Mariah Templeton took her pendent and laid it on Ben’s open hand once again. Ben watched as the pendant opened up. This time he did not see three circles. Instead of three separate circles pointing to the day, month and year, there was a compass. The needle pointed north towards the door Ben had just come through. As Ben and Mariah Templeton watched the hand on the compass began to move. It turned towards the west and stopped.
“Not that door. I do not want to send you to that world with just two gifts,” the principal muttered. “In fact, I do not want to send anyone else to that world for the time being. Not until I find out what happened to the Zargon Watcher and to…” Miss Templeton stopped, glanced at Ben and did not finish her sentence.
The compass started to move again. It slowed at each of the doors and finally came to rest pointing to a door on the north east wall.
“Oh dear,” breathed Mariah Templeton. “This is a problem. This is not a good choice for someone afraid of water. And rarely is anyone asked to go without the gift of being able to breathe under water. Maybe I shouldn’t send you at all. And yet it is clear that the Guardian intends for you to go to Lushaka this very day. I could wait, but lives might be lost. But if I send you…” Again Mariah Templeton did not finish her sentence. “This is difficult,” the principal continued, speaking to herself. Then she fell silent, as she contemplated the choice before her.
Ben broke the silence by saying, “I should get back to the kitchen and help Denzel.” The principal ignored him.
Ben looked at Mariah Templeton with growing agitation as she stood beside him with her eyes closed trying to decide what to do. Finally, she said, “My job as a Watcher is to prepare and send through the portal those that the Guardian chooses. You have been chosen. Therefore I must send you. The Guardian of the Six Worlds chose you because you have the best chance of success. Even if I do not understand how that can be, it must be so. You must go. Maybe your third gift will come when you step through the portal. I hope it is the gift of breathing under water.”
Ben had come to the conclusion that the principal of his school was a nutcase; however, when she commanded that he follow her to the door on the north east side of the room, Ben did as he was told. Mariah Templeton opened the door to reveal a stone wall. Ben was relieved. There was no water in sight. He was not going to be expected to step out into thin air.
The brick wall did not faze the principal at all and she proceeded to ask the following questions. “Benjamin Taylor, in the name of the Guardian will you stand against evil? Will you go and serve the cause of justice and peace? Will you defend the weak against those who would crush them?” Mariah Templeton looked expectantly at Ben.
“Ahhh,” Ben began, wondering what to say. However, Mariah Templeton took his “ahhh” as an affirmative.
"I, Mariah Templeton, Watcher of Earth, invite you, Benjamin Taylor, chosen of the Guardian to go through the portal to bring the light of hope, the promise of peace, and the joy of freedom to the people to whom you are now sent. Go forth in the name of the Guardian to bring honor to earth and to your ancestors by what you do."
"Once your work on Lushaka is complete,” Miss Templeton continued, “you are to return to Earth until the Guardian of the Six Worlds has need of you again.”
Ben just stood there and stared at Miss Templeton in silence.
“The best way to go through the portal the first few times is with your eyes closed; that way you will not be confused by what you see.”
Ben closed his eyes.
“Now,” instructed Mariah Templeton, “step forward and continue stepping forward until you are through the portal.”
Mariah Templeton put her hand firmly on Ben’s back and gave him a gentle push. Ben stepped cautiously forward. He took one step and then another and another. He was puzzled and wondered why he had not run into the wall. Ben took a large step, anxious to hit the wall so that he could show Miss Templeton that people did not walk through solid walls. He desperately wanted to leave. Detention had never looked so good. Ben took a bigger step, sure that this time he would hit the wall, but he did not.
Ben opened his eyes and saw blue sky. He looked down and saw water below him. A look of sheer amazement quickly passed across Ben’s face to be replaced by sheer terror as he fell through the air. Ben’s nightmare was becoming a reality. He was falling from the sky into water.
4 Rescued I Think
The gym bag saved Ben’s life. It had a rubber lining and was well made. With the zipper closed it held air – at least temporarily.
