Bumblestook: Book 1, The Accidental Wizard (36 page)

Yap looked down, shamefaced, tracing a circle on the ground with the toe of his boot. “Yeah, but, that wuz for Farley’s own good! Barfoleumous couldn’t look after him, so
I
had to do it.”

“Exactly. Just as
I
am the caretaker of this wilderness and, as such, have a duty to see to the safety of all who pass through,” Ranger Gary replied.

“Whether for good or bad, we’ve all done our share of spying on the lad!” Tom declared. “We must put it behind us, for the children’s sake. For now, it seems, our enemy is the lake!”

“This little one speaks wisely,” Heloise said, rising smoothly, “as should be expected from one of the feline pur-r-r-suasion, even one so puny.”

Suddenly she leapt up, tumbled swiftly several times in midair and landed on the ground in front of them. As she rose smoothly from a crouched position, they beheld a magnificent creature. Clad in a short, sleeveless, deerskin shift and knee-high moccasins, her form was that of a powerfully built woman, with muscles tightly bunched and coiled for action. Her tail dropped down behind her, to coil neatly about her ankles; its tip twitching to the beat of her heart. She was covered in short, tawny fur, but for the cream-colored skin of her face and throat. Short-cropped, white-blonde hair lay flat against her skull; curling about her rounded lion’s ears. The eyes (large and golden, markedly slanted and fringed by unusually long, dark, curly lashes) were deep set, between high cheekbones. Her nose was wide, with flaring nostrils, her jaw well-muscled and strong. Long, curved nails completed the picture of a beautiful, but obviously predatory, creature. She was, of course, an Amorphae; of the kind called Leonin.

Heloise walked forward with the slow, controlled movements of a big cat. Tom’s whiskers twitched as she passed him by, the tip of her tail brushing his nose. Yap took several steps back. She spared them not a glance, joining Ranger Gary at the water’s edge.

“Per-r-r-haps I can help with your little problem,” she purred.

“Not unless you have power over the water. I seem to have lost mine,” Ranger Gary responded.

“How unfortunate. But what of your precious Water Spirit? Do you not share in the Blessing of Osheanna?”

The Wizard turned back to face the lake, as Tom and Yap came up on his other side. All three stared glumly at the dark, green waters that had swallowed the children.

“I seem to have lost that as well,” Ranger Gary replied.

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

Gradually, Farley and Fiona became aware of a change in the giant bubble’s motion. After a long period of heading downward, it seemed to have reversed direction. Faces upraised, they watched in anxious anticipation, as the water above their heads became lighter in color. Then, with a sudden burst of energy, the bubble shot up and broke the surface! With a loud “pop” it burst in a shower of fine mist, tumbling the children tumbled out onto dry land.

They looked about, momentarily disoriented, until they realized they had emerged inside a cave. Algae, growing in patches along the walls, gave off a phosphorous glow. It reflected off the surface of the water, sending flickering ripples of strange, green light dancing across the rock walls and ceiling. The eerie light also revealed that the back of the cave was sealed, by a jagged jumble of fallen rock.

“Looks like a dead end. Maybe we could climb up and see if there’s any way outta here,” said Farley, tilting his head back to look for a crack in the rock wall.

“I think we should wait,” said Fiona. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to bring us here.”

“Some
one
or some
thing
! We should at least get out our weapons,” Farley said, rummaging in his pocket for his father’s knife. Opening the small blade, he looked about for any sign of danger.

Fiona put a hand on his shoulder. “Farley, it might be better if I held your weapon,” she suggested sensibly. “Just to be on the safe side—in case you trip and fall while you’re holding it.”

Farley frowned and looked down at the knife in his hand. “I suppose you’re right,” he said reluctantly, holding it out to her.

Fiona’s eyes were drawn to the little knife laying open in her friend’s palm, it’s silver blade tinged with green in the strange glowing light. She drew her breath in sharply.

“Look at your hand!”

“Huh—” Farley examined his palm. “Hey, it’s healed!” he shouted excitedly.

“What about your leg?” Fiona asked.

The boy gave it an experimental shake. “It’s ok! You know what this means? I’ve got my Super Invincible Power back!”

Fiona cocked her head in thought. “Yes, but
how
? How did you lose it in the first place, and how did you get it back?”

“Who cares! I’m just glad things are back to normal again,” Farley said. “Now I’m ready for action!”

He began capering about, slashing at the air with the pocketknife. As usual, it wasn’t long before he tripped and fell, flat out on the cave floor, near the water’s edge. Fiona started forward, but Farley sat up quickly.

“I’m okay!” he shouted triumphantly.

Suddenly, the water nearby began to bubble! Farley scrambled back, crablike as Fiona rushed forward to help him.

They watched in amazement, as the bubbling liquid swiftly grew into a fountain and evolved into the torso of a woman, made entirely of water! Springing from the top of her head, a bubbling froth cascaded down her shoulders and back, resembling hair. Flowing throughout her body, tiny bubbles rode currents of cool, pale-green water. The featureless face turned sightlessly in their direction and slender, liquid arms stretched out, beseechingly.

