by Nancy M Bell
A Step Beyond
The Cornwall Adventures, Book 2
By Nancy M Bell
Digital ISBNs:
EPUB 9781772990737
Kindle 9781771452731
WEB 9781772990744
Print ISBN 9781771453745
Copyright 2014 by Nancy M Bell
Cover art by Michelle Lee Copyright 2014
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book
* * *
Dedication:
To all the horses who have touched my life with their courage and wisdom.
There are no greater teachers. A little piece of each of them went into this book.
To my father, who would have understood Gort’s feelings all too well.
Chapter One
Gort Treliving leaned on his elbow and stifled a yawn. Though a book lay open in front of him, his gaze roamed unseeing over the spines of the library books on the nearby shelves. The rain on the windows beside the table exerted an almost hypnotic state. Thunder rumbled overhead, loud enough to reverberate in his chest bone. The sensation took him back to the events of the past summer, and the extraordinary things that happened when Laurel crawled through the Men an Tol, the holed stone out on the moors.
The Canadian girl had been on a quest to gain healing for her mother, but Gort, Aisling, and Coll went with her on the journey. A small smile touched his lips, good thing all four of them hadn’t needed to crawl through nine times; it would have taken forever. He shivered with the memory of the fear that gripped him the moment the light flared around Laurel. He’d grabbed Aisling’s hand, more for his own sake than for hers. Somehow, the four of them were suspended in the night sky surrounded by shimmering crystal knights on horseback.
He lacked words to explain the experience of riding through the night skies. The leader of the knights was so otherworldly and magnificent Gort had been unable to tear his gaze from the shining countenance. When the knight acknowledged him with respect and recognition, his heart leaped in his chest, and joy spread through him. He vaguely remembered returning the salute. The knight extended his hand and pulled Gort up behind him, the horse’s haunches had felt reassuringly solid under his buttocks.
The journey through the ebony night following the sparkling star roads lit by the argent moon was a blur. Once they reached the slopes of Glastonbury Tor he remembered Laurel offering her talisman to the Seal Stone which spoke in a gravelly voice. Then, he’d entered the labyrinth of caves inside the hill. He slid down the side of huge horse and thanked both horse and knight for the safe journey. His gaze darted everywhere, rainbows of light shifted and flowed like water currents in the air. The huge crystal cavern housed many crystal horses and their riders.
Gort hadn’t been able to think of anything but the crystal horses and knights since they appeared at the Men an Tol and swept him away. They really exist, Arthur’s knights. Not the corporeal knights that rode with Arthur, who had embodied the greatness and light that these crystal knights represented, but the undying spirit of truth and justice. Through Arthur’s human knights, the essence of these crystal knights had existed in the world for a time. Driven out, when the human knights became obsessed with the quest to find the source of the light, driven from the world by the knights’ singular need to expose what must remain a mystery.
Before him were the real knights of legend. He read all the books on King Arthur and his knights that he could find, searching for the magic he sensed lay behind the tales, but that the authors seemed to ignore.
There it was, in front of him living and breathing. Well in a sense living and breathing, he allowed. When the knights drew their swords in front of the Seal Stone before they entered the hill, his heart had leapt at the sound, and fury, and the sheer beauty of it. None shall suffer unjustly, it promised, no burden shall be too great to bear, no sorrow too great to heal. Not as long as we are here. Gort joined his heart with their pledge, his world could never be perfect given the fallibility of man, but he pledged he would do everything he could to make it as close as he could in his life.
His gaze lighted on one stallion that stood a bit apart from the rest, the horse wasn’t really any different than the rest to look at him. But somehow, he was…separate.
The horse lifted his head and focused his attention on Gort. Their gazes locked and held. In an instant, Gort knew everything there was to know about the creature, and realized the horse knew him as fully. Old hurts and losses passed between them, and the foreknowledge of future trials to come, loneliness and the longing to truly belong somewhere, anywhere. Both souls acknowledged the confusion of not feeling like they belonged where they were, the insecurities arising from being somehow different.
An overwhelming feeling of acceptance and unconditional love washed through Gort. Without seeming to move, the stallion was suddenly standing beside him, Gort raised his hand and rested it on the horse’s shoulder. Tears ran unchecked down his face, with this magnificent creature by his side, he would never have night terrors again. The spirit horse accepted him exactly as he was, and ached for that same acceptance from Gort.
The slight boy opened his heart completely to the creature, trusting and with perfect peace. The crystal stallion’s eyes widened as he received the boon and lowered his head to rest his forehead against Gort’s.
