Finding a Way (2) - A Visit from Aristotle

The owlets must have passed on my message as the following day there was a visitor to Butterglove House. The Professor himself. Cecile brought him through and he didn't waste time on too much small talk. Not that I expected irrelevancies from Aristotle Treefellow.

"Jackson. Cecile. I apologise for imposing upon you, and I should also express my regret on allowing my boys to help me without clearer instructions. I did not want them to issue a summoning, merely an invitation and I'm sorry if they caused offence."

"Not offended as such..." I began.

"No, no. They are somewhat eager in their approach and that sometimes is at the expense of their social skills. We have reminded them to be more considerate."

I wasn't sure eager was the right word, but I accepted the apology.

 

"Very gracious of you," said Aristotle. He looked at a nearby table. "If I may perch? My feet are clean and it will save either of us cricking our necks..."

We acknowledged his point and he positioned himself so that we could comfortably see each another. He continued. "Now, the reason I needed to talk with you."

He briefly glanced at Cecile. I suspected he was wondering whether or not he should proceed in her presence but any indecision was eliminated when Cecile sat - she wasn't going anywhere - and addressed the estimable owl.

"We're both listening," she said. I tried not to smile. 

"Good," said Aristotle. "As you may suspect, it relates to the skill you demonstrated manipulating crystal regulators. How you did this manually by effectively tuning the harmonics..."

He broke off when he saw Cecile pull a face. She took the opportunity to speak.

"Professor. I hear you're not a fan of ambiguity so I'll be clear. My husband will probably try to be polite and give you the mistaken impression that you can talk him around." She took a breath and carried on before Aristotle could respond. "The underground adventure affected him and was not an experience he cares to repeat. So if you're here to lure him down into those speed tunnel things, I'll save you time by declining on his behalf. Is that okay, Jack?"

 

I nodded and turned my attention to the Professor. "What she says."

Aristotle stared at Cecile and after a pause he succumbed to a squawking sound that I realised was laughter.

"Goodness, Cecile!" he laughed. "You're right. I do appreciate plain speaking and I can assure you both that what I have to ask doesn’t involve venturing into those 'speed tunnel things' as you call them. Felixor from the Mist Cat Tribe had already informed me of your feelings on that matter. It does, however, involve the crystals and talking about what you might call portals."

"Well, that's alright then," said Cecile. "May I offer you a cup of tea?"

 

"Kind of you, Cecile, but no thank you. If I may explain my request?"

"Please go ahead, Professor," I said, feeling much more relaxed now I knew that going under the mountains wasn't the subject in hand.

"Excellent," said Aristotle. "Now without going into the physics of all this, I'd like to first explain about these portals. We believe the tunnels were created as a by-product of Sylvania becoming fused with the greater world many many years ago, a mysterious energy compressing distances. Where tunnels intersect there is a degree of instability. Sometimes the way through is open. Sometimes it is closed. After a time we discovered a way of controlling this unpredictable state of affairs."

"The crystals?" I ventured.

"Precisely. The discovery of a translucent mineral that safely channels the energy was the turning point. The raw mineral needed to be shaped into a polyhedron... a regularly shaped crystal... to make them easier to control, effectively making each junction or nexus stable, and this was a task given to the Sylvanian Research Group."

"...where Newton works," commented Cecile.

"Yes, but not in that department," said Aristotle. "Now where was I? Oh yes. The junctions have one or more crystals embedded around them to keep the portal either open or closed by default. Smaller key crystals are carried by authorised travellers to flip the state of the portal."

"Like the one Tara Lapine-Frost carries," I added.

 

"Correct, but a number of portals need more than one key. Or someone with your natural skill to do it manually."

"Natural skill, Jack," said Cecile. "I knew there had to be a reason I love you."

I blew her a kiss. Aristotle seemed momentarily confused - but then he put Cecile's flirting aside. I took advantage of the hold up to make a point.

"This is very interesting but I'm unclear how this explains what you need from me, Professor."

 

"I'm getting there, Jackson. It relates to that shiny unprocessed mineral. We are aware of only one source of this. We've been extracting small amounts for years, but we only take a little when we need a rock to be processed. The main routes under Sylvania have been made safe and other areas that need addressing aren't urgent. As a consequence, we don't currently hold any of the unprocessed mineral."

