The Blue Seal of Trinity Cove (16 page)

Run – was what her intuition was telling her – run.

W
ithout a second thought Bobby found herself running toward the ocean. It wasn't long before she was splashing through the shallow waves and then standing with the salty water up to her waist. The waves crashed against her as if they were determined to push her back to the shore but she dug her feet into the sand under the water and became rooted to the spot. She looked back onto the shore and was very relieved to see that her instincts had been correct; the cats wouldn't enter the water and so all of them stood looking at her from a safe distance on the sandy beach. Now there was only one problem, she thought to herself – how long they would sit there on the beach and wait for her – she couldn't stay in the water permanently. Right then all of the discs flew out of the forest and straight toward her. She dunked her head under the water for some time and when she slowly came up for air she discovered, much to her delight, that they had disappeared. Probably back to the trees to re-embed, she thought. But the cats were still there, sitting now and looking at her as if they had settled in for the wait.

She noticed that David and the professor were standing behind the cats on the shore as well and waving madly at her, as if trying to convey a message. Swim under the water, was what they were saying with their arm signals, swim under the water and we'll meet you at the cavern on the other side of the rock pools. Yes, she thought, a good plan. She wanted to signal back to them that she understood but decided against it in case the cats saw her and discovered their plan. She swam a little way toward the rock pools and then peeked above the water in the direction of where David and the professor had been standing just in time to see that they were running back into the forest and in the direction of the cavern.

Swimming against the current was no easy task. The water wanted to wash her down and into the shore, right where the cats were still seated but she wanted to swim against the water and go the opposite way. She kept her head under the water mostly, only coming up for air when a large wave was between the cats and her, and she knew they couldn't see her. She was very thankful that her mother had always insisted that she keep at her swimming lessons until she had become quite accomplished at it and developed sufficient strength and stamina to swim very long distances. But as she rounded the bend where the rocky pools were, she did become quite exhausted and was very afraid of being washed onto the rocks; the current had become so strong and determined. It was lucky that she was fully dressed because at one point a massive wave smashed her against a wall of rock that was covered in broken oyster shells, which were quite sharp. Her clothes ripped in many places but her skin was intact and as soon as the wave subsided, she pushed off in the opposite direction and was then in safer waters, able to just drift toward the shore where she knew the others would be waiting for her. She resisted the temptation to look back and see whether or not the cat family was still in the same place, waiting for her to be washed ashore. She looked to the shore in front of her and there were David, the professor and Sebastian waiting for her by the entrance of the cavern. As soon as they saw her head pop up above the water they started to wave madly again and then they all paddled into the shallows to help her out of the water. She felt quite spent by then and allowed them to partly carry her to the cavern.

“Oh my goodness, girl, are you all right?” asked the professor. “What an awful thing to happen! To think that our own cat family has turned against us in that way! I just can't believe it.” The professor was obviously quite flabbergasted and Bobby longed to answer him but it took her some seconds to regain her breath.

“Yes, I'm fine,” she finally managed to get out between pants. “Those swimming lessons really paid off.”

“Bobby, Bobby,” David said, “I thought I was never going to see you again. I thought …” Bobby looked at David. She suddenly noticed that it was his hands that were holding her up and that his eyes were brimming with tears. He's so emotional, she thought to herself, so unnecessarily “over the top”. But she also liked the thought that he didn't want to lose her; they were cousins after all; they were family. She noticed her own eyes watering as well.

“I'm fine, really, I am,” she said, now able to stand and not feel dizzy and out of breath. “You needn't have worried, David,” she said and tapped him on the shoulder. “You know I can look after myself.”

“Yes, of course I know, but …” and again he didn't finish what he was saying. He swallowed and went on: “But those cats – Jesus and Mother Mary, I thought – well, no matter what I thought; you're here and you're fine, that's the main thing.”

“Yes, I'm fine. But what are we going to do now? It's just a matter of time until they find me and they are obviously after the crystal ball and won't stop until they have it.” She took off the light-weight backpack that the professor had lent her when her own had been ripped to pieces by the orbs and searched the contents of the bag, making sure that everything was still in its place even, after the long swim.

“I'm just not sure what to do,” the professor said, “but for now let's get you into this cavern so you can have a bit of a rest. A nice cup of tea is what you need, if only I could get you one.” They went into the cavern and the professor insisted that Bobby take his big woollen jacket and wrap it around herself to warm up. They all sat there silently for some time, all of them lost in their own thoughts.

