Aye, I am a Fairy

by Dani Haviland

  “My father, and then my grandfather raised them and did a pretty shi…, er…crappy job of it. They have some harebrained notion about time traveling fairies out there with treasures, just waiting to be found. It’s an old family legend that just won’t die. At least, it won’t as long as there’s an Atholl around to carry the torch or grudge or whatever. It’s a bunch of hooey and has caused nothing but grief. I’m glad my mother broke the cycle, at least with me. I doubt that my brothers will reproduce, so the nonsense stops here, or now.”

  James looked over at him with wide eyes. Clark knew the stories, but didn’t believe them.

  “Oh,” Clark continued his explanation, “it looks like my brothers really screwed up big this time. They beat up some nice old lady and were arrested for attempted murder and a bunch of other crimes that I can’t remember. It doesn’t make much difference, though. Attempted murder should be enough to keep them in prison for the rest of their lives.” He chuckled, “Yup, not much chance of them having any more little Assholes while they’re in there.”

  “So you think they’ll be convicted?” James asked, hoping to learn more of what Clark knew.

  Clark’s eyes shifted back and forth in thought. It was obvious to James that the man was making a decision about whether to trust him or not. Clark wiped the skin between his nose and upper lip, then stared James in the eyes. “You’re an honorable man, right? I mean, you bein’ a lord and all. I can tell you something and you won’t repeat it to anyone, exceptin’ maybe your girlfriend—I can understand that.”

  “She’s my wife now,” James said, “and yes, I’ll keep what you tell me in the strictest of confidence.”

  “Well, Eight let it slip that they had this old lady held hostage at a rundown place just outside of town.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I couldn’t let it go. I pumped him for details about where she was. I kind of let him think that I wanted to watch them—him and Niner—try to get more information out of her. He was actually bragging about how tough this old woman was, how they smacked her around, burned her with cigars…” Clark sighed. He shook his head again. “It was all because of that same old horseshit, I mean nonsense, about The Letters, the ones that talked about fairies that traveled through time, and their treasure: buckets and buckets of gold and jewels. But he also wanted the deed to the old lady’s property. So, as soon as he told me where they were holding her and went on his way—he said he needed more duct tape, and I wouldn’t give him any that was here—I called the cops and told them what was going on. Anonymously, of course. I mean, if they need me to testify, I will. All they have to do is ask for the tipster to step forward on the news, and I’ll do it. I just don’t want the two of them to know it was me. I mean, they are my brothers, but, God! If I could change that, I would. Mom would be rolling over in her grave if she knew what they did.”

  Clark had tears in his eyes, tears of relief. James could tell that he felt better for telling him, for telling someone, what had happened. “I’m sure they’ll ask for the tipster to come forward if they can’t get a conviction without you, him,” James said.

  Clark wiped his face on the shoulder of his shirt and regained his composure. “Well, has everything been to your satisfaction, sir?” he asked with a grin, the intensity of his revelation now in the past.

  “Yes, it has, and I thank you. This will be our last night here. I want to ask you a favor, though. I’ll pay you, too,” James offered.

  Clark pulled his neck back with what he had apparently felt was an insult. “You don’t need to pay me for a favor,” he said.

  “Okay, but I would appreciate it if you’d let me pay you for a service.”

  “Oh, well, that’s different” Clark grinned. “What do you need me to do?”

  “I’ll bring you a letter here in a little bit. I want you to take it to the police station first thing in the morning, say seven-thirty? But you have to deliver it personally to Billy Burke and no one else, okay?”

  “I can do that. It’s not too far from here, and no one should be checking in or out at that time. Hey, I’m sorry to see you leave. Are you two getting a house or moving somewhere close by?”

  James took a deep breath to think of an answer. “We don’t know yet, we really don’t know. I’ll be back later with the letter.” He turned and walked out the door into the noonday heat. “Don’t know about a house, but nearby. Hopefully,” he said, “very hopefully.”

