“So, this is the Teacher’s village?” Isis said, surveying the neat little village before her.
“Oh no, this is the ‘Village of the Teachers’,” Cisco said. “The cats who live here are very particular about being correct.”
“Well, if that’s the case, you’d better go in without me,” Benji said. “I haven’t been ‘correct’ about more than two things in a row since I was a kitten.”
“Relax, Benji,” Cisco laughed. “I was just kidding. They don’t have much use for stupidity, though.”
“That could be a problem,” Benji said, looking directly at Jax.
Jax turned to Piper. “Benji’s picking on me again… make him stop.”
Piper played along, waggling a finger at Benji. “You start that, you’ll make him cry, and none of us want to see that… again.”
All five cats were reduced to laughter. It had been a long trip, and they were starting to act a little silly.
Regaining their composure, they proceeded into the village. Cisco pointed out a few things he remembered about the village.
“Notice how straight and orderly all the pathways are and how well-kept the yards are. Those big buildings at the center of the village are what they call their ‘Center of Learning’.”
“Maybe that’s where we should go first,” Isis said.
They approached what looked to be the main building. The double doors were standing open, so Isis and Cisco left their packs with the others and walked inside.
They found a cat sitting at a table, studying some papers. She looked up when the light from the doorway was blocked. In a startled voice, she asked, “Can I help you?”
“I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to surprise you. My name is Isis, and this is Cisco,” Isis said. “We had hoped to talk to someone about securing a supply of paper and art supplies.”
While they were talking, a young cat came into the room. Walking around from behind the desk, the first cat said, “This is my daughter, Gabrielle, and my name is Chantel.”
“Perhaps you can tell me a little about what you’re working on so I can get an idea of what you might need.”
“Well, to put it simply,” Isis said, “We’ve found some ancient drawings in a cave, and we want to make copies of them so we can study them to learn their meaning.”
“That’s a concise description,” Chantel replied, her eyes growing huge. “But certainly not simple.”
“Gabby, go find Adriana, quickly!”
Cisco said, “We have friends waiting outside. Would it be okay to bring them inside?”
“Of course,” Chantel went to the door. “Please come in. You can leave your packs outside if you like. No one will bother them.”
“I have so many questions,” Chantel said, “but I suppose it would be best to wait until Adriana gets here. I’m sure she’ll ask you the same things.”
The three waiting cats walked inside, with Benji muttering a curse when he forgot to duck and banged his head on the doorway.
Jax and Piper tried very hard not to laugh.
“Sorry, Benji,” Jax said, “that must get old when you’re as big as you are.”
“You’d think I’d have learned by now,” Benji said, rubbing his head. “But oh no, every day presents a whole new learning opportunity.”
“Keep at it, big guy,” Piper said with a grin. “You’ll get it eventually.”
It wasn’t long before a dignified older cat appeared, being led by Gabrielle.
“Gabrielle told me that you found some drawings in a cave.” She said. “I have to tell you that we haven’t even heard of new discoveries of drawings or text documents in, well, as long as I can remember.”
“Perhaps some youngsters were playing a prank.”
“I don’t want to be rude, Isis said, “but we didn’t come here to ask if you thought the drawings were authentic. We just came here for paper and paints to make the copies.”
The older cat’s expression softened. “Forgive me, it was I who was being rude.”
“Let me show you some examples of authentic ancient drawings so you can compare them to the ones you found.”
“Chantel, bring a couple of the sheets with simple drawings on them.”
Once Chantel had cleared her desk and spread out the sheets, they all gathered around.
“They are somewhat similar, but these are pretty simple.” Isis said. “Ours show much more detail.”
“Hang on just a minute,” Piper said, looking closely at the sheets. “I’d swear there are more drawings here.” She pointed to a blank area.
“I have no idea what you’re looking at.” Adriana said. “There’s clearly nothing there.”
“Jax, would you open one of the bundles of shiners and bring me one?”
“Sure, give me a minute.” Jax said, going outside and opening a bundle of shiners.
“Here you go.” Piper shook the shiner and pointed it at the sheet she’d been looking at. Blue light bathed the sheet, and dozens of new figures stood out, glowing in bright colors.
