The Tower in the Mist

by A. L. Jambor

  He went out the back door and beckoned me to follow. I did. The back yard of the tower was filled with flowers, too, and there was another cave. I followed Geezer to the mouth of the cave and we went inside.

  We walked for about ten feet and then I saw a pool with waterfalls. It was beautiful.

  “It’s warm,” he said. “I’ll leave you to bathe.”

  At first, I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right. Then I noticed he was gone. Steam rose from the water. I felt so dirty I didn’t care if he saw me, so I stripped off the dress and plunged into the pool.

  Warmth covered my body. I went under and felt the water roll through my hair. I ran my hands over my hair, scrubbing weeks of dirt and oil away. Nothing had ever felt this good.

  The pool was wide and I swam across it, back and forth, several times. It felt good to use my muscles. The warmth loosened me up. How had I lived without a bath?

  I lay on my back and floated. As I looked at the ceiling of the cave, I saw Matt’s face. It was so real it threw me. He began to speak.

  “Hey, babe,” he said. “I see you.”

  “You do?”

  He laughed. “You look beautiful.”

  “Oh, Matt.”

  I began to cry.

  “I want you to be happy,” he said.

  “Then come back,” I said.

  “Can’t, babe. I’m not real.”

  “Then why did you come?”

  Anger rose inside me. Don’t do this to me.

  “I came because you need to be free.”

  “Free from what?”

  “From obligation. You don’t have to be faithful to me anymore.”

  Without thinking I said, “I will always be faithful.”

  “You will always love me, but you’ll also love someone else. I don’t want you to miss that love because of me.”

  “I only just lost you.”

  “And I’m never coming back.”

  Until that moment, I thought he was. I just didn’t know I’d thought he was coming back.

  The tears were flowing harder. When someone dies, they don’t come back. In my grief I hadn’t accepted the reality of death. The finality. The end. How could I still be here if he was gone?

  Survival is a great distractor. If you have to work to survive, you can ignore the details. I had ignored the fact that Matt was really dead. I had burned his body, I had seen his bones in the center of the camp for weeks, but I was still expecting him to come home.

  Ache in the heart. I had heard that expression. Heartache is one word, for God’s sake. Now I had it.

  “I love you,” Matt said.

  His face began to fade.

  “Matt, no, come back. I love you, too!”

  Geezer stood before me. He bore a sad look on his face as though he could feel my pain. Maybe he did.

  He had a towel in his hand and a new dress on his arm. He put them both on a rock and left.

  Unlike a bathtub, the water didn’t get cold. I stayed there for a long time.

  When I went back to the tower, the table was filled with sugary treats. I hadn’t said much to Geezer since I’d arrived. He didn’t seem to care whether I spoke or not. I looked at the cookies.

  “How do you know about cookies?” I asked.

  “I’ve been to your time.”

  “When?” I asked.

  “That day you saw me in the cave. The day you didn’t speak.”

  The day I saw him, the first day. He knew I was there.

  “Where did you go?” I said.

  “Through the portal.”

  “And where does the portal go?”

  “To Earth.”

  I’d seen many things since meeting Geezer. I’d seen teacups fly across a room. I was hugged by a dress. I’d seen snow stop several feet above his garden. Why not go to another planet through a portal?

  “What year is it on Earth?” I said.

  “It’s their time. Perhaps a thousand years ahead.”

  “So it’s modern.”

  “More so than here.”

  My heart filled with temptation. I wanted to jump into that portal and never look back.

  “I can help you,” he said.

  “With what?”

  “I can get you clothes and money. You can go through the portal and find a home.”

  How did he know what I was thinking? Was I that obvious?

  I looked at Geezer. He was attractive. He had a beard - a nice, full beard that was neatly trimmed. His nose wasn’t too long or too wide. His lips were full but not overwhelming. I thought about kissing him, and guilt fell on me like a sledgehammer.

  That’s when I left. I politely excused myself and went home. I’d forgotten how cold it was outside his garden and the air took my breath away. A cloak appeared out of the sky and fell on my shoulders.

  That night, I curled up on my cot wrapped in the cloak. The fire never went out now, so I was able to relax. I knew Geezer was doing something to me, something that made me want to be with him. Maybe he was lonely. Maybe he just wanted companionship. Did wizards fall in love?

  I thought about Matt’s face on the ceiling of the cave. He looked very real. Was it possible for someone to reach out from the other side and talk to you? Or was that part of Geezer’s magic?

  I’m not very perceptive. I see something and it takes me a long time to understand what it meant. I may react emotionally, with tears or something like that, but true understanding doesn’t come until a day or two later. Then I feel stupid.

  I was sick of crying. People can grieve for a long time. It had been two months since Matt died. That wasn’t very long.

  Matt was twenty-four. If we had been on Pryll, he would have had maybe four years left. I am twenty-three. I would have been a widow before I was thirty. Does that excuse my attraction to Geezer?

  “Is it really okay to let you go?” I said.

  Then I went to sleep.