  Even before he knocked, Leah was pulling open the door. She gave him a quick kiss, then explained, “I got everything packed that I can think of…rather, that’s on the list. All we have left is to do a little ‘closure’ with Billy and your Mom.”

  “What about your employer?”

  Leah glared at him. She had never been able to talk to anyone in personnel about the misunderstanding with the ‘property’ that Nurse Gata had given her—her mother’s dress and smartphone. All they would tell her was that it was ‘still under review’ and ‘we’ll call you when we know more.’

  “Oops, sorry,” James said. “I guess that’s one door we can ignore. Here,” he said to change the subject. He pulled an envelope out of his pants pocket. “It’s just like mine. I put both of them on a piece of cotton cord. You said your mother’s was on black ribbon, but I thought that seemed a bit gruesome. Or out of season, you know, black is for autumn or winter, white for spring or summer.”

  Leah squinted at him. “Are you sure you aren’t….nah, you just have a good sense of fashion. I know you aren’t gay, you just have good taste.” James leered at her and she picked up on his visual suggestion. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You taste good, too. Ooh, ooh,” she said excitedly. “Speaking of tasting good, I have to make that granola or trail mix or whatever you want to call it. I’ll have time to throw it together before we meet Billy and Mom for a last supper. Do you think they’ll be okay with accepting us going back? I mean, I really don’t want to get together with them tonight then have them try and talk us out of it.”

  “Well, I doubt that Bibb, Mom, will try. She’s expected this for a long time. I mean, at least since she memorized that second letter. And then there’s always the fact that she wants us to go so we can send my father back to her.” James lay back on the bed, not bothering to take off his shoes.

  Leah crawled next to him and snuggled into his arms. It was chilly in the room on purpose, and his body warmth felt good on her perpetually cold hands. “I don’t think Billy will interfere. He’s got his plate full with the liver transplant surgeries day after tomorrow.” She chuckled, “Besides, I think he wants to meet your father, too. I know he loves me enough to let me go and you, well, he loves you, too. I guess it’s better to have loved and let go than to have never loved at all. Or something like that…”

  James looked down and saw that Leah had fallen asleep in mid-sentence. He slipped away from her, took off his shoes, climbed back next to her and pulled the bedspread over the both of them. They were both exhausted, and his last thought before he, too, was out was that a nap would benefit them both.

  **48 The Last Supper

  August 17, 1781, 6:35 AM

  Just outside of Greensboro

  The dinner date the night before with Billy and Bibb had gone well. Lots of tears and ‘I love you’s flowed. Peter was still out of town, so discussions and theories on time travel were unbridled. “Yes, I’m sure that you have to have someone or something to focus on in order to go back, at least if you go by way of The Trees. You said your mother fell through time, and that your car was found at the Hanging Rock Park? Well, that’s one that could use some detective work, eh, son?”

  Billy blushed with embarrassment and pride. “We can work on that one together, Mom. I’m going to use up as much comp and vacation time as they’ll let me for our surgeries and recovery. And who knows, we might have someone else around to join us in our research,” Billy announced, then looked over at James for confirmation.

  “Yes, yes,” James said. “I promise both of you that if I
find him, I’ll tell him you want him to come back—at least to you, Mom. I’ll have to see how it goes with letting him know he has another son.”

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll find the right words,” Bibb soothed as she patted Billy’s arm and looked at him, glowing with pride. “And I’m sure Marty will be relieved to know you’ve found out that he’s really your father,” and reached over to comfort James.

  James saw the awkward struggle she was having trying to touch him—she obviously wanted or needed a hug.

  “Here,” he got up and knelt next her, reaching around her for a full body embrace. “Billy’s been getting more hugs than me, Mommy,” he whined in a childlike voice, then looked up for her reaction.

  Bibb laughed then started crying at the same time, trying to speak, but overwhelmed with emotion. “Sorry, Mom,” he said, “I didn’t mean to upset you…”

  Bibb grabbed him around the head and pulled him close to her bosom, reaching for Billy with the other arm. “I missed so much with you two,” she sobbed. “If I had to do it all over again…”

  “Hey, hey, hey,” Billy corrected authoritatively, taking over the parent’s role with his tone and attitude. “So we started the story in the middle of the book; so what? It still has a happy ending, and we’re all here, right? And you’re getting a dandy daughter-in-law, to boot!”

