I heard the doorbell ring downstairs. Hayden was here, I took one last look at myself, satisfied that I looked okay and grabbed my hand bag as I made my way to the stairs. I lifted my bag up as I felt something moving inside. I opened it up. B!
“B, what are you doing in there?” I asked him. He looked up at me with a questioning look. “Oh, I thought I could call you B from now on, just until you can tell me what your real name is? Are you okay with that?”
He thought about it for a while and gave me a thumbs up and winked at me. I smiled and kissed him on the forehead. He blushed as he sat back down in the bag and started to do up the zip.
“Whoa” I said as I stopped him. “You can’t come with me.”
He nodded his head and put his hands on his little hips in a defiance stanch.
Dam, this wasn’t going to be easy breaking it to him. “B, you can’t come with me. There’ll be lots of people there, and well, you would probably find it boring.” He didn’t look convinced. “It could be dangerous for you.” With that last comment he puffed out his chest and withdrew his sword from the back of his pants. He pointed it at me and then to himself pouting his lips.
“I get it, you want to protect me, but I’ll be perfectly safe, I’ll be with Hayden and Kate.”
He bared his pointy teeth and swung his sword around vigorously.
“What? Why are you getting so angry?”
He crossed his arms and turned his back to me.
My heart melted what trouble would it be to take him. He could just stay in my handbag I convinced myself. No one would see him unless he wanted them to anyway. “Okay” I huffed.
He jumped around and clapped his hands.
“Yeah yeah, no need to pee your pants about it” I laughed. “You need to promise me you’ll stay in my handbag. I need to make sure you’re safe. I’d hate for someone to stand on you and squish you.”
He crossed his little heart with his index finger and a luminescent light of a cross shone in the air by his heart before it faded away. He was a clever wee thing. I had a feeling there were things about B that I was yet to find out about.
◆◆◆
“Looking good Brig” Hayden said as I climbed into his car.
“Thanks, so do you.” I said to him truthfully. He did look good, he had on faded blue jeans too and his black faded Nirvana t-shirt on. “You actually managed to do your hair this time.” I joked.
He rubbed my hair and messed it up in response. “Smarty pants.”
We picked up Kate on the way. She looked really cute. She had on a yellow summer skater dress which reached mid-thigh and black ankle boots.
“Heya Kate” I said as she climbed into the backseat.
“Hey guys!” she said over excited. “Wow, you both look very fresh. Do you think I dressed up too much?”
Hayden and I both looked at each other. “No way” we said in unison with smiles on our faces. Maybe she’d forgotten we are going to a farm.
“Come on guys, be truthful… do you think I’ve over-done it?”
“No not at all Kate, you look beautiful” I reassured her. “I think I could have tried a bit harder actually.”
“Are you hoping a certain someone is there tonight?” Hayden asked Kate as he readjusted his rear vision mirror.
“Of course! Why else would I go to such an effort” she scoffed.
We all laughed. “Well Kate, you pulled it off and I’m sure Holden will be there tonight.” Holden was the crush Kate currently had. Actually she’d had a crush on him for years, it wasn’t a new thing. Holden was a jock, a sporty guy. His favourite sport being Rugby like every young New Zealand male and he looked every bit of a rugby head too, messy dirty blond hair, stocky build, always in shorts or track pants. Kate was his polar opposite, but she liked him and he seemed to have taken a recent interest in her too.
We pulled up to the party. There were loads of people there as I expected. We soon found our normal crew of people and sat down on the hay bales beside them. I could feel the warmth of the bomb fire that was in the middle of the party, surrounded by lots of hay bales and even more people. I cracked open one of my Bacardi Breezers and took a sip. The sweet taste slid down my throat, it tasted good. I gave one to Kate to drink and we sat there relishing in its sweetness and the heat of the fire. I’d gently put my hand bag on my lap as I crossed my legs making sure I hadn’t zipped it all the way up so B could breathe. That would be horrible… death by handbag suffocation.
◆◆◆
Kate had gone off with Holden and I was with Hayden sipping on my last Bacardi Breezer standing by the bomb fire.
“I love looking at fire” I said to Hayden. “I love the movements of the flames, it looks like they’re alive. I could look at it for hours.” I felt like I was in a trance, the flames had me captivated.
He looked at me. “Maybe you need some water?”
“Hayden, I don’t need water. I’ve only had two drinks, I’m fine.”
“Regardless, I’ll get you some water anyway. I’ll be back soon.”
Hayden left in the search for some water. I kept my eyes on the fire taking in its warmth and watching each individual flame dance. I could feel my arm starting to tingle and instinctively I put my cardigan on and pulled down the sleeves. I knew what that meant. I lifted my handbag up onto my shoulder as I ditched my empty Bacardi Breezer in the old steel bin. I checked in on B. He gave me the thumbs up but motioned for me to leave the zip undone, so I did.
“Here” Hayden said as he handed me a red plastic cup fill of water.
“Thanks.” I took a big gulp, he was right, I did need this water, and my throat was so dry from standing by the fire for so long.
“Don’t mention it.”
