Ascension Discovery

by Amy Proebstel

  “Don’t think anything of it, Amanda. Good night,” Alena spoke, and Bryon nodded in agreement.

  “Thank you for everything,” Amanda said as she left the room and made her way to her bedroom.

  “How did your day go, honey?” Alena asked Bryon as Amanda left the room.

  “Just the same as ever,” he replied offhandedly. He could tell Alena wanted to talk to him about Amanda. He could see the excitement in her eyes as she watched Amanda leave. He decided small talk would be in order until Amanda was sure to be asleep. “We received a shipment of telepod crystals from Mavuno. There was a problem with the packaging, and some of the crystals were damaged. Of course, nobody wanted to accept responsibility for the damage so we’ll have to appeal to Elder Debbon to resolve it.

  “How was your day? Did it take long to heal Amanda’s wrist?”

  “My day was exciting; although there was nothing wrong with Amanda’s wrist.”

  “Wow, are you sure? I saw it was at the wrong angle!”

  “The injury must have been taken care of by the wise-woman. I did discover something rather amazing, though. Can you guess what it is?” Alena asked with a mischievous glint in her eye. She loved trying to stump Bryon who was always so observant.

  “Let’s see,” he mused, “did it have to do with the injury or something else?”

  “I’ll answer this one question, but then you’re on your own!” she replied smartly. “It didn’t have anything to do with the injury.”

  “Hmm,” he tapped his pursed lips as he reviewed everything he knew about Amanda. “Did you discover where she’s from?”

  Alena clapped her hands together with glee because she had stumped Bryon. It happened so seldom, and she felt an inordinate amount of pleasure in it. “No,” she replied seriously, “but hopefully I will eventually. This doesn’t have anything to do with it, but I would like to talk to you about it after I tell you my discovery. Do you give up?”

  “Yes, but only because I know it’ll make you happy since I didn’t figure it out.”

  “Amanda’s pregnant!”

  Bryon sat in stunned silence as he contemplated when it might have happened. “How far along is she?”

  Alena swiftly reassured him, “Don’t go there, she’s at least three mesans along, and she was only with Petre for two. The baby must be Nealan’s, but she doesn’t remember sleeping with him either.”

  “Well, how can that be?” Bryon asked in amazement.

  “Apparently, when Petre found her, she had injured her head and lost her memory. She said she recovered her memory, but I guess not everything came back. It’s something I’d never forget!” She chuckled at her own joke.

  “So how did you come to know she was pregnant?”

  “You’d never guess this one, either; the baby spoke to me while I was examining Amanda,” she said with amazement apparent in her tone.

  “It’s never happened to you before, has it?” he asked as he added yet another oddity to Amanda’s story.

  “No, not to me, but I’ve heard stories of other wise-women who have experienced the phenomenon. I never believed it before now.”

  Bryon sat listening to the noises of the house. Deciding everyone must surely be sleeping by now, he spoke what was really on his and his wife’s minds, “What do you think about her?”

  “I think you’re right to say there’s something different about her. She had a very odd, almost disappointed reaction when she learned you had teleported her while she was unconscious. And then she asked me if a fruit salad took a long time to prepare,” she told Bryon as though it were proof positive of Amanda being different.

  Bryon shrugged, not convinced with Alena’s proofs. “Maybe she comes from a small town without telepods or fruit.”

  “Yeah, it sounds about right, a small town which has aunts and doctors. What in the world is an aunt or a doctor?”

  “I couldn’t possibly guess about the aunt without knowing the context in which she used it, but I can hazard a guess that a doctor where she comes from is what we’d call a wise-woman,” he spoke with certainty.

  He nodded to himself as he recalled the previous night’s conversation with her, “Last night, she was very curious about the duties and responsibilities of wise-women. I had the distinct impression that almost everything I told her about them was the first time she had heard it.”

  “So what do we do? Pretend everything’s normal?”

