by Lisa Moore
Lily let Pumpkin out to do a little exploring while we unpacked my truck and settled in. As I was bringing in a bundle of firewood Pumpkin came back to the yurt. Two things hit me at once, one was Pumpkin’s demeanor. She came slinking back to the yurt, tail between her legs, a pitiful whine escaping her muzzle. When she saw me she stopped dead in her tracks. It looked as if she were weighing her options, face what ever it was that spooked her in the woods or face me. I thought she finally started to like me, but in her state of elevated fear, it seemed I was only the lesser of the two evils, made tolerable due to the presence of Lily. The other thing, I felt, or more accurately, smelled. Just a hint of a scent but when it hit my ultra sensitive nose there was a split second of familiarity to it. My mind tried to process the information contained in that quickly fleeting scent. But it was gone, and I was unable to pinpoint how or when I had smelled that scent or something like it before. I was left with a lingering sense of deja-vu.
Before I could give it too much thought, Lily opened the door to the yurt and Pumpkin darted in as if she were fleeing her doom. “Pumpkin! What has gotten into you?” Lily asked the dog as she nearly knocked her mistress down with her efforts to get safely back inside with her. Lily looked at me with questioning eyes as I followed the dog in, my arms loaded with wood. “I don’t know what happened. I was out getting the firewood when Pumpkin came back to the yurt. It looked as if she was scared of something, she wasn’t exactly thrilled to see me, but I guess I rate higher than what ever spooked her. It’s possible she saw a bear or moose, there are also some bob cats that can be pretty aggressive around here. Maybe we should keep her close to the yurt in the evening.” I said.
I registered the look of unease that crept into Lily’s eyes at the mention of the possibility of Pumpkin having run into such potentially large and dangerous animals. I gave Lily a reassuring hug and told her she was perfectly safe. I patted Pumpkin’s head, to reassure her, but she looked as if she were reluctant to have me touch her. I took out a treat I had packed; she took it hesitantly and retreated to her bed by the fire. She lay there for a while, head cocked in the direction of the woods from which she retreated,
until finally settling down and falling asleep.
After adding some wood to the fire, I set about fixing a plate of what I hoped was an enjoyable feast for Lily. Some aged cheeses, imported prociutto and salami, mixed olives and various other tidbits arranged with some sliced Italian bread and an excellent bottle of red wine, made for an impressive “farmer’s meal”. Lily eyed the spread appreciatively as she carried over two wine glasses. As I poured the wine I saw Lily give a worried glance Pumpkin’s way. I carried the wine to Lily, handing her a glass. “Lily, I promise you that I will never let anything hurt you or Pumpkin. You are safe here with me.” I said and gently kissed the worry from her lips. She looked at me then, her eyes searching the depths of my soul. She leaned in to kiss me, all the while keeping her penetrating gaze upon me. When she pulled back from that passionate kiss she smiled up at me and replied, “I know. When I am with you Max, I feel completely at ease, like together, we could face anything.”
“Once again Max, you’ve out done yourself. This looks delicious”, she said as we settled onto the couch with our wine and food set at the coffee table. “Lily, before we eat I have one more surprise for you. I found this at the antique shop in town and was drawn to it. Like you, it is elegant, beautiful, and seems to possess an inner strength and power.” I handed Lily the antique silver jewelry box, wrapped in crimson paper, tied with a silver ribbon that I had hid beside the couch. “Max, you have done so much already, now a gift?” she said with a protesting look. “Lily, I hope to have an eternity with which to spoil you. And as I said I was drawn to this just as I have been drawn to you. Now are you going to open it?” With that, Lily gently took off the silver ribbon before tearing into the crimson wrapping paper. When she revealed the silver jewelry box she replied, “Oh Max! This is amazing.” As she turned the box in her hands I noticed for the first time that it was designed with lilies intricately woven around a center crest on the lid of the box. In the center of the crest were two doves nestled in a nest. The silver work was quite remarkable. When I purchased the box it was an after thought, something to add to the presentation of the necklace. Looking at it now I see why Lily would think that the box itself was the gift.
