Red River and the Tree of Enlightenment: Bobby’S Adventure Goes to Siberia

By Mary Randall

Do you think Bobbys adventures are over? Think again; not a chance! Get ready for the grand finale of all adventures as you become spellbound in Siberia, The Land that never Sleeps. Little dudes and dudettes hang on to your Lucky Baseball Caps, once again, as you take a leap of faith with Bobby and his pals into the vast and mysterious Siberian wilderness. What happens when you come face to face with a Goligoom? Lets find out, this is a terrific ride, a ride that you will never forget! Its so Rad!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503589797

Mary Randall

Mary Randall who was born in San Francisco, California is now living in Carson City, Nevada near beautiful Lake Tahoe. She is bringing you the third and final story in the trilogy series of the adventures of Bobby. If you liked “A Walk Through The Woods” and “Fire In The Tail,” then you are really going to like “Red River And The Tree Of Enlightenment.” This third book will blow your socks right off as you travel by train across Russia and Siberia meeting native peoples, talking animals, and even coming face to face with very evil dark spirits. This story could change your life forever! You will come up against natural disasters that should not even be happening. Get ready to find out what Bobby’s final destiny is that will put things right in the 21st Century. “It’s the Coolest!”

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Mary Randall.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 08/26/2015

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

699009

Contents

Acknowledgments

The Prologue:  (Bobby’s Story Starts Here)

Chapter 1:    (Let The Long Journey Begin)

Chapter 2:    (Tayshet, Get Ready Cause Here We Come)

Chapter 3:    (What about that Goligoom?)

Chapter 4:    (Lake Baikal and Olkhon Island)

Chapter 5:    (Yakutsk and Beyond)

Chapter 6:    (The Legend of the Blue Wolf)

Chapter 7:    (Once Upon a Time in Tawkwawt)

Chapter 8:    (Genghis Khan Rides Again)

Chapter 9:    (The Thing and Kobosh)

Chapter 10:    (We Fell From The Sky)

Chapter 11:    (The Magical Land) & (A Hero’s Destiny)

The Epilogue: (Bobby Sums It Up)

DEDICATED TO

Zach Mueller, who is a great friend, has worked very hard on the cover illustration and interior illustrations. His hard work and dedication has helped to make this book a success.

My awesome mom, Margaret and my awesome dad, Robert. With their love and support and giving me the best childhood ever, so my imagination could soar, this book will surely perk the imaginations of many kids to come.

My husband and sweetheart, Alan. Whose love and devotion, not to mention his hard work, has made this book a reality.

My cool grandma, Elizabeth. Whose kind and loving heart gave rise to the character Grandma Lizzy portrayed in the Bobby series.

My good friend and sister, Linda. Her good ideas and enthusiasm brought much to the making of this story.

Acknowledgments

I want to thank all the kids along with their parents and grandparents for enjoying these stories so much. It brings me much excitement to hear from the kids who are anxiously waiting for this third book to come out. With their zest and enthusiasm after reading the first two books in the Bobby series, this will surely quench their thirst for more adventure after reading this third and final sequel. Thanks to all of you little dudes and dudettes for making these stories a big success.

The Prologue

(Bobby’s Story Starts Here)

Boy! It has been one year since I left Australia and returned home with my German shepherd Ronie to Benton, Kentucky to be with my Grandma Lizzy.

I am now eleven years old. My dad, my best friend Molly, Ronie, and I are getting ready for our awesome trip to Siberia in northern Russia. We are going to meet up with my new friend Valentin Petrov and his dad, Nicholai. I found out from my dad that in Russia, Nicholai was pronounced and spelled Nicholai.

I wonder what really cool stuff is going to happen there. What will we discover over there that will enlighten and change the world forever in the 21st Century?

Are you guys ready?

Let’s find out!

map%20of%20siberia.jpg

Chapter 1

(Let The Long Journey Begin)

42350.png

W ow! The adventure was beginning already as I closed my eyes tightly and let my imagination run wild thinking about Russia and Siberia and wondering just what kind of really cool stuff we were going to be running into out here. I felt the warm morning sun cover my whole face through the windows of the dining carriage, as we clattered along the rails, Cluuu~Cluuu~Cluuu~Cluuu, on the Trans-Siberian Railway. (Russian: Transsibirskaya Magistral - 5-.jpg 5.jpg .

This was my very first train trip. I think traveling across country on a train is so-way-cool. I also think it’s the best way to see all the great scenery in a country.

As we zoomed along the railroad tracks at about 50 miles per hour, the train would lean from one side and then to the other as we made sharp turns through the canyons of the beautiful Ural Mountains. This was awesome! The Ural Mountains were so big!