  “Okay, okay, you’re right. Would you excuse me a moment? I need to freshen up.” She tried to sniff back her tears, and caught a few of the wayward ones with the back of her hand.

  Billy escorted her to the bathroom, then settled back into the oversized and overstuffed chair, a broad smile spreading across his face. “Ah, life is good,” he said, “very good.”

  “Do you have a roommate?” Bibb asked, as she came out of the bathroom, “or do you just use a lot of toothbrushes?”

  “Well, he’s more than a roommate…” Billy started to explain, then paused.

  The air was suddenly still. James and Leah recalled how Bibb had spoken of Bruce, Marty’s first-born. Bruce was a selfish gay man, and she let it be known that she didn’t care for him.

  “More? Oh, that’s wonderful!” Bibb exclaimed with sincerity. “I hope I get to meet him soon. If you picked him, he must be a winner!” Evidently it was Bruce, the person, whom she didn’t care for, and his sexual orientation wasn’t even a consideration.

  More laughs and stories were shared as the hour for the newlywed’s bedtime came and went. Leah’s yawns were now so wide, her jaws hurt. She saw James nodding, his head suddenly jerking back as he awoke from a momentary slumber. She didn’t want to be rude, but noticed how late it was.

  “We have to leave,” she said, and stood up, suddenly wide awake and alert with the realization D-time—departure time—was less than eight hours away. “We’re packed, but we still need to get some sleep, and I want to take a shower and eat breakfast before we leave.”

  “Oh, shoot,” Billy exclaimed as he looked at the clock, “and I have to go to work! Mom, are you sure you want to go back to your place? I mean, you could stay here, in my bed and, and…”

  “No, I need to go back home. I have a lot to do in the morning. Well, not heavy lot to do,” she clarified when she saw her sons look at her, both of them squinting, admonishing her with their eyes not to overdo it. “I just want to sort through some papers and pack a bag for the hospital day after tomorrow—just little stuff. And I’d really like to sleep in my poor little excuse for a bed again. It’s just twin-sized, but so much more comfortable than hospital beds. And I know I won’t be awakened by some robot fist clenching my arm for blood pressure checks every half hour!”

  They all laughed, got up and stretched, preparing to leave. Billy made a call to the station telling them that he’d be late. “I have to take my mother home,” he boasted, “then I’ll be in.” Yup, he had his priorities straight and wanted them to know it.

  More hugs, kisses and ‘I love you’s were shared, then James finally announced boldly, “We have to go. We’ll be fine, and I’m sure you both will be, too. I have no doubt that the transplant will go smoothly, and you and Mom will live happily ever after.” He grimaced as he bit off the urge to add, ‘and Dad, too.’

  He still wasn’t sure of what would happen there. Time would tell—that was for sure.

  **49 Threshhold

  August 17, 2013 daybreak

  Zero hour had arrived and Mr. and Mrs. James Melbourne left the motel, ready to embark on the greatest adventure imaginable. They rode to the site in a contented silence, both of them at peace with their decision to change their lives forever by passing through The Trees. Neither one knew how the magnetic time portal worked—that didn’t matter. What was important was that they had found a way to travel back in time 230 years to be with their families.

  Leah had insisted that James drive this time. He had been to The Trees before, and although she had the sixth sense thing going on with knowing where they were supposed to be, he had actually navigated the roads two weeks earlier and was familiar with the landmarks. Besides, she didn’t feel comfortable behind the steering wheel of ‘the beast.’ The ‘64 red and white heavy duty long bed Dodge pickup truck was definitely a man’s ride.

