Seymore's Interlude

by Franci Neale

  Chapter 21

  Steps Forward

 

  Seymore found Geralty at his desk where Fred lay stretched out on one corner his tail tapping time to some inner tune. He asked Geralty, “Are you about ready to make your trip to Middle Mind? ”Geralty said he was very excited to make the trip. Seymore handed him the envelope for Valentino and told him, “This is a personal communication for my brother and I trust you to be sure only Valentino receives it.”

  Geralty was again aware of Seymore’s growing trust in him and said he would be certain that it arrived in Valentino’s hands. Then he asked, “I’m not sure what to expect. Is Middle Mind very large and where will I land? How will I find Valentino?”

  “I’m going to have you transport using my marker and I have adjusted it slightly so you should land in Valentino’s office. If you should land in my office, just leave by the inner door as that leads to Valentino’s space. The Meddlers are using my office and I’d rather you didn’t bother them, if my setting is off and you like near them simply be courteous and go on through to see Valentino. The Meddlers are very busy with a big assignment that will eventually be very useful to us thanks to Valentino.

  “I’ve impressed a message for Valentino that Mesa will send just before you leave so you will be expected and welcome. My brother will provide what you need and you’ll find he is charming and generous. After you have the band hooked up and tested he’ll most likely introduce you to the assistants who will be sending us the holograms and there will probably be some kind of tour. When you’re ready to return, Valentino will provide you with a marker for the holograms to focus on that we are going to install in the new Beach House. I’ll finish the new building before you leave. He’ll also give you an envelope that looks just like the one I gave you that is a personal message for me. It is quite important to Seymore Place and I’ll be glad to have it.

  “Is there anything else you would like to know?” Seymore was sitting quietly in one of the casual chairs that Geralty had created for his room. Geralty watched him for a moment and then said, “I am so proud to be able to do this for Seymore Place and you, Seymore. I’m very lucky and I won’t let you down. ”His sincerity was moving and when Seymore rose to go, he took Geralty by the shoulders and told him, “You are exceedingly special, Geralty, and I am the lucky one. ”He gave him a warm embrace and excused himself.

  Seymore went into his study and closed all the doors, sat in his office chair and turned so he could look out the window at the pond. He was very happy and everything seemed very right. During his conversation with Geralty he noticed how his new responsibilities were reflected in his stature and demeanor; he seemed to gain confidence and maturity with each new assignment. Just the prospect of going to Middle Mind seemed to have produced a growth spurt.

  Even without knowing exactly how; he knew that Seymore Place would be completed very soon. He could feel the answers to his questions very near by and now felt that he could relax and just let them show up.

  He decided that he would rely on the intelligence that was obvious in the great light to tell him what he needed to know and that it wouldn’t be something that he couldn’t accommodate. Once the Mercury band, hologram transfer, atrium desk and new beach construction were finished the light’s knowledge would surely show itself. He felt very confident.

  He decided to check on Mesa and went out through the hall by the atrium. He glanced into the glass room and was surprised to see a lovely table. It had four legs and a kidney shaped top with the same colors and slow-motion on top as Mesa’s. Obviously Mesa and Jesmond were making progress. He continued on to the library and across to the old office.

  There were more changes. The room was now divided by a beautiful screen of exotic characters on heavy silk brocade and Mesa’s table was now situated in the center of the turret room with four redesigned magic chairs neatly placed around it. She had added a seat under the center of the window, with a winged back chair on one side and a fainting couch on the other. There was now a brocade valance around the top of the bay window and an elaborate dream catcher hung in the pane closest to the dome.

  He called Mesa’s name and she answered from behind the screen on Jesmond’s end of the room. She called back for him to come and see their progress. He walked around the screen. The area was all in lovely pastels and featured a stack of big floor pillows, a small loveseat and a desk with a matching chair under the windows that looked out to the Weedy Field on one side and into the atrium on the other.