  December 10

  Geezer has been silent. I find food at my door but I don’t see him. It’s comforting to know I will not starve, but I can’t help feeling he will eventually want something in return. I’ve never met anyone who is totally unselfish.

  December 15

  I’ve been thinking about Christmas. It’s ten days away. On Pryll, we would celebrate by giving gifts. Soldiers went to Earth and stole things. We all got together and opened the presents. Last year, I got a television. I used it as a computer monitor.

  I want to give Geezer something. What would a wizard need? A black cat? No – that’s for witches. A white cat? A bird, like an owl? How would I catch an owl?

  What if he just wants me? What if I offer to stay with him at the tower?

  I have to admit living there would not be a sacrifice. I would be near the biggest bathtub in the world. I would also be near the portal.

  I’ve been thinking about the portal a lot lately. Geezer said he would give me money and clothes. He seemed sincere when he said it.

  I remember Matt talking about Earth. He had been there once on an expedition. He said that historically, Earth was three hundred years behind Pryll. He said the process of degeneration was just beginning and that the scientists of Earth weren’t aware of it yet. I could live in a modern place that still had time. I could marry again if I wanted to. I know computers. I could work.

  The dress began to hug me like it knew what I was thinking.

  “You’re on his side,” I said. “Does he want me to stay?”

  This is new territory for me. I didn’t have to make too many choices while living on Pryll. In the pod, food was given to us. We went to the schools the leaders chose for us based on our aptitude tests. When we graduated, we were given three choices of what we would do based, again, on our aptitude tests. And we could choose to marry.

  Since reproduction is a moot factor, we didn’t have to marry, so it was a choice. But falling in love is never a choice. It’s something that happens to you and you accept it or reject it. Plain and simple. I was
attracted to Matt. He was sweet and kind, and he was crazy about me. For him, it wasn’t a choice. I didn’t think much about how I felt. Maybe somewhere deep inside, I thought he had enough love for the two of us.

  Now I have a choice to stay or to go. What’s holding me here? The memory of my dead husband? An uncomfortable attraction to a handsome young wizard? I have to decide what I want and it had better be right. Yeah – no pressure at all.

  I think it’s easier to decide what I will give Geezer for Christmas.

  December 16

  Today is my mother’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom.

  I went to the camp today. I was looking for something to give Geezer. I figured something from Earth would be unique and might mean something to him. I don’t know why.

  Snow covers the pile of bones now. That’s all they are, those people I came here with. They are gone. Going through what’s left of their things was strange, and I felt like an intruder. The camp is their final resting place. It’s their grave. I won’t be going back again.

  When I looked in Jim’s hut, I found his old gold watch. I don’t know how the looters missed it. It’s shiny.

  Jim told me his father came from Sunge. They visited there a few times and picked up the watch at a store that sold antiques. He said that’s old stuff people had from a long time ago. This watch still works. You wind it and it keeps the time. Would Geezer care about time? It doesn’t matter because I can’t find anything else.

  Since I knew I wouldn’t go back, I took one last look in the computer hut. There were some pens and pads of paper there. I also found an Ethernet cord. I have no idea why I took it. Maybe because it was still sealed in a plastic bag.

  December 17

  It’s a week until Christmas Eve and I can’t wait. I’m going over to the tower today.

  December 20

  Geezer was happy to see me. I told him about Christmas and showed him the gifts. He got quiet. He really liked the Ethernet cord.

  The food was wonderful. Despite not knowing what Christmas was, Geezer was able to conjure up a feast. We sat at the table for an hour eating our hearts out.

  The tower has a winding staircase. At the top is Geezer’s loft. That’s where he keeps his books. It has a small window overlooking the front garden. Under the window is a tall desk and stool. The room is round. The walls are lined with shelves and the shelves are filled with books.

  Underneath the loft is a little room. It has a fireplace and a small divan, which is like a sofa with no back. I sat on it and Geezer sat next to me. It’s pushed up against the wall so we could sit back. It was very peaceful.

  “I’m thinking of going through the portal,” I said.

  “I thought you would,” he said.

  “What’s it like?”

  “It’s painless. You go to a cave. The mouth of the cave opens by the river. If you look across it, you see an open field surrounded by woods.”

  “Then it’s just like ours. And Esher is nearby?”

  “There is a big house nearby. The town is several kilometers away.”

  “What happened to Esher?”

  “It was small,” he said. “The people abandoned it. The land failed to produce. A knight was given a title and the land following his service to the king.”

  “And that’s it? The town just disappeared?”

  I thought for a minute.

  “Could I walk to the town, the one you mentioned?” I asked.

  “You could ask the people in the house to take you there.”

  What I wanted him to say was stay here…don’t go.

  “I could,” I said.

  He got up and walked to the window that looked out on the front yard. I wondered what he was thinking.

  “Then you must prepare,” he said. “I’ll teach you what I know about Earth.”

  We got up and climbed the stairs to the loft. He conjured a stool for me to sit on, and together we read about Earth and what life was like at the beginning of the twentieth century in England. He also told me he was over a thousand years old. Oddly, I wasn’t surprised. I’d seen his magic.