  “Let’s just say it’ll give us something different to talk about in the evenings!” He put his arms around her and held her close. “You smell good,” he said as he nuzzled her neck.

  She giggled and tried to move away from his nose tickling her neck. “Dare I ask what you’re thinking right now?”

  “I don’t think you’d have to if you haven’t figured it out already. Are you ready for bed yet?” he asked as he began nibbling on her ear.

  “Yes, I am,” she announced happily, “and I noticed you didn’t mention anything about sleep!” She wriggled free of his grasp, took one of his hands in hers and said, “Let’s go to bed.”

  “Gladly,” he replied as he stood up and smiled down at her beautiful face.

  Chapter Fourteen

  AFRAID OF INTERFERING with Bryon and Alena’s alone time, Amanda had decided to go to bed at the same time as the children. She really was feeling tired, but she was also curious about where her things had ended up in her bedroom. Entering the room, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it.

  “What am I supposed to do? I wish Barla could’ve told me more about how long it might take to get back home.”

  Thinking of Barla reminded her of the letter she was supposed to have on her at all times. Panicked, she patted down her body and did not find the letter anywhere. “Oh, no! Where’d I last see it?” She inhaled slowly and focused her thoughts and remembered at last. “It’s in my cloak!”

  Rummaging through the various items of clothing she finally found the cloak draped across the back of the chair in the corner of the room. She grabbed it up and started rifling through the pockets until her fingers touched the paper of the envelope. She pulled it out of the pocket to see if it had been damaged by the rain; the paper was rippled but appeared to be dry and okay for the most part.

  Sighing with relief, she held it tightly to her chest with both hands. “Now what’ll I do with it?” she whispered out loud to herself as she looked around the room for a safe place to keep it while she slept. Moving to the bed, she carefully set the envelope on the bedside table, so she could easily reach it when she got out of bed.

  She carefully removed her clothing, found her bedclothes in the duffel bag, and pulled the gown over her head. She lay down on the mattress and sighed as she pulled the covers up to her chin. Amanda considered different ideas on how she would be able to help out around the house so she would not be a burden to Alena.

  As she relaxed in the warmth of her bed, her thoughts started to wander: Will I be allowed to leave the house and go to the market? Am I far enough away to be safe from Petre? Will Alena accept my offer to watch her children while she learns healing skills from the Elder? Do I want to commit myself to so much time on Tuala? What would happen to Alena’s children if I went back to Earth before she was done with her training? She fell asleep during her ruminations.

  The days ran one into another and Amanda learned the routine of the household. The children started asking Amanda to read them their bedtime stories. Alena and Bryon just shrugged their shoulders and enjoyed watching the children being entertained without them.

  Amanda began to worry about Alena missing her opportunity to train with the Elder if Alena did not respond to the teaching invitation. More than once Amanda started to broach the subject with Alena only to be interrupted by one of the children or even by Bryon.

  Bryon had said Alena had two weeks to give her response. Amanda had been in their house for almost that amount of time, and nothing had been said about it. Amanda decided regardless of
what interruptions might happen she was going to have the conversation with Alena. Her opportunity presented itself nicely later the same day.

  The children were all finishing their lunch in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. The kids ignored it as usual and Alena’s hands were elbow deep in dish water so Amanda said, “I’ll go get it if you don’t mind?”

  “Go for it,” Alena answered appreciatively.

  Amanda recognized the petite and friendly next-door neighbor as she opened the door. She smiled in greeting and said, “Hi there, Tana.”

  “Hi,” Tana said, slightly at a loss for what to say. “I was wondering if I may borrow Alena’s children for the afternoon. I have a planting project in the back yard, and I know how the little ones love to dig in the dirt,” she smiled as she talked.

  “Come inside. Alena’s just finishing the lunch dishes, and her hands were wet. Let’s go ask her,” Amanda said as she stepped aside to allow the young woman to enter the house.

