After a quick and very hot shower, she packed up her camera and video and headed home, singing a cheerful tune as she went. She had called her favorite Chinese restaurant just before getting in the shower, so her order would be ready when she arrived to pick it up. A quick stop at a corner grocery for a bottle of wine, and she and Marie would have a lovely late supper. She envisioned a pleasant evening of celebration and loving. Her pace quickened. She gave no further thought to the man whose life she was about to destroy.
* * * *
Daffyd walked the streets aimlessly. As the full realization of what this was going to mean began to dawn, he stopped in the middle of a block, staring blankly ahead. Late-night pedestrians dodged around him, tossing casual curses his way for obstructing the sidewalk. Their words fell on deaf ears. I'm finished, he thought. Everything I've worked for, everything I've ever done will mean nothing. I'll never conduct another performance. I'll have to hide ... run and hide like a hunted animal ... they'll kill me when this gets out! Dad, Rhiannon ... I'll have to tell you what's happened. You'll need time to get away ... Oh my God! His hand rose to his mouth in horror at what was to come. He felt nauseated and terrified.
“Excuse me, are you all right?” came a strange voice at his side. He glanced down at a young man who was looking at him with concern.
“Yes,” he managed. “Yes, I'm fine. Thank you. I ... I must have eaten something bad.” He smiled weakly and resumed walking. He imagined how the polite concern would turn to contempt and brutality if the stranger had known the truth about him. He shuddered inwardly. There had been more than one heterosexual death in the past year caused by ‘harassment'.
He, himself, knew one man who had been beaten senseless and had later died in the hospital from the injuries. No one had been caught. The sad thing was, the woman Mario had been seen walking with, laughing together in the park, his arm around her shoulder, and whom he had kissed on the cheek at a bus stop, had been his sister. The group of ‘normals’ following them didn't know and wouldn't have cared. Mario had had a reputation for liking women, and this behavior was enough to seal his fate.
Daffyd knew there were incredibly well organized hate groups out there who would delight in destroying him. Literally. He closed his eyes for a moment against the pain he felt for his family. They wouldn't be immune, either. Silent tears silvered his cheeks, freezing in his beard, as he thought of Ria, his little grandniece. He imagined the teasing she would have to endure, and how she wouldn't understand it, or why it was happening. She was only five years old. What did she know of hatred and loathing? It wasn't fair that she should suffer because he had been careless.
He wiped his face and fought for control. He had been slumping with the weight of this burden, but he pulled himself erect and held his head high. The papers weren't out yet. He would have a few days, perhaps a week or two, to prepare for the worst. He could do this. He had the money, the influence, and the power to protect himself and his family. He hoped. Tomorrow, he would turn up for rehearsal, and afterwards, start the ball rolling to salvage as much as he could before his world crashed down around them all.
All this played through his mind as he gazed at Seren's amused and compassionate expression. He resumed his narrative.
Once he had regained his composure, he realized he was going to be late arriving at the theater if he didn't hurry. He grabbed his coat, and, not even bothering with overshoes, hastened out the door. He was just going to grab a cab, and run into the Place; he could live without the galoshes. When the doorman hadn't been able to hail a taxi for him, he had simply hurried along down the street, hoping to get one himself. He had seen one just ahead, discharging a passenger. He increased his pace in order to catch it, but had slipped on the icy walk. As he fell, the thought went through his mind, “Lovely. I'll be in the papers twice. Once for serious injury and then for being het.”
Then he had landed.
The story he told Seren and Devany did not include his last thought, or any details of the previous evening. The tale they heard was liberally laced with ironic humor, and caused Seren to smile in sympathy more than once. She had laughed quietly in a few places, thinking she hadn't had a day like that for a long time, for which she was deeply grateful.
“And then I met you, Seren,” he concluded. “The rest you know.” He finished his drink, and looked at her expectantly. Devany, too, turned her eyes to Seren. Seren glanced from one to the other, and then out the window. The unchanging light was bright and cheery, dappling through the leaves of the trees. She wondered again how long they had been there, although, in a way, time seemed meaningless here. She thought over Devany's and Daffyd's stories, thinking how different Devany's world was from her own and Daffyd's. His narration had been of a world and a life so similar to hers that it never occurred to her he might be from a different reality. She still assumed he was from her own world's future, just as he assumed she was from his past.
Her eyes returned to her companions. “I guess it's my turn, now,” she said.
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* * *
CHAPTER 12
Your project progresses well? Dommi's thought drifted gently into the other's mind.
Mykal replied without taking his focus from the subjects of his work. Very well, so far. Three of them have come together and are bonding. The other two should be there on schedule.
Two more? I thought you wanted only one.
Mykal's aura dimmed. I erred. When I took the one, he grabbed the other and I wasn't certain I could remove him without injury to her. So I transported them both.
Perhaps it will work to your advantage, Dommi reassured him. May I look? Dommi waited at a respectful distance for the answer. Although he was senior, this was Mykal's effort. Dommi was there for support and as a resource, not to take over.
