The Forgotten Eden (12 page)

“
I couldn’t help but stare. Stunningly beautiful, as pretty as any female I’d ever seen. Her features perfect, with the most striking feature her eyes. As blue as the morning sky—even bluer than yours, Agent McNamee. They were so blue that they seemed to glow from within her head.

“
She smiled at me, perched on top of the rock and dressed in a long black satin gown tied with a matching sash around her waist. The combination of her hair, eyes, and dress would’ve intimidated a lot of folks, I figured, but I felt strangely comfortable in her presence.

“‘
Hello, ma’am,’ I said shyly, raising my voice to be heard over the river’s roar. ‘My name’s Jack.’

“‘
I know all about you, Jack Kenney,’ she replied,’ and all about your brother, Jeremy, your grandfather, Marshall Edwards, as well.’

Her voice strong and yet sweet as honey, for the moment she remained seated on the rock.

“‘
Have we met before?’ I asked, surprised that she knew our names.

“‘
No, but I’m sort of a friend of the family, Jack,’ she told me, and then smiled, her countenance absolutely radiant.

“‘
What’s your name?’ I asked.

“‘
Genovene.’

“‘
And your last name?’ A plethora of questions began to bombard my mind, and this one felt as good as any to start with.

“‘
No, I don’t have one,’ she said. ‘It’s not necessary where I come from.’

“‘
Where’s that?’

“‘
The huge tower in the distance, across the river—
that’s
my home, Jack.’

“‘
Wow!
It must be
so
cool to live there! Maybe I can visit you again sometime, and you can show me around,’ I told her, thinking about my promise to Grandpa and my reason for being there in the first place. ‘I need to get back home before Banjo runs off again.’

“
She giggled shyly and pushed aside the willow’s branches closest to her, pointing to a large meadow across the river.

“‘
He already has!’

“
Sure enough, when I turned around, he was gone. I looked across the river and saw him playing with several other animals: I think a couple of young deer, a raccoon, and a fox. I couldn’t believe my eyes, since the animals should’ve been naturally skittish of one another. A bigger concern, though, was how he ever got there without me noticing.

“‘
You see,’ she said. ‘Banjo’s already having a good time, don’t you think? Besides, your grandfather’s been busy tending the garden on the north side of your house for the past ten minutes. As you know, he’ll likely be working in the yard until it’s time for your supper.’

“
What makes you say that?”

“
Her words startled me, since Grandpa often worked in the yard for hours at a time. And the garden she mentioned was his favorite one to tend.

“
Don’t let it freak you out, Jack,” she told me, surely on account of the dumbfounded expression on my face. “Sometimes I just know things. I guess you could call it a gift I’m blessed with.”

“
I nodded in silence, trying to figure out her trick. For some reason it made me think about my last words to Grandpa, when I said I was going over to Lee’s place. What if he found out I wasn’t there?

“‘
Did you tell Lee you were coming over today?’ she asked me.

“‘
Well, no,’ I said, freaked out a little more, never expecting her to read my actual thoughts. It didn’t seem like a trick anymore. ‘At least I don’t think I did.’

“‘
Then, there’s your answer, Jack!’

“
She leaned forward, unperturbed by my nervousness. The deep blue luminescence of her eyes so intense and penetrating….like she could see
every
thought inside my head.”

“
Almost like an alien, huh?” Peter interjected, thoughtfully stroking his chin as if trying to fully picture the girl’s appearance and unusual talent.

“
Yeah, somewhat, I suppose,” said Jack. “At least alien in the sense I’d never encountered anyone like her before.”

“
I see.” Peter nodded for him to continue.

“
She urged me to come see her place that day.

“‘
Why wait?’ she asked. ‘It won’t take long to get there from here. You and Banjo will be back home before anyone misses you!’

“
I thought about the offer from this stranger, this gorgeous girl, trying to smartly weigh the pros and cons. In the end, I found it impossible to resist her incredible charm. I tentatively nodded ‘okay’.

“
She stepped down from the rock and straightened her gown. A soft breeze swept through the area, gently lifting and pushing the willow’s branches. Slightly shorter than my brother, she still stood six inches taller than me.

“
Genovene turned her attention to a nearby bridge. From the instant she stepped down from the rock, I watched her. I couldn’t help myself. Her figure as stunning as her face, and the way she moved, so sultry and graceful, stirred something deep within me. I even thought for a moment my heart skipped a beat. My grandfather would’ve described her as’ divinely endowed’. I didn’t think Jeremy would be quite so polite with his compliment...something like ‘Built like a brick shithouse’.

“
She looked back at me, raising her eyebrows in a knowing way, confirming again she just read my thoughts.
‘
Men
!’
she whispered, though the look on her face showed more amusement than disdain.

“
Exposed, my face and the back of my neck immediately felt warm, and a ring of sweat formed quickly along my hairline. I looked down at the ground, wishing I were a million miles from there.

“‘
Don’t worry about it, hon’,’ she assured me, gently grasping my arm to pull me closer to her. ‘After all, you’re only human… and every good boy eventually gets his just dessert. Could be your lucky day!’ She playfully winked.

“
I smiled back, overwhelmed by the typical hodge-podge of emotions most boys that age battle with. Not to mention it took me a moment to get what she meant, and even then I wasn’t sure.

“‘
You’ll have a great time, Jack, I promise,’ she assured me. ‘Now, there’s one thing you’ll need. Did you bring your talisman?’

“
I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, and she studied me for a moment.

“‘
Why, of course,’ she said, her tone more coy. ‘I suppose you might not know what a talisman is if you’d never seen one before. But, I do believe you’ve seen one, fairly recent. It’s important that you have yours, Jack, or you’ll never make it through the gates to my home.’

