Larkspur

by Christian, Claudia Hall

  Mike’s terribly scary father stepped forward.

  “We’ll take this from here, son,” the man said.

  “You won’t get away with this,” the doctor said.

  A few other men stepped out of the gloom. Sissy only recognized the really big, pale white guy who was usually with Teddy’s guardian.

  “It turns out that a lot of people are looking for the owner of Experiri Genetics,” Mike’s dad said.

  "I have no idea what you're talking about," the doctor said.

  "You slipped us in the hospital," Mike's dad said. "After we were nice enough to take you when you… hurt yourself. But look around. You're not getting away this time."

  “I want my lawyer,” the doctor said.

  “We’ll get right on that,” Mike’s dad said, and the men in the room laughed. He turned to Mike and said, “Jillian needs you.”

  “Where’s Sissy?” Mike asked. “Sissy?”

  Sensei let her go, and Sissy ran to Mike. He gave her a hug and whispered, “Sorry,” in her ear.

  “Can you get us out of here?” Mike asked Sissy.

  “Follow the gargoyles,” Sensei said.

  Sissy turned to look at him.

  “How did you know?” Sissy asked.

  “I can see them.” He smiled at her.

  “Gargoyles?” Mike asked.

  With those words, a gargoyle appeared. It guided Mike and Sissy the end of the hall and up another flight of stairs. They were almost to the top when Sissy heard Mike’s father say, “You picked the wrong family to fuck with.”

  She shivered at his voice. She would have looked back, but they turned the corner, went through a door, and were suddenly, miraculously, standing in the kitchen of the Castle.

  “This way!” the gargoyle said.

  They followed him to the room where Jill was in labor. Heather and Tanesha met them at the door.

  “What’s going on?” Mike asked Tanesha.

  “Jill is in labor,” Tanesha said. “But Katy says the babies are too afraid to come out. Your mom’s here. Your brother, Steve, got here a few minutes ago. Jill thought you might be able to help.”

  “Candy? Meg?” Mike asked about his sisters.

  “They’re on their way,” Tanesha said.

