“No, Amanda. If it’s against a woman’s will, there are laws prohibiting what he did.”
“Obviously it was against my will!”
“I know, that came out wrong, Amanda. Rape is a serious crime, and obviously he took advantage of you while you were unconscious with your head wound. If it can be proved he’s their father, then he will be charged with rape. Of course, he doesn’t have to be told anything. Once Jena is back, you could just take both of the girls and return to Earth. But then he’d be free to do to other women what he did to you. It’s up to you, though, you’d have to live with whatever the Elders decided. This would also bring you to the attention of the Elders which you might want to avoid if you’re trying to go back home.”
“Oh, what a mess! I feel sick to my stomach. Just the thought of Petre touching me at all in that way is just disgusting! No wonder he kept telling everyone I was his wife when he was searching for me after I jumped overboard to get away from him. He really felt as though he had a claim on me because of what he did! Excuse me; I need a moment to clear my head.” Amanda abruptly rose from the table. She had her arms tightly wrapped around her middle as if to hold herself together as she ran from the room.
“I’ll go check on her,” Barla said to nobody in particular as she stood up and abruptly left the room in the same direction in which Amanda had departed. She had an idea her distraught niece would probably return to the room she had used when she had stayed for the weekend right after she was first rescued. Barla hurriedly ascended the stairs and walked down the hall to the guest bedroom. Her guess was confirmed when she saw the door was slightly ajar. She pushed it open and scanned the room until she saw the terrace doors were also left open.
Barla walked slowly across the bedroom and through the terrace doors. She saw Amanda clutching the railing of the balcony and gulping deep breaths of air. Although she had never herself suffered the abuse which Amanda was just now comprehending had happened to her, she had spoken with enough victims to know Amanda needed someone to listen to her and hug her if she wanted the comfort of a friend. She was glad to know she really did have a claim on consoling Amanda since this suffering girl was her niece and not just a fellow swimmer.
Barla hesitantly touched Amanda’s shoulder in reassurance. She was almost sorry she had not announced her presence as Amanda flinched under her touch. An instant later, Amanda abruptly turned and buried her face against Barla’s shoulder as she sobbed uncontrollably.
“It’s going to be okay,” Barla comforted Amanda as she stroked the back of her head softly and held her tightly with her other arm. “We’ll get this all sorted out, Amanda, please don’t cry so. It’s going to work out.” Several minutes passed while Barla continued to croon nonsensical but soothing words.
Amanda finally pulled away from Barla and sniffed deeply to clear her nose. She abruptly brushed the tears from her eyes and apologized, “I’m sorry, Barla. I don’t know what overcame me. It shouldn’t matter how the girls were conceived; I’m just thankful I have them. I need to keep my mind clear so I can figure out a way to find Jena.
“Ahn was right; I need to get both girls back to Earth as soon as I have them together again. I can’t risk Petre being part of their lives, and I can’t risk drawing attention to any of us with regard to the Elders. I don’t want to bring any danger to you and Ahn, or Bryon and Alena. I’m sorry I won’t get to know you and your children better, Barla. This has gone on long enough. We need to get home!”
Barla was glad to see Amanda appeared to be over the worst of the shock. She knew from experience once Amanda was alone and without any pressing concerns, she would relive this moment of shock and horror. Amanda was going to have to come to terms with what had happened in her past. It was not going to be easy, but she would have to learn to forgive Petre, not for himself, but for herself to be able to heal. She had two beautiful daughters who needed all of her love and none of her hurt or anger at how they came into existence. Barla firmly believed everything happened for a reason and Amanda would have to come to the same realization in her own time.
“We still have some time to visit since we haven’t discovered Jena’s whereabouts yet. Let’s just make a promise to one another that we’ll take full advantage of whatever time we have left together,” Barla reasoned with Amanda. She put her arm around Amanda’s shoulder and steered her back into the bedroom. “Why don’t you all spend the night tonight? You’ve had some terrible shocks, and I think a nice warm bath would do you wonders. Don’t worry about Juila; I’d love the opportunity to spend some time with my niece.”
Amanda nodded mutely as she let Barla lead her into the en suite bathroom. She remembered how luxurious the hot bath was before and she imagined it would be just as welcoming this time. “Do you think Bryon will mind the change of plans? We hadn’t really talked about it before we left.”
Barla patted her on the hand and replied, “Don’t worry about Bryon. I’ll let him know our decision. If he needs to get back home right away, then we’ll make different arrangements to get you home later. It’s no bother, really. Let’s get this bath started.” She leaned over and opened both spigots to allow the water to gush freely into the waiting tub. Barla pulled out a plush towel and a robe from the cupboard and set them on the chair next to the bathtub. She shut the bathroom door as she left Amanda alone while the steam rapidly obscured the room.
Back in the dining room with the men and Juila, Barla resumed her seat at the table. “Amanda will be fine once she finishes her bath. Bryon, I think you should all spend the night. I’d hate to see you try to navigate back home while your mind is so distracted with all of this evening’s revelations.”
