Salmek and the Earth Keepers: Book 2 in the Rainbow Serpent Trilogy

By Maria Grima

It’s the start of a new school term, or at least it should be. But school is the last thing on Salmek’s mind. She has been given a significant and dangerous mission – to visit the world’s sacred sites and discover fellow children who have been chosen to help save the planet from destruction.  She doesn’t have m

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maria Grima
• Release date: Nov 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781909122888

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

The ox-blood-red 1950s Chevy pickup truck rattled and bumped its way over the winding track that curled itself around the base of Mount Shasta. Gabriel wound the stiff window down, allowing a warm breeze to carry the fresh scent of pine into the cab that all three of them were squeezed into. Their baggage had been thrown into the back of the truck and was sliding and bouncing around all over the place.

There was no comfortable padding to cushion them from the impact of anything the vehicle rumbled over, only a wooden bench seat. George screwed his face up every time they drove over a rock or hit a pothole, too agitated to notice or take comfort from the golden late afternoon sun that shone down to welcome them to America.

‘This really isn’t good for my lumbago, old boy. Have we got much longer to go before we get to these blasted cabins?’ George grumbled, as he rummaged in the silk-lined inside pocket of his tweed jacket and fished out a miniature bottle of gin that he’d pilfered from the plane during their flight from Delhi to San Francisco. Battling with the screw top, he eventually resorted to using an old cotton handkerchief to loosen it enough for him to get at the contents. He downed it in one gulp and smiled at Salmek, who was squeezed tightly between him and the door, holding the pouch with her crystal in. She was exhausted and barely had the energy to smile back.

On arriving in San Francisco, they’d boarded an internal flight to Redding, one of the nearest airports to Mount Shasta, and hired the truck there. Bob, the helpful man behind the car rental desk, informed them they still had roughly100 kilometres to drive before they reached the town of Shasta, and when Gabriel asked him about the possibility of booking some accommodation too, Bob shook his head and laughed. He explained that everything in town was full, so their only option was to try a place called Pine Tree Cabins, which was situated close to the foot of the mountain; it was owned by an interesting, rather eccentric old lady who only took in people she liked the look of. Sadly, there was no way of pre-booking; they’d have to just take a chance. When they heard this, they all groaned in unison, as not only did they have more travelling to do, they couldn’t even guarantee they’d have a place to sleep when they got there.

Over an hour into the journey, Gabriel stopped the truck and unfolded the wrinkled map that Bob had given him; it had been marked with the scribbles of previous users and was ringed with coffee-cup stains.

‘According to this, it should only be another five minutes or so, but that Bob was a bit vague. He said I had to watch out for lots of pine trees and a wooden sign, but look around – there are pine trees everywhere.’ Gabriel folded the map up and sighed, started the engine and they were off again.

The verdant scenery, combined with the invigorating, purifying scent of the pine and the overwhelming peace and quiet, were in stark contrast to Salmek’s experience of Egypt and India. Only yesterday, they had been battling through the crowds at Delhi airport for the second time, leaving the madness and excitement behind.

It had been sad, saying goodbye to everyone in India; Ismail had flown back to Cairo and Bhagirath remained in Varanasi, each with their own crystals, as they all agreed it was vital to ensure the energies remained strong and stable in both of these sacred places, leaving Salmek to continue her search. Everything had to be ready for the time when they would all gather again, even though none of them knew when, or where, that would be.

But after they’d waved their farewells and Salmek had settled into her seat as the plane took off, everything started to feel less real, as if the adventure to India never really happened at all. They’d experienced so much together, but the party to celebrate the healing of the plague had kept them up all night and into the following morning, leaving barely any time to book their onward flights and make the mad dash for the airport, let alone reflect on what had actually happened.

Now Salmek, Ismail and Bhagirath were separated and in different parts of the world, Salmek had no choice but to go on alone. She had her dad, Gabriel, and George, but it wasn’t the same. With the boys, she felt she had two people who really understood how she was feeling, true friends she could trust and share her concerns with. They were crystal holders too, and that meant they all empathised with each other and understood the significance of the task ahead.