  Mike let Tanesha lead him to Jill.

  ~~~~~~~~

  “Where are we going?” Valerie asked James as they crossed the street toward his car.

  Since the fairy magic didn’t work on James, they’d decided to take his car to where he thought the Celts might have buried Queen Fand. Sam and Delphie chatted with Celia behind them. Jacob was talking with Gilfand, the gargoyle, on the other side of James. When Valerie asked the question, everyone fell silent to listen to the answer.

  James gave her a soft smile and walked to his car. Valerie got into the passenger seat; Sam, Delphie, and Jacob squeezed into the back of the small sedan. Gilfand landed on Valerie’s headrest. When everyone was settled, James cleared his throat.

  “There’s a historic site a couple miles from here,” James said. “It’s called Balladoole. It’s also the site of a large Celtic fort. My guess is that they had to break up the magic of Fand and Manannán to gain power specifically for this fort.”

  “They would have needed to keep her body close,” Delphie said.

  “Like a talisman,” James said. “I thought the same thing.”

  He started the vehicle and pulled onto the street. They drove through the small city of Castletown and started on the A5.

  “Is Balladoole a cemetery?” Valerie asked.

  “No, but there was a Viking burial there,” James said. “Someone of some significance was buried with his ship. The site was excavated in 1945 by a German imprisoned at a POW camp on the island. I’ve always wondered if he got something wrong.”

  “Why?” Jacob asked.

  “Because he only found the remains of a man and an adult woman,” James said. “Vikings usually burned a young female slave alive when they buried their powerful leaders. These remains are said to be of an adult woman who was buried quite some time before the Viking.”

  “Queen Fand,” Sam said.

  “My thought,” James said. “We’ll have to dig her up.”

  “If she is Queen Fand, I will take her remains back to the monolith under Castle Rushen,” Gilfand said.

  “And break the curse,” Delphie said. “That’s brilliant.”

  “The question is: How are we going to do the digging?” James glanced in the rear view mirror at Jacob. “It’s the wee hours of the morning. I left my shovels at home.”

  “I can get you shovels,” Gilfand said. “I may be male, but I am fairy-kind.”

  James smiled. They turned off the highway toward the Irish Sea, went down a low hill, and parked near a thicket. They set out on foot across a wide footpath.

  “This is where the Celtic fort stood.” James pointed to the rocks and ruins of the fort.

  “It’s a good spot for a fort,” Jacob said.

  “Especially if it’s protected by a fairy queen,” Gilfand said bitterly.

  “Indeed. This way.” James pointed across the low grass of the monument. “You can see the outline of the Viking ship over there.”

  They stopped at the edge of what had been the Viking ship. Large boulders marked the oval outline. The wooden ship had decomposed, leaving a depression in the grassy field.

  “The ship rotted away,” James said. “They found the bodies, a shield for the man, lot of nails, stuff like that.”

  “When was it buried?” Gilfand asked.

  “Tenth century,” James said. “Sometime around 900 AD.”

  “Does the timing fit?” Delphie asked.

  “It does,” Gilfand said.

  Without warning, the gargoyle transformed into a human-looking man of medium build. He looked strong and fit. He had long, dark hair, light chocolate skin, and a fierce brow. He wore the exact thing Jacob wore — jeans and a dress shirt, but he still had pointed gargoyle ears and sharp claw-like fingernails.

  “That’s an impressive trick,” Sam said.

  “I thought you could use some help digging,” Gilfand said.

  The fairy clapped his hands, and a variety of shovels appeared.

  “Sam, why don’t you get what you need?” Delphie asked. “Jacob and I will see if we can intuit where her remains lie.”

  Sam nodded and started looking over the shovels. Jacob and Delphie moved out into the depression where the Viking ship had been buried.

  “We’ll need a couple edgers too,” Sam said to Gilfand. “Jake likes a round-point shovel. I like a drain shovel — you know the long, narrow blade.”

  “There is powerful magic here,” Delphie said.

  “Not evil,” Jacob said. “But very strong, dangerous magic.”

  “Angry,” Delphie said. She was almost at the end of the ship when she stopped. “Here. She is here.”

  Sam brought Jacob a shovel and edger. He gave an edger to James.

  “What’s your plan?” Jacob asked Sam. After years of working together, Jacob knew that Sam had laid out the most efficient way to do the job.

  “We cut the grass,” Sam said. “Peel it back so we can replace it. In this moist environment, no one will know we were here.”

  “Then dig?” James asked.

  “No,” Sam said. “We don’t have time for digging. We need to get this done before anyone sees us. I was thinking that Jake . . .”

  Jacob turned to look at his father. Their eyes held for a moment.

