Going Home (5/5)

(continued from The Routes of Sylvania)

Leaving the mountains behind us - which was a relief to me - we navigated the passages through the foothills until we reached the side of the canal. Pausing, Tara examined her watch.

"The boat's not due for over an hour. I can wait with you or we could go to my house for a cup of tea. It's only a five minute walk, and you could telephone Cecile to put her mind at rest."

I nodded. "That sounds good. And you'll have people you need to contact."

"Nigel mainly," she agreed. "We had an informal meeting arranged. I hope he didn't over react when I didn't turn up. He's a lovely man and I don't like to think he worried too much."

We started to walk to the canal bridge and I regarded her as she continued to speak about Nigel Snow-Warren. It was a little odd. She clearly loved him but I had the impression she wasn't used to relationships. Was she as work obsessive as Orton's parents? I hoped not.

She had put my mind to rest on one point. Getting in touch with her contacts at the Sylvanian Research Group she would make them aware of the situation we had unearthed. She was certain they would ensure that Erika and Martyn Burroughs would not be declared missing presumed dead, nor would their location be publicised. This gave Merlin and Eliza more options.

When the path joined the roadway to Tara's house a blue vehicle passed us, stopped and reversed until it reached us again. It was the Sheriff's van, and Bisto Wildwood regarded us curiously before he got out.

He nodded at me, and to his credit my clothes didn't get a reaction. 

"Jackson," was all he said in greeting before shifting his attention to Tara.

"Miss Lapine-Frost, you've got people worried about you. Nigel has been calling me two or three times a day to see if I've found you."

Tara didn't get flustered, but that didn't surprise me. What did surprise me was the persona she exhibited when she responded.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Sheriff. It was silly of me," she said with an embarrassed giggle, "my work took me away at short notice and I totally forgot I had an appointment. Am I in big trouble?"

Bisto half-closed one eye, and I had the impression that he was trying to assess this smiling rabbit, glowing with apparent innocence. Eventually his face relaxed and he smiled, shaking his head.

"No miss, but please would you telephone Nigel Snow-Warren and put his mind at rest?"

"I'm going home right now, Sheriff. It's the first thing I'll do. Only..."

"Yes?"

"Are you're going back to the village now?"

Bisto's eye narrowed again, reestablishing his curious attitude. He strung out a single word. "Yes?"

"It's just that Mister Butterglove has got a long wait until the canal boat arrives. Do you think you could give him a lift home? It would be very kind of you and I'm sure he'd be grateful." She continued to beam at the Sheriff.

I stared at her. Bisto stared at her. Then we looked at each other. Then Bisto spoke.

"Okay."

o 0 O 0 o

Driving along, Bisto and I sat in silence. I deduced that, unlike Tara, nobody had reported me missing. This generated an odd combination of relief and feeling unwanted, yet my mind was primarily occupied trying to formulate a believable reason for being close to Catsholme. Without lying too much.

I needn't have bothered. Bisto's mind was elsewhere. This was evidenced when he eventually broke the silence.

"Unusual woman."

"Yes."

"Is it odd that I actually felt a bit scared of her?"

"I can empathise."

"Nigel must be a complex person."

"Hmm."

The journey continued.

o 0 O 0 o

 
When the Sheriff's van came to a stop outside Butterglove House, I looked through the window. I thought I saw Brendan in an upstairs room but he disappeared from my sight fairly quickly.

Leaving the van I leaned in to thank Bisto for the lift. He was returning to his normal self, acknowledging my gratitude.

"That's okay, Jackson. Say hello to Cecile from me. Oh, and nice hat, by the way."

I watched the van drive away then walked up my front path.

When I reached to open my front door someone beat me to it. Brendan stared at me - I guess my clothing threw him momentarily off balance - and then a wide grin spread over his cheeky face. He gave me a welcome hug then stood back to regard me critically.

"Hi dad. You look cool. Wait 'til Uncle Chris and Mister Fielding see you."

