“Her mother is apparently dead,” he began and then rushed on with, “and her father is Petre MacVeen.”
“What?” She grabbed his arm and yanked him further down the hall away from the sleeping girl’s door. “You can’t be seriously thinking of tying our family name with a master deceptor? Have you lost your mind?”
“Do you remember feeling the power surrounding that child? She’d be a perfect match for our son. Can you imagine how she would turn out if Petre raised her? She’d be ruined! She needs us to rescue her! Do you know she arrived here an hour ago almost dead from a beetlesnatch bite, and she had a huge bump on her head? He drugged her with epeny sometime before the beetlesnatch bite. She wasn’t even wearing a stitch of clothing, not even a clout! Can you imagine Petre actually being able to raise her to adulthood? She probably wouldn’t even survive his stupidity!” Debbon had to stop to take another breath.
“Okay, okay! I see your point. But there has to be another way other than making her part of our family. Let’s just think about this for a second, alright?” She was searching her brain frantically for another solution to extricating Jena from Petre’s terrible influence. She motioned for Debbon to follow her and together they went to the end of the hall and entered the master room reserved for themselves. She closed the door behind Debbon and began pacing the room.
“I have Miorlen writing up a betrothal contract,” he began and held up his hand to keep her from interrupting as he continued, “I insisted that he add the abandonment clause to the document and bury it in the middle somewhere. If Petre doesn’t attempt to visit her within three days of the signing of the contract, then he loses all rights to Jena. That would legally protect us from future visits from him.” He shrugged noncommittally and said, “It was the best I could do to protect us as well.”
“How could you get this started without even discussing it with me?”
“That’s what Miorlen pointed out as well. I just got so excited about Jena’s power I wasn’t thinking straight. Anyway, it wouldn’t hurt anything to be prepared in case you said okay to it. We need to get her away from Petre and train her ourselves!”
“Can’t we wait a bit to see if we can come up with another solution?”
“It’s now or never, I’m afraid. If Petre realizes her power, he could do anything with her. I don’t trust him at all to care for her for another day,” he mused. Remembering his experiments with her in the study, he recounted them to Chelesa and finally saw her last reservations break down.
“Okay, Debbon. I’ll trust you on this matter. You just better hope he doesn’t come see her within that first three days or our lives will be made miserable for the next eighteen anons!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris and Diane waited anxiously to find out from Shemalla what had happened with Amanda. Together they sat at the diner booth and spoke to each other in hushed whispers.
“Do you think everything went okay, Chris?”
“I’m sure of it!”
“But why would Shemalla want to meet here instead of at her house? Could she want to avoid a scene so she decided it was best to talk in a public place?”
“Diane, please have a little faith. Shemalla was doing everything she could to make sure Amanda would be safe on this journey. She probably wanted to meet here because she just got off of work and she will be hungry!”
Diane slapped Chris’ arm at his last statement. She desperately wanted to believe it was just as simple as his explanation. Another worry came to Diane’s mind, and she decided to voice it to her husband. “We only have two weeks off from work. What happens if Amanda hasn’t returned by the time we need to go back home? We can’t just abandon her here!”
“We wouldn’t be abandoning her. We have obligations of our own, so we’ll go back home as planned. Amanda will contact us when she gets back, and we can figure out the logistics of getting her home at that time.”
She knew her husband was telling her the logical sequence of events, but her heart was screaming at her to stay in New Mexico and wait for her daughter to return. Diane did not know how that would be possible, but she was certain she would have to remain right where she was until her baby girl came back. On the verge of telling Chris her decision, she noticed Shemalla entering the diner. She tugged on her husband’s sleeve and tipped her chin up to signal him to look up to see.
Chris stood up from the bench seat as Shemalla neared their table. He smiled and said, “I’m glad you were able to meet with us. Are you hungry?”
“I’ll probably just have a cup of coffee,” she replied as she sat down on the opposite side of the booth from Amanda’s parents. “I’m sure you just want to hear about what happened so I’ll get right to it.”
The waitress chose that moment to come over and ask to take their orders. Each occupant ordered either a coffee or a tea and declined to get any food at this time. The waitress said she’d be back shortly with their beverages and turned to leave.
Diane was leaning forward against the table barely breathing with anticipation on finding out how the journey had gone. “Have you heard from Amanda? Is she safe?”
Shemalla looked directly at Diane when she replied, “We went to Campeche just as planned. We found the gate, and Amanda was able to activate it. I can’t say for sure whether or not she made it to her intended location, but I can say that everything appeared to be normal with her transfer. I haven’t heard anything from her since she left.” She rested her hands flat on the table between them when she finished her recitation.
“But what about Amanda? Is she safe?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not a good enough answer!” Diane’s voice was rising with her concern.
Chris reached across Diane’s shoulders and addressed her in a low voice, “That’s enough, Diane! Shemalla did everything we asked of her. We knew there wouldn’t be any news until Amanda returned.” He shifted his gaze to Shemalla, “Thank you for everything you’ve done. I know there is a considerable risk to yourself by getting involved with our predicament. Hopefully, Amanda will return soon. We have to head back home at the end of the week.”
