Chapter 8 - Ten Silver Coins - Book 1

Ten Coins that will change Jill's life forever

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Chapter Eight: Ten Coins

“What just happened?” Jill asked, as if in a trance.

“You have been identified as Jill Strong, and you are about to receive something very valuable which you must protect at all costs.”

“You mean I found the treasure?”

“That you have, my child.”

“Where is it?” she asked.

“I am about to show you, although you have already seen it with your own eyes.”

Jill scrunched her nose and tilted her head to the side. She had already looked at the treasure? 

“Come, sit at the edge of the pool, and look inside,” said the magnificent being.

Jill walked over to the wishing pond and sat on the raised stone edge. 

“What do you see?” 

“I see a large goldfish and some coins underneath the water,” replied Jill.

“You see correctly.”

“This is the treasure I’ve been asked to keep?”

The being laughed. “You sound disappointed, but don’t be. Not everything is as it seems. Those things that seem to have little value to us might be the very things with the most worth. We only need eyes to see the value within.”

With that, the being unfurled its enormous wings and raised them above its shoulders so that they pointed straight up toward the ceiling. The being doubled in height and loomed over Jill like a tower. “Please, Jill,” it said, “touch the water with your hand.”

The being then stretched out its hands and tilted its head back, so that it gazed up at the ceiling. Jill leaned over the pool and touched the surface of the water with her right index finger. It was cool to the touch. When her finger broke the surface of the water, there was a rumbling sound. For a moment, the whole room trembled. Ripples spread from the point where Jill touched the water toward the outer rim of the pool.

“Careful now,” said the being, “you might want to step back.” 

Just as Jill stepped away from the pool, a great geyser of water burst from its centre and shot toward the ceiling. But the erupting water did not fall back into the pool. Instead, it hovered in the air until all the water had left the pool and collected into a liquid cloud above the being’s head. The cloud threw out two liquid tentacles that attached to each of the being’s eyes.

With a jolt, like it was being shocked, the being arched its back, and the cloud of water drained into the being through its tear ducts. As the water entered the being’s body, the colour of its skin slowly grew brighter, so that its whole body shone just like the glassy water-visor had, reflecting light before the being had a face. The being now looked even more astonishing. 

The being folded its wings, turned, and looked back at Jill. “I’ve waited for you to come for a long time, and as I waited I shed many tears. The Keeper, as he promised, has brought you to me. My tears did not fall to the ground unnoticed. Now they have returned to me, and what once was sadness is now my joy.”

“Why did you shed so many tears?” Jill asked.

“I feared, like many of my fellow seraphs, that my tears would run dry, and that you would never come.”

“You were waiting for me?”

“That is why I exist, to help you accomplish the task given you by the Keeper.” 

“Wonderful creature, what should I call you?” Jill gasped.

“My name cannot be said in your language, it requires letters and sound that you cannot speak. Not yet, anyway. For the time being, you can call me Seraph, for that is what I am.”

“Seraph, my name is Jill. It’s good to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Now, dear child, collect what is yours to keep.”

Jill returned to the edge of the pool, now empty of water, and looked in. She was horrified to see a single goldfish, flapping about in the dry pool. It was an orange fish with white swirls and spots. 

“Will it die?” she asked, turning to Seraph.

“It will not. Reach out your hand and touch it.”

Jill did. She reached toward the fish and grabbed it by its tail fin. The moment she touched it the fish stopped moving, in fact, the fish was no longer a fish. Jill blinked a few times as though she was trying to get dust out of her eyes. But, when she looked again, the fish really was not a fish, it had changed into a small, orange and white pouch whose top was cinched shut by a red tasselled string.

Jill picked it up and felt it between her hands. It was cool and metallic, sewn together by orange and white sequins in a pattern that looked very much like the scaling and colouring of the goldfish. 

“This is where you will keep your treasure.”

Jill turned to the seraph and scrunched her nose again. “You mean to say that the coins at the bottom of the pool are the treasure I’m to keep?” 

“You are right in what you say.”

Jill frowned, then looked back into the pool. At the bottom of the now dry pool were ten coins, covered in dirt, and in need of a serious polishing. Jill hopped into the pool and one by one, picked each of the ten coins up and placed them in her open hand. Jill kept one in her hand and slipped the other nine into the little purse.

