2Promises

by Phil Armstrong

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  Chapter 13: Maid of the Mist

  Beth knew she would need to concentrate to find Subra; he had been getting noticeably weaker. He was able to stay alive but he needed to expend a lot more energy to communicate. She needed his guidance and assurance at key times and Subra knew this. Beth had sensed his weakening but she did not want to admit it. It added pressure to an already stressful situation. Beth was finally being exposed to these wonderful exciting places. She wanted to experience it all. She wanted for the first time in her life to be a tourist. She knew that time spent enjoying this experience was precious time wasted. This guilt, anxiety and panic were overwhelming.

  “There you are,” thought Beth honing in on the faint but recognizable energy trace. Beth concentrated and amplified the signal. “Are you with me?” she thought.

  “Yes but only just,” was Subra’s reply.

  “Just is good enough.”

  “We’ve a lot to talk about but first let me say I’m proud of you little fox you did well today,” said Subra in an earnest tone.

  “I did, I made stunning progress today. I discovered Schelle, Belgium, IN DEN VOS, and Hoshi. I have to admit Hoshi sounds a bit daunting.”

  “If you can get me near the portal Beth, I’ll feel it. I’ll be able to feed off its energy. I should be able to signal to you if we’re close.”

  “Great, what about Corom?” inquired Beth, “can you feel him too? Can you communicate with him?”

  “Sounds like he’s very weak but I should be able to feel his presence. I can’t communicate with him directly, I would need you and Hoshi to be involved and I’m not sure that’s a wise thing,” cautioned Subra.

  Beth’s thoughts strayed to a future meeting with Hoshi. This would be a battle of wits with an experienced old woman. Would she willingly align her goals and join a joint search for the portal?”

  “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present,” said Subra in an encouraging way.

  “I’m curious, when I find the portal how many Spirit Warriors can go through at one time?”

  “Why do you ask?” said Subra in a puzzled voice.

  Beth explained, “If both you and Corom can go through the portal it makes my pitch of cooperation more palatable for Hoshi. If only one of you can pass through then the other one and its guardian will be left looking for the new location of the portal.”

  “I see your point,” Subra paused as if considering the options. “As long as Corom is close enough and has sufficient energy I can pull him through in one continuous energy stream. The key is one continuous energy stream. If I can locate him as I’m passing through I’ll have one chance to pull him along with me.”

  “What does close enough mean? You said that time and distances don’t mean much in your world. Does Corom and Hoshi need to be standing next to us at the portal?” asked Beth concerned.

  “No, close enough means that I can still feel his energy. Right now here in Toronto he’s not close enough. I can’t feel him. When we get to Belgium and we’re closer, using your understanding of distance, I might be able to feel his weak signal.”

  “Is he much weaker than you? You keep referring to him as weak but you’re not getting any stronger.”

  “I think I’ll be stronger than Corom and I’ll also feed off the portal energy,” said Subra.

  “What will this do to Hoshi?”

  There was a pause as Subra tried to express the right words, “I’m afraid she’s living off Corom right now. As a human, she should have died many lifetimes ago. I don’t think she’ll be able to survive Corom leaving her frail body.”

  “So her soul will find its own route to the spirit world?”

  “Yes?” was the simple reply.

  “You heard Sakura, I think she’s ready to go. No one can say she hasn’t had a good inning, as they say.”

  “Ah yes, I’m familiar with that expression, Beth uses a Cricket term! I never thought I’d see the two in harmony,” teased Subra.

  “Funny,” thought Beth as sarcastically as she could. “It would devastate me if my actions killed someone but in Hoshi’s case I think she wants to die.”

  Subra answered recognizing that Beth had switched to being serious. “Death is more universal than life, everyone dies but not everyone lives.”

  “I get it, you have to live life to its fullest, but Hoshi has outlived her will to live. Even she would probably say she has lived to the maximum.” Beth struggled with her conscious knowing that if the plan worked Hoshi would become a victim of her actions.

  “Those who welcome death have only tried it from the ears up. I agree with you Beth, if it wasn’t for Corom Hoshi would be a long faded memory by now. If it weren’t for Corom, Hoshi would also have led a more normal life. She’s paid her price for longevity,” explained Subra.

  Beth became more concerned at the prospect of matching her wits with Hoshi. She showed bravado in front of Sakura but knew Subra could see right through that.

  “Subra, what cargo was Corom carrying? What wisdom does Hoshi have?”

