by J B Forest
Seth retired for the evening and left Zehn to watch the patrons and drink his ale in piece. He had not truly rested since their arrival on Earth and the two-day trek had left Seth exhausted. He requested a tub for bathing which was available for a fee. He gladly paid the fee and a little more so that he could soak his weary muscles in the warm soapy water. Zehn had provided Seth with local currency obtained from Cruim on one of his earlier scouting trips.
It felt good to be able to wash away the grime and sweat that had accumulated after two days on the road. When he was done with his bath, he washed his shirt and kilt and made a place to hang them near the fireplace to dry. He then promptly fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
They used the next day to familiarize themselves with the town. They had a few conversations with the local inhabitants and other travelers but were careful not to attract unwanted attention. The center of town attracted a lot of people for various activities. It seemed that a troupe of performers was visiting and people from the surrounding countryside were gathering in town to see the entertainment. The presence of so many visitors was the perfect cover for the Fae travelers.
Chapter 17 – Present Day Southwest Louisiana
Taylor was not one to buy into the ‘woo woo’ theories. Although most of her professional life was dedicated to researching legends and myths about faeries and elves, her main goal was to tie those stories to real life events. It was her way of ‘debunking’ the tales and finding rational explanations. She was literally stopped in her tracks as she and her grandfather were settling in at a table in the courtyard of a nursing home. She was hit with an overbearing feeling of a presence of some kind.
This was far different from the ‘chills’ that she experienced a few days prior in her office. She felt as if a pressure was weighing her down. Taylor looked at her grandfather to see if he had a similar reaction and she was glad that he was already seated. Judging by his facial expression, it appeared that he felt something as well. Although to her surprise, he did not seem to be in any discomfort.
“Granddad, do you feel that?” she asked.
“I do,” replied James. “I have the feeling that we will meet our ancestors or someone from the family line very soon. This can be the only explanation for what I’m feeling. It feels as though someone is calling to me, maybe my time is coming sooner than we thought.”
“Please don’t talk like that Granddad. It was probably nothing, maybe just a drop in the barometric pressure,” she rationalized as she settled into the seat across from her grandfather. She thought to herself that all this talk of faeries engaging with humans, particularly her family line was starting to make her imagination more vivid than it already was. She shook her head slightly at the thought.
James reached across the table and covered his granddaughter’s hand. She was so beautiful, full of life and brilliant. He really hoped that if someone was chosen to interact with their ancestors, that it was Taylor. He knew that she was still trying to make sense of all that he shared, but she handled it like the professional that she was. It didn’t hurt that her professional endeavors revolved around explaining the myths and legends. She was familiar with the basics but did not realize how on target she was with trying to tie those stories to fact. Now that she knew the truth, she would not be able to share it with the world. He trusted that she would keep the secrets and understood the ramifications of sharing that type of information with an unsuspecting world.
He felt himself getting stronger. It was something that he couldn’t explain, but he was sure that it had to do with the family legacy. That knowledge alone gave him the strength to persevere. His memory was intact; this was probably the longest that he had gone without slipping into the fog of Alzheimer’s in several months. He was sure that it wasn’t a coincidence. He smiled to himself when he thought of his daughter’s reaction. He was sure that she would insist that the doctors run a battery of tests to explain the phenomena. She was a hand full but he loved her dearly and she produced the beautiful Taylor.
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Tristen dismounted, placed his helmet on the handle bar of his vehicle. He placed a small glamour on it so that it would not be tempting to someone disposed to acquire a new mode of transportation without providing just compensation. He decided to forego the main entrance and walked through the lawn towards the back of the facility.
He knew from his earlier research that there was not a large presence of his descendants in the area. However, the pull of the bloodline was very strong. Whoever they were, the bonds were strong. He hoped that he would be able to successfully convince at least one of them to accompany him on his journey to petition the elves. He would find out soon enough and if this group was not willing, he would have to select from a group located in another part of this world, but that would take more time and research. Time was not his ally in this endeavor.
She felt a strong pull towards something or someone before she saw the movement in her peripheral vision. It was a powerful attraction, nothing sexual, but more like a tether. She felt herself rise from the table involuntarily. She had to grasp the edges of the table to keep from moving. When she turned her head to follow the ‘pull’, she saw him. The sight of him was almost overpowering, ‘wow’, was the only intelligent thought that this university professor could muster at the moment. She noticed that her grandfather was similarly affected, but it appeared that other residents and visitors in the courtyard were unaffected. “Weird,” she thought to herself.
Tristen spotted them immediately as he entered an area with tables scattered among large oak trees. A lake sat along the boundary of the area. There were a handful of people gathered at various tables throughout the area, but he had no trouble identifying his descendants. He noticed that they felt his arrival, a young woman and an older man both rose slightly from their seats the moment that he appeared in the area. It was as though they felt his presence as much as he felt theirs. He hoped that they were somewhat prepared for this encounter, it was going to change their lives.
