Born of Earth: An Elemental Origins Novel

by A. L. Knorr

  This was the guy I’d be spending the summer with? I gulped. He was too perfect for words.

  This photograph was three years old already. What was he like now? Leaving out the most recent photo of Jasher and Faith, I stacked the letters as they had been. I found a fresh elastic to bind them. After throwing them into Liz's office drawer, I went back to my room. I tucked the photo into the corner of my corkboard and looked at it thoughtfully. I was swept through by a desire to know these people, and maybe figure out why my mom had distanced herself from her family so much.

  Knowing Liz, Faith would have not had a single reply to any of those letters. Maybe a couple of the early ones, but certainly none since she'd made partner. If Faith was lucky, she would have received a digital Christmas card…but that's about it.

  Jasher knew I existed for sure, but he'd know hardly anything about me. How did he feel about having his cousin come and stay with them for the summer? Was he still painfully shy, the way Faith had described him in his youth? Would we get along?

  I turned back to my packing. I picked up a pretty teal summer dress which I had tossed into the 'no' pile because I thought it was more for a tropical destination. I held it up thoughtfully. It did look cute on me, maybe even sexy. I folded it and put it on the 'yes' pile.

  Chapter 3

  I stepped off the train and onto the warm stone platform at the Anacullough station. The air was humid and rich with the smells of green things. I rolled my luggage out of the way of the sliding door to make sure I wasn't blocking passengers wanting to get off. Then I noticed that I was, in fact, the only passenger getting off the train.

  A bright shaft of sunlight slanted down between the train and platform roof. I pulled my sunglasses out of my purse and propped them on top of my head. Apparently, I'd need them. Sun in Ireland, who knew? I folded the rain jacket I had been carrying and stuffed it into the front pocket of my carry-on.

  Ana's station was a cute, old-fashioned affair with lacquered iron benches and matching iron posts, wrought with leaves of ivy. Except for a roof overhanging the platform, the station was open to the air. A delicious breeze smelling of freshly cut grass lifted the hair gently away from my forehead.

  I looked around for Aunt Faith. A man sat on a bench hiding his face behind a newspaper. A station employee swept dust, gum wrappers and dead leaves into a portable dustbin. No Aunt Faith yet. I took a deep breath and stretched the stiffness from my hips.

  I remembered my promise to Targa, Saxony, and Akiko and pulled out my cell phone to fire off a text to the group. Saxony was in Italy already, so that put her an hour ahead of me. Akiko was in transit to Kyoto, and Targa was in Poland, so also an hour ahead of me. I tapped out a text to the group.

  Middle of nowhere. Irish country-side. Population - Me, some ruins, a lot of green stuff, and a bunch of old farts who talk weird.

  Targa wrote back almost immediately: Glad you've arrived alive, now stop complaining and enjoy it.

  Saxony’s response came in a few minutes later: Well lookee who it is. Send me pix of your cousin or ur dead meat.

  Me: Adopted cousin.

  Saxony: Whatevs. I want a shot of him cleaning the pool, please. Thank you. That is all. Now go away. Do you have any idea how early it is here?

  Me: Isn't it lunchtime?

  Saxony: Exactly. Shoo.

  Me: LOL. Gone.

  I snapped my phone case shut and slipped my phone into the front pocket of my purse.

  "Georjayna?" A soft, Irish-accented voice startled me from behind.

  I jumped, clutching my chest with one hand and catching my sunglasses with the other as they slid off my head. "Sweet baby Jane!"

  My aunt looked exactly the way I remembered her. A wide grin sandwiched between soft cheeks and a kerchief covering her curly blond hair. She reached up to hug me and I caught of whiff of something herbal and pleasant.

  "I didn’t mean to startle you," she said. Her Irish lilt was music to my ears. "Heavens! You're so..."

  "Tall?"

  "I was going to say bonny, but yes, that too. How was your journey?"