  When I left the tower to walk home, I’d forgotten my cloak. It appeared from the sky and covered my shoulders. Even though it was dark, I wasn’t afraid. I knew Geezer had his eye on me.

  December 21

  When I woke up this morning, the cave was transformed. A small window was carved into the rock. It was filled with glass. I didn’t think people had glass in the tenth century. Geezer has glass, though.

  The tapestry was still there, but the entrance of the cave was sealed against the cold. The seal, too, is made of glass.

  The walls are glowing. The light they give off is soft, like natural daylight. There is a new mattress on my cot. I can feel shapes under the cloth. I have to ask Geezer what they are.

  December 22

  When I got off the cot I looked toward the back of the cave. The hole was gone and replaced by a doorway. I couldn’t resist walking through it to see where it led. It led to a tunnel. The walls of the tunnel glowed, too.

  The floor was warm and smooth on my feet as I walked through the tunnel. It was long. A slight breeze passed through it like the blower of an air conditioner making my hair fly. My hair has grown long. I’ve been sitting on it. I have to ask Geezer if he has something I can cut it with.

  There was a light at the end of the tunnel. I knew what it was - the pool in the cave behind Geezer’s house. He’d made a way for me to get to the pool without going through the woods.

  He’s created a sort of bathroom for me. I told him how much I missed having a toilet. He was familiar with them. He’d seen them on his visits to Earth. The first time he saw the public toilet, he didn’t know what to make of it so he sat in one of the stalls and listened. Eventually he understood.

  He is over a thousand years old and had lived in Rome, but these toilets were different. He studied the design and made notes in his book. He made the toilet from a solid piece of marble.

  A dress and towel were on the big rock. I would have a Christmas bath!

  When I finished washing, I dried off with the towel and put on the clean dress before heading to Geezer’s back door. As I put my hand up to knock, the door opened, and I saw Geezer standing by the stove preparing one of his ubiquitous teas. He smiled when he saw me.

  “Breakfast is ready,” he said.

  I’ve grown used to finding things prepared for me. I don’t know how he knows when I’ll arrive, but I don’t care anymore. It’s nice to have a warm meal made just for me.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  I sat at the table and watched him waving his hands in the air. Pots, cups, and plates floated to the table. I’d been witnessing magic for weeks now but it still charmed me. He sat and we began to eat, but I could see he had something on his mind.

  “I love my cave,” I said.

  “Does it suit you?” he asked.

  “It is perfect.”

  “I’m glad.”

  Our conversations were like this. Geezer didn’t waste words. Even when he shared his experiences on Earth he gave me facts. There was something solid about him that made me feel safe.

  “I’m going north,” he said.

  “When?”

  “In February. It’s a feast in honor of the new chieftain.”

  “And you’re invited?”

  “He’s an old friend.”

  “Really?”

  I wanted to know how he knew this man. I wanted details, how they met, when, but Geezer was silent.

  “Geezer, how do you know him?” I asked.

  “I found him when he was a boy. He stayed with me for a time. I thought he would be an apprentice but he wasn’t interested in magic.”

  “Why not? What boy isn’t interested in magic?”

  “He wanted to be king.”

  “And he didn’t think magic would come in handy?”

  Geezer smiled.

  “He wanted to rule. He thought he could do a b
etter job than the one we had.”

  “How old was he?”

  “When?”

  “When he left you to be king?”

  “He was fifteen.”

  “And he thought he could be king?”

  “He had men who followed him. They believed in him.”

  “At fifteen!”

  “Some are born with followers.”

  I thought that was a strange thing to say. Did it mean the boy had charisma? Was he super intelligent and able to understand human beings to the point where he could control them?

  “What’s his name?” I asked.

  “Mace.”

  “How old is he now?”

  Geezer sipped his tea. Was he trying to remember how old Mace was, or avoiding the question?

  “He’s in his twenties now.”

  “Then he’s not old.”

  “No, he’s not old.”

  “So it wasn’t long ago that he left you. And he’s king now?”

  “No, not yet. He deposed the king’s cousin in the north.”

  “But won’t that piss off the king?”

  “I’m not sure what that means.”

  “Won’t that make him mad?” I asked.

  “The king has been unable to stop Mace.”

  “That’s not what I asked you.”

  Geezer looked over at me. I felt my cheeks grow hot.

  “The king is weak. His cousin held the land in the north. Without that land, the king will have to fight, but his armies are small. His soldiers have abandoned him.”

  “I wonder if they were the soldiers who attacked my camp?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “I hate answers like that.”

  “Margaret, I don’t know who attacked your camp. It could have been the king’s soldiers. It could have been a band of ruffians and thieves. Did you see the men?”

  No, I didn’t. It was all over by the time I returned.

  “No,” I said. “Why did his soldiers abandon him?”

  “His megalomania drove them away. Men seek strong leaders.”

  “What does that word mean - mega…”

  “It means he thought he was God. He wouldn’t listen to his advisors, insisting on having his own way. He drained the treasury’s coffers. He…”

  “He what?”

  “He made his donkey a minister.”

  I couldn’t help myself. I laughed out loud. Geezer didn’t.