by Jerry Skell
"She once was the pride of the lake," Captain Bruce said as they sat for lunch. "She doesn’t have many voyages left in her. I will hate to see her broken up. Tell me about this woman of yours."
Eli described Elodia told his story of her rescue, their parting and his quest to find her.
"I do hope you find her!" Captain Bruce said.
Crossing the lake usually took five days. But the Wing moved at a snail's pace through the water. On the second day, the skies to the north darkened and the crew seemed agitated. "We're in for a blow," a crew member said. They managed to get all the sails down before the wind struck and they let two hundred feet of cable out the bow as they drifted, bow first, in the current with her stern facing the wind.
The gale struck with sudden ferocity and the ship was tossed about like a toy. They had the hatches closed tight and sequestered themselves in the cabin. They had put out the stove fire as a precaution. Hour after hour the storm raged. They were helpless. During the storm as they were pumping from within the cabin when the pump lost pressure.
"The pump’s gone Captain!" the first mate said.
The wind slackened at last, the fury of the storm passed. The heavy waves continued another twelve hours before they too calmed. They climbed out of the cabin and saw the Wing was very low in the water. Her gunwales barely out of the water. Land was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 15 Home
Elodia was overdressed as she walked to Davida. She wore her red hooded coat. Spring came early to Bountiful and daffodils and tulips were breaking out everywhere. Elodia knew that the air was colder with altitude and she would need her coat. She climbed onto the dragon as Davida leapt into the air.
"Can we remain unseen?" Elodia asked.
"Running away are we?" Davida laughed.
"I really don’t know."
"Your tears will freeze if you keep that up," Davida said softly. Elodia wiped her tears on her coat sleeve when she heard the pop. Suddenly she was thrust into the airless void, the coldness painful. Then a second pop and she was over the coast. She loved flying. The air in her face. The clouds the passing landscape in miniature. They circled over the semaphore station Eli had spent the last two years at and the villages that dotted the coast. She flew over the little pond that was a source of many happy memories. Then they landed.
There were no houses. Just burnt ruins everywhere she looked. The pungent smell of rotting fish no longer apparent. She walked slowly toward the village cemetery. She was startled to see a man standing there apparently waiting.
"I know you," Elodia said. "Master Abner."
"And you?"
"Elodia."
"Eli's Elodia?" She nodded.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm not sure, I was directed here."
"I did that," Davida said sheepishly.
"So you're the new dragon rider?"
"Please tell no one. I don’t want to overwhelm Eli when he finds me. You can talk to Dragons?"
"My grandmother was a dragon rider. Yes, I can talk to dragons. You're running away aren’t you? I will keep your secret Elodia. I take it Eli has not yet caught up with you?"
"I don’t know. I'm so very lonely. Thought I would come home."
They walked to the cemetery and Elodia knelt by her mother's grave, "Who buried her?"
"Eli organized everyone, we all did. These whose name we knew have stones."
Elodia saw on her mother's stone the name Davey. She broke into tears and Master Abner put his arm around her. "Eli brought Davey home. He buried him with his mother."
"Why?"
"You don’t know? He loves you, that's why. Your home is not here, it's with Eli, wherever he is." Master Abner took Elodia to the station and fed her lunch. Then he walked her back to her dragon, "Eli will find you Elodia."
Mounting her dragon Elodia flew back to Bountiful.
Chapter 16 Still Afloat
"We're floating on our cargo. As long as we have no additional storms we will make it. Eli you and John see if you can rig a pump. The rest of you let's make sail."
They busied themselves, grateful to still be afloat. It took fourteen hours before Eli and John managed to get the pump working. They both spent time in the water in the bilge to work on the pump. They then started the long process of pumping out. With all the added weight from the flooded bilge they only made about two knots.
The ship had taken quite a beating and leaked even more than before the storm. The pump needed continuous manning as they took turns pumping. Early the next day they met another schooner. They borrowed a second pump and continued on.
On the fourteenth day after the storm, land was sighted. Captain Bruce adjusted his course and late that day they sailed into a snug little harbor. Captain Bruce easily sold the cargo and they began the task of offloading. He then hired two more men to run the pumps while they discharged the cargo.
The Wing was towed out to deep water and allowed to settle to the bottom. Captain Bruce paid off the crew.
"What are your plans now?" Eli asked.
"I'll build a new boat, Wing II. If you ever need work look me up. Go find that woman of yours and Godspeed Eli."
Eli spent the next night at a local inn, then booked passage on a canal barge for Laketown. He arrived there twenty-five days later, then crossed Bear Lake to his home in Riverdale. He walked home and greeted his mother and younger brother.
"Eli, it's so good to see you!" his mother said. "Your Dad is still at sea but he will retire soon, he made admiral at last."
Eli was happy to be home. He spent the next few days inquiring about Elodia and Aunt Myrtle. He learned that Myrtle had died but could discover nothing about Elodia. He spent a lot of time talking to his mother, describing Elodia, his feelings for her, and their separation and his journey to find her.