The journey so far had been a rollercoaster ride of emotional highs and lows, jammed full of adventure, fear, disbelief and revelations. All three of their crystals had been responsible for healing the plague in India, after which Bhagirath, Ismail and herself had been blessed by wise men in the Ganges river. It had been such an honour, and Salmek squeezed the new pouch that the sadhus had made to hold her crystal: a luxurious jade-green with a salmon-pink silk lining. Even though the crystal was now attached to a golden chain and she could wear it as a necklace if she wanted to, she still felt it was best to keep it hidden.

Since the blessing, the crystal had remained calm; it hadn’t heated up, emitted light or done anything unusual. It was safe, but for how long, she didn’t know. Ever since she’d arrived in Egypt and travelled on to India, so many crazy things had happened. She’d been followed, kidnapped, drugged, and then partially branded by Quantox Lomming, one of the followers of The Dark Serpent. But everything seemed so calm here. Maybe they had managed to shake everyone off their trail by making all the arrangements to leave India in such a hurry, although she had to admit there was something worrying her. They’d left Quantox at one of the ghats; his head pouring with blood – he might be dead by now for all they knew.

Her fingertips tentatively felt underneath her T-shirt and traced their way over the surface of the half-serpent brand. It had faded and she felt no discomfort now, but it was there as a reminder of Quantox Lomming’s malevolence towards her, and the underlining threat that somehow, The Dark Serpent was watching… and waiting for her. Even worse – she could have absorbed some of its energy during the branding. She remembered what Bhagirath had told her when Mr Vishwakarma had translated the Nadi Leaf… that if The Dark Serpent rises, it begins to control people’s minds with fear and negativity, so she knew she had to be careful in case she noticed any change in herself.

The Sanskrit scroll had been destroyed, but, thankfully, she had just enough information from the Nadi Leaf to continue with her task of trying to bring balance and healing to the world. However, there were four more children she had to find to help her with this. She knew they were in the right place to find one of the children – Mount Shasta – but didn’t have a clue where to start looking, or even if the child was a boy or a girl.

Her eyelids and limbs were heavy and weary. She yawned. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep. Ideally, her dog, Chewy, would be snuggled right up against her and her mum would be sleeping in the next room – only then could she believe that everything was normal and safe. But deep down, she knew that it would be a while before she saw them again. In reality, things were far from normal… or safe.

‘Here we go, this is it, isn’t it?’ Gabriel slowed the pickup and it juddered to a halt. He jumped out and made his way over to a wooden sign that was partly concealed by foliage. ‘Yep, this is it, Pine Tree Cabins, let’s go and park up.’ He swung himself back up into the driver’s seat without closing the door properly, and manoeuvred his way through the entrance and onto the driveway.

He didn’t get very far. Standing right in the middle of the earthen track was an old woman, brandishing a rifle. She wore faded-blue denim dungarees, over a red gingham shirt. On her head was a brown leather cowboy hat, worn tipped at a jaunty angle, with a drooping wild flower tucked into the brim. Underneath the hat hung two long plaits, fashioned from her coarse, wiry grey hair. On her feet, she wore what looked like clumpy men’s leather work boots.

‘Good God, look at her – she’s a hillbilly!’ George sniggered, and then stopped when he noticed the gun. ‘Are you sure this is the right place, Gabriel, old boy… I mean, it’s quite possible she intends to shoot the lot of us?’

‘This is definitely the right place – but you heard what Bob said, she’ll only take in people she likes the look of; he didn’t mention that she shoots the ones she doesn’t,’ Gabriel said, with his hands still on the steering wheel, reluctant to get out.

The old woman strolled over to the truck and stood by Gabriel’s open window, resting the barrel of her rifle on the glass ledge.