I hadn't expected to be greeted by anyone other than Cecile and the children, but I suppose my prolonged absence had made that scenario less likely. I wanted to hug and kiss my family but... never mind "but". I would. I reached down and gently pushed Brendan indoors despite his repeated attempts to peer around me.

"No, Brendan," I said, answering his query, "Sheriff Wildwood just gave me a lift in his van. Now let me go and see your mum."

"Yeah, do that. I'll get Beverley," he replied, then ran into the depths of the house. I removed my hat and shook my head with amusement - it was good to be home - and walked on, pausing once I'd entered the living room.

Cecile, Chris and Darcy were clearly surprised at my entrance. Time seemed to slow down briefly, but my perceptions returned to normal when Cecile called out, her voice choked. She rushed towards me, and I to her, meeting to envelop each other in our arms.

"Jack, oh Jack," she began, but words were not important. We held each other until I became aware of Darcy and Chris standing to one side, silly smiles on their faces. Of course, they were not the only ones waiting. Brendan and Beverley were patiently waiting for their cuddles. Cecile and I separated and held out our arms to them.

Home.

o 0 O 0 o

Eventually, the levels of emotion became manageable. We convinced the children to leave the adults to talk, asking them to fetch Merlin and Eliza then take Russell to another room to play.

I thought it unfair to exclude Darcy and Chris from the explanations I was to give despite Tara's suggestions regarding secrecy. Of course, Darcy already knew some aspects from these "Life in Mellowdene" pieces, but it would be new to Chris. I didn't care. I believed my best friend deserved to be brought into our little group. As for Merlin and Eliza, it was necessary as they were affected. This didn't mean I would need to go into every detail at this stage.

The six of us settled and I began.

First, I double-checked that neither Merlin nor Eliza had spoken to Orton about his parents' suspected death. As per my suggestion they hadn't. At this point I outlined the reason for my recent absence and told them that there was reason to hope Martyn and Erika were still alive, and that people were searching for them. It wasn't exactly a lie. Misdirection certainly. People had been searching for them. A reveal of the full truth could wait.

Unsurprisingly everyone wanted more details. This took longer.

Eliza was aware of Rowan's tale of "The Land of Men"; like me, her brother Denzel had heard the tale first-hand, and again like me, upon hearing it she had dismissed it as a tale of fiction. Merlin hadn't originally paid much interest to Denzel's excited re-telling, but with my independent verification of the "speed tunnels", he started to remember folk tales he'd read in Hansel's Museum. One of his observations struck me.

"Early spoken stories used the term Roots of Sylvania, which everyone took to mean the mountains. I wonder if this should have been Routes of Sylvania and they were transcribed incorrectly."

I could see my brother re-reading old documents to satisfy his curiosity. I suspect Eliza had similar thoughts when she turned to Merlin and mouthed, "Not a priority, love."

Chris surprised me most. He didn't exhibit the slightest incredulity at the concept or existence of speed tunnels. He merely wanted to know who else knew about the tunnels. Did all the hill cats know? Did I think Tara would tell his brother about our experiences? Questions I could not answer with any degree of confidence.

All recognised that, irrespective of how many people already knew, we had a responsibility not to increase that number.

After all the discussions about the miraculous network of speed tunnels, Eliza brought us back to common sense matters.

"As far as Orton's concerned, I don't believe it makes any difference to what we should tell him," she said. "Despite the letter from Tiberius Rivers we couldn't have been totally certain his parents had drowned. And now, even though it's more likely they're alive, we have no idea when or if they will return. Either way it is kinder to keep quiet. I don't want to upset our little lad."

Our little lad. The phrase made me wonder how Eliza and my brother would cope if Orton's parents did return. Or Orton. I even wondered if my journey with Tara into the routes of Sylvania had been a good idea. Had we kicked a wasps' nest? Either way, I had put Cecile to an awful lot of worry.

