Tomorrows Child (15 page)

“Navarre and
Reuben are coming over after breakfast and I’ve had a few other
offers. But I don’t want this flu spreading around.” Trinity didn’t
look that well herself and refused our invitation for breakfast,
afraid she would spread the sickness.

“I’ll prepare
something and send it over with Navarre,” Libby offered after
Trinity provided us with a list of symptoms. Libby went to the herb
garden with her sickle and a cane basket and Trinity headed off,
tugging along her milk wagon. I was left with Pepper and the smell
of cooked oats and litres of milk to deal with.

“Come on
Pepper; let’s see if oats are on your menu.” I clapped my hands to
gain the little dragon’s attention. Pepper was far more like a
puppy than a dragon and raced towards the house, arriving before I
did. I filled two bowls with steaming porridge, a drizzle of honey
and a load of milk, ever grateful for our early morning milk
deliveries.

I was only
halfway through my breakfast when Libby returned. Pepper had
gobbled down his bowlful, complete with milk and honey, and was
settling on the lounge for a nap. Libby frowned, but said
nothing.

“Let’s hope he
doesn’t grow too big,” she said. In my mind, I could imagine an
enormous full-grown dragon, coughing smoke and pushing his way
through the doorway so he could curl up by the fire, wagging his
tail like an overgrown puppy. I hoped it was only a daydream!

“You may not
want to learn about magick, but you do need to learn about the
healing properties of herbs. If you want to make yourself useful,
you should come with me today and observe. You never know, it could
save someone’s life one day.”

Herbs covered
the bench and made the room smell fresh and alive. It wasn’t
difficult to appear interested because herbs fascinated me,
especially the medicinal ones. Mysterious and out of bounds, I
couldn’t resist a mystery. The thought of that played in my mind…
If I loved mysteries so much, why did I hate secrets? What was
different? Secrets and mysteries are much the same, aren’t
they?

Libby began by
asking me to identify the herbs I knew. “This is peppermint,” I
said, “I could smell it from across the room. This looks like
tea-tree, but that’s not an herb, is it?”

“Tea-tree saved
Australia’s early settlers and is very good for colds and flu,
since it has both antiviral and antibiotic properties. Steaming the
leaves will release the oils into the air and help heal the lungs.
Do you recognise any others?”

I admitted that
was all I could identify, but Libby was not entirely surprised, the
remainder of the herbs weren’t any I’d heard of before.

“Elderflower,
yarrow, ginger and peppermint are great for colds of all types.
Bergamot, hyssop, mullein and St John’s wort are all useful when we
are not sure what we’re dealing with. Generally, they are all
helpful for colds, flus and fevers.” Libby explained, “I like to
mix at least four herbs and no more than six in any remedy. Simple
remedies assimilate better in the body. The others can be used in a
steam pot; the steam will filter through the house and heal the
lungs. ”

I took a sample
of each and pressed them for identification. Only as instructed,
not because I was showing initiative.

The herbs were
then torn or chopped and placed in muslin bags, labelled and
returned to the basket. A large bottle of yellow syrup and a jar
containing a brew of honey, garlic and onion, Libby’s “cure-all”
concoction, completed the basket of remedies. The yellow syrup was
a special mix containing local bush fruits, berries and leaves.
“Lemon aspen is the main ingredient in the syrup; it flowers and
fruits early in the year. Phoenix usually keeps an eye out and lets
me know when the fruits are ready. We dry half the harvest and boil
the remainder into syrup,” Libby told me.

Phoenix and
Navarre arrived at the door. “Mum sent me over to pick up some
stuff for Trinity.” Navarre held out his hand to receive the
basket. I was no longer surprised that Tahinah knew to collect the
medicine, but I was still amazed.

Navarre was
watching the expression on my face. He shook his head, “You’ll get
used to this one day, Psyche. Mum knew that once Libby saw Trinity,
her first job would be to get the herbs ready. Just hope you never
get sick ‘cause they all taste like crap!” Phoenix whacked Navarre
on the arm, either to stop him offending Libby or to prevent him
swearing.

