Haran stood aside and allowed all three to enter, but she stood at the door ready to close it. “Is there anything you require?”
When Gareth shook his head in response to her offer she pulled the door closed with a solid sound of heavy wood striking stone. The three stood in near darkness. Ann said, “What now?”
Tad said, “Water.” He rushed to the pitchers and in a delighted call said, “Hey, this one has milk!”
They all stood at the table and filled mug after mug, but none sat in the comfortable looking chairs. Tad was busy drinking milk, but Ann and Gareth waited as their eyes adjusted to the meager light in the room, each lost in thought.
Ann asked, “What is this all about?”
Gareth strode to the door and lifted the lever. He expected to find the door barred on the outside, but it opened easily and desert light burst into the room almost blinding him. A quick peek outside didn’t show anyone guarding the door.
Pulling it closed again, Gareth said, “No guards.”
Ann drew in a deep breath. “It was so hot outside. This coolness has me wanting to stay in here and one of those beds is sure to give me more sleep in a few moments than I’ve had in several nights.”
As she walked to the closest bed, Gareth reached out to Blackie. The dragon was not there. Gareth rushed back to the door and threw it open. He ran a few steps outside, fearing the worst, but almost instantly he located Blackie and almost fell to his knees in relief.
The old Brother approached on the stone walkway and said, “I’m sorry Gareth. Your powers are restricted while inside. Not on purpose, it is just the way it is, the materials used to build the house we think. I should have warned you.”
“Can any outside reach me?”
“If you’re worried about Belcher, you can relax. The walls of mud prevent any mental communication in either direction, although they still work if two of us are inside. But we’ll discuss more of that after we eat.”
The Brother strolled on to the shade of the orchard where he sat on a bench without movement, probably communication with another Brother, although Gareth wondered how the message reached over the mountains. Perhaps he was simply praying.
Gareth turned and reentered the cabin and closed the door. The mental touch of all ten dissipated as he entered, and disappeared fully as the door closed. For the first time in almost a full lunar cycle, he relaxed and lowered the intense shield held over Tad.
But, his skepticism forced it back into place. The bed called to him. Ann’s eyes were already closed, and she looked close to falling asleep. He said, “Tad, time for you to take a nap.”
The boy shrugged as it that had been his intent. Tad skipped to the closest bed and leaped on top, not bothering to pull back the blanket. Gareth sat in the third, his mind in turmoil, but at the same time feeling more relaxed than in several days. He stretched out to better think of all they found and instantly went to sleep.
All three woke when the door to the hut opened. Haran, the same woman who had shown them the room, took one step inside and softly announced that the food would be ready soon, and waited in the main house, then she exited. Ann sat up on her bed and said, “That was the most wonderful sleep I’ve had in years.”
Gareth couldn’t disagree. His mind felt uncluttered and refreshed for a change. Tad also acted more animated than he had in days. Together they walked out into the late afternoon sunshine with long shadows and the air warm and dry. Haran sat on a small bench beside the great doors to the main ‘house’. At their arrival, she stood and opened the door that stood twice as tall as Gareth and wide enough for all three to enter side-by-side.
Inside the temperature again dropped considerably, the dim lighting made it almost impossible to see when the door swung closed, and only a few candles fought back the darkness. As their eyes adjusted, the vast room seemed to appear out of the dark.
The floor was again stone, the walls plaster, the roof beams covered with wood planks. To their right was a table long enough to seat thirty, fifteen to a side. Places were set for eleven, all near the far end. Beyond the table was the kitchen and tables for preparation. Bins held apples, onions, carrots, and more.
Three cauldrons of similar size hung from hooks over brick-lined fire pits under chimneys spreading over the three. The chimneys were also brick, built against the wall, and their sole purpose was to vent smoke and heat outside. Enclosed ovens for baking stood knee high beyond. Gareth had seen similar in the islands where it was hot and humid, but food still needed cooking. The aromas made his stomach do a flip, but he ignored his hunger.
What drew the attention of all three was the remainder of the room, fully three-quarters of it. It was a clear pool of water, a natural pool from the appearance, and the building had been built over it. The paving stones went to the edge and were cut to form-fit to the irregular edge. The sides of the pool dropped away quickly to a depth so deep Gareth couldn’t stand in it unless his head were below the surface, yet the rocky bottom was as clear as the finest mirror.
The water in the pool glowed an eerie pale green in the dim light. Gareth could not see the source of the light. It was as if the water glowed and spread its light throughout the cavernous building.
He had also seen a similar happening in the ocean, once. But as boats rowed or sailed through it, the effect spread as if it was mostly on the surface. The water here didn’t have the same look. Instead, it glowed equally from the bottom to the top, as if the entire pool was a giant firefly. The effect made him shiver.
There was not a single plant, fish, or living thing in the water. It was perfectly translucent, and in the stillness of the room, the rocky bottom was so clear it gave the impression there was no water in the hole. They stood looking at it as if expecting something to happen when Gareth heard the slight sound of material rubbing against material.
He spun and his eyes, seeing much better now, found the old Brother already sitting in a high-back chair beside five of the women in the village, all of whom sat as still as he. Two others were working quietly in the kitchen. Counting the two babies in the arms of a pair of women, that accounted for all of them.
Ann recovered first. Her finger pointed accusingly at the pool “Did we drink that water when you gave us water in the pitchers?”
The Brother said, “Yes.”
“It wasn’t glowing.”
“The effect is hard to see in bright sunlight,” the Brother said calmly. “This building without windows was constructed ages ago to reveal the beautiful phenomena.”
Ann snapped, “You should have told us first.”
“In your state of thirst after traveling the dry lands outside, would you have refused water?”
She considered and relented. “When traveling in the forests, I’ve swallowed from ponds covered in scum, moss, and slime. I guess that water over there isn’t going to hurt me any worse. Especially if you drink it, too.”
The Brother said, “I have lived here since you were born, I imagine, and in all that time this has been our only source of water.”
Before Gareth could speak, Ann placed her hands on her hips and demanded, “What do you do here? All of you?”
The Brother smiled, his white teeth flashing in the dimness of the room. A few of the women looked to him as he spoke. “I’d expected you to recognize seven of your Sisterhood, Ann. As for me, I am not only of the Brotherhood; I am the leader of all of them.”
Silence descended on the room as if the ceiling fell without noise. Neither Ann nor Gareth moved. They looked at each other and Gareth averted his eyes to look at the table, again. He noticed the two in the kitchen had paused in their preparations. The whole room was still as death and silent as a tomb.