The If Bridge

  As Tim and Molly approached, the Bear cautioned, “It is best the two of you do not set foot on the Bridge while the Mistress of Infinite Possibilities is called upon. It might interfere with the process or pose a threat to you or your friend.”

  Then he raised his arms and eyes to the sky and said quite simply:

  “We call upon you

  Mistress of the ages

  to change what was

  turn back the pages.”

  Everyone blinked… and nothing happened!

  The Bear paused, thinking for a moment, then said, “Ah, it has been so long. I had forgotten. We need an offering of gold. The Bridge cannot be powered without it. But here in the woods, where can we find gold?”

  Well, Molly knew just where. It was hanging around her neck. “I have a gold locket,” she said. “Here take it. Please hurry, and help Maggie.” Then she ripped the locket free and held it out to the Bear. He took it in his large paw, leaned over the Bridge and let it drop into the water. For just a moment the water appeared to shimmer.

  Once again the Bear spoke:

  “We call upon you

  Mistress of the ages

  to change what was

  turn back the pages.”

  This time a dazzling circle of light appeared. As if a tiny star floated right before their eyes. At its center was the face of a beautiful young woman. No, wait, it was an old woman… no, now it was a child. The face kept transforming, as if every physical age of this being existed simultaneously. But regardless of age, each face was softly framed by a shock of fire-red hair.

  “What is it you wish?” she said softly. The first words were spoken by a middle-aged woman, and the last by a very young child.

  The Bear bowed and spoke. “It is good to see you again Mistress. Please help this child who was hurt badly in a fall. She had been trying to… to help the Hawk.”

  The face within the light studied the Bear. “Such sadness in your eyes. I can surmise our Hawk is gone. So tragic. But we will save the child. Walk.”

  The Bear picked Maggie up and slowly walked across the Bridge, as the Mistress looked up to the sky and began to chant in a language now lost to the world. The dazzling light surrounding her grew even brighter and engulfed Maggie and the Bear. The entire Bridge groaned and shook as if in the grip of an angry hand. The waters below bubbled and churned, taking on a golden hue. Then the moonbow flashed and all its colors exploded in a fireworks display that rained down upon them. After a moment, all was calm again. “It is done,” she said simply. “The child has been healed. She will be fine.”

  Maggie stirred as if waking from a dream, as the Bear lowered her to the ground. She propped herself up on one elbow and rubbed her eyes. She had no idea where she was or why she was lying on the ground. The last thing she remembered was… ??? The last thing she remembered… was leaving Tim to stay with Molly as she continued on alone with the Hawk.

  Molly squealed and hobbled to her side, giving her a great big hug. Maggie looked puzzled. Then looking up she gasped as she saw the Bear.

  “It’s OK,” said Molly. “He’s a friend. He helped save you.”

  “Save me? Save me from what? Molly, what’s going on?”

  “Can you s-s-save the Hawk t-t-too?” meekly asked a hopeful Tim.

  “Can you?” echoed Molly.

  Maggie wasn’t sure what Tim’s question meant. Wasn’t it she who was saving the Hawk? But where was the Hawk anyway? And why was everyone so confused?

  The Mistress turned her attention to Tim and Molly. “Ah, more young people. No, little ones. I am not a god. I cannot cheat death. Through me, this clever mystical-science device of mine is able to change the course of a singular ­event by altering the moments prior to that event.”

  Then she turned, appearing to face everyone and no one, and said, “I thank you truly for your assistance. Yours was a brave and selfless act.

  “But in desperation,” she continued, “I must make an additional request. I appeal to you, if in name only, to take the place of the fallen guardian. I ask that you help to defend the If Bridge.”

  Perhaps, it was merely a request, but those words pressed their weight as heavily as a demand.

  Everyone was quite certain the Mistress was speaking to Maggie. Everyone except Maggie, that is. All eyes turned to her.

  And, feeling everyone’s stare, she thought, They all think it’s me! But I’m just a kid. Maybe we all heard wrong. I have to ask…

  But before she could speak, the Mistress turned to the Bear and said, “You and the Deer now face a most difficult challenge. But have the faith in yourselves that I have in you. Good will prevail.” And with those words, and in a flash, she was gone.

