“Late night?”
“Another project. Not as much fun as investigating four hundred year-old skeletons.” She cleaned her glasses on her lab coat. “Talk fast. As soon as I hear that phone ring and the lab tells me what I need to know, I’m out of here.”
“I suspect the Reisner family is connected to the Emerson family. Blood relation maybe. The DNA should tell me.”
“How will that prove if Abbey or her aunts killed those two women?”
“It won’t,” he answered. “But I need to know.”
“Curiosity killed the cat.”
“Satisfaction brought him back.” He slid his business card across the table. “I don’t give up on a case. I’m like a bulldog that way.”
“Or a piranha.” She picked up the card and looked at it. “Private cell phone number?” He nodded. “How do I rank?”
“You have information I need.” The phone’s shrill ring filled the room.
“Okay, gotta go.”
“Mathers,” she said as he headed for the door. “I still don’t understand how this is going to help the case.”
“We all do what we have to do,” he said. “It’s what makes us who we are. It’s in our nature.” He pointed to the phone as she grabbed the receiver. “It’s like our souls remember what we have forgotten.”
56
“Why is it you brought me here?” “Watch, my dear. Just watch.”
Abbey turned away from Eleanor and backed up until she felt the cold stone wall of the turret press against her. The chill settled around her and she rubbed her arms, wishing Aunt Eleanor had warned her about the cold. Less than a quarter hour ago, Eleanor found her in the hallway watching Boo battle another fugitive from the Tapestry. Her aunt looked at her in disgust.
“I needed to clear my head,” Abbey said, looking to Ruth for support.
“Any more clear and you would not have a head to worry yourself about,” Eleanor snapped tersely. “We had to look all over the estate for you.”
“Tomyris found me…” but Abbey got no further in her explanation before Eleanor strode over to her.
“I am distressed to admit this, but perhaps Boudicca was right. We have been too easy on you.”
“Easy, Auntie?” Abbey shot back, sounding more angry than she felt. “For days I have sparred with Aunt Boo, shot hundreds of arrows with Aunt Zenobia, thrown knives with Aunt Tomyris, and relived a terrible experience with you. Perhaps you forgot about our trip to the plane? How is that easy?”
“Because, you silly girl, that is child’s play compared to what could happen.” Eleanor grabbed Abbey and Abbey shook the woman off. “When you met me in Lynn’s office at The Meadows, you told me you could tell me who I am. Yet this you have not told me.” “No?” Eleanor asked, pulling herself taller.
“Please!” Ruth said. “Let’s all have a matzo ball and a glass of warm milk!”
“No,” Abbey said.
“I shall get you both a warm bagel.”
“I do not know anything!” Abbey countered Eleanor, her face flush and her heart racing. “I have no pictures of my past. You offer no history other than a mysterious fabric on your walls and some fairy tale of how I am a witch with the power of magical quilt-making,” Abbey shouted, her anger rising to full force. “I do not even know if you are truly my aunt!”
“Abbey,” Ruth whispered, her hands clutching the serving spoon. “We love you. We protect you. We care for you.”
“Do you?” Abbey’s anger crested and she felt herself speaking without thinking about the words. “You care for me by keeping me imprisoned in this house? You love me by telling me I have forgotten memories that only you can help me recall?”
“Have you learned nothing from the Tapestry?” Eleanor sounded defeated and tired.
“I have learned that this house has terrifying, amazing things happening within its walls. But for all I know, you are the devil beguiling me with lies and coercing me with false visions.”
This struck Eleanor like a boulder. She stared at Abbey for a moment then calmly said, “Come with me, child.”
Eleanor led her to the far end of the Tapestry into a corner of the intersecting hallways that Abbey had never investigated. She pointed to an embroidered picture and Abbey saw a scene depicting two women who looked like Eleanor and Ruth standing in a small stone turret, looking out into a marketplace through a stone window. Eleanor grabbed Abbey’s arm and the two of them walked into the Tapestry.
