Stars in Her Eyes

by Becky Lee Weyrich

  “No, Jonathan,” she replied, as if chastising a small, naughty boy.

  He chuckled devilishly. “If you don’t do as I say, I may have to persuade you with my beams.”

  The mere mention of those fondling, probing lights made Emily weak all over. She glanced toward him, pleading in her eyes. But she wasn’t sure if she was pleading for or against. “You wouldn’t…would you?”

  “Is that a challenge or an invitation, my darling?”

  Suddenly, Emily realized what he was doing. His attempts to get her into bed were only a ploy to make her forget that he was in danger and that it was all her fault. It had worked for a time.

  “Jonathan, what are we going to do?” she asked in a quiet tone that barely veiled her rising panic. “If they find you, they’ll take you away from me. I don’t think I could stand that. But if you stay, you may die. You told me so yourself. Either way, I’ll lose you.”

  Emily returned to sit on the side of the bed. She didn’t realize she had tears streaming down her cheeks until Jonathan reached for her hand and said, “Don’t cry, darling. It makes me sad when you do. I want you to smile for me—always.”

  “Oh, Jonathan, I’m afraid!” Once more, she let him cradle her in his strong arms.

  “Listen to me, Emily. There is one place that I believe is safe. The house you mentioned in Bryantown. Your father has spoken of it often to me. He called it a sanctuary. You see, even though we are forbidden to fall in love, that great Starwanderer loved your mother as I love you. He, too, disobeyed orders to stay with her until you were born.”

  Emily raised her head and looked into his eyes. “But Mother always told me that he had to go away.”

  Jonathan nodded. “That is so. But he did not leave when it was ordered. He told me, in confidence, that he could not. He said he had to see his daughter, to hold her in his arms, if only once. And he also said that something about that house prevented the others from finding him. He believed the bright glare from the river’s surface confused their search probes and acted as a natural shield to protect him. We must go to Bryantown as soon as possible, Emily.”

  She hugged him, crying tears of relief. “We will, my darling. Oh, we will, as soon as we’re married. Why, we could go right now!”

  He smiled reassuringly. “No. We will have our wedding tomorrow, and then we will go to this sanctuary on Earth. This heaven that will be mine and yours alone.”

  Despite nosy servants, creaking bed ropes, dinnertime, and lurking aliens, Emily climbed into bed next to her Starwanderer and let him take her on another amorous flight to paradise.

  He was right. It did get better every time!

  9

  On the night Emily was to wed her Starwanderer, she refused to allow herself to worry about windows in the sky or searching aliens. Right now, this very moment, Jonathan was about to become hers—all hers. The music was playing, the guests were gathered, and no one could stop her from becoming his wife. No one could interrupt their perfect happiness. As for what might happen later, she would worry about that when the time came.

  The wedding preparations had been hasty, but thorough. Emily decided to wear a new Worth gown she had purchased in Paris the previous year for “some special occasion.” The occasion of her marriage certainly seemed special enough. Made of ivory China silk that offered a hint of palest iridescent green, to match the crystopalite stones of her necklace, the fashionable ball gown framed her neckline with softly ruffled sleeves floating about her shoulders. The bodice came to a point in front, and the simple skirt formed a train as she walked toward her waiting groom.

  When Emily entered the room, even the president’s wife, Ida McKinley, had tears in her eyes brought by the beauty of the setting and of the bride. Unaccountably, before she realized that she would be married on this evening, Emily had chosen only pure white flowers for the senator’s party. Tall crystal vases of gladioluses stood at intervals around the green-and-gold reception room. Low silver dishes on tables contained floating camellias like unblemished snow. Yellow-throated white irises, potted Easter lilies, and, of course, white roses perfumed the night.

  Emily carried a bouquet of hothouse gardenias, but no one noticed. All eyes focused on the starry glow in the eyes of the bride and the unearthly sparkle of her necklace. Each stone appeared to catch the light from the candles in the huge crystal chandelier and burn with the reflection. Emily knew better. That was no reflection in the stones, but a glow generated from within—a light from another world. She could feel the warmth against her flesh.