  “You’re sure?” Jacob asked.

  “Yes, son,” Sam said.

  “What?” James asked.

  “Show me where?” Valerie came past him with an edger.

  Delphie pointed to where she thought the female skeleton was buried.

  “Dad?” Valerie asked.

  “We cut here.” Sam moved a couple feet from where Delphie thought the remains lay.

  Valerie stuck the flat, half-moon blade of th
e edger into the grass. Jacob took an edge near her. Sam pointed to where James was standing. James watched Valerie and Jacob work before sticking his edger in the turf. Sam looked around for Gilfand, only to find him working away next to Jacob. Sam went behind them with his drain shovel and started loosening the sod from the soil.

  “I’ve been able to connect with the male,” Delphie said. “The Viking.”

  “And?” The word came out in a huff as Valerie was breathing hard from her work.

  “He says there was another woman buried here,” Delphie said. “A female slave, a child, buried just below his hands. He was the leader of a battalion of war ships that raided throughout Britain. They had an encampment on this hill.”

  Delphie gestured around her.

  “Jake? Val?” Sam gestured for Jacob and Valerie to use their edgers to help peel the sod off the soil. Jacob dropped his edger for his round-pointed shovel. Together, Jacob, Sam, and Valerie dropped to their hands and knees to roll back the grass. Gilfand worked the edge of the turf to help separate the grass from the dirt. James leaned on his edger to catch his breath.

  “They could live here and raid the islands around.” James’s words came out in spurts with his breath.

  “Hidden here by the fairy fog,” Gilfand said. James started using his edger to help Gilfand.

  “That’s right.” Delphie smiled. “He says that the Celts disturbed his slumber. They took his slave’s skeleton and replaced her with another one. He’s not sure why they did this, but he’s very upset about it.”

  “‘How will I move to the next life?’ he asks,” Delphie said. “‘I have no one to take my life force to my ancestors.’ I think he means his soul. ‘I am stuck here, away from my parents, my family, my brothers-in-arms.’ He’s kind of hysterical.”

  “Why didn’t he transition when he was buried?” Valerie asked.

  “I asked the same thing,” Delphie said. “He says he did, but the slave girl is the vessel for his . . .soul. When she was removed, he was forced to wander. Gosh, that’s sad.”

  Delphie fell silent as they worked. James took Valerie’s place, and she went to stand next to Delphie.

  “This would be a great place to keep bees.” Delphie smiled. “Provided the chauvinist below moved on.”

  “Anything I can do?” Jacob asked.

  “We should find the slave girl for him,” Delphie said. “He’s really stuck here until we do.”

  “But most people transition without slave girls,” Valerie said.

  “The mind is a powerful tool,” Delphie said. “For the very inflexible, their afterlife echoes their beliefs. As powerful as this man was, he’s stuck here because he believes he should be. Pretty sad, I think.”

  “Okay, that’s probably enough,” Sam said.

  There was a six-foot-wide oval around the spot where Delphie thought Queen Fand was buried. Sam gestured for James to move back. He stood next to Valerie.

  “Mom?” Jacob asked.

  “She’s over here.” Celia pointed to the lower edge of their oval.

  Jacob closed his eyes. He quieted his mind, slowed his breathing, and focused. In his mind’s eye, he tried to see Queen Fand’s remains. He shook his head and scowled.

  “What is it?” Valerie asked.

  “She’s not all here,” Jacob said.

  He raised his hands and pulled the female skeleton from the grave. The partial remains floated for a moment before Jacob gently settled them on the grass. Gilfand fell to his knees in honor of his queen’s human remains.

  “Is that her?” Delphie asked.

  “It’s my lady,” Gilfand said. “But . . . where’s the rest of my queen?”

  “Yes,” Delphie said. “Where is the rest of Queen Fand?”

  Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty-three

  Pink and sparkly

  Delphie closed her eyes and fell into a deep trance. Frustrated at their lack of progress, Jacob’s shoulders crumpled forward and his head fell into his hand.

  “How many more of these . . . things are there?” Valerie asked.

  “Things?” James asked.

  Valerie waved her hands over the site.

  “Viking burials?” James asked. “Loads. This island is filled to the brim with ancient artifacts. Historical sites and ancient burials are everywhere.”

  Sam raised his eyebrows and kneeled down to roll the sod back into place. He tugged on Jacob’s jeans. Jacob looked down before dropping to his knees to help.

  “Fairies?” Valerie asked. “Are there places that are specific to fairies?”

  “You’ll be surprised to learn that the entire island was supposed to have been inhabited primarily by fairies,” James said. “That’s not to mention the giants who inhabited the place.”