He sighed. "Last week we decided to work on a new project but we hit a major snag. We discovered our source is no longer accessible. Something has changed and the solitary path to it is blocked. It is akin to a portal being closed to us. Before you ask, this is above ground. There is a small area within Sylvania that cannot be reached, be it by foot or by air."

I was surprised to hear of portals - or their equivalents - being above ground. Cecile hadn't personally experienced these unusual doorways so presumably didn't appreciate the enormity of something similar - something immense - blocking off a region of Sylvania. She was looking at matters logically.

"I take it that your key crystals don't work," she said.

"There is nothing for them to pair with," said Aristotle. "I've discussed it with Arabella as my wife communicates more regularly with the Owl Collective. There was a suggestion that an unprocessed crystal might allow a path to be opened, but it would require someone to carry both it and a key crystal to achieve this. And that person would need..."

 

"A natural skill," said Cecile.

 

"You understand," said the Professor. "Jackson may be able to open a path to the source."

"Is it really that important?" said Cecile.

"If it was just the unprocessed mineral, then - although it would be inconvenient - no. However, there is the village too. They are as isolated."

"What village?"

"Didn't I say? The blocked region also contains a small community. Granted, they don't often venture beyond their village but that should be their choice, not some random phenomenon."

 

 

"What village?" repeated Cecile.

"Chunglewood. You've probably never heard of it."

I remembered one of Darcy Fielding's recent blogs. "Isn't that where Ricardo Porcini comes from?"

 

"Quite possibly. I think a Porcini family lives there." 

"So he won't be able to visit his family?" said Cecile. "That's awful."

"Might you be persuaded to help, Jackson?" said Aristotle, clearly encouraged by Cecile's reaction.

"Where is it?"

"You're no doubt aware of Tall Tree Forest at the boundary of Mellowdene County..."

Cecile pounced on this information. "Jack's got relatives that live near there, Aristotle. The Cornflowers. Only recently, Wester Cornflower was telling us about weird things happening there. His son is trying to map out the odd ways in and out."

"Interesting. It is true that the energies there already blocked off most routes from the outside. Now they're all seemingly gone."

"Jack?"

Two pairs of expectant eyes awaited my answer. It wasn't underground. It wasn't too far to travel. And rescuing a village does appeal to the ego.

"Let's say I'm not against the idea. But I'd need more information."

 

"That's good of you, Jackson," said Aristotle. "All we need is an unprocessed crystal. What we often call a proto-crystal. The lack of one may render this entire conversation pointless."

"You haven't got any at all?"

"No. As I said, they come from the vicinity of Chunglewood, and we only take them as and when they need to be processed."

I thought about this. "I see. Like the only key for a room being inside that room but everyone is locked outside."

Cecile was frowning. "Before, you used words like translucent. What exactly do these unprocessed crystals look like?"

"Shiny stones. Like large glass pebbles. Why?"

"Do you know Morwenna Deerheart? Rowena Moss's sister?"

"Not well. Is she the one who became interested in mysticism?"

 

"That's her. She tends to gather all sorts of weird objects and I seem to recall Ricardo Porcini bringing her some unusual stones that sound like what you describe."

 

"Stones? More than one? That is exceedingly useful to know." Aristotle clicked his beak. "I think a visit is in order."

 

He made moves to leave, pausing to add, "If Morwenna Deerheart has some proto-crystals and she is prepared to lend one to us, we can make a start forming an expedition. If you're agreeable in principle, I will be back in touch when preparations are made."

 

o 0 O 0 o

After the Professor had gone, Cecile put on her serious face.

"Did I pressure you, love? I'm sorry if I did. But the thought of Ricardo not being able to reach his family... it was too awful."

"Don't fret. It's not underground so that's a relief. Although when I remember being told how young Brady Cornflower was inexplicably being turned this way and that at the edge of Tall Tree Forest..."

"What?"

"I hope I don't get trapped in Chunglewood or worse - amongst the trees with no way out."

"Oh, don't say that!"

"It's my overactive imagination. The bit that Brendan inherited, probably."

"But you wouldn't be alone, would you? It would be all official with Aristotle behind it."

 

"Yes, there is that. I guess it's wait and see."

o 0 O 0 o

(To be continued)