  On her uncle’s arm, she approached her groom, with Hattie Heatherbee following to mind her train. Emily heard subtle murmurs go up from all sides. She glanced about, smiling at friends. Then, suddenly, it seemed as if everything and everyone in the room vanished. Everyone but Jonathan, standing straight and tall in his dark, formal suit, his eyes glowing brilliant turquoise. He was, indeed, the handsomest man she had ever seen. But more than that, he loved her, and she loved him in return. They had blended in body already. Now they were about to blend souls.

  When she took her place beside him, time seemed to stop. She felt as if this were some moment in forever, held eternally suspended in precious amber. She stared up into his adoring eyes.

  “I love you!” she mouthed silently.

  In answer, he pressed her hand gently, but she felt as if he were holding her heart in his warm palm. Staring up, she could see her own reflection in his eyes. She realized suddenly that she had never looked so happy, so loved. She felt transformed and transfixed by his intimate gaze.

  When it came time for Jonathan to repeat that segment of the marriage vows about death alone parting them, he hesitated, and Emily saw the shining light in his eyes dim for an instant. Then he repeated the vow, changing it slightly, adding after “until death do us part” the phrase “and even after, through all eternity.”

  Those few extra words wrapped Emily in a cloak of love and warmth and security. Now she had nothing to fear, not even death. From this day forward, Jonathan would be hers, to have and to hold.

  When he kissed her after the ceremony, it seemed that far more than their lips touched. Their very souls seemed to fuse into one. Emily came away breathless and giddy.

  “Music! Champagne!” she heard her uncle order, but she needed no intoxicating bubbles to set her head reeling. Her new husband had done that and more.

  She went mechanically through the motions of accepting the congratulations of the guests. Even when President McKinley gave her a fatherly kiss on the cheek and dear Ida pressed her hand, Emily found it difficult to concentrate on their words. For her husband was beside her, lightly touching her arm, caressing her with his loving gaze.

  And then they were on the dance floor, and she was in his arms. How he knew of dancing, she had no idea. Perhaps Jonathan Webb himself had been light on his feet, and her Starwanderer had simply inherited the trait. However he managed, her husband was a perfect wonder—whirling her lightly about the floor, holding her just close enough to make her heart race in time to the music, speaking volumes with his adoring gaze.

  Leaning close and giving her a wicked grin, he whispered, “Marriage, my darling, is not what I had anticipated.”

  “No?”

  “No! It is far more. This joining of hands and speaking of vows to miraculously make two people into one is almost as exhilarating as blending.”

  Now Emily, too, laughed. “But not quite?”

  “Close!” He leaned down and whispered into her ear, “When can we leave for Bryantown?”

  “Probably not until after you’ve danced with every other woman here, my love.”

  He glanced about and groaned softly. Then he tightened his grip on his bride. “I want to dance only with you, Emily darling. I want to whirl you until you are so dizzy and giddy that you will be totally under my spell.”

  She turned solemn suddenly. “Oh, Jonathan, if you only knew! You’ve had me under your spell since the first moment I looked
into your hypnotic eyes.”

  He laughed softly. “Then keep staring into them, my darling. Allow me to mesmerize you totally and forevermore. If you will permit me, someday I would like to slip from this borrowed body and flow into yours, filling you completely with my pulsing, throbbing vapor, kissing you from the inside out, letting my mind blend with yours, and experiencing the touching of our hearts and our souls.”

  Emily closed her eyes and trembled in his arms. “I promise you,” she whispered, “I am yours to command, my darling Starwanderer.”

  “I’ll remember that vow,” he answered, his tone husky with passion.

  The night wore on and on. Jonathan and Emily both did their duty, dancing with other partners. But each time they were separated for a few minutes, they could hardly wait to return to each other’s arms.