Eli's mother sent a letter to her daughter Maryann telling of Eli's return and his search. She convinced Eli to spend a few days just resting. Eli needed just to sleep. He’d had so little sleep while on his quest. Convinced he would find Elodia in Bountiful he rested.
Chapter 17 Sisters
Davida circled, slowly descending into the courtyard of the clinic. Elodia saw a lone figure run out to them. It was late in the day and everyone was at dinner. Elodia recognized the lone figure, it was Maryann. She toyed briefly with the idea of simply taking off, but taking a deep breath she landed and dismounted her dragon.
"Can you ever forgive me Elodia?" Maryann whispered. Elodia could see the girl was in distress. "I've been so mean and cruel to you. I've been so jealous. I was angry and did not know why."
"Please call me Elody, and I forgive you with all my heart." Elodia touched her shoulder as she spoke.
"Thank you. I thought I drove you off. I've been so worried. I'm usually a nice person. Jealousy is so ugly."
"Are you still jealous?"
"Yes," Maryann blushed. "But knowing it, and accepting it will keep it from poisoning me."
"If it were in my power I would give you a dragon ... I would," Elodia said.
"I believe you. Would you sit with me for dinner?"
"Yes, I would like that." Elodia and Maryann sat together for dinner. Other girls joined them. Such a simple gesture, sitting and eating together, but it helped heal the terrible lowliness that had plagued Elodia since her arrival.
Over the next few days, Maryann became the mentor she had been asked to be. They spoke little about their past. Elodia mentioned she was the daughter of a Master Purplemaker. Maryann said that her family was from Riverdale and her father was in the Navy and she missed him terribly. Maryann had two brothers and Elodia one. Both had always wanted a sister so they decided they would be sisters. Maryann worked with Elodia in the clinic, encouraging her in her studies. They both took part in several laying-on of hands. They decided to share a room with Elodia moving in with Maryann. Maryann introduced Elodia to all her friends and for the first time in her life, Elodia had numerous friends. Elodia was happy.
One night Elodia, Maryann and several young women from the clinic went to visit the inn at Bountiful. They ordered dinner and drank ale together. Then as musical instruments were brought in they sang with the other patrons. Later dance music was played and Elodia danced. She and Maryann danced several times together trying to outdo their friends in silliness and creating new dance steps neither would have attempted without the ale and their desire to outdo each other. They had a large audience for their antics. Elodia had a wonderful time, but both of them had severe headaches in the morning. They were both teased unmercifully by several students who had also been at the inn. They made several more trips to the inn and got themselves dormed for their frequent curfew violations.
Being dormed they had to report each and every hour to the house mother until midnight. They were not allowed out for the three days of their punishment. They made a game out of the reporting ritual and made several ’escape‘ attempts in outlandish improvised costumes, often sporting beards and mustaches made from cotton balls. Their antics had even Mother Ruth laughing.
Several days later Elodia and Maryann visited the capitol with two additional friends. "That's a huge porch!" Elodia exclaimed pointing.
"It's the longest porch in the world Odie. That building, The Grand Hotel, is where the government officials stay and meet while there in cession."
"Looks empty...race you across the porch!" Elodia said lifting her skirt high above her knees and starting to run the length of the porch. Maryann and the others joined her as wood porch literally thundered as they raced barefoot across the porch laughing and screaming in delight. "I WON!" Elodia exclaimed as she danced on the end of the porch and wiggled her bottom at her friends.
"You had a head start Odie!" Maryann said laughing. "Let's go again and start even." The four of them lined up for a second run each of them holding their skirt high. "Ready, set, GO!" Maryann shouted and they were off. They had nearly finished their second run when a tall well dresses man stepped out smiling at them and holding his hand up.
"Slow down a bit," he said laughing.
"Uncle John!" Maryann said with a horrified look on her face.
"You have all been most entertaining. Never has a session of the counsel been privy to such a lovely race,"
"Uncle John, I think we had better go home," Maryann whispered blushing bright red. They quietly took their leave thoroughly chastened.
"Who was that nice man?" Elodia asked.
"The Governor General, my uncle," Maryann whispered. Then the four of them laughed loudly and turned waving merrily at Maryann's uncle as they continued their tour.
Mother Ruth met with the other instructors to discuss the behavior changes in both girls since becoming friends. "They're both eighteen. They will turn nineteen in weeks. I think it's good they have been acting out a bit."
"Maryann was always so quiet and serious," one of the instructors said. "Now she is so silly at times."
"How is her attitude and behavior in the clinic?" Mother Ruth asked.
"It has changed markedly. Maryann is much warmer and less clinical, Elodia has been good for her. She was always very knowledgeable but cold, the change has been profound."
"Elodia has changed too," Mother Ruth noted, "she was so shy and lonely. Myrtle told me a little about her life."
"She doesn't make friends easily, then she literally ran away," another instructor noted. "She is a sweet girl but until recently she was easy to overlook. She had the talent to blend in with the furniture. She is intelligent and caring. We think the two of them are behind several elaborate pranks, none of them hurtful, just silly."
"Let's keep an eye on them, if they can keep a lid on their boisterous sides we will look the other way. They both have tremendous potential. They have been good for each other," Mother Ruth said.
