Patty Liu - Silent Reflections
Thirty-Five“STOP!”
Wolf whirled around and put Virginia behind him. Patrick did the same thing with Melody. Such brave men they were. Wolf’s eyes darted left and right but he couldn’t see who had called out to them. Virginia clutched onto Wolf’s shoulders from behind and whispered, “Who said that?”
“Hush, I don’t know.” Wolf tried sniffing the air again. His sense of smell had returned now and there were strange things in the air that were quite disturbing to him. “We’ve got trouble, I’m afraid.”
“What? Where? Or actually, what?” Virginia asked again.
“Don’t go any further or you’ll be trapped!” the little voice cried out again. The group of travelers looked all around them but all they could see was the murky water in the lake and the trees and bushes that were so far not sheltering anything they could see.
“Come out, whoever you are. Show yourself,” Patrick courageously called out.
Melody hid behind his tall form and prepared herself to flee if any menacing thing jumped out at them. To her surprise, she saw a little white dove fly out from a tree and perch itself on a rock next to the lake. She quickly resumed ducking her head behind Patrick so the dove wouldn’t see her.
“Another talking bird. The kingdoms are full of them, aren’t they?” Virginia quickly composed herself.
“Huff, puff. It looks like a normal white dove to me, and talking birds don’t normally look like that. They’re more colorful, if you remember,” Wolf said quietly.
Virginia nodded and stepped out from behind Wolf. “Who are you?” she asked carefully.
“It’s Pip, Lady. I’ve been searching for you humans all day. Finally I caught up with you and now I can’t let you go any further. Trust me, Lady. Just stay right where you are.” The white dove flapped his wings to and fore and darted his eyes from the humans to a distinct area ahead of them.
Virginia looked oddly at the talking bird and wondered for the life of her why it had the strongest Brooklyn accent she had ever heard. She tried to see what the bird was peering at off in the distance but all she saw were trees and bushes and what looked like a sign that marked the entrance to the Sixth Kingdom.
“Look here, bird. We have no time for your dallying. We have urgent business to get to and we need to get around this lake. Move along now,” Wolf ordered Pip.
Pip became agitated and flew onto Wolf’s head. “Nope, nah uh, Pal. I can’t let you go any further. I was instructed to find you and warn you.”
“Warn us about what?” Wolf raised his hands up to shoo the bird away. Pip flew around in circles above them. “It’s Tony. He sent me.”
“WHAT?!” Virginia cried out. “Tony, my father?! What do you mean he sent you? Is he all right? What is going on? DAMN IT! Spill it out or I’m going to have roast pigeon for dinner!” Virginia screamed.
“Relax, Lady. For your information, I’m a dove. I ain’t no pigeon, get that clear.” Pip sure loved making humans squirm. “Now listen carefully. The Sixth Kingdom is enchanted. Your father and the princess and a whole mess of other people are trapped behind the borders. There is no sound whatsoever unless you can get to heights that only birds can get to. Or actually, giants too, mind you. But, yeah, once you get pass the border that divides the Second Kingdom from the Sixth Kingdom, you’re trapped. You can get in, but you can’t get out. You can’t see anyone within the Sixth Kingdom trying to warn you right now, either. For all I know, there’s probably a mass of people waving frantically at us but we can’t see squat. Are you getting this, or do I have to repeat myself?”
“How do you know all this?” Virginia nervously asked.
“I met your father in the Sixth Kingdom. He and the princess were sitting up in a high tree so we were able to communicate and hear each other. Some invisible giant had put them up in the tree and forgot about them. Anyway, I’ve come to warn you. Don’t go any further or you’ll be trapped too.”
“How did you get out, then? I thought you were trapped once you went inside.” All she was hearing was overwhelming Virginia. Wolf quickly grabbed onto her hand to steady her nerves.
“I’m a bird. The invisible barrier only reaches a certain height and I was able to fly over it. There’s something else you should know too,” Pip warned.
“Oh God, what else can there possibly be?” Virginia groaned.
Pip’s eyes darted back and forth and he started flying in circles above Patrick’s head. “Someone’s trying to kill you, Lady. And it’s someone right here in your little group.”
