Chapter 21
This was too much. What should have been a moment of happy triumph had turned into one of horror. Masteress Oldham looked like she’d been run over by at least two Mack trucks. Masteress Goldenaro put her arms around her. Preston and Pollo and Master Terman made shields around us in case the freed man attacked us. Natasha circled the room once and then landed back on Masteress Oldham’s shoulder. The man rescued from the etheric depths with Masteress Oldham had a face about as pretty as a rotted mummy’s. His bloodshot eyes made crazy circles as he gloated about his freedom and his vengeance. His hair flew in all directions and came down to his waist. His fingernails were at least half a foot long, so that I feared that if he did not rip me apart with a spell, his nails would do it. The Phantom of the Opera would easily win a beauty contest against him. Simon hissed at him and then fearfully crawled inside my cape. I curled up inside myself, wondering what I had done this time. All I could think was that the judgment of the Gifted Judges against me was just, and Daryl should have carried it out as it was intended. Master McDermott and Lucy approached Masteress Oldham and each put a hand in hers.
“Olivia Oldham, are you truly back with us?” Master McDermott asked her.
“Yes, I have been reassembled by some of the loveliest singing I’ve ever heard,” Masteress Oldham answered.
Her praising my singing lifted my spirits out of the mud, but not much higher.
“Yes, very nice singing,” echoed the mummy-man.
That chilled my spine all over again. He was still bouncing off the walls like a hyper-hyperactive kid. I mean that literally. Really.
“What should we do with him?” Lucy asked. “Throw him back to the deepest dragons?”
“Don’t throw me back there!” cried he black-caped man in horror. “Not after all that time down there and this taste of freedom!”
Maranissa brought Masteress Oldham a mug filled with a steaming liquid and guided it to her lips.
“How about a drink for me?” the cried the Phantom of the Opera. “I’ve been There for a lot longer than she has!”
“Not if you’re going to go round hurting people, I won’t” Maranissa retorted.
“Never mind!” snarled the man.
He flung himself against one wall, then another wall, and then the ceiling. When he hit the ceiling, he dropped down to the floor in a heap, looking very defeated.
“Why can’t I get out of here?” moaned the man. “Why am I trapped?”
“That’s because we aren’t anywhere at the moment,” Preston explained. “You can’t get somewhere from nowhere until we aim this coach ourselves.
“A-a-ah, that’s it. Then I’ll just wait until you want to go somewhere. Then I’ll be free to attack the Orange Gifted Clan and the Blue Gifted Clan and the Guild of Gifted Judges and the Guild of Gifted Mystics. I will feed every last person of those clans into the mouth of Leviathan who will grind their souls into powder and scatter every particle so that their souls are lost forever.
“No!” I gasped.
“YES!” he cried.
“We are on a healing quest,” I said. “We do not have time for vengeance.”
The man narrowed his eyes at me. I shrank back. Mirry and Pollo moved in front of me to protect me if need be.
“Since when does a little boy like you go on a healing quest?” he asked.
“Since now,” Masteress Goldenaro answered him. “You heard his Singing Gift. How could you doubt he can make a healing quest? Look at his cape clasp. Do you see it glowing?”
The man gave me a cockeyed look.
“Well, your song brought me out of There when nobody else could or would do it. And yes, I see that your cape clasp is glowing.”
“You must know that you are obligated to assist any member of the Guild of Gifted Healers who is on a healing quest,” said Maranissa.
“Hmm. Well, you go on with your healing quest, and I’ll go and exact my vengeance.”
“No,” I said. “We can’t go after the windmere willow’s blossom if you’re going to hurt people when I do it.”
“There is that problem,” said Master McDermott sadly.
“A-a-ah,” gloated this ghoulish man. “Then you can save the Oranges and the Blues and the surviving Guild of Gifted Judges only by renouncing a healing quest, on which many lives surely depend.”
“Why don’t you help us with our quest instead?” I asked.
I could hardly believe I’d said that. The vengeful man looked pretty shocked that I’d had the guts to say that to him. I think it helped that all my friends were behind me.
“Let me put it this way,” said the monstrous man. “Listen to my story, and then judge for yourselves if my cause of vengeance is just, and I should renounce by vengeance for the sake of your healing quest.”
Silence.
“Should we listen to him, Nathaniel?” Masteress Goldenaro asked me.
I opened my mouth to ask Masteress Goldenaro why she was asking me, then realized the answer. I looked at Masteress Oldham. Her eyes still looked pretty blank, as if she hardly knew what was going on. Natasha hooted softly.