As our visitors left - Darcy and Chris to their respective homes, Merlin and Eliza migrating to their side of our house - I glanced at Cecile. We needed something to put this stressful time behind us. It appeared I wasn't the only one to think that way. Cecile took hold of my paw.

"I was beginning to think I'd lost you, Jack."

"I'm sorry, my love."

"We need to do something together. Something fun."

"I'm open to suggestions."

"You remember our first date?"

"You're not suggesting I wear a suit of armour?"

"No, my darling idiot. I was thinking of bubble bath."

"The beetroot bubble bath! Staining Rowan bright pink! That was funny."

"Who could we prank?"

"Cecile! You're..."

"Naughty?"

I kissed her. "No. Perfect."

o 0 O 0 o

Editor's note

Given the stressful experiences of Jackson and Cecile over this past week, I think they are due a holiday. At the very least, I shall take over the Life in Mellowdene writing for a time. Hopefully a short time.

Darcy Fielding

The Routes of Sylvania (4/5)

(continued from Butterglove Losses)

Tara Lapine-Frost walked into the cave with a confidence that assured me that she was totally familiar with her surroundings. 

A shallow cave, my eyes adjusted to the dimness and I watched Tara move to a area where a small alcove was cut into the rock wall. Reaching to her neck she pulled a pendant from her blouse and casually waved it over something within the alcove. In response, a circular shadow appeared in the wall, darkening until it was no longer a shadow but an opening.

"Okay, here we go," she said. "This first portal will take us to a chamber that is a handy junction for getting to nodes in this area. You won't need to help me just yet, so..." - she gave a little laugh - "...just enjoy the scenery."

She strode through the opening and I tentatively followed. I was going to ask about lighting and how we would see where we were going but there was no need. Once inside the chamber I could see everything although I couldn't see the source of the illumination. It wasn't bright but we were far from blind. I could see further openings in three directions, not counting the one behind me. Tara waited until I was in the centre of the chamber then she went back and did something that closed the entry portal. I was committed to continue.

Something in my face must have showed I was nervous, for Tara peered at me.

"We don't need a key to get out from here, Jackson. The crystal I've just activated? You could wave your hand over it and the portal would temporarily open for you. No need for security here. This route's used to transport goods and it would be inconvenient to fiddle around with crystal alignment." She pointed to the other openings in turn going right to left. "That way leads to the main tunnels and the rest of Sylvania. That one leads to a node that brings you - reasonably quickly - to an exit that overlooks Acorn Valley which, I seem to recall, was a place Rowan was shown. The other is the one that we take. We'll encounter a few closed portals and a few junctions but I can deal with those rapidly. Just keep close and we'll soon be half way there."

I nodded and followed her, not speaking. As we progressed she must have noticed my silence and began to talk, presumably to allay any potential fears I might have.

"They're amazing, these tunnels. I never cease to wonder about them. I asked one of the physicists at the Sylvanian Research Group about them. He started spouting about discontinuous space and energy levels. Didn't understand much. The best analogy this rabbit scientist used - before he gave up on me - was that I should think about roads in a village. Some routes lead out, winding mile upon mile before reaching another village. That's normal traveling. And there are roads that are dead ends; cul-de-sacs that ordinarily prevent you traveling further. But, the rabbit said, what if there was a method by which a cul-de-sac in one village that, given the right vehicle, could connect to a cul-de-sac in another village? That would be a route one could zip through in no time."

She looked over her shoulder at me. "Told you. Amazing. Although when I asked how that could happen he started to mumble about discontinuities again. I don't think he really knew the answer. He said it would take a lot of energy to compress the intermediate space - maybe leakage explains the lighting - but couldn't say how that could happen. I suspect no-one really understands the science. No doubt there are dozens of spiritual theories. Like binding Sylvania to what humans call the real world. Maybe your Snow Queen had something to do with it, eh?" 