  Maggie asked the Bear what he thought the Mistress had meant, but he would not comment, other than saying, “No one can say who will be a hero. He or she is placed into a situation by chance, and through strength of character rises to the needs of the occasion.”

  OK. So be it, thought Maggie. Time will tell.

  Tim and Molly spent the next several minutes explaining everything that had happened to a bewildered Maggie. She listened carefully and cried when they told her the Hawk was gone.

  Out of habit, Molly’s hand went to reach for her locket. Then she remembered it had been needed to call upon the Mistress and save her friend.

  Trading a locket for her buddy. It was the best deal she’d ever made.

  Chapter Twelve

  Now, just a quick note… interestingly enough, since Maggie had no memory of recent events, no one knew the treacherous role Horris had played in her accident and the Hawk’s demise.

  Anyway, it was time to leave. The kids needed to get home and back into their beds before the sun rose. It would be impossible to explain to the adults why they’d been out in the woods, all by themselves, so late at night. No explanation would be believed… especially the truth.

  The Bear offered to transport them back home. They accepted. He then leaned over the side of the Bridge and pulled up a large tusk-like horn that was chained there. He blew into it and waited. The sound resonated deeply, and communicated the urgency of a trumpeting elephant. He blew again and waited.

  Suddenly, a magnificent Deer came leaping down the path, stopping short on the opposite side of the Bridge. She was tall and slender and had huge green eyes. So this was the Deer the Mistress had referred to, thought the kids.

  “What is it Bear?” she asked with concern. “You have raised the alarm. Is all not well?”

  “No, my friend. All is not well. Not well at all. Come, help me carry these children back to their home. I will tell you the whole terrible story along the way.”

  So the Deer knelt to allow Maggie and Molly to climb upon her back, and Tim found himself once again straddling the back of the great Bear. They traveled at a good steady pace, and as they rode the Bear told the Deer all. She was greatly distressed by his news. It was a sad journey with little conversation.

  Thirty minutes or so later, they were back at the farm. It was still dark. They had easily beaten the sun. In fact, there was still time to go and speak with Manny. He was probably still up and waiting nervously for them to return. And he would want to know what had transpired on this unbelievable night. Indeed, they could see that a light was on in the greenhouse. Yes, he was waiting for them. No doubt hopeful. Too bad all they had was bad news to deliver.

  Preferring the camouflage of the forest, the Bear and the Deer dropped the children off by the edge of the woods. The Bear solemnly thanked them for their brave efforts, and they all said their goodbyes. Then he and the Deer quickly departed. A few moments later, walking towards the house in the dark silence, lost in their thoughts, the kids wondered if those incredible beings had been merely an illusion. Then each looked down at the fur that still clung to their clothing. Case closed.

  *****

  They didn’t need to sneak back into the house. Manny’s bedroom had an outside door that opened to the yard. They knock
ed once and it flew open immediately. Manny stood aside as Maggie, Molly, and Tim filed in. The three sat, as they had earlier, on the bench in front of the string bean vines.

  Manny frowned and nodded and shook his head as the children told him about their amazing adventure; he was deeply saddened about the hawk. “I will tell the others she passed,” he said.

  When he learned that Maggie had been seriously hurt he was stunned. He rose from his chair, kneeled before her, and said, “Child, I never imagined for one moment you would be in such danger. If I had even the smallest inkling, I never would have asked any of you to go.”

  “I know that, sir,” choked Maggie. “All any of us wanted to do was save the Hawk.” Then she lowered her head. “But we failed… I failed.”

  “Now Maggie, listen, you did not fail. You were ambushed. You did everything you could. All of you did everything you could. How were you to know those three foul cowards were planning to attack the Hawk? There was no way to know.”

  The four sat, lost in thought, for a while, silently mourning their little friend. Then as if in answer to a call from far, far away, the children rose, said goodnight to Manny, and exited through the door that led to the house.

