The Search for the Red Dragon - James A. Owen [79]
“But there was an argument with the people on some of the other islands,” added Sadie Pepperpot.
“And so the Indians moved to the other island,” said Fred the Goat, “and we been at war with them ever since.”
“The apples look very robust,” Charles noted, tracing one of the heavy fruits with a finger. “Do you mind if we have a few?”
“The apples are for everyone,” replied Laura Glue. “Friend and enemy alike. But you must never, ever, eat the seeds.”
“What happens if you eat the seeds?” asked Jack.
Pelvis Parsley pointed up at the tree directly adjacent to them, and the companions realized that the apple tree…
…had a face.
Looking more closely, they could make out the shape of a human torso, and arms that had grown into branches. And it seemed as if the tree was observing them back.
“He’s called Johnny Appletree,” said Laura Glue. “A long time ago, he traveled across distant lands planting seeds, and apple orchards sprang up wherever he went. Then he got on a ship going to Angle Land, but it never arrived. Instead it came here—and he found out that apples are apples everywhere, but in the Nether Land, you mustn’t ever eat the seeds.”
“If it’s all the same,” said Charles, “I think I’d like apples from a different tree. It feels a little too much like taking someone’s ear to eat fruit from a tree with a name.”
“Why was there war with the Indians over the orchard?” John asked. “Couldn’t they plant trees of their own on Croatoan Island?”
“They didn’t go to war over the apples,” said Daedalus. “They went to war over Echo’s Well.”
The children led the companions down the hill from Johnny Appletree to a pile of stones that sat in a circle of grass.
They gathered around the stones, which were stacked several feet above their heads, and John realized that the stones forming the base were not actually stacked, but rose up out of the earth itself.
On one side was a broad opening, which dropped away into a deep hole.
“A well,” John observed.
“Echo’s Well,” said Daedalus. “Look into it, but do not speak.”
Hesitantly, John leaned over the opening and peered down. There in the darkness about a dozen feet below, a perfect reflection looked back at him. He leaned back and stepped aside so Jack and Charles could do the same—and he noted that Bert made no move toward the well at all, even for a peek.
“It is an old magic, from a time when magic was new, science was old, and vanity was all,” Daedalus said, in a manner that was exceedingly reverent. “When the proper words are spoken into the well, it may allow you to become what you truly desire to be.
“If it is your wish to never age, you need merely speak into the well, and youth is restored. If it is your wish to become something other than what you believe yourself to be, then you may still get your wish—but may be no happier for it.
“So,” Daedalus concluded, “this is your choice. To achieve your objectives at this critical time, to save those you have come here to save, you have to understand those who have come before. And to do that, you must become those whom you have been before. You must become boys who never grew up.”
“Does it really work?” Jack asked.
“Yes,” said Aven, “it does. I’ve done it myself.”
“Yes, you have, Poppy,” Daedalus confirmed. “Are you asking to do so once more?”
Aven paused, then reluctantly shook her head. “I…can’t. I must admit, I’m tempted, but I think when we find my son, it needs to be his mother he sees, not another child.”
“And you, Far Traveler?” Daedalus said to Bert.
Surprisingly, Bert not only declined, but took a step backward, away from the Well’s opening.
“I don’t know,” John replied, noting Bert’s reaction. “This has gone far afield of what I was willing to do.”
“But think, John,” said Jack. “Understanding William and Hugh’s choices, and how Peter interpreted their actions, may be the key to everything going on. How can we decline, if this is the only way?”
“I’ll do it,” Charles declared, to the others’ surprise. “I don’t think I’d mind spending a little time as a