I let her ramble on. I wasn't a scientist or particularly spiritual. How could I attempt to explain it? Even Newton might be stumped. I shook myself. I wasn't here to understand the mysteries of the universe. Back in Mellowdene there was a little boy who might not be an orphan. I was here to see if Martyn and Erika Butterglove survived a shipwreck.

o 0 O 0 o

We had been travelling just under an hour when she beckoned me forward.

"We've come a long way but now I need your help. The next portal won't open unless we work together like I explained. We need to enter the outer tunnels that circle Sylvania. From there there are secure portals that lead to the real world. What you call the Land of Men?"

I stared at her.

"Now, don't worry, we're not going there. But by travelling along this outer circle we can reach a part of the network that is closer to Needle Peak. The advantage of going this way is that we are less likely to meet any Guardians. There will be a handful of secure portals as we traverse the outer circle but we can manage those."

She directed me to another small alcove. Inside there was a semicircular hollow cut into the rock. In the hollow lay a colourless crystal orb, hundreds of facets covering its surface.

"Listen to it when it starts to hum, then rotate it until all the tones you can hear coincide."

Moving a few steps away she again presented her pendant to another alcove where I supposed there was a matching crystal arrangement. In less than a minute I heard a quiet humming so moved my ear closer. It sounded like five - no six - notes in a discord. I gently turned the crystal, first on on axis, then the second, then the third. Some of the tones changed, but not all. When I realised that three of the tones were unchanging I had a revelation. I needed to tune the three changing tones to the others until the chord was as one.

The crystal responded wildly so I needed a delicate touch. I was aware of Tara watching me in expectation but she didn't comment. She knew that this was my area of expertise and distractions wouldn't help.

Five minutes, and then the wall began to darken. Tara withdrew her pendant, hissing "Yes!" and moved to my side, squeezing my arm in celebration. We had succeeded.

o 0 O 0 o

Moving through the portal, Tara closed it behind us and we moved onwards. We passsed through six more secure portals, and Tara took pains to show she was taking care selecting each one. Clearly she was taking the trouble to make sure I wouldn't be exposed to the Land of Men, or at least assure me that she was doing so. With experience, each portal became easier to manipulate and by the end I was taking fractionally under a minute to help unlock our route between the tunnel nodes. Oddly, my hat was proving useful. I could lift the brim to hear the crystal, but it helped block out any ambient noise - not that there was much - so that I could concentrate on the task..

"Right," said Tara. "You've done well, Jackson. There's one more that will take us back to the main tunnels. Once there, we'll have to make sure you're not seen as we'll be crossing nodes that may be in use. After that there will be one more secure portal that will take us to a group of nodes that lead to the eastern islands. We'll reach Needle Peak from one of these."

I wondered how a Guardian would react to my presence. Rowan had hidden from them for close to ten years. Was his care unwarranted? Logic told me that this was Sylvania and Rowan had been an idiot. And yet my stomach churned with apprehension. No sense in stopping, though.

Forty seconds, and we were through. Tara didn't let me dally. She led the way, vigilant but determined to leave this section of the tunnels as soon as possible. 

She took us directly to the lock for the relevant secure portal and we set to work on the crystals.

Whilst we were busy we heard footsteps getting closer. They urged us to work faster. I thought we were out of time when Tara indicated she would attempt to distract the approaching figures, but...

 

...the wall darkened, we rushed forward and fell through to the other side. Tara immediately nudged the crystal to make the portal disappear behind us.

Tara smiled widely and punched me on the arm. "Knew you could do it. We'll soon be there to check Needle Peak, and once we know what happened there we'll backtrack and you can go back to Cecile."

My returning smile was weaker. Back home to Cecile and the children. A tuna salad had been promised. Extra grated carrot. Normally this would have my eyes shining but the morning's events had taken their toll.

o 0 O 0 o

True to her word we were soon standing in a small cavern that, I was told, would connect to the cave on Needle Peak.

She didn't wave her pendant, instead examining the position of the relevant crystal. She beckoned me over to look. Instead of resting in a semicircular hollow, the crystal was sitting part way along a ridge-bottomed trough, the trough pivoted and at a slight angle.