Ben floated on top of it. Every once in a while he lost his balance and was dumped into the water, but he had his arm through the strap of the gym bag and never lost his hold on it.
“This is just a dream…this is just a dream… just a dream,” Ben repeated over and over again. Logic told Ben that this whole horrible day was a new variation on the nightmares he’d been having. Yet the water was wet, the sun warm, and everything felt very real.
Whenever Ben lost his balance he got a taste of the water, which was sweet rather than the salty water that surrounded Fairhaven.
The gym bag was slowly losing air. Ben wondered what would happen when all the air was gone. Would he wake up, or would this be the day of his death, the day his nightmare became reality.
The water was quite warm, but Ben’s teeth chattered anyway. Ben was not only afraid of sinking below the waves, but he was afraid of what might live in this much water. As he thought about what might lie beneath he pulled up his feet, but became unstable. He had no choice but to kick gently as he scanned the horizon, looking anxiously for land.
As if fear had conjured it up, a fin broke the surface about ten feet away. Ben pulled his feet as close to his body as he could without losing his balance. He tried to stop his teeth from chattering, but they chattered even louder.
When the water began to swell about two feet away Ben let go of the gym bag. It went one way and he went the other. With nothing to hold onto Ben sank below the gentle waves. He held his breath, closed his eyes and kicked his legs frantically which caused him to bob back up to the surface. He waited in dread for whatever terrible thing was about to happen. When an attack did not come, Ben opened his eyes.
“Hello,” a musical voice trilled.
Shock caused Ben to stop kicking and he sank below the waves. He came up sputtering with his eyes open. There was no doubt. This was all a dream. There in front of him, holding his gym bag and looking at it with great, big, curious dark eyes, was a girl. A girl like no other Ben had ever seen. She had dark brownish-black eyes with no white and short blond hair with green tips that stood up in spikes all over her scalp. It was a girl like the one Denzel had claimed to see. This girl was staring at Ben with a quizzical look on her face.
“Wh…wh…who…who…,” Ben began, but anything else he intended to say was lost as he sank beneath the waves once more. He forgot to hold his breath and came up spitting water. When he opened his eyes the girl was wiping spit off her face with one hand while holding onto the gym bag with the other. Ben grabbed the bag from the girl and held onto it as if his life depended on it. He floated on the water as he stared at the girl in astonishment.
“Have you seen anyone else around here? Someone older than you are? Someone with muscles? Someone special? Someone who doesn’t spit on people they don’t know?” Someone who knows how to talk? As she hammered Ben with questions the girl swam circles around him. The final question was, “Someone who just drops out of the sky?”
Ben stared at the girl.
“Well?” she asked, “Have you?”
“No, I... this is ridiculous. You’re not real. None of this is real. There is no water. There is no girl.”
The girl reached out and pinched Ben’s ear.
“Owww!” Ben howled.
“Does that feel real to you?”
“What are you doing out here?” Ben asked. “I don’t see land nearby. How did you get here? Do you have a boat?”
The girl ignored Ben and said, “No, I guess there is no one else. You must be the one. They must have run out of real heroes to send a boy like you.”
The last statement irritated Ben for the girl was not any older than he was. Ben had never met anyone so rude. Ben decided right then and there that he did not like this girl, real or imaginary. He doubted he could imagine someone this obnoxious. Ben tried once more to ask the questions the girl had ignored: Where is land? Do you have a boat? To Ben they were the only questions that mattered at the moment. The girl continued to ignore Ben’s questions. She said, “Come with me,” and dove head first into the water.
“Wait…don’t go,” Ben began. Then he simply stared, speechless. As the girl’s head disappeared a large tail fin rose gracefully out of the water. Ben was stunned. He stared at the place where the girl had disappeared. He watched anxiously for the couple of minutes that it took for her to return.
Ben stammered, “y…y…you are a m…mermaid!”
“Of course. What else would I be? the girl began. Then she stopped and stared at him for a minute before speaking again. "Who are you and what are you doing here?”