‘Have a reservation do youse?’ she asked, in a slow, drawn-out, Midwest American kind of accent. As she spoke, she scanned the cab and fixed her ash-grey eyes on Salmek, then poked her tongue out and sucked her teeth.

Salmek remained silent, not knowing quite what to make of this strange woman.

‘No, no, we don’t. The guy at the airport said you didn’t take bookings. He told me that we’d have to just turn up and see. It was Bob… we hired the truck from him too.’

‘And a right old piece of horse dung this thing is as well,’ she said, kicking the tyre. ‘He’s a dirty, thieving weasel, that Bob. This heap of tin belongs to his brother, Joe, and I bet Joe don’t even know it’s missing.’ The old woman shook her head as she cackled, showing off a set of stained, uneven teeth.

‘My name is George, and may I say, it’s lovely to meet such a fine lady,’ George said, reaching his hand across Gabriel’s chest and waiting for the old woman to take it. Instead, she looked at him and frowned.

‘I ain’t a lady, mister, but I like the look of you, George, so I’ll be pleased to shake your paw. I’m Winnie.’ She held the rifle in one hand, with the barrel still resting on the truck’s window, and shook hands with George.

‘You’ve got a good grip there, Winnie, I wouldn’t want to wrestle with that,’ George laughed, releasing her hand and rubbing his own in mock pain.

‘I only wrestle with bears, not men, George,’ the old woman chuckled. ‘Now get out of there and let’s take a proper look at youse folk.’

She stood back and eyed each of them as they got out of the cab.

‘And who might you be?’ Winnie asked, nodding at Salmek, the rifle now thankfully pointing towards the ground.

‘Salmek, my name’s Salmek.’

‘Weird name that. Do you have foreign parents?’

‘No, she doesn’t. I’m her father actually,’ Gabriel said, sounding slightly irritated.

‘Why did you give her a name like that?’ Winnie asked.

‘It suited her and we liked it,’ Gabriel answered.

‘Who’s we?’ Winnie asked.

‘Salmek’s mother – we’re not together anymore – not that it’s any of your business,’ he snapped.

‘You’re right; it’s not my business. I like the name. It does suit you girl – sounds like a shaman’s name.’

‘What?’ Salmek asked.

‘Never mind, ain’t important,’ Winnie said

‘Is that thing loaded?’ Gabriel asked, worried it could explode at any moment.

‘Nope, it’s empty as a poor man’s belly,’ she said, looking stern, ‘but I have loaded guns in my shed, just in case,’ which made Gabriel reluctant to ask any more questions.

‘Youse all look like you’ve been fighting with skunks… smells like it too. There’s no hot water in the cabin, but youse can boil up a pot on the stove. Get your bags and cover my prints!’ Winnie ordered, as she strode ahead, swinging the rifle as she went.

‘So we can stay then? I mean, you have a free cabin?’ Gabriel asked, trying to keep up.

‘Looks like it, don’t it,’ she snapped.

She led them through a narrow gap in the trees to a clearing where the sun’s rays enveloped a small cabin that had the name Wolf Moon carved into the door. A narrow veranda curved its way around the hut, making it a perfect spot to admire the view of the mountain, as well as feel the safe hug of the deep green foliage around them.

‘Now this here is your place; it’s forty bucks a night,’ she said as she flung the door open. ‘The little kitchen is just fine for making up your tea, but there’s no electricity, so youse have to use the gas stove and lamps. Light it with the matches by the sink, but mind your fingers and hair, the stove has got a bit of a temper on her y’see.’ She tapped the stove with her boot, emphasising her words. ‘I’ve a basket of basic provisions over there,’ she pointed, ‘and the beds are nice and fresh. Now, get yourselves washed up and fill your bellies – I’ll be over in the big shed if youse want anything,’ Winnie said, before leaving them to their own devices.

‘She didn’t know we were coming, so how come she has a basket of provisions ready?’ Salmek asked

‘I have no idea; she’s as mad as a hatter but I’m sure she’s harmless,’ Gabriel replied.