We both stood there in silence as people walked back and forth talking and laughing. I could feel my arm. I knew without even looking at it that it was glowing. There was something about this party and this fire that had my goddess blood inside of me all in a tiss. I looked down at my water. A ripple ran through it. I swished it around and watched the ripples hit the side of the cup.
“Brigid” a quiet whisper filled my ears. I’d heard that voice before at Cargill’s castle, whispering to me as I’d walked away. I looked back down at my water with wide eyes. Maybe Hayden was right, maybe those two drinks had gone straight to my head. There was a woman looking back at me from my cup of water. Her long copper hair was moving gracefully with the ripples, she had the most intense green eyes. I nearly dropped my cup.
“Brigid” She whispered again. I turned to Hayden to see if he could hear her. He was looking into the fire, so I assumed he couldn’t.
“Brigid… come to me.”
“What?” I whispered into my cup. “Are you talking to me?”
“Yes, you are our saviour - come to me. Come through the oak trees.” She looked sad, she was absolutely beautiful. The most beautiful person I’d ever seen. Her copper hair swished back and forth over her delicate face.
I didn’t know whether to trust her or not, I wanted to, but was this another trick by Cichol? I wasn’t sure. “Are you real?” I asked.
“Yes Brigid, I am very real, you must come, you must save us, you…”
She stopped mid-sentence and disappeared as the flames in the bomb fire burst into a higher flame and the sound of something lightly exploding filled my ears. “You what? What?” I desperately asked my cup of water.
I could hear Hayden chanting, whispering words I didn’t recognise. He opened his eyes and put his hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah I guess. What were you whispering?” He had obviously been aware of the voice in my cup of water. He must’ve had his protector ears on.
“A spell to get rid of the negative spirit that appeared uninvited in your water… Pretty rude if you ask me.” A smile broke on his face, trying to make light of the situation, but concern was on face. He was worried.
“Do you think that was the guy from my dreams again trying to
trick me?”
“The one and only” he replied. He took his wooden beaded bracelet off of his wrist. He brought it up to his lips and covered it with his hands. He closed his eyes and murmured something under his breath as he breathed into his hands. He held it out to me. “Here wear this. This will stop any uninvited guests making an appearance again.”
I took the bracelet off him and put it on around my wrist. If this was going to keep me safe, I was all for it. I felt the soft wood against my skin. “Your lip’s bleeding!”
“Yeah, I had to invoke the spell with blood. Don’t worry it’ll heal.” I must’ve looked worried because he pulled me into a hug. “The things I do for you Brigid Ports.”
I pulled away from him as I felt my bag moving. B’s head popped out over the top of the zip. I motioned for him to hide. He waved his hands in front of his face and shook his head. Of course, he was invisible to other people except for me. I mouthed “Okay” to him. He nodded and looked to Hayden who had his back turned to us while he talked to Levi from our maths class. B bared his teeth and put his hands up like claws. He pointed to Hayden. I shook my head at him. B pointed again desperately trying to get me to understand him. I tried to act natural as a group of girls walked past. They couldn’t see B but they could see me. B was beside himself now. He’d drawn his little sword and was getting ready to jump on Hayden’s back.
“No!” I yelled as I grabbed B before he hit his mark.
Hayden spun around as I shoved B back in my bag and zipped it up. “What?”
“Nothing, I thought I’d stood on cow poo, but nope, I haven’t.” I pretended to inspect my foot as I held it up so I could see it better.
He looked at me strangely. “Right… how about we head off now, it’s been eventful. Gotta get you home on time or Mr Ports will smack me over the head then dig my grave.”
“Yeah you’re right. I’ll go find Kate.”
“She’s over there.” He pointed to the other side of the fire. Holden had his arm around her waist and she was laughing. I hated to wreck her fun, but we had to go or she’d be in trouble too.
I caught her eye and motioned for her to come over. I pointed to my watch which meant we needed to go. She pouted dramatically as she turned to Holden and kissed him. She waved goodbye to him, but Holden pulled her back and kissed her again. She kicked her leg up as the kiss dragged on. OMG she seriously just popped her leg I thought to myself that was so “Princess Diaries.”
I got home with five minutes to spare. Unbelievably no one had waited up for me. I raided the fridge for B and me. He sat on my shoulder and directed me to the food he wanted to eat. Tonight it was honey on top of rice bubbles. For me it was left over pizza. I heated it up in the microwave and headed my way up the stairs. As I reached the top Winkles came running up to me and rubbed against my ankles. “Yes” I whispered “B is with me.”
B jumped down onto Winkles back as we all walked into my bedroom.
CHAPTER 11
I woke up with a dry mouth. I needed a drink. I crawled out of bed and made my way down the stairs. Winkles meet me at the bottom and gave my legs a quick rub before running off. I made my way to the kitchen sink and poured myself a glass of water. I took a big gulp. I felt its coldness make its way down to my stomach and I welcomed it. I needed this water. I looked in the sink and there sitting at the bottom was my bracelet, the bracelet that Hayden had given me last night. I looked at my wrist to confirm that it was in deed the same bracelet and it was. It was sitting in a bowl of water in the sink. That’s strange. I’d been downstairs with B making food late last night, maybe I’d taken it off or it had fallen off? Who knew? I took it out of the water and gave it shake before I sat it on top of a tea towel to dry it off. It smelt salty, must have been some salt in that water. No harm done. It was wood, it would survive.
