by Andrews
I’ve pretty much got it down.” For the first time there were titters of laughter.
“I would like to ask my significant other to stand, please. Vivienne Wilde. She’s lovely and talented and somewhat of a celebrity. She gave this school quite a challenge for a while, until I converted her.” More laughter.
“When I was offered this job, I almost rejected it because I worried that I wasn’t worthy because my lifestyle is different. I decided to take the position of chancellor because, by doing so, I stand for what I personally believe God stands for. Love. If there’s one thing I think God would have me do, it is love. And I have chosen to do that by speaking, teaching, leading this school, and by sharing my love with you…and with her.
“This will not be an easy road for any of us, but we are breaking new ground in the religious community of the world by working together. I don’t know at this juncture if the entire Anglican Church will ever support my beliefs, but I will always support yours, as your chancellor.”
I spoke for only ten minutes, and at the end of that the crowd slowly stood—at first a few and then others, until the room was on its feet and the applause rang in my ears. I could see Viv’s smiling face as she blew a kiss at me, and Margaret’s face as she assessed the room, determining where her enemies lay and how successful we were. I had no doubt that she was formidable in battle, and I was glad she was on my side.
I asked Viv to stand with me at the door, one arm around her as I shook hands and hugged people and many hugged her. I felt whole.
Sally came up to embrace me, then stepped back as if to size both of us up.“Très cool. This is the best. I’m telling my parents,” she said.
Don’t on my account, I thought, but maintained equanimity.
Gladys Irons waited till the very end before approaching me and eying Vivienne, perhaps with some jealousy, I thought, but then quickly dismissed the idea.
“What kind of school is this going to be?” Gladys whimpered, having apparently overheard Sally’s comments. “You don’t realize that we’ll be overrun with lesbians enrolling and gay ministers.”
“I don’t think so, Gladys.”
“I do. I am putting you on warning, Alexandra. As much as I care for you, I’m going to speak my mind—I’m going to protest if that starts occurring. I’ll go directly to Margaret Thurgood personally.”
“You have to do what your mind, soul, and body tell you is right, Gladys. I understand.” I refused to let her upset my day.
“My body is telling me it would like to take you home and rip your robes off,” Viv said, I believed intentionally loud enough for Gladys to hear. Gladys’s irises became pinpoints in a sea of white eyeball, and she covered her mouth to stifle an involuntary gasp and fled.
“Now that’s the kind of remark that will make my job really hard,”
I said.
“Hard is good,” she teased as the church bells rang and the congregation clustered in the courtyard of the chapel, chatting with one another. We looked out over the balmy sky above the large stone buildings and sensed that spring was coming for us, and for the church, and that God would bless us all.
THE END
Postscript
Dear reader, if you’ve enjoyed the Richfield & Rivers series and Mistress of the Runes, along with Uncross My Heart, you might note the latter is a keystone in a body of work that began with Callie and Teague (Richfield & Rivers), progressed to Liz and Brice ( Mistress of the Runes), and culminated with Viv and Alexandra ( Uncross My Heart).
As the Mistress herself points out, we reincarnate and life itself is a circle—we’re here to work on archetypes and issues at many levels, and we do it with people we have known throughout the ages.
Teague (Richfield & Rivers) is simultaneously Brice ( Mistress) and Alexandra ( Uncross My Heart)—a trinity of a single being—working on the same issue, which in her case is commitment. At the most carnal level of her being, in Richfield & Rivers, Teague worries about commitment because she’ll have to give up other women. In Mistress, her slightly more evolved self (Brice) won’t commit because she’s had four relationships that didn’t work out. In Uncross My Heart, her higher self (Alexandra) won’t commit because she fears her father—both earthly and heavenly.
Callie, Liz, and Viv are the same person working at different levels of consciousness on the issue of spirituality. Callie, in her most nascent efforts, seeks something tangible—the astrology chart—to connect with the other world, while Liz in Mistress needs only the intangible—“a knowing” she believes we all have if we will only listen to it. And finally Viv in Uncross My Heart takes the great leap to say that our connection to God is through the deity in ourselves.
In the realm of archetypes, the weary warrior plays out in Teague’s character. She was a cop fighting crime and gave it up to become a screenwriter, but continued to battle entertainment moguls. As Brice she’s an executive fighting the corporations yet has flashbacks of having been a warrior centuries before. And finally as Alexandra, she’s a priest fighting the church and her own sexuality.
Callie’s archetype is enlightened teacher. In the Richfield & Rivers series she is “given” to Teague to teach her to be less jaded and more open to the cosmos. As Liz in Mistress she teaches Brice to set herself free and embrace her sexuality. And finally as Viv in Uncross My Heart she challenges Alexandra to accept her own enlightenment and divest herself of religious and sexual repression.
Secondary characters play across the time and space of all the books, as evidenced by Alexandra’s father in Uncross My Heart who meets Viv and immediately wants to dance with her and later, in a non-lucid moment, begs Alexandra not to “kill me again.” Alexandra wonders if he’s asking her not to break his heart by having another affair with a woman. In fact, he is the king in Mistress of the Runes who was beheaded by a warrior (under Brice’s command) who stole his queen (Vivienne). The king is back as Alexandra’s father, dominating her in a different way by denying her a relationship with any woman.
And bit players perform at multiple levels as well. The blue-eyed ethereal Callie in the Richfield & Rivers series is a portent of messengers to come, including the Mistress herself—an amalgam of the blue-eyed shopkeeper who encouraged Brice to buy the antique horse and begin her journey, the docent in Mistress who said there are plenty of battles yet to fight, and the blue-eyed Indian woman who said of Brice’s land purchase, “The land outlives us, so who owns who?” This blue-eyed messenger is also the mysterious priest on the park bench in Uncross My Heart who encourages Alexandra to join the church and fight from within. And again, the messenger is the blue-eyed mother superior who tells Alexandra that before she can share the truth with others, she must know it for herself.
Subtle connective tissue binds the three series, such as the Richfield & Rivers death stones, the rune stones in Mistress, and the stone buildings and tablets of the church in Uncross My Heart. The basset hound Elmo in the Richfield & Rivers series is Teague’s best friend, the Icelandic mare Rune in Mistress is Brice’s mirror on relationships, and Ketch in Uncross My Heart is Alexandra’s “shepherd.”
While we never intended any of these elements to be overtly evident to readers, we do think they provide another layer, particularly for those interested in reincarnation and parallel lives.
Andrews & Austin
About the Authors
Andrews & Austin’s strong characters step off the page with style and humor, the same attributes the authors strive to achieve as they lead exciting lives on their horse ranch, running their entertainment network, and other related ventures. When they’re not writing, they’re riding.
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