by C J Murphy
“Nice to know you still love me.” Miranda kissed her on the forehead and accepted the cup from her.
Noeul watched Kelly eye her diagnostically. “I’m fine, Kelly.”
Kelly shook her head. “Did you sleep at all? I heard you up prowling around before dawn.”
“Off and on. Sorry if I kept you up.” Noeul slid two plates in front of her friends and laughed as Miranda suspiciously poked at her omelet with her fork. “There’s no mushrooms, you big baby.”
Miranda smiled sheepishly, chewed a bite, and childishly poked her tongue at Noeul.
Noeul screwed up her face in disgust, as she laughed at her friend’s antics.
“You up for a ride today?” Kelly popped another piece of bacon in her mouth, looking at Noeul.
Having her friends here was exactly what she needed. “Of course, I am. We could take the south trail down to the falls and have a picnic if you guys are up for a longer ride.”
Miranda bounced on her stool with enthusiasm.
Kelly rolled her eyes and shoved her. “You are such a three-year-old sometimes.”
Miranda pouted, pushing her lower lip out. “Pweeeese, Mom? Can we, can we, pweese?”
Noeul laughed and covered her face, as she almost snorted coffee out her nose.
“Finish your breakfast and go get cleaned up, goofball. If you’re good, I’ll take you for a pony ride.” Kelly pulled her coffee cup to her lips and shook her head.
Miranda sat on the stool grinning from ear to ear. Noeul loved her friends and knew they were doing everything they could to fill the voids in her life left by Aggie’s death. She looked around her living room at the comfortable furniture, the tasteful decorations accented by simple lighting, and the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that lined two walls. These were the things that filled this space. What made it a home, was the laughter and companionship her friends brought with them when they visited. She vowed to enjoy the here and now in their visit.
***
Jordan woke to the sounds of birdsong outside her tent. It was still extremely early in the morning. She unzipped the flap and stared up into the sky, where pastel colors were beginning to streak across the horizon. A thin stratus cloud floated across the sky. She pulled her cellphone from beside her head and answered the incessant ringing. The ringtone told her it could only be Dava.
“Let me guess, you couldn’t care less that it’s before five in the morning?”
“Correctamundo. Get out of that tent, it’s almost eight here. Half the day is gone. You want this information or what?”
Jordan yawned and crawled out of her sleeping bag. She climbed from her tent into the chilly morning air. “I’m awake, I’m awake. I don’t even have coffee on yet, so be gentle.” She stretched and lit her small camp stove, while Dava decoded the clues for her.
“So, you’ve used your decoder ring to discover that I’m headed to….” Jordan left the sentence open, as she hung the coffee pot full of water over the fire to heat.
Dava huffed. “One puzzle piece at a time, Sherlock. Let’s put all the outside pieces together first, or did you forget the system?”
Jordan couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up. Their father was methodical in the way he went about putting together a jigsaw puzzle. They would separate all the pieces with a straight edge first, find and assemble the corners. When the outside frame had been completed, they would sort pieces by color or pattern. It was a family activity, one they could all do together. “No, I haven’t forgotten. Proceed.”
“That’s more like it. I started with the John Muir quote. “God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods; but he cannot save them from fools[,]–only Uncle Sam can do that.” It came from his writing Our National Parks, in 1901. From a good bit of debate on the internet about the exact meaning of the quote, I settled on a protected forest because part of it had to do with only ‘Uncle Sam’ being able to protect them. Now, if I combine that with your vision at Havasu, I tend to believe that you’re headed to either the California or Oregon coast, where the giant sequoia and redwoods are. The BAFTA award was for special effects in a film that was originally titled Blue Harvest for secrecy. That movie ended up being titled Return of the Jedi. Remember those air motorcycle scenes through giant redwoods?”
Jordan added the coffee grounds into the percolator parts of the percolator and hung it on the tripod above the flame of the stove. “Oh yeah.”
“I’ll let you fill in the meaning of the word hexaploid here…”
Jordan smiled, as Dava let her pull from her education specialty. “That there are six copies of each homologous chromosome in the genome.”