  “No giants ever lived on this island,” Gilfand sniffed. “I’ve lived here since long before it was an island, and I never saw a giant. Not one.”

  “Good to know,” James said. He crossed his arms and looked down at the ground.

  “Listen,” Celia said. “I know we’re frustrated. We have to settle down and figure out where to find the rest of Queen Fand. That’s not to mention where the hell to find Manannán! I don’t need to remind you that my grandchildren are in danger.”

  Gilfand’s face screwed up and he sneezed, spraying tiny particles of light. The particles of light hit the earth and caused the grass to grow. When he sneezed again, the grass around him grew up to his knees.

  “What happened?” Valerie asked Gilfand.

  “Elder tree,” Gilfand said. “They wrapped my queen’s body in leaves from the elder tree. We fairies are deathly allergic to elder trees. Even their leaves and berries are toxic to our kind. They must have used them to keep us from finding my queen’s human body.”

  Sam nudged Gilfand from where he was standing before the grass grew to be shoulder height.

  “When I meditate on our problem . . .” Delphie spoke a moment before she opened her eyes. She looked from person to person, finally settling on Gilfand. “I know . . .”

  She fell silent. Her eyes flicked to James.

  “But I don’t know how or why.” Delphie nodded to James. “And you . . .”

  She pointed to Gilfand.

  “You lied about magic affecting James,” Delphie said. “You can take us anywhere in an instant. What I cannot determine is whether you lied because you are working to undermine our task, or . . .”

  “I don’t like him.” Gilfand shrugged. “He reeks of Ronan.”

  Gilfand said James’s father’s name as if it were a curse. He spat to clear the taste of the word from his mouth.

  “My father?” James asked. “You don’t like me because my father was Ronan Kelly?”

  Gilfand sniffed with disgust.

  “Is that why I have no luck?” James asked. “You’ve cursed me?”

  Gilfand looked embarrassed.

  “Fuck this,” James said. “Cursed by the goddamned fairies because of the bastard who sired me, killed my mum, and left me an orphan.”

  He stalked off toward the car. Valerie ran after him. She grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around. Jacob watched them argue for a moment before scowling at Gilfand. He shook his head at the fairy.

  “Brigid,” Jacob said in his king of Marle voice. “We need you, Brigid.”

  James mother appeared before him.

  “Hello, Jacob,” Brigid said. “How can I help you to help my queen?”

  James heard her voice and reluctantly walked toward the specter of his mother.

  “We’ve run into a snag,” Jacob said. “I wondered if you could tell us about you and Gilfand.”

  “I met Gilfand when I lived in Belfast. He protected me, cared for the babes, and helped us live. He was my friend and confidant. He gave me all those books that Jimmy has.”

  “Ronan Kelly took your life,” Gilfand said.

  “And you gave it back to me.” Brigid smiled at the fairy. “Johnny’s father . . . He’s humankind. He was the
love of my human life. Gilfand is the love of my fairy life. Ronan was my husband.”

  Brigid nodded as if it should make sense.

  “He’s saying he won’t help James because of Ronan,” Jacob said.

  Brigid scowled at Gilfand, and he looked ashamed.

  “He . . .” Gilfand sounded as if he were six years old, not an ageless fairy. “He smells like him.”

  Celia and Delphie laughed.

  “This isn’t funny,” James said. “He cursed me.”

  Realizing that he sounded like he was six years old as well, he laughed.

  “Mum,” James said.

  “Yes, love,” Brigid replied in Belfast Gaelic.

  “Can you talk some sense into this one?” James asked in Belfast Gaelic.

  “No more than I can you,” Brigid laughed.

  Gilfand sneezed, and the grass started to grow around him. Brigid clapped her hands twice. The smell of the elder leaves disappeared.

  “I will take my lady back to the Castle,” Brigid said. “Will you help them?”

  “I’m sorry,” Gilfand said.

  “Don’t apologize to me,” Brigid said. “My son . . .”

  Their eyes held for a moment before Brigid disappeared with the queen’s remains.

  “I’m sorry, James,” Gilfand said. “You should know that I never cursed you. In fact, I’ve helped you when I can, and when you needed it most, I sent a fairy for you. Have you ever asked her how she found you?”

  Gilfand gestured to the tattoo on James’s right shoulder. James’s eyes welled up; he swallowed hard.

  “Where do we need to go?” Gilfand looked at James, who shrugged. “Oracle?”

  “Valerie’s right,” Delphie said. “There are more of these.”

  “More of what?” James asked.

  “Monoliths,” Delphie said. “Cairns or ancient graves.”

  “There’s at least a million in the British Isles,” James said. “Probably more. There are places on the island that were large ceremonial areas. There are more than a few graves filled with many different cremations.”

  “Let’s think this through,” Sam said. “This site was obvious. James said it had already been excavated.”