“Can I talk to you for a moment? In private?” Theus asked Eiren.
The pair stepped out of the shop, followed by the raised eyebrows of the other two.
“Thank you for helping make this possible. You shouldn’t have sold yourself to him for my benefit,” he told the girl.
“It’s just one more run with Vanline, and I need the additional practice with the sword anyway,” Eiren brushed his appreciation aside. “He’ll pay for it, believe me,” she smirked.
“If you’re sure, then I thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if this hadn’t been worked out,” Theus acknowledged, as the pair went back into the shop.
“I’m going to go now to recruit the people from the Jewel Hills. When I have them rounded up, we’ll keep traveling east until we meet you on the road,” he explained to Vanline and Eiren
“And then what happens?” Vanline asked. “You’ve never really explained this to us.”
“And then,” Theus paused, “is it too late for you to change your mind?” he asked.
“Yes, it’s too late. We’re committed,” Vanline replied.
“Then we go to Limber. We’re going to bring the city back to life,” Theus said with a hint of excitement in his voice. His eyes sparkled at the thought.
“Is it too late for us to reverse this?” Vanline turned to Eiren to ask.
“I’m just teasing,” he turned back to Theus with a smile. “We’ll carry out our duties, and we’ll see what happens.”
Theus was ready to go. “I need to pack supplies for my trip, and then I’ll be on my way. He waved farewell to Shimma, shook Vanline’s hand, then hugged Eiren. “Safe travels everyone,” he told his friends, and then he left the shop. He walked to the market and bought blankets to sleep in, and more than enough food for his trip. He wanted to arrive at his farm house home with extra food that he could share with them all.
The sun was slightly west of its zenith; he would have time to make perhaps two long magical steps across the land. He lined himself up to face east. The journey would be risky at first, until he got east of the Wallchick Mountains; he might land in the bottom of a valley, or at the top of a peak, or on the ridiculously sloped side of a mountain. He hadn’t enjoyed any of his trips through mountains since he’d learned of white magic, though none had been catastrophic. And he told himself that within a day or two he would finally reach the wide, gentle prairies that reigned all the way to the Jewel Hills. The majority of his trip would be simple.
And then he startled the people in the market place by simply disappearing from view.
Chapter 20
Theus told himself he should have bet money with someone about how he would land with his first step.
He stood on a cold rocky slope of a mountain, nearly at the top of the peak, holding on to his staff to support himself after using his energy to travel away from Greenfalls.
“I knew it,” he muttered, then began slowly picking his way down the side of the mountain, looking for trails that would ease the way. He slowly descended to a ridge line that ran in roughly the correct direction for his travels, and afterwards trudged dutifully along the crest ridge. At sunset he took his second long step of the day, and spent the night in a forest of small, scrubby trees on the gentle slope of a smaller mountain. He huddled in his new blankets, and slept soundly through the night.
When he awoke in the morning he found light rain falling, and the sky gray with clouds. He decided to make his first step before even eating any breakfast, in the hopes of arriving in drier surroundings. He pulled his soggy blankets together in a bundle, then took a step forward to the east.
He arrived under gray and drizzling skies. But he was on a gently rolling prairie, with small trees only in the low swales and gullies of watercourses, and he could see across the landscape to a distant horizon that was level in the east. When he turned to look behind him, he saw the distant shape of the Wallchick Mountains in the west. He had cleared his hurdle, and could travel freely. Wet, but freely, he amended his thought.
By mid-day he had walked several miles, and was ready to take another magical step into the east. The light rain had passed over, the ground beneath his feet had absorbed the moisture without turning sloppy, and Theus felt good about the journey. In a matter of two or three days he would home in the Jewel Hills.
He took his magical step, and landed back inside the belt of rain that was moving towards the east. He gave a mild curse, while he leaned heavily on his staff, and stood in the rain while he caught his breath, before he plodded forward, resolutely moving east. He ate as he went, and plucked some of the local plants to supplement his needs, until he made his third jump of the day and settled down for the night at sundown, finally out of the path of the weather front that was carrying rain.
Theus repeated the grueling traveling pace the next day as well. He was traveling to the north of the Landwide River and the parallel road, far from the traffic. The lands he crossed were most empty wilderness, with a few occasional farm houses visible.
His fourth day of travel ended his journey. When he made his second step at midday, he found himself among rolling hills and numerous farm fields scattered across the lands. He was back in the Jewel Hills.
He leant on his staff and smiled broadly. He didn’t recognize the vicinity, but it wouldn’t take long for him to find familiar landmarks. He guessed that within an hour he’d be back at the family farmstead, listening and talking and laughing with all the others.
When he began walking, he guessed that he needed to go south, and he did. He slowly wended his way towards sights and locations that brought back memories of his childhood. He waved in friendly fashion to farmers he saw working in their fields or on their ditches and fences. And he finally came within sight of his own home at mid-afternoon.
He felt like a young boy at home once again; yet he also felt as if he were a stranger looking upon a life that wasn’t his. It never would be his again, he knew.