Elodia decided to take Maryann flying. Using her improvised ropes they tied themselves down with Maryann sitting behind Elodia while they flew. They soared high over Turnagain bay and flew over Novi, Grand Isle, and Bell Isle. They flew across Bountiful Bay and across the Sister Islands and along the coast. The sight of the rocky coast from high in the air was awe inspiring. Davida dove low, flying close to the cliff face almost touching it with her wings as Maryann and Elodia screamed in delight. Davida soared high, rolling and diving, and then just skimming the water of the bay. Alternating between laughing and screaming Maryann and Elodia enjoyed their flight. Maryann held tight to Elodia as they flew.
Then suddenly they were joined by other dragons. At least ten additional dragons joined them, flying in formation, then rolling and vanishing with a popping sound. They returned and both Maryann and Elodia rushed to inform Mother Ruth about the dragons they had encountered. By evening, everyone knew of the dragons.
"Mother Ruth I think Davida can follow the other dragons, me and Maryann can..."
"You and Maryann!" Mother Ruth laughed.
"The dragons are most likely descendants of the original three dragons," Maryann said. "I know back then they were trying to reestablish the dragons."
"What are you proposing Elody?"
"We fly out over the ocean and when the dragons come to meet us we follow."
"Then we come back and report," Maryann added.
"Let me counsel with the coven. Finding a growing population of dragons would be wonderful. But there also is a great risk. The dragons must never join with men to do battle. If you find them, no one outside the coven can know." Maryann and Elodia nodded in agreement.
Chapter 18 Letter from Home
"Elody, I got a letter from home. My brother got home last week. He's coming here. He'll be here for my birthday."
"When is your birthday?"
"The fifteenth."
"Mine too," Elodia laughed.
"May?" Elodia nodded. "We have to do something special. My big brother just made journeyman and we're just turning nineteen. I GOT IT, let's party," Maryann said bouncing on her bed.
"I have some money, let's use the inn, I'll buy the ale."
"I'll set you up with my big brother!" Maryann said only half teasing.
"Thank you, but I have a fiancé. He already declared once before we were separated."
"I didn’t know Elody, I'm so sorry." Elody related her story to Maryann. Maryann listened, her mouth wide with surprise then smiling. "I think your Eli is my brother."
"Don’t think so your last name is Lehmandotter. His is not the same."
"Elijah Lehmanson?"
"Yes."
"That's MY brother." Elodia looked confused while Maryann laughed with delight. "I'll have to instruct you how last names are derived in the republic."
"Let's tell everyone we are twins, separated by cruel fate at birth, and that we only recently discovered out twin-ship," Elodia said.
"That will be our best hoax yet!" Maryann said excitedly to be conspiring such an elaborate prank. "This will go down in school history." They continued to conspire as they worked out their elaborate story. Both were equal in stature. Elodia's hair was dark red-brown and Maryann's was ginger. Both had blue eyes. And both were already infamous over their initial battling and current level of friendship.
They decided to rent the inn for the party. The total cost was twenty pounds sterling. They told everyone about their newly discovered twin-ship and posted invitations for the party. They said the party would celebrate their birthday and reunion with a long lost brother. They told how he had discovered Elody and how they had crossed the continent, searching for each other. Some of Maryann's friends were aware of the elaborate hoax but relished in being part of the conspiracy.
"Were are you taking me?" Elodia asked.
"You really need to dress up for our party. I'm taking you to my cousin’s shop, 'The Shaman's Modiste'. It's been in the family for three generations." They entered the little shop. Elodia spotted the sari immediately.
"I've just got to wear a sari."
"They're a bit pricey Elody."
"I'll get you o
ne too, my treat. After all, we’re twins!" That statement got Maryann laughing.
"I can't let you Elody."
"Please let me. Eli will go nuts!"
They both picked a red sari with a different elaborate paisley design on both ends the central area red and free of designs. They also purchased a plain black petticoat. The sari was very sheer and their backs and tummies would be visible through the red drape.
"Isn't it odd we both like red dresses?" Elodia asked.
"Well, we are twins!" that had both of them laughing. They both chose a black halter choli, and then they looked at the shops collection of inexpensive costume jewelry. They both purchased several gold-colored anklets, necklaces, and bracelets. They also purchased black sandals that had thin straps.
They then spent over an hour at the shop learning how to wrap the sari. The black petticoat adding depth to the colorful skirt and the see through drape displaying their trim torsos and shoulders. They tried on their costume jewelry and were delighted with their images in the mirror.
"We really could pass for twins!" Elodia laughed.
They then went to the semaphore station and Maryann sent a message to her brother that she had arranged a room for him at the inn and she planned a little party for his graduation and her birthday.
The plan in motion, they only needed to wait for Eli to arrive.
Chapter 19 Reunion
Maryann waited at the little harbor of the city of Bountiful with two of her co-conspirators as the river galley carrying Eli pulled into the dock. Maryann was waving enthusiastically. Eli took her into his arms and kissed her forehead.
"Last time I saw you, you were a skinny little kid!"
"Yea, you called me chicken legs!" Maryann laughed.