Nathan gave his head a hard shake and stared at the flame, watching the others as they gathered into a cluster. Their number split to six for a moment before congealing back to three.
“The guiding light must originate where truth is born,” Amber said. “Concentrating on the false light in this world surely made it worse for Nathan. It is no wonder he lost his bearings.”
Daryl nudged the bag on the floor with her foot. “My bad. But what do we do now? Where’s the real Solomon Shepherd?”
The newly lit candle shone in Amber’s eyes. “I have no experience with dreams that come from the dream world itself, but I assume he is close by.”
“If the dream is gone,” Nathan’s mother said, “he must be awake.”
Daryl pointed at her. “Right, but he still wouldn’t know we’re here. He probably thought it was all a dream.”
“Solomon! Can you hear me? It’s Francesca!”
“Mr. Shepherd!” Daryl shouted. “This is Daryl. You don’t know me, but that’s okay. When you do, you’ll like me.”
Stumbling toward them on wobbly legs, Nathan pointed at his mother’s violin, still in her grip. “Call him with that. If this place is anything like it was where I first found you, your music will travel farther than our voices will.”
“Good idea.” She raised the violin and played a rousing rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” The strings sang out as clear as any bell, though in the emptiness, nothing echoed at all.
After several seconds, she stopped. Nathan held his breath, straining his ears. Now that his vision had cleared, his hearing also seemed more acute.
“Not a sound,” Daryl said. “But if you’re right about voices, maybe he’s trying to answer, and we can’t hear him.”
“I have an idea.” Amber turned toward the spider tree, letting her candle illuminate the branches. She angled her head directly toward its trunk and sang a high note. A lovely echo replied and drifted into the darkness.
She then pointed her body toward the barrier leading to Sarah’s Womb and sang out again. No sound rebounded from the dark wall. “I will sing in all directions,” she said, shifting a few degrees to her right. “If anyone hears the slightest echo, stop me. That will indicate a true physical presence, perhaps Solomon Shepherd.”
“Or another spider tree,” Nathan said, “but it’ll be worth the effort if we eventually find him.”
Amber slowly pivoted, repeating her note every few degrees. Nathan stepped away a few paces, hoping to hear something besides her voice. His mother walked in the opposite direction until only her candle gave any indication she was there.
Daryl cupped her hands around her ears, turning in sync with Amber.
After a few seconds, Daryl spoke up. “Wait! I heard something.”
Amber stopped and pointed. “That way?”
“I think so. It was really soft, though, so I’m not sure.”
Holding her candle high, Amber strode forward, singing out once more. After a minute or so, she stopped, turned a few degrees, and sang a short note. They waited. A few seconds later, a weak echo sounded.
“I heard it again!” Daryl said.
Amber pointed. “That way!” She ran straight ahead, her dress flying as her heels kicked the hem. The other three hustled behind her. The dream world’s air rushed past, but the candle flames they held before their eyes stayed steady.
Soon, Amber stopped and sang out. This time the echo sounded loud and clear. She glided forward, extending her candle. “Solomon?” she called. “Are you here?”
“Honey?” Nathan’s mother hurried ahead, then slowed. “Can you hear me?”
Nathan caught up and walked at her side. With both candles raised high, the darkness seemed to fly away.
A low, creaking noise sounded from above. Nathan jerked his mother backwards. A big claw swiped by, barely missing them.
Heaving a sigh, Nathan looked at his mother. Her chin quivered, and every line in her face turned downward.
Daryl stamped her foot. “Cursed spider trees!” She stalked toward it, lifting her candle close to the lowest branches. “This’ll teach you to pretend to be a human!” She stepped back, still holding her flame high.
“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked.
“Spider’s got a fly. A big one.”
Nathan edged closer, watching the creaking branches for any sign of attack. As he joined his light with Daryl’s, a web-covered shape appeared in the branches. The spider tree had caught a victim, a human one.