Farley scrambled to his feet, staring at the woman, enchanted. Oddly, now that she had taken shape, he felt no fear. Instead, he felt strangely drawn to her and desirous of her cool touch. He took a hesitant step forward, but Fiona laid a cautioning hand upon his arm.

“Who are you?” he whispered, eyes fixed upon the watery form.

Just then, a large, silvery-green fish burst out of the water, spattering them with fat droplets as it leapt high into the air above their heads! They stepped back, as it flipped in midair and fell to the cave floor, transforming into something quite different.

It’s skin was fish-belly white, with a faint green hue, covered with patches of silvery-green scale. A rainbow-colored fin rose, like a sail, from the top of its hairless head and down it’s spine. Its nose was but two slits, its mouth a wide, stiff-lipped gash and it had no visible ears. The chin receded almost to the point of nonexistence and the short neck sported a set of frilly gills. Its fingers and toes were so well webbed, that its hands and bare feet more resembled scuba-divers flippers. A sleeveless shirt, roughly fashioned of fisherman’s net and a dark-green, seaweed loincloth were its garb. Altogether the creature stood no more than 2 feet high, even with its fin upraised, as it was now. It regarded them steadily with large, lidless, watery-grey goggle-eyes.

“
Amorphae
,” Fiona hissed, eyes narrowing.

“My name is Mubglub,” the creature announced, placing it’s finned hands together and bowing stiffly. “I am a Vish.”

“Did he say he’s a
fish
?” Farley whispered.

“Not fish,
Vish,
” Fiona replied, not bothering to keep her voice down.

The children stared openly at the Vish; a bit impolite, but perhaps they could be excused, having never before seen its like.

The fountain woman made a bubbly noise and Mubglub hastened to bow before her. A short unintelligible conversation (consisting of burbles and gurgles) ensued; after which the Vish padded over to Farley, it’s flat feet making wet, slapping sounds on the rock floor.

“My mistress is relieved to find you well, Fiona Faire,” he said.

“
I’m
not Fiona—I’m Farley!
That’s
Fiona,” Farley chortled, pointing a thumb at the girl.

The Vish stared at him for a moment, then padded back to the fountain woman. Once again they spoke in the watery language. The woman elegantly lifted a liquid arm, pointing at the boy. The Amorphae turned and padded back to Farley.

“Fiona Faire,” Mubglub insisted. “My mistress wishes to speak with you.”

“I told you,
I’m
not Fiona—
She
is!” Farley said, laughing, again pointing to his friend. The creature stared at him with its large, lidless eyes, then turned and plodded back to the woman in the water. Once again, she lifted her arm and pointed to the boy. The creature sighed heavily and plodded back to Farley.

“Please, sir,” he pleaded. “My mistress insists that you are the one she knows as Fiona Faire and it is to Fiona Faire that she must now speak.” It rolled it’s large lidless eyes from Farley to Fiona and back again.

“But —” Farley protested.

“I think she’s the one that brought us here,” Fiona interrupted. “Let’s just find what she wants.”

Farley looked at the Vish, anxiously shuffling his large flipper feet, staring with unblinking eyes. “Okay, but first, tell me her name. I hafta know who I’m talking to. I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

“My Mistress is Osheanna, the Spirit of the Water,” Mubglub replied.

“Oh. What does she want with me?”

“She wishes to keep you from harm.”

“Well, tell her I’m okay. She doesn’t need to worry about
me
.”

“She regrets that she was unable to watch over you for a time and hopes that no harm has befallen you.”

“I did get hurt a little, but that wasn’t her fault. Besides, I’m fine now.”

“She wishes you to approach.”

“Well, all right.” Farley looked at Fiona and motioned to her to come along. Together they walked to the water’s edge and stood before the lady.

Osheanna languidly lifted a hand, extending it toward Farley’s face, but hesitated before actually touching him. The bubbles, coursing through her liquid body, seemed to become agitated; swirling about in tiny whirlpools, as her featureless face turned to Fiona and then back to Farley. Once more, she looked from one to the other, while the little bubbles in her body danced in confusion. Emitting a stream of watery sounds, she summoned the Vish.

“My Mistress wishes understanding,” he said, “as to why there appears to be
two
Fiona Faires.”

“I don’t know,” Farley said uncomfortably. “Like I told you, I’m
Farley
. Farley Bumblestook.
This
is Fiona Faire.

The Vish spoke to the Water Spirit. Osheanna reached out with both hands, to place her fingertips on the children’s cheeks. From the point of contact upon their skins, a pale green light washed over them. Farley felt a healing coolness emanating from her touch, while Fiona felt a burst of energy race through her veins. A few moments later, the water spirit dropped her hands. As the light faded from the children’s bodies, the sensations lessened, but did not completely disappear.

Osheanna spoke again in the watery language.

Mubglub translated. “My Mistress says Magic is at work here. Magic has created two Fiona Faires. She vows to keep you both safe from harm.”

“Well, that’s really nice of her, but we’re on a Quest to find my mom and dad and we gotta get going,” said Farley.