  As the sky grew black outside, Emily noticed that Jonathan took every chance to go to a window and stare up at the heavens. His actions sent a shiver of dread down her spine. Finally, she caught his arm as he stood gazing up into dark space.

  “Are they out there?” she asked.

  He sighed resignedly. “Oh, yes! They will be there until the window in the sky closes on the first of May.”

  “Have you seen them?”

  “No. Perhaps we’ll be lucky enough to get to Bryantown before they discover my exact location.” He touched her cheek gently, his eyes oddly lightless. “But we need to be on our way soon, and you must leave the necklace here or they may track its signal.”

  “Immediately, my darling!” Emily answered, touching the warm stones at her throat.

  She slipped away upstairs to change. Only moments later, she was back at her husband’s side. It took a bit longer to say their goodbyes and make their getaway. But within the hour, they were in a closed brougham, loaned by Senator Middleton to drive them to Bryantown.

  Emily had imagined that the drive through the night to the old farm would be wonderfully romantic. She had pictured herself snuggling in her husband’s arms while the coachman sped them along the dark pike. But that was not to be. Jonathan held her hand all the way, but his attention was trained on the night sky.

  From time to time, he would say, “Nothing! We seem to be in luck, darling, but it’s too soon to tell.”

  Emily found herself becoming more nervous with every mile they traveled. It seemed they would never reach their destination. And when they did—what then? She wondered how they were to survive. What if they could never leave Bryantown? What if the place became their prison instead of their sanctuary?

  Jonathan turned to her suddenly. “Would it be so terrible as long as you and I were imprisoned together, my darling?”

  He bent down then and kissed her very tenderly—an apology of sorts for intruding on her thoughts.

  “I’m sorry, Jonathan,” she said softly. “I’m letting my imagination run away with me. And you’re right, of course. Even a dank dungeon would be a sort of heaven if you were there with me.”

  Finally, the coach drove up the long, shaded drive to the old farmhouse. The place looked sad and neglected. Emily suddenly realized she hadn’t set foot inside her childhood home in nearly five years. She had an overseer to look after the property, of course, but that wasn’t the same as having someone there who really cared.

  “I hope it won’t be too uncomfortable,” she apologized in advance.

  Jonathan caught her about the waist and hugged her tightly. “Has it a bed?” he whispered.

  “Of course!”

  “Then it will suit my purposes. I believe your uncle referred to this quaint Earth custom as a honeymoon. From what I overheard him and some of the other gentleman saying in the kitchen as they passed around the jug of white lightning, I believe I may enjoy it. A good deal of blending is involved, as I understand.”

  “Oh, you!” Emily cried, trying to control herself until they could get out of the coach and send the driver on his way. Maybe it was a good thing she and Jonathan were going to be out here all alone.

  The coachman took their bags to the porch of the farmhouse, then bid them a good night and turned his team back toward Washington. They stood in the drive, watching the dark shape of the carriage disappear down the lane of arched trees.

  Turning then to Emily, Jonathan took her into his arms and held her close. “Alone at last!” he murmured, before capturing her lips with his. This was their first real kiss as husband and wife, and one to be long remembered.

  Before Emily heard a thing, she felt Jonathan stiffen in her arms. He broke their embrace, took a firm grip on her hand, and ordered, “Hurry! We must get inside!”

  They were perhaps twenty yards from the porch steps. No great distance to cover under ordinary conditions. But this situation was anything but ordinary, as Emily soon learned.

  Her first warning was a low, eerie hum radiating from the heavens. A moment later, she glanced up to see the green lights dancing there. Bright beams flashed back and forth—searching, probing the blackness of the night sky.

  “We have to get inside before they spot us,” Jonathan said in a strained voice. “Hurry, darling!”

  Emily tried. But she stumbled and fell, losing her grip on Jonathan’s hand. Suddenly, one of the lights swept the ground nearby, turning the landscape as bright as day. Stunned by the sight, she froze where she had fallen.

  “Come on, Emily!” Jonathan grabbed her up in his strong arms. “If they catch us in a beam, all is lost. The light will suck us up into one of the ships.”

