Eleazar Goodenough
and the Mystery of the Scrying Inkwell

by Jerry Grimes

Chapter 14 - The Fountain of Knowledge

The sun had just begun to rise when Eleazar went around waking up his friends for the trip up the mountain. He reminded Darcy to pack his pendulum and Darcy reminded him to pack his bottle for collecting water from the Fountain of Knowledge. They both reminded Jolly to feed Hareek who was flapping around their heads excitedly like a large green hummingbird. Darcy raced down the hall to knock on Carmen's door, but she opened the door before his fist could pound on it and to his surprise, she was already dressed and ready to go.

"Come on, slow-poke," said Carmen, leading the way back to the boys' room. "I've already packed lunch."

Eleazar, Jolly and Hareek met them at the head of the staircase and they all went downstairs together. When they stepped out the front door of the castle, the sun greeted them with a promise of warmth, even though it was almost October and the leaves of the trees on the mountain were various shades of orange and red.

"What a great day to climb a mountain!" said Eleazar, with enthusiasm. "The trail to the top starts at the end of that field over there. Everybody ready?"

In response, the others went running and laughing across the dewy grass of the field towards the start of the mountain trail to see who would get there first. Eleazar struggled to keep up, but his legs were shorter than theirs. However, his friends stopped at the entrance to the mountain trail and waited for him to catch up, and then let him take the lead, since he was the only one who knew where they were going.

As agreed, Darcy brought up the end of the line of climbers, staying just far enough behind them to looks as if he were following them and not a member of the group. Carmen volunteered to keep an eye on Darcy so they wouldn't lose him on the way up the mountain. Hareek flew just above Jolly, having been warned to keep an eye out for eagles and to duck into Jolly's backpack at the first sign of trouble.

After about fifteen minutes of steep uphill travel, the trail leveled off. In the distance, they could hear the sound of a waterfall and a gushing brook crossed the trail beneath a little wooden bridge.

"We're getting close," said Eleazar. "The water in this brook came from the Fountain of Knowledge up above. We have to turn off the trail and follow the brook to the waterfall. Then we really have to do some climbing."

"Why can't we just dip in and use this water for your scrying ink?" asked Jolly.

"It has collected too many memories on its way down the mountain," said Eleazar. "It's best to get the water right from the source... the Fountain itself!"

Eleazar waved at Darcy back on the trail and pointed to let him know they were going to follow the brook. Darcy nodded and waved at them. Then they set off away from the trail towards the Fountain.

When they arrived at the base of the waterfall, Eleazar decided to wait for Darcy to join them so he could enjoy the view of it with his friends. It was a beautiful waterfall, cascading noisily down the rocky cliffs and splashing rainbows wherever it hit the rocks below.

"I don't think your father is anywhere around," said Eleazar to Darcy, yelling over the roar from the falls. "Hareek would have warned us!" Eleazar pointed to where Hareek was flying high above their heads, snapping at insects and diving through the jets of water that spouted off the edges of the waterfall.

Carmen started passing out snacks, so they sat and ate and enjoyed the view. Jolly, Darcy and Eleazar took turns tossing food scraps at Hareek, who snatched them out of the air almost as quickly as they threw them.

Then they gathered up the food wrappings, and Eleazar waved his wand over the litter to make it disappear. Eleazar led the way to the rocky side of the waterfall where the cliff walls formed steep steps leading to the top. It would be a hard climb, but one that had been made many times before by Wizards and Witches seeking water from the Fountain of Knowledge.

Half-way to the top, Hareek came screaming down towards Jolly, and slammed himself into Jolly's open backpack.

Eleazar scanned the skies and saw an eagle soaring in circles high above them. He said to Carmen and Jolly, "The Eagle has arrived. Pay no attention and keep climbing." He looked back down the trail, but saw no sign of Darcy.

Ten minutes later, they finally reached the top of the waterfall cliff and looked out on a placid, shallow lake fed by a gushing fountain in the very center. "The Fountain of Knowledge!" said Carmen. "It's so pretty!"

"Yes, very pretty," said Eleazar. "Almost too pretty."

