The Secret of the Double Rainbow
6.
David started to feel a little better by the evening. He had faithfully taken the lozenges and true to the promise, he was starting to feel better. His mind still felt a little ungrounded and wild thoughts of Mary putting drugs into his food would play in his imagination. He couldn’t get the garden out of his head and in lieu of any other explanation, it would account for what he had experienced. He had visions of her slipping some type of chemical into his hot chocolate while grinning evilly to herself. Yes, and that explained why they tasted so good.
When she came in with a bowl of chicken soup, he almost considered asking her to taste it first, but then realized just in time how ridiculous that would sound. As he ate the soup, he started to feel more normal and he put aside the delusional thoughts.
By the evening, David said he was well enough to get up and join them for dinner. It was a lie, but he was fed up with just lying there and his body ached from the mattress.
He sat huddled up to the fireplace. He shivered and sweated and wished that it would just be over. His head was hurting badly and his mind was once again swimming.
Mary had fussed over him a lot, making him wistfully wish that he would be sick more often if that’s what it took for him to be treated specially. The crackling fire made him feel content.
He considered about talking to them about his dream and getting their thoughts, but he just didn’t feel up to it. It was a long story and he really didn’t have the energy.
What he couldn’t work out yet was how come he had actually got up, but still seemed like he was dreaming. Then a solution hit him. He must have been sleepwalking! At last, an answer, and the only logical one. He had heard of people doing all kinds of things while sleepwalking and he thought it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that while they slept and walked, they could also dream.
It made complete sense.
Mary chanced to come down the stair and interrupted his musings. She had just been changing the bed linen, which had been drenched with sweat. “You certainly had a bad night, David,” she said. “Did you get any decent sleep?”
“I don’t know.” He paused and considered what to say next. “Aunt Mary,” he said, slowly, “what do you know about sleep walking?”
“Your mother used to do it when she was a child,” she said. “What makes you ask?”
“Don’t know, really, just curious I guess. I just wonder what it would be like.”
“I don’t recall her talking about it a whole lot. It was just something that she did occasionally and we would all laugh at her.”
“Do you think she might have had dreams while she sleep walked?”
“Perhaps, but who can remember their dreams? I don’t and I’d wager she wouldn’t have either.”
He nodded. Yes, he was sure that it would explain everything. He suddenly felt saddened. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized that he had held out some hope, however unlikely, that what he had experienced was real.
His face must have shown his disappointment as his aunt looked quizzically at him. “Has something I said upset you?”
“No,” he said. I’m just not feeling that good, still.” She felt his forehead. “Another night sleep and I’d say you’ll be feeling much better.” she announced, trying to sound optimistic. David somehow doubted that. He was now feeling much worse. She looked at his face and noticed he looked depressed. “David, I know it’s a bad way of starting your holidays. And you having studied so hard, too,” she said with unaccustomed gentleness. “When you feel well, you can have the entire day to do what you will. No chores or duties for you.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a twenty-dollar note that she put into his surprised hands. “This is to see you have a good time. It’s not much, but I know you’ll make use of it, proper like.”
David was too surprised to say anything at first. Then emotion overwhelmed him and he hugged Mary in gratitude. “Thanks,” he managed to choke.
“You’re welcome, David,” she said, rubbing his hair. “You deserve it. You’ve done all that’s expected of you, and none complaint have I heard pass your lips.” She said no more on the subject. David realised that it was rare for her to compliment anyone and it meant a lot.
Suddenly, she was business like. “Now, boy, you’ll have a hot cocoa and it’s off to bed with you.” Briefly he considered saying he was too sick for one, but her cocoas were irresistible. Even if she were drugging them, he’d worry about it tomorrow. The thought brought a weak smile to his face.
A short time later, David was in bed in his crisp, fresh bed linen that had a delicious scent of lemon fragrance. In spite of his hopes to get a good night sleep, he found himself tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, and feeling every lump in the mattress.
It took a few moments to register, but he realized that he was, for some inexplicable reason, suddenly feeling better. The headache was almost gone and his nose had stopped running. The chills had finally subsided and he was no longer sweating or even tired.. That’s odd, he thought. I’ve recovered awfully fast. He sat up to see how he felt, and immediately was dizzy. He was over the worst, yes, but he still needed to rest.