James could see that his granddaughter had a similar reaction as his to the dazzling young man approaching their table. He glanced at Taylor and calmly said, “This is it.” She looked at him and nodded slightly. It seemed that they were both suspended, he felt that if he let go of his grasp on the table that he would fall over, but it seemed that he couldn’t sit back down either. He was stuck in a kind of half stand, holding onto the edge of the table. He tried to look around to make sure that their odd behavior wasn’t noticed by the staff. He sighed briefly when it appeared that their actions and the appearance of a stranger had gone unnoticed, at least for now.
Tristen did not hesitate. He quickly approached the pair using his Fae speed while distorting time for the humans around him so that it went unnoticed. “Greetings”, he said as he reached out and touched each of them on the shoulder. “May I join you and make a proper introduction?”
The stranger’s touch seemed to break the spell that held Taylor and her grandfather. She regained control of her movements the moment he touched her shoulder. She was still a little uncertain of what was happening but nodded an acceptance at his request to join them. It seemed that her grandfather was right, they might as well embrace their fate. She had a feeling that ‘woo woo’ wouldn’t describe what would happen now.
James was relieved to be able to sit down under his own power without falling. Once he was settled, he reached over to the stranger to shake his hand. “I’m James Duncan and this is my granddaughter, Taylor Simon.”
“I am very pleased to meet you; my name is Tristen.”
Before they could continue, a nurse rushed over with an orderly. “Excuse me sir,” said the nurse, “all visitors must check in through the office.”
Taylor interjected immediately. “Oh, I’m so sorry, this is a relative of ours, I invited him to meet us out here instead of going through the office. I hope you don’t mind, it just seemed easier a
nd Granddad was eager to see him.” Okay, she wondered where that came from. Judging from the expression on her grandfather’s and the stranger, Tristen’s face, they had the same thoughts.
The nurse looked a bit surprised. Mr. Duncan’s family members were regular visitors and they always followed the rules imposed by the facility. He recognized the granddaughter, and recalled that her visits had become more frequent recently. They seemed to be comfortable with the stranger’s presence. He looked at the orderly for some type of acknowledgement and support, but the guy just shrugged. He decided that he wouldn’t press the issue but would have them follow up with the appropriate check in before the new visitor left. He needed to make sure that he was covered in case anything happened. The last thing he needed was to lose his job over something so simple as a visit from a relative.
“Okay, Ms. Simon, but please check in with the office before your guest leaves. The procedures are in place to protect all of our guests.” He nodded to the group and motioned for the orderly to follow him back into the building. When they reached the entrance, he leaned over and whispered, “I don’t think there’s anything suspicious, but keep an eye on them just to make sure.” After noting that there were two other nurses on duty in the courtyard he left to return to his duties. The orderly quietly took a seat in the shade of the building where he could observe the trio.
Once the nurse and orderly were well out of hearing distance, “well I’m not sure where that came from. I just blurted it out without thought,” Taylor expressed sheepishly. “Tristen, hopefully you can provide some answers.”
“You are very perceptive Taylor. May I call you by your given name? I would like to dispense with formalities as quickly as possible.”
“Of course,” she responded while glancing at her grandfather.
“Please go on, we are eager to hear your story,” added James. “Taylor and I have been discussing our family’s history the last few days and somehow I have a feeling that your presence is related to our discussions. Am I correct?”
“I do not know how much information you have about your ancestry and the legacy that you share. There is information that I must share with you and a request that I must make. You are my progeny.” Tristen looked at Taylor and said, “so you see Taylor, you were absolutely correct in stating that I was your relative. I am happy to explain all; however, I would like to hear what information you know about your ancestry before I begin my tale.”
He looked around and although there were not many people in the area, he felt a bit exposed. He also noticed that one of the men who approached them was surreptitiously watching them from the eaves of the building. “Is there somewhere more private for us to have our conversation?”
Taylor was awestruck, there were so many things going through her mind at once. It appeared that this dazzling man in their presence was an ancestor of theirs. Could he really be a faerie? Never in her wildest dreams did she picture this occurrence. She wondered now if it was all fate, the family legends, her choice of profession, even her move back to Louisiana, and now the presence of this stranger. It all seemed too much to be just coincidence. She realized that they were being watched by the orderly that accompanied the nurse and if they moved further away, their actions would be reported. She needed to make sure that they were undisturbed, she had a feeling that the conversation was about to get interesting…. well more interesting.
“Why don’t I go to the nurse’s office and let them know that we’re going to move closer to the lake to enjoy the view. Granddad is feeling much better and this will give us the privacy that we need. Letting the staff know in advance will hopefully avoid any interruptions.” She didn’t waste any time getting up from the table to inform the staff of their intentions.
