Emma and the Minotaur (14 page)

“But really look at it, Emma. Quite funny, isn’t it?”

She looked down at her watch and at the little cartoon mouse. He was grinning. It was a very silly watch, she agreed. Emma giggled and Mr Clarence laughed with her.

He released her arm and sat down at the teacher’s desk just as the recess bell went off.

Emma frowned, not sure where the time had gone. The other children streamed back into the room and Emma made her way back to her seat.

Later, during lunchtime, Emma and Jake were sitting on the rock at Wizard Falls. Emma told him everything that had happened to her in the last two days, leaving nothing out. She told him of the minotaur and the faun, and what Domino had told her about a coming war. She still did not understand much of it herself.

“So you know where my dad is?”

“Well, no,” Emma said. “Not really. It’s all very confusing. It’s so much and so confusing. This minotaur thing has taken him, is what I understand, and I’m supposed to save him and the rest of the world somehow. But no one can tell me how I’m supposed to do this.”

“I want to go with you,” he said.

“I’ll ask, okay?”

Jake nodded but he looked disappointed.

“Jake, if it’s up to me, I’ll do anything I can to find your dad. Trust me.”

The boy smiled. He took her hand in his.

“So you can talk to animals?” he asked, grinning.

“Well, sort of,” she said. “Not really. They can talk to me but they don’t understand what I’m saying. And I’ve only listened to cats so far, and they just go on about weird stuff. Oh, and some birds I think were saying my name the other day but they had tiny little voices.”

“And the tree…”

“Mr Oak,” she said.

“Yeah, you sure he’s not a professor?”

“Very funny,” Emma said and punched him. “Quite sure.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder and they said nothing more until it was time to go back to school.

That afternoon, when Emma went into the forest, it didn’t take her long to find the ancient oak’s clearing. She didn’t even look for it. It was as though the clearing came to her.

She entered the clearing holding her flute in hand. Domino was nowhere to be seen. She walked up to the tree and put her hand against his bark.

“Hello, Mr Oak,” she said. “My dad told me you sang to me when I was born. I thought he was just making up a story but maybe it’s true.”

“He has been watching over you all your life,” said Domino. She had not heard him arrive. “As have I. I’ve watched and waited for him to signal that you were needed, that you were ready. We know the former is true, but I’m not sure about the latter.”

Emma turned to face the faun. “You don’t think I’m ready?”

“We don’t know for sure,” Domino said. “The Lord of Light has made his move a lot sooner than expected.”

“Well, I don’t think I’m ready either. How am I supposed to do this? What makes me different from anyone else? This thing,” she said, motioning with the flute, “does it do anything? Is it like magic wand?”

“That is what I’m here to teach you,” Domino said. He brought his own flute to his lips and played a long melody. It was sweet to Emma’s ears.

“We all come from the trees,” Domino said. “And from the trees comes the music. It’s in all of us, even in those who have forgotten it, like most humans. You can understand animals now but that is not a special ability. The animals communicate using the music still and anyone could understand if they would only listen. When the tree spoke to you it made you remember, it opened you up to the music, the light.”

“But they can’t understand me,” Emma said.

“No, they can’t. You’ve remember how to listen but you don’t know how to speak.”

“Do I have to play this?” she asked and wiggled her fingers over the holes of the flute.

“If you like, but, though what this instrument, and all instruments produce is part of the music, it is not the whole. The music that travels through the air as sound is but a subset of the true music, the song, the light, that comes from the souls of all living creatures. It is this music that you must learn.”

“So what is the flute for?”

“The flute takes the music of your soul and gives it strength and power. This power can be used to communicate farther than you ever could on your own, or it can be used for violence. First, you must learn to use this power to speak, and then you will learn to use it for other purposes.”

He drew her away from the tree and close to the edge of the clearing. The faun stared off into the forest. Emma took this opportunity to study his skin and saw that the lines that she thought were tattoos really were writhing about, though the motion was slow and subtle.

She noticed also that the flute that the faun was holding had started to glow faintly. It was hard to tell in the sunlight, but there was a light that surrounded it like a shy fire.

Presently, there was a rustling of leaves from the direction that Domino was facing. Emma turned to look and, as she did so, she saw a group of rabbits emerge into the clearing. There were a dozen or more and they hopped about around the faun.

It took her a moment to see it but then she realized that they weren’t really rabbits, at least not normal ones. On their heads, just in front of their ears, each of them had a small set of antlers like those of a miniature deer.

The animals noticed Emma and hopped along over to where she was and they surrounded her. There was a chorus of little voices:

“Miss Emma!”

“Hello, Miss Emma.”

“Welcome, Miss Emma!”

“Glad you’re here, Miss Emma.”

Emma could not help but laugh. She knelt down to pet them. Soon, she was on the ground with a flurry of the little beasts dancing around her and over her. They were tickling her.

“Jackalopes,” said Domino. “Friendly, forgiving, and playful. They are the perfect creatures for helping you learn.”

The faun leaned down and picked up one of the jackalopes. He scratched the animal’s chest and the little creature settled into his arms in delight.

“Settle down for a moment,” Domino said. When he said this, Emma knew somehow that it was not in normal words. He was speaking in the way that the animals did. The jackalopes backed off from their playful attack on Emma and gathered around the faun.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Domino said to the assembly of jackalopes. “You are here to help Emma learn to speak.”

There was an excited commotion among the creatures. Domino quieted them down with a wave of his hand. He put down the jackalope he’d been holding and the little animal ran over to Emma and sat down by her side.

