This chapter documents the second encounter between Olivia and Esther in the woods on Alderley Edge. Re-reading the manuscript I feel there is an element of synaesthesia, the interplay between the different senses, something I experience all the time. When I see lights flashing I hear sounds. Colours have the effect of tones, smells have physical properties, it's a fascinating subject.
And so it was February 22, the day of the new moon. She knew that from checking the app on her iPhone. It also told her the time of sunset. It was 5.22pm.
She had taken the jeep to school that day and drove home at the usual time. She realised there would not be much time to get up the Edge and park the jeep to get to the meeting point. She told her mum she would take Jessie for a walk and then drive round to her friend Millie’s house to get a copy of the handout that had the homework task.
She had decided she would take the pendant with her to show to Esther. It would be safe, after all, she was only going up to the Edge and would come straight back again. What could possibly happen?
And then she remembered, there was something she had forgotten.
“Oh, Mum…”
Liz was getting clothes out of the washing machine.
“Yes, darling?”
“Is there a rose anywhere?”
“A rose? Not in the garden, they’re not in bloom dear, It’s February. There are a few dried up ones. You could have a look in the greenhouse,” said Liz, staring into her eyes. “What do you need it for?”
“Oh,” said Olivia, looking away, “it’s for… my Science project, well, Millie needs one… for her Biology project.”
Liz stared for a few seconds at Olivia.
“Take a look in the greenhouse.”
“Oh, okay,” said Olivia, moving towards the door but trying not to make her impatience too obvious. Jessie looked up at her with hopeful eyes.
“Wait a minute, Jessie.”
The dog stepped out of her basket and started to wag her tail.
In the greenhouse she looked in various pots and under dusty shelves, asking herself why she hadn’t thought of finding it before now. But she could have asked herself the same question countless times before, when she had left things till the last minute.
Eventually she found a withered rose, its dried up petals were brown and some had fallen off. She picked it up, being careful not to break it. That was the best she could do. She got Jessie and the lead from the kitchen, ran to the jeep, they climbed in and set off for the Edge.
A few minutes later they arrived at the lay-by on top of the Edge. Jessie jumped out, Olivia slammed the door shut and led her past the ‘To The Edge’ sign, along the straight footpath and off to the left and into the woods. She let Jessie run free and she walked ahed, sniffing the tree trunks and looking around.
The air was cold, and there was steam from Olivia’s breath. The weather was dull and cloudy.
Soon they arrived at the clearing and Olivia sat down on the fallen tree trunk, with Jessie at her side. The dog sat looking up at Olivia with her sunny smile, mouth open.
The woodland was empty, a couple of sparrows twittered, there was the sound of small animals and birds moving through the leaves. Otherwise, the scene was deserted.
She closed her eyes, and with her hand on Jessie’s neck, she concentrated her thoughts and with all her heart and mind, she willed Esther to appear.
She could feel the soft fur on Jessie’s back starting to rise. She barked quietly and seemed to become excited.
And then in her bones, Olivia sensed some kind of energy, a kind of tickling of electricity. Her head started to spin, and she felt slightly nauseous. Jessie made a high-pitched whine from the back of her throat. A low rubbery hum of strange music came from nowhere.
Olivia opened her eyes and saw in front of her a familiar face. It was as if they were picking up the previous conversation without any gap.
“Esther, it’s not working! There’s no improvement. I wanted to learn the secrets of science. You said you could teach me the secrets of science very, very fast.”
Esther gazed back at her without expression.
“But why is it taking so long? At school I have tried, I have tried so hard, but I’m not getting any better? Why?”
Jessie could sense that Olivia was upset, and looked up at her with big eyes, then at Esther.
“Livvy, how long did it take the great minds of the world to collect all the knowledge? Many hundreds of years. The power must grow, slowly. It is like nurturing a plant, you have to wait for the branches and leaves to appear.”
Olivia became sad and tearful.
“But how long? I want to learn so much! I want to get better! I want to be the best!”
Esther thought for a little longer, leaning her head to one side.
“Livvy you just need to wait, just a little longer, I am sure, you will soon improve, very, very soon, I am sure! Trust me!”
Olivia looked down sadly, and then she remembered. In her pocket she could feel the pendant. She reached in and held it out to Esther.
“I asked my mum if stones have special powers. She lent me this pendant. It belonged to my great aunt. Do you think this stone could help me?”
