LeOmi's Solitude (33 page)

Bekka, LeOmi and Jacob Jones entered the
subway corridor was on the west side of The Seventh Mountain.

“LeOmi, I lived in Magi City for a couple of
years, working off my one year here. I worked at Prize Books down
near the Orphanage.”

LeOmi was trying to take in all the new
sights, but after the day she’d had, she felt like these were just
duties she had to perform. “We do need to stop by there and tell
Jesse.”

“Jesse already knows. I informed him when I
went to get your father.”

The walk to the subway was a short one and
they were seated in the same kind of subway cars that she had seen
on television. Her book bag was on her lap and the coneys were
snuggled together in the bottom. One of them was always awake, and
it was the girl who would look up whenever there was a sway to the
subway car.

LeOmi’s father said, “You’re right though, we
should be there for him just now. It’s all right if we make an
additional stop isn’t it?”

Bekka nodded, “Of course. You probably
remember that the Orphanage access tunnel is joined with the subway
exit.”

When they arrived at the end of the line and
departed from the subway, there was another tunnel carved into the
rock. Over the entrance, ORBUS SALUTARE, was carved into the
stone.

“It’s Latin, it says…Orphans welcome.” She
smiled at her dad, “Ancient Languages is one of my favorite
classes.”

“This place has been here for a thousand
years. It was carved out of solid rock and then there are another
ten stories above, and a basement beneath. At present there are
about seven thousand children here, from the age of newborn to
twelve. They have been brought here from all over North and South
America.”

“Jesse is a counselor here, what does he
do?”

“As a counselor, he has children assigned to
him.”

Bekka directed LeOmi up the ramp that
substituted for stairs.

“After a child or student reaches the age of
about six, they have their Day at the Stables, which is similar to
the Day of Choosing. Once their motivation is discovered they are
put with a counselor.”

“What happens when they are twelve and they
are not accepted into The Seventh Mountain?”

“You are asking in regard to Albert?”

“Yes.”

“Well, Albert is a special case, and we
always…always try to do the right thing.”

As they turned the corner, the ramp ceiling
opened into a huge expanse of stone, pillars, intricate woodwork
and people.

LeOmi said, “Wow.”

“It appears that today is a hands-on day.”
Jacob Jones observed.

Bekka said, “Yes, they have weekly projects
scheduled to test and apply work ethic and self-motivation. We can
walk around a bit until we spot him.”

Large tables had been set-up from one side of
the room to the other. This floor of the building seemed as big as
a football field and the lighting came from floor to ceiling
windows that lined both sides of the large room. A reflector system
furnished sunlight from the windows to the center of the room.

There were all sorts of different projects
going on all over. There was one child trying to duplicate a birds
nest that she remembered, another building a pull cart, a group
working on constructing a door, children carving hand sized
objects, others making small boxes, and large boxes, anything that
could be made with wood.

Jesse’s group was on the far side, under a
window. Bekka went over and spoke to him. He introduced her and
then he left her and motioned LeOmi and their dad to a small room,
not far from his group.

He left the door ajar and took them both into
his arms for a family hug, minus two. They hadn’t been together for
her mom’s, or Grand-Père’s death, but they could be together for
Ruby. Tears fell from all three.

* * *

LeOmi and Bekka visited the small guest house
with her father. It was set-up for visitors to the mountain, all
that was necessary, but not a home. Bekka had gone to his office in
Virginia and picked out several bags of papers and study materials
that he had laid out on his desk. “This should keep you busy for
some time. If you need more, let me know.”

They said their goodnights; LeOmi and Bekka
made their way to the Olive Tree.

LeOmi knew something was wrong the moment she
approached. The coneys started hissing.

There was a big branch on the ground and
Ralph Lawrence and Rickey Barnes were sitting on the barricade that
kept the good rich soil around the tree.

“What have you done?”

They were pretending to pick olives off the
broken branch and collecting them into a fold of Rickey’s
tunic.

