The Carrier - Episode Five
Page 8
It was night before Empe and Teanne finally returned to the small cottage. They entered to find Lin and Alexander where they had left them. Robert too was still sitting in his big armchair.
‘What’s going on Em?’ Alexander asked as he hurried to her side. Empe smiled and moved toward a chair and settled,
‘I would like to introduce you to a good friend of ours. Everyone this is Teanne.’
Lin laughed as she looked at her lifelong friend. Alexander sat down next to his aunt and looked up at her sadly. Empe laughed at his look,
‘No dear one, I have not lost my marbles, not yet any ways.’
Empe moved in her chair ‘shall I bring them up to date, or rather time?’ She asked Teanne who nodded ‘Robert you might want to get some tea on the boil, we may be here a while.’ Teanne stifled a laugh as she watched Alexander and Lin look around confused.
Luia -Morning
It had been a long night that had lead into early morning. Everyone now sat back exhausted. Teanne stretched as she stood and stepped over Lin who was fighting off sleep. Robert was snoring loudly in the corner. She gently pulled the cover up under his chin. Teanne walked outside and looked up to the sky; the morning was crisp and clear. She jumped when a blanket was put around her shoulders. She turned and met Alexanders smiling face ‘Thank you.’ he nodded and stepped back looking around.
‘Well now what’s the plan?’ Alexander asked softly. Teanne laughed as she recalled the man in black say the same thing,
‘Learn’ she laughed to herself ‘It’s a new day, in more ways than one, so I guess I’m open to anything.’
Alexander chuckled, ‘I still find it hard to believe you manipulated time like you did. I’m still trying to get my head around that everything we went through, now won’t happen.’
Teanne was surprised that it had worked as well as it did. She wished she could work out how to get back to her time, but she was learning to be patient. The man in black had told her she needed to learn after all.
‘Have you thought about one thing though?’ Teanne looked at Alexander intently, ‘if you’re inside Kera's body, where is Kera’?
Teanne scratched her forehead and smirked ‘To tell you the truth, I hadn’t given that much thought’ she gently squeezed his shoulder ‘are you worried about her?’
Alexander smiled and shrugged his shoulders, ‘She is my girlfriend.’ His slight smile warmed Teannes heart, and she hoped this would all be over soon.
‘Come inside and eat you two. We have much to do today.’ They both looked at Empe who was sticking her head out from the door of the little cottage.
Empe handed Teanne the message runes, ‘so you say that we need to be in the below world to use these as a portal or to communicate?’ Teanne nodded
‘And how do you plan on getting us in there without being seen or caught? I don’t really want to run into the Mother Sovereign.’ Teanne rolled the runes between her hands as she thought about how they were going to get in. She put them inside a pocket on her hip. She had thought that her and Lin could sneak in, but she needed Empe to come along, but that would attract too much attention.
‘We could try at night’ Lin offered.
‘No we can’t wait that long. I want to try and get back to that room, to that old man. I need answers.’ Teanne pinched the bridge of her nose as she looked at the others. She turned to look at Alexander who was lost in thought, possibly about Kera; perhaps he was worried about her. He looked up sensing her stare and smiled.
‘We need to get in there now’ Teanne said curtly, and looked up at Empe ‘can I look at the journal again’
‘Destiny is life child, not written’
Teanne smirked as she flicked through the pages and wished Empes’ mother had left an instruction manual, not little words of wisdom. She skipped ahead, the Estrus sent a sharp surge of pain up her arm as she ignored one page; she turned back and waited till the writing appeared. Symbols and little sketches started appearing on the page. They were the same as on the runes and the ones in the below world. She watched as lines criss crossed the page between the four symbols, finally a small note started to appear toward the bottom, Teannes eyes grew wide,
‘…each root affects the other one, without one in existence the other cannot function, it would seem that they are all entwined with one another, but I need to know is there one that will dominate the others, or is it simply that they all need the other? What is the missing part?’
Teanne shut the journal and looked around the room. Empes’ mother was aggravating with her this and that. She handed the journal back to Empe, ‘Is it helping’? Teanne nodded, trying to conceal her frustration,
‘Why don’t you just phase into the below world?’
Everyone turned to Robert, who was now sitting at the table reading a book,
‘What?’ Teanne asked.
‘Phase in, you know, just use the Estrus and send you lot there, surely that’s something you can do. After all you got into the chamber by thinking it; and you also managed to send yourself back in time.’
Teanne looked from one to another; there were mixtures of complete confusion to bewilderment. She looked at Empe who seemed to be considering the option,
‘Em? What do you think’? The old woman looked up,
‘It’s possible, but I wouldn’t know how to even start.’ Empe looked over at Robert and smiled ‘My man, always the smart one.’ Robert winked and returned to his book.
Teanne rose and started pacing around the room. She was trying to work out if was as simple as wanting to go there, or would she need to manipulate something? She stopped as one thought came to her, and the eyes in the room all looked to her as she thought through the possibility, and then she continued pacing pushing that idea aside.
‘Just do it’ Teanne stopped as the man in black’s voice echoed in her mind.
‘It can’t be that simple?’ She shouted toward the ceiling, and looked back at everyone, her cheeks heating,
‘Sorry, just thinking aloud’ she moved toward the door ‘I’ll be right back.’
Teanne left the cottage, and moved to the centre of the field outside. She looked around at the surrounding forest edge searching for him. He wasn’t there. She looked down at her wrist and sighed,
‘Well?’ She laughed at the thought the Estrus would magically grow lips and answer her back. ‘Just do it’
Teanne closed her eyes, and slowly calmed her breathing.