Esther gazed down at the stone. Immediately it seemed to light up and cast a green light on her face. She reached out and held it in her palm.
Olivia was transfixed by the pale, emerald coloured light that emanated from the stone. Jessie fixed her gaze on the stone too, wagging her tail at the same time.
Esther raised up her palm and with her other hand she lifted the chain so it hung down from her thumb and forefinger. After a few moments she let go of the chain and gently took her palm away. The pendant hovered weightless.
Olivia gazed into the stone, as if hypnotised. Now it seemed to have weather patterns inside it, the patterns moved and changed as in a film that had been speeded up. The shapes became nebulae and gas clouds in space and all around the outer edge, the little triangular shapes looked like trees. It was like a fish-eye view up into space from the field by her house. The nebulae moved, stars shifted gracefully around. It seemed as if the vastness of the whole of the night sky was contained within this tiny stone.
Olivia reached out, the chain dropped down around the stone and and she felt it touch her skin, and looked even more closely as the astonishing spectacle unfolded. She could feel the weight and coldness of the pendant and the chain on her palm but she wanted it to float again.
Jessie could see that Olivia was concentrating, and sat with rapid breaths, her pink tongue hanging out, looking all around, making sure Olivia was safe.
“You can do it too Livvy, you can let go of the stone and it will stay there, just concentrate, concentrate and when you are ready, just let it go.”
Olivia held up the stone, now it had turned to a darker shade of green, and beneath the shiny surface, shooting stars flashed across from top right to bottom left.
It was still heavy and pressed against her palm. She feared if she took her hand away it would just fall to the ground and all would be lost. But using her instinct and will power, she caused the pendant to overcome gravity, she could feel that it was exerting less and less pressure on her palm, and when she could feel its weight no longer, she lowered her hand and it floated in the air in front of her, just like in the videos of astronauts on the International Space Station. It floated gracefully, the chain rising and spiralling above it, like smoke from a candle. Storms still flashed silently inside the stone.
Olivia was enchanted by the intenseness of the green. It was the deepest and most penetrating green she had ever seen. The flashes from just under the surface of the pendant seemed like sparks that jumped directly off the back of her eye, this green was the purest, most lucid, most absolute, most intense green she had ever experienced. It seemed to peal, it seemed to make a sound like bells, but without the impact of a hammer, the green just rang out, resonating for long time, singing through the woods, and then she sensed it was going to die down, and she lifted her palm and caught the pendant again.
“Esther, the pendant, it’s... awesome, I mean, really awesome, awe-inspiring!”
“Yes, Livvy, this is very good, I think it will have a very powerful effect for you.”
“Yes, I think I can feel its power, It’s just bursting out from inside, I can feel it!! Look Jessie!”
She held it down to Jessie, who sniffed the stone and looked up as if to say ‘Yes’.
She had the feeling that energy was being relayed through the stone into her body. She clasped her fingers around it and held it close to her heart.
“Now I can definitely feel something,” she said, closing her eyes.
The power seemed to flow out of the malachite. The pure, warm glow formed a protective envelope around her.
“The stone will help to focus your mind, to focus the power that comes from inside you. The power lies within you, Livvy, not in the stone.”
Olivia felt as if Esther had somehow unleashed the latent power of the stone. Olivia gripped it and slipped her hand into her pocket, the power now easing off but still pouring through her fingers into her and all around her body.
“Do you think the stone can help me, Esther?”
“The stone will be like a reliable friend.”
They stood for a few moments more. Now Olivia felt calm, empowered, filled with positive energy. And then she opened her eyes and smiled at Esther. Esther smiled back at her.
Jessie continued to sit contentedly, panting, glancing around and checking all was safe.
“Oh Livvy,” she said, “Do you have the rose?”
“Oh,” said Olivia, a little embarrassed, “I wanted to bring you a rose, from our greenhouse, but they are withered, they are dead and dry and falling apart. This is all I could find.”
Esther reached for the stem and held it up in front of her.
“Where did you get this? It is from China! It is a Chinese rose! Where did this rose come from?”
“From the flower shop in the village I think?”
“No, but where did they get it from?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe at a flower market, I don’t know.”
And then as before she let it go and the withered rose hovered in the air between them, floating weightless. A few moments later, the petals began to change, the stem began to sprout leaves, the dried up remains began to turn into a beautiful rose with the freshest, deepest and most vivid shade of red that she had ever seen.
