Bumblestook: Book 1, The Accidental Wizard (39 page)

“What’s going on here?” he whispered hoarsely.

“I will tell you all that I know,” Mubglub said. “During the time my Mistress was held captive, a golem appeared, walking along the bottom of the lake, carrying a small dome in one hand. It set the dome down here. Around its neck, it wore a seaweed necklace, from which dangled three Magic spheres. The first sphere was used to make the dome large, the second one made it glow, and the third caused the surrounding plants to grow tall and thick. Then, the golem walked away, across the bottom of the lake, in the direction from whence it came.”

“But what about my mom and dad, and our dining room stuff? How did they get here?” Farley interrupted.

“A Doorway opened inside the dome and four men appeared. First they brought in the furniture and then the people. They placed the people in the chairs and left.”

“What door? I didn’t see a door,” said Farley.

“Are you not familiar with the workings of Dimensional Doorways?” Mubglub asked, his nearly inscrutable features showing a hint of incredulity, when they shook their heads. “You must not have had a very thorough education.”

“We’re finding that out,” Fiona said ruefully.

“We know the Multiplication tables and we’re learning Division,” Farley spoke up, not wishing to seem entirely ignorant of important matters.

“I am sure that will prove useful,” the Vish said politely. “Dimensional Doorways are Wizard’s work. The Doorways come and go. To open them you must have the key.”

“Where can we get one?” Farley asked.

“The key is not an object. It is the spell which opens the Door,” Mubglub said.

Farley’s face fell. “But we don’t know any spells! How’re we gonna get in to save them?

“First we must learn all we can about this structure.” the Vish replied. “My people were curious about its purpose, so we explored it very thoroughly. We found some writing, which we could not read, for it is not in the language of our kind. Perhaps, one of you Fiona Faires could decipher it.”

“Where is it?” asked the real Fiona Faire.

Mubglub gestured to his fellow Vish, who began pulling back the leaves and stems at the base of the dome. Slowly, it was revealed that the dome was set atop a blue, platform base, upon which was stamped the mysterious words “Made in China”.

“Made in China, Made in China…” Farley muttered. “Where have I seen that before…” For a few seconds he looked puzzled, then startled recognition spread across his features. “It’s a snowglobe! My mom’s got lots—she collects them! ‘cept of course, they’re real little. They’re made out of plastic, and they’ve got little plastic people and houses inside. Hey, look at that!” He pointed through his little peephole toward the floor of the dome. “The floor is covered with snowglobe snow!”

The floor was indeed covered with that peculiar invention, snowglobe snow, as Fiona and Mubglub, peering through the peepholes, could clearly see. Mubglub stepped back and turned to Farley.

“It appears that this is most likely one of your mother’s ‘globes of snow’, made larger with Magic,” he stated.

Farley’s face screwed up in confusion.“But
why
? I don’t get it. What’s the point of sticking my mom and dad inside a snowglobe?”

At that moment, a flicker in the dome’s lighting caught their attention. Farley and Fiona quickly turned back to the peepholes. A dark rectangular space had appeared behind the empty chair at the dining room table.

“What’s that?” Farley asked, his voice nearly cracking with fear for his parents.

“The Doorway is opening,” Mubglub said.

“Could we use it to get in?” Fiona asked.

“It opens from another place. It is not available to us,” Mubglub told her.

“Why is it opening?” Farley asked.

“Someone comes,” the Vish replied simply.

Farley, watching through his peephole, suddenly stiffened and fell back in shock.

“What did you see?” Mubglub asked.

The boy opened his mouth, but no sound emerged. Fiona turned from her own peephole to answer the Vish, her face set in stone.

“Himself,” she said. “He saw Farley Bumblestook.”

Imperious nodded with satisfaction, as a Doorway flickered into being, deep inside Heart of the Mountain. Seconds later two figures emerged, struggling with something large and heavy, carried between them.

“Over here, over here,” the High Mage gestured, from his throne of natural stone.

Lance and Olivia watched anxiously, as two men entered the cavern. Their un-bearded youth and drab manner of garb (hoodless cloaks over simple, leaf-brown robes) proclaimed them to be Apprentice Wizards. The object they carried, covered by a dramatic drape of sapphire-blue silk, was nearly as tall as they and oddly shaped. They set it down before Imperious, bowed respectfully low and departed without a word.

