Shadow Tree (14 page)

Chapter 23: Flying North

Leif Perplexon was good at fixing things, especially while asleep. He always had been. Ever since he was a teenager, he had shown a great knack for repairing virtually anything with moving parts – bicycles, lawnmowers, chainsaws, mopeds, fans, tractors, fancy exercise machines – it didn't matter what the thing was, if it was broken, you just gave Leif a wrench and a hammer, and his sleeping-self would do the rest. He was just like his brother Hill in that respect. These skills often came in handy, and this was certainly the case in the tree canopy of Straszydlo Forest. When he finally made it across the canopy of tree branches in pursuit of the mysterious woman who claimed to know Alfonso, it only took him about fifteen minutes to assess the problem with her flying machine.

The right and left ailerons were damaged.

Ailerons are the hinged flaps near the tip of the wing that allow the plane to roll to the left or roll to the right. This flying contraption didn't have wings, but it had two fins that essentially functioned in the same way. Leif saw that the hinges were busted as were the cables that connected the ailerons to the pilot's steering mechanism. This particular flying machine was most definitely not an airplane. It looked more like a flying donut. Its large oval-shaped balloon was filled with some sort of gas that had the same effect as helium, thus lifting the machine off the ground. There was also a propeller in back. Below the balloon was a small cabin equipped with chairs upholstered with velvet, leather couches, a table, two or three oil paintings, a large bearskin rug, and a small potbelly stove. It was, without a doubt, the oddest vehicle that Leif had ever laid eyes on.

At present, both Leif and the woman were perched on a branch inspecting the right aileron.

“Where'd you get this contraption?” asked Leif.

The woman ignored the question. “Can you fix it?” she asked.

“It shouldn't be too hard,” said Leif confidently. And he was confident. In the flying cabin, there were tools and enough odds and ends that would function as spare parts. “If you can get us off this tree branch, we should be okay.”

“I'll get us off the branch,” replied the woman. Then, without uttering another word, she took out her sword and began hacking away at the branches and vines that were currently wrapped around the body of the aircraft.

“I'll join you in a sec,” said Leif, “But first I have to do something.”

“What?” demanded the woman.

“You'll see,” explained Leif. “I need to get something I left behind.” He had no intention of revealing too much to this strange person. And for the time being, she needed him.

It took Leif the better part of two hours to find a rope and a pulley and make a harness. He was just getting ready to depart when the woman tapped his shoulder and handed him a loaded crossbow. It was a small compact weapon, which was already loaded with a sharp metal bolt. “Take this,” she said. “You may need it.” Leif thanked her and then began lowering himself to the ground with the use of his rope and pulley. The closer he got to the ground, the more uneasy he became. The sun had set and the forest was totally dark; it was impossible to see even the faintest trace of a shape; nonetheless, Leif could hear movement below him. Branches were snapping and, at one point, it sounded like bark was being peeled off a tree. When he was about fifteen feet above the ground, Leif whistled loudly. He heard a howl and then a great scampering of feet. Leif let himself drop down another few feet and whistled again. There was a great, WHOOOSH, and something slammed against Leif's chest. Leif felt damp fur and a wet tongue. He closed his arms.

It was Korgu.

For a moment Leif felt something tug on his foot, but before the thing could take hold, Leif shot it with his crossbow. There was a horrible scream. Frantically, Leif began using the pulley to hoist himself and Korgu upwards as quickly as he could. Leif was tired and it took a long time, but once they were more than ten feet off the ground, he relaxed and pulled at a measured pace.

The woman said nothing when Leif arrived with Korgu, the giant wolf. She simply nodded, and they both set to work on the repairs. It was night, and Leif nodded off to sleep with tools in his hands. His sleeping self immediately set to work. The woman seemed nonplussed by this strange sight of someone working while asleep. In fact, within an hour or so she had started to sleep-work as well.

They labored through much of the night. At dawn, the flying machine was more or less fixed. Leif had hammered the dented ailerons back into shape and had mended the steering cables as best he could. The thing wouldn't fly like new, not even close, but it should work. The woman, despite her injuries, had worked all night hacking away the branches and vines.

“Let's go,” she yelled.

Leif scrambled into the vessel. The woman took a seat at the front of the cabin, flicked a couple of switches, and then said, “Hold on.” Seconds later, there was a loud groan and the entire ship lurched forward. They appeared to be stuck, then the ship lurched again, and suddenly they were floating upwards. Leif felt a surge of relief and excitement all at once. The woman said nothing. She simply guided the aircraft back up into the sky. She steered by using two rudders, which she operated with her left and right hands. The ship flew surprisingly well. The cloud cover was thick and, initially, it was difficult for Leif to make out anything on the ground.

“Where are you headed?” asked Leif. He was anxious to find Alfonso and, if possible, sooner rather than later.

“To the same place as you,” the woman replied matter-of-factly.

“Oh?” said Leif.

“Have a look,” said the woman, pointing downward with an index figure. Leif glanced in the direction in which she was pointing. The clouds were slowly clearing and he was able to see glimpses of the ground. He soon found himself staring at
a vast forest of what appeared to be evergreens, only all the trees, for as far as the eye could see, were dead. There was no trace of a forest fire, which is the only thing that could have done this. It was as if the trees had, en masse, simply decided to shed all their pine needles.

“It hasn't reached Straszydlo Forest yet, or perhaps Straszydlo is somehow immune, but the rest of the world is going to hell – and quickly,” said the woman.

“The Shadow Tree?” inquired Leif.

“Yes,” said the woman. “It must have been planted a few days ago.”

“How quickly does it grow?”

“Not sure,” said the woman. “Truth is, I don't know much about it. When I was growing up in Somnos we used to sing a nursery rhyme about it –
Let me tell you of a dark shadow tree and the world's end
– but it was just a story to scare kids.”