Like the green of the pendant, it had a sound but it was a deeper, more muffled resonance, there was a ‘ping’ as each petal was reformed, and then the rose revolved slowly, pouring out the deepest, stongest and smoothest red she had ever seen. There was a sound, a deep, clanging sound, that just seemed to ring and ring and ring.
And then Olivia reached out for it and held it out in front of her. It was magnificent. The fragrance was intense. It felt like bathing in the purest, smoothest, silkiest liquid. The colour of the rose was an intense shade of red, but when she closed her eyes, the smell was more a kind of creamy pink, with hints of sugar and cotton wool. She couldn’t resist pulling the rose towards her face but then she felt a tickling sensation inside her nose, and an overwhelming urge to sneeze.
“Oh dear, it’s my allergy! I am allergic to flowers. I need to sneeze.”
Jessie looked up at Olivia, unsure of why she was upset.
Esther at first didn’t understand the word ‘allergy’ but then she realised what was wrong when Olivia put her fingers to her nose. And then she pulled out a charm, a small metal sphere hanging on a chain, with patterns and holes in it.
Coming from inside it, there was a strong smell. It was almost sickening, and yet it had a powerful effect, penetrating and soothing. She had never smelt it before, and yet it seemed very familiar. Esther held the charm in front of Olivia’s face. She leaned forward and, mouth closed, she breathed in the sharp, biting aroma. It seemed to go directly to the source of the itching and it quickly died down and disappeared completely.
Esther retrieved the charm and replaced it in her gown.
Olivia pulled the rose close to her face and breathed in its heavy scent. There was not the faintest reaction, apart from the stimulation to her senses of the intense, luxurious smell of the rose. She twirled the flower around again, enjoying the complete lack of irritation or tickling she had always felt before.
“Esther, you’ve cured my allergy! You’ve cured my allergy!”
Esther smiled. “It is the ancient medicine! We learned it for thousands of years.”
Olivia stroked Jessie’s back excitedly.
“Esther, now can you show me more of the secrets of science?”
Esther nodded and with a movement of her arm, the bubble took shape, glistening, reflecting all the colours of the rainbow in constantly changing patterns, reflective flashes rising from its interior, which seemed infinitely deep.
And then the thoughts appeared, as before, flashing by like clouds speeded up, and then zooming in, one after the other, as fast footsteps running on the ground, so fast it was barely possible to see each one.
But as Olivia tuned her mind to the thoughts, even at their rapid pace, she found she was able to follow each one. Every bit of information, with its unique structure now seemed familiar, recognisable. She felt as if she was starting to understand a small number of them, then more and more. And although each thought only appeared for a fraction of a second, she became aware of the lines that connected the thoughts to each other. She seemed to have unlocked hidden capabilities within her mind. Now her brain could process the information a lot faster, like a computer whose clock has been speeded up.
Somehow, the confusing mass of images was beginning to make more and more sense. They were like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces could be assembled in an infinite number of ways, a constellation of facts and relationships that could be endlessly varied, but added up to the same thing.
Esther watched her student proudly. Jessie looked into the bubble too, and then around the woodland. And then Easter spoke, as if she had just remembered something.
"LIvvy, there is somthing I want you to bring me... Oh yes, I remember now: apple! Píngguǒ!" She said the word for it in Chinese and it appeared momentarily in the bubble, rotating."
"Apple, yes, I can bring you one...."
The flashing thoughts resumed and Olivia continued to gaze, losing herself in the myriad of shapes, colours and textures, letting her brain float in its own direction, finding its own way, somehow creating order and reason from chaos.
“Oh, but Esther, what sort of apple do you want me to bring?” said Olivia, still gazing,
But Esther had already faded away, and before long, the bubble began to grow faint, parts of its shiny exterior now dark and barely visible, and yet it managed to hang on for a few moments longer, as more thoughts flew in front of Olivia’s eyes, desperate to be seen and understood, before the bubble, with an audible ‘ping’, burst, droplets falling onto the ground. The hypnotic sound faded, leaving only concentrated birdsong, and the distant hum of rush hour traffic.
Now I am uploading chapters on a daily basis, as I finish the final edit of each one. I want to complete the final version of Stargirl of the Edge as soon as possible, so I can give selected people PDF and print copies of the complete story.