The Keepers Hospital wasn't at all like the hospital in Burns. It ain't got walls. Everythin' was wide open. Mrs. Anderton said, "This cain't be a hospital, is it Ren? It looks like we're outdoors."

Mrs. Anderton was right. This was more like an open meadow stretchin' in every direction as far as the eye could see. Daisies and bluebonnets grew everywhere. Runnin' though the center of the meadow was a narrow, crystal clear, creek. Overhead the sky was perfectly blue and the sun was shinin'. It was warm, but not hot, and every once in a while a soft breeze blew. There were huge dragonflies displaying an amazin' rainbow of colors in their enormous wings. Birds sang. Frogs croaked. Somewhere in the far away trees, there were chimes that tinkled very softly in the random breezes.

"Ren," I asked, "if this is a hospital where are the doctors?"

"We have learned that traditional hospitals like what you have Topside disrupt the healing process. A constant stream of medical personnel like doctors, nurses, and technicians disturbs the patient. With all the poking, prodding, and pill swallowing it's a wonder anyone gets well. Healing is best accomplished when the patient feels they are in a beautiful relaxing place, and are treated by people they love. We have experts we call Makers who dress, and make temporary facial and body changes to medical personnel so that they resemble people the patient knows. Otherwise we keep the doctors and nurses out of sight and they only enter the ward if requested or in an emergency. All monitoring is done outside of the ward. No patient ever experiences the nightmare of tubes, wires, or punctures of any kind.

"If patient's ask to see a doctor the staff is ready to oblige. Our motto is, 'Patient's recovery--Patient's choice. So if you will please take a seat in one of these recliners. It will be over before you know it. All you have to do is relax and take in the beauty."

Ren was right. It warn't long, a few minutes at the most, but it was enough for me ta fall asleep. I was extremely tired. I woke up to Ren gently shakin' my shoulder. He said, "Everything checks out. You will need to come back tomorrow to change the bandage on your leg, but that is it. All three of you get a clean bill of health. You've been very fortunate in that regard. I suspect that the Whistling Salamander has something to do with that. I understand that all of you at one time or another have heard the whistle, am I right?"

Freck spoke up, "We've heard it all right. I don' think we could've made it otherwise."

Ren spoke, "If you will indulge me further I would like to escort you to Stuman's residence. Stuman is the shift supervisor and rather high up in the scheme of things. Not that we stand on ceremony here. Everybody's job is just as important as everyone else's. In your world a man's worth is determined by how much power he wields and how much money he makes. Not here. Every job is necessary and everyone is respected for their contribution. All of our citizens are engaged in doing work that fulfills them. And if someone needs something in particular to make their lives more complete, they get it, no questions asked. Competition doesn't exist here and self-respect is everyone's birthright.

"Stuman asked us to stop by because he wants to meet you and I think there is someone else there that you would all like to meet as well.

◽️◽️◽️

We walked to the water-vater and stepped through. A second later Ren said, "We are here." And then "Oh, hello Stuman."

A clean-shaven, unusually tall man, dressed in loose gray robes and comfortable lookin' slippers strode over to us. He smiled, took our hands, each in turn, and said, "On my behalf, and all of us in the Glades Kingdom of the Keepers let me say how thrilled we are to have you with us. Wishes you were expected, but not for another ten years or so. Your companions, Frieda, and Mrs. Anderton, are a surprise, but very welcome. If there is anything you need to make your stay more comfortable, please let us know. No request is ever ignored."

Ren whispered, "You've just been welcomed by Stuman, this is a greater honor than you know."

"Stuman, with your permission..."

Stuman nodded his head and waved his arm to indicate it was okay to proceed.

"Stuman is our lead Solver, and has just been tagged by the Keepers Counsel to join them next year, and all this before his 150th birthday!" There was more than a touch of pride in Ren's voice, "And by-the-way, he is also my father."

"Thank you, son. Now there is someone that is almost jumping out of his skin to meet Emma." Stuman turned toward another entrance and spoke a little louder, "Come in Rotel."

A man stepped into the room and Mrs. Anderton gasped and ran to him. "Oh Jacob," she cried, "I thought you were gone for good." The man he called Rotel, opened his arms and wrapped them around her. She cried on his shoulder.

Jacob? She called him Jacob. Was this the long lost Jacob Foster? He called her Em. Was Emma Anderton the Em he fell in love with? The one he was goin' ta buy a ring for? But wasn't her name Emma McTee? Were they the JF + EM in the heart carved on my fourth grade school desk?

As if he was readin' my thoughts Stuman said, "Rotel is the name he is known by in the Kingdom. In your world, he was known as Jacob Foster. When he came here, he was in very serious condition. He was dealt a near deadly blow to the head by Tyrone Tiegs. It almost killed him, but because of the excellent medical care available in our hospital he has survived, and survived very well I think, as you can see."

"You said that Tyrone Tiegs hit him? How come you know that?" Freck asked.

"That is what we do here. This place and these people have one main purpose. We are to record everything learned on the earth. In order to do that we have to have access to everything that happens. Wenhave developed special talents. Wishes already suspects that I can hear your thoughts.

"No, Wishes, to answer your next question. We are not technically human. In every life-world there are evolutionary developments. Most are very similar in form, but differ in subtle ways. We have been here and interacted with your race since the beginning of Earth days. Keepers and humans share many of the same genetic traits. We have the same basic needs. We have to eat, we have to drink, and we have to sleep. We live longer, but that is only because we've learned control over thoughts and emotions. Any human could learn to live as long as we do. In your Bible it says that Methuselah lived to be one thousand years old. Noah was over six hundred.

"There was a time when we tried to do more than record the knowledge of man. We tried to teach them. We believed that with our help we could bring real peace to the world. The Gardner did not try to stop us, nor did he help us. We went into your world and the people called us angels.