Ralph said, “Rickey tried to climb the tree
and a branch broke.”

Rickey stood and let the few olives in his
tunic tumble to the ground.

Bekka said, “This tree has been here for over
three centuries. Its linage can be traced back to the time of
Moses, and you have, have… ”

Ralph said, “It is just a tree.”

The coneys were hissing.

Ralph and Rickey stood, “We didn’t want to be
here anyway. We have been sent to tell you to come to the meeting
place.”

“To come.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

“I’m not going with you.”

“What? Because of the tree?”

“Not completely.” A deep growl came from the
book bag.

“No one tells me to go anywhere, especially
Slone.”

“He will not be happy.”

LeOmi set her book bag on the roots of the
Olive Tree. The male coney perched on one and hissed, growled and
showed his teeth.

Ralph and Rickey started jogging towards the
school.

Chapter 17

Take Advantage of the Enemy’s
Unpreparedness and Strike

The next day, LeOmi went to the alcove. She
grabbed sandwich fixings and sat in her corner near the exit. Slone
followed her to her seat, “I told you to come to me.”

LeOmi took another bite and swallowed before
she said, “You sent your goons.” LeOmi gestured to Ralph and
Rickey.

“I understand that you were mad about the
tree?”

“Of course.”

“But you should have come. If you are going
to be part of the front row, then you have to be responsible for
certain things. You have to be loyal.”

He pulled a chair over to her and leaned in
close. He grabbed her free hand and said, “I have to know if you
are loyal.”

“Are you getting ready to puncture my lung
again?”

Slone dropped her hand and stood.

“We had a little training mission, and we
will have another one tomorrow, after classes. Meet us at the wall
near the orchard.”

He handed her a card with numbers printed on
it. “Study this.”

2 – 6 = 1

7 – 9 = 0

10 – Ace = -1

“And what if I can’t make it to your training
mission?”

“Loyalty LeOmi. If you don’t get there on
time, I’ll send someone to get you.”

LeOmi stood.

The pointers Lydia had given ran through her
mind.

Act like you belong, but be cautious, don’t
let your guard down. Kindness for kindness, aggression use
aggression. If it calls for walking away—do it. If all else fails
and you feel yourself getting frustrated, pick a song that you can
just kind-of get stuck into.

She sat again.

I come to the garden alone, while the dew is
still on the roses…

Slone smiled and walked away.

* * *

Just after classes, Bekka met LeOmi, “Mrs.
Shadowitz and Mr. Sieggler are eager to see you. They have found
out something very interesting about the Journal. They are waiting
at the lab.”

Mr. Sieggler began speaking as soon as LeOmi
and Bekka walked into the lab, “Much of the Journal is in
palindrome form. That is where a word, phrase, number or other
sequence of units can be read the same way in either
direction.”

“A lot of Sumerian Sanskrit was written as
palindromes.”

“Yes LeOmi, that is true and there is nothing
remarkable there, but the curious thing is that the Journal gives a
location of Tell or Artificial Hill that was supposedly the
location of a temple.”

“A temple?”

Mrs. Shadowitz said, “Not just any temple,
one that was thought to be the location of the Ziggurat otherwise
known as the Tower of Babel. As God said, ‘Behold, the people are
one and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and
now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined
to do.’”

“This is the information that you feel they
were after?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any idea why they want
that?”

Mr. Sieggler asked LeOmi, “Do you know the
history of the Tower of Babel?”

“A descendant of Noah, Nimrod built a kingdom
in what is now modern Iraq. He and his people began building the
Tower of Babel.”

“A tower to heaven, in rebellion to God,”
said Mrs. Shadowitz. “The descendant was Cush and he was married to
what the Journal refers to as the most beautiful woman in the
world. Her name was Semiramis. She was called the original mother
of all the fertility goddesses. Their son was Nimrod.”

“Well, the Journal claims to be a work on the
history of the Tower of Babel and the precise measurements and
location.”