  "Good, thanks." We made our way to her hybrid vehicle as we got all of the niceties out of the way. I'd taken to staring at the thick foliage swallowing station. I had forgotten just how lush and green Ireland really was. You don't tend to notice these things when you're a kid. I folded myself into the passenger seat, my knees jutting up as high as the glove compartment. I closed the door, cracked the passenger window, and inhaled.

  "Do you mind if we nip to the market on our way home? I need a few things," Faith asked as she turned on the car. It was so quiet I couldn't even tell it was running.

  "Not at all."

  "I might as well let you know right away," Faith said. "I'm taking a course in Aberdeen for a couple of weeks at the beginning of July. You and Jasher should know each other pretty well by then. Think you'll be okay on your own? I already told your mom and she said you're used to being on your own." Her mouth pulled down just a little.

  "Yeah, I am. No worries, Auntie. I'm sure we'll be fine. What's the course about?"

  "It's a reflexology course. I studied it nearly a decade ago. I need a refresher."

  "Last time I was here, you worked as a nurse, right?"

  "That's right."

  "What do you do now?"

  "Oh, I'm still a health care practitioner, but I transitioned out of nursing and into holistic care. Herbology, some meridian work, but mainly reflexology. I guess your mom never told you."

  "What's reflexology?"

  "It's a therapy that uses the reflex points in the body. By applying pressure and stimulating these points, I can help someone to heal. Mostly through points in the feet." She looked over at me, her eyes lit. "Did you know that your feet are a gateway to the rest of your body? It’s really good for you to walk in the grass and dirt in bare feet, all the energy and helpful bacteria in the soil boosts our health.”

  Helpful bacteria? I squirmed in the passenger seat. "I didn't know that, Auntie," I said politely. The last thing I’d be doing was rooting around in the dirt in bare feet. Just the thought made me want to pull my sensitive feet up underneath me and swaddle them in bubble wrap.

  Faith slowed the car as we entered town. "Here we are." She pulled into a parking space in front of a grocery market. "Want to come in with me?"

  "Sure." I unbuckled my seat belt. "I've been sitting too much anyway."

  I followed my aunt through the market, scanning the gossip rags and fashion magazines. Faith was through the checkout with her bag of groceries quickly as there were no other customers.

  We headed out into the street and nearly bumped into a huge man in a black newsboy cap. A loaf of bread fell out of Faith's bag.

  "Scuse me," said the man as he bent to pick up the bread. He held it out for Faith, and for a moment, it seemed like she wasn't going to take it. I looked at her curiously, but couldn't read her expression. She seemed a little paler than usual.

  "Ta," Faith said finally, taking the bread. "How are you, Brendan?"

  "Good as can be expected," he said. Brendan had a close-cropped gray beard and marionette lines bordering his mouth. He nodded at me.

  "Did I hear rightly?" Faith asked. "You bought the old O'Brien place?"

  "News travels fast," Brendan answered in a thicker accent than Faith's. "I did."

  My aunt visibly paled. "I had hoped it was just a rumor."

  "The price was right." He said it a bit sharply, I thought.

  "I imagine so," Faith said, half under her breath. "Are you planning to live there?"

  "Of course, why else would I have purchased it? I can't live in my ma's basement for the rest of my life."

  I hoped I hid my surprise well. The man looked well dressed and at least mid-fifties. Why was he living in his mother's basement?

  "I know, but...there's bad energy there, Brendan. You can tell just from looking."

  I looked at Faith, intrigued. Liz had always quashed the notion of
good or bad energy, but if I were pushed to say what I believed? Well, it was easy to feel that the energy between Liz and me wasn't so much on the positive side any more. So, bad energy? Sure. I knew what that meant.

  "I don't go in for all that nonsense, you know that," he groused. "It just needs some fertilizer and some proper care. It's been neglected for seventy-some years.”

  "When do you take possession?" Faith asked, hiking the groceries. I reached to take the bag from her and she gave me a grateful smile.

  "Two weeks," Brendan said, already moving away from us.

  "I see." Faith looked as though she didn't see at all, not a bit.

  "Well, I'll be on my way." He put a fingertip to the brim of his cap and went into the store.