“Exactly. From there we get the numbers 2,100/2.7/274.9/100. 2100/274.9/102.6/36.5. These are numbers given by the National Park Service for the largest tree on earth. Which is?”
“General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park.” Jordan shook her head, enjoying the game with her sister.
Dava clapped loudly. “Give that girl a gold star.”
Jordan delighted at the infectious laughter coming over the phone line. “Ok, so I know I’m going to Sequoia or Kings Canyon. That’s a really big area. Any clue how to narrow it down?"
“I considered the list of names you gave me. Most are recognizable singers like, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and Ani DeFranco. There were a few obscure names like Bill Fay and Midge Ure, which I’d never heard of. I did a commonality search and came up with the word watchtower. The other names had songs that mentioned the word watchtower, and Bob Dylan wrote ‘All Along the Watchtower’ made famous by?”
“Jimmy Hendrix.” Jordan laughed at her sister and listened to the telltale sounds of the water working its way up the metal tube and bubbling over the coffee grounds.
"From all those clues, I believe you are supposed to make your way to the Wolverton trail which will eventually lead you to...”
“Let me guess, The Watchtower?” Jordan inhaled deeply as she began to smell the aromatic grounds producing the liquid gold brewing over the hum of the propane burner.
“That’s where I’d put my money. Next, Alces alces is the scientific name for moose, which also ties into that weird string of Rocky, Natasha, and Boris. The missing link in that is Bullwinkle the moose from an early 1960s cartoon Rocky and His Friends. My extraordinary codebreaker skills say you are headed for…drum roll please.”
Jordan obliged and made a drumroll sound by vibrating her tongue across the roof of her mouth.
“Moose Lake in Sequoia National Park.”
Jordan poured her first cup of strong, dark coffee. Raising it to her lips, she blew across the top of her stainless-steel mug. She sipped slowly, allowing the steaming liquid to slide over her tongue and down her throat. Chuckling at her sister, she paid appropriate homage. “Thank you, Watson, you’re brilliant. You’ve done it again, in spectacular form.”
“Lastly the foreign language clue doesn’t really give any particular location. Ardú do shúile go dtí an pointe is airde, translated from Irish Gaelic to English, reads raise your eyes to the highest point. It will be up to you to determine what that means when you get there. I have no idea. I guess when you get to Moose Lake you’ll need to see if your spidey senses start going off and it clears up. Well Sherlock, I’ve got a busy day ahead of me working at the five side.”
Jordan knew this was Dava code for working at the Pentagon. “That last clue ties in with what I heard in the cavern. Go do your thing, geek. I love you. I’ve got a pretty good drive to Sequoia National Park. When I get there, I’ll plot my course. Have a great day and try not to run over any five-star toes this time.”
“Occupational hazard, easier for them to move out of my way than it is for me to move out of theirs. Love you, be careful and call me later.”
They signed off in their unique way and Jordan set about making herself breakfast. She pulled out her laptop and connected to her phone’s hotspot to begin p
lotting her course from Peach Springs to the next bucket-list item in Sequoia National Park. She’d allowed herself a much-needed day to rest and recover, giving Dava time to decode everything.
While she drank her coffee, she journaled about her previous day’s call to Dava and her reaction to the recount of her experience and her visions. Dava was a big believer in the afterlife and didn’t doubt a second of Jordan’s account. Jordan did find part of her sister’s observations interesting.
Dava said she looked up the relationship between the phoenix and the dragon. She found that in Korean lore, the two symbols compliment and complete each other in sort of a yin and yang style. That made me think about my own tattoo and what it means to me. The design came to me in a dream after my break up with Tina. The symbolism of rebirth fed a need deeply hidden within the most inner parts of my soul. That feeling chewed at me until I laid down on the table at Skin Deep. At that point, I was a blank canvas. Deidra transformed that surface into a work of art.
