According to Legend

by Gerri Brousseau

  “Yes, I am, but my boss called me last night and asked me to review a proposal. She’s meeting with a big client of ours this morning and actually, it’s my client. I hope she doesn’t mess up too bad with them, I’ve been romancing this client for the past six months,” I said. I wondered how I could have ever thought of my work as the romance of my life. I never knew romance until I knew Moheeladeck.

  “I hope that I can take your mind off things, at least for a while. I would really like to see you today Pam, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” he said. “It’s important.”

  “What’s wrong David?”

  “There’s nothing wrong; I just really need to talk to you. Any chance we can get together for lunch?”

  David confused me. Which man was the real David . . . the man who was plotting with Williamson in the park or the man who was frantic with worry at not being able to get in touch with me? My mind knew I shouldn’t trust him, but my gut wanted to. Still, I didn’t want to be alone with him without Half-Breed. “I promised Half-Breed I would take him to the park today for hotdogs.” The wolf’s ears perked up.

  “Do you mind if I tag along? We can get a few dogs and have a picnic lunch. I’ll bring the Frisbee and toss a few with that crazy wolf.”

  Goose bumps prickled my neck and my gaze flew to Half-Breed. Half-Breed, what does Moheeladeck think?

  Moheeladeck said he fears me must play along. Go and meet with David and see what is so important.

  “Pam, you still there?” David asked.

  “Yes, yes, I’m sorry, David. I’m still thinking about that proposal. But yes, it would be okay. We can meet you at the park around noon.”

  “Great. I’ll see you then.”

  After we hung up, Half-Breed seemed excited but I knew he wasn’t pleased about seeing David. Did you just say hotdogs?

  I sure did. You think you are up for eating a few?

  I can eat more than a few, Princess.

  David needs to talk to me about something and he did say it’s important.

  Nothing that dog has to say could be of importance.

  Oh, Half-Breed. You know that I don’t totally trust him and you will be there in case he tries anything, so don’t worry.

  Was I trying to convince him . . . or myself?

  We met David at the park at noon. The hot dog vender was happy to see us. We cleaned him out. We bought fifty as Half-Breed’s appetite for hotdogs was ever increasing. True to his word, David brought a Frisbee and Half-Breed actually enjoyed running and jumping to catch it.

  I sat on a bench in the sun and watched the two of them play. I was nervous about what it was David wanted to talk to me about, and was on edge wondering if Williamson would show up and turn this meeting into an ambush.

  After we ate the hotdogs and David played with Half-Breed for a while, he came over and joined me on the bench in the sun. Half-Breed rested at my feet. The exercise and warm sunshine on his back soon had the wolf snoring. Great guard dog, I thought.

  David broke the uncomfortable silence. “It’s been pretty nice weather for late October.”

  “Yeah it has been, but it will turn cold soon enough.” Whatever he wanted to talk to me about had to be difficult for him because he was clearly nervous, fidgeting and trying to avoid approaching the subject.

  “Pam, I want to talk to you about something but it’s a really long story so before I lose the courage to go on, would you please let me finish before you say anything?”

  “Sure, David, go ahead.”

  “Well, let me start by saying that I don’t expect anything from you Pam.” He looked into my eyes.

  I nodded. “Okay, go on.”

  “I told you before that I was raised by my mother and Aunt Agnes. Well, until recently I hadn’t given much thought to my past, but since I came over to your place for dinner the other night, well, things began to click and I started thinking.”

  I must have had a confused look on my face because although I was trying, I couldn’t recall anything that had happened that night that would cause him to think about his past.

  “Pictures, it’s the pictures,” he began. “You have pictures of your family and friends all over the place at your house. You know, my mother didn’t have one single picture of my dad anywhere. I can’t even tell you what the man looked like.”

  Why is he telling me all this?

  He continued. “I have a strange feeling there is something going on. Something no one wants me to know about. All my life I felt as if I had two mothers. My mom wouldn’t do anything or make any decisions, especially regarding me, without first checking with Aunt Agnes. I didn’t know that wasn’t normal. I was just a kid. As I got older, I thought it was weird that they didn’t encourage me to have any friends. They even discouraged me from having a steady girlfriend. Oh, they allowed me to date casually, but if I started to get interested in any one girl over another, they squelched it from the start.”

  What a strange family. Where is he going with this, and why is he telling me his family story?

  “Anyway, why I asked you to meet me and what I wanted to say was that I have never been in love, that is, not until now. What I guess I’m trying to tell you is, well, Pam, I’m in love with you.”

  Even though I felt I had known David forever, in actuality I had only known him a few weeks. I suppose that people fall in love in a matter of days, but I never expected this. My body stiffened in response and the catcher vibrated over my thundering heart.

  In my silence, he went on. “That’s not all. What I have to say might scare you. Then again, under the circumstances, it might not. Since I realized I have these feelings for you, well, strange things have started to happen.”

  “Strange,” I said. “How so?” The hair on the back of my neck prickled.

  “Well, I sort of know things before they actually happen, and I’ve been having very strange dreams.”