With a sharp intake of breath, the older cat, Adriana, stepped back with her hand to her mouth. “Oh my, how can that possibly be? I’ve studied that very sheet dozens of times.”
“It’s the blue light,” Isis said. “It seems the ancients put something in their paint that reacts to it.”
“That’s how we found the drawings in our cave.” Piper added.
“What about these other sheets?” Chantel asked, moving back to give Piper more room.
Again, the sheets that had shown only a few simple drawings were covered with dozens more in full color.
Then Piper hid the shiner behind her back, and only the simple drawings remained.
Adriana was clearly having a hard time taking it all in. She found a chair and sat down, shaking her head. “All this time we thought we’d seen it all. That we knew everything.”
“But how could we have known? It was hidden.” Chantel moved to sit next to her and held her hand.
All this time, Jax hand been looking at the shiner that Piper had been holding. He shined it around and even looked directly into the beam. He also took note of the large blue dot near one end.
Handing the shiner back to Piper, he looked through the rest of the shiners in the bundle and found the same blue dot on all of them.
Motioning Cisco off to the side, he told him, “Something’s wrong with the shiners. They aren’t as bright as they should be.”
“Yeah, I saw that too.” Cisco said.
“It was certainly bright enough though. We’ll figure this out later.”
Isis had been quietly talking with Adriana and Chantel. It was evident that instead of being depressed, both were starting to get excited.
Benji, who had been quiet through all this, leaned closer to Cisco. “It looks like those shiners are going to be a pretty good trade item.”
Then, feeling a rumble in his belly, he added, “I wonder where a cat could get something to eat around here?”
“Patience, Benji. I think we’re just about done here, then we’ll go feed that growling tummy of yours.”
Later that evening, everyone in the village gathered in the central square, which was surrounded by the Learning Center buildings. Adriana and Chantel each held shiners. A number of sheets with drawings were displayed on easels set up so all could see.
Adriana stood next to the first easel. Addressing the crowd, she pointed to the individual drawings on the sheet. “I know that all of you have seen these drawings many times over the years of your education. We’ve all discussed and decided on what they represent.”
The cats in the crowd were respectful, but they were starting to get impatient.
“Today,” Adriana continued, “we were shown that we have to completely reconsider what we thought we knew.”
“And this is why,” she said, shaking her shiner and pointing it at the easel. As it was past sunset and the light was fading, the newly revealed images practically leaped from the sheet.
There were gasps and murmurs from the crowd, and even a few angry shouts.
“Please,” she said, holding up her hands to quiet the crowd, “I assure you, this is not a trick.”
“The secret is in these shiners,” she said, holding up the one she was holding. “They emit a blue light that causes pigments in the paint of the hidden drawings to glow in brilliant colors.”
“This discovery implies that we’ll have to reexamine every document and drawing that we have in our libraries.”
“My first thought was that this was a terrible revelation, but then I realized that we no longer have to study the same information over and over again. We now have a massive amount of new wonders to discover and try to understand.”
“We selected a few more examples to show you, and then you’ll be able to take a closer look of your own.”
“Please observe the other easel displays we set up for you.”
Motioning to Chantel to shake her shiner. The two of them slowly walked along the row of easel displays, illuminating sheets one after another. When they reached the end of the line, they slowly made the reverse trip again, lighting up each sheet in turn.
Standing in front of the gathered cats, Adriana said, “You’re all welcome to take a closer look, just remember, you’re not school kids anymore… well, not all of you anyway, so mind your manners and play nice.”
“Chantel and her daughter will be handling the shiners,” Adriana said, handing her shiner to Gabrielle and hurrying to get out of the way.
The Mystic cats had retired to their encampment just outside the Teacher’s village.
“Well, that was exciting,” Isis said. “I’m glad we managed to slip away.”
“Maybe by tomorrow things will have settled down enough for us to do some business.”
“Yeah,” Piper said, “We’re not here to dazzle the crowd, we’re here for paper and art supplies.”
“So, what exactly do we have to trade?” Benji asked. “What the heck is going on with the shiners?”
