by D. R. Mather
“What is the carving of?” Judy asked, looking at it.
“I do not know,” answered Gabrijela. “This is for my mother to know.”
Under the filigree there seemed to be a very thin clay disc which the piece was attached to. Gabrijela’s mother said something to them in Croatian as she put the piece in front of her.
”Ovo je staro pet tisuća godina.”
”It is five thousand years old,” Gabrijela translated.
“To je amajlija za vas dvoje.”
“It is a talisman for you both.”
“Morate ju nositi u svako doba.”
“You must wear it at all times.”
Gabrijela’s mother, Anamarija, started to say some things that sounded a lot like chanting, and then she broke the talisman in half. Judy sucked in a breath, Kevin just watched. Anamarija handed the two separated pieces to each of them. The clay that held them together had turned to a fine dust and fell away. Kevin didn’t even see it hit the floor. While Kevin and Judy each held their half in their hands, Anamarija started to talk to Gabrijela in Croatian. When the woman had finished, Gabrijela turned to them.
“This will help protect you, but it has another function as well, if you are both holding it and you put the two halves together you will be ‘Transportiraju’ – transported to another place. More than this, my mother does not know.”
Judy looked at the half she had.
“Kevin, I’ve seen this before.” She thought for a minute then snapped her fingers. “THAT’S IT!” Suddenly she was on the move, grabbing Kevin’s hand as she went. All four of them followed Judy to the panel at the end of the living room and out into the hall. They all ended up at the huge windows that made up the outer ballroom walls. Judy held up her half of the talisman near the glass and said, “Look.”
Kevin stood behind Judy and looked through the talisman and through the glass. Standing centered in front of it was the fountain at the pool. It was a perfect match. Kevin looked at his half and figured the fountain on the far side of the pool would make a perfect match to his as well.
“Well, I guess the fountains aren’t Greek after all,” he said.
Gabrijela’s mother was chanting and the words were just flying out. Even Gabrijela was having a hard time keeping up. Gabrijela tried to explain.
“Both of you has the vessel now.” She pointed to the statues and the pool. “The left and the right. The water is the journey to another place, the path that the talisman will take you.”
“Yeah, then your mom should love this as well,” said Judy, and she walked to a corner and turned on the ballroom lights. Judy pointed to the floor made from marble chips. Anamarija looked and said one thing but almost as if she’d gasped for air whilst she said it:
“Majčino mlijeko.”
She rapidly walked around the floor and looked at everything she could, as fast as she could.
“What?” asked Judy.
“Majčino mlijeko,” said Gabrijela. “Breast milk, or mother’s milk.”
Kevin and Judy stared at each other. Judy ran over to him and held on. Kevin now stood firm.
“Okay, now other than scaring the shit out of my girlfriend, and me for that matter, what the hell does it all mean?”
Gabrijela walked over to them. “We do not know for sure, it is very old and it may have to do with what or who made us, or at least who watches over us. There is good and there is evil. It is a constant struggle for all of us. We have a choice to go into one or into the other. This…” and she pointed to the statues then the floor, “is the guiding force behind us. Whoever had all of this made at this place, he had knowledge of something man was not supposed to know. The talisman you both now hold, a whole village had to decide to give it up. It had to be dug up from a secret place in order for it to be brought to you. Kevin, our whole village, and soon our entire land will know that we have done this. They will pray for both of you. You may be man’s salvation but you can be killed just the same. If evil wins the day, you can be killed.”
Gabrijela walked over to Judy, “Mothers milk Judy. You are the future, keep yourself safe.” She hugged her, kissed her on each cheek, then turned to go get her mother, who was still chanting and moving around the floor, looking at different parts of it and pointing.
