by C J Murphy
Noeul shook her head. “Professor Armstrong. God that makes me feel ancient since you were a student when I stopped teaching. It’s been a long time.” Noeul extended her hand out for Bandit to smell. Rewarded with a lick and a tail wag, she scratched behind his ears.
Jordan scowled. “It’s Jordan, only Elle makes me use that title.” Jordan extended her hand. “Professor Scott, it’s a pleasure, one a long time in coming.”
“Well, if you want me to call you Jordan, you’ll have to agree to call me Noeul. Fair is fair. Besides, I haven’t been Professor Scott for a very long time.” The two women stared at each other for a few minutes before both spoke at once.
“Do you…”
“How about…”
Both laughed, and Jordan bit her lip. “I was going to ask if you wanted to go have a cup of coffee or maybe some lunch? That was the last session until one thirty.”
“I’ve seen what I came for, Jordan. Lunch sounds good. Is there someplace we can go that will let us bring this guy?” Noeul reached down and patted Bandit’s head.
“I’m not sure, let’s go ask Kallie. Maybe she’ll know of a place with some outdoor seating.” Jordan started to walk off. Instead, she turned back as if concerned Noeul would walk away.
Noeul laughed. “I’ll be right here.” Jordan took two steps and ran into Kallie, literally, bringing even more laughter from Noeul.
Kallie rubbed her head.
“Sorry, Kallie.” Jordan grabbed her hand and led her back to Noeul. “Kallie, you remember Professor Noeul Scott, right?”
Kallie extended her hand. “Of course, I do. It’s an honor to have you Professor Scott. If I’d known you’d be here, I’d have had you as a speaker as well.”
Noeul accepted the proffered hand. “Good to see you, Kallie, and it’s Noeul. I’m pretty far from being a presenter these days.”
Jordan stood watching the two women, both superb researchers in their respective fields, both a part of her past. One whom she hoped she could convince to be part of her future. Her musings were broken by the sound of Kallie’s voice.
“I still can’t believe you’re here. Jordan has been on a mission to find you. Instead, you find her. I’d call that destiny.”
Jordan blushed as she looked up to see Noeul grab her side. “Anyway, Kallie, Professor…I mean Noeul and I, are looking for a place to go grab some lunch that has outdoor seating, because I have Bandit.” Jordan pointed down to the black-and-white border collie that had taken up residence on her foot.
Kallie shrugged her shoulders. “Why don’t you let him stay here with me for now? Actually, Jordan, I know you have a lot you want to talk to Noeul about. Why don’t you let me take him home to play with Ben for the evening? I know I’m going to regret it, because he’s going to be insufferable until we get him a dog now. What do you say?”
“Are you sure, Kallie?”
“I am.” Kallie looked to Noeul. “If you can stand to spend a few hours with the seeker here?”
Jordan looked anxiously at Noeul, silently saying a prayer she would be receptive.
Noeul raised an eyebrow. “I’m game if you are.”
Jordan looked at Kallie with overwhelming gratitude. “Well then, let’s go find a place where I can tell you a tale you’re not going to believe.”
Chapter Fifteen
NOEUL SLIPPED BEHIND THE wheel of her truck and took a deep breath. Kallie had called Jordan ‘the seeker,’ the exact term Aggie had used as a moniker for the one who was coming. Her dragon tattoo was itching or tingling, something. The rearview mirror showed Jordan following her. They’d decided on a restaurant in Shepherdstown. They parked the vehicles at Noeul's bed and breakfast. The Blue Moon Café was well within walking distance. Soon they were seated at a set of metal table and chairs, situated on a flagstone patio surrounded by trees and greenery.
Their waiter set down the beers they’d selected. He waited for them to look at the menu and took their order. Noeul held the icy mug near her lips and asked the first question. “Okay, want to explain to me why you almost had everyone dialing 911 today when you saw me?” She drank of the smooth, amber microbrew they’d both ordered. She watched Jordan take a sip of her beer and pause for a moment, as if contemplating an answer.