Over twelve long sessions, Deidra and I became close friends. It was like she understood this was a way to document my pain and celebrate my survival and rebirth. She used her unique abilities to create the intricate crimson wings with yellow-and-black-tipped flames that edge up my back and along my shoulders. The long feathers from the tail travel around my side and seem to caress my left breast. My talisman is a record of where I’ve been and what I’ve become because of each and every painful step, my journey permanently integrated into my being.
Jordan closed the journal and prepared a simple breakfast for herself, while she enjoyed the still-breaking dawn. She turned her attention to finding the quickest route to Moose Lake and the next phase of her journey.
***
Noeul led the group down the trail toward the falls. Beneath her legs, she could feel Athena’s muscles ripple. The horse was amazingly graceful on the trails. Surefooted and spirited, she was a perfect companion to the larger and calmer Thor, whom they’d left munching contentedly back in his stall. Each woman carried a portion of their planned picnic. The closer they got, the louder the water tumbling over the outcropping of rock became. Kyo took off like a shot to the pool of water as soon as it was in sight.
“No matter how many times I see this, it still takes my breath. The way the sunlight makes a rainbow in the spray, it’s incredible.” Kelly pulled up on her reins, bringing her horse to a halt beside Noeul.
Noeul reached up and patted Athena’s strong neck. “I know exactly what you mean. I ride down here quite a bit. You guys have never seen it in the winter. It’s both eerie and spectacular.”
“I, for one, am thankful you own this little piece of heaven.” Miranda took a drink from her water bottle and placed it back in its holder. “And that you’re willing to share with your besties.”
Noeul smiled at her friends. She cherished their company and was more than grateful that they seemed to know exactly what she needed when she needed it. There was no doubt that the longer she was isolated, the more restless and unsettled she felt. Near the base of the falls, they stopped in a shady spot and tethered the horses to allow them to graze for their own picnic. Kyo came out of the water, shaking out her thick coat. She trailed around the water’s edge and smelled everything her nose encountered.
Miranda spread a blanket out on the ground, as Noeul and Kelly gathered their lunch. Plastic containers of sandwiches, chips, and pasta salad were spread out on the red and white checkered blanket beneath them. Kyo found a patch of sunlight to lay down in, her tongue lagging out to the side, her breath in quick pants.
“Take a nap, sweet girl.” Miranda smoothed the fur on her head.
Kelly held up one more container, as she handed Miranda the bottle of white wine and the small plastic cups. “For dessert.”
Noeul’s eyes grew big. “Tell me that’s what I think it is.”
“If you are asking if this small box contains your favorite peppermint-patty brownies, then I would say your psychic abilities are tuned into the right wave length.” Kelly laughed, as Noeul launched herself and wrapped her up tightly in an appreciative hug.
“Have I told you that you are beyond amazing and my favorite person in the whole world?” Noeul placed a sloppy kiss on Kelly’s cheek, as she slyly grabbed for the container, missing by a fraction of an inch.
Miranda placed her hands on her hips and attempted to pull off a glare. “Hey what am I, chopped liver? I thought I was your favorite person in the whole world?”
Kelly laughed, as she continued to hold the brownies out of Noeul’s reach. “Honey, you don’t stand a chance in hell while I’m holding these in my hands.” She squeezed Noeul tightly and narrowed her eyes. “Lunch first, then dessert.”
Noeul sat back down and crossed her arms in a fake pout. “Yes, Mom. And Miranda, you are my favorite Amazon friend. She,” Noeul said pointing to Kelly with her thumb “is my favorite person in the world, who also happens to make my favorite brownies.”
Miranda grumbled under her breath. “I could make brownies.” She paused, “As long as my wife measured it all out, wrote all my instructions down, turned on the oven, and set the timer. So there.” They all fell into a fit of laughter until they could barely breathe.
Kelly reached over and caressed Miranda’s face. “It’s okay, my love. You keep the tractor fixed and the truck running. I’ll make the brownies.”
Kelly leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Miranda’s lips, causing Noeul to blush. She envied the connection they shared, that same kind of connection she’d shared with Aggie. She pushed the melancholy back into the shadows, determined to enjoy this much-needed companionship with her best friends.
“You okay, honey?” Miranda placed a hand on Noeul’s back.