  “I was told in my training that Corom was to retrieve a trapped spirit, a local spiritual leader who had great wisdom and the ability to connect with the dead. He died in a house fire in London. His soul or spirit was so far detached that he could not find a spirit guide to help him cross into the spiritual domain. He was trapped as a spirit in the physical world. His knowledge was so deep that the Universe collectively decided to send Corom to locate him and guide him back to the spiritual domain. Corom never connected with the estranged spirit. Corom never came back and fell to earth in Japan,” explained Subra.

  “What about the spirit?”

  “After Corom failed it was decided that crossing over domains and attempting to return was too risky. I was selected out of necessity, and look what happened to me. I’m certain the spirit is still roaming, trapped on earth. Some spirits find a way to connect with a spirit guide and they will help them cross over. Some remain on earth as ghosts,” said Subra.

  “So I’d like to get this straight, as far as we know Corom didn’t manage to collect his cargo of knowledge, Hoshi is wise because she’s over 140 years old. Life experience is what I’m up against. I’ve got some of the brightest people’s collective wisdom in my head. That makes me older than my physical age. That’s something Hoshi will not be expecting. It’ll be my secret weapon if you like,” thought Beth contented.

  “There are no secrets better kept than the secrets everyone guesses,” said Subra hoping to make a point.

  It was too deep for Beth and she’d moved on. “I’m still worried. What happens to me when you go through the portal? Will it kill me also?”

  “Don’t worry Beth, your energy is strong, you are young. You will survive this with a mild headache that will last a few minutes. You need not worry, I wouldn’t do this if it harmed you in any way,” explained Subra.

  “Phew, that’s a relief,” thought Beth. “So I go back to normal right? I can eat and drink again?” asked Beth.

  “Yes,” said Subra simply. “You’ll be normal but you’ll have acquired a vast quantity of useless knowledge. As Bertrand Russell said, ‘there is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.’”

  Beth was thinking hard and clearly concerned about her potential matchup. “When I meet Hoshi, she’ll know that I’m an Indigo Child from my aura. Will she know that I have a Spirit Warrior within me?”

  “I doubt it. I think Corom is so weak he’ll not be able to sense me. Hoshi will know your aura is strong; she will try to find out why. She may piece together the puzzle. It’ll be up to you to box clever and let her know when the time is right,” said Subra being vague.

  “When will that be?” inquired Beth.

  “When the time is right,” repeated Subra.

  Beth was still feeling uncertain and unsure. “From what I’ve heard about Hoshi I’m going to
need you to be a star.”

  Subra tried to select a quote to reassure Beth. He searched for one to show that he felt confident in her. “The main ingredient in stardom is the rest of the team.”

  “You’re right, we’re a good team,” thought Beth feeling a little better.

  “Beth, there’s an old Japanese proverb I want to share with you. If he works for you, you work for him,” said Subra, “Do you get it?”

  “Yeah, we’re a team and we’re in this together. You don’t know how much having you around helps me Subra,” thought Beth.

  “I do, but it’s only temporary you’ll be your own woman soon enough Beth. It’s unfortunate that this happened to you it’s a big responsibility. The lesson here is similar to the lesson Anwar provided. You took on the responsibility and you grew because of it. It’s a well known fact that we grow more as individuals out of adversity than comfort,” explained Subra. “You’re still growing Beth.”

  “What was that word? That’s it. Apport, I’d never heard of that word before. Reaching through space and time to transfer an object from one place to another. Hoshi did this with sealed jars of holy water. You once told me that you had your cargo and were about to head home. Can you remember that? You were hit by some kind of white energy beam. I wonder if it was Hoshi retrieving holy water?” asked Beth.

  “You might be right. That makes sense. The only thing that could knock me out that way is a beam of pure energy. Nothing on Earth would produce that, it’s not man made. It would have to be Hoshi and Corom. Now we know why; it was a call for holy water. They needed holy water to keep them alive. I got hit by their beam,” said Subra finally understanding.

  “I have another question while we seem to be on a roll,” thought Beth excitedly. “When we get to the portal, will I see an image as a clue to the location of the next portal? This is the clue that you talked about?”

  “Yes, we’ll both see it,” explained Subra.

  Beth listened to the response and fell silent for a moment her thoughts still. “Will I need to describe the image for the next person seeking a portal?”

  “No need to solve that one now Beth, do what’s due. The task at hand is getting us both to Brussels then on to Schelle,” said Subra trying to keep Beth focused.

  “Do you need food? What should we do about the holy water? Should I get some?”

  “No, while food is an important part of a balanced diet I don’t feel I need any just yet. If I start to feel desperate I will let you know and we may have to resort to this but not yet,” stated Subra confidently.