With the aid of his staff, Impy slowly approached the object. Turning to the others, he pronounced, his voice echoing with power, despite its aged quaver;

“BEHOLD, THE ALL-SEEING SEEKING MIRROR, HONORED VESSEL OF THE SPIRIT OF AURELIUS, MOST POWERFUL OF ANCIENT SEERS!”

With a dramatic sweep of his arm, he gave a sharp tug to a corner of the cloth covering the object. The blue silk shroud shimmered, flowing like water as it moved over the mirror to spill onto the cavern floor.

Impy’s eyes, darting to the faces of the Heroes Faire, twinkled with mischievous satisfaction at the awe reflected there.

“Not really necessary, all that BEHOLD business, but I’m rather fond of the effect it creates,” he said with a chuckle.

Lance looked momentarily disconcerted and Olivia glared icily, while fleeting smiles tugged at the corners of Barra-Hoon’s and Rowena’s mouths.

All eyes then went to the Mirror. It was a standing mirror, with an ellipsoid, tarnished, pewter frame, as tall and as wide as a man. The metal was worked to represent the fantastic landscape of a vast Universe; although
which
Universe was not immediately clear. The Mirror itself, a long, silvery oval, floated freely within the frame with no apparent means of suspension. Strangely, though Impy stood directly before it, no manifestation of the Wizard’s reflection appeared within.

Imperious inspected it’s silvery surface. “If Bartholeumous’ visit to the one called Big Grey was successful, we may now be able to look in on the children,” he mused, tugging on his long white beard. “That is, of course, assuming that the Earthbound were the sole source of the interference.”

He reached out one long thin finger, giving the side of the mirror a flick, whereupon it began to spin along its width. As it spun, it picked up speed, emitting a high-pitched, whirring sound, like that of a washing machine on its final spin. Soon it became no more than a silvery blur.

Imperious raised his staff, calling out, “All-seeing Aurelius, hear us speak! Grant to us the sight we seek!”

The Mirror spun madly a few seconds more, while all in the cavern held their breath. Then, it began to slow, finally coming to a full stop. The Faires moved in closer, the better to view the flickering image.

“Why is it so green?” Olivia asked querulously, squinting at the murky color reflected in the mirror. At that moment, something flashed by, startling them all.

“What was that?” Lance cried out.

Olivia had no need to ask, for well she knew what creature moved in such fashion and where it could be found.

“It’s a Vish,” she pronounced flatly. “They live underwater. Lakes and ponds mostly. Not really the saltwater type.”

“Why would the Mirror show us a Vish, when it’s the children we’re looking for?” Lance asked.

“Obviously, the children are underwater,” Olivia responded tonelessly, eyes glued to the mirror.

“B-b-but—” Lance stammered, taken aback. His face sagged as reality sunk in. “W-w-what did we decide about those swimming lessons for Fiona—when was that—last Summer? Did we ever—did she—”

“Learn to swim? No. We decided to wait another year,” Olivia replied curtly.

“Oh,” Lance remarked, remorse writ plainly upon his features.

Everyone gasped involuntarily, as two more Vish flashed in and out of view.

“I believe I recognize one of them,” Barra-Hoon spoke up. “Mubglub, a minor chieftain of some sort.”

“Well, then, this is good news!” Impy exclaimed. “You should be able to contact him.”

The King of Beasts had already pulled a palm-sized slab of crystalline jade from a pocket inside his vest. His touch caused it to glow, whereupon he tapped a rapid pattern on its surface, with the sharp curved tip of a talon. “Mubglub of the Vish,” he commanded into the stone. “Heed my Call.”

Another flash of movement, within the mirror, drew everyone’s eyes. A single Vish hung at its center, nearly motionless, but for the minute movements of its flippers. Somehow, it managed to convey a look of puzzlement (difficult to do without benefit of eyebrows). Then, it darted away.

“Mubglub of the Vish,” Barra-Hoon repeated in an impatient growl. “Heed my Call!”

The Vish flitted back into view, once again suspending itself in the center of the Mirror. For a moment, it stared directly at them, then shook its head vigorously (as one might do to clear a ringing in one’s ears) and darted out of sight.

“What just happened?” Olivia asked, her voice high and tight, her eyes unnaturally bright as she turned toward Barra-Hoon.