"Who is the Gardner? You call him God, the Creator, or Allah. He has many names, but to us he is the Gardner.

"Why Gardner? Our legends have him roaming the entire universe, reaching into his seed bag of stars, and dropping them one by one into the night sky. Some took hold and spread roots in the form of planets. Some of those planets developed conditions hospitable for the creation of life. We call those planets life-worlds.

"The Gardner patiently tends his garden and watches to see which ones flower and which ones wither. Intelligent life is the flower and the fruit is wisdom. He named you human beans and when you sprouted he saw that you were the most wildly creative of all. We, the Keepers, were charged with observing and recording all of your amazing innovations for the benefit of all His creations."

"We have an old story that we pass from generation-to-generation that says we were created from the Gardner's favorite pet, the salamander. Your Bible says that man was created from the dust of the earth and woman from a rib from the first man. Are either true? I don't know, but you may have noticed that we do hold salamanders in great esteem."

Ren asked,"Would you like to see the Kingdom of the Keepers? There is an excellent view from here."

Freck and I followed Stuman. Emma and Jacob stayed behind. They had a lot of catchin' up to do I supposed.

As we passed, I overheard Jacob/Rotel express his sympathy for Emma's loss, "Em was it very painful when you lost your husband? I remember Jimmy Anderton. He was one of the good guys."

I didn't hear her reply because her face was buried in his shoulder.

Stuman's place had a huge balcony that jutted out from the main buildin'. I noticed that the bronze colored door handles were shaped like salamanders; in fact, the whole place was filled with salamander images. There were floating lamps with salamander shades. A dark, almost black, shiny wood table had four legs carved to look like salamanders scurryin' down a tree; even the carpet had a bold salamanderish pattern in stark swooshes of red and black.

The house itself was nestled between towerin' mountains on two sides. It was protected from fallin' rocks by an over-archin' crystalline dome. I must have looked concerned about the clear umbrella so Ren said, "The clear canopy you see overhead is made of a material similar in hardness to diamonds. Nothing can penetrate it."

The sides were gigantic prisms. Beautiful overlapping multiple rainbows splashed color over into an incredible tropical swimmin' pool below. There warn't any visible paths or roads to the house so it was apparent that the only way in or out was by thought. Only those with advanced ability to focus their thoughts could come here, or be brought as we were, by someone able to control the water-vater.

We went out on the balcony. It was easily a mile up from the valley floor below. From this vantage point, we had a panoramic view of the entire kingdom. It was incredible. It stretched as far as I could see in every direction. Stuman had a viewing device like a telescope, but much stronger. He invited me to look through it. I couldn't believe my eyes. Everywhere I looked, there were magnificent, unusual structures. Most of them incorporated the salamander theme, which made for some odd shapes. By clickin' a button on the viewer it zoomed closer. I could see the inhabitants. They looked like regular people goin' 'bout their business. There musta been millions of 'em. Ta think that all this was inside our woods somewheres, under our small town of Burns. Who would'a known?

Freck asked if she could look through the viewer. I was reluctant to let go, but fair is fair. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hog it."

"Wow! Did ya see that huge building in the middle?" She exclaimed.

"Sure, you mean the white one with the columns that look like salamanders standin' on their hind legs? I couldn't miss it. Its spires are even higher than where we are now. Just how tall is it Stuman?"

"I would have to ask," Stuman said, "But I'd guess it is at least two miles, maybe more. We call it the Palace. As you can imagine even with our ability to micro-condense records it still takes a great deal of space to hold them all."

"And you store them in the palace?"

"Yes."

"Is this the only Kingdom of Keepers?" I asked.

"Oh no," replied Stuman, "There are forty-two other Kingdoms around the world, and as the population of the Earth increases, we will need more Kingdoms to keep track of the floods of knowledge. There are two more being built right now."

"Who's in charge of the Kingdoms?" Freck asked.

"The Keepers, we are all keepers, but the Keepers with a capital K have the final say on everything."

"Is there a leader like a president or king?"

"There is a Grand Keeper, but it is not an elected position. The Keepers are completely inter-connected. What one knows, they all know. At their level of awareness there is no need to elect a leader. They are of one mind and one purpose."

I asked, "How many Keepers with a capital K are there?"

"Now you have asked another question that I cannot answer. I really have no idea. They never leave the Palace. Once inducted, they go in and rarely come out. They have everything they need or want so there's no need to leave."

Freck was surprised, "I just cain't imagine stayin' indoors all the time. I had enough of that when I got hurt skiing down Hawks Hill. Is it because you ain't human?"

"It's true we are slightly different from humans, but the Keepers live a completely different existence from the rest of us. Our physical world holds little meaning to them because they can cross into any other world any time they want."

"What other worlds are ya talking about?" Freck wanted to know.

"There are so many. Have you looked up at the stars in the night sky?"

"Yes." We both said.

"Have you ever tried to count them?"

Both Freck and I replied, "No, we wouldn't know where to begin."

Ren asked, "Do you know what a galaxy is?"

"Sure," I said, "We learned about it in school. We are part of the Milky Way--right?"

"Right. You can't even count the stars in the Milky Way and yet beyond our galaxy is an endless number of other galaxies, billions with even more stars than ours."

Ren continued, "I'm sure the Master Keepers have visited many, many worlds, but even with their ability to instantly go anyplace they want, how could they see them all? It would be impossible and totally unnecessary."

"So," Freck asked, "Ya said that keepers ain't human. Does that mean ya came from a different world and do ya know where that world is?"

"This is our world. You think you are still in Locci Woods. In way you are, but not really. It is difficult to explain.

"I was born here, just like you were born Topside, Freck."