“Hello,” Emma said.

There was something like laughter from the herd of jackalopes.

“They think you’re talking nonsense,” Domino said. “Try saying something else.”

“Umm. Nice to meet you, ladies and gentlemen.”

More laughter. This time it was uproarious and a few of the jackalopes even went around in little circles where they stood, or slapped at the ground with a hind paw. Among the excitement, there were also many apologies for their laughter.

“Sorry, Miss Emma!”

“Can’t help it, Miss Emma.”

“You’re so funny, Miss Emma.”

Domino quieted them down again. “Music is light, and light is music,” he said to Emma. “Sit down and close your eyes.” She did so, right in front of the jackalopes.

“Try to relax,” he said. “Take a big deep breath through your nose and let it out through your mouth slowly…”

He guided her in this way and told her what to do. Emma breathed and focused on the feeling of air flowing into and out of her. He talked her through relaxing her entire body, starting from the top of her head and moving down through her neck and shoulders, all the way to her feet. He told her to clear her mind of everything except her breathing and his voice.

It seemed that many minutes passed while she did this, but then she lost track of time. There was nothing but cold air going in through her nose, down into her lungs, and back out through her mouth.

Emma felt that she was becoming isolated from the rest of the world. It was as though everything was fading away except for herself and the voice that was guiding her.

“There is a light inside of you, Emma,” the voice said. “Deep within, maybe faint and frail. Find it now.”

In the blackness that was the universe, she saw herself as a vessel. A girl-shaped container holding a single spark of light. It danced inside her, small and tenuous, but part of something eternal.

“Good,” he said. “This is your voice. Use it. Speak now!”

“Hello,” Emma said. She did not do so only with her body, but also with the light that was inside of her. For just a moment, it flared up to the size of a lamp and shone the word that she had spoken.

Emma was brought out of her meditative state by cheering. She snapped back to the world and opened her eyes, startled. In front of her, the jackalopes were jumping about in delight. Their laughter was now appreciative.

“Hello, Miss Emma!”

“Hello!”

“You did it, Miss Emma.”

“Way to go, Miss Emma.”

The jackalopes rushed to her and soon she was rolling on the ground again with the little creatures swarming all over her.

When the celebration died down, Domino informed the jackalopes that they would not be needed anymore for the day and they hopped away into the forest after many utterances of “Bye, Miss Emma,” and “See you soon.”

“The state you were in,” Domino said when they had gone, “that is where you must return when you wish to speak. Today, I guided you there, it took a long time, and you managed a single word. This is excellent for your first try. You must practise what you did today, finding your light, until you can assume that state instantly, and without guidance.”

“I think I understand,” Emma said. “But it sounds impossible.”

“It seems that way, I’m sure,” Domino said. “But with practice and inspiration it can be done. I suggest you go home now and rest, and then begin practising.”

Emma looked at her new watch and was surprised to see that it was already six o’clock. She had spent far more time there in the clearing than she had thought.

She turned toward the tree and said, “Bye, Mr Oak.” Then she turned back to the faun. “Thank you for helping me, Mr Domino,” she said. She walked back into the forest to find her way home.

Emma didn’t notice her new companion until she was back on Belle Street. One of the jackalopes was hopping alongside.

“Well, hello there,” Emma said, but realized that the jackalope probably didn’t understand her. She stopped where she was and wondered what she should do. “Are you following me?”

The jackalope stopped in front of her and sat on its hind legs. “Hello, Miss Emma,” it said happily. “Home. Let’s go home.”

Emma frowned. She pointed back toward the forest but the jackalope shook its tiny head. “No. Home!”

“You want to come to my house? I don’t know what Dad will say but at least you can help me practise, I suppose. Okay, come along.”

She resumed walking and the jackalope hopped along all the way to her house. They went inside and found Will and Mr Wilkins sitting at the dinner table.

“There you are,” said her father. “Who’s your friend?”

“Are those antlers?” Will said.

“Yep,” Emma said. “This is a jackalope. But I don’t know its name or if it’s a boy or girl.”

Will stood up and then walked over to pet the animal. “This is unbelievable,” he said. “You didn’t glue these on, did you?”

“No, that would be silly.”

“Okay, kids,” Mr Wilkins said. “Come and sit down. Is your friend over for dinner?”

“I suppose,” Emma said. “But I don’t know what it eats.”

She went to the refrigerator and waved to the jackalope. It obliged and hopped over to her. She searched around the vegetable drawer and brought out a few things.

“Do you like Brussels sprouts? Broccoli? Kale?”

Emma put some of these on a plate and placed it on the floor for the jackalope.

“Thank you, Miss Emma,” it said and started to eat.

Emma sat down at the table in front of an empty plate and served herself dinner.

“This is all crazy, you know,” Will said.

“I know,” Emma said.

Over dinner, she told the two of them what had happened during the day.

When the meal was over, she went down to the basement and searched through their Christmas boxes. She dug through one of them until she found a small Santa hat that had belonged to her when she was younger. It was a little big for her purposes but she was able to make adjustments to it using a needle and thread that she took from her yellow lunchbox.

When she was done, she tried the hat on the jackalope. There was a little bell on the end of the hat that jingled whenever the jackalope moved around. The hat would serve to conceal its antlers if ever any strangers happened to see the animal.

“I think you’re a boy,” Emma said. “And I don’t know your name so I’ll call you Mr Jingles for now. We’ll pretend you’re my pet rabbit when anyone’s around.”