by Alexie Aaron
Mia wanted to point out that he was never a god just a human with extraordinary abilities, but one look from Judy made her hold her tongue.
Judy said softly, “You were never meant for this time. That is why the Great Spirit gave you the ability to move through time. You were meant to witness history and learn from it. Only a learned man can become truly great.”
Murphy nodded and raised his arm to sink his axe into a stump, when Mia stopped him.
“I hear something,” she hissed.
Murphy moved in the direction of the sounds and saw to his horror a large party of men led by Eagle-eye, who was now sporting several talon-sized gashes in his shoulders. He ducked out of the way before the sighted man could make him out. Murphy ran back to Mia and raised the alarm.
“Quickly, to the portal,” Judy said. “Lead the way, He-who-walks-through-time.”
“That’s a mouthful,” Mia said under her breath.
Murphy nodded as they ran after the fleeing couple.
The traveler stopped and spoke the words to bring about the portal.
Mia watched as the very essence of life seemed to be pulled from the surrounding glade. The sound of wind drowned out the sounds of the night. The vortex was now pulsing light.
Judy dropped her clothing and formed into a large black bird. Murphy ran over to her to position himself to be carried into the portal. She closed her wings around him, morphed into a smaller bird and flew into the swirling blue mass.
Mia moved to the traveler.
A flash of something flew past her head. The traveler grunted as a spear hit him in the shoulder. A battle cry was all but lost in the wind, as Eagle-eye charged from the woods with a dozen warriors following. Mia ran over to the fallen man and tugged him towards the vortex. An arrow struck her thigh, and she crumpled beside him.
~
The ground shook slightly causing Cid’s alarms to go off. The command computer was filled with information coming in. “The portal is opening,” Cid shouted from the back of the truck.
Ted and the others headed towards the basement. They had navigated the steps when the sound of wind echoed through the passage. Burt lost sight of Ted as he passed him in a full run, catching up to Mike who was on his way down to check on things with the first shudder.
Charles followed Burt. The two of them caught up to the young men just before the pulses of light started. Ted wanted to move closer, but Mike held him back. The noise was too loud for them to communicate. All they could do was stand there and watch.
A large pulse of light opened up an area in the middle of the vortex and a black bird flew out. It landed, and Ted watched as it grew. The wings opened and a nauseous looking Murphy stumbled forward. He looked at Ted and then back into the vortex.
The bird became a woman of undetermined Native American heritage. Her brown eyes moved over the men and around the passage, frantically searching. Charles stepped up and gave the naked young woman the shirt off his back. Audrey, who arrived last but prepared, handed her a blanket. She looked for Mia before her frightened eyes met Ted’s.
Chapter Thirty-two
Mia watched in horror as the Cahokian warriors moved towards them. They were wary of the swirling blue mass. He-who-has-eye-of-eagle urged them forward while holding his ground. Mia felt the traveler’s arms go around her. With his last vestige of strength, he stood and lunged, taking them into the vortex.
~
Judy turned towards the vortex and saw it start to diminish. She shot her hands out, and as the strength was leaving her body, she felt the vortex start to disband. She gritted her teeth and pulled all the surrounding energy. The lights exploded leaving them in darkness.
The wind was gone. Ted pulled some light disks from his pockets and began lighting them. He moved towards the break in the wall, fearing he would find nothing there.
Instead, lying there curled up in the arms of the traveler was Mia. She stared up at him and said, “I know this looks bad, but let me explain…”
Ted hopped over the wall and pulled her to him. “I don’t care if you brought the rest of the orgy with you. I’m so glad you’re back.”
“Ouch, shit, Ted, careful. I brought back a souvenir.” She pointed to the arrow protruding from her thigh. “I think the poor bastard under me has a spear in him,” Mia said as Ted lifted her up. She twisted and saw the stone of the spearhead had worked its way through the traveler and stuck out his back.
Judy brushed past the couple and knelt beside the man. She called, “I need something to cut with and some bandages.”
