Soulshine

by J W Rocque

  “Sorry about that, Bryan. It… was a spur of the moment decision, and I had no way of contacting you. You were going up to meet some benevolent monks, if I recall.”

  “He certainly did,” said Oliver. “Bryan is a most engaging fellow. While here, in the course of conversation, he happened to mention a friend in New York that he had known for a number of years who maintained a youthful appearance… and the age he was passing himself off as did not seem to fit.”

  “The gray coloring around the temples just didn"t convince me,” said Bryan. “But of course I gave you the benefit of the doubt.”

  “So you drove all the way up to New Brunswick just to talk aboutme to the monks?” Evan looked at Oliver. “So am I in New Brunswick? Is this the place you went to visit, Bryan?”

  “Yes… and yes,” said Oliver.

  “Eric… Evan, I really did come up here to do the article on the Brother"s Keepers Hermitage. But you know me… I love to talk about everything. I probably mentioned you to dozens of people duringthe years we shared that apartment… but when I happened to mention you to Brother Hawkings, something just clicked in his head.”

  “Don"t get Bryan wrong, Evan,” said Oliver. “I didn"t let on to Bryan. I just silently wondered and thought nothing else about it after Bryan left to return to New York.”

  “Then I brought the whole subject up again just this past week,” said Jean.

  “Yes,” said Oliver. “Luckily for you, your friend Jean was in the right place at the right time… faithfully volunteering at Ottawa General Hospital.”

  Evan looked at Jean. “Youjust happened to be in Ottawa?”

  “I"ve lived in Ottawa for years, Eric. You don"t mind that I call you Eric,do you?”

  “No… if it makes it easier for you. Though I prefer Evan. I made a promise to someone that I would not change my name again.”

  “Would that be the young girl that was with you in the hospital?”

  “Yes… Michelle. Where is she?”

  “She"s not here,” said Jean without looking Evan in the eyes.

  “Not here? But she was going to ride in the ambulance that I was in and the older lady… you… were the one escorting her to the ambulance.”

  Jean got the courage to look Evan in the eyes. “We"ll discuss that in a minute. You had asked how I happened to be in Ottawa.”

  “I want to know where my… wife is.”

  “Your… wife? We need to talk, Eric. She"s a minor. How can she be…?”

  “She is not.”

  “Let me fill in the blanks for you before we talk about Michelle. Do you recall me telling you years ago that I was raised in Ontario?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, my family lived in Ottawa. After my father died, my mother started taking ill, so I moved back up to Ottawa about ten years ago. I started volunteering at the hospital and stayed there even after my mother passed away.”

  “That explains your presence at the hospital.”

  “Yes… it was purely coincidence. Anyway… Bryan and I always kept in touch… and when you were admitted… I did a double and a triple take. I couldn"t believe my eyes. Then I dismissed the thought… figuring that it couldn"t possibly be you… especially after I checked the name on the roster… Evan Troy. But the next time I talked to Bryan, I happened to mention the uncanny resemblance.”

  “But,” said Bryan. “I still didn"t suspect it was really you... even when Jean mentioned that the patient was in a strange yet terrible state of unexplained decomposition. The doctors were stumped, according to her, so naturally I thought of Brother Hawkings and the Brother"s Keepers. They had done so much marvelous medical work, I wondered if they could possibly be able to help this young man named Evan Troy.”

  “You just happened to recall these monks after twenty- something years?” questioned Evan.

  “Not at all,” explained Oliver. “Bryan and I had been conversing over the years by telephone. He always wanted to return for a follow-up story, but… I was reluctant to have him visit again so I kept putting him off… but we did keep in constant contact. You, above all people, understand not wanting to maintain visual contact with someone over a long period of time, don"t you, Evan?”

  Evan squirmed. “You seem to know a lot about me, Brother Hawkings.”

  “Let"s just say I understand very well, Evan.”