  “Dreams?” I mumbled, worried that David might guess the truth about me. I nudged Half-Breed with my foot in an attempt to wake him.

  “Yeah. Dreams about being in an Indian tribe. Only I’m not me, I’m sort of someone else; someone they look up to like a Chief or something and they’re calling me Divakar. It’s so weird but, Pam, these dreams are so real. Nothing like this ever happened to me before, before I fell in love with you.”

  “David, I really doubt I have anything to do with this.” My stomach fluttered and I swallowed hard.

  “Pam, you have everything to do with it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know about the stones,” he said flatly. He reached out and grabbed my arm. His touch went through me like an electric shock and I jerked my arm out of his grasp.

  I think my jaw hit the ground. I knew he was involved with Williamson, but I never dreamed he would admit it to me.

  “I know about the powers they possess, about the cave and, Pam, I know who you really are.”

  Panic rose like bile in my throat. I think the fear showed in my eyes. I started to look around to see if Williamson was close by. I was searching for somewhere to run. The fur on Half-Breed’s neck rose. I was ready to speak words of denial when David said, “I won’t hurt you, Pam. I swear. I’ll never hurt you. I’m in love with you. I feel as if I was raised to fulfill some purpose and that falling in love with you has somehow sidelined all that.” He looked down at his hands. “I’m ashamed to admit it, but I am involved with a group of people who want that stone you’re wearing around your neck, and they’ll kill you to get it if that’s what it takes.” He looked up and his eyes met mine. “But I’m not going to let that happen. I’m not going to let them hurt you. Not now. Not ever.”

  “David, I don’t know what to say about any of this,” I was dumbfounded and realized it was useless to deny it. Half-Breed was sitting now and there was a low growl rumbling deep in his throat. My hands were shaking and I stuffed them into my jacket pockets so David wouldn’t notice.

  “I told you I don�
��t expect anything from you, Pam. It would be wonderful if you could love me, too. But I’m not asking you for that. Right now I’m trying to sort out what’s going on inside me. For the first time in my life I don’t know who I am. I’m not sure of my purpose and it’s scaring me, but what I do know is that I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. I don’t care about the cave or the treasures. I only care about you, Pam.”

  “David, won’t the people who are after the stone kill you if they find out you are betraying them?”

  “Yes, probably, but they don’t know how I feel about you and I’m not going to tell them.”

  Was it my imagination or did he have that same tone of finality in his voice that Moheeladeck had when a decision had been made?

  “You are putting yourself in a lot of danger here, David. These people will stop at nothing. You just said so yourself.”

  “I know who they are and you’re right. That’s why I’m not saying anything to them about my feelings for you. I’ll play their game as long as I can and try to buy us some time. In all honesty, I’m supposed to be following you to see if you would lead us to the location of the cave.”

  The cave. My mind was racing, trying to absorb everything he had said and to make sense of it.

  “I don’t know the location of the cave.”

  “They’ll never believe that. They’ll stop at nothing, and they’re vicious.”

  “Can you tell me who these people are?”

  “I could, but I won’t because I don’t think it would benefit either of us right now and it won’t help me protect you. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

  “Trust you? David, right now I don’t know who I can trust, if anyone.”

  “I’m telling you the truth. I’m telling you things that could get me killed. Why would I do that? You have to trust me.”

  “David—”

  “Look, I know you’re scared. I’ve seen some of what you’ve been through and I’m not proud of my part in it, but I’m putting my heart on the line here and asking you to give me a chance to prove to you that you can trust me. I’m in love with you.”

  I wish he would stop saying he is in love with me.

  “What part did you play in this?” I asked. From what I already knew to be true, I wanted to see if he would tell me the truth now, but I never expected to hear what he said next.

  “Please forgive me, Pam, but I was the one who tried to break into your house that night.”

  “WHAT!” I knew he was involved with Williamson, but I really had no idea he was the one who tried to break in. I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I had to get away from him, away from this place. I jumped to my feet, but he placed his hand gently on my arm.

  “Please, Pam, sit down.”

  I was numb, but eased back down beside him on the bench. Half-Breed stood on guard beside me.

  “I’m sorry I scared you so much that night. Please try to understand, I didn’t know you then. I was just instructed to get the stone and the dream catcher. Period. Then I met you and started to see the person you are, what you’re made of, your strength and courage, your kindness. I fell in love with you.”

  Uncomfortable silence fell between us. “I’m also sorry to tell you that I put a GPS chip in Half-Breed’s collar. That’s what led Williamson and his crew to your hotel room to search for the stone. Fortunately, you weren’t there. I told him it was useless because you wear the catcher.” He glanced down to his lap in embarrassment.

  “It was you that tried to get into my house?” I asked in a hoarse whisper. I couldn’t get past that.

  “Yes, and I hope that in time you can find it in your heart to forgive me. Please understand that I’m telling you all this because I want to protect you and I want you to trust me and most of all, because I love you,” he pleaded.

  “I don’t know, David.”

  “There’s more—”

  “More?” I questioned, wondering how much more I could possibly take.