James nodded at his visitor after Taylor left. “I must say that if you’re my grandfather 100 times removed, you look a hellova lot better than I do.”
Tristen chuckled, he was glad to see that James had a good sense of humor. It appeared that these two had some sense of who he was which was reassuring. He thought that maybe his task would not be so difficult. “I have been told that I hold my age well, I have lived through a few millennia in Earth terms. Time is measured differently in my home.”
“I guess that the longevity can be both a blessing and a curse. Are you immortal?”
“Oh, we are mortal, it is just that our life spans are excessively long and it is difficult to kill us.”
“I believed in the stories that were passed down to me and shared them with my offspring, but I never thought that I would experience the reality of it,” James mused almost to himself. He looked directly at his ancestor. “These last few years I have been lost. I was placed in this facility,” he gestured at the surroundings, “because I could no longer care for myself. I am or was afflicted with a disease called ‘Alzheimer’s’, more often than not I was not cognizant of my surroundings. There were times when I didn’t even recognize my own family when they visited. It was frustrating and a terrible feeling. It was a memory that I couldn’t quite grasp, things were just out of reach. But in the last few days, I am feeling much better and stronger. I haven’t lapsed into the fog since the day I felt something…I can’t explain it but it was a ‘disturbance’ of some kind. I awakened in the middle of the night with a feeling that something was amiss.”
Tristen listened as James spoke, he became more attentive when James noted that he felt something recently. Could it be that he felt the rift as well? He wondered if the granddaughter Taylor felt it as well. This could be an indicator that they were the ones to help him in his mission.
“You say that you felt something a few days ago? Please tell me more.” James nodded, “let’s wait until Taylor joins us. Then we can both tell you what we felt. I’m hoping that you can explain what’s happening but I want Taylor to hear everything as well. I haven’t even told her how much stronger I am feeling, but I’m sure she can see the changes. Only days ago, I was much more feeble and needed assistance walking all but the shortest of distances. Now I feel that I could even jog a bit. That would get them all worked up around here,” he laughed aloud.
Taylor could see her grandfather and Tristen talking. She hoped she hadn’t missed much in the conversation. She assured the staff that everything was fine and registered Tristen as an approved visitor. She gave him that last name of Duncan; he hadn’t provided a family name during his introductions. Maybe the Fae don’t use sir names, she thought to herself. She smiled as she saw her grandfather laugh aloud. That was something she hadn’t seen in a very long time. He smiled and chuckled some, but his hearty laugh was almost non-existent. He appeared to regain his strength as well. The changes were so subtle, that she hadn’t realized until just now that he seemed much stronger than before and that he hadn’t lapsed into the Alzheimer’s fog as he called it since they started their discussions about the family legacy. She tried to remember how long and then remembered that it started not long after getting the weird feeling. She and her grandfather had been so focused on discussing the family legend that they neglected to inform her Mom of the good news. She felt guilty about that but there was no way that she could call her Mom with Tristen in the picture. Her Mom would likely call the police or want to have them all institutionalized.
Her Mom had never embraced the stories. When she was younger, she remembered her mother attempting to discourage her grandfather from ‘filling the children’s heads with crazy fairy tales’. She would never be able to make the leap of faith that it took to believe that this was all real, even with reality staring her in the face. Taylor felt that it was better to understand the situation and hopefully get some answers from Tristen before calling her mother with the good news about Granddad.
“Looks like you started without me, I told the nurses that I was taking Granddad closer to the lake to get a better view. We are all very pleased that he is feeling much better. This should buy us some time without interruptions.”
There were a few
clusters of Adirondack chairs arranged in conversational settings facing towards the lake. The views were spectacular. The back lawn of the facility was situated along an isolated section of the lakefront and large trees were decorated with Spanish moss along the opposite bank and further away from the cleared grounds. The large curved bridge that led into the south side of the city could be viewed in the distance. Lake Charles had no skyline to speak of but the tips of the L’Auberge and Golden Nugget Casinos could be seen in the shadow of the bridge.
They chose the cluster of chairs farthest away from anyone. Tristen raised a shield to ensure absolute privacy. He did not want uninvited ears from this realm or any others to be privy to their conversation. He did not think that his presence on Earth was known but it was always better to err on the side of caution.
Once they were settled, James and Taylor took turns sharing their story with Tristen. James provided most of the history that was passed down through the generations and Taylor shared their recent experiences and discussions. Tristen was intrigued to find out that Taylor was an academic who lectured at the university on the very topic of myths and legends of the Fae. He knew that none of this was coincidence and they were fated to meet. They paused briefly as Taylor retrieved refreshments for them all. Time passed quickly, and it was mealtime. She brought food and drinks out to the area where they were seated after reassuring the staff that all was well.
