Tomorrows Child (38 page)

“Sort of, that
was about foreigners causing a burden on other countries.”

“Yes, that’s
right. Most governments provided free transport to get their
citizens home. If you didn’t have a national card to say you
belonged to that country, you couldn’t get food.”

“Maybe Basil’s
son made it back to Australia after all,” I yawned.

“Well, my dear,
you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow and Phoenix will be up at
the crack of dawn, so you’d better get some sleep.”

Fallon stood on
her veranda and waved as we rode away. I felt sad leaving her alone
like this. We asked her to come with us, but she refused. This was
her home and her responsibilities didn’t end because the world had.
We made sure Fallon knew the way to our valley and she promised to
visit soon.

Fallon had
given us two beautiful horses. Mine was a chestnut mare called
Petal. She was Fallon’s favourite mare and the only one she trusted
to take me home safely. Phoenix rode a huge, stocky, bay gelding
that danced all over the place when Phoenix first got on his back.
Apparently, he was excited to be going on an adventure. The mare
was a bit shorter than the gelding, fourteen hands high, Fallon
said, but I felt safer being closer to the ground.

When I was
growing up, I wanted a pony just like a million other girls. It was
totally impractical while we lived in the bus and travelled around,
but I nagged Mum anyway. That year, she bought me a Barbie horse
for my birthday. I am pretty sure I snapped her legs off trying to
ride the golden filly to town!

“I wish you had
seen all Fallon’s photos last night. It was amazing. Ruben would
have loved to see what really happened in the end.”

“It’s probably
better if most people don’t get to see it,” Phoenix rode ahead of
me and had to turn in the saddle to talk to me. “Fallon said you
were pretty upset.”

“Not so much,
shocked, but not sad. I guess I was more horrified than anything
else.”

“Catch up if
you want to talk to me, I’ll have a crooked back if I keep turning
around like this.” I was not sure I could catch up. I just let the
mare go wherever she wanted and focused on staying on her back.
“Come on Petal,” I thought, “Catch up to Phoenix.” Immediately, the
mare increased her pace and slowed when we were shoulder to
shoulder. “Happy now?” I heard in my head.

I was probably
just imagining things, but it felt like the mare was talking to
me.

Phoenix looked
down, “That’s better, now you can talk.” But I didn’t have anything
to say to him. I did, however, continue my conversation with the
mare.

“Are you sad to
leave Fallon and all your friends at the station?” It was silent
for a moment and I was sure I was just imagining things.

“Not so much,”
I heard, “Fallon said she would come and get us eventually and even
if she doesn’t, I think you and I will become good friends.”

Holy crap, now
I must be losing it. “Phoenix, I think the mare is talking to
me.”

Phoenix looked
at me for a few moments, “I guess anything is possible, who knows
what gifts you have and what effect the stone will have on them,”
he shrugged.

Phoenix was
impossible. I never knew if he had the answer and was forbidden to
tell me or if he really didn’t know.

I continued to
talk to the mare as we plodded along. It didn’t really matter if
the words in my head came from her or if it was my imagination.
When I got home, I would try it with Pepper. That would be
amazing!

“Do you want to
stop?” Phoenix asked.

“No, how long
do you think it will take to get home?”

“All day and
then some. It will probably be quite dark by the time we arrive.
It’s a good thing we have the horses; it will save a lot of time.”
Phoenix handed me an orange. “By the way, when did you discover we
needed to be home in two days?”

“After we found
the stone, and I slept.” Sweet orange juice ran down my arms and
dripped on Petal’s back, “I dreamt about what I had to do
next.”

“And?”

“There are a
heap of kids like me ready with their stones. Some are not far from
here; there are hundreds of us, maybe even thousands. I got the
impression they have been ready for a long time. We were born for
this.”

“That’s what I
have been trying to tell you. Destiny! There’s no escaping it.”

“I think this
stone is the most important; it has been protected by the earth
since the beginning of time, waiting for this day. It has to be the
first stone that’s put in place so it’s important that I’m not
late.”