  Once in the kitchen, Tana repeated her request for assistance. In unison, all three kids chimed in that they wanted to help. Alena held up her hands in surrender and laughed as she said, “It looks as though the children are up for it. They just finished eating, too, so they should have plenty of energy to help you out. Are you sure you want all of them?”

  “I wouldn’t dare split them up!” Tana spoke sincerely as she smiled down adoringly at the upturned faces of the children.

  Alena turned and addressed her kids, “Since you’re all so eager to help out in Tana’s yard, hurry up and go change into your play clothes.”

  As the children stampeded out of the kitchen toward their rooms, their laughter and bantering echoed down the hall. “You don’t have to do this, Tana,” Alena started to protest.

  “I know,” she replied hastily. “But I want to. They are great entertainment, and they do love to dig in the dirt. I’m afraid they will come home quite dirty, though.”

  “I would expect nothing less!”

  Tana ushered the now properly dressed children out the front door and toward her house. “I’ll have them home for supper,” she called back over her shoulder.

  Alena stood at the front door and waved as her three kids laughed and skipped alongside Tana. She smiled as she closed the door. As much as she loved her kids, it was also a relief to have some peace and quiet.

  Amanda pounced on the opportunity to talk to Alena before anything else could interrupt them. “Alena,” she began and waited for Alena’s full attention.

  “Yes, Amanda? Is something wrong?” Sudden concern washed over Alena because of Amanda’s serious tone.

  “There’s nothing wrong with me, but I’m afraid there will be with you if we don’t talk,” she replied cryptically.

  Alena wondered what in the world Amanda might be thinking and said, “Let’s go sit in the living room and talk, okay?”

  Not knowing how else to say it, Amanda blurted almost all in one breath, “I don’t know how to bring this up subtly, so I’ll just say it…Bryon told me you had an opportunity to train with the Elder to be certified as a wise-woman, but you were afraid to leave the children for the time it would take to get trained. I was hoping it wasn’t too late for you to accept the offer and let me watch your children for you while you’re gone. Please know I’m not trying to be nosy or take over your house, or family, or anything, I just know you’re a wonderful doctor, and I think you should take the opportunity to get the training and recognition for it as well.” Since it was finally all out there, she took a deep breath and sat back and waited for Alena to reply.

  “Well,” Alena started and then looked at Amanda with consideration. “Well,” she repeated. “I didn’t know Bryon had told you about it, but you’re right; I haven’t replied to the summons because of the children.”

  “The kids really like me, and I like being with them,” Amanda supplied helpfully.

  “I’ve noticed, Amanda,” she replied, but then did not continue.

  “So will you go?” Suddenly she was unable to contain her curiosity. She leaned forward, anticipating Alena’s answer and inwardly pleading with her to say yes.

  “I don’t know how long I’d be gone,” Alena spoke, sounding as though she were trying to talk herself out of it.

  “If you’re half as good as Bryon was saying about your skills then surely your training won’t take very long. What’s typical?”

  “I’ve heard of as short as three weeks all the way up to fourteen mesans,” she replied slowly.

  “I’m sure you’ll be on the shorter end of it. Bryon and I can handle the kids,” she assured her again.

  “But you’re pregnant!”

  “I’m not due for another five and a half mesans, so you better hurry up and get going before you lose the opportunity forever,” she answered smartly. “Besides, I’d be honored for you to be the wise-woman to present my daughter with her birth crystal.”

  The idea astonished Alena; she had only ever thought of the healing end of the training. She would be learning a new skill of crystal assignment, and she really wanted to know how it was done.

  “Well, I don’t know,” Alena drawled slowly as she thought of the possibilities for success in school as well as the problems which could occur with her being gone from home.

  Amanda could see her teetering on the edge of agreeing so she prompted, “Please say you’ll do it. I’d love the opportunity to be able to pay you and Bryon back for all of your hospitality. Once my future is set, I’ll be happier knowing I helped to improve your career as well as your household stability. I know how much status is attached to being trained as a wise-woman. Your career will skyrocket. Please say yes.”

