God Loves Angels

A greenish glow appeared in these large round windows. I froze in amazement. And my neighbor too. Dense fog, thick jelly filled the entire space outside my window. And when the room shook and vibrated, this veil in the window stirred, slid to the side, opening up a huge space behind it. There was water outside the window.

In the light of the electric outdoor lights, long stems of bright green plants floated outside the window, hovering and enveloping my window. The light got brighter. The room, like some huge underwater monster, crept out of the stone tunnel.

Now I could clearly see the small fish disturbed by our light, the black surface of the stone bottom, strewn with stones and shells. A silver-glittering fish with huge blue fins swam past and sank as quickly as it appeared, leaving me wondering if it was real or was I blinded by something in the water?

– What is it? Cornelia whispered. I could not even shrug my shoulders and only with an open mouth looked at the new world that appeared outside the window. The first thought was that I was imagining it. That Mrs. Wannelsker somehow put a spell on me. But after the teacher spoke, I realized that all this is happening in reality. We’re swimming underwater in this metal room. What seemed to me like a room from the inside was a submarine, a ship.

– This is Batiskaph! – Explained Mrs. Wannelsker. – We will use it in the lessons on the study of the «underwater world» and «water charms». Today is an introductory lesson. Therefore, we will not record anything, but simply enjoy the journey on our lake.

«Mrs. Wannelsker, is this a real submarine?» Like ordinary people? – Raising his hand, asked Allan.

– From the ordinary world? Not! – The teacher was surprised. – The Bathyscaph is a very complex magic apparatus!.. Well, what can you say? Has anyone seen this before?

– Great! This is the coolest sight! Here’s a lesson! The best lesson! – The exclamations of girls were heard from all sides. It seemed that now the class grew bolder. The tension on the way here has melted. Cornelia chuckled. I saw Lily and Bridget. They smiled. And Allan left his seat and leaned across their table, showing something to Bridget in her window.

– In part, this is my creation. Bathyscaphius. – Flattered by the praise, said Mrs. Wannelsker, emphasizing the special «r» in the word creation. Like a purring cat. – There is a lot of enchantment and magic imposed on him. And what artifacts! Any wizard will be jealous. Rare, powerful and possessing water spells!.. Look there.

These words of the teacher were met with indifference. Almost no one turned in the indicated direction. Even me. Because she was trying to make out through the water column something below. It seems alive.

– Attention please! – She said louder. I obediently turned to the teacher and immediately climbed into my chair in horror. The floor in the center of the room was gone. In its place was a huge hole, through which water was about to gush. The panic lasted only a short moment. Of course, my self-preservation instinct worked. I immediately realized that the floor was glass. It must be that while we were all fascinated by the contemplation of the external beauties of the underwater oasis through the windows, the curtain that protected it slid away. Or just magically evaporated. Nevertheless, I was not going to get up on the floor. It was terrifying to see five or six meters of water under my feet, algae adhering to the transparent bottom on the other side and…

– Look down. Do you see this hole?

The sight of the mouth of the round well made me uneasy. This is definitely not good. I felt dizzy and gripped the edge of the table with my fingers.

A lone lantern on the bottom of our bathyscaph, illuminating the bottom, could not illuminate what was in the well. Of course, Mrs. Wannelsker wanted to show us its contents. But the white electric light of one underwater lamp was enough for me to see in all its details such a miracle, which will definitely come to me in nightmares for more than one night!

At the sound or vibration of the engine of our metal underwater class, the stems of the plant were pulled from the well. I already saw similar ones five minutes ago. But these were alive. They hit the transparent floor and slid to the sides, as if feeling and studying obstacles, wanting to find a gap in it. And then a large flower appeared, most of all like a lily. She swam and froze in the center of the floor. Lily petals shimmered from pale pink to bright lilac. A huge beautiful lily.

– Orchidemius! Mrs. Wannelsker whispered, as if she was afraid to scare someone away. There was admiration in her voice and, as it seemed to me, even more. – This is a magical aquatic plant of the Asparagus fish family. Orchidemius likes to hide in dark caves, holes, nooks and crannies. It feeds on fish. Comes out to give offspring. Let your seeds flow. Oh, how lovely! Can everyone see the eyes? Here. They are covered with red petals. Mrs. Wannelsker stepped onto the glass floor and walked slowly over to the monster. Then she squatted down and reached for the orchidemis.

Such an act, undoubtedly, deserved admiration, but everyone was seized by tetanus. Indeed, what I took for dark spots, or dots, or features of the pattern on the petals turned out to be bulging pale eyes. Lots of eyes.

The underwater flower, seeing the movement, recoiled downward, fearing Mrs. Wannelsker, and hastily hid in its den, but did not hurry to remove its long tentacles. They floated a short distance from the glass floor, but no longer touched it.

– I brought him here. Mrs. Wannelsker reported as she returned to her seat. – And I cut this hole for him at the bottom.

I looked down in surprise. But with a peripheral vision I felt a smile on Mrs. Wannelsker’s face. I got confused.