He watched Thera cross the farmyard and enter the barn while he was walking down the hill through the fields, and he veered to encounter his sister first. He rounded the corner of the shabby building and entered the dim interior, where Thera was milking the goat – a new goat.
“You can go faster than that, can’t you?” he asked.
She turned to look at him, and saw the outlined figure of a man standing in the doorway, the details of his appearance obscured by the brighter light behind him.
“Who is it?” she asked, standing to see.
Theus stepped closer, and to the side.
“Who are you? Oh gods of all parts of the universe! Theus? Is it really you?” her voice rose dramatically in pitch and volume, and then she ran to him and hugged him as she burst into tears.
“You are still as ugly as ever, but you’re the most beautiful sight I’ve seen in months,” she sobbed.
“Let’s get you inside. We ought to hurry,” she told him. One of her hands grabbed his, while the other began to wipe away the tears on her cheeks.
“What’s the hurry?” Theus asked as he was dragged away. The unhappy goat, its udder still uncomfortably full of milk, bleated in dismay at being abandoned, but Thera hurried on towards the house.
“It’s for father,” Thera told Theus as she pulled him along. “I want him to see you while he’s still awake.
“He’s dying Theus. He’ll be gone any hour now,” she shocked Theus by whispering, just as they reached the door.
Chapter 21
Theus was stunned by the pronouncement.
“Wait! What?” he asked.
“Thera, who is that with you?” Theus heard his mother’s voice call from the small side room that was his parents’ bedroom.
“Mom, dad. It’s Theus! Theus is home!” his sister called as she led him through the kitchen and towards his parents.
“What? What’s that you say?” Allise asked in confusion, unable to believe what she had heard.
Theus stepped into th
e bedroom door, and took in the scene in the room in a glance. He’d seen slavery and warfare and black magic, but he’d seen nothing that affected him as deeply as the room in his family homestead.
His mother looked thin and care-worn as she sat on a stool that was crammed into the narrow space between the wall and the mattress. She was holding the hand of her husband in the bed, but her eyes were wide and focused on the doorway.
“Oh heavens! Oh heavens, you’re alive! Theus,” his mother stood as she released Cern’s hand and edged out into the open space in the room.
“Theus, you’re a blessing,” she told him in an emotional tone as they hugged one another. “It’s so good to have you back. We’ve all missed you so much. I’ve missed you so much.” She held him in a tight embrace.
“What’s happening to father?” he asked after several seconds of silence.
“He had bad pains in his back for a few weeks, and lately it’s turned worst. He hasn’t been out of bed in a month. He’s barely awake now,” she said.
“What’s this?” the hoarse shadow of Theus’s father’s voice sounded.
Theus looked over the top of his mother’s head; he didn’t remember her being so small. His father’s eyes were open. They were dull and sunken and his face was yellow and gaunt.
“Dad, I’m home dad,” he said simply. He released his mother and stepped over to his father’s side. The man was horribly ill.
Theus let his memory open wide, and he let the information about his father’s condition sift through the healing knowledge he held. It wasn’t food poisoning; it wasn’t an insect bite. It was a disease, a deadly one.
He needed a number of items and elements to put together a remedy that might save his father’s life. He was sure that none of them were present in his parents’ home; most were probably not even available in the Jewel Hills.
His father’s hand moved slightly on the cover, and Theus reached over to gently grasp it. He felt his father’s fingers wrap round his own, and the two gave a slight smile to one another.
“Take care of them for me Theus. Take care of them,” Cern whispered.
“I’m going to watch out for them. I’ll keep them safe,” Theus promised.
“Is Theus here?” he heard the younger children in the family spilling into the bedroom doorway to confirm the astonishing news of the return of the lost eldest son.
His mother took her seat on the stool again, and Theus gently released his father’s hand. His vision was blurry, as he turned and stepped out of the room, into the middle of the pack of siblings.
“Theus! Is that a real sword, Theus?”
“Where have you been?”
“Are you staying here? Did you hear that dad is sick?” the questions and comments came fast and furious as Theus was mobbed by the small bodies crowded into the kitchen.
Theus heard his mother give a heart-breaking sob, and tears began to fall from his own eyes.
“Cern, oh Cern,” his mother wailed.
Chapter 22
The family buried Cern the next day. There was no priest available in the Jewel Hills, and Cern had never been a religious man. A number of neighbors in the region stopped by as word of the death spread among the Jewel Hills farmers, and gifts of food were freely given to the surviving family members.
The return of Theus drew a number of comments, and the change in his appearance likewise became a topic of approving discussion. Theus hadn’t realized that he’d grown taller during his time traveling around the cities of the western lands, nor had he realized that his constant work with sword and staff had developed his muscles and changed his figure. He did know that he carried a sword, and that too was a topic among the Jewel Hills residents, where such weaponry was seldom seen.
Theus was pleased to see the amount of support that was offered to his family. The neighbors were kind, and he hoped they would be willing to listen to him when the time came to ask them all to migrate to Limber.