He really did feel much better, though, and it was a pity that the timing was lousy. He couldn’t even get up for Mary would strongly object to the idea.
Maybe if he tried his old trick of going through something boring in his mind, he could make himself fall asleep. He tried, but his thoughts kept on returning to the garden. He vividly was able to recall every detail, as though it had all been real. That was impossible, though, and he plainly knew it.
Everything came back and when he came to the vision of the fiery lady, he felt most puzzled. She had felt familiar and she had asked him who he was. Every time he thought of her, unexplained emotions would well up inside him. He did not understand at all.
The time dragged along slowly, and it was near eleven thirty when he finally heard the door open and saw his aunt look in on him. She was obviously ready for bed herself and not realising that he was still awake, she quietly closed the door and retired.
He lay there for another ten more minutes before complete boredom finally made him sit up defiantly and turn on his bedside lamp. He decided that aunt or no aunt, he had to do something or go crazy. Maybe if he wrote about his experiences, he might be able to stop thinking about it.
He propped himself up on the bed with a pen and an unused exercise book and began to write.
He was a neat writer, but he wasn’t fast, and it took him a while to write down all that he remembered. When he came to the song, he stopped and thought hard. How did it go? What was it about? His mind tried to catch the melody, but, frustratingly, he couldn’t remember how it went. Was it something about rainbows? Suddenly he felt very annoyed. If only he had had the presence of mind to write it down as soon as he had heard it. The fact that he was no musician and thus lacked the skill did not occur to him. But there was one line that he did remember. It was the last one and he wrote it down. It’s time to mend our heart.
He looked up at his clock and saw that he had been writing for over an hour. He remembered that it was close to the time that the previous two incidences had happened. He was wide awake this time, though, and nothing would happen tonight. Maybe he should try and get some sleep and then perhaps he would be able to visit the garden again. He certainly wasn’t going to get there while writing at half past twelve at night.
He had no sooner finished that thought, when there was a noise outside the door. For a moment, he though that Mary was checking in on him, but the noise sounded like someone scratching. He broke out in a cold sweat.
Suddenly, the garden was forgotten, and along with it fled the romanticism. This was too confronting. The cat had been part of his dream and should not be real. There was no way it should have been outside the bedroom door.
“Go away,” he said, his voice breaking into a croak. Tears of fear pricked his eyes. Though he had not been harmed on the previous occasions, that fact was lost on him right then as the gears of his mind became stuck in panic mode.
The scratching continued. Though he knew that it couldn’t be anything else but a cat, the fact that it was out of sight was scaring him silly. The sound stopped and his heart began to calm down. Maybe there really was a cat. Perhaps it lived somewhere in the house and only came out at night when Mary, the cat hater, was asleep. Surely that would make sense. And maybe he had seen it and it had become part of his dream.
The noise began again, this time more urgently. Well, if it was only a cat, surely all it wanted was to come in, and surely that couldn’t do any harm. He kept his mind on this thought, and forced himself to bravely go to the door. He grabbed the handle and threw it open. There was nothing there. Had it ran away when it heard him get up? Should he go or was it a message that he should go and check the broken door.
Curiosity was now starting to get the better of him. He quickly threw on some clothes.
Shortly after, with flashlight in hand, he turned off his bedroom light, opened the door and stole quietly down the hallway towards the door. He checked himself. Yes, he felt fully awake and he felt fine. This time he knew it wasn’t a dream. He really felt good and alert. His remarkable recovery did puzzle him a bit, though. Only hours before he had felt like death warmed up, but now, it was as if he had never been sick in the first place. Something about that didn’t feel normal to him, even with the tablets he had taken. He didn’t have much time to reflect on it as he had reached the door and his focus shifted.
He shone the light on the handle. Yes, it looked new once more. He touched it and found it was warm and it vibrated slightly, just like the night before. His hand felt slightly numb from touching it. He removed it and noticed it looked like it was glowing, but it faded too quickly for him to be sure in the torchlight.