“Of course, since the time of the Tower or
Tell, homes and towns have been built over the ruins, layer by
layer.”

“You said there was history?”

“Yes, as I said, it began with Noah and the
great flood, then the Tower of Babel and Semiramis, then Ashtoreth,
wife of Baal. Ancient Hebrews worshipped her. An eight-rayed
Rosette, a star, was her symbol, the same shape as the key.”

“In Nimrod’s time they worshiped four main
gods: The GOD of heaven, the air-god, Enlil, the water-god, Enki,
and the mother goddess, Ninhursag.

In addition to these there were three astral
gods, mood-god, Nanna, also called Sin, the sun god, Utu, and
Inanna, known to the Semites as Ishtar or Ashtoreth.”

“
Interactions between Earth, Wood, Fire,
Metal and Water
.”

“Ashtoreth followers used human sacrifices
and they were very fond of snakes as a tool for assassinations or
as a calling card. Just as some religious practices use today.”

“After the Tower of Babel, GOD confused their
language and scattered them all over the face of the earth. But the
Neo-Phylum or New Order wants to rebuild the Tower of Babel in the
guise of global unity.”

“Well, what does all this have to do with
Ruby?”

“LeOmi, it would seem that Ruby was a member
of the Neo-Phylum, along with your grandfather Vincent DuBose, and
also your mother.”

* * *

LeOmi and Bekka were the only ones in The
Quarters, it was so late.

“It has been a rough day, and I have a
feeling that this may only make it rougher.”

Hannah’s broach was actually pinned to the
letter.

LeOmi,

I am banished because we refuse to fulfill
the cruelty that had been arranged for you, my petit Yvonne.

What does power bring you but bitter lonely
tears?

What does having more fulfill, except for the
desire of more?

What is the cost of greed–the wisdom of lost
love?

As Yeats says, Things fall apart; the centre
cannot hold.

Why would your mother have left her native
New Orleans and marry your father. I had given her everything, yet
she left me. She left me alone. Do you blame me? Do you think that
it is my fault that your mother left me as she left you? Do you
blame me for her death…? When she resisted this life that we have
led, she was pursued and the guilt almost destroyed her.

He knew that your mother was trying to break
away, at the very end. Compton even called me searching for her—he
said he felt something was wrong. He said she was crazy—But I
didn’t believe it.

A few days later I received a message from
her that she needed to get in touch with me. By the time I could
get to her, it was too late. That is something that I will have to
deal with for the rest of my life, however long or short that may
be.

Beware of:

always desiring what others have, in your
loneliness, you will find no happiness.

always wanting more, more, more, and more,
making the wrong seem right and the right seemingly wrong.

exaggerated self worthwhile true worth of
abilities is absent.

the person who craves stardom–and think they
deserve it.

personal destruction and the loss of all.

Weigh these answers, then as you must, search
for the real questions.

I see what I have done to my husband, my
daughter and to my grandchildren. My confession doesn’t relieve the
cruelty that I have arranged for people. LeOmi, please forgive an
old women her many sins.

Of course they will not let me live now, but
it is my hope that this letter reaches you and that you can somehow
understand what is in my heart.

You have asked of your family history. The
house is yours if you want it. Its secrets may persuade you of the
contents of this letter, and give you the answers that you so
recklessly seek.

As you know, your Grand-Père was imprisoned
for many years. He was exiled for his family loyalty- to your
mother. Ruby will pay for her disloyalty to the family with
whatever gain she has accumulated.

I do feel that your mother loved you and your
family, and you know that I loved your mother and you.

Remember…

Grand-Mère

“Bekka, we must go to New Orleans.”

LeOmi handed Bekka the letter so she could
read as they walked.

More things to pile in Henry’s painful
disappointments basket.

* * *

“She can’t have just left. What will happen
to her?”

Bekka put her hand on LeOmi’s shoulder, “We
should go.”