“There's only one thing for it,” the professor finally said. “I can't see any other way around it. We're going to have to use the crystal ball right here and right now to take the two of you to another time zone and get you away from this danger. This island is no longer the safe haven it used to be and if anything were to happen to either of you … well, I couldn't even start to entertain the notion of what that would feel like. And I won't allow either of you to put yourselves into any danger. You've done enough already and it pains me that for some reason the very future of this island rests on your shoulders, especially yours David as it seems to be something to do with your heritage.” The professor finished his speech but remained staring at the ground. Bobby hated to see him this way; his whole existence was being threatened and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She waited for David to say something, felt sure that he would. David always had something to say, he always knew the next thing to do. She glanced up at him and found him staring at her and then he smiled and shook his head a little. But it wasn't a smile of “Don't worry because everything's going to be okay.” She couldn't quite read what he was trying to say to her with this new look that she had never seen before. The smile said something else that was too deep and profound for her to quite understand. In that split second Bobby saw right into his very soul and became aware of something that she had not realised before. It was something new to her that she hadn't seen before and that she couldn't quite make out. It was love … it was deeper than that though – it was love and sorrow and regret all mixed up together and anxiety – but anxiety over what, she thought. “I can't lose you” was what the look said, and there were no words spoken between them and yet she felt it in her heart's core. She felt it registering and she liked it and wished she could return it to him with her own kind of look but … no, it couldn't be. She wouldn't allow this to happen.

“This time will be different though,” the professor said, breaking into their thoughts. “This time I will send Ranku and Tinka with you. This mission is too perilous for just the two of you. The others may see things that the two of you may not. It will be good for you to have some company.” Bobby and David's eyes were locked together but now Bobby broke her gaze and looked away.

“I think that's a good idea, Professor,” she said, staring ahead into the empty space before her, “I think some
other
people along with us is just what we need right now.”

“Where to next?” David said quietly, finally joining the conversation.

“Well, I don't quite know; what do you think?” said the professor.

“Well, I've always wanted to see the future,” Bobby said, excitedly.

“Me too,” David answered, staring at her, but she wouldn't return his gaze.

“That's all well and good but it's David's heritage that holds the key to saving the island which means his history – you're supposed to be going back in time. You mentioned that it was in 1935 Ina and Henry came to the island and spoke with the Blue Seal, so we definitely know it exists. The problem is though that it's too risky to send you back to their time again because we don't want to have you all bumping into each other. That would just cause confusion and chaos.”

“Yes, I know. I thought of that too,” Bobby answered, “but David's family will exist in the future as well so there's no reason we can't go forward to discover what the Blue Seal is and how to use it to save the island.” They all agreed.

“What year then?” the professor asked, “I have no idea where to send you when it comes to the future.”

“It seems to me the ball sends us to where it feels we need to go anyway,” David observed and again they all agreed on this point.

“Well, if we say the year 2500, for example, then you can be sure you will arrive at around that time anyway. As you say, the ball will take you to where you need to go. But just hold that thought in your minds as you're about to leave and be absolutely clear this time that you wish to discover what the Blue Seal is and how to use it. Remember, it's all about visualisation and manifestation.” The professor was cheered by this latest decision.

“Yes,” David nodded thoughtfully, “I hadn't realised that until just now. That was something we failed to do the last time we went time travelling and it's obviously a very important part of the whole process.”

“Yes,” the professor added, “and remember that when you hold the thought in your minds of the Blue Seal, that it's imperative that you must feel quite profoundly the emotion behind your mission – the island may perish without it – and just how important it is for you to discover it. Hold that thought in your minds and concentrate on it very strongly and on no other thought: do not allow other thoughts to invade that moment.” Bobby and David looked at one another again.

“Oh,” Bobby said, “I really had no idea that I had to do that.”

“No, nor I,” David admitted and they frowned at one another and nodded their heads in unison having both realised the reason that the last time travel trip had failed to take them where they needed to go.

“Don't think of that as a failure,” the professor explained, “because things happen in the order that they are supposed to and for reasons that we often aren't aware of until later; we wouldn't have our lovely new friends if it weren't for that adventure. But we are in dire need of that information now so let's not waste any more time.”

The professor left to get more supplies for the next journey and to find Tinka and Ranku to join Bobby and David. Bobby repacked her backpack, wondering for a moment if her mother was okay back at home. Both of the children sat quietly, lost in their own thoughts. Bobby felt vaguely uncomfortable being alone with her cousin now but she pushed the thought from her mind. Soon they would have some company – what a welcome relief. She felt excited again at the prospect of going on another adventure, one in which they would surely get all of the answers they needed to save their island paradise.

THE END