‘I quite like her – she’s funny,’ Salmek said.

Gabriel put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

‘When we’ve had a chance to settle in and rest, we’ll chat about our plans and I’ll tell you what your mum said when I rang her from the airport. I’m afraid she’s pretty angry. The money ran out before I could pass the phone to you, so she’ll be even more annoyed now. We’ll find a place to call her tomorrow, okay,’ he said, looking concerned. ‘I know we’ve got things to do here, people to find and all that, but we all need to get some rest first.’

‘I knew Mum would be worried, but I didn’t think she’d be angry. I can’t even think properly, my mind is all mushy. I’ve never felt this tired, Dad, I just want to go to bed,’ she said, sinking down to sit on the mattress closest to the kitchen and rubbing her sore eyes.

The cabin was open plan and everything was made of stripped pinewood. It was scrubbed and sparse, but snug, with several roughly-woven rugs in various neutral shades scattered over the bare floorboards. There were three, sturdy single wooden beds, made up with white cotton sheets, layered with blankets and thick patchwork quilts: one red, one blue, and the other green. Hanging above each bed were circular mobiles, wrapped in colourful cloth, with mesh centres that looked like delicately-woven spiders’ webs that were strung with small ceramic beads; from the circles dangled brown feathers, tied on with string and thin strips of leather. Each one was unique and the swaying plumes caught Salmek’s eye.

‘What are these?’ she asked, stifling another yawn.

‘Dreamcatchers – I’m sure your mum used to have one hanging in our bedroom in Bristol.’

‘I’ve seen something similar in the shops in Glastonbury, but these are more homemade-looking. What are they for?’

‘I guess they’re used to catch dreams; ask Winnie, she’ll know,’ Gabriel replied.

The small square windows looking out over the pine forest were dressed with curtains, made from the same red gingham as Winnie’s shirt, and in the distance, beyond the trees, Salmek saw the glistening summit of Mount Shasta covered in snow. She felt the same pull as when she looked at the Tor in Glastonbury; there was something alluring about this place too. But oddly, her crystal remained inactive. She wondered if it was because she was so tired. Maybe she wasn’t able to connect with its energy when she didn’t have any herself?

‘Right guys; let’s get that pan on the boil for some hot water. The light’s beginning to fade now so we’ll have a quick wash, eat some food and then get some sleep – what do you say?’ Gabriel suggested.

‘Good plan, old boy. Let’s have a look at what old Winnie has left us to nibble,’ George said, shuffling over the floorboards, too tired to even pick his feet up.

Salmek lay down on the bed and stretched out. They could wake her when the water was hot enough; she just wanted to have a little nap.

CHAPTER TWO

The following morning greeted Salmek with the uplifting smell of green pine and strong, bitter coffee. Her dad and George were sitting on the veranda, having a quiet conversation, sipping their hot drinks from battered, white enamel mugs.

‘Morning Salmek, girl,’ George said when he saw her standing in the doorway. ‘It smells like Lizzy’s toilet cleaner around here with all that pine, doesn’t it? Did you sleep well?’

Salmek smiled at his comment, remembering how George’s wife always liked the house to be clean and smelling fresh.

‘It was the best sleep I’ve had in ages; it’s so peaceful here,’ she said, rubbing the goose bumps on her arms. The sun wasn’t sharing much heat this early in the morning, so she went back in to get a jumper.

‘I’ll make you a drink, Salmek. Do you want tea?’ her dad asked when she joined them again.

‘Yes please, can I have lots of milk in it?’

‘Sure.’ Gabriel got up to prepare the tea and came back with a steaming mug and plate piled high with bread and jam. ‘Shall we go and sit over there, the view’s great?’ he said.

‘Okay. See you in a bit, George,’ Salmek said, as she walked with her dad over to the grass where they sat down.

George nodded and smiled, tapping out a beat on his tin mug with his fingernails.