“I’m not going!” Diane exclaimed adamantly.
Both Chris and Shemalla turned to look at Diane. Chris started to argue with his wife, but Shemalla spoke before he was able, “You won’t have to stay, Diane. If you leave me your contact information, I will let you know if I hear anything or if Amanda returns. Rest assured I am very curious to see her succeed as well and I can’t wait to meet her twins!”
“You see, Diane? You can come home as planned since Shemalla will be able to contact us anytime day or night. It would just be a waste to have you languishing here when you could occupy your mind with work instead. There is nothing you can accomplish by worrying while waiting around in a hotel room here.”
Diane could see his point, but her mind did not want to be reasonable right at that moment. She crossed her arms defiantly and refused to look at either person at the table. Her daughter could be in danger and what mother would walk away from that?
Chris could see that Diane was struggling to control her emotions so he addressed Shemalla instead, “Did everything go as planned then?”
“Yes. It couldn’t have gone any smoother. Amanda is a fast learner, and I’m sure she’ll succeed. I just want to remind you that Amanda might decide it’s too risky to bring the children back. She may opt to remain in Tuala permanently.”
Chris saw Diane’s lower lip start to tremble as she held back tears. He rubbed her shoulder to let her know she was not alone in this. “We know. We just hope everything will turn out as we expected and that she comes back with our grandchildren right away.”
The coffee and tea arrived, and they sat in contemplative silence while sipping their beverages. There really was not much more to be said. Everyone wanted Amanda’s safe return to Earth with her children.
Chapter Eighteen
TANA WISHED THERE were more she could do
to help Bryon and Alena other than just watching their children while they were going through this terrible time without Jena. Her heart ached for their pain. She looked down on Juila and wondered if she had any kind of unusual connection with her identical twin. She had heard that twins sometimes knew things about their other twin, but these two girls were too young to talk.
Her musings were interrupted by Justan asking, “Tana, read us another story, please!!!”
With a smile on her face, she nodded her head and replied, “Go pick one out and bring it back to me.”
Nodding seriously he turned around and walked over to the bookcase. He looked at the sides of the books to locate the one with a black cover and a picture of a star on the spine. Almost the last book in the line, Justan smiled as he carefully pulled the book off the shelf and carried it respectfully over to where Tana was sitting on the couch with Juila held in her left arm. He handed her the book, careful of Juila, and sat on her right-hand side, snuggling close so he would have the best view of the pictures in the book.
“Andera and Kyelon, come sit on the couch while I read Genero,” she called to the two quietly playing with blocks on the floor. They all seemed to be extra quiet these days, and it made Tana sad to think that the awful events of the past couple mesans were affecting the natural exuberance of these usually energetic children. She tried to keep things as normal as possible in her house so they could forget about their problems at home, even if it were only temporary.
The older girl and smaller boy both set down the blocks they were holding. Andera got up first and started over to the couch when Kyelon tripped over a block he had not noticed. “Ouch,” he cried as his knee came down painfully on another block.
Andera turned around and rubbed his knee and said, “There now it’s all better!” She offered him her hand to help hoist him up onto his feet. She kept ahold of him until they reached the couch. Andera waited for Kyelon to sit next to Tana on her left-hand side before she went to sit on Justan’s other side.
Tana noticed Andera’s mothering of her brother, and she smiled inwardly. She had also seen the incident with Kyelon’s knee on the block and wondered if maybe Andera had possibly used the energy from her birth crystal subconsciously.
Somehow she was going to have to ask Andera some questions to see if she had figured out there was more to the stone than being a pretty necklace. Andera was young for the knowledge, but Tana knew that the crystal would limit Andera’s use until she was old enough to be responsible with the power.
Now that all of the children were settled around her she nestled the book between her knees and allowed it to open to the beginning. She had an inspired thought and asked, “Do you want us to sing the Unity Song together?” She knew the children adored the song, and it made them feel closer to one another. The children nodded solemnly so Tana began the simple tune and the children immediately chimed in:
Crystal around the neck,
Follow the next step,
Changes today,
Changes tomorrow,
We all become one.
They ended the song by each finding someone else’s hand to hold. They smiled up at Tana, and she asked, “Do you want me to start from the beginning of the book or do you have somewhere else you’d like me to begin?” Not surprisingly, Tana noticed that both of the children looked toward Justan for an answer.
Justan looked at both Andera and then Kyelon before he lifted his index finger to his chin as he considered the question. “Maybe, this time, we could start reading at the part where Jehoban goes off on his own to start a school…” he mused and then reconsidered, “No! Let’s read the part where he lives with the wild animals and talks to them like they’re his best friends.” He smiled at this idea and looked to both his siblings for nods of agreement.
“Okay, friendly animals it is,” Tana said as she started flipping through the pages of the book to find the requested section. Suddenly Tana realized Juila was not acting normal. She looked down on the previously quiet girl and saw that her eyes were wide open as well as her mouth. Juila was making a strange face, and then her arms and legs started to flail. Tana realized that Juila was not breathing, her face was starting to turn red.