13
SOLOMON SHEPHERD
Nathan dropped the bag and pushed his candle into Daryl’s hand. “Hold this!” With a flying leap, he vaulted to the first limb and scrambled out to the branch that held the webbed captive. As it sagged under their combined weight, Nathan reached for the closest extremity. A claw stabbed at him, driving a sharp finger into his side. He batted it away, but the motion sent him sliding down the branch. Summoning all his strength, he lunged forward. Grabbing the captive in his arms, he dropped through two sets of thin branches, landing feet first and rolling to the ground with his load.
He jumped up and dragged the web-covered mass to a safe distance. His mother, Daryl, and Amber rushed to his side, holding their candles close. He found a mouth — a man’s mouth — the only part of the body exposed to the air. Using both hands, he ripped the hole wider. The strings were sticky and tough, but Nathan tore through them like a maniac.
“Shades of Frodo,” Daryl whispered. “He’s been Shelobbed.”
After just a few seconds, Nathan had cleared the stuff from the man’s face. Although he appeared gaunt and pale, his familiar jaw and cheekbones revealed his identity.
“It’s Dad!” Nathan shouted.
His mother cleared away a few loose strings from her husband’s mouth. “Solomon, can you hear us?”
He blinked, then opened his eyes wide. He pursed his lips to speak, but only a rasping whisper came forth. “Francesca?”
“Yes! Yes!” She ripped away a chunk of webbing from the top of his head. “Hurry, everyone!” she said, laughing. “It’s him!
It’s Solomon!”
While the others stripped away the cocoon, Amber set her candle close to Solomon’s eyes. “Have you kept your focus on the living world, dear Solomon?”
“I had no light to guide me . . .” His voice still carried a sandpaper grittiness. “But Scarlet gave me . . . gave me a song. Whenever I felt like I was losing touch, I sang it.”
Amber brushed dark bangs from his brow. “How did you become a victim of the spider tree?”
As Nathan pulled a sticky strip from his arms, Solomon winced. “While searching for a way out of this place, I walked into a cemetery. A girl, a blind girl, called for help from the branches of this tree. Half her body was already covered with the web. I climbed up to free her, but while I was working, the tree caught me. Of course, I couldn’t jump down until she was free, but by the time I pulled the last binding strands from her, the tree had already bound me so tightly, I couldn’t free myself. Then, a strange wind pulled the girl into a cyclonic swirl and dragged her away.”
“Was her name Felicity?” Nathan asked.
“Yes.” His eyes shifted toward him. “How did you know?”
“We’ve met.” Nathan smiled at his mother and tore a long strip from his father’s thigh.
His mother simply glowed. Her smile, her eyes, even her skin seemed to radiate their own light. “Cerulean’s taking care of Felicity, my love. Don’t worry.”
“But if we’re in a dream world, aren’t you just part of another dream?” Solomon coughed and spat out a thread. “I have walked through many dreams, some better than others, but I must say this is the best one of all.”
Amber pushed the candle closer, cupping her hand under neath to catch the dripping wax. “Solomon, look through the flame. Sing Scarlet’s song. Soon, you will know the truth.”
Solomon blinked again. As his rapid breaths disturbed the flame, he crossed his e
yes to concentrate.
“Dad,” Nathan said, sliding a hand under his father’s back, “it might help if you sit up.”
After rising to a sitting position, Solomon kept his focus on the candle and began humming, following the tune of “Be Thou My Vision.”
“Nathan. Daryl.” Francesca Shepherd picked up her violin.
“You two finish. I’m going to play for my husband.”
Now that his upper body was free, he stretched out his arms, cleared his throat, and sang in a raspy bass, still watching the flame.
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my mind.
Lead me through darkness when these eyes are blind.
Thou my bright candle, and thou my true light.
Guide me to morning and through the dark night.
Francesca lengthened the final note, letting it slowly fade. Solomon blinked again and looked at her, his eyes now glistening with tears. He reached for her hand. She took it. Then, he pulled her into his lap, laughing as he wrapped her up in his strong embrace. “Francesca, my darling! It’s you! It’s really you!”