She looked at the coin closely. Like the others, it was a dark greyish colour, covered all about in black, the way a glass candleholder darkens when the candle burns high. Jill rubbed her thumb over the coin to remove the dirt. On one side the coin was embossed with the same symbol sealed onto her letter and sculpted into the door handles of the Great Hall: the noble, magnificent horse. The other side of the coin, however, was blank. There were no markings at all. 

The coin was quite heavy, the weight of a fifty cent piece, though it was smaller than the size of a quarter, and it was cool to the touch. Jill put it on the end of her thumb and tossed it into the air. The coin arced and flipped further away from her than she meant to toss it. Jill wanted to try a new joke with the seraph, a silly one she learned at school: “heads I win, tails you lose.” 

But, Jill put too much sarcastic energy into her jest. She realized that the coin was out of her reach and that it would land just over the edge of the pool in the flowers and plants. Before Jill could move to try to catch it, the seraph threw out its hand, and in a flash, caught the coin before it hit the ground. Jill looked at Seraph sheepishly and smiled.

“Good catch,” was all she could think to say.

“Jill!” Seraph responded not angrily, but sternly. “Though you may not yet recognize its value, this treasure is priceless. You must treat it with care. These are not just any coins. They are far more valuable than they seem. One day you will discover this truth.” 

“What don’t I see? Why can’t I know now?” Jill asked, impatiently.

“If you knew their value you would be too afraid to accept the task. For now it is better that you do not know. But some day, all things will become clear to you. All I can say to you now is that one man’s treasure is another man’s desire. The Keeper has enemies, foul creatures, who seek to steal and take from my Master what is rightfully his and his alone. The same is true of your coins. They are not safe, and will not be until they are brought to the Guardian at Terador. With him they must be hidden, and only then will their true value be revealed for all eyes to see. And yet, if you do not bring them to him, no one will ever know, and my joy will once again return to the earth in tears. Trust this treasure with no one; keep the treasure to yourself. There may be man or beast worthy of their trust, but if that trust is feigned, then your treasure will be lost.” The seraph cupped Jill’s chin in his hand and raised her head so that she looked him in the eyes. “What I have told you is overwhelming, I can tell by the look on your face. You must be of good courage, Jill, you must not be afraid.”

Jill opened her mouth to speak, but could think of nothing to say. She scratched her head. “Enemies? The Guardian of Terador? What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t,” replied Seraph, “but you will, Jill. You will.” 

“When?”

“When? I cannot say. And now I must leave.”

“But you were sent to help me,” Jill cried, frustrated once more and not afraid to let it show.

“I have given all the help I am able to give, at least for now. There is nothing left to say.”

“That’s what you think!” said Jill, rather loudly. “There is a lot more you could tell me. Like how I’m supposed to find this Guardian, and just who exactly he is.”

Seraph leaned down toward Jill. “There is one last thing I will do. You are tired and you must sleep. Before you do, I can impart to you some of my strength. You will need it if you are to fulfil your task.”

Jill bowed her head and sighed, realizing Seraph would not answer any more of the questions burning inside of her. When she looked up, she stepped closer toward him and touched him with her hand. The seraph’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body glowed with white light. A sudden, stiff shock of pain raced through Jill’s entire body, as though she had been hit by some powerful force. Before she could yell out in pain, her body fell limp to the ground, and everything around her faded into black. 

© 2024 Andrew Kooman. All rights reserved.

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About Andrew Kooman

Andrew Kooman is a Canadian writer of fiction, poetry, plays, and films. His work has been enjoyed by audiences around the world and translated into lots of different languages. 

He’s the author of the children’s books Popcorn Helmet and Simple Christmas Spectacular, the first two books in the Ramsey P. Heaton, Future Billionaire series. Andrew likes to make people laugh in church. His popular plays and skits are performed across North America and can be purchased at SkitGuys.com.

Andrew founded UnveilTV with his brothers Matthew and Daniel, where you can watch content that inspires you. You can follow all of Andrew’s latest work on his weekly newsletter Things I Wrote Down and find him on X and Instagram.