“My name is GogMagog. I am part of what is and what will be.” The stallion’s voice sounded like ice breaking in Gort’s mind.
“Mine is Gort September Treliving, I have sought and found the eternal balance of light and dark. The point where night equals day and day equals night. I have found it through you.” Gort answered him joyfully without need for spoken words.
“You will be my knight.” GogMagog told Gort, “Together we will ride the star paths and the moon’s ways.”
“How can I be?” Gort asked him. “I’m a mortal, and you must be some kind of god.”
Pain gripped Gort, how could he be apart from GogMagog now he knew what it felt like to be whole. He would always be in search of that lost piece of himself. He saw the same realization in GogMagog’s eyes and felt it in the piece of himself that now resided with the stallion.
“There will be a way,” the stallion said uncertainly. “We would not have become what we are if it was not meant for it to be this way.”
Gort wasn’t so sure, but with his hand resting on the stallion’s shoulder he let himself believe. He became aware of what was happening with his friends now that he had become comfortable with the presence of GogMagog in his mind.
Aisling was looking happier than Gort had ever seen her, talking to a group of small, dark beings. Coll was looking confused and watching Laurel anxiously. Laurel seemed deep in conversation with a tall man dressed all in black, with the huge crystal Mare standing behind her. Coll didn’t seem to be able to see who she was talking to, or to hear them. Gort looked at GogMagog.
“The Daughter of Eve talks with Gwynn ap Nudd, the leader of The Wild Hunt. Your friend can’t see him or hear what they say.” GogMagog paused and looked thoughtful. “The Mare is not happy about this.”
Some decision was arrived at and his friends disappeared in a flash of light. Gort fought the urge to hurl and pushed back the dark spots that threatened to cloud his sight. A tall woman materialized before him, glowing with an unearthly beauty.
“What shall I do with you?” She tilted her head to one side and regarded the pair through narrowed eyes. “Horse, who gave you permissio
n to forge this unlikely alliance?”
The stallion dropped his nose to the floor and pawed with a restless foreleg. Gort stepped forward but was saved from speaking by the intervention of the leader of the knights.
“He is one of us, though he walks a separate path at the moment. The young stallion has chosen well and the company supports his choice.” The shimmering figure bowed to the woman whose clothes moved in an unseen wind.
A frown darkened her face for a moment before she shrugged and turned to the large man who stood beside his crystal stallion. “All of you agree to this unusual union?”
The knight nodded and the huge horse at his side bugled, the sound ringing off the walls.
“So be it, then. If things should go amiss it is on your heads.” She made a sweeping motion with her arms scattering rainbow light. The next thing Gort remembered was standing by the Men an Tol in the breaking dawn with a sturdy black pony by his side. One whose eyes glimmered with the spirit of the crystal stallion.
* * *
Lightning flashed outside the library window illuminating the leaded panes of glass. Gort shook himself out of his memories and glanced at the clock. Where the bloody hell was Coll? His best mate was supposed to meet him to research their joint history project. It wasn’t like him to not show up when he promised to be somewhere. Worry drew his brows together and he shut the unread books on the table. He returned them to the proper shelves before gathering his belongings and shoving them into his knapsack. Standing up, he shrugged into his jacket and slung the pack over his shoulder.
On his way to the door he waved a hand in farewell to the librarian. He hesitated on the steps outside after pulling the door shut behind him. He hated walking alone at night, especially when it was storming. Even though Uncle Daniel hadn’t been seen in months, Gort still got the collywobbles when he was alone. Taking the advice of the doctor in London, he squared his shoulders and spoke out loud. “He can’t hurt me. He has no power over me. I am safe.”
Blowing a deep breath out through his lips, he pulled up his collar and stepped out of the shelter and into the storm. Morrab Road ran steeply down to the Western Promenade. Light spilled from the houses he passed throwing rectangles of illumination on the slippery pavement. He heaved a sigh of relief as he crossed the road and continued along the wide paved walkway that bordered the sea. A pleasant journey on a nice day.
The wind blew a mix of rain and sea spray in Gort’s face. Hunching his shoulders and pulling his hood forward, he made his way along the promenade, wishing he was home and safe in front of Emily’s hearth with a cup of hot chocolate. Instead of out here, wet as a drowned rat and wading through the puddles of rain water on the pavement. The waves slapped and boomed against the wall, throwing surf and seaweed in the air.
