They talked until late in the morning and decided they will help others awaken gifts if they have them, but they will not teach them how to access all their gifts; they both felt it is bound to cause too many problems.
“My shield of energy was not of much use, but yours needs to be altered for the rains. Instead of it being a shield above our heads, it should be a pointed roof, like a long cone, about a hundred metres above us. That way the rain that falls on it will not fall in rivers about us.”
“We’ll still need your shield also, the wind is fierce in such storms.”
“Should we teach Arthur how to levitate before we leave?”
“Yes, he must bring POL agents with him so that they can teach the others. With levitation we will not need to impose on the Sparkles for healing our world. They can levitate as they heal and teleport back to their last position the next day.”
“No Cherine, I have seen that it is good for the Sparkles, they need us to need them - and we need to grow towards each other. We can use extra agents to teleport, but the ones who go to the void must continue.”
They taught Arthur and the agents, had a quiet evening playing with Bobby - and Birshima, against her will to start off, but growing to enjoy herself as she let go of her inhibitions. In the morning they teleported to their last position and floated down the hillsides at speed until they arrived at a forest of grey trees, the home of the water spirits, as Fiera had told them.
Bobby could sense and smell that Birshima was nervous so he became anxious and watched carefully for danger. Cherine walked to one of the trees and put her hand to its bark. “Robert, this is not a true tree. It is some other plant that has grown bigger because of the forest and the rain.”
“Have you noticed there are no other species of plants - except for the moss and toadstools? I wonder if any of them are edible.” He touched a toadstool and quickly removed his hand. “My healer says it is poisonous.” Excitement flared. “Cherine! The toadstools have soaked up the poisons from the soil, that is how the trees have grown here.”
“When the toadstools die, doesn’t the poison return to the soil?”
Slightly embarrassed he thought about it. “I think it probably uses some of the poison, so less of it returns. With the number of generations they must have existed, they’ve probably leached most of the poison. I guess it means they’ll die out.”
“Or adapt.”
Bobby was squirming in Cherine’s arms as they moved into the trees. “No go, Tse no go.”
“We have to go through the trees Bobby, we can’t…” With a sudden twist he was out of her arms, landing on all fours. With a quiet snarl he dashed to the side of Cherine and disappeared under some foliage. Cherine pulled a branch aside and it snapped. She froze in horror. Bobby was crouching, edging around a scorpion that was at least a fifth of a metre in length, its sting poised above it as it also turned, waiting for an opportunity to sting Bobby without placing itself in danger. The scorpion was a pale yellow cream and from the body to the sting it was almost diaphanous. Bobby was obviously trying to move the scorpion away from Cherine.
Cherine unfroze as Bobby muttered, “No kill Tse, no kill Tse.”
Her first reaction was to yank at Bobby, maybe teleport out of there, but she feared the slightest movement would provoke the insect into stinging Bobby and she had no doubts that the sting would be highly poisonous. Ntchizi nudged her mentally and she formed a shield over Bobby. Robert stepped over to see what the problem is and he quickly formed a shield over the scorpion.
“Let Bobby go.” As she did, Cherine grabbed at Bobby and retreated out of the forest, dragging Birshima with her. Robert backed out carefully, watching for more scorpions.
Bobby hit Cherine with tears of anger and frustration. “Say no go, say no go!”
“I’m sorry baby, I should have listened, you were right, I’m sorry.” Gradually he calmed down.
Birshima softly touched Bobby’s arm and he swivelled to look at her, instantly alert. She smiled at him. “You were brave, you saved Cherine.” He quickly looked up at Cherine and then stared at Robert who nodded and told him he agreed with Birshima.
“Well, that sort of puts a cramp on our planned walk through the forest. What do we do now?”
Cherine shuddered. “I don’t know, but I’m not going back in.”
Robert studied the map. “The forest can’t grow to the edge of the sea, there should be a strip we can walk along safely. Birshima, from what you may have heard, has anyone in your tribe talked of people living in the forest?” She shook her head. He smiled. “I doubt we need to categorise the scorpions as human mutants, let’s make for the beach.”
