“Food of the gods,” he muttered, before pointedly averting his eyes.
Before she could reply, her phone chimed with an e-mail notification–Jack again.
“Thought I’d try e-mail,” it said. “Tried calling and texting. Where are you? I need your help. It’s an emergency. Please call when you get this.”
She looked at the phone, remembering the last time she’d seen him. It had been at his place and he’d told her he wasn’t interested in a long-term relationship. It had come out of nowhere. She had thought things were going so well. They never argued; he never complained about the hours she worked. It had been the best relationship she’d managed to have since dropping out of med school, and it was suddenly over, and she had no idea why or what had happened. Was this his way of getting back in touch?
When she looked up to reply to SK, he was gone. She swiveled in the booth to see the front door but it was closing behind him. Her phone chimed again to remind her there was a voicemail she hadn’t heard. She went to missed calls and hit the dial button next to Jack’s name.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“LIVVY, OH THANK God, I’m so glad you called!” Jack exclaimed.
“It’s good to hear your voice, too,” she said, and it was.
Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how much she’d missed it.
“I have a friend who needs your help,” he said.
A friend needs help, she thought. Not, hi, I’ve missed you or how have you been? She slumped, hunching over the half-eaten pancakes. She kept the phone to her ear, though, still hoping.
“It’s a shaman thing. I mean, I don’t know what to do,” he said.
After what he’d learned in his time with her, she knew that he ought to know the difference between something a shaman could help and something that needed a doctor. She thought she heard real desperation in his voice. Maybe she should turn this over to SK. Then again, maybe this was the start of getting back together.
“Okay,” she finally said. “Where are you?”
“I’m at home. Are you coming over now?”
The waitress appeared, took the cash, and cleared the plates.
“Yeah,” she said, sliding out of the booth. “Can you pick me up?”
There was a tiny hesitation on his end. Anybody else might have missed it.
“I can’t. I think I better stay here.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Thanks Livvy, I really appreciate this,” he said and hung up.
She looked at the phone. I really appreciate this? Since when did Jack use words like “really appreciate”?
CHAPTER EIGHT
LIVVY HAD CONVINCED herself that she’d forgotten about Jack’s good looks. The truth was she hadn’t forgotten at all. Even so, when the door to his condo opened, she stared at him. Just a shade under six feet tall, he had the classic surfer look: tousled blond hair and blue eyes, dark tan. It probably helped that he really was a surfer.
“Livvy, I thought you’d never get here!”
As he reached for her, a small static shock discharged from his hand to her upper back, which they both ignored. Jack, of all people, was familiar with the way Livvy seemed to store static charges like a battery. She’d given up wearing electric watches in high school and had to have someone else put the metal case on her phone.
Jack gave her the “friend hug” before she could say anything. Uh oh, she thought.
“Come in, come in,” he said, closing the door behind her. “She’s up here.”
She.
They were heading upstairs to the bedroom, but it felt like she was sinking. She followed him up anyway, unable to stop climbing the stairs and unable to stop hoping–until she looked into the bedroom. She froze at the doorway. All around the room small votive candles were burning, as well as incense. There was an altar on a high table in the corner and pictures of Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli, the greatest of the Aztec gods, were on the walls. Copal offerings were on the altar along with fresh flowers. It was the bedroom of a shaman.
“What’s this?” she asked.
She looked at the woman in the bed–in his bed–young, Hispanic, and quite beautiful. Livvy’s stomach tightened.
“She’s a shaman,” he said.
“Yeah, no kidding,” she said, looking at all of the paraphernalia on the altar–in fact, scattered all around the room. “And she’s living here?”
“We’re engaged,” he said.
Click went the snippets of conversation. Thud went the other shoe.
“Oh,” she said quietly.
She fumbled for her phone and brought it out of her bag.
“I’m going to call SK. He’ll be able to find somebody,” she said, even as the word ‘idiot’ repeated in her head.
Jack came over and wrapped his hands around hers on the phone.
“Please don’t,” he said. “You know he’ll just put me in the queue. Do you think I would have called you if I had any other choice?”
She gave a short laugh and shook her head.
“This just gets better and better,” she said, trying to pull away.
“I’m sorry, Livvy,” he pleaded. “I’m sorry, okay?” He held on to her hands. “I don’t know what else to say. I would never have bothered you if I didn’t really need your help–if she didn’t really need your help. Please.”
She hesitated, looking into his eyes.
“Please, I’m begging you. I need your help.”
She sighed and looked down at his hands around hers.
“I don’t believe this,” she muttered, shaking her head.
“I do,” he said. “I know you won’t let her die.”
She took in a deep breath, staring at his hands. When they had been together, she had loved holding hands with him. Soft and warm, they enclosed hers completely.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do,” he pleaded.
“Okay,” she exhaled, hanging her head.
“Thank you, Livvy,” he gushed, as he tugged her into the room.
She stood next to the familiar bed and looked down at the woman under the covers who was obviously wearing a lacy black nightgown. Around her neck was a thin gold chain with a sapphire pendant.