Murphy reached in and offered his axe.
“Thank you, dear, but I could use something smaller. Penknife, anyone?”
Mia held on tightly to Ted and pushed her face into his chest, suppressing a giggle. Judy sounded so calm; it was too much for Mia.
“Don’t cry, baby, Teddy Bear will get you to the hospital and have that nasty arrow removed,” he cooed.
This was too much for Mia, and she broke out into inappropriate laughter.
He looked down at her, and she hiccupped. “Sorry, sorry, it must be the adrenaline.”
“Shock,” Audrey said, looking at Mia’s deerskins and bleeding thigh. “Let’s start to move Mia out of here and give Judy room to work.”
Charles took Mia’s hand as she passed him. “I’m so glad you’re back. I’ve been worried. We’ve all been worried.”
“You better stay with the traveler, father. He’ll need a familiar face when he comes to.”
“Yes, I’ll have a few words for him too,” Charles said gruffly.
Mia wanted to tell him that He-who-walks-through-time wasn’t a bad sort, just a frustrated demigod, but the searing pain in her leg distracted her.
Mike returned with the medic from the security squad. They placed her on a blanket on the ground while he examined her. He called for a stretcher. While they waited, the medic cut off the arrow head and handed it to Ted saying, “This will prompt an investigation.”
“So will her arriving dressed like an Amazon,” Mike said as he handed Ted some cutoff sweatpants and a t-shirt. Mia cringed as she was jostled around while they dressed her. Another day she would have been mortified. But the sheer joy of not being stuck back in 1050AD facing Eagle-eye negated any modesty she could have mustered.
Judy took Burt’s knife and cut into the traveler’s shoulder. She eased out the broken fragments of stone and wood with her fingers. She accepted the pads of gauze and pressed them to either side of the wound, stopping the blood flow. She stood up and said, “I need to take him to a place of healing. Give Mia my regards.”
Judy took off Charles’s shirt and reformed into a bird. She grew in size large enough to pick up the unconscious man with ease. She then moved her wings around them and they disappeared. All that was left of He-who-walks-through-time was the broken spearhead and his blood staining the crumbling concrete.
Charles arrived back in the passage to find only Burt.
“Where are they? What happened?” he asked.
Burt handed Charles his shirt and the parts of the spear wrapped in the leftover gauze. “She flew away with him. Probably to the place she came from originally.”
Charles looked at the spearhead and whistled. “What a find. Amanda will be so pleased.”
Burt looked at him and shook his head. “You Coopers are a strange lot. How’s your daughter?”
“Still in good humor. I expect they’ll take her to the hospital. She sent me here to help with Ed.”
“Ed’s gone.”
“Yes, well that puts me at loose ends. I’ll get cleaned up and head to the hospital.”
“You do that. I’ll drop in as soon as we’ve packed up,” Burt told him.
~
Cid met Burt at the stairway with the cable roller. “Well this is one for the scrap books. I doubt if we can show this on television and keep our PG rating. Too much naked Mia and Judy.”
“Not to mention Charles’s language,” Burt sai
d. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around that two members of our team went back in time.”
“I don’t think it’s too unusual when you think about how we deal with ghosts who died years ago but yet live in this time,” Cid said as they reached the video camera. He handed the camera to Burt and finished rolling the cable. “Now if this were a comic book, it would all be explainable. Stan Lee would have tossed in some scientific sounding words, and we would have eaten it up.”
Burt laughed. “I’ve always wanted to write and draw comic books. I told Audrey that awhile back, and she looked at me as if I just removed my finger from my nose.”
“Dames, they’ll never completely understand us,” Cid lamented.
“With your looks, Superman, I think they’ll be more than willing to suspend disbelief,” Burt pointed out as they reached the staircase. “Man, I hope this is the last time I have to climb this puppy.”
“Me too. The building is scheduled to be torn down in a few days. I guess no more portal hopping for Mia.”