Now, Abbey found herself standing inside the stone turret depicted in the Tapestry. The air nipped at Abbey’s flesh, the wind whipped around her ankles and the sounds of a mob filled the air. The stench of horse droppings and rancid food permeated the air. She turned to whisper to Eleanor, “Where are we?”
“France. May 30th. The year is 1431. We are watching the death of a heretic.” Just then the crowd outside in the courtyard sent up an outraged cry. Eleanor sighed. “Watch quietly. You will soon feel what the heretic feels,” she said as she pointed to the second version of herself, standing at the window. “You can hear her thoughts. You can smell her smells and know what she knows.” Another roar from the crowd. “It begins.”
Abbey turned and looked out the window. As she watched, Abbey felt herself drawn into the events, as if her soul merged into the scene playing out below them in the marketplace. She felt the dizzying sensation of falling and in a sudden burst of intuitive knowledge she knew why the throng beneath them gathered. She felt herself remembering…
In just moments, the King’s guard would escort the heretic into the courtyard, tie the young blonde woman to the burning post, and set her ablaze. The Guild knew they were too late to stop the burning, but with a bit of luck and quick action, they might save Eleanor’s granddaughter from permanent death.
Eleanor’s physiology kept her warm atop the castle wall, despite the bitter cold wind gusting over the parapet. She felt only the pulsating rhythm of her heart as it pounded in her chest. She frantically scanned the courtyard below, praying to catch a glimpse of a member of the Guild.
“There!” Ruth’s weak voice gasped. The old woman appeared next to Eleanor and pointed her shaking finger to the crowd below.
Neither Ruth nor Eleanor had eaten for two days. When word of the young heretic’s fate reached their ears, they were in the foothills of the Auvergne, deeply enmeshed in the work of the Guild. If only she had stayed closer to the girl! Why had she let the foolish child gain so much popularity and attention? Eleanor had seen much in her centuries of life—she should have protected her.
Eleanor followed Ruth’s finger and spotted Zenobia standing ready at her post near the church door, and next to her, Boudicca shuffled restlessly, doing a fine job of hiding her sword beneath her cloak. Eleanor reached her hand out to Ruth. Ruth fell into Eleanor’s arms and they hugged each other.
Of all the members of the Guild, Boudicca would glean the most from this rescue. It had been decades since the warrior had seen a battle. While replacing the charred body of her granddaughter with some unknown girl’s carcass wasn’t a battle, it would require stealth and courage.
With one movement, the guard’s torch touched upon the wood beneath the burning stake, sending showers of sparks into the air. The twilight came alive with dancing shadows of flame as the fire burned through the twigs and ate its way toward the girl, who continued to pontificate to the throng, even as the mob screamed, “Sorciere!”
“Diable!” “Pecheresse!”
For a brief moment, Eleanor saw the flicker of recognition flash across the girl’s eyes as she spotted her grandmother and Ruth. Then the moment was lost. Fire ate up the body, blocking Eleanor’s sight with its smoke. Eleanor could bear it no longer. Tears burned her eyes and she turned away.
Ruth hugged Eleanor tightly, stroking the woman’s hair delicately. Then, in a voice thick with emotion, she whispered to Eleanor, “Come, dear. We must intercept the remains before it is too late to save her.”
Abbey felt a hand up
on her arm and someone pulling at her. She looked around and uttered a gasp as she realized that she and Eleanor stood in the hallway of the Bastille. Her knees felt weak and she fell to the floor. Eleanor did not move to help her, but instead stood over Abbey.
“They burned you at the stake, Abbey.” Eleanor’s voice sounded gruff and frustrated. “We rode for days to make it there before the burning, but we arrived too late. Someone knew Ruth and I were on the way and sped the execution. Someone betrayed you.”
Abbey said nothing. Her guts churned and nausea washed over her. “That wasn’t the first time you died, Abbey. And it wasn’t the last.” “The plane crash,” Abbey groaned.
“Among others. Several times you lived lives too flamboyant for an Immortal, girl. We warned you. You ignored us. The lives that do not survive in the history books can be dealt with, but two personas— TWO—that live in the history of mortals is inexcusable!” Eleanor knelt down to stare into Abbey’s eyes as she berated the girl.