  They had had enough adventure for one day. Enough thinking. Enough hiking. Enough worrying. Enough hurting. Enough drama. They were tired now and just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. To sleep and escape the reality of the moment.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Morning came. Molly and Tim had managed to get a couple of hours of sleep, but it was a fitful and troubled sleep. The events of the night were all too fresh on their minds. So, technically, while it might have been sleep, it certainly had not been rest.

  Maggie, on the other hand, did not even get into bed. She stayed up, sitting silently in a big overstuffed armchair that faced a mirror, and stared at herself. She let the chair envelop her. She let herself sink deeply into its well worn cushions. She wouldn’t have cared if she’d sank out of sight. For, in spite of Manny’s protests to the contrary, she still felt responsible for the Hawk’s death. So very personally responsible.

  She played the night’s events over and over again in her head. Trying to reconstruct her memory, or at least hoping to reconcile it with what her friends told her had happened. No use. It was a lost cause. All she had been able to do was encourage a nagging headache.

  As her thoughts revolved about the Hawk, the Bear, the Deer, the Bridge, and the incredible apparition known as the Mistress, her mind kept leading her back to one inescapable point. She had almost died. She was the lucky one. But she didn’t feel lucky right now, just sad.

  She rose from the chair and got her diary from her suitcase. Perhaps, if she were to put down in words what had happened, what she was feeling… maybe it would help her to feel better? So she sat, with open book and pen in hand, and waited for her thoughts to pool. She waited… and waited… and waited.

  And when she awoke, she saw she had written just one line. It read, I am glad to be alive.

  *****

  It was 8 am and Milda and Matilda had been up for two hours making fresh sweet bread and muffins for breakfast. Rising at 6 am on a farm is called sleeping in, but these days the farm was more of a hobby and a home than it was a full production money-making endeavor. These ladies had done more than their fair share of hard work. Now, their grey heads qualified them for a good night’s sleep. And really, do chickens care if morning feeding time is at 7 am rather than 5 am? I doubt it, but you can ask them.

  Soon wonderful smells came wafting out of the kitchen, floated up the stairs, and eased under the bedroom doors, where they found three interested noses that were connected to three hungry kids. And as tired as they were, with heads down and eyes half closed, they rose like zombies and followed the delicious smells back down the stairs and into the kitchen. They were ravenous little zombies.

  Blueberry, cranberry, apple cinnamon, banana-nut, and chocolate chip muffins were piled high on the table. Right next to a mountain of miniature sweet bread loaves. There were homemade jams and preserves, along with fresh cream butter. To drink, there was orange juice and milk. And, for the adults, there was rich-smelling French-roast coffee brewing, along with an assortment of teas. Oh, and there was fresh melon.

  The Morgans, Manny, and Horris were already seated, waiting and chatting. Horris was, however, already merrily munching on melon. But now that the rest of the kids had arrived, breakfast could officially start.

  As Maggie and the others walked in, Horris looked up, gasped, and dropped a melon slice onto his lap. The last time he had seen Maggie, she had been lying motionless on a pile of rocks. But now she looked fine. He couldn’t understand why. She didn’t look injured in any way. But she had been injured. He had seen her fall. And now, would she tell the others what he had done? Tell them about his three new friends? Maybe he could quietly sneak away and hide.

  But Maggie, Molly, and Tim simply walked in, said hello to everyone and sat down. The only thing that appeared to be on their minds at the moment was breakfast. OK then, thought Horris, as he pushed the melon splat from his lap onto the floor. I guess we need to have a little talk… later… alone… so I can sort this all out. And then, he took another slice of melon, two muffins, and a sweet bread. He munched away greedily, keeping one eye firmly fixed on Maggie.

  *****

  Half the group joked and laughed and had a great time during breakfast. The other half ate in silence. After a while it became apparent to the laughers that something was wrong. But their probing and questioning uncovered no more than had a bad night, couldn’t sleep. So the jokers shrugged and continued to joke merrily among themselves, while the others quietly listened as they ate.