“I know,” I
said, “I had to drink litres of the stuff when Mum was sick…
prevention.” The memory made my nose wrinkle and I shuddered at the
idea of those poor kids having to drink the horrible liquid their
mother was about to force down their throats.

“And you never
got sick!” Libby had a point. Navarre left, rubbing his arm and
laughing to himself.

I knew Phoenix
was here to help Libby with their planned assault and was rather
glad for the delay. Not that I was happy the kids were sick, just
happy for a delay.

“Is there
anything you wish to take care of before we start?” Libby
questioned as she motioned for Phoenix to sit at the table. It felt
like the beginning of the inquisition, but I knew that no matter
what I decided today, my life was in no danger, at least not from
these two.

“I guess not,”
I tried to come up with something to create a delay, but my mind
went suddenly blank.

Libby began,
“Phoenix and I have discussed the best way to approach this very
sensitive subject, which will answer your questions and cause you
the least distress.” She paused and took a deep breath, “I’m not
sure that’s possible, though Phoenix believes you are far stronger
than I give you credit for, and I guess he should know.” I figured
she was talking about Phoenix sharing my dreams so I simply
nodded.

“None of it is
as bad as you fear and you won’t be asked to do anything you’re not
ready for. The universe doesn’t expect it and neither do we.” Libby
continued, “So it is true… you are the ninth daughter, the prophecy
does refer to you as the ninth, your mother as the eighth and I am
the seventh daughter. The remainder of the prophecy is for you to
receive. It’s your personal secret; whether or not you share, is up
to you. I imagine it will depend on the nature of the prophecy. I
expect it will come to you in a dream, but it could come in any
number of ways. I received mine from my guides.” She paused then,
giving me time to absorb this information. I said nothing.

“Those closest
to me are aware of my part in the prophecy because, in a way, it
involves them. My role is to prepare a safe haven for the ninth
daughter. My mother laid the foundation for this community and I
built on it. When people began moving to the area, I couldn’t be
sure if they could be trusted or if they too were involved, but
certain events drew us together and led me to believe that they
were also here to help.

“Here. This is
part of the prophecy I was given.” She turned her book around,
“Times of trouble, times of strife, friends protect the daughter’s
life.”

“You must be
kidding! That’s it!? That’s all you received? That’s what told you
to do all this?” I waved my arms around, “This whole valley, every
person working for survival is doing so because of these
words?”

“There were
other things, the other daughters, Tahinah had a vision, and
Phoenix arriving…” Libby stopped abruptly and Phoenix shook his
head, “Well, everything just fit together.” Phoenix’s brow was
furrowed and his eyes became dark. I felt instantly that they were
still hiding something, but I wasn’t going to read anything into
it, not yet, at least. I would file this away for later.

“I couldn’t
have provided for you on my own and I didn’t know we would lose
Celeste so soon, but I believe that her help may be of a different
kind. Much has changed in the world over the past few years.” Her
voice faded for a moment, “Our friends only knew that you would
come home and receive a sign that may assist in making things
right. That’s why they say things like ‘about time’ or ‘they
thought you’d never get here’. ‘We thought that perhaps you could
help prevent what was happening in the world, but obviously, that’s
not the case.”

“How could
anyone think that I could do anything to save the world? That’s
crazy! You do realise how crazy that sounds?” I had invented all
types of scenarios, but even my vivid imagination couldn’t conceive
of this one.

“I don’t know,
perhaps some universal healer, I expect there are other kids just
like you, many more, all over the world. I doubt that the universe
expects one girl to correct the balance and heal the entire planet.
On top of everything else, we now have the issues with the veil
thinning. Although we expected this, the results have been
surprising.”

“So you think
this is about the veil or do you know?”

“We’re pretty
sure it is all connected, what with the beast showing up first and
now Pepper. I expect both are signs that the veil has been
compromised. And since humans are the cause of the damage, we may
be expected to fix it.

“We have been
seeing exceptional children arrive for years and many assumed they
would be the ones who would change everything. Maybe by providing
the energy the earth needed to heal or tipping the balance to
create global awareness or something of that nature. I guess no one
really knew.” She sighed as if she were exhausted by it all.
“That’s why everyone was waiting for you. We all thought you were
one of these children, even though no one had met you, they all
believed you could change everything.”