I took the box from her hand and opened it, taking out the pewter and ruby necklace and laying it across Lily’s hand. “The proprietor of the antique shop told me that this had once belonged to his wife Lilly.” I proceeded to tell her the story the old gentleman had shared with me. When I told her the part about the flickering light in the shop, she nearly dropped the necklace. I finished the story with the part about the necklace having certain powers if worn by a worthy and powerful woman. “Now you know why I had to buy this for you. It’s as if you were destined to wear it.” “Max, I am at a loss for words. It’s beautiful. But it’s too much. I can’t possibly accept such an extravagant gift.” I took the necklace from her hands and moved behind her. I opened the clasp and slipped the necklace around her neck fastening the pewter clasp again. Still standing behind her I wrapped my arms around her, embracing her, kissing her neck and inhaling her scent. I made my way up from the nape of her glorious neck and stopped just behind her ear. Whispering, I said, “The necklace, like my heart, is yours, now and forever.” Lily turned in my arms and lifted her face to mine. “I will take them both into my care, and know in return my heart and soul belong to you.” We
kissed again, long and passionately. With that kiss, the necklace, and our pledge to each other, a bond was sealed.
We made love amidst the candle glow; the scent of lilies surrounding us. Our passion was unhurried and tender. When we finally lay spent and contented, the fire was down to burning embers and the candles were reduced to pools of hardening wax. Laying there, our bare bodies pressed together, I could feel Lily’s heart beat in my own chest, as if she truly gave her heart to me. “Why don’t we change into some comfortable clothes and dig in to this neglected spread? I encouraged. Lily turned her face to mine, “Thank you Max, again. This is extraordinary.” She said as her fingers stroked the smooth pewter cross and cool round ruby. “You are extraordinary!” she finished as she broke from our embrace and gathered up our strewn clothes.
We changed into sweats and as Lily settled back down on the couch I put the rest of the firewood onto the embers and restarted the fire. While we shared the wine and various samplings from the plate I found myself thinking that I wish I didn’t have to pretend to eat. I longed to tell Lily the truth about myself. I felt a pang of guilt for letting our relationship get so far without telling her the truth. I must have made a face as I was thinking this because Lily asked “Is something wrong?” Here was my opportunity, a chance to tell Lily everything, the truth of who and what I am. Instead I said, “Everything is wonderful, I was just thinking that we need more wood from the pile to keep this fire going for the night. I will be right back with some more.” I kissed Lily on the head as I went outside, feeling like a coward for not being able to tell her the truth. The wood pile was out a short distance away from the yurt and out of view from the windows. As I made my way to the wood pile I decided to chance a quick dash into to the woods to purge. I knew I would only be able to purge the discomfort of the food from my gut, the discomfort my own cowardice caused would not be gotten rid of so easily. I needed to think about how and when I would tell Lily the truth. The longer I wait, the longer I live a lie with Lily, the greater the risk of her rejecting me for the lie. On the other hand, if she is not ready for the truth I could scare her off and lose her.
I made my way back to the yurt, first stopping at the wood pile for some more firewood. As my mind swirled and my conflicting emotions fought for attention I was hit by that same faint whiff of something I couldn’t quite determine. Whether it was my guilt, or the scent, or a combination of both, I c
ouldn’t tell, but as I walked back into the yurt I was feeling slightly on edge. I called Pumpkin over to the door to see if she needed to go out once more for the night, but she just took one look at the open door and mewled softly and lay back down. I put the wood by the fire place and resumed my spot next to the woman I pledged my heart to. We sat by the fire, chatting some, but mostly content to sit and just be together. When Lily’s yawning reminded me of her need for sleep, I led a sleepy Lily to our bed. We lay in bed together; Lily curled up beside me as I spooned up against her. She quickly fell off into a deep and restful sleep. I lay awake the entire night, watching her, mesmerized by the beauty of her magnificent features. The gnawing unease I had felt when I came in from the wood pile, slowly ebbed as I was soothed by Lily’s closeness and the rhythmic beat of her heart.