  Mesa said, “Seymore, we need for you to create a doorway to the atrium next to the window. We’ll take the curtains away, if you can make that small remodel for us.” He gladly accommodated and created a door that matched the French doors on the other side. As an afterthought he made it a Dutch door. He couldn’t imagine why it would be good to have a Dutch door, but he didn’t change it.

  He turned to look at Mesa and said, “If this is OK I think you should stabilize it right away because it is so close to the dome. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s important. And, while I’m at it, would you like the window that looks out over the field to be larger? The field is going to be improved and it will provide a nice view.”

  Mesa immediately stabilized the new door and Jesmond said a slightly larger window would be good. She was beaming over her new space sitting on her newly created love seat and gently bouncing up and down in excitement.

  When Seymore finished the window increase and Mesa had made it stable, he excused himself and went to the library and sat at the round oak table. He rolled out the Beach House plans to give them one last review before he began construction. It wasn’t a big house. It was actually just one large room with big windows on both of the long sides, one side facing the water illusion and the other looked out over the meadow. It would sit on top of the dunes and have porches that integrated with the low roof line. The other two sides would be used at anchors for the force field that he would eventually extend to cover all of the shoreline and well into the lower part of the woods on either end of the beach. He duplicated the handsome French door that he made for the atrium. One pair of doors led to the beach and was in the center between large windows. The other side had the same doors at the end nearest the bottom of the lane and he had added a wide path that connected to it. He wasn’t sure if it was exactly right, but he needed to create a permanent place for the hologram equipment Geralty would bring back from Middle Mind. Mesa’s opinion might make for some changes as well.

  He was deep in thought about the plans when Mesa sat down across from him. She was again in her schoolmarm mode and she had several announcements. “Jesmond is a very happy Mercury scrap and is sure this is the best place in the entire Support System in which we all serve. ”Mesa chuckled and shook her head in appreciation of Jesmond’s point of view. “She’s all set and is going to watch out for both her magic table and my magic desk and will let us know right away if the big friendly eye shows up. I told her all about the Watcher and she wanted to go find it right away. I told her that you would arrange that if you thought it was a good idea”

  Then, looking pensive, she said, “I haven’t mentioned anything to Jesmond about Sarah as I hardly know where to start. Would you give it some thought and give me your best ideas. I don’t know how to explain how an earthgirl rode in on a big white light without sounding outrageous. There are times when I have a hard time believing it really happened. Sarah was definitely very real and very wonderful. But it’s hard to explain to someone who wasn’t there.”

  Seymore smiled knowing that when his surprise arrived with Geralty’s return it would still be a very complex explanation but Sarah’s image might make it easier. It would certainly make it more real, even to Mesa. But he was in a one-bridge-at-a-time state of mind and the Beach House was next on his agenda.

  “Sarah is hard to explain, and I’ll give it some thoughts, but for now Geralty is very excited to leave on his trip a
nd he needs some oversight on the band. You’re the only one that can do that. When you know that everything’s OK, please send my message to Valentino. ”He paused for a moment, smiled, and added, “And let’s have a little event to send our Geralty on his way.”

  Mesa smiled and left to go put the finishing touches on the band connections and make sure Geralty was really ready for his first big trip on his own. She would definitely think of a good way to wish him well. Geralty was making great gains and seemed to develop and expand with each step in all his undertakings. He was a young man these days; the boy part of him had been absorbed in his new maturity.

  Geralty had done a first class job for the band and everything was in place and ready to be attached so it could be activated when the first signal from Middle Mind arrived. She told him that it was going to go into the library instead of the office which was now not the office but space that she and Jesmond called their own. They gathered up all the connectors and went back to the library. Seymore was gone and so were his plans and she saw him walking down the lane toward the shore.

  They opened the large cupboard on the wall opposite the entrance moved a few things to other shelves to make room and then planned where to put everything for the band. When they had settled on placements, Mesa asked Geralty, “Will you finish and test all the connections while I go down to help Seymore with the creation of the new Beach House? ”He quickly nodded his agreement and turned to his work. Mesa left by the double doors, hurried down the path, past the picnic table and when she reached the lane she changed to the young girl with wings and flew down to the top of the dunes where Seymore was surveying the area to position the new structure.

