Chapter Eight (Rush to Home)

“So where is this portal?” Julian asked as she tromped through the forest loving the sound of the crunchy dead leaves beneath her feet.

“Do you remember the big white oak tree I was clinging to the first time I spoke to you?”

“Yes.”

“That is it.” James yelled back to her as he trudged ahead.

They halted in front of the tree. Julian looked at it. It truly was the biggest and oldest tree in the forest. Her eyes traveled to the huge branch that her tire swing lay claim to. She could remember the day her mother tied it up for her. It was the happiest memory she had of her and her mother. Julian had been six and it had been an autumn day like this one. Adrianna had swooped her up in her arms and twirled her around until they both were gasping for air from the exertion and giggling. She had pushed Julian so high she thought at any moment she could have taken flight into the air.

“Julian, sweetheart?” James startled Julian back to reality. As she wiped her eyes, Julian stepped back and stared at the huge trunk.

“Okay, what do I do now?”

James walked around the tree like he was looking for an imaginary door.

“I don’t think it just going to open up and pop you on the forehead.” Julian said giggling.

James stuck his tongue out at her and came back around the tree planting himself beside her. “Well, from what I can remember, me and your mother placed our hands on the tree and… and something was on our hands too!” James said excitedly pointing his finger in the air.

“Ok, well we don’t know what was on your hands.” Julian said giving him a quizzical look.

“I don’t know… how she did it.” James said as he walked up to it and placed his hands on the tree every which way.

“I-,” All of a sudden Julian stopped and gasped as she placed her hands on the tree. Julian saw a white flash of color and the next thing she knew she was seeing the shaky features of an older woman staring at her. She could see woods behind the lady but they were different from her woods, more green, and mossy, no leaves on the ground. The woman’s voice was fading in and out. All you need is… All you need is… So-Solum un-unguentum istud sanitatis… The woman’s eyes looked so sad. Then all at once Julian saw a red flash and she was back in front of the white oak and her hands fell to her sides.

“Julian? Julian!” Julian turned towards James looking like she had just seen a ghost. “What is it, did you see something?”

“I..I saw a woman. She looked… I don’t know but something about her was familiar. She kept repeating Solum un-unguentum istud sanitatis.” Julian said with a quizzical look on her face.

“Solum unguentum istud sanitatis… that is Latin for soil healing ointment. Ointment…I got it! Come with me!” James grabbed Julian by the hand and ran towards the house.

“What is it? Where are we going?!” Julian yelled over the roaring of the wind in her ears.

They finally stopped when they stood in front of the basement door. Julian knew then, she remembered seeing the big old leather book in the basement and she had seen a foreign language written in it, which she was now presuming was Latin.

James opened the door and spotted the book automatically. He raced to it and started flipping through it gently as to not rip the frail pages. Julian stood back in awe of her father when he stopped on a page and started to read the words out loud.

“We need blood flower and a lady fern.” James looked at her expectantly.

“Uhhh okay.” Julian went searching around the room and found the two flowers. She remembered her mother telling her what a few of the plants were, and she remembered those. She clipped off a piece of each and brought them back to James.

“It says to mix it with soil and… where is the beeswax?”

Julian looked around searching on the shelves and finally spotted beeswax.

“Here it is! What do we do now?”

“Now we have to melt the wax, chop the leaves up, and mix in a little soil.”

Julian grabbed the leaves and bowl of dirt and followed James up to the kitchen. Julian retrieved a double boiler for James and he placed the beeswax in it. Julian got busy chopping the leaves up finely and then mixing it into the bowl of dirt. When the wax was nice and melted James put in the mixture slowly and stirred it. Julian could not help but remember her mother and how she had pushed her into the stove. Overwhelming guilt and grief rushed over her and she had to sit down at the table that was still covered in stew in certain spots. Julian could not control the tears that flowed out of her eyes.

“It’s almost ready!” James pronounced. He turned around to see Julian crying into her shirt. “Oh Julian, honey, I know.” James knelt in front of her and scooped her into a big hug and held her close to him. James felt the grief too and let his tears fall on Julian’s head. He wanted to will peace into her heart. “You know your mother would not blame you for what happened, and if she had been in her right mind she never would have attempted to kill you. Your mother couldn’t harm a fly when I was with her. Literally!” Julian could feel James’ deep laughter rolling out from his chest. Julian could feel his love and it felt like home to her. Her mother had never embraced her like this before. She had never felt this kind of comfort she was receiving from her big hulking father, he almost swallowed her whole with his arms, and she loved it, she thought smiling to herself.

James pulled away from Julian and took a hold of her shoulders. “You have me now and you will never be rid of me. I love you so much it hurts Julian.” James said staring into her eyes. “We will see your mother again in the spirit world one day when we pass too. And as we speak, I bet she is watching us and will make sure we don’t fall into a different world when we try this out.” James said chuckling again.

“Well then, we better get started.” Julian said as she stood up and wiped her tears on her red jacket she was wearing. She did not know if this was going to work but she was desperate to be anywhere but there.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

Julian's desire to be out of the world she lives is highly understandable. It's awesome to be right at the epicenter of this story because I get updates in real time. lol. Their dialogue is still flowing nicely, and I love how you included the reader on the 'secret' mixture. That is awesome. Also, I love how the chapters are short, they're precise. YOu're really great at writing and it's starting to show jen!