  ӁӁ

  “We’re here,” he said solemnly, as they pulled up to the windswept barren area. There were only remnants of the yellow and black ‘do not cross’ police tapes dangling from the two trees now. But it didn’t make any difference—the trees that were marked were the wrong ones. James counted over six trees to the right to verify the location of the true portal to the past. The ground beneath it was undisturbed. He had erased Evie’s slipper prints with a leafy branch two weeks ago, and no one had walked through the area since.

  He looked over at the trees bedecked with strips of weather-torn yellow plastic and saw that the ground beneath them was churned and dusty, as if someone had held a ballroom dance there. It was probably the MacLeod boys investigating the designated hot spot, trying to unlock the secret of traveling back in time. But, then again, JB was also involved in this. He craned his neck and looked at the beaten down area again. It was quite possible that all three of them had been stomping around in the XX area shown on the old map. But it didn’t make any difference: that wasn’t ground zero. The map the thieves had purloined got them in the right neighborhood, but they were barking up the wrong trees.

  “That’s where we go through, right?” Leah asked, pointing to the space between the two old red oaks, the true pillars. “Not there,” and nodded to the faux field by the two multi-trunked magnolia trees surrounded by footprints.

  “Yup,” he said. He leaned over and placed his warm hand over her chilly fist—she had a death grip on her hand-sewn duffle bag. “Are you ready to rock and roll, darlin’?” he asked gently.

  “I’d better be,” she whined. “I mean,” her voice gained confidence as she rewound her answer, fingering the old Greek drachma pendant he had given her the day before, the twin of his. “I know I’m ready. Wow! I mean, yeah!” she added with sparkle.

  James stifled, sort of, a laugh as he walked around the truck to open a motor vehicle door for her one last time. It wasn’t like Leah to be speechless, but she was. “Grab the bags and the water and…oh, shit!” he said, practically spitting out the last word.

  “What… Oh, shit!” Leah agreed, as she used the same tone. “We’ll just have to take these,” she said reluctantly, and held up two one-liter plastic water bottles with pull top lids. “I am not walking anywhere this time of year without water. Hey, they’ll be in the bags, discreet, and no one will see them. Come on, the sun is almost up.”

  They each took one long, last drink of water, opened their bags, pawed through them to verify the contents, and then threw in the water bottles. James locked the doors and then buried both the door lock and ignition keys behind the right rear tire. Billy had the other set of keys, but just in case something didn’t go right with traveling through The Trees, the keys would be there for their ride back to
town.

  But they weren’t going to fail. He was sure of it. But he wasn’t stupid, either.

  “Here, one more thing before we leave.” Leah took James’s hands in hers. “Lord, please bless us and keep us safe on our journey. Let our hearts and minds be open to You and what You want us to do. And please watch over all of our family…um…wherever they may be, and keep them safe and healthy. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”

  “Amen,” James said. “Well, that should cover everything.” He looked around the site one last time, then bent down to kiss Leah at the same time she looked up for her good-bye kiss. “This will be the last kiss we share in the 21st century,” he said. Mouth to mouth, they shared their souls, focusing on the deep love and appreciation they felt for each other, neither one distracted by the environment or task ahead of them.

  “Yes,” she added dreamily, coming away from the perfect buss, “and it’s the last kiss I’ll get for about 230 years.” She reached over and put her free arm in the crook of his elbow. “Let’s go.”

  They marched resolutely in their 18th century-style garb and 21st century shoes to the space between the two old oak trees, excited yet scared, like a couple approaching the launch pad, ready to rocket to the moon. They were committed to their decision, ready to perform the mission requested of James in the ancient letter. They inhaled deeply—as one body—closed their eyes, and walked side by side slowly, their feet testing each footfall, cautious of the litter of rocks and exposed tree roots that covered the neglected path between the two trees. They proceeded as one spirit, nervous and eager at the same time with the prospect of being ‘born’ into a new world. They held each other’s hands so tightly that their fingers were cold from lack of circulation. Each visualized Leah’s mother—the younger version, less the belly—who they had seen in the smartphone video. They traveled as a four-legged entity down the rocky path that was their birth canal into the past, both of them confident that they were passing backwards in time to be with her family.