Lance glanced at her with quick concern, sensing her emotions seething beneath the surface. He reached out and took her arm.

“Deep breaths, dear,” he cautioned, with a meaningful tilt of his head toward the King of Beasts. They were, after all, in the presence of the True Leaders of the People.

To his relief, she heeded his advice, taking a deep, cleansing breath before addressing Barra-Hoon again. “Sir,” she said (with a bow so shallow and short, it was obvious she preferred to dispense with decorum) “were you able to make contact with this Mubglub?”

Barra-Hoon shook his great head regretfully. “No, madam. Something, or some
one
interferes.”

Olivia closed her eyes briefly, then nodded curtly before whirling about and stalking away. Lance hurried after her.

“It’s that Bumblestook boy, I know it! He’s been trouble ever since he became involved with our daughter,” his wife hissed, coils of her pale hair rising as if to strike.

“An involvement that
we
initiated,” Lance reminded her, earning himself (literally) a stinging glance.

Impy rapped his staff upon the stone floor to re-call their attention. “All is not lost. There is a lake near an Overlord stronghold—the very place, in fact, where Kondor Dal and Bartholeumous are now headed. I think it is safe to assume that this is where the children are headed as well. And,
yes
Olivia,” he said, causing her locks to fall flat. “I believe you are right. The source of the interference must be the boy, Bumblestook. What leads me to this conclusion, you ask?” he said quickly, before Lance could form the question.

“Have none of you, with your clear, youthful vision spotted what I, an old geezer, have seen with my, admittedly, ancient peepers?” He gestured toward the Mirror, inviting them to look again.

Lance and Olivia hurried back to peer once more into the murky greenness. Barra-Hoon and Rowena also drew near.

“There,” Rowena pointed out. On the Mirror’s surface, at her finger’s tip, was a barely perceptible movement; not so much a form, as a current that went against the natural flow of the water. “It’s Osheanna! She’s free!”

Olivia sagged bonelessly against her husband, as if pure tension had been holding her up-right. Lance held her tightly, head bowed. Both closed their eyes, against the sudden onset of tears, born of relief.

“The Water Spirit is with them,” Olivia whispered. “They have Osheanna’s Blessing.”

“Apparently Bartholeumous’ gift to the Earthbound was well received. Since the Rock Beings now know they can trust us, they have no reason to interfere with our attempts to contact the boy,” Imperious explained. “
Ergo,
it is
not
the Earthbound who are causing the disturbance. It must be none other than the boy himself. I daresay he does not even realize he is doing it. No doubt, it is merely a manifestation of his Powers of Self Preservation, which I must say, are quite remarkable for one so young.”

“Not to mention, one so
Human
,” Lance amended in puzzlement.

“Or so
clumsy
,” Olivia added ruefully.

“Or so
puny
,” rumbled Barra-Hoon, flexing his immense shoulder muscles.

“Or so
clueless
,” Rowena chimed in, her dark brows coming together as one.

“Then we are all in agreement,” Impy declared, eyes a-twinkle. “Obviously, the child of whom the Book of Ages has foretold, can be none other than the boy,
Bumblestook
!”

The wrinkles and crinkles in the High Mage’s face deepened as he smiled benevolently, enormously pleased with this proclamation; apparently oblivious to the stunned silence that greeted it.

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

The steps of the newly-created, earthen stairway, were damp and studded with exposed rocks and roots. Flanked by walls of rushing water, they descended in switchback-style, into the deepening darkness below.

High above his head, Tom Foolery’s tail flicked back and forth, his whiskers twitched maddeningly and his ears lay plastered, flat against his skull. Every step brought them closer to the end of the stairway. The thought of traveling underwater weighed more and more heavily in his mind. As a Bungaree, he naturally possessed considerably more than the usual amount of curiosity. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on the circumstances) this also came with a healthy dose of imagination! His thoughts were filled with scenario after scenario of underwater adventures; all of them extremely wet and none of them pleasant.

Ahead of the Bungaree, the Gr-r-r-og skipped along merrily; stopping every five minutes or so to pull forth Chip, the Compass Rock, from his pocket. Furry little chest puffed with pride, he painstakingly inspected the rock, checking to be sure they were still headed in the right direction. Playfully, he rotated Chip in the palm of his hand, watching as the little lights moved across its surface to adjust to every new position.