“Most of us live several during those centuries that fade away into the bowels of time without fanfare. But you? Two conspicuous, attention-seeking, famous personalities. Is it any wonder their violent, untimely deaths drove you to madness and the Guild over the edge of patience?”
“What have I become?” Abbey cried.
“You are stubborn, child. You are reckless. You are impossible to control. You have driven yourself into a state of convenient amnesia and we are all paying the price for your selfishness.”
“You call me a coward?”
Eleanor laughed. “You flee into forgetfulness when the rest of us live with our mistakes. That, my dear, is the definition of coward.” Eleanor turned her back and strode away.
“I am no coward!” Abbey declared, rising to her feet.
Eleanor stopped and said, “You want the life of a hero? Then accept your role in this cosmic joke God has played on us and fulfill your duties.”
Just then the Tapestry billowed out a huge gust of wind and the pungent scent of seawater filled the corridor. A petite woman, dressed in only a bra, panties and a sailor’s hat jumped out of the Tapestry, clutching a bottle of champagne. She stood for a moment looking around with an expression of bemusement and confusion. Abbey detected the distinct odor of alcohol.
“Aurora?” Eleanor asked.
“Eleanor!” She threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly. “Is it the new year already?” Giggling uncontrollably, she turned and saw Abbey standing in the hallway. “Abbey girl?”
“Stop,” Eleanor commanded. “Abbey, go to your room. Aurora, get back into the Tapestry. The new year is not until Saturday.”
“But…”
“We shall see you Saturday.” Eleanor shoved the half-naked woman back into the wall. She then turned to Abbey. “You see what we have to contend with? All because of you and your silly desire for attention. I can take it no longer. We shall assume you worthless to us now.”
“I am not worthless!”
Eleanor flew into a rage, her hands clawing the air as she descended upon Abbey. “Can you do your part to repair the damage to the Tapestry? Can you remember the chants? Can you remember the threads? How about those of us who are allowed out of the Tapestry, or those who are to be kept inside during the Great Ritual? Can you even remember why the chosen are imprisoned in the Tapestry to begin with?”
She stared at Abbey who stood with her mouth agape.
“I thought not. And the two weeks since you have been here, what have you learned? To go riding alone. Near dusk. With Robert out there in the world.” She shrugged. “You are as stubborn as you always were. I can bear it no longer.”
With that, Abbey stood alone in the hallway.
She stumbled to her room in a half-comatose state and undressed. Ever since her return to the Aunts and to the Bastille, she had watched events unfold around her as a spectator. The strange properties of the Tapestry, Aunt Boo’s fondness for nudity and the color blue, Tomyris’ penchant for feathers and ugly dogs, all of the unusual qualities of the women washed over her as she watched, confused by their surrealism. As she washed and slipped on her silk pajamas, she realized that not once in the past two weeks had she felt connected to herself. She felt no responsibility, no sense of relation, no part of the drama at all. Instead of trying to figure out her role in the mystery of the Tapestry, she pushed herself away from the strangeness like one refusing to participate in a game.
She pulled back the covers and slipped into bed. This place, these people, this Tapestry was her destiny. So why did she feel nothing?
The sound of hooves clacking on the hallway drew her back to the present. She sighed. Not again. She lay listening to the echoes of the sounds and realized that they were growing louder. They sounded like they were right outside her door. Then the horse stopped. A brief moment of silence passed and Abbey heard her doorknob rattle. Someone was trying to enter her room.
She flung back the covers, ran across the room to the wall where the weapons hung displayed. She grabbed a broadsword and dashed to the door. She could see the knob jiggling, but not turning. It stopped. After another brief pause, there was a loud knock on the door.
Keeping the door between herself and the hallway, Abbey turned the knob and opened the door a crack. Standing in front of her was the huge black Frisian. Abbey stared at the beast.
“I hate to intrude after such an exhausting argument, but would you mind terribly if I came in?”
