Cherios was hopping on the ledge celebrating when a snake lashed out and struck her. She screamed and fell, landing at my feet. I scooped her in my arms, much as I had held Fifi after he died. Cherios’s eyes seemed far away, and her labored breathing scared me.
“Don’t die, Cherios, you mustn’t. I love you too much.”
As the tiny vipers raced off in the darkness, Much-Afraid and Baruch ran up to me. My heart was broken.
“What should we do?” I cried.
“Is she still alive?” Baruch asked.
“Barely.” I sniffled. “Cherios, can you hear me?”
Cherios forced her eyes open one last time. “I’d die for you anytime because I love you so much.”
“No, Cherios, you mustn’t die. No.”
Cherios whispered. “Take me to the garden, to the apple tree.”
“What do you mean the garden and the apple tree?”
“To the garden when we arrived,” Baruch said. “She’s a garden bunny. She wants to go home.”
The vipers were gone. Nothing held us back from escaping. The demons fled when we defeated them with the king’s love. Suddenly, faraway sounds echoed through the narrow passages—what might it be but another demon?
I held Cherios in my arms afraid even to breathe. A strong body walked out of the dark hole behind us. I was too shocked to speak.
Daniel’s eyes met mine. “Shale, what are you doing here?”
“How did you find me?”
“I could read your mind—terrifying images. I told you before, the next time I wouldn’t delay. I hurried here as fast as I could.” Daniel surveyed the dark cave. “Are you okay?”
“I think so, but Cherios isn’t. We must get her back to the garden, but I don’t know the way.”
“I know,” Baruch said. “We need to go to the olive garden in Jerusalem.”
“We need to go to the olive garden in Jerusalem,” I repeated for Daniel. “That’s where Cherios asked to be buried, at the apple tree.”
Daniel stared at me. “You mean the Garden of Gethsemane? You don’t want to go there. Violence erupted the other night. Soldiers captured your king while he was praying and took him to Pontius Pilate. After beating the man, the Roman guards sent him to the high priest. The council put him on trial and found him guilty of blasphemy. He was crucified.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
“The place is crawling with guards. There are stories about him returning from the dead. The last place you want to go is to that garden. You should bury her here instead.”
“So he was killed?”
“They placed a sign over his crucifixion, ‘King of the Jews.’”
I sobbed, laying my head on Daniel’s chest.
He placed his hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Shale.”
I lowered my eyes and wrapped Cherios in my arms. Her body was still warm. What else could go wrong? I didn’t want to risk being caught. Daniel draped his arm around me and directed me back to the entrance.
“Daniel, we have to take her to the olive garden.”
“If that is what you must do, we better hurry and do it before daylight.” Daniel shook his head. “I can’t believe you want to go there.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Let’s go.”
Daniel patted me reassuringly.
I couldn’t talk. My voice was stuck deep down in my throat.
We left the cave in surreal darkness. Everywhere were underlings—on top of the mountains, hiding behind trees, and rising from the crevasses. Their rancid smell turned my stomach. I imagined graves opening and demons escaping that would torture me again.
Before we reached the garden, I panicked. “Daniel, there weren’t any apple trees in the garden. There were olive trees and thorns and a wolf.”
“Why would Cherios tell you to take her to the apple tree in the garden if there wasn’t an apple tree there?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know.”
“She dumped the apple core on the ground when she popped out of the knapsack,” Baruch said. “Remember, she apologized for eating my apple.”
“That was how long ago?” I asked.
“What?” Daniel couldn’t understand the donkey.
“Baruch said she ate his apple. It’s been, what, three years? Maybe an apple tree grew from the seed. It’s been long enough.”
We traveled over the rough terrain, not saying anything else. The full moon rose overhead and began its descent as we passed through the Kidron Valley.
When we arrived, a guard was on duty, and the garden was closed. Since when did gardens need a guard?
Daniel whispered, “I’ll distract the guard so you can sneak past. I’ll follow you later. Okay?”