“Do you know
where you have to go?” Phoenix smiled.

“No, not yet,
but I will, when it’s time,” I said. Phoenix was still smiling,
“You know! You have known all along. This is so unfair!” I didn’t
bother asking what else he knew, he wouldn’t tell me anyway.

It was strange
being back in the valley. The peaceful, simple life was a startling
contrast to the world that surrounded us. The loneliness of Fallon
and the poverty of the Sanctuary made me appreciate my life more
than ever. The emptiness in Heather’s eyes and the blackness of
Volante’s soul would forever haunt my dreams.

But the safety
of the valley had been shattered during the raid and in a few short
days, Ruben had transformed into the military man of his youth. He
was paranoid and obsessed with security. It was impossible to guard
the hundreds of acres maintained by the families in the valley and
even harder to secure the thousands of acres of rainforest beyond
that.

But he
tried.

Lachlan and
Seth were still recovering; so much of the maintenance fell to
Ruben, Luke and the boys. But even with all the extra work, Ruben
still managed to turn the little valley into a military encampment.
A perimeter had been determined and a system created that kept
everyone alert and prepared.

Phoenix slipped
back into the daily routine as if he’d never left and accepted
Ruben’s reaction to the raid without question. On the other hand, I
struggled with even the simplest tasks and my mind wandered. The
journey had been hard on my body. My feet throbbed from the walking
and my legs ached from riding home. My bum felt bruised and the
blisters on my feet were raw, but I gathered firewood and weeded
gardens, prepared spring beds, carted mulch and planted seeds.

My mind,
however, was on the stone that sat on the kitchen table. I could
feel it throb with life even when I wasn’t in the house. In its
presence, I felt safe and it drew me in like a forbidden love and
then played in my mind like an addiction, unsated.

It called me
now.

The milky stone
sat lopsided on the table, a flawless, uncut diamond, out of place
in our imperfect world. No one else could feel it pulse the way I
did or see the life that radiated within. To me it was alive. Libby
could feel the heat, but to her it was still a stone.

Alone in the
house, the stone called louder than before and I knew it was
time.

I took the
stone in my palm and felt the smoothness against my skin. The
energy around me changed and everything became clear. It was as if
I had always known the truth about me and the truth of the stone.
Like a memory revealed. But I knew there was more.

I took the
stone and walked the path to the bottom of the garden. Amongst all
the beds of vegetables and herbs, there was a special garden, a
secluded spot hidden from the daily hustle. A bed of chamomile rose
in the centre, surrounded by flowers and scented plants. I rested
on the camomile and placed the stone over my heart. I felt it pulse
in time with my beating heart and the energy that coursed through
me was pure and warmed me ‘til I was flushed and trembled.

But then the
wind caught my hair and I was standing on a hilltop, looking down
on the world below. The stone was in my hand. I saw it all, the
truth, the knowledge, everything was revealed in a single moment.
Events from the past linked together like a puzzle revealed. Some
of the puzzle remained unsolved and pieces lay strewn across the
table. I was confused. Was this my life to come or the pieces from
the past that didn’t fit?

The image faded
and the puzzle fell to my feet and became the earth. And so it
went, until I was left with no doubt about the purpose of my life
and my responsibility to the stone.

I returned to
the house and read the words of the vision, written in the book by
the same hand that wrote the scrambled words from my dreams. But
these words made sense. Perhaps it was because I was certain of
their meaning or the stone had calmed the chaos within. I wasn’t
sure what the reason was, but it didn’t matter because the words
were clear.

On the eve of
the equinox, the healing stone will travel

Dawn reveals a
perfect light and Heaven’s door will open

Libby stood at
the table reading the words.

“Look, Psyche,
there is something written in the book.” Libby had witnessed my
response to the last entry in the book and her expression said it
all. “They don’t rhyme, but they almost make sense.”

I smiled,
saying “It’s okay, Libby, they make sense to me,” and she let out a
breath of relief.

“So…” Libby
waited.