“We will listen to you,” I said. “Maranissa, can you give him a drink?”
“Yes,” she said, giving me a look that made it clear that she was doing it because I asked her, and not because she wanted to do anything for the threatening man. She brought him a steaming mug and he took a long grateful drink out of it.
“I gift you with my name of Master Petrus Shamsky,” said the man. “As you can perceive from apprehending the color of my cape, I am a Gifted Judge, a Gifted Judge who has been judged most unjustly. Here is my story: I was the Master Superior Judge of the Guild of Gifted Judges during the time of the Great Feud between the Orange Gifted Clan and the Blue Gifted Clan.”
“It was during that feud that the Guild of Gifted Healers was formed to treat all those who were grievously injured in the fighting,” said Masteress Oldham, speaking with effort, but at least showing that she was taking everything in.
Masteress Goldenaro continued to keep an arm around Masteress Oldham, and she also stroked Natasha’s feathers.
“Yes, so was that guild founded,” Master Shamsky agreed. “Much good work did your guild do, but your work was of no help to me. The day came when the fighting between the two clans and their allies had devastated both houses to the point where they could hardly function.”
“The two warring clans of that time never recovered their lost strength and power,” said Masteress Goldenaro. “That is why the Blue Clan is now a weak ally of the Amber Clan, and the Orange Clan a weak ally of the Scarlet Clan.”
“Ah! All the easier to wreak my vengeance upon them!” cried Master Shamsky. “Now listen to what the Blue and Orange Clans and the Guild of Gifted Judges and the Guild of Gifted Mystics did to me! The two warring clans applied to our guild for a judging settlement of their feud. Overjoyed at the prospect of seeing an end to the truculent strife, we agreed to hold the settling judgment they asked for. As Master Superior Judge, I presided over this judgment. Being a most fair and discerning Gifted Judge, I apportioned blame where I perceived that it belonged, and assessed the damages and compensations that should be made to all injured parties. Master Orange and Master Blue drew their heads together to discuss their acceptance of my discerning and fair judgment. Then, while the court waited, they pulled out a long scroll, nodded in agreement, and approached the bench. When they came before me, they presented a petition that judgment be exercised against me for causing the feud and then sustaining it up to that present day. I was shocked! How could they do that? Since the petition was being made against me, it was the Assistant Master Superior Judge who received the scroll. I was sure that she would laugh it off, but she accepted it! To my further shock and disbelief, all the other Gifted Judges on the panel agreed to hear the petition. Without any warning, I was placed in the box of judgment.
“I will not bore you with all the details of the unjust judgment that was rendered against me. I had to stand in the box of judgment for many hours as people from every clan and every guild came forward with libelous accusations against me. Every single item where I had found fault with one clan or another, was thrown back at me and I was declared the culprit. According to their accusations, there would have been no feud to start with or to finish with if it were not for me. The two heads of Clans then presented an agreement stating that if I were banished to the etheric depths for all perpetuity, they would proclaim the official end of all hostilities and nobody would make any further claims on anybody else. It was all so absurd that I was sure the remaining panel of Gifted Judges would unanimously exonerate me. Can you imagine the shock I experienced when all of my fellow Guild Members levied judgment against me and sentenced me to perpetual banishment to the etheric depths.
“Everybody cheered when Masteress Leclercq, the judgment’s representative from the Guild of Gifted Mystics, came for me and lead me away from the judgment box. I had never met her before, as one hardly ever meets a Gifted Mystic, but she looked so serene and kind that I couldn’t believe that she would really throw me to the etheric depths. As she conjured up the mist so that it covered both of us, I asked her if she really thought the judgment was true. She admitted that the judgment was untrue, but the untrue judgment was necessary to save the Gifted World. With those words, she left me to the chill and the aimless floating in the depths and I have wandered in those depths since that time until my rescue by the singing boy. Have any of you ever even heard of a judgment even remotely as unjust as the one imposed upon me?”
I didn’t know what to think.
“Master Shamsky,” said Charles, “I regret to inform you that, after having listened to you, I think the judgment rendered against you is only the second most unjust judgment given by the Guild of Gifted Judges.”
“What worse injustice could possibly occur than that which was done to me?” asked Master Shamsky.
“If you listen to Nathaniel’s story, you will know,” said Pollo.