***
After everyone was in bed, Kevin and Judy sat up side-by-side in their newly decorated, somewhat ‘pink’ room. Judy could tell that Kevin was on another planet or something because his eyes keep shifting around and he wasn’t really talking a lot. She decided to play dirty, so she flipped back the blanket and was now sitting there in the nude. Nothing. Kevin didn’t respond. So she got more into it, spinning around backwards and dropping both her legs in his lap, then doing a spread eagle right in front of him. Nothing, he didn’t see a thing. Judy spun back around, pulled the blanket on her and said “Wow, some stud you turned out to be. A few times and I’m already old stuff, huh?” He didn’t respond much except to raise an eyebrow.
She smacked his arm, “Hey, are you in there?” That pulled Kevin out of it.
“What? Did you say something honey?”
Judy lets out a fierce, “AAAARRRRR.” Then she attacked. They made love all night long. Both of them fulfilling the other’s needs and wants.
***
Kevin and Judy came down the stairs together the next morning. Will was at the desk and no one else was around.
“Morning Will.”
“Good morning Judy, Kevin!”
Kevin wasn’t much of a morning person. ‘He wakes up with a grumpy bear lying on top of him,’ as Judy always said.
“Hey Will, how’s the morning treating you so far?”
“Not too bad kid. I could get used to this ‘hosting’ thing, it was kinda fun.”
“Was?”
“Yip, they up and left around five this morning, I called the cab myself.”
“Well son of a gun, I had some questions for them.”
“You had….questions…for…them?”
Kevin saw the curiosity in Will’s face, “Yeah, you know, what’s it like in Croatia compared to here, ya da, ya da…”
“OH, those kinds of questions. Well, I guess you missed out, you’ll have to go find out on your own. HEY, maybe you two can honeymoon there!”
Kevin looked at Judy then back to Will. “Exactly what honeymoon would that be, may I ask?”
Will just smiled and walked away, murmuring under his breath, “Always knew I was gonna like that boy.” He chuckled quietly to himself and disappeared into the dining room.
Judy looked at Kevin, “So what do we do now hun?”
“Talisman” was his answer. “Shall we Judy?”
Kevin pointed Judy into the living room. No one was there, so they went and sat in the far corner. As they sat, Judy was fidgeting with her half of the talisman. Kevin held his out and waited for Judy to touch her half and make it whole again. She reached out with it, but very slowly. She was about to touch the other half when she pulled her hand back.
“I can’t Kevin; I don’t think we’re ready yet.”
“Ready yet? What do you mean honey?”
“I’m not sure; something is telling me it isn’t time yet.”
Kevin looked at his half for a few seconds, and then put it in his pocket. He reached over and took Judy’s hands.
“I trust you hun, if there was something that told you it wasn’t time, I will trust to that, OK? What we can do now, before breakfast, is take a trip over to the ballroom and check out everything in that mosaic on the floor. Maybe there are clues to all of this.”
They both stood and headed to the panel on the wall. Then Kevin stopped cold in his tracks. He stood, not moving for about twenty seconds and looked at Judy. His eyes were wild.
“I have to go NOW.” He turned and started running to the stairs. Judy was on his heels all the way, asking if she should get everyone. He talked as he ran.
“No baby, one man, I have to do this one alone.”
He was up the stairs in two seconds. Judy stopped half way up and just waited. One minute later and he came flying around the corner at the top of the stairs, and headed down. He stopped briefly, quickly kissed Judy, and then bolted out the door. Judy ran to the door, opened it, and saw Beth was already standing outside. Beth pointed to Judy, then towards Kevin as if to ask, ‘What was…’
“Head call,” Judy explained.
“Alone?” Beth answered back.
Judy just shook her head up and down. One minute later and the Mustang roared past the two of them, turned the corner, and all that was left was the sound of exhaust pipes through the trees. Judy listened for a few seconds.
”Huh? He turned left, UP hill, not to town.”
Now they both listened. Kevin’s Mustang was loud; in the mountains it could be heard a long way away. She listened and after a few minutes, she heard the engine slow until it went out of range.