His arms were sore that evening, as a result of his work to dig the grave for his father, and then refill it atop the simple coffin that help his father’s remains. He sat out on the porch after the sun set, a rare moment of solitude, and thought about the healing he could have offered his father if he had known about the illness even a week sooner. It was a cruel trick of fate to let him see his father on the last day of the man’s life.
“It may seem cruel to you, but it was a great kindness to your father. It let him believe that you would take care of and provide for the family he left behind,” the Voice spoke to him for the first time in many days.
“Your mother is so happy to have you around in these trying times, and you are going to provide the strength for her to make the right decision,” the Voice informed him.
“Should I go tell her my plans?” Theus asked.
“Not tonight. Go talk to your sister. Tell her everything – leave nothing out. It is critical that she understand everything and come with you,” the Voice informed him, and then it said no more.
Theus stood and looked up at the stars, just as he heard the door in the farmhouse open.
“Theus, is everything okay? Shouldn’t you come inside?” Thera asked.
“Come here,” he replied. “I want to tell you my story.”
“Mom is lonely,” Thera replied as she stepped out next to him. “We shouldn’t leave her alone too long.”
And then Theus began his story, the whole story, telling Thera everything that had happened, from the caravan to the temple and festival in Greenfalls to the river barge. He told of Lord Warrell, and Forgon, and Coriae, especially Coriae. Then his story continued to the fearful time in Southsand and his terrible encounters with Donal, and then his escape with Amelia and Amory and Redford.
He told her about the Voice, and he told her about visiting the temple in Great Forks, and he told her about learning to see and understand the memory stones.
“Theus, that’s unbelievable!” she said when he stopped to contemplate all that he remembered.
“I’m not even to the most unbelievable part yet,” he told her softly.
“Wait! Let me go see mother, and see that the little ones are in bed. I’ll be right back,” she rose to her feet and sprinted into the house. Several minutes later she came back and sat down again.
“Everything’s under control. The kids are in bed and quiet. Mother is sitting quietly. We’ll need to talk to her tomorrow; she put up a strong front today for all the neighbors, but she’s tired; we all are. It’s been so hard to watch dad grow weaker,” Thera’s voice trailed off.
Life on the farm had been harder for everyone than Theus had expected.
“So tell me more; is there more?” his sister asked.
He proceeded to tell the story of Forgon’s trial and his engagement with Coriae.
“Oh Theus! That’s so wonderful – I hope that someday I can meet her,” Thera placed her hand on his arm as she spoke warmly.
Then Theus told of the fateful night he had been instructed to learn about white magic, and had made the fateful trip to Coriae’s room. He hurried his monologue then, to prevent any questions, and proceeded through the rescue of Amelia and his journey to Limber.
“It’s like a story a peddler would tell,” Thera said finally, when he was done. “It’s all so unbelievable. You think you could have given dad something to save him?”
“If I had more time – time to go to the shops in Waterspot or even Greenfalls to get the ingredients. I’m sorry,” he told her.
“You didn’t know,” Thera forgave him. “And you’ve been pretty busy anyway,” she added.
“So you plan to take all of us and move us to Limber?” she asked.
“Everyone I can. Now seems like a good time to give mom a new home and a new beginning,” he answered. “I just don’t know how to tell other people.”
“You’ll find a way,” Thera said reassuringly.
“Let’s go inside and go to bed. It’s been a long day,” Thera stood up.
“I’ll go check the barn; you head on in,” Theus proposed.
“You can’t check the barn – it’s dark in there!” Thera pointed out the obvious.
Theus held up a finger, and it began to glow, growing brighter and brighter as the seconds passed.
“Oh, I see,” she said in a small voice.
Theus found that the goat and the implements in the barn were secure, and then he entered the house, ready to sleep after the emotional day.
“Theus,” his mother called, “come talk to me.”
He nodded his head and obliged her.
“I’m so grateful you came back when you did, Theus. It gave your father comfort, and it gives me comfort. Your father cried after you left. He felt terrible about letting you go, but there was no choice. He loved you, truly loved you, even if he didn’t say it.” Theus believed her.
“I know you’re doing well. You look so much more like a man now!” she smiled gently.
“We’re going to have to decide what the future holds,” she told him. “You don’t feel like someone who is going to stay here in the Jewel Hills being a farmer. You want to go back out into the world, don’t you?” she asked.
“Mom, there are things I have to do,” he told her gently, but with conviction. “I have a place I want you to come to. I want the whole family, and all the Jewel Hills to come start over in a better place.
“Mom, I’ve been to Limber. It’s real! There is a city in the mountains, and it’s waiting for people to come live there again. The god Limber wants people to come to the city and worship him again. The other gods want us to go there too,” he spoke about far more than he had intended to on the night after his father’s funeral.
“Limber? Theus, what are you talking about?” his mother looked puzzled.
“I’ll tell you tomorrow, I promise,” he decided to save the evening. They didn’t need to have the conversation – and probably confrontation – then and there.
“I’m glad to see you again. I thought of you a lot while I was gone,” he told her. ”We’re going to make everything work out.”
Unpredictable Fortunes (The Memory Stone Series Book 3) Page 20