I hid my face. I wasn’t about to say anything, but others were willing to speak, and they did. I didn’t want to listen to any of it, but I had no choice. Lucy started off by telling Master Shamsky of my odd summons to the Guildhall where I was asked by Masteress Oldham to accept the healing quest for the windmere willow’s blossom. And so on it went, with Pollo and Mirry recounting my experiences at Saint Percivale’s and the journey into the Archives of Gifted Lore. Maranissa continued with the shipwreck and my time with Master Terman and Masteress Belinda, and Charles concluded with the incredible trial where I’d been blamed for the recent feud and sentenced, like Master Shamsky, to the etheric depths, but not only that, I was also sentenced to be robbed of my voice. Unlike Masteress Leclercq, however, Daryl had allowed my cat to give up his voice to save mine, and then he had steered me to this stage coach with the help of my own singing.
“Well, Nathaniel,” said Master Shamsky, sounding a bit subdued, “now that you have been judged as I was so judged, what do you want to do? Destroy all the clans and guilds?”
I looked up at the Gifted Judge with some surprise. For me, the question was a no-brainer.
“I want to finish the healing quest, and I want to finish it now,” I said.
“But—how can you possibly . . .?”
I have to admit that I understood Master Shamsky’s point of view very well. When I thought about Master Medwick, the apprentices, Master Lesentrange, the Gifted Judges, the Scarlets, and all they had done to me, I felt like walking out on everybody and letting them all die of the strangling pestilence. When I thought of my small circle of friends, I wanted to take them with me, so that we could be together at my middle school. When I thought of all the people dying of the pestilence, the only thing I wanted to do was heal them if I could. When I thought of the vows I had made to the Guild, I wanted to be faithful to them, and when I thought of my promise to do everything in my power to fulfill the healing quest asked of me, I wanted nothing except to accomplish it. I’m not a religious nut or anything, but I also thought of Jesus and how he went around healing people, and he didn’t get all riled up seeking revenge against the guys who killed him. Underlying everything, was my father and everything he’d taught me, and everything my mother had taught me before she died. If I didn’t finish the quest soon, my father would be as dead as my mother and I’d really be alone in the world.
“I want to finish the healing quest now, and I don’t want you hurting anybody while I do it,” I said.
“I still don’t understand you,” Master Shamsky persisted.
“Come make the rounds with me while I sing to all the pestilenced cared-fors we’ve got here,” I said. “Maybe then you will understand.”
“That is a deeply wise suggestion,” said Masteress Goldenaro.
It was pretty exhausting for me, but I went and did what I said I was about to do. I started with singing a song for Masteress Oldham to try and make her feel better. I hope I wasn’t fooling myself when I thought she was looking a bit more alert when I finished. Then I went from room to room, singing “Bridge over Troubled Water” and the “Willow Song” that Rosalind had taught me. Mirry stayed at my side and played his harp for me. The first people who saw Master Shamsky shrank back, and I began to wonder if I should have taken him with me on my visits to the pestilenced cared-fors. But starting with the second room I went to, Master Shamsky dropped his ample hair over his face and held back. Most people were too sick to even noticed him. The Gifted Mystics still sat up in their cross-legged positions in spite of their labored breathing. My fellow choristers played their instruments and sang with me as best they could. I lingered with my father who looked dangerously weak. It was clear that I couldn’t waste any more time getting the blossom if I was going to save him and many of the other cared-fors we had.
“I think I understand,” Master Shamsky said quietly when we returned to the living room. “I will lend you whatever aid I can bestow on you for your healing quest.”
“Well done, Nathaniel,” said Masteress Oldham, who almost looked like her old self.
Relief flooded a lot of faces all over the room.
“Extraordinarily well done,” said Masteress Goldenaro.
“Now we can activate the finding spell for the windmere willow,” said Preston.
“Not until you’ve all had your sandwiches,” said Maranissa as she presented us with a platter full.
Now that she mentioned it, I was hungry enough to eat at last two sandwiches. Simon poked his head out to remind me he was hungry, too. I took the hint and fed him several pieces of mine. This time, Maranissa showed no reservations about letting Master Shamsky take as many sandwiches as he wanted. I didn’t blame him for gulping down at least half a dozen of them when I considered how long it had been since he had last eaten.
“Master Petrus Shamsky,” said Masteress Oldham, “If my recollection of past history is correct, Masteress Leclercq disappeared the very night after she rendered the judgment against you. I think perhaps the Guild of Gifted Mystics judged against her for her part in the unjust judgment against you.”
“Hmm, really,” Master Shamsky growled. “She has my deepest sympathy.”
“Do I have to learn another big chant to help you find the windmere willow?” I asked.