“First, I need to tell you why I was looking for you. After that, I’m going to tell you a story that’ll be hard to swallow for those with an analytical mind. No matter how open you are to things you can’t explain, this one will leave you scratching your head. I don’t know how much of my recent research you’ve read. My main focus, for the last few years, has been creating a superfood by grafting a species that resembles quinoa, onto a root stock that can grow in almost any condition. The hardiest and most resilient things on this earth, besides cockroaches are…”
“Weeds.”
Jordan pointed her finger at Noeul, emphasizing her correct conclusion. “Exactly. I want a root stock that can basically thrive in almost any soil condition, a wide variety of climates, and for the pièce de résistance, with little to no rainfall.”
“Lofty goal.”
“And damn near impossible, because I’m missing something from the grafting process. All my trials have failed to produce consistent results. My end game is to be able to grow a food, rich in nutrients and protein, in the African desert. If I can find a way to do that, we could significantly impact world hunger. Which leads me to why I wanted to find you. I’ve read everything you’ve ever written, even the obscure essays you wrote while you were a university student, long before you were a PhD. I can quote every single word, verbatim.”
Noeul stopped her with an upheld hand. “How in heaven’s name did you even find any of those papers? That was over two decades ago.”
Jordan took a deep breath. “I’m a researcher and a scientist, like you, Noeul. I dig for answers and, with the help of a good memory, I have every bit of your research up here.” She pointed to her own head in emphasis. “All along I’ve had this,” Jordan stopped and shook her head, “obsessive belief, that what I’m missing from my research can be found there.” Jordan leaned up and held her finger a fraction from Noeul’s forehead. Noeul’s shocked expression must have concerned Jordan, because she withdrew her hand and looked down into her lap.
“Jordan, I’ve been out of the scientific research business for a very long time.”
Jordan smiled at her. “You mean to tell me, since you left Cornell, you’ve done no research and have been traveling the world looking at ancient ruins?”
Noeul’s face heated. As a fellow scientist, Jordan would know that the need to experiment and test theory was an integral part of who they were on an elementary level. “I didn’t say that. I said I’ve been out of the business. There are always questions to answer. I’ve spent a bit of time studying your research of late, too.”
“If you’ve done that, you know I’m missing something. No matter what I try, I can’t find it. I believe, with every scientific bone in my body, you and your research are the key.”
Noeul closed her eyes and listened to the sound of muted conversation, silverware clinking against plates, chairs scrapping against the stone beneath them. “I don’t know if I can help, Jordan.” She watched, as Jordan scooted back in her chair, then leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees. Her hands were steepled at her mouth, and Noeul could see the gears grinding behind her eyes.
“That’s where I’m going to argue with you, Professor Scott. The fact that you aren’t working in a lab at Cornell doesn’t mean that your mind doesn’t have the answer. You might not know it yet. I, on the other hand, don’t have any doubt about it. I believed it so much that I took a year’s sabbatical to find you.” Jordan straightened and moved to the edge of her seat.
Noeul was shocked. “What do you mean, to find me?”
***
Jordan knew that what she was about to say could make or break her chances with Noeul. Would Noeul be angry that she’d been actively seeking and opening the me
morials that had been left in tribute to her dead wife? Would the woman before her feel violated, or would she understand the desperation to find her at any cost? Would she believe that something beyond the physical world was guiding and leading her to each memorial? There was only one way to find out. She steepled her fingers and began.
“About a year ago, I started trying to find you. I sent letters to every address that had ever been listed for you. I sent emails to every known electronic address that had ever been recorded. I talked to former colleagues, friends, and anyone else I could find who even vaguely remembered you and…”
“Aggie.”
Jordan dropped her eyes. “Yes. I kept running into brick walls at every turn. After Professor James died, you basically dropped off the face of the earth.” Jordan stopped and looked up at Noeul. “I remember what happened, and I’m so very, very sorry.”
Noeul sipped her beer again. “My world dropped out from underneath me when she died. I couldn’t take the sadness I saw in others, like what I’m seeing in you now.”