After a tender kiss, he looked up at Nathan with a grin. “You rascal! Did you drag your mother all the way to this dream world to find me?”
“Did you think I’d ever stop looking for you?” Nathan slid his bloody hand into his father’s palm. “I’d do anything to get my father back.”
Solomon stared at Nathan’s wounds, then curled his fingers and kissed the back of his hand. “Son, I am the proudest father in any world. You are a true blessing to me.”
Daryl sniffed. “You three stop it, or I’m going to bawl for sure.”
“We’ll stop,” Solomon said, pushing Francesca to the side. “We have too much work to do.”
Nathan pulled his father to his feet. His hand smarted, but it felt good to watch the real Solomon Shepherd rise to his full stature.
“So,” Solomon said, brushing strings from his khakis. “I’ll give you a quick update on what I know, and then you can tell me what you’ve learned.”
Nathan couldn’t stop smiling, even though his cheeks ached. “Sounds perfect.”
“But we should try to find our way out of here while we talk.” Solomon nodded at the glowing supplicant. “Amber, it’s good to see you again.”
She curtsied. “It is my pleasure. The days have been long since our previous encounter.”
“Can you get us out of this dream world?” Solomon asked.
“I can, but we have another soul we must find here. Kelly of Earth Red is lost somewhere within this realm.”
“Oh, yes. Tony’s daughter. What happened?”
Nathan piped up. “We were in a dream here in Earth Yellow, and she got sucked into a cyclone thing with Felicity. We haven’t seen her since, except in a dream.”
“Interesting. It seems that this Felicity, blind though she is, has a habit of getting folks into trouble.”
Francesca touched Solomon’s hand. “Honey, Nathan and Kelly grew really close during their search for us. They’re . . . well, let’s say they’re like brother and sister now.”
Solomon looked at Nathan, his brow bent. “I’m sorry for my lack of sympathy. I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay.” Nathan shifted his feet on the dark floor. “After I saw her in the dream, it made me realize she’s alive somewhere.
So I wasn’t so worried anymore. We just need to find her.”
“I have watched many dreams disappear, and, as you mentioned, they often get swept into a cyclone that funnels into a hole of some kind. But if dreams go back into the minds of dreamers, where could Kelly have gone?”
“This sounds like a job for the logic queen,” Daryl said. “Look, dreams are color-coded, right? Red people dream in the red zone, Yellow in yellow, and Blue in blue, but this Felicity chick showed up in both the yellow and the blue dream worlds. And now Kelly’s showing up in Earth Red, so I’m guessing they’re both snoozing where there’s access to all three. And there’s only one logical place for that.”
“Sarah’s Womb?” Nathan asked.
“Bingo! Time to search through infinite darkness with a flashlight, a few candles, and nothing to walk on.” She picked up the bag and hung it from her shoulder. “Sounds like we’d better get started.”
Touching his father’s arm, Nathan stared into the darkness. “Amber stretched a vine from a spider tree to Sarah’s Womb, so all we have to do is find the tree again.”
“Right,” Daryl said. “And then we follow the yellow brick, uh, vine, I guess.”
Solomon narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the area. “Sounds like a good plan. Maybe we can figure out a way to get to the violin that spans the top of the Womb. If we can play it, we might be able to buy a little more time.”
“We’ll need it,” Nathan said. “According to Gordon Yellow we only have two of their days before interfinity hits.”
Solomon looked at Amber and bowed his head. “Does our supplicant know the way to the tree?”
“I do. If you will please follow.” Amber lifted her candle and glided ahead as if floating above the dark floor.
As they walked, the entire area brightened. The sun appeared overhead in the midst of a cloudless, deep-blue sky. The black ground brightened to a lush green lawn. Warm, pleasant air blew gently all around, and an amusement park materialized, filled with the typical attractions — a merry-go-round, a Ferris wheel, various thrill rides, and carnival barkers yelling from game booths. Dozens of adults and children milled about, some munching cotton candy, others standing in line for the rides. One male teenager, short and bespectacled and carrying a slide rule, seemed different from the rest. Dressed in throwback schoolboy knickers and a button-down shirt, he stood rather stiffly and looked at the other children, but he didn’t take part in the fun.