  After everyone had finished eating and the conversation petered out, everyone pitched in to clean up. Even Horris. And with so many hands, they finished in minutes. If this had been a sporting event, the group would have taken first place.

  Of course, Horris did have a special reason for helping. To talk to Maggie. So as everyone finished and filed out of the kitchen, he called after her.

  “Hey Mags, wait up a minute?”

  Mags? thought Maggie. That name sounded so disturbingly familiar. But why?

  “You go on without me,” she said, turning to Molly and Tim. “I’ll be right with you.”

  Tim and Molly looked bewildered, but they left.

  “What do you want, Horris?” shot back Maggie with attitude. She had tried to be friendly at first but enough was enough. She wanted no part of this creepy guy. His mere presence made the hair on her arms stand up.

  “'Whoa, whoa. Back up girl. Peace, OK?”

  “I said, what do you want, Horris?”

  “I, uh, was just wondering if you were OK, that’s all. And, uh, how did everything turn out last night with the Hawk. How, uh, is she?”

  “Me, I’m fine, but the Hawk is dead.”

  “Yeah? Too bad… I mean too bad about the bird, not you. Hey, but she was just a bird, you know? A talking bird, but just a bird.”

  “You’re all heart,” glared Maggie. “You know something Horris, just breathing the same air as you makes me feel sick.” And with that she turned to walk away.

  “Hey,” he called after her. “I’m not such a bad guy. Just ask, uh… well, anyway, I’m not. And it, uh, was pretty brave of you to try to help that bird all by yourself.”

  Maggie froze. How could he have known I was all by myself? she thought. But then she continued walking. Between the lack of sleep and the big meal, she was feeling a little fuzzy.

  *****

  “Forget Horris,” said Maggie in response to Tim and Molly’s insistent questions. “I mean it. I don’t want to talk about him, OK?”

  “OK, OK, OK,” said Molly. “So what do you guys want to do this morning?”

  “How about g-g-going to the lake?” said Tim. “Matilda said they have a r-rowboat. We can go fishing and catch dinner. There’s everything we need in the shed, includin
g life jackets.”

  “Have you ever gone fishing?” asked Maggie.

  “Sure, my Dad and I go all the t-t-time.”

  “Well, OK,” said Molly. “I suppose we can try.” With an eye-rolling glance, the girls exchanged a look that said, sitting under a hot sun holding a stick with a worm at the end must be a guy thing. No matter. It was something they could do sitting down. They were all so tired, after all.

  In the shed, along with fishing gear, they found two old truck bikes. Nothing fancy. Just basic transportation. Bikes with fat tires and comfortable seats. So they gathered all their gear and rode down to the lake. It was only a quarter mile or so. Tim carried all the stuff, and Maggie rode with Molly sitting behind her and hanging on.

  They found the rowboat. It was upside down lying beside a tree, and all sorts of stuff was growing around, along, and over it. It apparently had not been used in years. So the first order of business was to flip it right side up.

  “Just grab the end a-and lift,” supervised Tim. “Ready? One, two, three… ”

  Maggie and Molly exchanged a give me a break look, and Maggie said, “No, don’t think so. This was your idea. So you do the flipping.”

  See, the problem was that with all that stuff growing on the outside, everyone was afraid of what they would find living on the inside. Who knows what might have made a one room condo out of this rowboat. And would you be happy if someone flipped your home?

  So Tim flipped the boat, and nearly flipped out as well. Everyone screamed as dozens of creepy crawly things came scurrying out, running for cover, running for their lives. Because, for all those little guys knew, this was the end of the world. As I said, would you be happy if someone flipped your home?

  “I am not stepping foot in that boat,” said Molly with her arms crossed, after the last of the tiny terrors had scampered off. “No way.”

  “Maybe we c-could clean it u-up?” said Tim hopefully. “I’ll go back and get a mop and broom.”

  Molly looked uncertain but Maggie said, “Sure Tim, it’s worth a try. I’m sure we can get most of that yucky stuff out of there. Those things were only bugs, after all. And do you think any actually hung around?” It should come as no surprise by now, that of these three, Maggie was the toughest.