Jordan dropped her eyes again. When she’d gathered her thoughts, she sat up straight and looked directly into Noeul’s eyes. “About two months ago, I was in the library at Cornell, looking for the book you both authored.” Jordan reached down and pulled a file folder out of her messenger bag. Before she’d left her vehicle, she’d collected several things from her quest, hoping to convince Noeul of the unbelievable. She pulled out a folded, yellowed piece of paper. “When I found the book, I also found this.” She handed Noeul the paper. She watched as Noeul’s eyes squinted to a thin line. Seconds later, they grew wide as they looked back up to Jordan.
The paper in Noeul’s hands trembled. “How…how did you get this?” She pointed to the paper.
“When I leafed through the book, this fell out. I thought it was some student’s notes, until I saw this.” Jordan pointed to the heart with the initials in it. “That led me to believe one of you had written it.”
Noeul’s hand covered her mouth as she looked at the paper. The waiter returned with their lunch.
“Noeul, do you want to get this to go?”
“Yes, I don’t think I can eat right now.” Noeul continued to stare at the paper.
Jordan asked the waiter to box the meals up and turned back to the woman who sat slack jawed in front of her. “Noeul, I know this is a lot to take in. I honestly do. I have a great deal to tell you and to explain. I promise, if you’ll give me the afternoon, I’ll lay everything out. Once I’ve done that, if you ask me to leave you alone, I’ll go and never contact you again. All I ask is that you give me the time to tell you everything.”
She watched as a kaleidoscope of thoughts played in Noeul’s eyes. Jordan’s heart drummed out of control. She felt slightly light-headed, as she waited for an answer. The seconds that ticked by seemed like hours, before Noeul finally nodded her head.
Jordan paid, grabbed their lunch, and reached out to steady Noeul, who nearly stumbled when she rose. Noeul cleared her throat and shook her head. “Let’s go back to the bed and breakfast I’m staying at. There’s a porch and backyard with seating.”
“Sure.”
They walked back through the small town that was home to Shepherd University. Pedestrians ducked in and out of small eclectic shops and cafés, while vehicles crawled through town past them. Once they’d reached the Thomas Shepherd Inn, Noeul asked Jordan to wait for her out back while she went to her room for a moment.
Jordan chose a table in a cool area of the yard under shade trees, away from the main house. She wanted some privacy for their discussion. In all the times she’d imagined finding Noeul, at no point had her thoughts run through what she would say to explain all that had come to pass on her quest. To any normal person, her tale would sound completely insane. At the last moment, Jordan decided she needed to hear a supportive voice. She hit speed dial and called Dava. After their typical greeting, Jordan took a deep breath.
Dava plowed forward. “Okay, what’s up, Sherlock? You didn’t call me to be some perverted heavy breather. Did you flub that presentation or did Kallie hit on you? Something has you tongue tied. Did you already find the next clue?”
“Dava, stop.”
There was silence on the line for a moment. “I found her. More accurately, she found me.” Jordan slid down in the chair and let her head fall against the wicker back.
“You what? She what? Explain immediately, or I’m coming through this phone and putting smelling salts under your nose. What the hell, JJ?”
Jordan shook herself. “Professor Scott, Noeul, came to the workshop to hear my presentation. She saw the announcement about a change of speaker on the website and decided to come and hear me. I looked to the back of the room and there she sat.”
“You’re fucking kidding me!”
“As I live and breathe, Watson. Even that was touch and go. When I saw her, I choked on a piece of apple and nearly passed out.”
Dava’s laugh rang out, and for the first time since finding Noeul, Jordan laughed too, releasing the tension that had been building since her unexpected discovery. “I showed her that original piece of paper with the codes down to the falls at Cornell.”
“How’d she take it?”
Jordan rubbed her side that was tingling again. “It shook her up pretty bad. We were getting ready to have lunch. We ended up getting it to go, and we walked back to where she’s staying. She went upstairs for a minute, so I took the opportunity to call you.”
Dava sighed. “JJ, this has to be pretty shocking to her, and I’m betting you haven’t even gotten to the parts that really have no explanation.”