“You're Dormian?” inquired Leif.

The woman nodded.

“And that's where you met Alfonso – in Somnos?”

The woman nodded again.

“So,” said Leif with a sigh of frustration, “Would you mind telling me what you're doing, flying around, by yourself, in this crazy balloon?”

“Looking for Alfonso,” replied the woman, “And perhaps the Shadow Tree as well.”

“And what exactly is your plan?” asked Leif. “I mean, once you found this tree, what were you going to do?”

“Still working on that,” said the woman, and she flashed the briefest of smiles.

“Fair enough,” said Leif, also smiling for a moment.

“How about you?” asked the woman. “What were you doing on top of a tree in the middle of Straszydlo Forest?”

“Looking for a ride,” said Leif.

“Fair enough,” replied the woman, again smiling briefly.

In the corner of the cabin, beneath the table, Korgu was fast asleep and snoring. For some reason, the sight relaxed Leif. How could the wolf possibly sleep in these bizarre circumstances? It was wondrous. Leif took a deep breath and looked around, examining the cabin a bit more closely. The couches, the chair, and the table were all very finely made, as if taken from the parlor of a wealthy family. The oil paintings on the wall were all of fish, which seemed very odd to Leif. There was a cabinet with silver cutlery and fine china plates. In the far corner of the cabin, there was a small framed certificate, which Leif had somehow failed to notice before. It read:

Hammerson Brothers Zeppelins – London, England.

Flying Fishing Vessel. Prototype SFS 2A.

Built for the Lord and Lady Groh.

Equipped for use on inland seas, modified for rooftop landings.

This plainly made no sense.

Leif glanced out the window and, for a moment, saw something gray and pointy sticking through the clouds. He glanced around the ship, spotted a small pair of binoculars, grabbed them, and used them to survey the ground below. “Hey,” shouted Leif excitedly, “What is that over there? Bring us in closer.” The woman agreed, but when they got closer, what Leif saw turned out to be just an outcropping of rocks on the top of a mountain.

“What were you hoping to find?” asked the woman.

“Nothing,” replied Leif dejectedly.

“Well, there is some pretty good shepherd's pie in the icebox,” said the woman. “Help yourself.”

“Shepherd's pie?” said Leif incredulously. “Where the heck did you get that.”

“It's a long story,” replied the woman.

Leif ate his meal and stared out the window in a daze. Dead trees and shrubs for as far as he could see. It was a total wasteland. All of Asia and perhaps Europe also would soon look like this. And yet right now all he could focus on was stuffing his face with the shepherd's pie and savoring the taste of chicken. When he was done eating, he suddenly felt extraordinarily tired. He moved himself over to the couch with the intention of lying down for a few minutes – just to rest. He awoke several hours later to the sound of the woman's voice.

“You better come have a look at this,” said the woman, from the front of the cabin.

“How long was I asleep for?” asked Leif.

“A while,” she replied. “Quick, you should see this.” Leif hustled over to where she was standing. The woman was pointing down at the ground, at a narrow road, which was filled with people; they were swarming like ants, all heading in the same direction. “They must be refugees,” said the woman. “They are probably fleeing the droughts that the Shadow Tree is causing.”

Leif made no reply because he wasn't looking at the road. He was looking off into a bank of clouds. He grabbed the binoculars to take a closer look. Something else had caught his attention. He was looking at a blanket of clouds which was pierced in a dozen places by pointy mountain peaks.

“What?” asked the woman. “What is it?”

“I think I recognize those clouds,” said Leif.

“What?” said the woman. “Recognize them from where?”

“From a drawing...” said Leif, mainly to himself. “The carvings...” Leif reached into his pocket and pulled out the page with the drawing of the obelisk. He studied the pattern that was carved into the obelisk again. Suddenly it all snapped into perfect focus. Those weren't islands and rivers – they were clouds! And each of those curlicues represented places where the mountain peaks were jutting out of the clouds. “Look here,” demanded Leif, pointing at the drawing. “This pattern is actually a map – can you take us to the spot in the center where the hole is.”

“I don't see what you are talking about,” said the woman.

“Look closely,” said Leif excitedly. “The pattern on the drawing of the obelisk with the curlicues mirrors the way those mountains poke through the clouds.”

“Yes, I see it!” said the woman. “Where did you get this?”

“Never mind, I will explain later,” said Leif. “Can you just take us to the spot where the hole is?”

“I think so,” said the woman. She began navigating the ship and consulting the drawing. Several minutes passed. Leif grew more and more excited. “Do you see something poking through those clouds over there?” asked Leif. “Right where the hole is on the map?”

The woman squinted her eyes. “Yes,” she said finally. “It looks like another mountain top.”

“No,” said Leif. “It's too tall and slender. Get us closer!”

Leif squinted at the clouds, rubbed his eyes, and squinted again. Unless his eyes were deceiving him, he felt fairly certain that he was staring at the top of a pointy tower – an obelisk.

“There is a man standing at the top of that thing,” said the woman. “Do you see him?”

Leif squinted. The woman steered the aircraft closer yet. Leif now felt certain that he was staring at the top of the very same obelisk depicted in the prophecy. There was a narrow terrace on top and, sure enough, a man was standing there. The man appeared to be in his
twenties. He looked, well... he looked an awful lot like Leif.

Leif frantically struggled to open one of the windows in the cabin. It screeched open. Leif stuck his head out. The aircraft was now just a hundred feet or so from the top of the obelisk. “Hello!” shouted Leif as loud as
he could. The man on the terrace waved back excitedly. He appeared happy. Overjoyed. “I'm looking for my son,” screamed Leif. “I'm looking for Alfonso Perplexon.” It was a stupid thing to say. Leif had no reason to believe that the man even spoke English.