Ben stuttered, “I…I…I… don't know where here is. All I know is that I walked through a door and ended up here." He paused and then said slowly, "I think I'm the one you’re looking for."
“I find that hard to believe, but I was sent here to find a Chosen of the Guardian and you are the only one I have found, so I guess I'll take you to the Watcher and Lea Waterborn will decide whether you are the one.”
“I w…w…w…want to go with you. The problem is I can’t swim. I also can’t breathe under water,” Ben said, remembering what Miss Templeton said about the third gift often being the ability to breathe under water.
The girl stared at him with her mouth hanging open. Then she gave a high pitched whistle. In less than a minute two more fins broke the surface; fins that were attached to what Ben would identify as Orca on earth, except they had longer jaws that contained some vicious looking teeth.
The mermaid flipped her tail a couple of times and joined the two Orcas a few feet away from Ben. She spoke to the fish and all three of them turned and looked at Ben as he hung helplessly on top of the gym bag. It appeared to Ben that the fish laughed, if fish can laugh, at whatever the girl said about him. The mermaid then said something else and the two fish shook their heads. The mermaid became agitated and Ben caught snatches of what she said, “mistake…wrong…Watcher will decide.” Then one of the Orcas gave a barely perceptible nod and the three of them swam towards Ben.
“This is Akca and Osch, and my name is Charla,” the girl said. She did not ask Ben what his name was, but talked rapidly on. “Akca has agreed to let you ride on his back. He will carry you to the Watcher. I hope you know this is an honor rarely granted.”
Ben looked at the fish. He was not sure he wanted to be so honored. Akca looked distinctly unhappy. In fact, it seemed to Ben that the fish would be happier having him as the main course for dinner.
“Isn’t there any other…,” Ben began.
“No, there isn’t. You can stay here or you can come with us. It’s up to you,” responded Charla curtly.
Akca swam alongside Ben. It took all the courage Ben possessed to let go of his gym bag and grab hold of Akca’s dorsal fin. Once he had a firm grip Ben swung his right leg over Akca’s back.
Osch grabbed the handle on Ben’s gym bag and with a toss of his head threw it into the air. It came to rest just behind his head. Osch led the way. Akca followed with a speed that took Ben by surprise. It was like being dragged behind a motor boat. Ben lost his grip and was soon floundering in the water. Charla and the Orcas laughed. Akca swam alongside Ben once more. Ben grabbed his dorsal fin and pulled himself back onto the Orca’s back. Ben was determined not to let go this time. But once again he lost his hold and ended up sputtering in the water. Charla did not laugh this time. Neither did the Orcas. This time Akca gave a few high pitched squeals as he came back to pick Ben up. As they started off Ben wished for the suction cups he had imagined in Miss Templeton’s office. He no sooner thought of them when he felt a change occur on his hands and feet. After that he had no trouble holding on.
Charla swam alongside Akca and Ben. She touched Ben’s arm and pointed up to the right. Ben followed her finger with his eyes and saw a speck to the right high above them.
“When I tell you to, take a deep breath, and hold on tight,” Charla directed. “We will go under water.”
Ben shook his head vigorously. “No, I can’t.”
“You must,” Charla responded. “Now!”
Ben took a deep breath just before Akca dove under the waves. They hid under the large leaves of a water plant and watched the surface where the only thing that remained was Ben’s gym bag. Ben almost forgot to hold his breath when he saw a giant bird swoop down and scoop it up. The bird was far bigger than any Ben had seen or heard tell of. It had a razor sharp beak. Cold black eyes stared out from a bald red head. Its feathers were black with red accents on the tips of its wings and tail. Something about that bird made Ben glad that he had not been floating on top of his gym bag.
Spots were gathering in front of Ben’s eyes when they returned to the surface. The bird was flying back the way it had come with Ben’s gym bag suspended from its talons. Ben laid his head on Akca’s back. His breath came in great shuttering gasps. When his breathing had just about returned to normal Charla said, “Are you okay? Can we continue on now?”