‘I want to tell you what your mum said. I think you need to know before you speak to her today. I’m not in her good books, Salmek – she’s pretty annoyed with me just now.’ Gabriel rubbed his forehead as if trying to relieve himself of a headache.

‘I’m ready to hear it,’ Salmek said, grimacing slightly, before taking a sip of her tea. The bread and jam was left to one side; she couldn’t quite stomach it.

‘Well, first off, she’s mad that I brought you to California without discussing it with her beforehand. She said that if you’re not back within the week, you’ll miss the start of the school term and she’ll get into all kinds of trouble with the authorities,’ he said.

‘But we don’t know how long this will take… we don’t really know where the other children are,’ Salmek said, feeling a buzz of panic at the mention of school. Her normal life seemed a million miles away from where she was now, and she wondered how Verity would take the news that she wouldn’t be back for the start of the new term, as they always walked to and from school together.

‘I know, but I started gabbling away and before I knew it, I’d promised your mum I’d have you back before school starts,’ Gabriel sighed.

‘What?’ Salmek paused. ‘Does that mean you’re going to take me back then… I mean, I can’t go back without finding the other four children, you know that, Dad.’ Salmek looked at him, trying to work out what he was thinking.

‘I’m not taking you back until you’ve done what you need to do. I just said it to stop your mum being angry with me.’ He was shaking his head now, not believing himself what he’d done.

‘Was she still angry when you promised to take me back in time for school?’ Salmek asked.

‘Yes, she was.’ Gabriel closed his eyes.

‘That’s not fair! None of this is your fault. It’s this crystal and all the other stuff, but it’s not you.’ Salmek took the pouch in her hand and tightened her grip a little – but nothing happened; the crystal didn’t react at all.

‘What did you say to Mum when she said that?’

‘I made a big mistake,’ Gabriel said, still with his eyes closed.

‘What… what did you do?’ Salmek was getting worried now.

‘I told her about your gran – that she ordered me to stay away – and that it’s her fault I never came to see you for all those years,’ he groaned.

‘But that’s the truth, isn’t it? Gran told you she would take the house in Glastonbury back if you tried to make contact with me.’

‘Yes, it’s the truth. But it wasn’t right for me to tell your mum out of the blue on the phone like that.’

‘Don’t worry, Dad.’ Salmek shuffled closer to him and leant against his arm. ‘You can explain when you next speak to her, she’ll understand.’

‘I’m not so sure, I’ve put her through too much already,’ he said.

‘Everyone makes mistakes, Dad. All you’ve done is help me with all the crazy stuff that’s been going on, so it’s not fair for you to get the blame. I want to speak to Mum and tell her. Can we go and find somewhere to make a call?’

‘Salmek, I don’t want you talking to your mum about this; I just want you to reassure her that you’re okay, then at least she knows you’re safe,’ Gabriel said.

‘If you don’t want me to say anything, I won’t, but I think Mum needs to know that you’re protecting me and looking after me. I wouldn’t be able to do this without you, Dad. Not many parents would help their child with something as mad as this; I mean, how many ten-year-olds get told they have to heal the world with a crystal?’ Salmek forced a laugh to make her dad feel better, but it was a struggle. She got her crystal out and rested it on her palm.

‘Doesn’t look like much, does it?’ Gabriel said.

‘No, it doesn’t. But it holds so much power – I don’t think most people would ever believe it was possible for this small thing to do what it does. I’m worried there’s a problem with it though. It’s been quiet since it was cleansed in Varanasi; too quiet. It hasn’t behaved the same since then. It hasn’t heated, lit up, or anything. Maybe it hasn’t got any energy left.’ Salmek was glad she had voiced what had been playing on her mind.

‘I think it’s just resting, Salmek – it’s had a lot of work to do,’ Gabriel said. ‘Now, don’t you go worrying about all this business with your mum; she’s good at getting over stuff, she bounces back. We’ll ask Winnie if she knows of a phone we can use nearby and you