  Bryan interruptedto continue the story. “So when I happened to mention the coincidence that Jean noticed… that the patient looked like you… Brother Hawkings put two and two together…”

  “And came up with four,” smiled Oliver. “The patient happened to look like a man who did not appear to be aging, and the patient"s bodily damage just happened to be causing rapid decomposition. It was a combination we have witnessed firsthand for ourselves.”

  “So you kidnapped me.”

  “To help you… yes. How are you feeling?”

  “To tell you the truth… I"m feeling better than I was when I left in the ambulance. Speaking of the ambulance… I still need to know what happened with Michelle.”

  Jean sighed. “I… led her into a different ambulance. Actually, she was in the ambulance you were supposed to be in.”

  Evan closed his eyes. “So she was taken to Fletcher University Hospital with no patient in the back of the ambulance?”

  “Um… that"s correct.”

  “Why?” Evan asked angrily.

  “Evan,” offered Oliver gently,“we know a lot more about you than you think we do. The girl could not be brought here. As Jean intimated earlier… isn"t she a bit young for you? I mean… even for your physiological age?”

  “Brother Hawkings… I"m in love with that girl. No… I"m in love with that woman. Love has no boundaries. Who is man to judge another man"s love?”

  “Are you saying that all of Christianity comes down to loving God and loving humanity without shame?”

  “As a matter of fact… yes.”

  “Aha! Spoken in the true spirit of Eustace Tewksbury!”

  Michelle hailed a cab and had the driver take her to the Ottawa airport. It’s a good thing Evan had me hold all our money for safe keeping before he was transferred to Fletcher University Hospital, she thought as she entered the terminal. The ticket lines, as usual, were long. Yet, due to her mind still racing from what seemed like a terrible nightmare, she hardly noticed the time go by before she was at the front of the line.

  “May I help you?”

  “Yes… are there any flights to Providence?”

  “Rhode Island… in the States?” asked the ticket person.

  “Yes.”

  “Not anytime soon. There is a flight to Boston in a few hours.”

  Michelle thought about the close proximity of Boston to Providence. She had never really had to concern herself with geography, since her family rarely went on trips together and Evan knew enough on the subject for both of them during the time they embarked on a life together soon after her high school graduation. But she picked up a lot along the way, and she was rapidly adjusting to being able to take care of herself.

  “I"ll take it.”

  The name uttered by Oliver Hawkings took Evan by surprise. It had been nearly a century since he had last used it. “You"re familiar with Eustace Tewksbury?”

  Oliver smiled. “I have to admit that not very many people alive todayhave read Michael Westbrook"s ‘Heralds From God’.”

  “Vicar Westbrook wrote a book? And he mentioned me… uh, Eustace Tewksbury in it?”

  “Evan,” said Oliver, “there"s no point in continuing to hide anything. You needn"t worry about giving away the secret of the ages. I have already trusted your two friends here with it. Besides, you seem to have found it appropriate to confide in Michael Westbrook of the Church in the Cotswolds.”

  “I trusted him. Besides, the media are not like what we have today. And who would believe him if he did say anything? He obviously wrote that book long after I had left England, and he knew I would change my name.” Evan l
ooked at Bryan and Jean. “So you two know…”

  “Everything,” said Bryan. “Well, enough to know your true age… approximately, of course.”

  “It took some convincing,” said Oliver. “We had never shared that information with anyone. However, in order to secure their help in rescuing you from doctors who would have no idea what would be needed to be done to help you, we thought it best to fill them in on ourbackground.”

  “Who is we?” asked Evan, “and what is your background, may I ask?”

  “You can ask anything you like, Evan. I"ll be glad to answer. We are all the brothers here at the cloister. And it seems that, besides Bryan and Jean here, we do have one other common friend that we shared with you.”

  Evan gave Oliver a puzzled look.

  “I"m sure that out of the countless people you"ve had the pleasure to have met in all your years, Gerasimos ranks high on your list of memorable ones… perhaps at the top.”