I nodded. Daniel approached the man, and once the guard’s back was turned, I snuck all of us in—Baruch, Much-Afraid, Cherios, and myself. Now we would have to search for the tree. Cherios’s lifeless body was getting colder. I worried we were too late to save her. If so, I wanted to bury her as soon as possible.
“Look over there.” Baruch pointed to a tree—one lone apple tree in a thicket of olive trees.
The apple tree stood about seven feet tall. “I can’t believe it, Baruch.” Bright red apples covered the branches and appeared delicious even in the dim light from the moon. Something about it seemed odd—the tree didn’t belong. How would Cherios have known the tree was here?
I swung down off Baruch as Much-Afraid dug into the ground with her paws to loosen the dirt. Baruch joined in helping Much-Afraid, and I stood by and watched. Everything seemed so final. I wanted to return her to the king’s garden where she belonged, but this would have to do—it was what she asked.
Soon the hole was deep enough to bury her. I laid her gently in the cool sand. The strong scent from the apple tree bathed the air as a healing balm. I remembered the day in the king’s garden when I first arrived. A garden peace replaced my anxiety. Cherios would rest here, maybe not in the king’s garden, but under the king’s apple tree.
Baruch started to cover up Cherios with the dirt, but I asked him to wait. I felt the egg in my dress pocket. I’d give it to her.
I pulled the egg out of my pocket and opened it. After lifting out one of the rabbits, I held it up in the moonlight. Belief and disbelief hit me at once. No longer was the bunny broken. I put the bunny back in the egg and lifted up the mother. She was a perfectly carved rabbit, as were all the others.
“What’s the matter with the egg and bunnies?” Baruch asked.
“They—they aren’t broken anymore.”
“Look,” Much-Afraid said.
I glanced down at Cherios and thought she moved. I put my hand in front of her mouth and felt her soft breath. “She—she’s breathing,” I stammered.
“She can’t be breathing. She’s dead.” The voice was familiar but it wasn’t Much-Afraid or Baruch.
I glanced up and saw Worldly Crow sitting on a branch of the apple tree. “Get out of here.”
The crow talked in a cheeky voice. “Now look. Don’t be angry with me.”
“You nearly got us killed. Of course I’m angry with you.”
“Ca-ca. I took you to the king, didn’t I?”
“No, you did not. You took us to demons and shape shifters who tried to kill us. They almost killed Cherios.”
“The vultures said they captured the king.”
“Go away,” I demanded. “Leave us alone.”
“I’ll be back,” Worldly Crow insisted, “with those who hold your king captive. He’s not what he seems—he’s no king at all. He lied to the people. You can trust me. Better one fool dies than all the people.”
With that, the crow took off. Good riddance. I wanted nothing to do with him.
Much-Afraid scooted up to Cherios and licked her face. “She’s coming around, Shale.”
Baruch leaned down and sniffed—as he had done long ago when I slapped him for getting too close to me. Cherios’s whiskers tickled him, and he heehawed.
/> “Are you sure?” I crouched down to see for myself. Cherios flickered her eyes and opened them.
“Cherios—you’re alive. How could you come back to life?”
“I’m a bunny from the king’s garden,” she said. “He’s the gardener.”
“But Worldly Crow said the king is dead. How can he heal others and not heal himself?” I asked.
“Wait until the morning, and you shall know. For now, let me sleep.” Cherios closed her eyes with a broad smile on her face. Could the king still be alive? What did Worldly Crow know? The demons seemed impotent. After all, did I not defeat them with the king’s love?
I looked around for Daniel. I wished he would show up. “Come,” I said. “Let’s huddle up together and keep warm.”
The night air was cool. I didn’t want to leave the healing apple tree and hoped by morning Daniel would find us. We would wait. I blew on my hands and snuggled up to Much-Afraid and Cherios.
But Baruch wouldn’t lie down.
“What’s wrong, Baruch? Come on, we need you to keep us warm.”
“First I want an apple,” Baruch said.
“An apple?”
“Maybe two or three. I’m hungry.”
I shook my head at my favorite donkey.
Chapter 37
MYSTERIES OF THE SEVENTH DIMENSION