David turned off the source of his light. It was suddenly pitch black and his eyes took a few moments to adjust to the darkness. As they got used to it, the handle was clearly glowing faintly. It was a ghostly aura and not for the last time, David considered the possibility that it might be haunted, though he had never heard of a haunted door handle. Still, he clearly wasn’t sleep walking, and he knew he wasn’t dreaming, so the only explanation left was that it was some type of ghost door that led to another world, possibly one that was just as haunted.
He once again touched the handle and watched as his hand began to slightly glow. He stood mesmerized for a minute, just looking at the light.
Should he go inside? He had not forgotten the strange greyness that had overcome the garden. Was it a warning to stay away? If so, why would the cat, assuming that’s what it was, try and get him to go back. Well, surely a quick peek wouldn’t hurt. He had certainly not come to any harm so far, and in fact, maybe that was the reason he had recovered so quickly. It made some sort of sense to him, and it was logical enough for him to open the door and go once more inside.
The handle moved smoothly, and the glow from the painting lit the room up a little. What was it about this house that had happened to cause such a phenomenon to occur? There was certainly something very unusual going on and he would have to do something to find out what.
He entered the room; taking care to keep the door open behind him. If his Aunt or Uncle found him, it would not be a bad thing. It would certainly validate that something weird was happening.
He stood in front of the painting. It shimmered like ripples of a pool in the moonlight. It reminded him of television shows he had watched. He remembered plots about portals that led into other worlds. That he had found a portal, he was pretty sure, but he still could not guess as to where it took him. He stood there, hesitating. What if the garden withered and died again? What if something did indeed happen to him and he was never heard from again?
He looked back down the hallway to reassure himself and suddenly had a strange and uncomfortable feeling, as though something was there and watching him. It wasn’t like the cat. This was full of menace and he could feel it moving towards him.
Something urged him to enter the painting. The feeling of terror grew stronger and his stomach was beginning to clench in fear. Wasting no more time, he walked into the painting. It only took a moment, but for him, each second felt like a minute, as he moved to escape this undefined menace.
He immediately felt less tense the moment he emerged on the other side. He felt safer, but now what? Would it be safe to return with goodness knows what waiting for him? Well, he would worry about that when he had to, as there was clearly nothing he could do about it at that moment.
He took a look around him and found that he was in the same garden but this time the light wasn’t as clear or bright. Perhaps it was morning here, he thought. The grass was no longer brown but it wasn’t a radiant green colour either. He took a sniff of the air, but this time he could barely pick up any scent of flowers or grass.
Maybe that was its normal state; after all, no garden could be so brilliant all the time. He vaguely wondered why it had looked so wonderful in the first place, but he didn’t think about it for too long, after all, this was only a garden and he knew very little about them.
The sky looked clear. It still had that shimmering quality, though certainly it didn’t seem as intense as the night before. He recognized some of the landmarks. In the distance, there was a distinct group of trees and there were groups of flowers that grew in odd, but distinct patterns, as though they lay in some invisible beds.
He had not gone very far before because the fear of getting lost occurred. He looked around and found that things looked familiar to him. He marvelled at fact that he remembered anything, as his attention for details wasn’t really all that good.
The area around the portal was quite distinct. A group of yellow flowers were in bloom and a large tree, which looked vaguely familiar stood within fifty metres where he stood In fact, the entire area gave him the strange feeling of deja-vu, as though he should know it, but he couldn’t place it.
He felt he should be easily be able to find his way back, providing he didn’t stray too far. He wasn’t sure how long he should spend there, but he was sure that an hour or so surely couldn’t hurt. Hopefully, but the time he went back, whatever had been waiting outside in the hall would be gone. Just the memory made his skin crawl and he immediately put the thought out of his head. He felt safe, at least for the moment.
He looked at his quartz watch and noted the time as being quarter to one. He’d give it till three at the latest, and then make his way back.
Just to make sure he could find the place again, he decided he would need a beacon or a marker of some kind. He looked at his flashlight and figured it would do the trick. He stood it on its end and backed away. Yes, he was sure he would be able to find his way back now if he was careful.
He decided to make his way towards the trees he had seen before. It seemed like a short walk and would keep him in sight of where the exit was.