◆◆◆
That night I was so tired when I went to bed. I quickly checked on B to make sure he was okay, then tucked myself under my duvet and went straight to sleep.
Cichol was standing beside the town’s fountain. I was staring back up at him from under the water. Strands of his blond hair dusted the side of his chiselled face as he leaned over to talk to me.
“My lady, you are well?”
“Yes I’m well thank you.” Wait, why was I making small talk with him, he wanted to kill me. “No, I’m not talking to you. You want to kill me!”
He frowned at me gently. “No Brigid, that is not correct.”
My name on his lips sent shivers down my spine. How did he know? “Hayden says that you want to kill me.” I started to cry. Oh my god I was crying. That was next level embarrassing, but I couldn’t stop.
“I don’t know this Hayden? Who is this man?”
“He’s my best friend!” I practically yelled it in his face as I wiped my eyes.
Uar’s voice was still gentle when he spoke next. “Well, I think your friend Hayden may have been been misinformed. Brigid they have found you, you are in grave danger. I want to help you and we need you to help us from this terror we all live in.”
The water started to ripple. I could feel myself being pulled away from him.
“Wait!” He yelled. “Take my hand, come with me and I will show you. I have brought you here momentarily, but you can’t stay here for long. Your body is asleep in your world. Your soul is here with me.”
“What?”
“Take my hand before you go back through. I need to show you so you will understand. You can wake up and return to your body whenever you want. You are perfectly safe… even if you think I want to kill you.” His face scowled as he said the words kill you and there was even a hint of sarcasm in his words.
I thought about it. I wanted to go with him and find out more. To be fair I wanted to be with “him” for longer, even if he would be my downfall.
I held out my hand. He took it and pulled me up through the water of the fountain. It felt like I was being pulled from a painting. I grabbed his neck as my feet fumbled on the ground. He grabbed my waist to steady me. I could feel his hard muscles against mine. I backed away, suddenly very aware of how close I was to him.
“Right, show me. Show me what you’re so desperately trying to tell me.”
“Look around you Brigid.” He said as he spread his arms out around him. He had no top on again, just his green skirt, gold belt and his leather wrist and ankle bands. He had his shield strapped to his back and a sword tucked in his belt. “What do you see?”
“I see that you have no top on again” I muttered under my breath low enough so he couldn’t hear me. I followed his hands and looked out into the town. Everything was dull, no colour or life to it. There were wooden framed houses with thatched roofs. Hardened dirt roads lined the houses, but there was no people, no life. The fountain that Cichol had pulled me from was surrounded by risen grey rock. It had a statue of a naked little boy holding the sun in one hand and a fish in the other as it conveniently covered his private parts. “Where is everybody?” I asked.
“They are here, just not in sight. They are scared and hiding.”
“Scared of what?”
“Of the darkness, of the Fomorians.”
I remembered that name. They were the people that froze Brigid. They were the reason that I had the light in my body. “They’re responsible for this?”
“Yes”
“But I thought you were all happy and thriving?” I was stunned. Unless this was a trick. “Wait, Hayden told me that you’re the enemy, which means you’re responsible for all of this.” I started to back away, fully aware now of my situation. Why had I let him pull me through that fountain?
“Happy? No we are certainly not happy. The Fomorians have cast a curse on this realm. The only thing keeping us alive at the moment is your light and I am certainly not responsible for all this, I am trying to keep everybody alive.” He looked at the town in disgust and regret.
He moved closer to me. I turned and started to run. I felt his hand close tightly aroun
d my arm as he spun me around. “Let me go Cichol!” I screamed.
“What?” He released my arm and backed away from me. “What did you call me?”
“Cichol, I called you Cichol. That’s your name isn’t it?” I was heavy breathing. I needed to get away. I needed to wake up and go back home.
“No it is not.” He looked shocked and confused. “My name is Uar.”
I stared at him. Things were starting to get confusing. “Your name is not Cichol?”
“No, I can explain more, but we shouldn’t be out in the open like this. Here put this on.” He pulled out a large grey cloak from the other side of the fountain and draped it around me, pulling the hood up over my head covering my hair. He held out his hand and I took it. Why was I always taking his hand? This whole situation was getting confusing. His name is not Cichol? He pulled me to the back of one of the houses and opened the back wooden door. It squeaked and strained with the movement. Warmth hit me as we walked into a small room. It had a small bed in the far corner, a fire in the centre of the room with what looked like an iron cauldron hanging in the middle of it bubbling away with some brown chunky soup.
“Where are we?”
“We are at my friend’s house. We are safe for now, but not for long. They are always searching.”
“Who are always searching? You have some serious explaining to do. Who are you?”
“My name is Uar. I am the youngest son of our great Mother, the Goddess of the Flames.”
My mouth dropped open. “You are her son?”
He nodded. “My name is not Cichol. Cichol is a Fomorian. He’s the enemy.”
The Sun Goddess of Cargills Castle Page 7