Certain. Mykal gestured for Dommi to come near. Together they gazed down into the dining room of a lonely house perched on a hillside overlooking endless fields of grass. Dommi listened to the conversation and the thoughts of the people around the table. As always, it took him a moment to sort through the confusion of overlapping ideas. The difficulty was compounded by the fact that there were three minds to sort, not just one.
...I wish Nanny were here; I want to go home ... that endless daylight ... would she smile if she knew ... am I being Tested? ... his eyes are so blue ... how long have we ... home, I want to go home ... home, they must be worried ... home, can I ever go home...?
May I offer?
Certain.
You have forgotten the movement of the sun. They will find it less disruptive if it appears to be moving as it normally does in their worlds.
Mykal's aura underwent a series of color changes in his embarrassment. He had forgotten their perception of the sun! He had been so caught up in trying to get just the right ones from just the right realities, he had missed one of the basic precepts. Once your subjects were moved to the work area, you changed the way they saw the light source. It was one of the earliest things you learned.
There were too many projects going on at one time to have the sun actually move. It was much easier to tap into the minds of the subjects and have them see what you needed them to. He quickly regained control.
Yes, Dommi. I did forget. I am at a loss to explain how.
He felt Dommi's reassurance. You are not the first, nor will you be the last.
May I ask for advice?
Certain.
How best to rectify?
Dommi pondered a moment, dipping again into the minds below. Bring it now to the western horizon. The adults both think it is getting late; make it so. Then just a mere touch to make them forget it was standing still.
That will not harm them? Mykal's concern flickered around him. He wanted so much for this to work out well.
Not at all. Dommi radiated warm humor. It is one of the benefits of choosing human beings. They are remarkably resilient. Now, repair.
Mykal concentrated on his
three subjects. In a moment, he glanced over at Dommi's glow of approval.
Nicely done. Dommi moved on to the next apprentice. Mykal sat and watched his project unfold.
* * * *
“Do you think they'll find Mum today?” Meggie asked through a mouthful of oatmeal. The twins looked apprehensively at their older sister.
It had been almost a week since Seren's disappearance. So far, Karina had been able to fend off Children's Aid but she knew things couldn't go on like this forever. Sooner or later some busybody would report them, which might cause them to be split up. She hated the thought of being on her own altogether. It was funny. A week ago, she would have loved to get her own apartment and start living her own life. But that was with the security of knowing that ‘home’ was there to go to if she felt lonely or just wanted to be with her family. The idea of being alone in the house, her mother missing and her siblings scattered to the four winds filled her with horror. As a result, her temper had become somewhat frayed. She had been snapping at the younger ones with no real provocation and instantly regretting it. She wanted her mother home as badly as the others did.
Today she managed to keep her cool. “I don't know, Megalicious. Maybe. We just have to wait and see.”
She was feeling a little more hopeful this morning. She had had a strange dream last night. The memory was fragmented and fading but certain images had stayed with her, offering comfort. She remembered staring at a painting of a lonely farmhouse surrounded by big trees. It was not a place she recognized but she could feel her mother's presence very strongly. She could almost hear her voice telling her that everything was all right, that she would be home as soon as she could.
Karina had woken with a start, convinced that her mother was alive and well somewhere. She had no idea who had taken her or why she was being held incommunicado but the feeling Karina had was strong and brought comfort to her.
“Come on, Meg. Eat up and get ready for school. I'll drop you off today.”
The younger girl's eyes had glowed with pleasure. Usually, she had to take the bus to school with that hateful Sonny Macumber. He almost always pulled her hair or punched her in the arm or something equally stupid and annoying. Boys! They were such a pain to have around. It was much nicer to ride with Karina. Meggie felt important somehow, as if she were someone famous with her own chauffeur.
She hastily finished her cereal, gulped her juice and ran upstairs to grab her book bag. In a few minutes she was back downstairs, tying her unruly curls back into a ponytail.
“Can you braid it for me?” she begged her sister.
“Not right now, Meg. Tonight, after your bath, okay? I'll put it in two pigtails for tomorrow. Right now, we're running late, so just get a move on!”
“But ... arrrrrrrrghh ... okay.” Meg knew better than to argue when Karina used that no-nonsense tone she had picked up from Seren. Thinking about her mother almost brought Meggie to tears but she stopped herself. Karina had enough to worry about without Meggie adding to it.
In the car, Karina checked to make sure Meg's seatbelt was securely fastened before starting the car. She backed carefully out of the driveway and turned down the road toward Meg's school. The twins had opted to ride their bikes since both were involved in after-school activities today. As Karina drove, she hummed a snatch of music. Meg echoed her, dum-de-dumming along. After a few moments, Meg asked, “What is that song, Karina?”
Karina glanced over at her sister, puzzled. “Oh, it's the new one from...” she paused. “No, it's from the TV show ... you know, the one with the ... no, it's not that, either. I don't know. I just woke up with it going through my head. I thought I must have heard it on the clock radio or something.” She shrugged. “Hey—you were singing it, too! Why are you asking me?”
Meg rolled her eyes in the way that only eleven-year-old girls can. The expression on her face suggested that she was in the company of an unbelievably dense person and that it was a miracle Karina had survived infancy.