“No, and that’s what I’m afraid of. What if she thinks I’m a total whack job?”
“Well, you are a whack job, my dear sister. That’s beside the point. Just lay it out as simply as you can. Remember, whatever it is that’s been guiding you didn’t lead you to her only to have her run away. Try to be sensitive to the fact that she lost her wife tragically. This is going to stir that all up again, no matter how long ago it was. Call me tonight and let me know how it goes. I love you, JJ.”
“I love you too, Watson, with all my heart. Hey call Mom and—”
“Sarah and let them know the latest. You got it.”
“Beautiful and a mind reader. That’s why I love you, little sister. Call you tonight.”
After they signed off, Jordan held her phone in both hands up to her mouth. She slid it back into her pocket, as she watched Noeul approach. Jordan stood.
“Sit down, Jordan. I think it’s time you tell me exactly what’s going on.” Noeul took a seat across from the one Jordan had been sitting in.
“Like I said before, give me the opportunity to tell you everything, and if you ask, I’ll go and never contact you again. If you hear everything I’ve got to say and can dispel your disbelief, you’ll see why I was seeking you out.
“Well, start talking.”
Jordan shifted in her seat to fully face Noeul, then leaned forward and clasped her hands together. “Okay, when we left the restaurant, I was getting ready to explain the note I found.”
***
Noeul listened intently, as Jordan explained finding the note in the book she’d helped author with Aggie. Hearing that Jordan’s sister was a cryptologist and had been the one to help decipher the clues was plausible. What didn’t make sense was how Jordan had been able to find the individual memorials she’d placed.
“So, let me get this straight. You found this list,” she pointed to the bucket-list paper, “and your sister decoded it. You went down to the glade and stumbled across the memorial I placed there.” She took a deep breath. “All that’s believable, for the most part. Next, you say she decoded the clues to Havasu Falls. Somewhere in that process, you took a sabbatical to follow our bucket list in hopes it would lead to me or the next check box. Am I understanding that correctly?”
Jordan looked up and nodded her head.
“Jordan, what I don’t un
derstand is this. I never put the clues to the next location in that memorial. For that matter, I didn’t put the clues in any of them.”
Jordan’s head shot up and disbelief filled her face.
“What do you mean? I took a picture. Look.” Jordan got up and thumbed through the gallery on her smart phone. She turned the screen to show her the pictures of the two notes she’d found inside. “In every memorial, there was a personal note from you and a list of the next clues. In everyone! Without them I wouldn’t even have had a clue where to begin looking.”
Noeul sat quietly, trying to remember if by chance, she’d accidentally included them. No, it wouldn’t have even been necessary, because I knew where I was going next. I’d already put the memorials together when I placed them. This doesn’t make sense…or does it? “Go on.”
Jordan ran her hand across the back of her neck. “At Havasu Falls, I met a woman on the trail. Her mother and grandmother led me through a cleansing ritual to rid me of any negativity. When that was complete, they took me to the cave. After I read the next set of clues, I heard a voice telling me to seek the highest point. We figured out I was headed to Moose Lake in Sequoia National Park. When I got to the lake and climbed to the highest point, I heard a whistle that led me to the tree. I heard a voice tell me to follow my heart. I found the rocks, Noeul. I don’t have an explanation for any of it. I never found the source of the whistle. I know what I heard.”
“Is that all?”
“Not hardly. I followed the next clues to New Orleans and ended up staying across from a bar called Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar. The bartender hadn’t worked there for years. She was called in as an emergency backup. A bartender that just so happened to recognize your book, which I had with me. She showed me a picture of you and Aggie with her. You can guess where all that led me. Last, but not least, was my trip to Acadia with my family. My soon-to-be sister-in-law and I stumbled across a brochure.” Jordan pulled it out of her bag and handed it to Noeul. “That version never went to print, because there were major errors.” She showed Noeul the dive adventure pamphlet and pointed out the errors. “I had no clues at all other than Acadia, and by some miracle we find this,” she pointed to the brochure, “with your picture on it that leads me to…”