In the silence, broken only by the rumble of the bathyscaph, I heard a quiet voice:

– Now I’m not going to swim in the lake! Never!

I knew from the whiteness of Lily’s face and her bluish lips that she would keep her promise.

Mrs. Wannelsker began to tell something. But my ears buzzed. The class floated before my eyes. I realized that the table had slipped out of my fingers and I was lying on the floor. I didn’t even have time to be surprised and feel the pain of hitting the floor. Everything faded around. An impenetrable darkness surrounded me.

Chapter 11. In the ward. Mrs Doyle

I woke up. Feeling on my back that I was lying on something soft, I could not immediately open my eyes. The eyelids were heavy. I made an effort. The cotton body reluctantly yielded to my will. It took a couple of long sighs to gain strength and, finally, to open my eyes. I was lying on a narrow sofa. The room was in semi-darkness, but the rays of the setting sun made their way from behind the not tightly curtained windows. They crossed the table in a bright stripe and stretched across the floor towards me. By the wall, next to a tall glass rack filled with small jars and bubbles, stood a short sorceress in a white robe. Her snow-white image was in harmony with the decor of the room, with the wallpaper and seemed to fill the air with a silvery haze that I did not immediately notice her. The sorceress stepped aside, bending over her work. I heard a soft tinkle, as if she were stirring sugar in a china cup. As if hearing my thoughts, or maybe a changed breathing rhythm, the sorceress turned around. Calm and caring gaze of black eyes, a slight smile. She was overjoyed at my awakening.

– Hello. How are you feeling? She asked.

– Where I am? – For some reason, this is what escaped my lips. There was still a slight clouding in my head. And I was worried about what happened to me. – What happened to me? How old was I?..

I didn’t want to call my condition fainting. I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. The heaviness of my whole body pressed me to the sofa, and my eyes darkened.

– For a couple of hours now, as you are with me, in the medical rooms. – The sorceress returned to her bottles and again rustled with something. – What happened to you? Hmm, better tell me your version of what happened. I’ve already heard Mrs. Wannelsker’s version. But, the truth is, firsthand is better. That way I can help you faster.

– Uh … – I didn’t know how to address my interlocutor and had no idea what happened to me.

– Mrs. Doyle. Sally Doyle. She seemed to read my mind again. – I am a witch doctor, nurse and doctor all rolled into one. – Softly said the sorceress. Her robes rustled as she walked to the far locker.

«Mrs. Doyle, I was cold… then my head started spinning. – I stopped short. It is uncomfortable to admit your fears. On the other hand, I liked Mrs. Doyle, and the longer I looked at her, the more she won my favor.

– Cold?! Mrs. Doyle repeated. – Add a warming broth. Did your ears ring?

– It was so. I was also dizzy. I skipped lunch and didn’t have breakfast today. Maybe that’s why I had this condition?

Mrs. Doyle came over to me, holding out a cup of sizzling liquid.

– Hungry fainting? The nurse bent over me. – How pale you are! Drink this. It will help right away. So, take your time.

I obeyed.

– Can you sit down now?

It was still difficult to sit down and hold the cup on my own. Mrs. Doyle held my palms and helped me take a couple of sips. The healing potion tasted good. It reminded me of flower tea. Although there was a hint of something tart and bitter in this drink. And it smelled like wood. I even felt sorry that there were so few of him. He reminded me of the forest near my grandmother’s house. I felt that I really want to eat. Hunger awoke with renewed vigor.

– Well, great. Of course, you are tormented by various guesses why you fainted. But that was something else. In the lesson you were in the bathyscaph. Have you seen the underwater flower?! Of course I did. You fell under his spell. This miracle of nature has its own magic. Not everyone reacts like you. Most wizards are generally not sensitive to the enchantments of this, if I may say so, plant. Someone admires him, – I thought it was a note in the direction of Mrs. Wannelsker. Here she just fell under the spell of this monster, love. I won’t be surprised if she’s going to dive into the lake on a date with her orchidemis, unless she’s done it before!.. – and someone falls into a trance. You are very sensitive to charms. Don’t be afraid of this. This shows that you can be trained to be a good «spell finder».

I don’t know what it is, but it sounds like a valuable profession. I felt much better. The healing drink worked. I smiled and dropped my feet to the floor. Mrs. Doyle took the empty cup and looked me over contentedly.

– I’m right?

– Yes. This «flower» scared me… I am hungry. What time is dinner served here?

– At six in the evening. And you missed it.

I was upset. I lost heart again. Now food was essential to me. Otherwise, I will lose my senses again, but from hunger.

– You need to eat. I’ll arrange dinner for you just as well as for other students! So now drink this.

I obeyed. The new drink turned out to be bitter. Warmth spread throughout my body, my head cleared up, the noise in my ears disappeared. I looked at Mrs. Doyle gratefully.

– Thank you so much. I’m much better now.

– And the cheeks turned pink. Come on, I’ll take you to the kitchen. Mrs. Doyle smiled. My stomach rumbled. I was delighted, eagerly jumped to the floor and followed my healer and savior from hunger.