  “Gerasimos? Why… he was an unknown. People thought of him as a lunatic. Don"t tell me that you found his name in a book too?” Evan paused as Oliver watched for the light bulb to shine through his eyes. “You said he was a common friend. Are you telling me that you"re all…?”

  “What… you always thought you were the only experimental subject of the great Gerasimos?”

  “As a matter of fact… yes.”

  “Well… you were perhaps the only isolated subject. You see… we didn"t agree that the elixir… just in case it was successful… should be wasted on youth. Gerasimos thought otherwise. We just never knew that he actually gave the elixir to a young man until we heard about you. Gerasimos obviously made certain to never share that information with us.”

  “Why did you consider it a waste?”

  “We figured that the older men… those of us who were in their forties at the time… benefitted the most. The young men could benefit from a few more years of spiritual growth… just to make sure that they were morally deserving of eternal agelessness. According to your two friends, Gerasimos did not err in his judgment of you. They both vouch for your morality.”

  “For years, I had a hard time coming to terms with how you ended our relationship, Evan,” said Jean, “but now I understand why you left without letting me know.”

  “That"s why we have elected to keep to ourselves… except for helping others,” explained Oliver. “We helped Jean understand that you probably were afraid to ever let your secret slip out. For if the authorities ever knew the truth, they could be ordered to capture you for a number of reasons… tax evasion probably at the top of their list… just so they could examine you.”

  “Yes… that"s the reason… especially since I have no idea what was in that elixir… so I could tell them nothing anyway.”

  “You don"t know?” asked Oliver. “Darn… we actually hoped you did know. It may have helped us in our crusade to help others. The reason we recognized your symptoms is because some of us have had accidents through the years, and we watched the same thing happen to our own brothers… deterioration and decomposition… to the point of death. But since we studied closely with Gerasimos, we knew some of what he formulated from natural herbs and plants to help reverse the effects of bodily injury. That"s why we knew we could help you. We have found a way to continue and improve the work of Gerasimos. But as far as the elixir for eternal agelessness itself is concerned, we have no clue as to what it was composed of.”

  “Well… I did have some of the elixir with me at the time I lived with Bryan in New York, but…”

  “You had some of the elixir? Gerasimos guarded it with his life. How did you get it? And more importantly, whose hands did it fall into?”

  “I decided to take it for safe keeping after Gerasimos died. I knew where he stored it. It didn"t fall into the wrong hands… I can assure you.”

  “It better not!” admonished Oliver. “Can you imagine an evil tyrant reigning forever with it? Still, it begs the question… who has it and did whoever getit drink it?”

  Evan did not want to complicate Michelle"s life any further. He held out hope of finding her once he is cured by the brothers. “I guess I"m not really sure where it went. It went missing a long time ago. Whoever took my duffel bag probably has no idea what was in the bottle and would not have chanced drinking an unknown liquid anyway.”

  “Ido have another question,” said Jean, “if you"re up to it, Eric.”

  “I changed my mind. Please… call me Evan. It just confuses things, and I did promise Michelle that I would keep that name. Sure… I"m up to your questions. I owe you some answers, I know.”

  “My question concerns Michelle. You obviously avoided relationships… though at one time it seemed like you tried to see if I was interested in having one with you. So why would you lead on a young teenager like her?And don"t tell me that she"s not a minor. She seemed mature when I talked to her… but she has to be a child.”

  Evan let out a deep sigh. “I was truly interested in you, Jean. I loved your charm and ability to want to help people… and now it looks like you ended up helping me get the medical attention I need. Had you been the one soul mate for me… I would have confided my story to you and asked if you wanted to drink the rest of the elixir in order to join me… and never grow old.”

  “But I was already much older than you… looked.”

  “What is age, Jean? Anything more than a number? You were in your thirties. I stopped aging… or so I thought… at nineteen. With a little hair coloring, I was able to convince others that I wasolder… knowing that most people seem to care about those things.”