“What’s her name?” Livvy asked mechanically, as she took off her shoulder bag and removed the mat.
“You can lie on the bed if you want.”
She swung a silent glare at him that could have melted steel.
“Indra,” he said.
Livvy unrolled the mat on the floor and took out the goggles and pillow.
“What was she doing at the time?”
“Nothing. We went to sleep last night and this morning she wouldn’t wake up. Her pulse and breathing seem fine but I can’t get her to wake up.”
Livvy sat down on the mat and Jack squatted down with her.
“Has she mentioned anything unusual lately? Like maybe an unhappy client or a bad visit?”
“Nothing,” he said quickly.
He was lying. She could tell. Besides, she had never heard of a shaman needing rescue from the Multiverse.
“Really,” she said, fixing him with another glare.
He looked away.
“I think maybe she was trying something new,” he offered.
“Something…new,” she said. “That’s it?”
“Honestly, Livvy, I don’t know. She didn’t really share much about her work.”
He looked back at Indra’s quiet face then back at Livvy.
“Honestly, if I knew something that might help her, I’d say so. I’d do anything.”
That had the ring of truth–painful truth.
“Okay,” Livvy said as she turned on the goggles. “Do you know what her spirit helper is?”
He hesitated, knowing that this was information shamans never shared with one another, and rarely with their intimates. Livvy had never shared hers with anybody, except for SK.
“It could help,” she
said.
It better help, she thought, already sensing that she shouldn’t be staying any longer in the Multiverse than was necessary. She wasn’t even sure if she could see another shaman, except in this case, Indra had apparently not traveled as one.
“The butterfly,” Jack said.
Livvy laid down on the mat.
“Back in a bit,” she said, as she positioned the goggles over her eyes.
She took in a big slow breath of sage and exhaled as the symbols flashed by.
CHAPTER NINE
IN THE MIDDLEWORLD, the sun was bright and the forest air was crisp and clean. Livvy looked up to the sky and saw a few puffy white clouds hovering over the mountain range in the distance. As she watched, the clouds gathered in front of her and then moved off to the right, above the forest. She stepped off the path and headed in that direction.
Again she was struck by the lack of spirit traffic. She heard the twigs snapping under her feet but little else. She glanced from side to side, trying to see as far into the trees as she could, but there was no movement except for a slight breeze among the leaves.
As the thicket and undergrowth became denser, she had to push through, sometimes trudging sideways, before being able to move forward again. The clouds had not stopped moving, so she knew she wasn’t there yet. Nothing moved along the ground either–no centipedes or beetles or snakes. It wasn’t just strange. It was eerie.
Her progress seemed to be blocked by an enormous clump of bushes, so she moved to the left and found that she was entering a clearing. The dappled sunlight of the trees gave way to an irregular oval of bright greens and yellows where the tall grass swayed hypnotically.
She stopped when a small movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. She had almost convinced herself that she was alone but, as she watched, a giant swallowtail butterfly floated erratically into the clearing.
“Well, hello,” she said, as they approached one another. “Looks like I’m in the right place.”
The clouds above had slowed and the butterfly hovered a few paces in front of her.
“Lead the way,” she said, gesturing onward, which it did, to the center of the clearing.
When they stopped, Livvy stood in front of a low plant that she knew well. The large dark leaves and the trumpet-shaped white flowers of the datura plant were unmistakable. It was called “devil’s weed” in some parts of the world, “angel’s trumpet” in others. No matter the name though, its roots contained a powerful hallucinogenic that had been known to shamans for centuries. The butterfly settled on one of the flowers.
“Here?” she asked, watching the butterfly. “Where?”
It slowly flapped its wings but stayed put.
“Indra is here?” she tried again.
At the sound of Indra’s name, the flowers quivered. The butterfly barely hung on. Livvy bent down to have a closer look.
“Indra?” she said.
The plant shook violently this time, sending the butterfly off to hover close by.
“Indra!” Livvy shouted.
The ground seemed to mound up under the datura plant.
“What in the Multiverse,” Livvy wondered out loud as she knelt next to the plant.
“Indra,” she yelled again.
The ground mounded up higher, breaking the soil on the top. She gathered a handful of the plant and pulled it out, clods of dirt still clinging to it, and tossed it aside. The top of a human hand was visible in the dirt. The butterfly settled on it.
“Yeah, yeah, I see it,” she said. “Move back.”
The butterfly flitted away.
Livvy brushed away handfuls of dirt and soon uncovered an arm and then a shoulder but, when she glanced back at the hand, it was buried again.
“Indra,” she said, as she brushed the dirt off the hand. “My name is Livvy. Jack sent me to bring you back. Help me if you can.”
The dirt mound took on the outline of a body as Indra tried to rise up through it. Livvy could smell the dampness of the soil. As she brushed at the dirt and looked down the length of Indra’s body, something in the distance caught her eye.