I told her of
the mountain and the stone and all I had seen. I told her of the
children whom I believed were the same as I and how the images that
meant nothing to me a week ago, now made perfect sense.

“I know where
you need to go,” she said.

“Yes, you will
lead the way,” I said, “I saw you in the vision, Emily too.”

“Emily? Do you
know why Emily needs to come?”

“Yes I do, but
there isn’t time to explain now. We leave tonight, it’s the eve of
the equinox.”

“That much is
pretty clear,” she said.

If it weren’t
for Libby needing to show the way, Phoenix and I may have taken the
horses, but it would have been unfair to ride and make anyone else
walk. We set out as the sun was setting as if we were pilgrims
heading for the promised land.

Persephone was
on my mind. I knew she protected me, but like Phoenix, she kept
things hidden. Secrets that I needed to discover on my own. Life
would be so much easier if I just had the facts. But who of mortal
blood, has the right to demand answers from a goddess? Surely not
I.

The spring
equinox is Persephone’s day, the day she steps from the Underworld
and walks the earth beside her mother, Demeter. She transforms from
Queen of the Underworld into the Spring Maiden. As the spring
maiden, she represents life, and emerges new and fresh.

Persephone is
my goddess and I have much to thank her for. Tomorrow, when day and
night are equal, I will spend time in the sacred garden with my
goddess. My plan had not fully formed and the details were sketchy.
But I knew enough now about the myth and reverence that I was sure
it would come to me in time.

Tonight, we
walked in near darkness toward the fulfilment of the prophecy. My
mind settled back, away from the goddess and toward our
destination. It was a short walk, compared to our journey to find
the stone and the years that had passed since the birth of the
prophecy. In less than two hours, we would stand at the base of the
mountain; and two hours after that, we would arrive at Darnell’s
Peak wait for dawn.

The moon was
almost full and the golden orb hung heavy above the horizon. She
was closer tonight than usual and ringed in a luminescent blue
glow. Her energy streamed through me and I became aware of my
beating heart and the inhale and exhale of my breath.

The earthy
scent of the forest filled my nose and mingled with the crispness
of the air. We may have stood on the eve of spring, but winter
still held the night with a tenacious grip. In a few days, the
chill of winter would be just a memory as the wheel turned, unaided
by the hand of man. The days would warm and the earth would be
blessed with new life.

Emily walked
beside me, in place of my mother. She would sing the song my mother
had been destined to sing. I loved Emily, but a sense of melancholy
descended as I considered her presence and the role she would play
in the prophecy. But I couldn’t blame Emily.

“Are you sure
you understand?” I asked her.

“Yes, Psyche,
your mother told me I would have to stand in her place. She knew
this when she bound you. She knew the price even then,” said
Emily.

Mum was the
singer of songs. I didn’t understand when I read the prophecy, but
there was so much I didn’t understand in the beginning. The singers
were called to heal the earth, repair the lay lines that
crisscrossed the earth and wove the fabric of life by acting as
pathways for the energy.

Mum had sung
the healing songs my entire life. It was why we left the valley,
why we travelled like gypsies, and why she sang. It was why we
walked to the tops of mountains and stood in ravines. It was why
she sang wherever we went; she was healing the energy lines. I just
thought she loved to sing.

Mum had the
voice of an angel and so did Emily. I knew in my heart that Emily
was the perfect choice. No one could replace my mother, but Emily
could sing the final song of the prophecy.

Libby was also
with us. Of course, Libby was with us! Even if she didn’t have to
show the way, she would have come regardless. She knew where the
prophecy would end, she always had. This path had been travelled
many times. The way had been designed years before my birth when
her mother built the foundation where I would lay the stone.

Phoenix and
Tahinah had also walked this path, and they also knew the way. They
stood on the peak and looked across the valley in the days before I
arrived. It was insurance and reassurance, in case Libby didn’t
survive in these final days and I didn’t return. I was surprised
that Libby’s faith had faltered, but my absence created uncertainty
in Libby’s heart. If only for a moment, it was enough.