  “You didn"t answer my question about Michelle. She is so in love with you. And I saw how you two kissed each other. Sooner or later, you would have crushed that little girl"s dreams. That seems so heartless… especially for you, Eric… I mean Evan.”

  “I won"t hurt her… ever. I promise. Please… can you help to find her and let her know where I am? Please?”

  Jean shook her head. “To tell you the truth… I was glad to be the one to separate the two of you. She will never have to know about you. You were probably going to string her along until she was nineteen… and then disappear… wasting years of her young life.”

  “Jean… no. That"s not the way it is. Please help find her. Please.”

  “I"m afraid that is unwise,” interrupted Oliver. “Jean is correct. However, regardless of the young girl getting hurt over you, we still cannot afford to let too many people in on our operation. If she were to be brought here, she may overhear something… something she could use against us someday if… and when… she does get hurt by you.”

  “She"s notgoing to get hurt. I…” Two men rushed into the room, disruptingEvan"s thought.

  “Ah… brothers Christopher and Timothy,” said Oliver. “We were getting concerned about you. How did everything go?”

  “It wasn"t easy,” said Timothy. “It was going smooth until somebody started shooting at us.”

  “Shooting at you? Why would anyone do that? I figured that the operation would be tricky… but not dangerous!”

  “It seems as though the patient had an enemy… the girl"s father.”

  “Heshot at you?”

  “He shot at the gurney that he thought the patient would be on. Then we took cover and the girl went hysterical, yelling at her father for killingher husband. Then the police arrested him.”

  “Her husband?” asked Jean.

  “Well… shesure considered him to be her husband.”

  Jean looked at Evan, who said, “My God! You"re talking about Michelle? Her father went to Ottawa to kill me?”

  “Just concentrate on getting well,” said Christopher. “I"m sure she"ll be alright. Sheprobably has settled down by now.”

  “And who areyou guys… the ones who drove the diversionary ambulance?”

  “Timothy was the driver and Christopher the paramedic,” explained Oliver. “So what else happened?”

  “Luckily for us, we were able to drive awa
y during the commotion with the old man getting arrested while everyone was making sure the girl was alright,” said Timothy.

  “My God!” said Evan. “You said that she accused her father of killing me. She thinks I"m dead. Do you know what she planned to do next? Oh, my God! She probably won"t even be looking for me if she thinks I"m dead. You did tell her that I am alive, right?” There was no response from anyone. “Where is she?” yelled Evan.

  “We… don"t know where she is now. Our orders were to drive the vehicle with the ashes in it to the hospital so everyone would think you"re dead and nobody would try to go looking for you. It had the desired effect on the girl, but the father was something we did not plan for,” said Christopher.

  “And you did not tell her that I was alive. Your mission was to deliberately deceive her.”

  “Their mission,” interrupted Oliver, “was to deliberately deceive the staffs at both hospitals… as well as the girl. Everyone needed to believe that your condition had played itself out to its final conclusion… complete decomposition… and let it remain a mystery with them.”

  “You must let me go,” insisted Evan. “I need to find Michelle. She needs to know the truth.”

  “Evan,” said Jean, “it"s better this way. Now she can go on with her life and not be hurt whenever you would have decided to leave her.”

  “Jean, I wish you could get it through your head that I was never planning to leave her… unless I died.”

  “I think we all need to settle down,” said Oliver. “We need to get back on the subject of the elixir. Evan, earlier you said to Jean that you stopped aging at nineteen… or so you thought. What did you mean by that?”

  “We"re aging slowly, Oliver. By my calculations… based on information that only Michelle and I are privy to… we may have physically aged seven to eight years since we took that elixir. We just never noticed it because the changes are happening so slowly.”

  “And how do you know this?”

  “Because… Michelle is pregnant with my child. She has been for some time… though to the hospital doctors she appears to be two weeks along.”

  “You… impregnated her?” questioned Jean.