“Beth, he stopped. He stopped only a few miles from here.”
“Okay, so what’s a few miles fro…?” Beth stopped cold. “Oh my god, Bill and Katie, the kids.” She ran over to Judy and they just hugged each other where they stood, listening for sounds.
Kevin pulled into Bill’s yard. He saw a large highway-sized plough off to the right as he drove up the path. There was a large A frame house, or chalet, off to the left. Kevin saw three cars in the yard. He pulled up to them, shut off the engine and got out. The cars were parked nose to tail. Kevin walked over to the hood of the back one and felt it; it was still warm. He walked up to the door and melded through it.
No one was in sight. He knew this; they were all in the basement. He had to open the basement door; stairs could be tricky in some homes. Some had landings first, some didn’t. He didn’t want to surprise this man at the wrong time, or someone would die. He passed into the stair area of the basement and could hear a lot of grunting. He knew what he was about to walk into. Kevin went quietly down the stairs and reached the bottom. The basement had been partitioned off for extra bedrooms and the light was on in the left room. Kevin entered the room unheard and surveyed what was in front of him. Off to his right, in a back corner, were Bill and his two kids, duct-taped and laying on the floor. To his left was the bed, and Bill’s wife on it, naked with a man on top of her, doing what an animal does. His right hand had a gun in it and it was under her chin. The man was grunting away and was so into what he was doing, he never saw Kevin approach. Kevin was now standing next to a little girl’s bed, his knees actually touching it. He knew this was tricky because he was on the left side of the man, and the gun was on the other side. He had to get as close as he could before acting or the wife was dead. Kevin leaned forward in a flash and reached around the back of the man, lifting his right arm up and out of the danger zone. The gun went off before the rapist even knew what was going on. Now his left hand could go around the man’s neck. Kevin pulled him off of her and dragged him into the other room. Everyone heard Kevin as he said, “Not your only stop of the day was it?” Then they all heard a horrible ‘crunch’ sound, followed by silence. They heard Kevin as he walked up the stairs and over to the outside door. There was a loud thud, then the sound of the door closing. This was followed by a pause, then the sound of feet walking back to the basement. Seconds later, Kevin appeared back in the room. Bill’s wife was frozen where she lay. Her eyes stared into nothingness. Kevin walked to the bed and slid her to one side so that he could flip the blanket over her like a cocoon. After he’d covered her, he went over to Bill and the kids. He took out a small knife and cut Bill’s tape first. Bill started to go to his wife but Kevin stopped him.
“No, no, help me with the kids first, she’s going to be okay.”
Bill listened. He knew enough to see that he and his family were just saved by this stranger. He helped his daughter and son with Kevin. As soon as they were free of the tape, Bill started towards his wife again. Kevin stopped him yet again.
“No, take the kids upstairs, I’ll tend to Katie.”
Bill looked him in the eyes, and did what Kevin told him to do. Kevin was now alone with Katie. He sat on the side of the bed and lifted Katie up into his arms. He had a full hug around her and her head rested against his chest. He held her for thirty seconds tops, and then she started to come around. Now Kevin had a choice; he could let her remember, or he could make her forget. This was what was called a ’no brainer’. He held her head against him and gently stroked her hair. He whispered some words to her and within a few seconds, Katie perked up. He couldn’t hide the bruises she had, but he could change how she thought she got them.
“Oh thank you so much, I can’t believe I fell down that whole flight of stairs, and me naked at the time, I’m so embarrassed.” Katie never questioned why on earth she would be coming down into the basement naked.
“No need to be Katie, I was only here to help,” Kevin got up and left. As he exited the basement he knew this could get a bit sticky because Bill was the man who stayed at the Inn when the power was out. Kevin was a very quick thinker though; he walked into the living room and introduced himself.
“I was just coming by to pay you for the season in advance. Thought it might help with your Christmas this year. I heard a commotion outside and came in to investigate. It looks like I was just in time.”
