Chapter Six

Chapter 6

That night Lann slept in her bed again, but Arabella did not mind. She was occupied with other things. She was searching through the items on the shelves beside her mother’s hearth. Small vials and bottles stood attention in neat rows. Arabella knew that her mother never put anything back, so the organization of the shelves was the work of the invisible servants. Nothing of use to taking a trip was on the shelves. Arabella turned and looked around the room. The large workbench was empty and the small table that usually held the crystal ball was empty as well. Where had the crystal ball gone? It had been years since it worked, but only weeks since she last spoke to it. Arabella found herself staring at a curtained alcove across the room while she thought about the crystal ball.

She walked over and pulled the curtain open. Three trunks were stacked behind the curtain. The largest one was on the bottom. Arabella opened the smallest one on top. Inside was a collection of sharp daggers. Each had wicked looking blades as well as ornate handles. She looked closely at the handles and thought that they looked like animals. Strangely shaped animals, but she could pick out eyes and mouths. Carefully she pulled out two of the least strange knives. One looked like a ram with its horns forming a hand guard. The other one had a bird curved into a hand grip; its wings formed the hand guard. There were sheathes strapped to the lid of the chest. Arabella fitted two sheaths to the knives.

She lifted the heavy chest off of the top of the stack. She opened the next chest. Inside was a collection of velvet bags. They were only the size of her hand. She picked up a green colored on. She peeked inside and discovered that it was full of herbs. She chose a blue one. When she looked inside, it was full of water. She put that one on top of the knives. She found another blue bag full of water. She kept sorting through the bags. One purple one was full of live bugs. She shut that one in a hurry. She found two brown ones full of food. She was hoping that the bags were the kind of magic that replenished itself. A bag of never-ending food and never-ending water would be useful on a long trip. Arabella repacked the chest, making sure to put the bug filled bag at the bottom of the chest. She moved that one on top of the smaller chest.

Arabella reached for the largest chest and jumped as a noise sounded from beside her. She relaxed when the two smaller chests rearranged themselves. She opened the last chest. Only two items were in the chest. One was a detailed map. The map began just north of Kuhlbert and ended south of the desert’s edge. The mountains that she could see from the tower were not on the map. Cardew was in the exact center of the map. Arabella put it with her supplies. She removed the other item from the chest. It looked like a glass marble. She looked at it and through it. There was a slight flaw on the surface that matched the flaw that was on the missing crystal ball. Arabella was certain that she had found the crystal ball. Somehow her mother had shrunk it and put it away.  She decided to keep the ball with her. She shut the lid of the large chest.

Lann had given her a check list of things that they would need. He had said that they would need food, water, weapons, bandages, and hopefully a map. Her pile contained two bags of food and water, two knives, and one map. She figured that she could make bandages from some of her bedding in her room. She gathered her items and took them upstairs. Lann was still awake when she pushed the door open. She dumped her items on the bed. She showed Lann how to work the bags of food and water. She gave him the ram knife and put the map in his pile.

“Only one map,” she said. “You take it; you may need it to get out of the desert.”

“And what of you?” Lann said. “You may need it going south. The lay of the land to the north is familiar. I remember parts of it when I flew over it. You are going to need the map.” Arabella looked at him. He was so stubborn. She did not argue with him it would waste too much time.

Arabella emptied out two small canvas bags of her childhood treasures. She dumped them into the bottom of her wardrobe. Perhaps the invisible servant would not clean them up before she was found and returned. She snagged the jar of healing salve out of the bottom of the wardrobe as well. She wrapped the jar with a strip of bedding in case she had to use if for a bandage. Her bird knife, the jar, and the map went into her bag. She added the food and water bags. She chose a beige colored lace dress to add to her bag. Lann packed his bag as well.

“You had better grab a cape,” he said. Arabella looked at him.

“A cape?” she said.

“Yes. You can protect yourself from the sun with it and cover up when you get too cold.”

“I do not have a cape,” she said. “It is never cold here so I guess I never needed one.” Lann frowned and sorted through her wardrobe. He pulled out a long wool dress that buttoned down the front with long sleeves.

“Here,” he handed her the dress. “It’s really too lightweight, but it looks like it is the best that you have to cover up with.” Arabella put it on over the top of the lace dress that she was wearing. At least it had big pockets. She put the miniaturized crystal ball in the pocket. She pulled the strap of the bag to close it and put it over her shoulder. Quietly they went downstairs and then out the front. A bright moon hung overhead. In a less than a week it would be full. The empty eyes of the skull watched the pair slip and slide down the side of the hill. Once the ground leveled out Lann and Arabella stopped.

“Good journey and thank you,” Lann wrapped his arms around Arabella in a quick hug.