“Somehow, I don’t think she’ll mind that at all,” Burt said.
~
The emergency doctor looked at Mia and said in disbelief, “So you’re telling me you got this branch stuck through your thigh jogging?”
“I said I was jogging in the park. I fell, and when I regained consciousness, I had this piece of wood stuck through my thigh.”
“It must hurt like…”
“A son-of-a-bitch,” Mia finished. “On a pain scale of one through ten, this one’s a thirty-two.”
He nodded. He’d have rated it much higher. He shot local anesthetic around the wound and started to irrigate it. “I think some kids must have shot you with a homemade bow and arrow. Ever since Hunger Games came out we’ve had a lot of bow and arrow related injuries here.”
“I’m sure that Longfellow’s I shot an arrow into the air it cometh down I know not where had its moments too,” Mia commented. “I know a few guys that jumped off the roof wearing Superman capes as youngsters.” Mia felt the medication start to work, and the pain eased. She watched as the surgeon worked on her leg as if she was watching a television show.
“Fortunate for you, no major blood vessels were damaged. It buzzed by the bone and did some muscle damage. Aside from a neat scar on the front and a nasty one in the back, I’d say you were a very lucky lady. Keep the weight off of it, no baths for six weeks, follow up with your GP, and tip the driver on the way out.”
Mia giggled.
“I’ll have the nurse bring in your very worried fiancé.”
“Ted told you?”
“Your young man has been telling everyone. I’d say the boy is smitten.”
“Good, I hope to keep him that way.”
The nurse came in and measured Mia for a dandy new set of crutches. She handed Mia a folder with care instructions.
“I told you running was unhealthy,” Ted teased as he walked into the room, holding a teddy bear wearing a St. Louis Rams uniform.
“Somehow a bear wearing a Rams jersey is just plain wrong,” Mia commented. “Although, it will go nicely with the teddy bear wearing the Chiefs jersey your dad gave us as an engagement present.”
“My dad always did have the best taste,” Ted informed her. He walked over and kissed her. “How are you feeling really?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Once the pain pill wears off I’ll be rather cranky, but right now I’m enjoying the fact that the wounds haven’t healed already.”
“That means…”
“The gray lady has left la cabeza.”
“I heard from Burt that she took Ed…”
“Ed?”
“She called your traveler an emerging deity or Ed for short.”
“Poor He-who-walks-through-time has been relegated to Ed.”
“Anyways, he’s gone. Although I worry not for too long. She didn’t seem like the type of person to shack up with a savage.”
“Why? I am,” Mia said with a twinkle. “Lately three savages. Handsome, charming, industrious but savages.”
Ted grinned. “Yeah, about that. How about we work on weaning Burt to your sanctuary. Come live with me, Mia. Let me take care of you.”
“The fathers would have a fit.”
“Your dad’s cool.”
“I was talking about Father Alessandro and Father Santos, not to mention Ralph who is counting on a big wedding. Bernard, well, he’s on your side.”
“Ahem,” Audrey announced herself from the edge of the cubical. “Mia’s going home to her place. I’m going to stay with her. Ralph and I worked out all the arrangements.” She walked in with a handful of her clothes and underwear. “Get out, let me dress the woman. It’s scandalous what you joggers wear to run these days,” she said with a wink.
Ted stuck out his bottom lip and turned heel.
Audrey pulled the curtain around and helped Mia dress. “Ralph arranged for a stretch limo and driver. Ted will have to be content to ride back with Murphy.”
Mia touched Audrey’s arm gently. “You don’t have to do this; I know Ralph can be a bit persuasive.”
“Oh, I’m the one who set the wheels in motion. I fear Ralph had all but planned on you living with him in that high-rise. I put the kibosh on that plan. I told him Amanda could get to you there…”
“Clever gal. She wouldn’t though. She’s moved on,” Mia said evenly. “What about your job?”