  Jonathan ran in a zigzag pattern toward the house. At times, the shafts of light came so close to them that Emily was sure it was all over. She could hear Jonathan’s heart thundering. Her own was doing an equally frantic dance in her breast.

  The greenish lights converged. They seemed to be everywhere around them, trapping them in one small spot of darkness.

  “Oh, Jonathan!” Emily whimpered. “I’m afraid!”

  “Don’t worry, darling. I have us shielded. The beams can’t reach us.”

  What he did not tell Emily was that his self-generated shield could not be maintained indefinitely. Already, he was experiencing fatigue from such an expenditure of energy. If the lights didn’t sweep away from their path soon, their honeymoon would be over before it had begun.

  Trying to keep his shield at full force, Jonathan set Emily carefully on the ground beside him in order to reserve his strength. “When the beams open the slightest path,” he whispered, “we have to make a run for the house. Can you make it, darling?”

  “Yes,” Emily assured him breathlessly, not at all sure she was telling the truth. Her knees felt like water, and her head was spinning with pure, terrible fear.

  “Now!” Jonathan cried suddenly, tugging hard on her hand.

  In great, bounding leaps, they took the stairs and pounded over the boards of the porch. One of the beams followed at their heels only inches behind them. Praying that the door was unlocked, Emily turned the knob and propelled herself inside. Jonathan was right behind her. He slammed the door shut, then grabbed for Emily.

  She was shuddering and sobbing when he drew her into her arms. Never had she been so frightened; never had she been so relieved.

  “Hush now, darling! It’s all right,” he said. “They can’t draw us out of the house. We’re safe.”

  “Are you sure, Jonathan?” she asked, clinging to him.

  “Yes, I’m sure, because your father told me so. I think he guessed that I might wish to stay with you. I believe he hoped I would.”

  Emily was calmer now. “Then all we have to do is stay here until they leave in May. After that, everything will be all right.”

  Jonathan hated to shatter his wife’s happy illusion, so he said nothing.

  “After May first they’ll never try to take you again, will they, Jonathan?”

  “They will return, Emily, but not for many years.”

  “How many?” she demanded.

  Jonathan kissed her brow and sighed his own relief at
their narrow escape. “The next time my fellow Starwanderers return to Earth, you and I will be an old married couple, and our daughter will be ripe to wed.”

  “Our daughter?” Emily said.

  “Of course, darling. Did I forget to mention that? Our first blending on board my ship was a total success. If my calculations are correct, she should be born around the second week of January. And she will be every bit as bright and beautiful as her mother. Of course, she’ll also have stars in her eyes.”

  Emily clung to him, feeling tears threaten again—happy tears, this time. “I’d rather she be as strong and loving as her father.”

  “She’ll be all those things and more. She will combine the best in both of us, and the best qualities from Earth and from my planet as well.”

  The strange play of beams outside suddenly vanished, leaving the night unblemished by light. All was quiet inside the old farmhouse with its comfortable, country furniture and its rooms that had known generations of living and loving. Striking a lucifer to a candle on the stand beside the door, Emily took her husband’s hand and led him toward the creaking stairs to the second floor—to the very room where her own mother had loved her Starwanderer.

  The candlelight flickered softly in the bedroom, kindly shadowing the hand-hewn bedstead, the faded rag rugs, and the bright patchwork quilts. The room looked warm and welcoming.

  Emily knelt down to light the kindling in the small fireplace. A moment later, Jonathan was beside her, staring into the leaping flames. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

  “We will be happy,” he murmured, nodding his head as he continued gazing into the fire. “I’ll learn your ways and become a gentleman planter. This old farm will bloom again with the two of us working side by side.”

  “You’ll have no regrets?” Emily asked. “You left no one back home?”

  He turned her so that he could look into her eyes. “I never had anyone to love until you, Emily. This is my home now, darling. You and our child are more than enough for me. No regrets—not ever!”