Whooo~Whooo~Whuuu~Whuuu, the train horn sounded as we turned sharply around each bend in the canyons of the Urals.

This was so exciting; it gave me the chills just thinking about it!

My dad told me that the Ural Mountains, called ‘Uralskiye gory- Уральские горы’ in Russian: ran 1,600 mi. north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to northwestern Kazakhstan. The Urals were also 93 mi. wide and its highest peak was Mount Narodnaya which was 6,217 ft. high.

We had boarded the Trans-Sib that was what the Russians called it which was short for the Trans-Siberian Railway, in Moscow, late last night.

Our train was called the ‘fast train’ (skorry poyezd -скорый поезд, in Russian). The average speed was 42-54 miles per hour. It was comfortable and fast. And it had minimum stops, only at the larger stations. It also had better arrival and departure times.

Our airplane flight from Louisville, Kentucky to New York City lasted three hours. And the flight from New York City to Moscow, Russia took about nine hours and twenty minutes. This is what my dad told me.

My dad, Molly, and I were traveling 2nd class, called ‘Kupe -Купе’ in Russian. In our sleeping carriage, that’s what they called them in Russia, we had four bunk beds which they called berths and nine compartments to store our stuff. We also had a basin with hot and cold running water and a toilet at the other end of our carriage. Our Russian guide and interpreter DeMetri preferred to have his own sleeping carriage. I found out, that in Russia, a carriage was a train car for passengers.

DeMetri spoke English really well. My new friend Valentin whom I met in Australia, who also had the gift to hear the animals speak, asked his father Nicholai Petrov if he could assign DeMetri to us to make sure we had a safe and pleasant journey. Besides DeMetri was the only one among the four of us who could speak Russian.

Valentin’s dad also made arrangements with the Russian government so that we could bring along my German shepherd ‘Ronie’. He was being kept in another train carriage along with some other farm animals. It was nice that I was allowed to go see him whenever I wanted to. I also brought him food to eat and water to drink. Every time I went to see Ronie, I could tell by the look in his big brown eyes that he didn’t really know quite what to make of all of this. I told him not to worry; we were on a great adventure and when we got to where we were going, he was going to love it there. I could tell that Ronie understood every word that I said. I could see it in his eyes. I knew he would be all right in that carriage with the other animals.

ronie.jpg

Molly and I could feel the excitement building up inside of us. We felt goose bumps all over. This was awesome!

We were in Russia. (Russian: rossiya- Россия).

Wow! Just the thought of being here made me tingle all over. This was great! Molly and I pinched each other to make sure this wasn’t all a dream.

As my dad, Molly, DeMetri, and I sat down at our table in the dining carriage eating breakfast, we all looked out the window at the really cool Russian wilderness flashing by, as the train sped quickly along the tracks, Cluuu~Cluuu~Cluuu~Cluuu. There were a lot of trees that looked like pine trees, rock formations, rivers, and even some snow still on the ground. The pine trees here reminded me of the pine trees back home in our woods in Kentucky. There were miles and miles of wilderness in all directions, as far as your eyes could see, Wow. Even though it was June, DeMetri told us their winters here in Russia, especially in Siberia, lasted a long time and were very cold. That was why there was still some snow on the ground in June. In Siberia, the summers were short and sometimes would not get over 69 degrees F. The winters in northern Siberia could get as low as minus -67 degrees F. Burrr, that is cold.

DeMetri said, You must remember our Russian wisdom says, the colder the climate is, the warmer the people are.

He winked at my dad, Molly, and me after he said that. We had to agree with DeMetri; the Russian people that we met so far on our journey were really nice to us.

The breakfast that we were eating had fresh homemade bread, kompot (which meant stewed fruit), hard boiled eggs, sardines, and sausages. We had a Russian green smoothie to drink. It was made of fresh greens and fruit. The Russians say it is very healthy. Molly and I both loved our smoothies, they were soo-goood. My dad and DeMetri had coffee instead. This was awesome! We were all looking forward to lunch and dinner. So far, the food in Russia was really good.

Our first large station, which we stopped at, was the town of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. My dad explained to us that Yekaterinburg was sometimes spelled ‘Ekaterinburg’ on some maps, because the Russians pronounced the letter ‘E’ as a ‘YE’ sound. As we pulled up closer to the station, there were people standing out there with tables full of food. DeMetri told us that they were called platform hawkers. They sold fresh bread, fruit, vegetables, eggs, dried fish, and bottles of homemade vodka, toys, and clothes. Wow, this was kinda like the farmers markets that we had back home.