  Beth and Subra continued to discuss the portal and Schelle. They talked about the IN DEN VOS vision that Hoshi experienced during her near death experience. After the discussion ran its course Subra called time saying he was getting tired and low on energy. Beth wanted to continue but agreed and woke herself. It was the early hours of the morning and Beth lay motionless. She was not asleep but the room was quiet, dark and calm. She rehearsed what she would say to Hoshi numerous times in her mind. She played out scenes in her head of how she might approach the conversation. 6am flashed on the alarm clock in bold green numbers. Beth swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat upright.

  “I’m not going back to sleep, might as well get a jump on the day. I have to get to Schelle,” said Beth in a determined way. She went to the hotel room safe and retrieved the letter with Mr. Wilk’s contact details. She walked over to the phone and figured out the dialing instructions for the UK, explained on a plastic card clipped to the phone. Tapping the keys in sequence she could hear a ringing sound.

  “Hello?” was the greeting it was a female.

  “Hi. I was wondering if I could speak with Mr. Wilks, er David Wilks,” asked Beth?

  “What’s it about?” she asked curtly.

  “I’m Beth Martindale, I’d like to talk with him about the Generosity Account,” said Beth, “I’m calling from Toronto.”

  “Oh I see, it’s eleven in the morning here love, David’s at work, you’ve called his home number,” she explained in a more friendly tone.

  “I’m so sorry,” said Beth, “I’m new at this.”

  “No problem love, do you have his mobile?” she asked.

  “I do, right here, I’ll call that, thanks and sorry to bother you,” offered Beth.

  “That’s not a problem, call back if you do need his mobile number or you can’t get through,” she said hanging up.

  “She was really sweet,” thought Beth. “Now let’s do this right this time.” Beth looked at the letter and tapped in the mobile phone number listed.

  She could hear a ringing noise interrupted by a male voice, “Hello this is David.”

  “Hi David this is Beth Martindale calling from Toronto,” said Beth with a nervous stutter.

  “Hi Beth, just give me a second I’m just stepping out of a meeting so that I can talk with you, hold on a minute. There, I’m in a private room now. Good to finally connect with you how can I help you Beth?” asked David. His friendly tone settled Beth’s nerves.

  “I’m in my hotel in Toronto and it’s six in the morning. I have to get to Brussels fast. I need to do a favor for Sakura Tanaka, can you help me?” asked Beth trying not to sound too desperate.

  “Absolutely, Beth give me the phone number of your hotel and your room number and I’ll have Tabitha from my office give you a call right back. She’s got access to the travel system and will get you on your way using the fastest possible option,” said David in a calm assured voice.

  Beth told David her hotel details. When David disconnected Beth felt a mild form of panic. She wanted to get going and loose ends were testing her patience. She knew time was of the essence and that Subra did not have many grains of sand in the hourglass left. Beth jumped as the phone rang, “Hello?”

  “This is the front desk we have an international call for you Miss Martindale,” said a friendly male voice.

  Beth heard a click; “Hello?” said a female English voice.

  “Hello, this is Beth Martindale.”

  “Hello Miss Martindale, my name’s Tabitha. I was asked to give you a call and help you with some travel arrangements, is this a good time to talk?” Tabitha inquired in a professional way.

  “Yes, please, thanks for calling back so quickly Tabitha, please call me Beth,” offered Beth.

  “Thank you Beth let’s get right down to business,” said Tabitha.

  The call was short as Tabitha recorded the details. She promised Beth that she would be flying out that day if it was possible. She instructed Beth to pack. Tabitha was a consummate professional. She promised Beth that she would not leave her office today until Beth’s travel arrangements had been completed and were securely in her hands. She asked Beth if she had a preferred airline. Beth requested Jet Airways but insisted on a direct flight if possible. After the call Beth showered and dressed in freshly laundered clothes. She pulled on her trusty jeans and loaded her backpack with her belongings. It had been over an hour since the conversation with Tabitha. Tabitha sounded like she had stepped off the set of the popular English television soap East Enders. Having heard nothing but Indian and Canadian accents recently it was a shock to hear the stark contrast of a London. A knock at the door disconnected Beth from her thoughts.

  Beth went to the door and without opening it asked, “Who is it?”

  “Guest services Ma’am, I have an important printout of an email sent to your attention, travel arrangements I believe,” said a male voice. Beth opened the door and was presented with an envelope containing a folded note. The young man started to walk away quickly and Beth thanked him before she closed the door. The phone rang almost immediately. Beth scooted over to the phone still holding the envelope.