Without wanting to alarm the other children, she hurriedly moved off of the couch and said to the other children, “I’ll be right back. Juila needs her clout changed.” She could not think of any other excuse to use with the children so she raced out of the room toward the spare bedroom she reserved for the children.
Once in the room, Tana unwrapped the blanket from around the small girl and flipped her over her arm so she could thump her back with the palm of her other hand. Tana thought she might have swallowed something and was choking, but she knew she had been sleeping empty-handed. She flipped her back over to see if she was breathing again. Juila suddenly gasped a big breath of air and then closed her eyes and was peacefully sleeping again.
“That was very strange,” Tana murmured to herself. She fussed over Juila for a few more minutes to make sure she was going to be alright. With nothing more to see and three children waiting for a story on the couch, Tana carried Juila back into the living room.
She smiled at the children waiting for her on the couch, pretending nothing was wrong, but she could see the concern in Justan’s and Andera’s eyes. It was a fleeting look but there nonetheless. With exaggerated motion, Tana snuggled down onto the couch between Justan and Kyelon and then brightly said, “I think we were just about to read about Jehoban living with the animals…”
Tana was still concerned about the strange event from the day before with Juila. She had spent more time looking after her than she normally did because she was worried about a repeat episode. The children had already had lunch, played outside, visited with their parents, and were now taking naps on the floor of the living room. Tana and the children had made tents for indoor play time, and the little ones had fallen asleep while playing house.
Tana enjoyed the simplicity of children’s lives. As long as they had food and play they were content with their existence. They lived in the moment and did not expect anything of the next hour, let alone the next day. She was sitting on the couch overlooking the happy mess strewn about the living room while, once again, holding Juila while she was sleeping.
In the quietness of nap time, Tana found herself staring at Juila’s face while she slept. Suddenly a bright red spot appeared on Juila’s cheek at the same time as Juila started crying. Tana was startled out of her reverie by the suddenness of the onslaught. She sat forward and stared in horror as the spot started radiating red streaks onto her cheek. Her crying became more frantic, and Tana wondered if she should take Juila back home to see Alena or if she should wait to see if it would pass like the breathing incident earlier.
Tana suddenly realized her thoughts from before were probably being confirmed: Juila was feeling what Jena was living! With this idea in mind, Tana stood up and rushed to the kitchen. She got some ice out of the freezer and wrapped it in a cloth from beside the sink. She gently pressed the ice pack to Juila’s cheek which seemed to quiet her crying.
She sat down in a chair at the kitchen table and rocked Juila back and forth while humming a soft crooning tune. Just as she was starting to think that maybe she was wrong about the twin connection, the crying became whimpers and then just deep breaths. Amazingly, Juila was still asleep.
When Tana removed the ice pack from Juila’s cheek, she only saw a healthy pink cheek; the angry red spot and streaks were gone as if they had never been there. Even as she stared in wonder at the little girl’s face, Juila smiled in her sleep and even blurted a little giggle.
Definitely strange, Tana thought to herself. I wonder if I should say anything about this to Alena or if that would just make her worry more?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amanda saw a bright flash and, immediately after, she was in the darkened gloom of a cave. She only had a moment to notice her surroundings before everything turned black a
nd she passed out in a heap on the ground.
Sometime later, Amanda groggily opened her eyes and felt a rough, cold surface under her cheek. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and blinked her eyes several times. “Where am I?” she whispered out loud. She could tell she was in a cave since it was all stone around her and it was dark except for the shaft of light seen from somewhere in the distance.
Not knowing what else to do, Amanda struggled to her feet and started to head toward the light. As she came closer to the cave’s opening, her eyes gradually adjusted to the increased light. By the time she was at the entrance her vision had cleared but her confusion about herself was increasing. She saw a stone outside of the cavern, and she thought it looked like a good place to sit to figure out what was happening.
Hearing a crinkling in her pocket as she sat down, she discounted the noise as the pack on her back scraped against the wall of the cave. She had not even realized she was wearing the bag. Shrugging out of the straps she pulled the pack around to the front of her and carefully opened the strings to discover what was in the bag.
The first thing she encountered was a bottle of water, and she realized how incredibly thirsty she was. She pulled out the bottle and removed the cap speedily, eager for the moisture she tipped the liquid into her mouth and luxuriated in the feel of it coursing down her throat with each swallow.
Now that her thirst was assuaged she continued to look through the contents of the bag. She saw unfamiliar clothes, a pencil, and a folded piece of paper. Curious, she removed the paper and unfolded it. She turned it around and found there was a map with a whole bunch of marks. Peering more closely at it, she saw a swirling symbol was drawn on the bottom edge and handwriting that said these were symbols for the gates.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the symbol which seemed familiar to her. She turned around and looked at the entrance to the cave. At the top of the cave’s opening, she could see that same symbol etched into the stone. Interesting, she thought, that cave is considered a gate. A gate to what, I wonder?
Ascension Discovery Page 49