DeMetri said, The Russian food has not changed much for several hundred years. Russian people are very hospitable. Great food is served especially during holidays and festivals.

DeMetri also told us that in the dining carriage they also served Mongolian and Chinese food. This was super; I was looking forward to trying Mongolian food. Cool!

As the head train conductor, called ‘glava provodnick poyezda - Глава проводник поезда’ in Russian, sounded his whistle, the train came to a sudden stop. We all got up from our seats to go outside and stretch our legs in the town of Yekaterinburg. The conductor took me back to the carriage where they kept Ronie, with the other farm animals, so I could take Ronie out with us on his leash to stretch his legs too. This would be the last stop for quite a while until the next major station called Tayshet. We needed to make the most of this stop. It felt so good to get outside and walk around. Since Yekaterinburg was in the Ural Mountains the air was crisp and cool. The station was buzzing with lots of people standing around the platform hawkers to buy something to eat or drink. All the clothing that they wore and the way they spoke was so different here. Before we knew it, the head conductor was blowing his whistle again. Our stretching time was now over. Boy that was a short stop over! We all ran and jumped back on the train.

My dad and DeMetri went ahead to save us a spot on the sight-seeing and game train carriage.

As Molly and I were walking Ronie down the hallways of the train to return him to his carriage, we passed by an open door of one of the sleeping carriages. Suddenly two very eerie and mysterious sounding men’s voices drifted out from behind the door. They both spoke in English with very different accents. The accents did not sound like Russian at all. We stopped to listen. The first man spoke like he had gravel in his mouth in a very loud whisper, I am telling you the tree that is made of solid gold and the river that runs red like blood is there.

The other man also answered back in a loud whisper, I know you told me that the golden tree and the river that runs red like blood is somewhere in northeastern Siberia, but where? Suddenly, Ronie started to bark, Woof~Woof~Woof. I could tell Ronie didn’t trust these guys; he didn’t like the sound of their voices. Molly, Ronie, and I started to walk quickly away from the open door. We did not want the two men to catch us listening to them. When we got far enough away where they could not hear us speak, I said to Molly, "Holy-Moly Molly do you think those two guys are ‘spies’?"

"Bobby they sure sound like spies!"

Wow I was ready to turn inside out with excitement. Spies on a train, cool! This was just like in the movies.

……..What kind of tree was made of solid gold? And what kind of river runs red like blood? Where in northeastern Siberia could these be?

……Would Molly and I ever find out where they were……..?

Chapter 2

(Tayshet, Get Ready

Cause Here We Come)

W hooo~Whooo~ Whuuu~Whuuu, the train horn blasted again as we slowly pulled away from the Yekaterinburg station. After Molly and I had taken Ronie back to his carriage, we found my dad and DeMetri waiting for us on the sight-seeing and game train carriage. They had saved us a really good seat by a nice big window. We were traveling from the west to the east on our way to Tayshet. Our window on the train carriage faced the north. In this carriage, you could just sit and watch all the scenery go by or you could play games like scrabble and chess, read books or have a cabin picnic to pass the time away. Molly and my dad decided to play scrabble. Before I played scrabble with them, I gazed out the train window thinking and I wondered what mysterious adventures and unknown things awaited us in northeastern Siberia. I couldn’t stop thinking about the golden tree and the river that runs red like blood. What kind of animals did they have in Siberia and would they talk to me like the animals did in Australia and back home in Kentucky? I just couldn’t stop thinking about all this s tuff.

Suddenly, my dad tapped me on the top of my head and said, Bobby where did you go? He then looked over at DeMetri and said, Bobby has a very wild imagination and lives in a world all his own.

Ha~Ha~Ha, laughed DeMetri. "That is how it should be; children using their imagination. It is very healthy."

Molly looked at me and giggled and then turned to my dad and said, Bobby gets in trouble all the time in school for day dreaming.

"Geez Molly I don’t get in trouble all the time."

I’m not surprised. My dad said.

As the train clattered and zoomed along the tracks, Cla~Clack~Cla~Clack~Cla~Clack, DeMetri explained to us that the train trip from Moscow to Tayshet would take three days and four nights. And if we had traveled from Moscow all the way to Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan on the east coast, that would be roughly 6,000 mi. and would take six days to get there. He also told us that Russia had nine time zones.

"It would be like in your country, the United States, you would have to drive from Los Angeles, California to New York City, New York about three times to equal the distance of driving across all of Russia." DeMetri said.

Wow, Russia is huge! Molly and I both said.

"Children you are right about that, Russia is the largest country in the world. It covers more than one-eighth of the earth’s inhabited land area. And the Russian border is the world’s longest,