One little Human boy—surely he could not resist all eight of us!”

“An
excellent
suggestion! What do you say, friends? Will you assist me once more tonight?” Bartholeumous asked.

Everyone but Walther nodded, eager to see something come of this night’s work.

“Why not?” the old man snapped. “We’ve already tried talking to rocks! What better way to top off the evening than to seek out that bumbling boy, that–that, whatsisname—”

“
Bumblestook
,” Bartholeumous supplied.

Suddenly, the park (which had been filled with the sounds of nocturnal wildlife) fell strangely silent and the surrounding rocks seemed to loom above the group, with sinister intent.

Bartholeumous’ head snapped up and his eyes narrowed. “Something has changed,” he said ominously.

Walther sniffed the air. “I agree. There’s something here—something
big
.”

Raj tilted his turbaned head. “It’s listening,” he whispered.

Kali drew closer to Bartholeumous and clutched his arm. “It happened when you said the boy’s name. You know—
Bumblestook
!”

A loud sharp
crack!
split the night, followed by a deep rumbling sound. Suddenly, the ground began to roll like an ocean wave! The Wizards shouted as they struggled to stay on their feet. This was made even
more
difficult by a sudden shower of small rocks, raining down upon their heads!

Bartholeumous was thrown against the side of the rock pool. He grabbed the rock and pulled himself up, till his head and shoulders rose above the edge. Directly in front of him, he saw the fountain spirit struggling to retain her shape, while a whirlpool formed in the water at her base. He watched in horror, as the fountain fell and Osheanna began to fall into a fresh crack in the rock!

“No-o-o!” he shouted, fingers scrabbling at the rock bed, in a futile effort to scoop up and save some of the precious water.

Hearing his cry, the others staggered over the bucking earth; grabbing onto the side of the rock pool, in time to see the last of the water disappear into the rock with a sinister slurp. Then, with the earsplitting sound of a door slamming shut, the crack closed up tight, trapping the water spirit within!

Abruptly, the ground beneath their feet ceased moving and a few final rocks fell to earth with a dull thud. For a long moment, the group stared in disbelief at the dry rock bed, then at each other, then to Bartholeumous. The Wizard stood, head and shoulders bowed, holding onto the rock ledge with a white-knuckled grip. He raised his head slowly and faced his companions with eyes that were cold and bleak.