  "Who was that, Auntie?" I asked, opening the door to the hybrid.

  She sighed and opened the driver's side door. "No one you need to know, Sweetpea."

  A word to the wise: When someone says somebody is no one you need to know...you probably need to know.

  Chapter 4

  Ten years ago, the large Victorian house was bare and stark white with fresh paint. Now it was buried in foliage. A small wooden sign with the words Sara Rugadh above and Sarasborne below greeted us at the corner as Faith steered the car into the driveway.

  “What’s Sarasborne?” I asked Faith, not bothering to try and pronounce the Gaelic version.

  “It’s quite literal. The first child born in this house was Sara Sheehan, in 1823. If the story is to be believed,” she added with a laugh, “the house wasn’t even finished before the wee thing made her appearance. She came with so little warning that there was no time to shoo the workmen. She was born amid the sounds of hammers and saws. Sara Rugadh means ‘born before.’

  “Two hundred years of ancestry,” I said, more to myself as I stared up at the huge structure. And I hardly knew a thing about my family.

  “Yes, this place has a lot of history,” said Faith.

  Greenery crawled over every surface. Windows peeked out from between thick curtains of ivy. A three-car garage stood alone and it, too, was buried in a tangle of vines and leaves. Little white and orange flowers dotted the side of it. It was Ireland, over-jacked on chlorophyll.

  Faith pulled the car into the garage and killed the engine. I got out with some difficulty - I swear cars in Ireland are smaller. I walked out of the garage and looked around, struck. A stone terrace coming off the rear of the house was lined with arches dripping with purple blossoms. Fronds hung down in elegant cones like fragrant chandeliers. The perfume of flowers filled the air.

  "Wow," I said as my eyes scanned Sarasborne. "I've never seen a house that looks like nature is holding it up more than timbers and beams." A small pond containing koi and green buds that promised to become flowers sparkled next to the terrace where wicker patio furniture had been arranged on the flagstones. Beyond that was the gazebo made from iron gray barn board. It too would be swallowed up with greenery soon. Already ivy was creeping up the bottoms of every post.

  "Do you like it?" Faith came to stand beside me.

  "As long as there are no bees, I love it," I said.

  Faith gave me a puzzled look.

  I cleared my throat. My phobia was an embarrassing topic. "It's beautiful. Did Jasher make that?" I asked, pointing to the gazebo.

  "He built everything, except for the house of course. He was cleaning away an old barn for one of his landscaping projects and the fellow allowed him to take whatever was worthy of being reclaimed. He made the gazebo over a weekend. Marvelous, isn't it?"

  I nodded. "It all looks so wild and alive."

  Faith laughed. "Your grandparents would have used the word 'wild,' too. I think they'd turn over in their graves to see it now." She popped open the trunk and pulled out my luggage. I went to help. "After Mum and Dad passed away, I just let things go, preferring to let nature take its course. Now, Jasher at least keeps the yard mowed." She closed the trunk and picked up my carry-on bag. "Let’s get you settled."

  "Where is this mysterious cousin-in-law of mine?" I asked, rolling my suitcase along the flagstone path.

  "He's at work. He'll be home a little later. He’s almost always done by three."

  Good. I could take a nap. Tendrils of ivy grazed the top of my head as I ducked inside the house. Just beyond the mudroom was the kitchen. An intoxicating herbal scent filled the air. "What's that smell?"

  She gave me a look of disbelief. "You don't recognize the scent of lavender?" She pointed to a potted plant on the breakfast table in the nook. Spikes of purple flowers topped a cluster of small-leafed stems. "Honestly, has your mother taught you nothing about healing herbs? She and I grew up using herbs. I'm surprised she didn't pass on that knowledge to you."

  "Nope." I couldn't say I'd ever been interested, either. "Smells great though," I said as we shuffled past the kitchen with my bags.

  She took me up to the room on the second floor that had once belonged to Liz. Situated at the rear corner of the house, it overlooked the backyard. Like most of the rooms in Victorian houses, it was huge and had its own fireplace. A worn carpet protected the hardwood floor and a four-poster bed was the centerpiece of the room. An antique writing desk sat under one of the three large windows, the perfect place to do my coursework.