“I’m my own boss, and with the exception of the auction in a few weeks, I have little to nothing to do. Burt said that Doctor Walters will want to see you, and the nurse said you shouldn’t be on your own for a week, so I invited myself. My dad’s out shopping now, and my mother’s cooking up a storm…”
Mia listened to her new friend prattle on about the plans she had for Mia’s homecoming with a half-smile. She remembered Mike’s mom’s advice when she admitted to being a bit overwhelmed with all of Ted’s relatives. “Sometimes you just have to let them have their way. Pick your fights carefully, and above all, enjoy having family, Mia. There’s nothing better.”
“Your father…”
“Sorry, fuzzed out, painkillers. What did you say about my father?”
“He wants to come in and talk to you before they release you.”
“I’m surprised he’s still here.”
“Oh, Mia, he wouldn’t leave St. Louis until he knew you were safe. He and Ted were thick as thieves while you were… Where exactly were you?”
“Actually the question was when. Maybe he can pinpoint it for me.”
“Now that you’re dressed, I’ll send him in.”
Charles Cooper gazed at his daughter from the split in the curtain. She looked a lot like his mother, with the exception of her purple hair. It was a bit off putting, but he understood that wasn’t her doing. He walked in nervously. “Audrey tells me you’re going to live.”
“Yes, that’s the prognosis. How well I’m going to live is yet to be determined.”
“Mia, you and your friends risked a lot for me. I don’t deserve it. I’ve not been a good parent to you,” he admitted.
“You’re a good man, Father, that’s why. Besides, it’s not often I get to kick the ass of a god.” Mia looked at her father with amusement.
“I believe it was his balls. You were never good at anatomy, sweetheart,” he recalled. “I remember when I took you to the Wyoming dig. You were about three. We had just uncovered a cache of bones. You had grabbed one and started fencing with a ghost.”
“Really? I don’t remember that,” Mia admitted.
“I said, Mia Cooper, put that down. It’s part of the find of the century! You looked at me, handed the femur over and said, ‘Don’t sweat it, Daddy, they’re only old bones.’ The ghost of whom you were having fun with was quite put out. I sat you down then and there and…”
“You discussed with me the importance of being reverent with the remains of the dead. That part of them and their lives resided amongst the calcium and carbon,” Mia said. “That I do r
emember.”
Charles smiled sadly. “You’ve taken this to heart. Ted told me how you fight with Burt all the time over the importance of respecting the remains of the dead.”
“That I got from you, father.”
“Mia, I’m a real bastard. I was unkind to your grandmother, brutal to your aunt and shoved you aside. I’d like to make it up to you. Salvage our relationship, if I can.”
Mia frowned. “Father, let’s just take it one encounter at a time. I know as soon as you’re back with Amanda you will forget your promises. You can’t help yourself.”
His face darkened. “I will not forget that you’re my daughter. You’re probably the best thing to come out of the Cooper line in a long time. You have such a big heart, Mia, which is amazing considering how we hurt you.”
Mia was moved by his words but untrusting of them at the same time. She just reached out her arms, and he leaned over and hugged her. She fought the tears, but they won out and streamed from her eyes. He let go and offered her his grimy sleeve to wipe them with. This caused her to laugh.
“Ah, Father, you’re one in a million.”
“I guess I am. Speaking of one in a million, I like that young man of yours. He’s quite a catch. When that Whitney was sniffing around I was a bit put off. Although Whitney has grown into a fine young man, as a child he was a little self-centered bastard. He’s not for you.”
“He was kind to me when I needed kindness, Father. But I soon saw that we had our time, and then it was done. Ted’s forever. I feel about Ted like you feel for Amanda. It’s scary when a person means so much to you.”
“You don’t have to preach to me. A word of advice. I enabled most of Amanda’s bad qualities. Be careful to not let your love overshadow your common sense.”
Mia nodded.
Charles Cooper kissed his daughter on the forehead and turned to go.
“Father, I love you,” Mia said. “That’s why I went in search for you.”