“I agree, Barla. I told Alena we might stay over if it got too late from all of our discussions. Certainly, I never imagined the evening would end up quite like this!”
Chapter Six
PETRE FINALLY SOBERED up enough to navigate toward land. He had devised a scheme for getting back at Elder Debbon, but he was going to need the help of some additional people in order to make it work. His first plan of action was to meet with a couple of his usual partners. Never one to trust anyone other than himself, he knew he would have to enlist others so he could carry on as normal and eventually get his daughter back from the devious Elder.
He had debated whether he should use his natural charm to convince people to help him with his cause against the Elder but then decided this issue was too important to take the chance. After removing the several items obscuring his prized possession, he lifted the crystal skull down from the upper cupboard. The power emanating from the stone was palpable in the room, but even more so when a person’s skin came in direct contact.
Petre found himself staring intently at the depiction of a skull in his hands, and he was disgusted with himself for letting the thrall of the crystal overtake him. He hastily set the object on the table in the main cabin and turned his back on it. He left the room and went up the stairs onto the deck to find out how close he was to land. After scanning the horizon and taking note of the position of the sun, Petre gathered he must have been holding the powerful crystal for several hours instead of the few minutes it had felt like.
During the mesans he had been intoxicated, he had spent many weeks in conversation with the crystal skull. In his drunken stupor, he could have sworn his questions had been answered, however, now he knew it was just the alcohol and not the object which created the illusion of a two-way conversation. Now he remembered why he had put the crystal into the cupboard so long ago; he lost too much time when it was visible.
Shaking his head and swearing under his breath, Petre made a few mental adjustments to the course he was traveling and slowed the water craft down so he could sleep for the night. He would need to be well-rested before he met with Rualin. Come morning, he should be almost at his planned destination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diane hung up the phone with a sigh of resignation. With every phone call from Shemalla, they hoped
it would be with news of Amanda. Instead, they received the same two sentences, “I’m sorry to say I haven’t heard anything. I’ll call next month as scheduled unless I find out anything before then.”
They had to assume no news was good news because to think otherwise would crush Diane’s spirit. Her youngest daughter had been gone for eighteen months, appearing as though Amanda had decided to stay in Tuala instead of risking the journey home with her twin daughters. They had to be content with her decision even if it did break their hearts.
A few minutes after the phone call Chris arrived home from work and immediately asked, “Did I miss the call?”
“Yes, but you didn’t miss any news. Same as ever: nothing to report.”
“Hmm, I guess it’s still good news.”
Diane had to turn her back on her husband to hide her deep emotions.
Naturally, Chris knew exactly what Diane was doing and he was not fooled for an instant. He stepped behind her, enfolding her within his arms, and said, “I’m sure we’ll hear something soon. Please don’t be upset.”
Diane twisted around in his embrace until she faced him and said, “I’m tired of waiting. I’m sick of being so far away and having to wait a whole month for any updates at all. I want to move to New Mexico, Chris.”
“Okay.”
Diane stared open-mouthed at her husband. She had anticipated hearing dozens of reasons why they should stay in Florida. Never had she anticipated such an easy agreement. This was not a new conversation, so she had expected the same reasoning response.
“Do you mean it, Chris?”
“I do! There is nothing here in Florida which means more to me than your happiness. We’ve had this discussion before, and I was selfish to think only about my job and how this move would affect myself. After the day I had at work, I’m ready to make whatever change you want.”
Diane’s eyes filled with tears and her smile positively beamed as she flung her arms around Chris’ neck. She kissed his cheek repeatedly. “I love you so much! Thanks for understanding!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Debbon struggled to concentrate on the petitions in front of him. He kept thinking about the conversation which had transpired between himself and his wife, Chelesa. She had seen the progress Jena had with her lessons. Chelesa had innocently asked if Debbon should direct her to continue her schooling with Jehoban. It was pretty obvious Jena was extremely talented.
Debbon secretly wanted to take credit for her skills because of his talent for teaching. Losing his best student, even to Jehoban, was unthinkable. If she were anyone other than his first-daughter, he would have been the first one to petition for her to be instructed by the Creator Himself. He wondered if this prideful streak were actually a test against his position as First of the Elders.
Never had the Elder taught such an eager student who possessed so much natural ability. He wanted to continue to see how far she would go in her studies. If he contacted Jehoban now, then he was sure to lose her as a student and possibly as the betrothed for his son. There had to be some way to keep her with his family.
Inspiration struck as he recalled Jena was still too young to be formally trained. He would wait until after she was three anons old before he said anything. When he got home that evening, he would let Chelesa know of his decision on the matter. If nothing else, it would give him several more mesans to figure out what he was going to do with his favorite student.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arriving at Rualin’s port was a simple matter of a few directional corrections when Petre woke up at first light. He was pleased to see the dock was kept neat and orderly as he occasionally staged stolen items at this isolated location. As he had not seen any other vessels on the horizon, he felt relatively certain their conversation could be held without interruption from incoming shipments for disbursement.