  I'd signed up for an online course in photo composition. I'd always enjoyed snapping photos and had even won a competition with a shot I'd taken of Targa down at the beach one summer. She'd been running into the ocean but looking back at me, her dark hair flying. A wave had hit her in the thighs, framing her body with white spray which sparkled in the sunshine. She looked like a fantasy creature.

  Faith set my carry-on down and turned to me. "Now, I know you're bit of a technology fiend..."

  "Did Liz tell you that?"

  "She did. I think your mom was worried that you'd shrivel up and die without the internet." She winced. "But we don't have wifi in this house."

  My face froze. "Seriously?" I remember thinking that Liz must have been afraid to tell me, afraid I wouldn't have gone. I couldn't picture life without wifi.

  "I know it’s hard to believe." Faith put her palms up. "But you'll find that the Ana County Library and most of the cafes in town have wifi."

  "You and Jasher don't use the internet?" I asked, bemused. "How do you survive?" This was insanity in my world. I had just assumed, well, didn't everyone have wifi these days?

  She laughed. "Oh Georjie, there is so much to be done, we don't have time for it."

  "But don't you use it for research? For email? For your work? Liz gave me your phone number. It's a cell, isn't it?"

  "Yes, I'm not a complete dinosaur. I do have a mobile. For wifi, you can use my bicycle and go into town whenever you wish. There's a path, it’s quite pretty and it only takes a few minutes to get to the main square."

  "Um, okay. Thanks," I said, already strategizing to mitigate the damage. I'd have to make a hotspot with my cell. There was no way I would bike into town every time I needed wifi.

  "I'm going to work in my office for the afternoon," Faith said, resting her hand on the door handle. "Then I've got an appointment in town. I'll see you tonight."

  Faith left me alone and I rifled through my luggage for my sleep shorts. Combing and then braiding my long, travel-matted hair, I stood at the window to look out over the beautiful green yard and admire the Eden.

  I blinked as two tiny and brightly colored tracers flew by my window at light speed. I stepped closer and peered through the warped glass in the direction they’d gone. No dice. They’d vanished. I yawned and rubbed my dry eyes. Must have been hummingbirds. I crawled between the cool clean sheets and enjoyed the sleep of the blissfully ignorant.

  Chapter 5

  When I woke from my nap, Aunt Faith was gone, but she'd left a covered tray of food on the kitchen counter with a sticky note and my name scrawled in her fine penmanship. To my delight, a fresh scone with clotted cream, fruit preserves, and a couple of hard-boiled eggs had be
en artfully arranged on a china set. I fumbled around the large kitchen looking for tea and trying to make the gas stove work. I emerged triumphant with a cup, and took my laptop and tray of eats out to the gazebo. My flip flops thwacked against the bottoms of my feet as I walked the stone path Jasher had made, rendering the birds temporarily silent.

  I settled myself at the table in the gazebo and set my laptop, e-reader, and cell phone out in front of me. This almost fit my idea of heaven. At least I could use photoshop or read without needing wifi.

  The scone melted in my mouth. It's a simple thing, and maybe not worthy of note, but at home I ate a lot of sandwiches and microwave dinners. Even with our architectural-digest-worthy kitchen, Liz was allergic to cooking and I considered it an achievement to toast bread without burning it.

  I had just finished my tea when I heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. It had to be Jasher because Faith's hybrid was nearly silent. The engine died and the door opened and closed. A squeaky tailgate was lowered, followed by scraping noises. Butterflies spiraled through my stomach, much to my annoyance. Why was I so nervous? I told myself it had nothing to do with how handsome he was in the photographs I'd seen—I wasn't that shallow, was I?

  Jasher appeared around the corner, and my breath caught in my chest.

  There have been moments in my life when seeing someone for the first time gives me the strangest sensation. Trying to define the feeling makes it vaporize. It's like seeing something in my periphery, but when I look, there’s nothing there.