Without thinking, Abbey opened the door and the horse strode through into the center of her room where it turned and looked at her. “Thank you. I am determined to work those damned doorknobs at least once in this form. I must admit, though, they are a bit tricky without opposable thumbs.”
Abbey stepped closer to the Frisian. “You? These past nights…you have followed me.”
“Would you mind lowering your weapon, please? Swords make me rather nervous.”
Abbey lowered her weapon.
“Followed, no. Watched, yes.” The horse paused looking to her for recognition. “I should not clatter down the hallway, I suspect, but the Tapestry demands so much attention these days!” He cocked his horse head at her and leaned closer.
“You do not remember your old friend Merlin?” The horse stuck out a foreleg and bowed low, shaking its mane. It stood back up and looked at her. “Would you like to go for a walk?”
57
By the time Eleanor returned to her study, the rest of the women had taken the biggest slices of Lemon seed cake, leaving her the small corner pieces. As Eleanor put them onto her plate, she noticed that they had less frosting than the other slices, as well as fewer colored sprinkles. She shook her head in disgust. The least they could do was save her one with lots of sprinkles. Eleanor loved the sprinkles.
“Well at least we know what became of Elfi,” Tomyris said, cutting up her large piece of cake with the most sprinkles Eleanor had ever seen on a single slice of cake. “I had much worse things in mind than death.” With a flick of her wrist, Tomyris flung a piece of cake to each of the Salukis. They caught the treat in mid-air and gobbled them down. Two of the dogs sat with Tomyris on the leather couch, looking even uglier than usual now that Tomyris had provided first aid to them after their confrontation with Robert. Silky white bandages covered most of their midsection.
“I have the newspapers covered,” Livia reported, showing a typed press release. “I concocted a story of Elfi’s employment with the Bastille and how it was eliminated due to her excessive health problems. Seeing as how during the time of her supposed ‘employment’ a war was going on, I doubt anyone will question the exact nature of her illness.” Eleanor noticed that Livia had not touched her piece of cake. It, too, had more sprinkles than hers.
“Excellent,” Zenobia smiled, forking more into her mouth. “The question is, who killed her?”
“As if that is a question that needs an answer!” Boo laughed, alternating between the two pieces in front of her. “Robert. The Doctor would have
hacked them to pieces.”
“I agree,” Liv nodded. Then to Zen she said, “This means security will have to work extra hard this weekend. It is guaranteed that he will show.”
“I hope he does,” Boo said, finishing the second piece of cake. “I can’t wait to cross swords with him again.”
“I have it under control, Boo,” Zen snapped. “I have handled security for six years. Has there ever been the slightest problem?”
“Has Robert ever shown up before?”
Zen snorted. “Is Robert ever a problem for me?”
“Oh, please stop, both of you,” Eleanor shouted as she sat at her desk. “I cannot take any more bickering right now.”
“Eleanor and Abbey just had quite a row,” Ruth said, passing out napkins.
“Can we just focus on Elfi Reisner?”
58
“She was your…let’s see now…would that be your cousin or your niece?” Merlin said, rubbing his head against Abbey’s shoulder. “She was a descendant of Ruth, but wasn’t born until just before World War One.”
“She was of Ruth’s blood?”
He nodded his mane. “Yes. A direct descendant.” He continued to walk down the hallway and turned the corner at the end. Abbey had never examined this hallway before, as it housed only the linen closet and the archway into the east wing. “She was quite the character! I adored her! It was her idea.”
“What was?” Abbey asked.
“During the war, the Tapestry was displayed in the Bastille, exactly as it is today!” Livia said as she laid out two stacks of papers on Eleanor’s desk and began collating them.
“No, dear,” Ruth said with a giggle. “Remember? During the war, we closed off the east wing. Portions of the Tapestry lay wrapped up in sealed bags under the waterproof tarp on the grounds.” She lifted the teapot and poured the steaming brew into Livia’s cup.
“Exactly where the remains were found,” Boo finished the thought. Ruth nodded.
“Which explains why we lost Elfi’s trail in Germany,” Tomyris said, adjusting the bandages on one of the Salukis.
Guild Of Immortal Women Page 17
