by Kerri Carr
But that spring something felt wrong.
Perhaps it was her, she thought.
Just that winter she had clashed with a coven of witches who had a ludicrous notion to steal the New Year, as if a sidereal orbit was a thing to be stolen. She had wormed her way through time-lines, and at last had to battle bureaucrats to get there. She was tired. She just wanted to relax in the Paris spring.
And so she nestled her favorite corner of grass and waited for the magic.
But it didn’t come.
She sipped her tea from a styrofoam cup, remembering a time when she would make it herself and bring a thermos. She watched the children play. Their laughter was still silver and their kites still danced in the sky. People were still laughing and happy, but many sat alone, laughing and happy with their little black mirrors, their thumbs more animate than they were.
And then a shadow crossed her cup. She looked up.
“Uncle Jon,” she said shutting her eyes.
The after image stayed behind her eyelids. He was standing in front of the sun, but his silhouette was stark; his curly hair, his broad-shoulders, his stance, even the tails of his morning coat.
“Hello Fred,” he said. “May I join you?”
“What if I said no?”
“I brought scones,” he said making himself at home on her blanket. “Fresh from that bakery you love so much, the one on Rue Sedilliot.”
“What do you want?”
“Oh my,” he said. “I want so many things. I want Gilda to get her head out of her ass and consolidate the wizards in the Baltic States. I want Trilby to take over in America. I want those idle-brained Leonites to come to their senses and stop fighting among themselves. But most of all –”
“But most of all,” Frederica said smiling. “You came to Paris because you want me.”
“More to the point,” he said. “I want springtime.”
His words were sharp.
“It takes time,” she said. “The planet is warming. You’ve read about this climate alteration thing. If the goddess is somewhat befuddled by strange changes then— “
“It is different than that.”
Frederica sat up. She sipped her tea. She looked to her uncle. In the sky, kites lazed.
“Persephone,” the man said, “is not herself. I believe that she is depressed, ergo no crocuses or lilacs.”
“Depressed?”
“Yes.”
“She’s depressed,” Fred said, “and so we are deprived. I could smack that snotty entitled bitch.”
“I would advise against that,” Jon said, munching his scone. “Snotty and entitled as she may be, she is still a goddess and so must be placated. And that, my dear Fred, is what you must do. I’d like to send you on a job.”
“No.”
“A quest of sorts,” he said. “You might actually find it amusing. You see, every year when she returns to the Underworld, Hades celebrates her homecoming with a gift. Last autumn, he gave her an orb in the form of a pomegranate.”
“A pomegranate?”
“I understand that the little pips inside are rubies.”
“How is she supposed to open it?”
“I haven’t the foggiest,” he said. “I’ve never seen the thing. But you will.”
“No I won’t,” she replied.
“Word on the wind is that the bauble has been stolen. It’s in the South Seas somewhere. Vanuatu, I hear. The islands are lovely this time of year. So what I’d like you to do is pop down there, have a look around, find the sacred pomegranate and return it to her. Shouldn’t take you much more than a week or so. Then we can all get back to enjoying the season. Have another scone?”
“What if I refuse?” she asked.
“Then I’ll eat it.”
“Moron,” she said. “I mean what if I refuse to go tramping about on your silly quest? What happens then to spring? What happens to me?”
“Well,” he said. “As to the spring, I suppose I’ll need to find someone else to help bring back the lilacs.”
“Then do so.”
“And as to you, well my dear nothing will happen.”
“Nothing will happen?”
“Ever.”
She took up the scone.
“You are going to need a little help on with this,” he said.
“I work alone.”
“Not on this one. Time is a thing here. You’ll want a boat for starters.”
She sipped her cold tea and wondered where her passport was.
*****
Mia Elverelli was arguably one of the most beautiful women in the world. The term supermodel was far too vague to describe her. The magazines tried to portray her curves and figure with words such as ‘Amazonian’ and ‘shapely’, but the words rang hollow in her presence; she defined the word ‘woman’. Her firm round breasts grew so naturally from her graceful nymph-like form and her flawless Mediterranean complexion was like a gift to the sun. Her nougat-brown hair waved over her perfect shoulders, framing a face that was at once angelic and devilish. And when she smiled at you, it was as though the gods themselves had absolved you of all transgressions.
And Scott Winsted had her.
She lounged on the aft deck of his yacht Sea-Esta. He had met her at a party the night before. She wasn’t the guest of honor, but she might just as well have been. In her metallic gold gown that clung to her curves like water, she out-sparkled every woman there, and her silvery laugh was more tinklingly delicate than the champagne fountain. She had arrived alone and left with Scott. And while he liked to think that it was his boyish looks, his short rakish beard, his surfer blue eyes and his fetching charm that won her, he knew it was really his money. But that didn’t matter.
That night as he and Mia lay in their afterglow, she had idly mentioned her dream of being stranded on a deserted island with a handsome virile young man, where all they had to do was to make love day and night. By ten o’clock the next morning. the two new lovers were alone on the Sea-Esta sailing the placid waters of the Vanuatu Archipelago in search of isolation.