“Robert?” Birshima shyly asked, “Where we went, in the forest, will green things grow?”
“That’s an interesting question. What if we walk backwards and forwards for the rest of the day, camp overnight and check in the morning?”
“I’m not sleeping anywhere near those things!”
They paced along the forest for a couple of hours and then retraced their path, keeping about five hundred metres north of their first walk and close to sundown they teleported to the mansion. Arthur joined them.
“We’ll send in a team suitably protected. It is a pity you didn’t bring us the scorpion you captured, I’m certain the scientists will want to examine one.” He gestured to Bobby and when he came to him he placed him on his lap. “May I hug you?” He did. “I’m proud of you Bobby, but you must never take such a risk again. If there is danger, please try to talk more words so that they understand.” He kissed his cheek and Bobby pulled away to stare at him.
He settled back in his arms for all of ten minutes, a long time by his standards. Cherine showered with Bobby and after drying him and dressing him for sleep, she took a small pair of scissors and cut her nails. She then took his hand in hers. “It won’t hurt Bobby. Your nails are too long and you scratch me, may I cut them?” As she put the scissors to his finger she felt him trembling so she stopped, putting the scissors away.
“When you decide to trust me, let me know, I can’t cut your nails if you are afraid. However, you’re going to have to learn how to brush your teeth. You too Birshima.” She put on her stoical face that they now recognised as fear. “You’ve got beautiful teeth honey, but if you don’t clean them they’ll rot and fall out, just like it is with most of the adults of your village.”
Robert sat studying the map. He pointed at Mt Shasta. “If we’d continued with the mountain to our left we would have descended to even lower ground where there are probably swamps now. I don’t think walking west towards the coast would have avoided the rain forest. It looks to me like the mountain ranges to the east break up the storms so that by the time they arrive at our lands the clouds carry just the right amount of rain to keep us alive and flourishing. Look at the land here, it looks like a huge narrow valley with hills and mountains to either side, here, this is where Sacramento used to be - it must be buried within the rain forest and swamps. I do not think we should risk any area north of San Francisco and definitely nowhere east of it. I’d actually prefer to go directly to Salinas. However, San Francisco was a huge city and there should still be survivors there, so we’ll have to risk landing by Vallejo. We can scout from there.”
They argued their ideas, but Cherine made the most important point. “We cannot levitate that far, especially since we will be carrying Bobby, Birshima and supplies.”
Robert pursed his lips. “For how long could you carry all of us?”
“You also?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know, half an hour - maybe an hour? It would be dangerous Robert, any of you move and I could drop you as I would have to concentrate on keeping the others safe.”
Robert shook his head. “The two of us alone can’t manage it, we need a third person.”
“It would just make matters worse having to carry another.”
“I don’t think the weight is a problem, we can make a test run here to check it out. I think what would be tiring is carrying a number of loads - especially as we are mobile weights and it is unlikely that nobody would move. I think I have the answer to that, but we’ll need a third person.”
Cherine and Arthur glanced at each other in puzzlement and Cherine grinned. “Why don’t you tell us what you’re thinking?”
“Well, what if one of us concentrates on forming a shield and the other levitates the shield with us sitting on it?”
“I’ll be drabbed! Could it be done Cherine?”
She laughed. “I don’t know, but I’d like to try it.”
“If it works then it will greatly extend the area our agents can cover by levitating. Why don’t you add Jivers to your team, he hates staying in the city. I believe agent Alvers would be a good backup, he has more hours than any agent at levitating.” Without realising that Robert was not participating in their conversation they discussed various ideas and then they glanced at Robert and saw him hunched over his desk, frowning. Cherine went to stand by him and she gestured for Arthur to also take a look.
Robert was trying to create a miniature shield to some specification he obviously had in mind. It looked like a miniature land vehicle sans the wheels and skirt. He’d form it and it would dissolve and he’d mutter a swearword to himself. Sheepishly he looked up when he saw he had an audience.