Ben nodded his head in affirmation. As they resumed their trip, Ben scanned the sky, alert to the possibility that danger might come from above rather than from the sea below.
As they traveled the water became shallower. The bottom was visible in places. Multi-colored fish swam in and among plants that grew towards the sun. Giant, solid-looking water lilies lay on the surface of the water. The occasional tree grew up from the bottom of the sea. They had just passed a grove of such trees when Ben saw a welcome sight; a small island. It was the first land Ben had seen since his arrival.
Akca brought Ben alongside some steps cut into the rock. Ben was so anxious to get his feet on dry ground that he tried to jump off while he was still attached to the fish by suction cups. He remained glued to Akca, who squealed unhappily as he was turned over on his side by Ben's weight. Ben wished fervently that the suction cups would disappear and they did. There were small round marks on Akca’s back where Ben’s hands had been.
Ben climbed the steps, grateful to be back on solid ground. He waited for directions. Charla swam towards the steps with two flicks of her tail. She placed her hands on the first step above the water line. Then she curled her tail up under her body and pushed up with her hands. Rising up out of the water was not the tail of a mermaid, but two very human legs. The only thing that remained of Charla’s tail was a very short skirt made of fish scales. It matched the tight- fitting top she wore.
Ben stood there with his mouth hanging open. “How can you…?” Ben began and then decided it was no stranger than anything else that had happened.
Charla climbed the steps and moved past Ben towards a cave and said, “Are you coming?” Ben followed until they were just about to enter the mouth of the cave.
He froze when a large snake emerged from the cave. Its head rose higher and higher until it towered over Charla and Ben. Ben saw himself and Charla mirrored in the snake’s lidless eyes as it stared down at them. Its tail was hidden inside the recesses of the cave. The snake’s head reared back and sped forward. Ben took hold of Charla’s waist and threw her sideways. He fell on top of Charla. The ground sizzled close to where Ben and Charla had been standing. Ben rolled off Charla and scrambled up. Smoke rose from where the venom had hit the ground.
Ben reached down and lifted Charla to her feet. The snake’s head followed their every movement and another volley of acid hit the ground just in front of them. Charla seemed frozen by fear. Ben struggled to drag the mermaid back to the water with him. Ben wondered if she had even seen the snake. Ben yelled, “Snake, big snake, acid!” Charla still hung back. Another gob of acid hit off to the right. A fern growing where the acid hit burned. Still Charla was not moving. Ben continued dragging her toward the water. But he let go of the girl's hand when he realized that Charla was laughing. He looked back to where the snake had been, but it had disappeared.
Ben scanned the area and asked, “What was that?”
Charla responded, “It’s an illusion. The Watcher created it to keep out any human that might wander in looking for a dry spot to make camp. Pretty effective, huh?”
“Very!”
The ground still smoldered. Smoke still hung in the air. But on the ground where the acid hit nothing was changed. The fern Ben saw burn was untouched.
Charla walked back towards the cave. It took all the courage Ben possessed to follow her. He closed his eyes and kept walking when the snake reappeared. He opened his eyes in time to see the snake’s head hurtling towards them. Ben jumped aside. Charla snickered and kept walking. The snake’s head went right through her and broke apart. Ben hurried after Charla and walked through the dissolving illusion into the mouth of the cave. The body of the snake still lay on the floor. As Ben walked his feet broke the illusion apart.
The rock wall at the back of the cave was covered in what looked like drawings done by a primitive people. Charla reached out and traced one of the many patterns. Her fingers lightly touched the rock as they traced the outline of a roughly drawn fish. She went around the outside of the fish three times, changing direction each time. When Charla completed the third circuit a low rumbling sound began and grew stronger. The rock wall in front of them split in two and slid back into the walls on either side. They walked through the opening and the doors closed behind them. They had no light, but the cave was not completely dark. On the walls, on the floor, on the ceiling there were pinpricks of light that came from small rocks. It was enough so that Ben could see his feet on the path. He could also see Charla’s smirking face.