“Keep yourself safe and save Rosalina, okay?” said Arabella when Lann let her go. She watch Lann as he walked northward in the moonlight. After a bit she followed the hill base around to the back of Cardew. She looked up at the tower that she had sat in for years. She had left a candle burning in the south window of the tower. Now with the light to her back she started walking towards the mountains. She made good time one the compact sand. After a couple of hours the sand changed. With each step she sank up to her ankles. Her footing was unsure. Her lack of sleep finally caught up with her. On a small rise she lay down in the sand and drifted off to sleep.

“Hello,” said a voice. Arabella looked around in the darkness.

“Hello,” Arabella said back. A small star appeared in front of her “Who are you?”

“I am Denrisi Isriru,” the voice said softly back. “Are you coming to me?”

“Yes,” she answered. The dark flared up in fiery colors then nothing.

Arabella woke up and noticed that the stars had moved. The moon was no longer in the sky. She lay there in the sand stretching. The sand was definitely softer than the chair she had been sleeping in for the past two weeks. She almost hoped that she could spend one more night sleep in the sand. She sat up and jumped. Some furry creature with long ears sat looking at her. Its long feet thumped twice on the ground and then it sped off. I disappeared over the top of the dune to her right. So there was life in this expanse of sand. Arabella noticed that the sky was getting brighter as she stared after the creature. She wished that she had her book on animals. She would then be able to give a name to the animal she had seen.

She rose and plodded through the sand. With the sun coming up on her right, she knew that she was still heading south. By the time the sun was fully up, the ground had changed again. It hardened a bit. She stopped sinking. She could accurately keep her balance on each step without having to through her body forward. The desert began to heat up. Arabella removed the outer dress and put it in the sack. She removed the food bag and took out a couple of bread rolls. She returned the food bag and took out the water bag. She nibbled on the rolls and drank lots of water between bites. With each drink, she watched the water level. It would go down as she drank, but when she opened the bag next it would be refilled. It was good to find out that she would not have to worry about her supplies.

After she put the water bag back, she pulled out the map. She discovered that Lann had tied Rosalina’s pink ribbon around the map. Arabella untied the ribbon and opened the map. It seemed as if the center of the map had shifted. Arabella looked closer. The bottom edge of the map was beginning to fill with small hills. So the map was magical too. It did not surprise her. Most items around her mother’s house had some sort of magic to them. She studied the map. There seemed to be a rim around the southern edge of the desert. Arabella hoped that it was not unclimable. Massive rock landmarks dotted the edge of the desert. She decided that she would aim for the one that was farthest east than the others. It looked as if the rim of the desert dipped then or perhaps the mountains started rising at that point. Arabella tied the map back up and put it back. She shouldered the bag and started walking.

The sun was directly over head when she saw the tops of the rock formations. She paused to drink more water, but skipped the food. Her stomach was feeling queasy. She figured that it was the heat. Arabella continued on. The rocks were suddenly before her. At one point they still looked far away, but when she topped a sand dune massive stone columns loomed before her. The sun beat along the side of the rock towers creating long fingers of shade. The sun was just past its highest point so the shadows were growing. She noticed that small clumps of green plants were growing low to the ground. The plants were prickly and looked dry, but they were alive. She aimed for the nearest shade.

Once there she took out her outer dress and spread it on the ground. Her water bag fell to the ground. Arabella’s skin felt hot from the inside out. She opened up the bag and began to spill the water out over her skin. It felt deliciously cold. She shivered and drank. He stomach heaved. She froze in place. She closed the water bag and curled up on the dress on the ground. Her stomach cramped in waves. Finally they faded and she relaxed. She dozed in the afternoon heat in the shade of the pillars.

“Where are you?” Denrisi’s voice echoed through the dark.

“I am here,” Arabella whispered.

“I can not see you. Where are you?” he asked again.

“I am here,” she shouted. Suddenly she was surrounded in fire. Her skin flamed and burned. She screamed and she heard an echoing scream from Denrisi.

Arabella awoke to the coolness of the evening in the desert. The sun was just slipping over the edge of the rock cliffs that blocked her way. Everything was in shadow. She shivered violently. She stood up and swayed with dizziness. Once the world stopped spinning she put on her outer dress. She ate a slice of dark brown bread and took small sips of water. The early sickness did not come back. She ate a piece of salted meat. She did not know what kind it was, but she did not care. The saltiness hurt her tongue, but made her feel stronger.

She studied the map again. A large mountain was now in view. Along the base of the mountain was a blue semi-circle. She supposed that it must be water. The body of water looked much larger than the rock formations. Arabella put it away and turned eastward chasing the failing daylight. She thought that she had seen a rip in the cliffs not far from where she currently was. Hope filled her that there might be a way up to the top of the cliffs. She did not want to spend another day in the desert.

“I am coming Denrisi,” she said into the evening air. Perhaps she could meet him before her mother caught up with her.