He had gone down to the galley to mix up some mimosas. He left her lounging topless in the warm sunshine. He had to pause to gaze at those lovely rosy areoles encircling her chocolate nipples. Pulling the cork from the wine bottle, their image stayed with him. As he worked, the ship shifted a little in an odd way; it was as though the aft had risen slightly and then settled. He wasn’t sure where that had come from. The ship swayed a little and he felt a small tingling sensation like static electricity all over his skin. He figured he knew where that had come from. He smiled and danced up on deck and Mia was gone.
He looked about, but she was nowhere to be seen on deck. He scanned the water, but saw nothing. He called to her, but there was no answer. He called below. Nothing. He shrugged and sat by her lounge chair, set her drink down, sipped his own and waited. She was no doubt in the ladies’ room. He slid the brim of his cap over his eyes, settled back, soaking in the rays and feeling the ocean roll slowly beneath him.
“Oh this is yummy,” she said.
“Thank you,” he said smiling.
He thought that he heard something odd about her voice. He reached out to pat her hand.
“I haven’t had real champagne in ages,” she said.
Her words suddenly had a distinct British ring. He stroked her hand, thinking that she was joking with him. He moved his fingertips to glide up that silken arm – and he froze the moment he touched the cuff of a coat. He pulled up his cap, turned and stared. The woman jerked back her hand.
“Really, Mr. Winsted,” she said. “I mean we hardly know one another.”
She was most assuredly not Mia. The woman in the lounge was a full head and shoulders shorter. Her long hair was a rusty, strawberry blonde. Her face was small and round, and with a slightly upturned nose she had an almost elfin quality. She wore a long lavender coat, sort of a cross between a driver’s and a frock-coat with many pockets and purple piping along the bottom hem
and at the cuffed sleeves. She had on a white silk shirt with a ruffled ascot. Her matching jeans blended into her slender, fit legs and she had on little chestnut colored knee-high boots with straps and buckles.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” she said. “My name is Frederica Ramona-Lynda Delarosa. But you can just call me Fred, everyone else does. We’re the Essex Delarosa’s, not those others. And you are?”
“Fred?”
“No silly, that’s me.”
“Mia?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Where?”
“Oh. I sent her back to Port Villa. She’s at your hotel, poolside. I’m afraid that I couldn’t find her top. She’s going to be a bit embarrassed, but she’ll get over it.”
“Mia.”
“You haven’t been listening.”
Half in shock and half in a daze, Scott stood and backed away from the strange woman. He dashed to the bathroom, but Mia wasn’t there. There was no sign of her. He stood stunned a moment. But he had not gotten where he was in the world by being indecisive in moments of crisis. His first thought was pirates. He grabbed his rifle and flew onto the deck.
“Okay lady,” he said aiming right between her eyes. “If you don’t tell me what you’ve done with Mia right now – “
“I told you. I sent her back to Port Villa. I can do that. I’m a witch, you know.”
Her smile galled him. He kept his cool. He focused.
“Okay then,” he said. “Bring her back now witch or you’re going to be shark bait.”
But even as he spoke an enormous great-white breached the water and slammed its head across the fantail. The ship upended. Scott lost his footing and began sliding toward gaping jaws. His feet skittering frantically, he aimed the weapon, but even as he did the witch yanked at the barrel.
“That’s my sister!” she cried.
*****
The gun-barrel flew high and the shot went wide. Scott wrestled with the girl, but even as he did, the yacht suddenly righted itself. In the sudden motion the girl and the rifle tumbled away. His heart still racing Scott braced himself and looked aft. The behemoth was gone. Instead there a woman leaning on the transom, her head resting on her crossed arms. She was smiling.
She had a sculpted face with thin lips and piercing brown eyes. Her raven hair flowed behind her like gossamer, and to Scott she was almost a vision. For indeed it was as if he were seeing things through a sort of focused haze; the woman’s face clear and bright while everything around her seemed fuzzy.
“Rikki!”
The voice felt so far away.
“Hello Fred,” the enchanting woman said, and as she spoke it was as though his soul sparkled. “Give me a hand, please?”
Frederica got to her feet. She fused with her coat, kicked the weapon out of sight and went to help. She took the woman’s hand and as she lifted herself, blue water clung and wrapped her naked body, and for just a brief instant Scott saw that graceful form.
Her breasts were firm, and yet supple, and as the water cascaded away, a glimmering pale blue halter fashioned off one shoulder and caressed the lovely breasts. Her ribs and slender waist were the color of cream blushed with a hint of strawberry. She raised a perfect leg onto the deck and it was as if the sheening water gathered into a long silken glowing azure skirt that trailed wisps of sea-foam.
And as she climbed aboard she had eyes only for Scott.
“You scared the hell out of me,” Frederica said “And him.”
“And who is him?” she asked with the voice of a siren.
“We were just getting to introductions.”
Both women looked at him, and Scott had the feeling that it was a privilege to speak to the stunning nymph.
“Scott,” he said as if in a dream. “Scott Winsted.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you Scott Winsted,” the vision said gracing him. “I am Erica Laylanna Ariadne Delarosa.”
“Charmed,” he managed.
“Ya think?” Frederica said.