  She lightly landed; Seymore was glad to see her and said so. He was ready to begin forming the new building and knew exactly where to put it. He turned to Mesa and said, “I’m going to put the house here on this highest dune so that it’s easy to see the entire length of the beach on one side and all the way up the meadow to the cottage on the other. All we need to do right now is construct the building so there is a reliable place to put the set up for the holograms that Geralty will be bringing back from Middle Mind. I’m not sure exactly where to place it yet, but we’ll have a better idea once the house is finished. I don’t think we want to stabilize anything yet because we have things to add later and may have to make a change or two before we are satisfied. Are you ready?”

  Mesa said that she was and stood a ways away from Seymore. He first laid out the foundation along the long sides on each side of the dune and leveled the dune to match the highest point of the supports and then added the ends. He stopped and turned to Mesa. “Is that about the right size?” Mesa said she had no idea. He frowned and decided to make it bigger. When it was about half again as large he turned again to Mesa and asked her how that was. She said it was definitely roomy and added that if in the future they needed more space they could add on or add a second story.

  Satisfied with that answer, he added the flooring and the walls all around; windows and doors came next, the ceilings slid into place to support the two long porches on each side and then laid a roof of red tiles over everything. He stopped and took a long look at his achievement so far.

  Mesa volunteered that it was exceptional. Then she asked him if he was finished. He said that he wasn’t and added the wide path from the meadow side door and extended it to the bottom of the lane. Then he turned and said, “I am finished for now! Let’s take a tour and make sure that there’s nothing to be cleaned up or tweaked and then we can go send Geralty on his way. Have you thought of anything for his send off? The only thing I could think of was a big hug and a slap on he back. I know you can do better than that. ”He looked at Mesa and she just laughed and said, “Anyone can do better than that! ”Then they both laughed.

  They walked down the path to the meadow-side door and down the porch, around the far end and back down the porch on the other side and around the end to the door, entered and admired the hardwood floors, beautiful light and the paned windows and the view out over the beach. Mesa said, “Seymore, it looks like a ballroom. Is that what you intended. He said it wasn’t but maybe she could dress it up a bit. He said that he didn’t think the holograms were going to notice or care what it looked like.

  They turned and left taking the new path to the bottom of the lane. As they walked toward the cottage, Mesa told Seymore that she had an idea for Geralty’s send off and that if he’d go fetch him and bring him out by the pond she’s get Jesmond and meet them there. She asked him, “Can you be ready to say how much everyone will miss him? I’ll have a small surprise as well.”

  Mesa went to her space and called for Jesmond who immediately peeked around the end of the screen. Mesa went to her table and extracted three small bright red cellophane packets. She handed one to Jesmond and said, “This is star dust confetti that we are going to use to send Geralty off on his trip to Middle Mind. ”Jesmond immediately looked crestfallen and Mesa added, “He won’t be gone long and is very excited about going, so perk up and be happy for him. This is his first big adventure on his own.”

  She took Jesmond’s hand and they went down the hall and out the back door next to Geralty’s room. They turned the corner of the cottage and saw Seymore and Geralty sitting on one of the benches looking out over the pond. As they came up to them Mesa asked Geralty if he was ready. He quickly stood and the look on his face told the whole story; he was nearly levitating with anticipation.

  Seymore sat next to him and put his arm around his shoulder. Mesa handed Seymore one of the packets and he looked at Geralty and said, “We’ll miss you, Geralty, and trust you to take good care of yourself and return as soon as you can.” Geralty smiled and watched as Seymore set the marker down for him. As he did Mesa and Jesmond opened their packets and Seymore followed their lead. The beautiful star dust escaped sparkling and glittering as it filled the air with dancing light and iridescence. Geralty laughed, touched the transport disc and was on his way.