"It's a mechanism that automatically closes a portal after a short delay. The crystal moves along each time. Those familiar with navigating through the nodes will manually reset it by habit. They are trained to do so."

She smiled at me. "There's little likelihood that any Guardians or other authorised people used this portal recently. But someone did."

To me it seemed tenuous evidence that Martyn and Erika passed through, but Tara was convinced.

"This is only the first clue," she said. "All portals to the eastern islands work the same way. Unsecured with auto-closure. They have to be. They are virtually inaccessible by sea. If the Buttergloves came through from Needle Peak, then there aren't many places they could go. Not the secured way we came. They would have to be on one of the other islands."

She seemed to be waiting for me to jump to a conclusion. I, on the other hand, didn't want to play guessing games. I shrugged. Tara pouted.

"Aw, come on, Jackson. Didn't I just explain how to recognise if someone has passed through an auto-closure portal?"

"Are you saying we can check if they've gone to another island?"

"That's right. And if we can prove that, I have something to present to the Guardians once I've got you back home. They can do the searching."

With this as our plan Tara led me to each portal. We found three that had been used, except the crystals implied that each had been used twice. Out to an island and back. It was puzzling. By all indications Orton's parents had survived, but they hadn't stayed anywhere. So where were they?

Tara came to a decision. "I can't understand it but we won't figure it out here. Let's get you home and then I will go to the Guardians to see Felixor and tell him what I've found."

Walking back to the secure portal I told myself that we'd achieved what we'd come to discover. A strong possibility that Martyn and Erika were alive. I shouldn't feel so disappointed that we didn't know where they were now.

At our destination, Tara reached for her pendant, then she stared at me, eyes wide. "The key isn't there."

"What?"

"The last time I used it was when we rushed to get here. If it came loose from my pendant out there then... we're trapped."

o 0 O 0 o

I could tell you the details of what we did next, and maybe I will one day. I'll simply summarise. Firstly, we couldn't find the key. Tara took me through to an island where the climate was kind and where food and water were plentiful. This sustained us whilst Tara tried to fabricate a new key using her knowledge of inorganic chemistry. She had scavenged some materials from the island and had borrowed a crystal from another portal. but wasn't confident she could succeed. Even if a makeshift key could be constructed to bypass this first obstacle, there were many others to overcome should we attempt to retrace our original route. Logically we would need to approach the Guardians.

On the fourth day, whilst she was working at the secure portal the decision was taken out of our hands. The rock wall faded into a circular opening. A black-robed cat was standing beyond. A member of the Mist Cat tribe. A Guardian holding Tara's key in its paw.

o 0 O 0 o

We were taken through what seemed a maze of tunnels to emerge into daylight. Tara whispered to me that we were within the foot hills of the Sylvanian central mountains.

Before long we were brought to a large tent. Within, an elderly cat was seated, watching us with interest although she didn't speak. I learned this was the Matriarch of the Mist Cats, and I removed my hat in respect to her position.

However, we were not there to address her. We were there to see Felixor, the cat who was effectively in charge. He didn't appear happy to see a strange rabbit. By that I mean me.

"Tara. I wasn't expecting you. And who is this? Someone who shouldn't be here, that's who. This is extraordinary behaviour. Not something I would associate with you at all."

"I'm happy to explain," said Tara. There was no sign of contrition from her. She may not have been confident when trying to build a key, but all signs of self-doubt had disappeared by the way she presented herself.

"I'm not sure you can, Tara," said Felixor. "Revealing our secrets to an outsider isn't acceptable. You know that."

"Really?"

By her tone of voice, I knew there was a shared knowledge of... something, but I wasn't to find out. "But never mind that. I'll simply introduce you to Jackson Butterglove."

"I don't care who..." He stopped. "Butterglove?"

"Butterglove."

"Any relation...?"

"Brother. Twin, I believe."