From the edge of the clearing, waving and beckoning her to come over, was the kachina.
“Oh no,” she muttered. “Not now.”
Something gripped Livvy’s arm and she jumped in response. She tore her eyes from the kachina and looked down to see Indra’s dirt-caked hand clutching her. Even as she started brushing dirt again, Livvy couldn’t resist glancing back at the kachina, who was closing the distance between them.
“All right,” said Livvy, looking back down at Indra. “Time to go.”
She began moving up Indra’s torso, brushing at the dirt frantically.
“Come on, Indra,” she yelled.
She saw Indra’s head and brushed the dirt out of her face as gently as she could. Indra was moving all of her limbs now.
“That’s it!” Livvy yelled.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the kachina growing larger.
“Open your eyes, Indra,” she said, shoving the dirt furiously now as it moved to re-cover her. “Open your eyes!”
Indra’s eyes opened and, with a great effort, she reached a hand up out of the dirt, trying to sit up. Livvy immediately gripped her hand and stood up, yanking Indra with her, clear of the ground.
“Gotcha!”
CHAPTER TEN
IN THE REAL world, Indra sat bolt upright in bed, wiping at her face.
“Indra!” cried Jack, rushing over to her.
“Jack?” she said, confused, as he hugged her. “Where’s Livvy?”
“Here,” said Livvy, taking off the goggles as she sat up beside the bed.
Indra pried herself loose from Jack and scooted to the edge of the bed, swinging her legs over. Livvy quickly touched the metal frame of the bed and discharged a small spark as Indra got on her knees next to her and enveloped her in a hug.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
Livvy awkwardly patted Indra’s back.
“Um, no problem,” she said, waiting for the hug to be over but Indra clung to her, rocking them both.
“Thank you,” she said again.
Livvy did her best to return the hug this time.
“I thought I’d never come back,” Indra said.
Jack had come around to their side of the bed and helped Indra to her feet.
“What happened?” he asked.
Indra saw her robe on the bed, realized she was only wearing a nightgown, and reached for it.
“I don’t know,” she said, as Jack helped her with the robe. “I think one minute I was dreaming and the next, everything was dark.”
Livvy had put away her goggles and was rolling up her mat.
“How did you find me?”
Livvy stood up and slung her shoulder bag on, looking at the floor.
“I followed a certain…butterfly,” she said finally.
“Ah,” said Indra, understanding.
She looked at Jack and smiled, knowing he had revealed her spirit helper to save her life. There were a few moments of silence as Livvy watched them hold hands, before she pointedly looked back at the floor. She suppressed an urge to run from the room so that she could ask a question.
“Besides me,” Livvy began, “Did you um…maybe see anybody else in the Middleworld?”
“Anybody else?” Indra asked, cocking her head.
“Yeah,” said Livvy. “Like…anybody?”
Somehow the kachina had found her in the Middleworld but she still had to wonder if she had been seeing things. If another shaman had seen it, she would at least have confirmation.
“No,” Indra said, shaking her head as she tried to remember. “You’re the only person I saw.”
Jack stepped closer to Indra and put an arm around her shoulders.
“Okay, well, I need to get going,” said Livvy, backing toward the bedroom door.
“Right,” said Jack, even as Indra was saying, “So soon? Can’t you s
tay for a minute?”
Under any other circumstances, Livvy might have considered it. At times she craved the company of other shamans, people who understood what it was like to work in the Multiverse. The prohibition against associating with other shamans had never made sense to her. Indra had a tender way about her, the way she spoke and moved. The more Livvy looked at her though, with her dark hair and eyes, and the luminous skin, the more she realized that Indra was everything she wasn’t.
“No, I can’t stay,” said Livvy, backing out of the bedroom with Jack following.
As they headed down the stairs, Livvy glanced at the familiar living room. All of the furniture was still in the same place, but something seemed wrong. Something was missing.
“Where’s Buster’s tree?” she asked.
Buster was Jack’s little gray cat, a friendly but sometimes too adventurous little creature that Livvy had bailed out of more than a couple of high perches.
“I had to put him to sleep,” he said, as they headed down the stairs with Indra following.
“Oh,” said Livvy, stopping at the front door. “I’m sorry to hear that.” And why didn’t you tell me?
“I didn’t realize that you two knew each other,” said Indra, smiling, curious at the revelation.
Livvy looked at Jack, who wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Oh really?” said Livvy.
No wonder Indra seemed so comfortable. She didn’t know that Livvy was the ex-girlfriend. Jack had probably never told her that he had dated a shaman before. He quickly pulled out a few twenty-dollar bills from his pocket and held them out to Livvy.
“Oh, please,” she said, as she turned away and opened the front door.
“I know you could use it,” he said from the doorway, but she was already headed toward the sidewalk.
“Keep it,” she said over her shoulder.
“Thank you, Livvy,” she heard Indra call.
She waved a hand without looking back and then was on the sidewalk. What a fabulous day this was turning out to be.
Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman Books 1 -3 Page 5