“Well, here’s what we know,” Cisco said. “We have two bundles of shiners and another bundle of minerals. One of the bundles of shiners was apparently marked as defective, and the other bundle is all good shiners.”
“How we ended up with the defects, I don’t have a clue.”
“The complicating factor,” Jax joined in, “is that the ‘defective’ shiners seem to be ideal for what they’ll use them for here. Our bright shiners tend to wash out the colors in the drawings.”
“That’s something we missed back home,” Piper said. “I think the dim shiners would work better for the cave drawings as well.”
“I thought of that too,” Cisco said. “But the question is, how did Suki and Shaun make the dim ones, and why didn’t they say anything?”
“So, we know they’re going to want the dim shiners and the minerals,” Isis said. “We’ll have to see if that’s enough to trade for the supplies we need. If not, we’ll see if they’d be interested in the bright shiners.”
“I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to trade for everything we need,” Jax said. “The question is, can we carry everything we get?”
“One idea I had is, if it’s too much for us to carry, we could haul half the load and store it at Cassy’s house in Sunny Meadows, then return for the rest.”
“I like that idea,” Benji said. “No use killing ourselves hauling it all in one go. That, of course, depends on just how much all those supplies actually weigh.”
“One way or the other,” Isis said, “I’m looking forward to tomorrow. These cats are good people, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them.”
The next morning, Chantel was waiting for the group when they arrived.
“That was some show you put on last night,” Jax said, as they walked into the main building.
“Well, that’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one,” Chantel replied with a chuckle. “There are cats in the village that still haven’t gone to bed yet.”
“I’m sure everyone is busy figuring out how to handle the new situation they find themselves in,” Isis said. “Is there anyone who can talk to us about our trade mission?”
“Lucky you,” Chantel said. “Here I am. They call me the ‘Deal Maker.’ At least, that’s what someone called me fifteen minutes ago.”
“But seriously, I’m here to learn what you need and what you have to offer.”
Isis produced the list of items they hoped to trade for.
“Here’s a list of what we think we need,” she said. “You already know what we’re trying to accomplish, so maybe you can tell us what we didn’t think of.”
After scanning the list, Chantel sat back and smiled. “Very good. I can see you put a lot of thought into this. There is one thing that we use that you should consider.”
“We’ve developed a paper with a very thin wax coating on both sides. We slip those between our sheets as we stack them to keep them from rubbing against one another.”
“When you get home, you should consider how you’re going to store your drawings.”
“We’d be glad to show you how we do that here.”
“Yes, certainly add the paper with the wax coating to our list,” Isis said. “What we have to offer in trade is very simple.” Isis said with a shrug. “We have the shiners that we showed you and a supply of minerals to keep them working.”
“Don’t for a minute underestimate the value of those shiners,” Chantel said with determination. “They’ve opened up a whole new world of knowledge for us.”
“But of course,” she continued, “two shiners are not nearly enough to even start on the work ahead of us.”
“To tell you the truth,” she said with a sly smile, “I don’t think they chose well, asking me to bargain for them.”
“I’ll tell you right up front, we’ll give you everything you want for as many shiners as you can provide us.”
“We appreciate your honesty,” Isis smiled. “So, we’ll tell you what we have and what we can do.”
“We have the original bundle of shiners, which amounts to an even dozen, including the two we already gave you. We also have the bundle of minerals to keep them going. We have another bundle of shiners that may or may not serve your purpose. They might be too bright for your work.”
“Let’s bring out one of those, and you’ll see what we’re talking about.”
“Okay, let’s do that. Then we can decide how we want to proceed,” Chantel said.
With a bright shiner in hand and the main double doors closed, Isis stood in the center of the room. “Here goes,” she said, shaking the shiner into life. The familiar bright blue light beamed out into the room.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding,” Chantel said. “That’s a lot of light.”
“But look at that!” she exclaimed. “See all the colors shining from the stacks of drawings!”
“You’re right, it’s way too bright up close, but from a distance, we can use it to find the drawings that need a closer look.”
“Thank goodness,” Isis said with a relieved smile. “I was afraid we were going to leave you with the short end of the bargain.”