“Well I am so sorry,” Erica said. “Defense mechanism. I mean he was going to shoot me.”
“Well your entrance was a tad over the top. Why the hell did you morph into a shark?”
“Some of us are not as good at teleportation as you seem to always be.”
“That’s because I studied,” Frederica said. “But why a shark?”
“Not just a shark, little sister, a great-white. They happen to be very fast. Lucky I was in the neighborhood when Uncle Jon contacted me.”
“You’re kidding? Uncle Jon sent you? You’re my help?”
“No darling, you are my help.”
“Look…”— “
“No. You look what I have.”
Scott had heard the two as if from a distance, but from that distance he was enraptured by Erica’s beauty. He watched dreamily as the woman handed Frederica a sliver necklace with a glowing opal at the end. Frederica’s eyes gazed at the thing.
“That’s auntie Emm’s,” the woman breathed.
“It’s mine now,” Erica said smiling, and beneath that smile Scott melted. “I suggest that you make good use of it and find our course.”
“It’s not my ship.”
“Oh, I am sure that Scott Winsted will let us use it for a while,” Erica crooned. Her eyes electrified him. “Won’t you Scott? I would be ever so grateful.”
“Uh,” he managed. “Sure.”
“How sweet,” she said smiling. “Now run along little sister, play with your new boat. Scott Winsted and I need to have a little chat.”
“It’s a ship,” Frederica said.
“Whatever.” The goddess took Scotts hand. “Show me your boat Scottie?”
She took his hand and led him to the master bedroom below. He floated behind her, trails of sea-foam drifting in her wake. And as those streams of scented foam floated by, he watched in awe as her costume melted away. And when she sank nude onto his satin sheets, she seemed more than alive. It was as if every inch of her glistened and invited his touch, and he was filled with a desire that was far more than lust or passion; it was a need as urgent as life itself.
He found himself naked in her arms. Her warmth seemed to fuse with him, and her shimmer wrapped and enveloped him exciting every fiber of a nerve-ending on his body. She caressed the back of his neck. Her delicate fingers were softer than a child’s. With her other hand, she stroked his back and his muscles rippled. He found his fingers lost in her raven tresses weaving through the essence of night. Her yielding breasts lit a fire to his desire. And as her velvety soft thighs swathed his own, he suddenly felt himself as a crass and ungainly mortal in the presence of the divine.
But then her lips brushed his own and the delicate feeling sent wave of wonder through his heart and soul. And when she kissed him, it was as if she had not just forgiven his earthly existence, but also compelled him to join her yearnings.
Her heavenly body writhed beneath him, urging him to please her, and if he had ever wanted anyone in his entire life it was to please her. That childlike hand took him. He was full and throbbing to the point of pain. But when she parted her thighs and led him home, he was plunged beyond paradise. With her touch he found the strength of Hercules, and he drove them both into wails and cries of eternal ecstasy.
On the bridge, Frederica scanned the controls. They were simple enough. She held the opal in her palm. She stroked it with her ring finger. Colors began to emerge. They swirled and pulsed. She hovered over the little red veins and the others faded. She coaxed the ruby layer and the stone warmed.
“Let’s go find your sisters,” she said softly.
She smiled and settled the necklace between her breasts. She steered the craft to follow the warmth of the gem, trying to ignore the wailing from below.
****
It was after midnight when Erica strode onto the bridge wrapped in a silk robe and carrying a cup of coffee.
“Where’re we headed?” she asked.
“A small islan
d called Mataso,” Fred answered.
“What’s there?”
“Turtles mostly. Hopefully a pomegranate. How’s our host?”
“Oh little sis, you’re so funny,” she laughed. “When I charm a man, he stays charmed.”
“Then why is he pointing a pistol at us?”
“Because I couldn’t find my rifle,” he said, standing behind the two.
“It’s in the life-vest closet,” Fred said.
“Scottie?” Erica said demurely. “Scottie baby please put that silly thing down. You’re frightening me.”
“So?”
“Scottie, honey when I get frightened I tend to act rashly.”
He leveled the gun and aimed between her eyes.
“Or not,” she said. “Oh what do you want?”
“Mia,” he said, “Bring her back now.”
“Mia,” Erica said. “Mia Elverelli?”
“I want her back.”
“Well that explains everything,” Erica said throwing her hands in the air. “Jeeze Fred, you sure know how to pick ‘em. That Witch.”
“Rikki!”
“Well she is a witch.”
They heard the pistol cock. Fred turned slowly, instinctively holding her hands up.
“Let me explain?” she said timidly.
To her surprise and relief, he did. Fred told of her quest, weaving images in his mind as she spoke. Rikki tried to embellish, but he made it clear that he wasn’t interested in anything that she had to say. When Fred had finished the man looked doubtful.
“So,” he mulled. “You kidnap my girlfriend and hijack my ship because you want spring back. What is so important about spring?”
“Oh,” Fred said with a shrug. “Other than the fact that it’s pretty, it does serve some functions. Like initiating the growing season for the entire northern hemisphere. Stuff like that.”
“And,” Rikki added. “I understand that Ms. Elverelli loves her pesto with fresh pine nuts and basil.”