Chapter 18
Sunrise Over Raquette Lake
At a little after 6:00am, Pumpkin nosed open the door to our bedroom. A slight whine escapes her muzzle as she licks Lily’s face always keeping a watchful eye on me. Lily seems accustomed to this morning wake up and with her eyes still closed reaches out one hand to stroke Pumpkin’s head. She rolls over and as she opens her eyes she is facing me. “Good morning. I would give you a morning kiss but not everyone is as tolerant of dog spit as I am.” She says sleepily. I lean in and kiss her tenderly on the lips. “What’s a little dog spit between friends?” I say as I shift up on to my elbow. As Lily laughs she pulls me back down to kiss her again. Pumpkin is growing impatient and breaks our embrace as she jumps up onto the bed between us. “Ok, I get it, you want out. It’s your fault for not going out last night.” With that Lily gets out of bed to take her out.
I watch as she looks through her bag for something to put on. She is breathtaking. As our relationship, both physical and otherwise, is still in its infancy, every day I see something new about her and everything about her makes me want to learn more. Standing in front of me, naked, as she searches for her clothes, she seems completely comfortable in her own skin. She has beautiful olive skin, with remnants of summer tan lines, smooth and silken over athletic muscles that define and contour her frame. After finally locating her elusive clothes, she dresses quickly to let out a very insistent Pumpkin. I follow them, grabbing my pants as I walk out.
When Lily opens the door Pumpkin darts out to do her business. Apparently nature’s urges override her concerns from last night. The morning is just breaking, with the sun rising over the lake creating a red hue to the clouds. “Red sun in the morning, sailor take warning” I say as we walk out to the small porch along the yurt’s left side. It is cold this morning and a heavy frost blankets the ground around our site. Lily shivers as we watch the sunrise over the lake. I pull her back against my chest and wrap my arms around her. “It sure is chilly this morning” she says as she snuggles back against my body. She turns her head as she realizes I am standing out on this very cold porch in sweat pants, with no shirt or shoes. “What are you, part Eskimo or polar bear?” She asks. I laugh out loud at that, a private joke, as I have drank polar bear. “The cold doesn’t bother me” I say as I hug her tighter. We watched as the sun crept up over the horizon turning the red hued shadowy landscape, into a gloriously bright winter morning. Pumpkin came bounding back to the yurt and leapt quickly up the stairs and in through the door. Lily spun her body around in my arms and facing me put her head against my bare chest. She stayed there hugging me with her eyes closed and a serene look on her face. After a few minutes she gave me an extra squeeze and broke off from our embrace and we headed inside.
“So Max, what shall we do today?” she called over her shoulder as she fed Pumpkin and gave her fresh water. “I thought we could go for a hike, we could pack a lunch, I know a beautiful spot I would love to take you. There is even a place we could have lunch by a fire. I thought we could talk about the New Zealand trip. I am excited to learn about what you have planned for it.” “That sounds like fun. Do you think the weather will hold out? This morning’s sunrise, while beautiful, does make me wonder about the weather. It is not unusual to get some severe lake effect storms in this area.” I reassure her that we won’t travel too far from the yurt and suggest we get an early start. I remind her that if the weather gets bad we can always come back early. Lily agrees to the plan and we set about getting together our supplies. I put together the remains from last night’s farmer’s meal, some cheese, and meats and bread along with some fruit salad I had packed the day before. A bottle of wine, some water bottles and a blanket finished my pack. We got dressed in appropriate hiking attire and after careful consideration decided to leave Pumpkin behind. She was currently curled up asleep on our bed, and didn’t seem to mind.
We headed out. I carried the pack with our gear and Lily slid a camera into her coat pocket and grabbed an apple on the way out the door. We proceeded out into a magnificent winter morning. The early clouds opened up to large patches of clear blue sky, the intermittent sun warmed us as we made our way through the woods around the lake. The spot that I wanted to take Lily to is near the stream where I had the bear encounter. About a quarter mile down stream from where I saved those hikers there is a bend in the stream. It cuts in close to a narrow clearing backed by a short cave. The cave mouth is large with trees on either side forming a canopy over the entrance; the cave itself only goes back a few hundred feet and ends in a slight downward slope. I have been to this spot many times; it is secluded and offers a serene place to meditate.