  Alena saw the wisdom of Amanda’s words, even as she wondered what a ‘skyrocket’ was, and finally conceded, “Alright, you’ve worn me down. I’ll talk to Bryon about it tonight after the children go to bed; you can stay up, too, and let him know this was your idea.”

  “Wonderful,” Amanda clapped her hands in glee. “I already talked to Bryon about it on the night I fell off of the horse. He said it was a wonderful solution, but it had to be up to you.”

  “He knew all about it, huh?”

  “Now don’t go getting all mad at him,” Amanda pleaded. “Bryon didn’t have anything to do with it. When we were traveling here, I asked him about how healers became wise-women, and he told me about it. He had also told me you were a healer, and I asked if you wanted to become a wise-woman, which was when he told me about your dilemma.

  “I was the one who came up with the idea of taking care of your house while you did what you needed to do. Bryon seemed glad for my suggestion, but he never even hinted he thought I should do it.”

  Slightly mollified, Alena smirked, “I don’t have to let him off so easily. It’ll do him good to sweat it out a little before I tell him I’ve decided to go.”

  Things swiftly fell into place after their discussion. Alena sent her acceptance to the Elder and arrangements were made for her to leave within two days. Alena sat down with the kids and told them about Amanda taking care of them while she trained with Elder Debbon to become a wise-woman.

  While the children knew something important was going to happen, they did not understand why their mother had to go away. They sat on the floor of their parents’ bedroom with Amanda and watched as their mother packed several bags for her journey. “Why can’t Elder Debbon come and stay with us like Aunt Amanda?” Justan asked for the fifth time.

  “Because Elder Debbon has lots of students to train and they all won’t fit in this house, Justan,” Alena explained patiently to her eldest child. She gave him a quick hug.

  “Aren’t you too old to be a student, Momma?” Kyelon asked.

  “I’m going to a special school where you have to be older to attend, silly boy!” She continued to select items to pack and asked, “Amanda, can you hand me the tunic from the back of the chair?”

  Amanda held out the blue tunic for Alena to pack. “Do you real
ly think you’ll need this much stuff?” She indicated the four suitcases already packed and ready by the door.

  “I don’t know,” Alena laughed. “I keep telling myself I won’t be gone long and then I think of something else I might need ‘just in case’ I’m gone longer.”

  “I think you should pack for no more than one mesan. You can send home for more if you end up being there longer,” she answered.

  “I know you’re right. I just can’t get my head to agree with you!” She chuckled at her dilemma.

  “What time is Bryon coming home to take you?”

  “Oh, Bryon’s not taking me. I just found out Elder Debbon is sending a transport to pick me up.” She stopped and looked at the clock. “Goodness, I need to hurry; it should be here within half an hour.”

  As if on cue, Bryon arrived home and rushed into the bedroom. “I’m sorry, honey,” he said, “I tried to get home an hour ago, but of course, there was a problem and I had to take care of it. Do you need me to get anything for you? Do you want me to carry your bags to the front door?”

  “Yes, I do need something from you,” she said hastily. “I need you to come and give me a hug and a kiss I won’t forget while I’m gone.” She held out her arms inviting Bryon to embrace her.

  “Gladly,” he said as he walked over to her.

  “Come on, kids,” Amanda hurriedly stood up. “Let’s go get some juice so your parents can have a couple of minutes alone!”

  She herded the giggling children out the bedroom door and toward the living room. Amanda settled them on the couch and went to get them each a cup of juice to keep them occupied until their parents finished saying goodbye to one another. Once the juice was served Amanda sat beside the children to wait along with them.

  Several minutes later Bryon came through the doorway carrying four suitcases and pretending to be staggering under the weight of them all. The children all laughed out loud as Bryon had intended. He deposited them by the front door and imitated wiping the sweat from his brow. “Whew,” he said acting as if drooping with exhaustion, “It’s a good thing she won’t be gone very long, or I might break my back carrying all of her necessities!”