“No,” said Rosalind, “the finding spell should do it, but it will help if you sing the willow chant you already know.”
“I’ll drive the coach for you,” Master Shamsky offered. “I was awfully good at that sort of thing in times past. I’m sure I can do it again.”
There was an uncomfortable silence. All around the room, people looked at each other and looked at me.
“I accept your offer,” I replied.
The gratitude on Master Shamsky’s face didn’t keep him from looking pretty ugly, but it sure made him look better than he did, and it told me how hurt he would have been if I’d turned him down.
As soon as we’d finished our sandwiches, Master Shamsky went outside to drive the horses. The rest of us banded together in the living room to sing the willow chant. After Rosalind played the basic chords on her keyboard, Mirry and Master Terman started playing their harps and Masteress Belinda got started on her flute and Ferndal on his violin. Those who didn’t know the song listened at first and then joined in. We sang for quite some time, long enough to think we were just singing to pass the time on a school trip. It was an odd sensation when I first felt the jiggling motion of the coach like what you feel when you’re moving on solid ground. I think I even heard the clip-clop of the horses outside. We kept on singing for a bit longer until the door opened and Master Shamsky stuck his head in.
“Come on out!” he cried, his mummy face all wrinkled with smiles. “The windmere willow is just a few spans ahead!”
I am surprisingly slow to unwrap a Christmas or birthday present I’d been waiting for frantically for weeks or months. I felt the same way as I walked very slowly to the door of the coach. Charles and Pollo and Mirry and Maranissa and Preston and Lucy ran out well ahead of me. When I finally got to the door, Mirry was impatiently waiting for me.
“Come on!” he urged me.
I just couldn’t move any faster, because there was so much to take in. I hadn’t seen much of anything that looked like the real world for quite some time. Under my feet was a genuine, certified dirt road. Behind the stage coach there were ruts like what you get when a wheeled vehicle goes over a dirt road. On both sides of the road, wild grass grew and swayed in the wind. The winged horses had something solid to stamp their hoofs on while they waited for us to complete the quest.
“I think those are your willows, just down there,” said Master Shamsky, pointing to a riverbank just down a small incline from the road.
“I think so, too,” said Lucy.
From my vantage point, they looked like weeping willows as they were bent over the water. So far, I hadn’t seen any blossoms, or even any leaves. Impatient as he was, Mirry stayed with me as I carefully made my way down the incline to the river. Meanwhile, everybody else was swarming all around the willows.
“Where are the blossoms?” Maranissa asked in dismay at just about the time I reached the trees.
“Look!” cried Charles, “Some of the branches have been torn off!”
“A lot of branches have been torn off,” Pollo added gloomily.
“Who did this?” Mirry yelled.
I could hardly believe the devastation I was seeing, but considering how this whole quest had been going, I should have known. It was painful to look at the broken ends of one branch after another. When it was clear that there were no blossoms on the trees closest to me, I fell into the sort of funk I usually do when things fall apart. I sauntered along the river, hoping that some trees further along would have some blossoms on them. But tree after tree was torn up in the same way. Mirry started running all over the place, probably hoping to find some blossoms and catch the vandals in one swoop. I had pretty well given up hope by the time I started to sing the willow chant I’d made up. It didn’t make me feel better, but it was something. I felt Simon resting snugly inside my cape. That was something, too. I came to the end of the line of the willows, and turned around. I kept on singing the song as I made my way back to the others, who were still searching for blossoms and not finding any. Then I saw something white and pink almost under my nose. I stepped over to it, feeling too happy to cry out. No question about it; it was a flower; a blossom on the willow tree. The blossom was creamy white, but purple in the middle with a faint pink bleeding at the edges.
“Lucy!” I called. “Is this the blossom?”
Lucy and my other friends came running. I didn’t want to pick the blossom until Lucy had identified it as the blossom we were looking for. As I waited, I looked back at the blossom. It was gone! The branch was torn! I heard a scuffle of footsteps, and saw a small boy running away. I ran after him.
“Denny!” I yelled.
Denny looked back at me, then pushed himself harder. Pollo and Lucy and Mirry called after me, but I paid them no attention. I followed Denny up the incline and pushed myself through the tall grass. Denny was slowed up by it, too, and so I kept up with him pretty well. Suddenly, Denny stopped and started to edge back in my direction. As I closed in on him, I heard several loud growls and louder barks. Then I saw for myself that a pack of large, yellow dogs with sharp teeth and drooling mouths were moving in on us. Denny and I turned around only to see another pack of dogs with reddish fur closing in from that direction.