As he walked, he mused about the fact that it was daytime where it clearly had been night. How could that be, unless he was somewhere else. It was still day somewhere else in the world and perhaps he had been transported to another place across the globe. This would explain it, but it raised even more questions. He needed clues. Something that was distinct and unmistakable. He hoped for a clear landmark, such as the Eiffel Tower, but there wasn’t anything that looked remotely recognizable.
He had walked only a few minutes when he caught sight of another person moving towards him. He was shocked. Until that moment, he had taken it for granted that he was the only person there. He stopped short, unable to decide whether he should be seen, or even if he really had the right to be in this place. As the person came closer, he saw she was a girl who was skipping. He watched as she moved from flowerbed to flowerbed to pick out various floras and place them in a basket she carried on one arm.
There was also something vaguely familiar about this lady. Could he possibly have seen her before? He doubted it and thought that it was odd that everything here looked vaguely familiar, though he could not possibly have seen any of it before last night.
As he was out in the open, he had no place to hide, so he just stood motionless and waited to see what would happen. She did not yet appear to have seen him and he began to wonder if he was invisible to others here. It was just as possible as a garden that didn’t exist in a closet that held a portal locked by a door handle that only opened at night. The idea of wandering around without being seen was attractive. The fantasy was suddenly shattered as she finally noticed David and immediately turned and skipped towards him.
As she came closer, he saw that she was lovely. She was five foot five inches tall, had long, rich brown hair that covered a round face. Big wide green eyes, that were full of love, looked at him. The girl had a quaint little nose and the most brilliant smile that David had ever seen. She just about took his breath away. She reached him and said in a musical voice: “Hello, there. Are you new?”
David throat clenched and he suddenly went into his flustered-with-girls mode. He was intensely shy where women were concerned, especially if they happened to be pretty. “Yeah,” was all he managed to say. She didn’t appear to notice his nervousness.
He couldn’t stop staring at her. To him, her beauty was amazing. His chest felt as though a fire had started in it. Unfamiliar sensations went through him and a general feeling of good will and love towards all things filled him. He smiled, somewhat stupidly.
“What part have you come from?” she asked in the sweetest voice, “I don’t think that I’ve seen you before.”
“Yeah,” he managed to sputter out once more. He felt that the conversation wasn’t going terribly well for him.
“I’m Holly,” she said. “I’m collecting flowers to put in my hair. They’re so beautiful,” she said, passionately. “Don’t you think?” She put the basket in his hands so he might take a closer look at them.
David took it. They looked dead and withered. Still, if she thought they were beautiful, then the very least he could do was agree with her. “Yeah,” he said. She beamed and he felt good.
“Oh, I can see you love flowers, too. If there’s one thing that is ever so beautiful, it’s a flower in full bloom.” Her voice was gay, and to David’s ears, like music. He was about to say ‘yeah’ once more when he stopped himself. Instead he looked at the withered flowers once more and nodded. Yes, could anyone imagine anything else quite so beautiful?
“What’s your name?” she asked, softly.
“I’m David,” he said, his voice croaking.
“David,” he sighed, gently, “Oh what a beautiful name. David,” she said, once again.
David had heard a lot of things, but being told that his name was beautiful was not one of them. A thrill ran up his spine. Still, as she had said it, it must be true. Yes, his name was amazingly beautiful. He was completely lost for words. She didn’t seem to mind or notice. She stood there, looking gaily at him. He took several deep breaths, trying to get past a giddy feeling and finally, he was able to gather enough wit to form the question he was dying to ask. “Where is this place?” The words sounded strange to him.
A confused looked crossed Holly’s face for a brief moment. “Why, it’s the garden,” she simply replied.
The garden! Yes, of course. How short-sighted of him not to have seen that. Still, as joyful as he was at hearing the answer, his mind continued to nag at him for more information.
“But where?”
“I don’t know if I understand what you are asking,” she replied, slowly. “Perhaps I knew the answer once, but my memory has not been very good of late.”
Her look of doubt made him feel bad. He wasn’t sure what he should do. He wanted to hold her so that he might comfort her. He imagined what she might feel like and what it would be like kissing her pretty face.