“I just heard you humming and I remembered hearing it before. But I don't remember where. I was just asking.”
Karina's forehead creased in concentration. She thought the song might have been in her dream but how could Meg know it? She must have heard it in her sleep. She often put the clock radio on the timer at bedtime and fell asleep to the music. Maybe Meg had done the same. Even though they kept their radios tuned to different stations, the same song could have played. It was odd, though.
Meg puzzled over it, too. She had a picture in her mind of a tall, heavyset man rocking a little girl in his arms and singing quietly to her. Seren was there, too, somewhere in the background, watching. It must have been a dream. She had probably heard the music in her sleep, and dreamed this dream to go with it. She shrugged mentally, and turned her attention to the passing scenery.
* * * *
Seren looked out at the gathering twilight. It had crept up on them so gradually, it almost seemed to have happened suddenly, one moment—bright afternoon, the next—deepening gloom.
“Perhaps we should turn on some lights,” she suggested. “And I'll tell you about my day.”
With the soft glow, that was so much like sunshine, pouring down on them from the overhead globes, Seren told her companions about her afternoon.
Ordinarily, a trip to the grocery store involved the company of at least one child, sometimes two or three, and rarely, all four. Today, she had been able to persuade them that she wanted, no—needed—an hour or so to herself and that she was quite capable of making a trip to Foodland alone. They had all put in requests that she had mentally filed, finally threatening them with no goodies whatsoever if they didn't all hush up and let her go.
“Really,” she had said. “I do know what you all like and don't like. Now just let me go!”
As she fastened her seatbelt and turned the key in the ignition, she rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh of relief. If she took her time, she might actually have a whole hour just for her!
The day was warm, sunny, and glorious. The sun beamed out of a summer blue sky, while white fluffy clouds posed artistically in the middle distance, just in case someone wanted to paint their portraits.
She smiled at her fanciful thoughts and cranked up the volume on her new CD player. Many people of her generation looked askance at some of the music she listened to. Of course, she considered their tastes pedantic and dull. Her own preferences in music ranged from Louis Armstrong to the Beatles, from the soothing Native American flute of R. Carlos Nakai to the bubble gum music of the Danish group Aqua. She listened to it all.
As she drove, she played the song The Highwayman, by the group called The Highwaymen. Johnny Cash's unmistakable voice grumbled out of the speakers, singing about flying across the universe divide and finding a place to rest his spirit on the far side.
She was certain there were other intelligences out there. The God of her understanding did not possess an imagination that ended with human beings as the sole sentient species in the wide-flung reaches of the galaxies. She believed that the phrase ‘in God's image’ had nothing to do with physical form, and everything to do with spirit and creative ability: to love, to paint, to write, to design, to build, to create beauty in whatever form, merely for its own sake. And if humans could imagine life as an intelligent gaseous cloud, or a lump of semi-molten rock, then what might really be out there? God, if such a being existed, must have an imagination vaster and wilder than that of mere people. She wondered what it would be like to be the object of an alien abduction. A part of her wished she could actually visit other worlds out there, but oh well....
She pulled into the parking lot of her usual grocery store. She liked the small town life and enjoyed the familiarity of the clerks, who probably knew way more about her than she cared to think about. As she walked from her car to the store, she was greeted or waved at by several acquaintances. She smiled to herself. It was just so much more congenial here than in the big city where she and Terry had lived dur
ing the early part of their marriage.
She wandered through the store, choosing things for today's barbecue-picnic. The twins could make sandwiches, Meggie would be in charge of ‘building the salad', as she called it, and Karina would help Seren with the barbecuing. The kids would probably all have friends dropping in, which was fine with Seren. She would rather have the house and yard full than to be wondering where her children were, with whom and into what mischief they were getting.
With her purchases complete, she paused to talk with one of her favorite cashiers for a moment. They were in a reading group together and discussed the latest book under review: a Maeve Binchy novel. Seren had lived in Ireland for a couple of years as a young teen and loved Maeve's characters. She always felt as though she were reading about people she knew or had met. But Charice felt differently. She enjoyed the story well enough, but had a bit of difficulty with some of the slang. It was going to be part of tomorrow evening's discussion, and Seren had prepared a list of terms with their North American translations.
At last, she was done. She gathered up her plastic bags, declining the offer of ‘carry out’ help, and headed for her car, her keys in her hand ready to unlock the trunk. Ray Gaudet had waved to her from his truck as he was pulling in and she had seen Bobby Melanson walking toward her. A small pebble had insinuated itself under her left foot just as she reached her car. She tripped and fell, dropping her car keys, dreading the impact ... and landed in the field.
“I didn't know what to do, but the road seemed the most promising lead. Then I just picked a direction and started walking. That's when you turned up, Daffyd. And the rest is history.”
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* * *
CHAPTER 13
They looked back and forth at each other. The sun was sinking toward the horizon, the twilight deepening even more. Devany's eyes were huge with amazement. The world Seren described was so far removed from her experience that she couldn't grasp it.
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