Nathan called ahead to Amber. “Can you tell whose dream this is? The guy with the slide rule?”
“I think so, but it is another blended dream. If you look carefully, you will see that there are tombstones scattered among the amusements.”
Nathan scanned the littered fairgrounds. Next to a trash can spilling over with popcorn boxes, soft drink bottles, and hypodermic needles, a small tombstone leaned at a slight angle.
“Felicity again?” he asked. “Is she around somewhere?”
“I think that’s likely.”
Nathan gave the boy another quick glance. He looked very familiar, like a younger version of Dr. Simon. Could Simon Yellow be taking a nap? Could this be his dream?
As a hand slid into his, a feminine voice sounded at his side. “I thought I smelled the aroma of courage.”
Tapping her walking stick, Felicity faced straight ahead, dark glasses no longer masking her vacant eye sockets. “May I walk with you a while?” she asked. “I was getting pushed around in the crowds.”
Nathan held his candle toward her and stopped. “Of course you can, but I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”
A pleasant smile eased across her face, revealing white, yet crooked teeth. “Of course. I will answer what I can.”
As the others gathered around, Nathan looked into her sockets. A tiny spark of blue light pulsed deep within. “When I first saw you, you were sucked into a sandbox by a swirling wind, and Kelly, a friend of mine, went with you. Have you noticed her presence around you anywhere?”
She shook her head. “I knew she was with me in the wind, but when it settled, I was alone in my usual nightmare.”
“When you’re alone, what’s around you? Can you hear anything? Smell anything?”
“It’s cool and dry and dark. Until recently I heard and smelled nothing. But during the most recent nightmare, I finally smelled something.” She paused, then whispered, “Blood.”
“Blood?” Nathan repeated. “Are you sure?”
“I know the odor well. I have smelled my own.”
“So, what do you do when you’re in that place?”
“In my nightmare?” She shrugged. “Nothing. N
othing at all. I can’t walk, so it’s worse than just being blind. I just wait until I wake up, then I try to find someone friendly to talk to.”
“So you think you’re awake now?” Nathan asked.
“Of course I’m awake.” Her smile seemed to add a new light to the dream world. “I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”
“Nathan,” Solomon said. “We need to press on. Let her tag along, and we’ll see what we can do to help her when we get each other up to speed.”
Felicity stopped and tugged on Nathan’s hand. “I smell him again.”
“Who?” Nathan asked.
“Death.”
Nathan drilled his stare into the crowd, but with so many people flitting about from place to place, Mictar could be hiding anywhere. “How far away is he?”
“Close,” she said. “But not real close. I will tell you if he comes closer.”
Daryl touched Felicity’s head. “Cool. A stalker alarm. She’ll come in handy.”
As Nathan turned to Amber, her glow brightened. With eyes narrowed and piercing, she seemed ready for battle. He gave her a nod, knowing that all was well. Mictar wouldn’t dare approach while she was on guard. “Okay, Amber,” he said. “We’re ready.”
Glancing both ways, Amber pressed through the crowd. Following less than a step behind, Solomon spoke loudly enough for all to hear. “Nathan, I’m not sure how much you’ve learned about the three worlds and the dream worlds. They are actually all in the same planes of existence, but invisible to each other. Where we stand right now is level ground somewhere in Earth Yellow. And it sounds like you know about Sarah’s Womb. It’s visible in the dream world, but not in the awakened realm.”
They passed a barker who invited them to throw rings over the heads of live ducks that swam in a small pond, but the rings were no bigger than doughnuts, and the ducks were the size of geese. A wayward ring rolled their way. When Francesca picked it up and tossed it toward the pond, one of the ducks grabbed it and swallowed it whole.