Suddenly, a little black cat appeared seemingly out of nowhere and jumped right onto Holly’s shoulders, bringing David out of his daydream. “Oh, Tiger Fawn,” Holly exclaimed. “Where have you been my little one?” The cat, playfully chewed at her earlobe. He had the strongest feeling that this must be the cat that had been plaguing him for the past few nights. It ignored him though, as if it had never seen him. Typical cat, thought David.
“Tiger Fawn?” he said, suddenly forgetting his shyness. “Do you know this cat?”
“Oh, Tiger Fawn is our friend. Aren’t you, little one?
David nodded, thoughtfully. “So, this cat is a spirit?”
“Oh, yes, can’t you sense it? An amazing spirit. He is a giver of comfort and a friend to all in the garden. Where would we be without our loving Tiger Fawn,” she said, nuzzling his face. The cat purred in response.
“There are others here?”
“Sometimes… I think,” she said, her eyes growing sad for a moment, as if she was reminded of something disturbing. “Like you. Like Tiger Fawn, you’re another spirit.”
David’s mind was having trouble adjusting to this lovely, but strange girl. He also had no idea by what she meant by him being a spirit. The cat clearly was a ghost, yes, but he, himself, was most certainly not.
The sudden appearance of Tiger Fawn had brought him back down to earth, but he still was feeling very odd around Holly. In fact, he felt that he was falling madly in love with her. Love at first sight. He had heard the expression many times, but never given much thought to it. And now it was happening to him in nigh impossible circumstances. No, something wasn’t right and he knew it. This made him both anxious and frightened and completely confused. He thought that maybe he should be getting back, so he could have time to think clearly. He wondered how long he had been there, mesmerized by this lady.
He glanced at his watch but found it had only moved a couple of minutes since he had last looked. Time appeared to have stopped or his watch was broken. Now he had no true way to work out how much time he had left.
His troubled feelings must have shown on his face for Holly said: “Oh, David! You look so troubled.” Spontaneously, she touched his hand, as if to support him. “What’s ailing you?”
The effect of her gentle touch was electric. He involuntarily jerked his hand away. The feel of her caress was too much for him.
She took a step back, a confused, hurt look on her face. It cut through him like a knife, but his vocal cords had frozen up once more. She spoke softly: “If I’ve harmed you, then I apologize.” She picked up her basket and slowly backed away, keeping her wide, concerned eyes on him. David tried to say something, but he couldn’t think for what. He was speechless with doubt, longing and fear.
Tiger Fawn jumped from her shoulder, purred around her legs and ran playfully towards a flower bed of dying orangey flowers. Suddenly, the moment was broken, and with a squeal of delight, he was seemingly forgotten as she chased after the cat.
David watched as she ran out of sight. He stood for a long time; staring at the spot where she had disappeared, trying to piece together his feelings and his state of mind. He had felt so odd. He had never been in love before, yet he was sure that it was what he felt, and, come to think of it, still was feeling, only the feeling was not as intense now.
Was he waiting just in case she decided to come back? He half hoped that she would and feared that she might but after what felt like a few more minutes, he finally managed to pull himself together enough and decide what he wanted to do next.
It was surely time to go back and think. What did it all mean? Was this just a random event or was there something more important behind it all? Despite his resolution to go back, he stood there for a long time, and waited, just in case. His mind ran around in circles as did his emotions and he came no closer to making sense out of anything. Finally, he shook his head, as if to help clear it, and made his way back to the portal.
As he approached the opening, he once again felt a disturbing sense of evil. He couldn’t explain it, but he could have sworn that it felt as though it were laughing at him. He tried to pinpoint exactly where this presence came from, but the moment he tried, it faded. It had felt just like the presence in the hallway. Maybe it had followed him here. That wasn’t a happy thought, but it also would mean that the hallway would be clear now.
He picked up his torch and stepped warily back through the portal, prepared to move back through in case something was indeed there waiting. The room was as he had left it. Cold and dark, with only the torch for light. He was greatly relieved to feel that nothing lay in wait.
He walked through the door and looked at it. He was going to leave it open. He left his torch between the door and frame. He felt sure that would stop it from closing.
He quickly left it and quietly walked back to his room.
The trip back to bed was uneventful. Everything was as he had left it. He was suddenly feeling very sleepy. He quickly crawled under the covers and slept heavily until morning.