“Isn’t that a
job for the big Kahuna?” I asked. Phoenix just laughed.

“You would
think so, but like I said, we all have a role to play because we
all contributed to this mess in the first place. It’s not just
about the veil either. It took us barely more than one hundred
years to destroy Mother Earth. Humans continued to ignore all the
signs and most of us didn’t change our lifestyles until we were
forced to. Now we have no choice. It just seems logical.”

“What do you
feel… in your heart?” Phoenix spoke for the first time since
sitting at the table. I had to think about this, I seldom explored
how I really felt. I just acted as soon as the emotion hit and
thought about it later.

“It doesn’t
feel wrong. It’s easier to believe anything now, I guess.
Everything is gone and a dragon sleeps on our lounge. I guess I
have to replace what I thought to be true with something new.”
Seeking something new felt right, I just hadn’t decided what the
“new” should be.

“Phoenix’s role
in all this needs to come from him.” Libby spoke directly to me and
then turned to Phoenix, “If you’re ready, I’ll make tea, and you
can explain those details to Psyche.”

“I need to
explain some other things first.” Phoenix paused for a long time
and I thought he wasn’t going to continue, but eventually he began.
“Before we are born as humans, we live behind the veil, not with
creatures like the hellhounds or dragons like Pepper, but in a
different place. It’s just called ‘home’ by most, but here on
earth, it’s called all sorts of things like ‘the other side’,
‘heaven’, even ‘paradise’. Whatever it’s called, it’s all the
same.” His voice was calm and he spoke in slow, deliberate
sentences, to be certain I heard what he said and understood.

“As spirits, we
make the decision to be born and at that time, we decide on the
purpose of our lives. Most people are obsessed with their purpose,
but it’s seldom as simple as a single event or task. Sometimes, it
consists of little things and we don’t think these little things
amount to much, but that’s not true. We also come here to learn
personal lessons and experience life in a way we can’t at home.”
Phoenix paused and took a deep breath, “Are you right with this so
far? Do you understand?”

“I guess, sort
of.” I had no idea where he was going with this.

“Stop me if you
need to ask questions.” Phoenix looked peaceful as he spoke and
gazed at me with a knowledge I couldn’t fathom. He seemed older and
wiser than I’d noticed before and his violet eyes seemed to have
deepened two shades darker than normal.

“The lessons we
choose to learn and the people we choose to learn from are in our
lives even before we make our transition to birth. Our families on
earth are often our families from home and have been our family
units many times before, in many other lives. We play different
roles each lifetime, but everyone in our lives now, are recognized
by our souls from previous lives.

“Everyone here
is part of the plan you made for your life. You wrote this path
together with them and they will assist you and help you complete
your purpose.”

“How do you
know all this?” I couldn’t understand how everyone seemed to know
what was going on except me.

“It’s
complicated.” Phoenix screwed up his face as he spoke; he was such
a bad liar.

“That’s not
good enough, you promised me the truth.”

Phoenix took a
deep breath and chewed on his lip, “It really is complicated… when
all this is so new for you, but I guess the easiest explanation is
that I remember things.”

“What
things?”

“From home,
from before I came here. I remember why I’m here, for example. I
remember my past lives and well… I remember some of yours too.”

“Past lives?”
Mum believed in reincarnation, and while I wasn’t sure if I was
ready to accept his entire explanation, I was pretty keen to find
out about my past lives. “So…Who was I? What did I do? Tell me I
was a queen or someone exciting, like Cleopatra.”

“No, you
weren’t Cleopatra, but we don’t have time now and it’s not
relevant. I promise I will tell you sometime.” Libby placed hot tea
on the table. It wasn’t regular tea, the colour and smell were all
wrong, but I was getting used to the mystery brews that habitually
appeared in my teacup. I didn’t even ask what was in the cup
anymore, though I was beginning to distinguish some of the herbs by
their smell and taste. The tea was soothing and cleared my head,
though I hadn’t realised I was beginning to feel hazy until I began
drinking the tea.