Noeul shook herself. “Fine, just hungry. Pass those plates around so I can eat lunch, or Mom there won’t let me have dessert. You have that wine open yet, or am I going to have to resort to buying screw tops for these adventures?”
Miranda screwed up her face. “I’m working on it. I’ll admit, it’s quite taxing.” She bugged her eyes out and placed a hand on her forehead in a show of theatrical despair.
Noeul raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, before you met me, I imagine it was a bit easier to screw off the plastic cap and pull the ring.”
“Hey, I’ve learned my lesson and vowed to never buy wine in a box again. You’ve thoroughly schooled me.” Miranda flipped her hand in a posh move that had both Noeul and Kelly choking on their sandwiches.
Kelly rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Honey, pass the wine before we need boots over here to wade through the bullshit you’re peddling.”
Miranda leaned across and kissed Kelly, handing her a cup of wine. She poured one for Noeul and passed it to her.
Noeul raised it to her lips and took a sip of the very sweet moscato. She held it in the air in approval. “Well done, my worthy student.”
The three of them ate and laughed in the afternoon sun. Kelly sat with her back against a rock, Miranda’s head in her lap, and ran her fingers through the salt-and-pepper strands she’d freed from her wife’s braid. Miranda breathed evenly as she napped.
Noeul caught Kelly’s eye and whispered. “I’m going to take a little walk. Take a nap with her, I’ll be right back.”
Kelly nodded her head and closed her eyes. Noeul smiled at her friends and slowly rose to her feet. Kyo stood, obviously unwilling to be left out of any adventure. Noeul walked down to the water’s edge and slid her hands through the cool liquid. She scrubbed them together, rose, and shook the water free. Wiping her palms over her face, she raised her chin to the warm afternoon sun and started walking toward a clearing beyond the edge of the pool. Kyo padded softly beside her. Noeul reached out to pet her, the soft coat warm and dry from the sun.
Kyo traveled at Noeul’s heel. Reaching a small outcrop of rocks, Noeul climbed up to enjoy the view and take in a few minutes of solace in the bright sunlight. Kyo sat beside her, turning her head curiously from side to side,
as if she was listening to something. Noeul listened. Faint at first, yet still audible, the words were familiar. She’d learned the Bible verse from Ecclesiastes in Sunday school.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Noeul knew the voice, and her eyes searched frantically for the face she longed to see more than anything. She squinted and held her hand to her eyes in an attempt to shield them from the bright light of the sun.
“The time to mourn and weep is past and gone. A new season is blowing in, and with it, a chance to laugh and dance. Don’t hold your heart back. There is a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to tear down and a time to build. Our time was short, I know. I’m gone, my love, and it’s time for you to live. Listen to your heart, my love, not your head.”
Noeul rose and thrust her hand toward a very bright light. “Don’t go, Aggie, please don’t go. I need you.”
“A time to search, a time to throw away and a time to keep. A time to tear and a time to mend. When the seeker finds you, know that it’s time to mend and time to love again. Do this for me, my most precious one, and I’ll rest happy.”
Noeul ran forward, crashing through the brush and the laurel. She could feel the briars tearing at her legs and heard Kyo yip in pain behind her. She stopped and turned back to see her faithful companion limping behind her. Kyo stopped and held one of her paws up. Noeul’s face drew back toward the light and the fading voice. She knew it was Aggie and desperately wanted to run after her, to hear her voice one more time.
Tears streamed from her face and she cried out. “Please don’t go!” Kyo limped up beside her, whining softly. She dropped to her knees and buried her face in the black fur. She wiped the tears away as best she could and tried to focus on Kyo’s injury. A large crabapple thorn had pierced one of the pads on her front paw. “Oh God, baby, I’m so sorry. Hold still.” She grasped the injured paw in one hand and the thorn between the thumb and index finger of her other. Noeul quickly removed the thorn and pulled Kyo into her lap. She looked up to see Miranda and Kelly pushing their way through the brush to them. Sadness threatened to overwhelm her. She pulled Kyo closer. Am I losing my mind?