“I want to make it an enclosed space so that we don’t have the wind constantly blowing in our faces and then we also don’t have to worry about anyone falling off. The problem is I have to leave an opening for us to get fresh air and the shield dissolves at the opening.”
Cherine grinned. “You mean like this?” She formed a container similar to his with a slit at the top. As she looked at him triumphantly, her shield dissolved. Robert struggled to hide his grin. Suddenly he laughed. “Give me a few minutes - and no peeking.” He rushed out of the room.
“I’ll go to inform Alvers and Jivers. I might as well bring them from now, you have plenty of space for them to stay here.”
“You better be back before Robert is, he’ll be hurt if you’re not here to see his brilliant idea - especially if it works.”
“I’ll be back within ten minutes.”
He returned in twenty and he was carrying two boxes filled with pastries. Robert had still not put in an appearance. They gathered around to choose the pastry they prefer and they were eyeing the boxes for their seconds when Robert finally returned. He was holding a toilet seat.
“I couldn’t get the damn thing unscrewed! You brought pastries? I hope my favourite is not eaten.”
“What are you doing with a toilet seat!”
“I just hope we don’t meet any mutants who can fly, they might mistake our energy car for a flying toilet.” He cracked up, laughing at his visualisation as the others stared at him without a smile. “Arthur, hold the seat in the air from the inner side until I tell you to let go.”
He had to increase the size of his model but it was soon obvious what he’d planned. The energy shield took form from the outer edges of the toilet seat, curved down, formed a base underneath and they sat watching it, waiting for it to dissolve.
“Can I have a pastry now?” Cherine passed the box to him without taking her eyes off his model. Robert took a big bite and then forgetting himself, he talked with a mouth full of cream and cake. “Cherine, is it possible to make a shield that is not transparent?”
“How would we see where we’re going?”
“Not for all of it. Seeing the toilet seat gave me the idea of making a tiny room for a toilet. We could leave the bottom of the toilet open since the stuff would just fall down…”
Arthur guffawed. “A new way of bombing cities?”
Robert picked up Bobby and placed him in the model, passing him feet first through the toilet seat. “Our first passenger, a round of applause for our intrepid explorer please.” Robert clapped so the others joined in, while Bobby stared out at them with a puzzled look.
While Arthur prepared a meal and Cherine welcomed Jivers and Alvers, Robert sat sketching.
After eating, Robert showed Arthur his final sketch. “It can be made of wood, but the joints must be solid. As you see, the one side, the rear, is slightly higher than the other so that air is forced inside. These marks are clips, here is a sketch of both parts of the clips. If it becomes too cold or there is rain, we can install this,” he showed another sketch, “which clips to the wooden beams. If they keep to the sizes I’ve given, the opening will be large enough for us to enter and leave through it without dissolving our energy car. Jivers, you and I better practice at maintaining a joint shield so that we can take turns sleeping without losing our vehicle and having to form a new one every day.
We could even use it to sleep in if there is the possibility of danger in the area.”
Dear visitor, if you only joined us now, at post 30, welcome.
Boy, I think you have missed some beautiful parts of the story of Cherine and Robert.
If you feel the same way, this is a reminder, you can go to the top of this page and use the link to return to Post 01.
Thereafter, each post has the next link at the end of the story. Or else, from post2 onwards, all you need to do is alter the url, increasing the post number by one.
If you enjoy the story, I do not ask that you resteem or upvote; those to me are just bonuses, a sign you enjoyed reading Boxee. All I really want as encouragement is that you recommend the story to all your friends; those you think would enjoy a romantic fantasy story.
I would like to add a personal note, which is also a hope of mine. You may or may not enjoy my way of keeping my writing simple where I can; you may or may not enjoy the style of the adventures experienced; but, I am very confident you will each grow to love at least one character.
Is that character going to be Cherine, Robert, Arthur, Bobby, the Fire Woman or her daughter, or one of the others you will come to know? I will not even try to guess, but I know you will, for I have loved each of them and written of them with love :)
Thank you.