"What do you mean?" asked Jolly.

"Oh, nothing," said Eleazar. "Let's see what our eagle friend thinks of the fountain." He put down his back pack, took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his pant legs.

"Are you wading out to the fountain?" asked Carmen."I don't think that's such a good idea, Eleazar!"

"Me, either,"said Jolly. "It looks kind of slimey in there." But Jolly took off his pack and started untying his sneakers anyway. If Eleazar was going in there, Jolly was going with him.

"Stay here with Hareek," said Eleazar. "I'll be all right. Besides, if I fall in, I may need you to rescue me."

"Carmen can watch Hareek, but I'm coming with you. I promised your parents I would watch out for you and that's what I'm going to do," said Jolly, continuing to remove his shoes and socks.

"Can either of you swim?" asked Carmen.

"Sure," said Eleazar. "I was only kidding about needing to be rescued."

"I can swim, too," said Jolly. "The first thing I learned was never to go in the water without a buddy, so that's why I'm going along."

"Good point," said Eleazar. He dug into his backback and brought out the bottle he had brought along to collect water from the Fountain. "Let's go!"

"Watch yourselves," warned Carmen. "The eagle is circling lower."

"We'll be careful," said Jolly. "Take good care of Hareek." He stepped into the pool. "Brrr! It's freezing cold!"

"Why don't you walk on top of the water like I'm doing?" asked Eleazar. Jolly looked and saw that Eleazar was standing on the surface of the pond.

"Show off!" said Jolly. "I haven't learned that yet! That's for fifth years!"

"My apologies," said Eleazar, sinking down into the pool to the bottom. "I forgot you wouldn't be able to do that yet. I really wasn't trying to show off."

"Forget it," said Jolly. "Let's just get out to the fountain and back before my feet turn numb from the cold."

"I'll race you!" said Eleazar, and the water race was on. Hopping and splashing and laughing, the two boys raced towards the gushing fountain at the center of the pond.

Jolly reached the fountain first and Eleazar yelled, "Catch!" Eleazar tossed the bottle to Jolly, guiding it by magic so Jolly couldn't miss.

Jolly held the bottle in the fountain until it was full of water, while Eleazar yelled, "I'll beat you back to shore!"

"That's not fair!" Jolly yelled back. "You have a head-start! But I'll beat you back anyway!"

And so, laughing and screaming, the two boys headed back towards the shore where Carmen was waiting for them, cheering them on. With his longer legs, Jolly also won the race back, but Eleazar didn't mind. He was just having fun with his friends. Jolly handed him the bottle of water and Eleazar waved his hands over it and turned the water to black ink. At that moment, the eagle swooped down and landed behind them on the shore. As it landed, it changed into Darcy Thurmond II.

The three young wizards immediately reached for their wands, but the wands slipped out of their holsters and went flying off into the woods behind Darcy Thurmond II. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm not here to harm you."

"You want the ink I just made, don't you?" asked Eleazar.

"Be quiet, you abomination," said the man with hate in his voice.

"Some Wizards feel that animagi are abominations," said Eleazar. "It's all a matter of viewpoint."

"Just give me the bottle of ink and I'll leave," said Darcy's father.

"Leave him alone, Dad," said a voice from the woods. It was Darcy and he stepped out into plain view.

"Come on out, Junior," said his father. "Why are you so worried about this abomination?"

"He's not an abomination. He's my friend," said Darcy.

"He's your enemy and the enemy of all decent Wizards in the world," said his father. "Your uncle Tory, my own brother, was also an abomination filled with the ghosts of Wizards who should have died long ago. Now they all dwell inside him!" And he pointed a long, bony finger at Eleazar.

"You don't know that for sure, do you?" asked Eleazar.

"I will in a moment!" said Darcy's father, stretching forth his hand. The bottle of ink flew from Eleazar's grip towards the older wizard, who caught it in one hand and drank down the entire bottle in one long swallow.

"Dad!" yelled Darcy. "What are you doing?"

"If my brother Tory is inside that abomination, it will be revealed to me in the scrying ink," said his father.