“So, just to be clear so we can make this deal official,” Isis said, “we’ll get everything on our list, including the waxed paper, and for that, you’ll get all the shiners we brought, both dim and bright, plus the supply of minerals.”
“That’s the deal as I see it,” Chantel agreed.
“Okay then, Done,” Isis stated.
“Now, I think we should talk about how we proceed from here.” Isis said with a gleam in her eyes.
“Is Adriana available? I like to talk with her about how we might work together.” Isis said with an excited grin. “I’d like to include you in the discussion if that’s alright.”
“More than alright,” Chantel said with a smile. “I’ll go find Adriana and be right back.”
When she was gone, Isis turned to the rest of the group. “Sorry guys, I kind of gave away the whole store, didn’t I?”
“Not in the least, you did exactly the right thing,” Cisco assured her. “Besides, there’s still a lot to discuss.”
Chantel returned and asked if the group would follow her to Adriana’s home. Before long, they were sitting in comfortable chairs with refreshments in hand.
“You have a beautiful home, Adriana,” Piper said. “I love the pictures on the walls. Did you paint those yourself?”
“Oh no, sadly, almost everyone in the village is a better artist than I am,” Adriana said.
“Oh Mom, you know that’s not true,” Chantel chided her.
“Mom?” Piper asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, Chantel is my one and only daughter,” Adriana said with a smile.
“Sometimes things can get a little formal around here, so we act like we’re just two academics when we’re in public.”
“And Benji, don’t be shy, I see you eyeing that plateful of cookies.” She said, laughing. “Help yourself, there’s plenty more.”
“Thanks, you’re very kind,” Benji said with a smile. “I don’t normally make a fool of myself, but these cookies are really good. Maybe we can make a deal for the recipe.”
“If nothing else, I’ll make sure you have a bag of them to eat on the way home,” Chantel assured him.
“Adriana,” Isis said in a serious tone, “I have a feeling that we are going to be very important to each other. So I want you to hear and understand our whole story.”
“Oh, this sounds good,” Adriana said, sitting back in her chair. “Please go on.”
“It started when Jax and Piper found a starving tribe…” Isis began.
Each of the group told their part of the story, from moving the Hungry tribe to their new home, to finding the violet flowers. At that point, both Chantel and Adriana sat up straight and asked Piper to repeat that part of the story she’d been telling.
“Are you’re saying you found actual living violet flowers?” Adriana asked incredulously.
“We found a whole hillside of violet flowers,” Piper replied.
“To be honest, I thought they were just pretty.”
“But when she was telling her story back at the Ranger’s Lodge,” Cisco said, “I caught that detail, just as you did.”
“I guess that’s where my part of the story takes over.”
With Cisco, then Isis, and then back and forth between all the group telling their parts, they finally had the whole story laid out before them, astonishing Adriana and Chantel.
“What you’ve related is incredible… and frightening,” Adriana said in a hushed voice.
“Yes, we know,” Isis said, placing a hand on Adriana’s. “That’s why we’re taking this very seriously.”
“And we’re very protective of what we’ve found,” Jax stated in no uncertain terms.
“And well you should be, Jax,” Adriana replied. “Thank goodness it was you and your people who discovered this.”
“This is all wonderful, but I have to ask why you’re sharing this secret.”
“I’ll tell you what I think,” Isis said, leaning forward, her eyes gleaming.
“Everything we’ve done, everything we’ve discovered, everyone who’s joined our group, even our trip here… it all seems to be influenced, for lack of a better word, with the sole purpose of finding the violet flower cure before the plague returns.”
“Now, that may sound like a flight of fancy, or maybe too many mushrooms,” she added with a grin.
“But if you ever come to our valley, you might think differently.”
Cisco nudged her and passed her a small object.
“Oh yes, you remember I said we found some ancient artifacts,” Isis said, handing Adriana the object. “Does this mean anything to you?”
The object was an amulet made of alabaster, with the image of twin scrolls carved on its surface.
With tears and a smile, Adriana answered, holding the amulet close to her chest. “Yes, this means everything to me. It’s a connection to my past.”