"Are you saying that he already knew... That his... brother... had already..."

"Would that be so unusual, Felixor? They are a close family."

I had to stop myself from staring or asking any questions. They were talking about Newton. He worked for the Sylvanian Research Group after all. It's just that I hadn't made the connection. Why wasn't I surprised that he might be aware of the speed tunnels? He rarely went into details about his work.

Felixor seemed uncertain. "Well, it's an unconventional approach. You really should have come to see me before sneaking around with a new initiate."

Tara laughed. "He's not an initiate, Felixor. We've come for a specific purpose. We believe there are two other Butterglove relations lost somewhere in the network."

"That's unlikely. What leads you to suspect this?"

"They are zoologists who were shipwrecked at Needle Peak. It looks like they found their way here and visited a few of the other eastern islands before getting lost."

"Zoologists? We found two rabbits a few weeks ago and they were zoologists. But they were called Burroughs, not Butterglove."

I could have kicked myself for not remembering. Erika's maiden name was Burroughs. She was already a noted zoologist with books published under that name when she married her colleague Martyn Butterglove. Although legally they were called Butterglove, they continued to use the name Burroughs within their profession. This was, in part, the reason why Orton was placed in an orphanage. Sylvanian Children's Services thought he was called Orton Burroughs.

I spoke. "That's their professional name. They are Orton's parents. Orton Butterglove."

Felixor regarded me. "Yes, they did mention someone called Orton. We didn't know he was their child."

Tara shook her head in wonderment. "Erika Burroughs. Who would have thought?"

I could not keep silent. "So where are they?"

Felixor raised his paw. "There's no need to be concerned. They are safe. When we discovered their credentials we agreed to their request to return to Calicorpia to continue the work they'd started."

"Calicorpia?"

Tara explained. "It's a particularly isolated land mass in the eastern islands. The range of plants and wildlife is incredibly wide."

"That's what the Burroughs had found," Felixor confirmed, "and they were excited about it. They pleaded to go back there to document it all, claiming that the knowledge would be invaluable to help conserve rare creatures. Years worth of knowledge that they were particularly qualified to gather."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "But they've got a little boy! What were they thinking?"

Felixor rubbed a paw over his forehead. "I suppose that's what they meant when I heard them say that they had made provision, and after almost a year they wouldn't want to disrupt matters."

"They chose to abandon their son!"

Tara took my arm. "Jackson, there will always be a rare few who have priorities that conflict with Sylvanian family ideals. The books Erika Burroughs published - even after she married - were highly motivated towards conservation."

She must have seen that this didn't impress me so she tried another approach.  "Look at it this way. Maybe by 'disrupting matters' they thought that it would be unfair on Orton to wrench him away from a place where he could be settled.  You have to think what's best for the boy."

o 0 O 0 o

I was deflated. I hadn't expected this. As we were escorted through the tunnels by the most direct route I found myself thinking of Orton.

The boy was older than his years. His parents probably loved him in their own way but they were highly dedicated to their work. Orton's knowledge of wildlife had clearly been impressed upon him by his association with countless zoological projects. He had been in danger of losing his childhood.

But then he came to Mellowdene and was given loving surrogate parents in the form of Merlin and Eliza. Dear Eliza who couldn't have children of her own. And an extended family who had taken him to their hearts. Seeing the happiness of Orton and my Brendan playing together was one of life's pleasures.

Emerging into the light part way up the mountain near Catsholme, I had resigned myself to the news of Orton's parents. However I had no idea how I'd tell Merlin and Eliza about the situation. What - if anything -would they tell Orton? But that wasn't the only potential problem: What would we do if the Sylvanian authorities wanted to publicly declare they believed the Burroughs dead?

I waited until Tara had joined me. She had been lagging behind, intent on reattaching her retrieved key to her pendant.

She placed a paw on my arm. "Are you alright, Jackson?"

I tried to smile back. "I will be. I just want to go home."

o 0 O 0 o