"Well, do you see him?" asked Eleazar.

"I feel very funny," said the elder Thurmond.

"Dad! I can see right through you!" yelled Darcy. "What did you do to him, E.G.?"

"He did it to himself," said Eleazar. "He drank water of the kachina rain spirit, and now he is turning to water himself."

"You did that?" asked Darcy's father, beginning to melt into transparent water in front of their eyes.

"No, you did it," said Eleazar. "That's not the Fountain of Knowledge. Take another look at it!"

They all looked towards the center of the pool where the fountain was shrinking and turning into a three foot high kachina doll- the giver of rain.

The Rain Maker kachina

"It's a kachina, like Sky Spirit!" said Jolly.

"You called?" said a voice from above them. They looked up and saw Sky Spirit as if made of clouds, floating gently above their heads.

"Take good care of him, Sky Spirit," said Eleazar. "I promised his son no harm would come to him."

Out in the pool, the Rain Maker was changing from a doll into a native american young man made of water. The Water Spirit flew up next to the Sky Spirit and they merged for a moment before separating again.

"I will keep him with us until next Spring," said Sky Spirit. "After months of raining down on crops, he may have a better attitude when he returns to you."

The young people watched as the elder Thurmond evaporated in the sunlight and formed an angry looking cloud high above their heads. Lightning flashed within the cloud, but that was the extent of his magical powers while he was a prisoner of the kachina.

"I kept my word, Darcy," said Eleazar. "I hope your father has learned a lesson by the time next spring arrives. Life among the kachina may do him good."

"He's going to be angry that I helped you," said Darcy.

"We won't let him hurt you," said Carmen. "You have strong and powerful friends among the wizards and witches of the academy now."

"That's right," said a familiar voice behind them. They turned to see Professor Spellbinder suddenly appear. "I was keeping an eye on things in case they got out of hand. I'm glad to see you befriended the kachina of the castle, Eleazar."

"Right you are, Professor," said Eleazar. "Shall we go and collect some water from the real Fountain of Knowledge?" he asked his friends.

"Which way?" asked Jolly. "Do I have to get cold and wet all over again?"

"No," laughed Eleazar. "It's that tiny little stream squirting out from the cliff face over there. It looks like a water-gun spray more than like a fountain."

"It's going to take an hour to fill your bottle with water from that little squirt," said Jolly.

"I can fix that," said Professor Spellbinder, reaching into a crevice near the fountain and waving his wand magically until the water was spraying forth like a firehose.

"Wow, Professor!" said Darcy. "Can I learn how to do that?"

"Certainly, Darcy," said Professor Spellbinder. "You see that little wheel inside the crevice? That's called a faucet by Muggles, I believe. We had it installed years ago to help conceal the Fountain of Knowledge from people like your father who aren't really seeking knowledge, but just need a drink of water."

"What makes this water so special?" asked Jolly.

"Climbing up here to get it," said the Professor, with a wink.

"My bottle's full," said Eleazar, taking the bottle out of the water spray. Professor Spellbinder turned the faucet handle and the spray went back to being a tiny squirt.

Eleazar waved his hand over the bottle and the clear water turned to black ink. "All ready for scrying again," said Eleazar. "Are you guys ready to climb up to the top of the mountain now?"

"Race you to the top!" yelled Jolly, starting off at a run.

"I'm walking," said Carmen.

"Me, too," said Darcy.

"It looks like Jolly is going to be sitting at the top all alone when we arrive," said Eleazar, carefully wrapping up his new scrying inkwell and stuffing it into his backpack. "Jolly even left his backpack on the ground with Hareek sleeping inside on top of our lunches."

"I'll take the backpack with me," said Professor Spellbinder. "I'm a little too ancient to be climbing mountains. I'll just take the magic way to the top." With that he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

"Hey, he's got our lunches!" said Darcy, speeding up the pace.

Soon the three friends were running and laughing up the trail that led to the very top of the mountain. They joined Jolly and the four of them continued joking and laughing all the way to the mountain top, where Professor Spellbinder and Hareek were waiting.

The End

Read the entire story from the beginning HERE

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