Bill was right in front of him and couldn’t seem to stop shaking Kevin’s hand.
“How…How… can I thank you?”
“You don’t need to thank me Bill, just be thankful it all worked out. At this point there is a dead scumbag in your front yard. I’ll take care of that, you just give me your word that no one ever hears about this.”
“But Katie, and…and…and Paul and Becky saw it.”
“Katie won’t remember, she thinks she fell down the stairs.”
He turned to the kids, who were clutching each other next to their dad. Kevin bent down and touched each of their shoulders.
“I checked on your mom, she only got some bruises from the fall, okay?”
Becky was about six or seven from what Kevin could tell, Paul was about eight or nine. They both instantly relaxed.
“I saw mommy fall down the stairs, and I was scared and I ran and got daddy. He saved mommy,” said Becky.
Kevin stood and laughed, “That’s right sweetheart, daddy saved mommy.” He turned to Bill and added, “’Tis the season.” He then walked out the door.
Bill called after Kevin, “But Will doesn’t pay me to plow, we have an arrangement.”
“You still do Bill, but now you’re going to get paid as well.”
Bill hadn’t yet seen the five thousand dollars sitting on the phone table next to the door, along with the keys for the man’s car. As Kevin headed to his car, he grabbed the man and lifted him into the air, high enough so that his feet were no longer touching the ground. He dropped him next to the car and went to the trunk, took out a large folded piece of plastic, covered the back seat, threw the dead man in, and drove off. He turned right out of the driveway and up the mountain. One hour later, Kevin was driving back onto the Inn’s driveway. He hadn’t got a third of the way in when he saw Judy leaning against a tree. He stopped and she got in.
“Going my way mister?” she asked.
They kissed long and deep, then he put it in first and they rode back to the Inn. Judy turned on the radio and they both stared at each other.
“Freaky,” said Judy. Alice Cooper’s ‘Desperado’ was playing…
♫ My shots are clean
And my, my shots are final
My shots are deadly
And when it's done
You're as stiff as my smoking barrel
You're as dead as a desert night
You're a notch
And I'm a legend
You're at peace
And I must hide…♫
Kevin reached for the knob to shut it off, and Judy grabbed it.
“Hey, I like that song!”
“Okay, okay, don’t brea
k my wrist off,” Kevin laughed. “The car’s gonna be off in less than a minute kiddo.”
“Maybe, but the radio doesn’t have to be.” She stuck her tongue out at him. He had to laugh; what else could he do? Kevin began to wonder if ‘the voice’ had started messing with his radio and it was playing songs relating to him. Kevin slowed the car’s speed enough so that Judy could hear the rest of the song.
After the song was done, they made their way to the front door to find Beth standing there; wearing what looked like the same winter coat as Judy’s.
“What, do you two shop off the same rack?” Kevin won a “smart ass” from Beth and an arm smack from Judy for that one. He laughed and went inside with them both. As they stood in the foyer, Judy told Kevin why she wasn’t ready for the talisman yet.
“Don’t you see, we all have to be in the room: you, me, Beth, Alex and April?”
“Why is that, do they all get to find out what it does?”
“No, they have to watch us. When we do this, they become our protectors because our bodies will be here, but our minds won’t.”
“And Judy, just how did you find this out?”
She went into her large winter coat and took out a small, very old book. It had no title, yet it seemed professionally bound. Judy handed it to Kevin who opened it and began reading:
“Guiding steps to taking the journey, by yourself or with others present. If you’re alone, you must take precautions and insure you cannot be found by anyone during the journey. You will not have control over your body and it becomes vulnerable from an attack.” The book went on, with steps and hints for the end of the journey.
“Judy my love, where did you find this?”
Judy looked at the floor and slid her foot back and forth, “In the library. It was up on the top shelf sitting on the top of bigger books, but pushed way back so it couldn’t be seen from the floor.”