As we make our way through the woods our pace is leisurely. We make frequent stops to admire nature’s beauty. Lily points out various plants and animal tracks and explains about each as we go. She has taken out the camera and is capturing on film the beauty of our surroundings. I stopped to admire a glistening web strung between two branches. The sunlight backlit the web making it appear to be adorned with hundreds of small diamonds glittering among the intricate web pattern. Lily snapped a photo of me as I was deep in observation of the miraculous creation. I looked up at her then as she brought the lens down. “I hope that shot comes out! The web was all sparkling and the light how it hit you, your skin looked like marble. It was beautiful.” she remarked, slightly awed by what she saw. I smiled at her and she joined me in closer inspection of the web.
As we continued to move forward to our destination I felt a slight breeze picking up at our backs. We had been walking about an hour and Lily stopped to drink some water. We were stopped near a large rock that Lily sat upon as she drank her water. She looked like a woodland creature out of fairy tales. The earth surrounding her in deep brown hues, the rock a dark gray, mottled with lichens pale and dry from the harsh cold, and Lily rosy faced, clad in black jeans and red ski jacket, perched on the rock like a butterfly alights on a flower petal, the sun casting an ethereal glow around her. I took the camera from where she placed it near my pack and took a photo of the beauty that outshone everything else in my eyes. “I hope that shot comes out, because you are by far the most stunning of nature’s creations.” I said. Lily just smiled and after another pull from the water bottle resealed the cap and walked over to me ready to resume our hike.
We continued through the woods following a game trail as it meandered its way along parallel to the stream. The sounds of our boots crunching fallen leaves as we walked mingled with the sounds of the running water. The serenity of the forest enveloped us. We had been hiking now almost two hours and we were very close to our destination. As we neared the clearing by the cave I stopped to pick up fallen branches for our fire. Once again I am reminded of the frailty of humans. I find myself constantly doing a mental assessment to determine if I am neglecting Lily’s needs. As long as I have blood inside me, my body temperature will remain constant regardless of my environment and I am sure the hike has kept Lily warm enough, but when we stop she could easily get cold and I want to be sure she is comfortable. It is very foreign to me, feeling the need to care for someone. I like caring for Lily.
We a
rrive at the site; the clearing is narrow, with the stream cutting in close to the cave mouth. The sun has just broken through a particularly large patch of clouds. The stream sparkles with reflected light and the view is spectacular. There are fresh deer prints in the soft soil by the streams edge, the only signs that some other creature has been this way. “Oh Max this is a special place, I can see what would draw you back here. Thank you for sharing this with me.” We set up our blanket near the mouth of the cave. Lily looked into the cave, the back of which was shrouded in blackness. “How far back does it go do you think? She asked me. I told her it only goes back a few hundred feet and dips down in the back. As she squinted into the darkness I could tell she was uneasy that something might reside in there. I pulled a burning branch from the fire and walked into the cave illuminating the shadowed depths. There was nothing moving in the cave but there were remnants of bone fragments in the back, a sign that something used this cave in the past. Content that nothing would come out from the cave as we sat, Lily unpacked the rest of our provisions and set them out on the blanket for us. We would save the wine for later as it was still early. From the angle of the sun I guessed it was just after 10am. I placed some more wood on the fire and sat with Lily on the blanket.
As we sat nibbling on cheese and cured meats, amidst the peaceful surroundings I asked the question that I both anticipated and dreaded the response to. “So, tell me about the plans for the New Zealand trip.” “The trip! I am getting very excited. I have been planning this for a year now. You know I have been researching the existence of vampires. Well my great grandfather Augustine Angelone was a scholar and had been involved in researching vampire lore. He kept detailed journals of his various expeditions. My mother gave me those journals when I was a young girl; I had a penchant for reading anything in the supernatural/vampire genre. I used to read those journals and dream of following in my great grandfathers footsteps. After I got to college and got involved with Dr. Derensinski, I realized that I could make my dreams a reality. I started researching some of the locations my great grand father had mentioned and tried to follow his leads. None of the leads had taken me very far, after all his contacts date back almost a hundred years. I decided to focus on the last few trips he had taken before his death. He died at sea off the coast of Sicily; he had been following another one of his leads and was traveling by small boat along the Sicilian coast. He was presumed drowned; his boat was found capsized by a local fisherman. I haven’t yet been able to bring myself to follow in his last journeys path, but his journal entry about his New Zealand trip was very extensive.”