Petre carefully wrapped the crystal skull before he tucked the small, yet heavy, object under his arm as he mounted the steps to the upper deck of his water craft. He hoped he would be able to convince Rualin to go along with his plan without the added power of the stone. More than likely, he would also be caught up in the thrall of the stone and waste another entire day staring at the dumb thing.
He walked across the deck and bent over to pick up his securing line. As he straightened up, he saw Rualin exiting his front door to see who was tying up to his dock. Petre did not have a hand to wave a welcome, so he shouted, “I hope it’s not too early!” With rope at the ready, Petre stepped across the open expanse of water onto the dock and began to secure his water craft.
He had thought to put the crystal skull on the ground to make the tie down easier and then thought better of it lest the covering came undone and exposed its sheen to the open sunlight. Petre did not want Rualin to spot the object before he was done telling his story. With a secure grip on his package, he finished with the rope, stood up, and sauntered along the dock to the house.
Rualin did not look entirely pleased to see Petre. Thinking it was odd since the two had not seen each other in almost two anons, Petre could not imagine why the man would be upset by his presence. With a small shrug, Petre dismissed the fleeting expression and held out his hand as he came near enough to the man for a greeting.
“Did you bring something to sell?” Rualin gestured toward the bundle in Petre’s arm.
“This? No!”
“What’s your business then?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
Petre removed his hand from Rualin’s grasp with more than a little force. He turned slightly, so he was able to move past the man and enter the house. Not bothering with the fact he was not invited inside, Petre moved with brisk steps until he was in front of the small table in the center of the room.
He set down the stone with a gentle thud. Making himself at home, he sat down in one of the two chairs while waiting for Rualin to enter the building and take the other seat. He could tell by Rualin’s attitude he would definitely need to use the power of the skull to garner his cooperation. Hopefully, he would be able to shield his view of the crystal so only Rualin would be entangled in the energy emanating from the skull.
“What’s wrong with you, Rualin?”
“You’re putting me in a hard position, Petre.”
“What are you talking about? I haven’t even told you why I’ve come.”
“I don’t care why you’ve come! Did anyone see you heading this way?”
“Certainly not! What’s that got to do with anything?”
“As if you don’t know!”
“Know what? What are you talking about, man?”
“I don’t know, maybe something about the warrant for your immediate arrest has something to do with it! Now I’m in danger of being apprehended just because you decided to tie up to my dock. Did you ever think of what this could do to me, or are you really only concerned about yourself?” Rualin glared angrily down at Petre lounging insolently in his favorite chair. Only then did Rualin notice Petre was shocked by the news he had just delivered. He could tell Petre was not trying to sham him, he was genuinely shaken by the news of the arrest warrant. “You really didn’t know about the warrant?”
“Of course not! I’ve been at sea for almost two anons, and this is the first landfall I’ve made in all that time. What are they claiming I’ve done this time?”
“Kidnapping.”
“Kidnapping! That’s ludicrous! Who was I supposed to have taken?”
“An infant girl named Jena.” Rualin was starting to wonder if he was mistaken until Petre spoke again.
“It’s not kidnapping if she’s my own daughter. I had every right to her since her mother died.”
“So you admit you took her?”
“Certainly! She was mine, but who would ever believe me?”
“I think it’s time you left, Petre. You confess to taking the girl, and I don’t care if you think you had a valid claim, you should have gone through legitimate channels to get her. You can’t just go a
round taking children, Petre, it’s just not right.”
“Well, I don’t have Jena anymore! Not since Elder Debbon tricked me into signing away all my rights to her.”
“Elder Debbon? What does he have to do with this?”
Petre spent the next few minutes detailing how Jena was bitten by a beetlesnatch and subsequently healed by Elder Debbon. He told him about the betrothal agreement containing the deviously buried abandonment clause. By the time he finished the story, Rualin was seated across from him with a hard expression in his eyes. Petre knew there was only one person who despised Elder Debbon more than himself and that man was now just as furious as himself.
“So Elder Debbon got away with it! Why didn’t he report finding the missing child? There can’t be too many girls missing with the name Jena. He must have known, but kept her for himself anyway. What is this favor you need?”
“I want to force Elder Debbon to reinstate my parental rights. She’s my daughter after all!”
“I don’t see how I can help with this. Have you tried to negotiate with Debbon?”
“No. Like I said before, you’re the first person I’ve talked to in forever! Besides, Elder Debbon didn’t hide the clause in the document so I could renegotiate the terms later. I’m going to have to get my rights back by coercion rather than by diplomacy. He’s hurt me by taking my family; now I’m going to have to hurt him by taking his family.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I want you to gather as many people as you know who have a grudge against the Elder and start organizing a planned threat to his wife and son.”
“That’s insane, Petre. Their residence is heavily protected. If we got caught, we’d have to forfeit everything. Going up against a representative of Jehoban is more trouble than I want to entertain no matter how I feel about the despicable Elder.”
“I was afraid you’d say that so I brought along a little enticement.” Petre leaned forward and began to unwrap the skull.
Ascension Discovery Page 59