With that, she fell back into her chair and wept.
Confused, Chantel looked from her mother to Isis, who simply put a finger to her lips and whispered, “Wait.”
Finally, after regaining her composure, Adriana explained, “I’ve seen this symbol so many times over the years, in both drawings and writings. I always felt a small tug or a feeling when I saw it, but could never explain.”
She leaned over and handed the amulet to her daughter.
Chantel held it up, admiring the delicate lines of the design, then held it to her cheek with closed eyes, as if listening.
Quietly, she turned and gave the amulet back to Adriana.
“This is us,” she said. “This is what we’re meant to do. It has been all along.”
They sat in quiet thought for a few moments before remembering their guests.
“By the way,” Adriana spoke to Isis again, “I don’t think you ever told us the name of your village.”
With a grin, Isis told her, “We’re from Mystic Village in the Magic Valley.”
“I guess it had to be something like that, didn’t it?” Adriana laughed.
“Yes, we thought it would be best to be subtle and unassuming,” Piper replied with a grin.
That brought a chuckle from everyone, even Benji, who had been resisting finishing off the cookies.
While the others were talking, Chantel approached Benji. “You’ve been awfully quiet all the time you’ve been here. Why is that?”
“Well, I suppose there are several reasons,” he answered. “For one thing, as you may have noticed, I’m a big guy, bigger than most cats. That gives me a deep voice, and when I talk, I tend to drown out everyone else, so I tend to stay quiet.”
“Also, you’d be surprised what you can learn while you’re listening instead of talking. Or maybe I’m just slow and can’t do both at the same time,” he concluded with a grin.
“Hmm, I don’t think you’re slow at all,” Chantel replied. “I think there’s some real depth to you.”
“It’s going to be interesting finding out just what that is,” she added with a grin.
Benji just blushed and didn’t say a word.
“So now that you know you both have a link to the Magic Valley,” Isis said, “what does that mean for our grand plan of finding the cure?”
After giving it some thought, Adriana said, “Well, of course, we have a huge number of ancient drawings and writings. Even though we now have to reexamine it all with the blue light, we are experienced researchers.”
“With your people working on the actual problem and our people having access to a wealth of ancient knowledge, together we have a better chance of finding the cure. We need to keep a channel open between our two villages.”
“I agree that we must work together,” Isis said, “but I get the impression that there are some strong willed cats in your village who would think that they should be running the whole operation.”
“I’m afraid you’re right.” Adriana agreed. “They’re all good people, but their whole lives have been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. I think they may forget that the knowledge, in this case, is just a way to discover the cure.”
“Saying that,” she continued, “we should keep this between your people in the Magic Valley and the three of us here. By ‘three,’ I mean myself, Chantel, and my granddaughter, Gabriella. We’re all three as alike as if we were one.”
“I completely agree with that,” Isis said. “And now, on to practical matters, we’re going to need to train one of our people to interpret the drawings back in the Magic Valley. How do we accomplish that?”
“The answer is obvious,” Adriana replied. “Chantel and Gabriella should go with you to the Magic Valley.”
“But Mom, I don’t want to leave you alone!” Chantel exclaimed. “And I would miss you so very much.”
“I considered all that, and I’ll miss you too,” Adriana replied, “but don’t you see, it’s the only way.”
“I may try to find others who can be trusted with this secret, but for now, you must go, and I must stay.”
“Yes, of course, you’re right,” Chantel said with misty eyes, “but it will be difficult leaving.”
“Come on now,” Adriana said with a laugh, “it’s not like you’re walking off a cliff, the trail goes both ways. I’m sure there will be more trips here, bringing shiners and minerals.”
“That’s true,” Chantel said with a grin, “I guess I was being a little melodramatic. Now I have to convince Gabriella that this is a good idea.”
Sounding relieved, Jax said, “I’m glad that’s settled. And yes, we are already planning another trip here to bring more shiners and minerals.”
“And if we don’t need more supplies right away,” Piper added, “we’ll give you the shiners and minerals as credit for when we do.”
“You people certainly know how to get things done,” Chantel said with a grin, noticing that the cookie plate was now empty.