  “I suspect that there was more to my mother’s sudden illness and death. I think she was murdered.”

  I gasped and Half-Breed growled. The hair on the back of my neck rose and the catcher vibrated its warning.

  Chapter 24

  The events of that afternoon were a lot to digest. David pledged to protect me. He followed me back to my house and asked me to get Half-Breed’s collar so he could remove the GPS chip. “Williamson monitors this chip and will always know where you are as long as the wolf wears the collar.”

  “Great. Well, fortunately, Half-Breed is so well behaved he hardly ever wore it.”

  David removed the chip, and handed it to me. I tossed it into a kitchen drawer.

  “Officer Williamson is involved in this, too?” I asked. I didn’t want David to know that I was already on to them. “He’s a cop. He came into my house. I trusted him.”

  “I know, and I don’t know exactly how many others he has working with him, so we have to be careful,” David said. He sat at my kitchen table replacing the GPS in Half-Breed’s collar with one only he could monitor and he made me promise that the wolf would always wear the collar whenever we left the house. David said he would never be too far away from me.

  I wanted to speak with Moheeladeck, to tell him what had happened. Half-Breed would have sent word ahead, but the wolf was biased and he clearly hated David.

  Despite his involvement with Williamson, I liked David and I couldn’t see him telling me all of this unless it was true. Not only that, I desperately needed a friend in this realm. But that was my biggest fear. Was I willing to trust David simply because I needed a friend here?

  As soon as David left, I locked the door and set the alarm. “Half-Breed, I’m going to summon Moheeladeck. I need to talk to him.”

  This time, the wolf didn’t object. Although you know I have already conveyed all of this to him, I don’t disagree with you. I think you should summon him. I know he wants to speak with you directly.

  I took the catcher in both hands and said, “I summon Moheeladeck. Bring him forth to me.” There was a flash of light, and he stood before me.

  This time I was the one who rushed to him and threw my arms around him. He held me close. I couldn’t catch my breath and tears stung my eyes. After all that had happened today, I was relieved by his presence, and I couldn’t hold back my tears. He held me gently and whispered soothing words into my ear. When I had calmed down, he spoke.

  “Dark magic is at work here, as we knew. We should speak of this to your mother. Perhaps through her magic, she can see this more clearly.”

  “I trust you, but I don’t know if I can wait until I dream to speak to her.”

  “Why would you wait until then? Summon her to you,” he said as if I should have known I could do this. Then-he laughed. “You do not know the extent of your powers, my love.”

  He lifted the catcher from where it rested over my heart and held it before my eyes. “Summon her.”

  I took the catcher into my hands and spoke the words, “Bring Weeketay forth to me.” Again there was a flash of light and my mother stood before me.

  “What has happened, daughter? Surely something has gone terribly wrong for you to summon me forth.”

  I told her the story and then Moheeladeck said, “You are able to feel the dark magic, but can you tell us who is involved here?”

  Weekatay strode to each corner of the room and chanted as she moved. She stopped at the windows and placed her hands upon the glass. Then she turned back to face us.

  “There is indeed dark magic at work here, of that I am certain. I can tell you it is not my twin. I no longer feel her life force. My sister is dead, but I feel a life force much like hers and believe it to be that of her daughter. I have already told Takshawee that this person will come to her as a friend but is a mortal enemy. This person possesses much dark magic and could come in any form, a man, a woman, young or old. I cannot tell you who this person is in this time. I can only say that you must take
great care.”

  “I already know this.” I heaved a deep sigh. Why did Weekatay always speak in riddles and tales? Why couldn’t she ever just give a straight answer?

  “If you met the person in this realm, would you be able to sense the dark magic? Would you feel the evil? Would you know?” I don’t know what I was thinking, or where I was going with this, but the questions formed and flew out of me before I gave it any thought.

  “Yes, I believe so,” she answered.

  “Why do you ask this?” Moheeladeck questioned.

  “I don’t know what I’m thinking. I just wondered if maybe I were to have my mother remain here in this realm with me perhaps she would be able to tell me who is behind all this. Who I can trust. Who I should be most afraid of, help me figure it all out.” I sighed as I dragged my hand through my hair.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Moheeladeck said. “Weeketay, would you be willing to remain in this time to help Takshawee?”

  “You know I would do anything for my daughter, but she holds the power within herself to do this.”

  “You both keep talking about my power, but I don’t know anything about powers.”

  “You are the daughter of Weeketay and Emanudeck. The powers that they possess individually rest together within you. You possess their powers, but you also have powers of your own,” Moheeladeck answered.

  I looked to my mother who nodded in agreement.

  “Can you show me?” I asked her.

  She smiled. “Yes, I can show you how to begin, but that is only the start. You must find the way within yourself. Eat nothing more today and tonight when you return to us, we will summon your Manitou, your spirit guide, who will lead you.”

  “With our enemies closing in, do we have time for this to happen?” I asked.

  “We cannot face our enemies until it does. Trust your heart, my daughter, for that will never lead you astray.”

  “I never knew I had powers. What? How? I stammered in confusion.