“
She pulled out an oblong object of gold from a concealed pocket in her gown.

“‘
It looks like this.’

“
My eyes grew wide. The golden object she held was near-identical
to the one I had in my pocket. I excitedly pulled it out to show her.

“‘
That’s it!’ she enthused. ‘Hang onto it for now, and let’s be on our way!’

“
She took my hand and led me out from under the willow tree and back into the bright summer sunshine.

***

“
Her hair wasn’t completely white after all,” continued Jack. “More like white opal, with rainbow-like highlights shimmering as she moved. At first, I thought she somehow colored it that way.

“
We walked over to the bridge. The river’s roar grew louder as we approached. The relentless water pounded the bottom of the stone structure, lifting Spanish moss and thick green ivy that hung over its sides. Each individual stone was covered with etched designs, forming an intricate pattern along the entire bridge wall.

“
Just wide enough to accommodate one person at a time, Genovene got on first and I followed. I found it hard not to stare at her shapely butt and slender long legs through the sheerness of her gown. If not for a brief glimpse of something shiny in the water nearby, I might not have been able to pull my gaze from her lovely backside. But I was just in time to see what looked like an extremely large snake move under the bridge, bathed in a brilliant array of blue, green, silver and red colors.

A sudden, thunderous roar shook the bridge to its very foundation. Terrified, I turned to run; for no way in hell what I just heard belonged to some snake. Genovene reached out to prevent me from leaving.

‘
Don’t be alarmed, hon,’ she said. ‘The serpent below is harmless. Her name is Vydora and she protects our land from any unwanted intruders.’

“‘
That’s a
serpent?
’
I remained poised to flee.

“‘
Yes,’ she said. ‘Perhaps your people would rather call her a dragon.’

“
She chuckled again, but I’m sure she could tell I didn’t think it was so funny.

“‘
Oh, come on, Jack.
Lighten up!
’
she teased. ‘Vydora would never harm you!’

“
She moved up close, clasping my hand in hers. So seductive the way she embraced me with her presence, easily locking my gaze with her own. And just like that, my apprehension melted away, and she led me to the other side of the river.

“
Once across the bridge, we moved onto a smooth gravel path that bisected the sprawling meadow. On either side of the path stood a pair of small figures cloaked in black. Only their hands, ivory-white with long bluish fingernails, were visible. They looked a lot like little kids hiding beneath their robes…or little ghouls. When Genovene talked to them, they spoke in shrill voices and in a language unfamiliar. After she’d finished speaking to them in the same language, they bowed and retreated into the meadow’s tall grass and wildflowers.

“‘
These are my servants, Jack,’ she said. ‘I’ve just told them to take care of Banjo until you return from visiting my home. I’d say he’s having a great time with his new friends!’

“
She was right. Banjo looked at me for a moment and then went back to frolicking with his new buddies under the watchful eyes of Genovene’s servants. Even though the animals’ playful romp looked ridiculous, I felt he’d be all right.

“‘
How old are your servants?’ I asked.

I figured they were physically deformed, since their clothing covered them up.

“‘
You think they’re like children, huh?’

“
I nodded this was true. She grew quiet as if seriously considering my question.

“‘
Very different from most people, you might say they’re a unique race of mankind,’ she said. “They’ve been in this region for many years. The Indians of the southern nations call them
‘
miahluschkas
’
, and for centuries they’ve guarded sacred places throughout America.’

“
I turned to look again at them as they stood in the meadow near Banjo and the other animals. They in turn looked back at me. I could tell they studied me, perhaps reading my thoughts and feelings just like she could. Pretty creepy since their hoods shaded their faces.”

“
I’ve heard of these
‘miahluschkas’
, Jack,” said Peter, reaching for his journal to scribble another note. “I’ll have to look into that when I get back to Richmond…. In the meantime, I’ve just got to ask you this: With all the weirdness going on around you, why didn’t you grab Banjo and run back home?”

He glanced at his watch while waiting for Jack’s response.

“
Honestly, I’ve asked myself that question at least a thousand times over the years,” Jack replied, his tone subdued and somber. “Maybe things would’ve turned out better for me and my family if I had…or maybe not. To a degree, I believe my encounter with Genovene was predestined, if such a thing is possible. Regardless, I wouldn’t have left right then, if for no other reason than it would’ve seemed rude. Hell, I’d already accepted her invitation, and like I said earlier, I was quite infatuated with her presence.”

“
Fair enough,” said Peter, nodding thoughtfully. “I’ll let you continue without interruption again, unless I’ve got something really critical to interject. Okay?”

“
Sure,” said Jack, shrugging his shoulders. “So far, it hasn’t distracted me much….but some intense shit’s coming your way before too much longer.”

“
I’ll be mindful of that…please continue.”

“
All right…. Genovene tugged on my arm again. ‘We need to be going so you’ll have enough time to see my home…my magical village.’

“
Magical village?”

“
Just then, seemingly out of nowhere, a ball of brilliant bluish light appeared less than a hundred feet in front of us. The light bounced back and forth through the air, thickening into a rainbow-like band as it drew closer. When less than twenty feet away, the band spiraled toward us, and then changed into a swirling swarm of colorful butterflies.

“
Amazed, I stopped to watch them circle above our heads and speed off toward the bridge. The butterflies veered skyward at the river’s edge, where they changed back into their light-like form.

“‘
See what I mean?’ said Genovene, visibly pleased by my reaction. ‘We have so much here to delight you—many incredibly
wonderful
things that you’ll experience before this day is over. Just remember…there’s no need to worry about Banjo, Lee, or your grandpa. Everything will work out just fine!’