He wiped the moisture from his eyes before reaching out a hand to steady himself as his foot slipped on the wet cobbles. His cold fingers scraped down the stone wall beside him. The dark granite gleamed dully in the faint light from the street lamp.
Tendrils of icy rain woke shivers as they trickled down the front of his jacket. He tucked his head lower and thankfully turned onto the familiar street. Surely, Emily would be home from Sarie’s by now and have a pot of hot tea or cocoa waiting on the stove. And Coll. Wherever the heck Coll was.
Over the wind and the sound of the sea bellowing hollowly as it hit the wall behind him, someone called his name. He turned his back to the wind and searched the darkness, nothing moved in the stygian blackness.
He started up the street again, in a hurry to reach Emily’s door and shut it safely behind him. A shiver of unease rippled its way up his spine at the scrape of footsteps and the catch of someone’s heavy breath. Turning again, his heart pounding louder than the howling wind, Gort surveyed the windy night carefully. The years of abuse at the hands of his Uncle Daniel left deep scars. Even now, Uncle Daniel lurked in the shadows of his mind waiting to grab him.
Passing the end of the lane running behind the neighbouring homes, his heart jumped into his mouth as something caught at his arm.
He jerked and lunged halfway into the roadway. His eyes darted frantically up and down the street, with his breath caught somewhere between his throat and his chest. He would have screamed if there was enough air in his lungs. Settling for a guttural squawk which was lost in the roar of the wind, Gort forced air into his lungs and grunted in disgust. The only thing there to touch him was the innocent branches of the huge rosebush bordering the laneway.
“Get on with you.”
Living with Emily and Coll for almost a year now helped the anxiety attacks. Though, there were still moments when he was back with Uncle Daniel, taking a beating, or worse, being locked in the little dark cupboard under the eaves.
“Daniel’s gone, can’t hurt me anymore.” The words sounded brave in the darkness.
It gave him courage to speak the words out loud. The psychologist in London told him to verbalize his feelings and acknowledge his new position of safety. It was supposed to help him realize it was true. Some days it worked better than others.
Gog’s absence from his mind did nothing to help stem the impending tide of anxiety threatening to overcome him. The big stallion had only been gone since the morning, on some errand for the Lady, he said. Gort could only feel him very faintly, the horse’s presence flickering at the edges of his thoughts. Magoo, the black pony that housed the stallion’s spirit in this realm would be in Sarie’s barn, but he would be only what he was, a kind equine companion. Not Gog Magog.
Gort stepped back onto the narrow sidewalk and silently counted the doorways between him and the safety of Emily’s front door. Six houses, now five. Gort’s heart thundered in his ears. There were footsteps behind him, anonymous eyes burning into his back. He was afraid to turn and look; four more, now three.
Two more houses to safety. Gort hurried his steps toward the warm yellow light spilling from Emily’s windows. “I’m being silly. It’s just the storm, that’s all. There’s no one behind me, no one at all.” Gort let out the breath he was holding when Emily’s front door swung open. Coll stepped out into the blustery night and the wind snatched at his mate’s hat. As the stocky teenager turned to pick it up, Gort waved.
“Where have you been?” Coll shouted through the sound of the wind.
“At the library, waiting on you.” Relief chased the anger away.
“Get yourself in out of the storm.” Emily’s voice came from the open doorway.
Coll retreated back into the entry hall, and the soaked boy followed on his heels. Gort stripped off his dripping jacket and regarded it dubiously. Emily took it from his hands and hung it on the newel post of the staircase.
“Come along into the kitchen and get some dry clothes on you. Coll, run upstairs and fetch some things for him to change into.” Emily towed the shivering youth toward the kitchen while she spoke.
Standing in front of the fire and dropping his wet clothes in a heap on the floor, Gort allowed Emily to wrap him in a warm blanket and settle him in one of the wing chairs beside the hearth. She scooped his things up and pegged them to a line on the far side of the kitchen to dry. Coll clattered into the kitchen bearing fresh clothes, a cold draft wafted across the floor before the door to the hall closed behind him.
“Why didn’t you come to the library like we planned?” Gort asked with his hands wrapped tight around the hot mug of cocoa Emily pressed on him.
“You sent me a message, telling me you changed your mind.” Coll frowned.
“I never, who gave you the note?”
“There was no note. Maureen Gowan caught me right after last class and said you asked her to tell me.” Coll frowned harder.
“I never spoke to Maureen at all today. Why would she tell you that?”
“So you went to the library and then walked home in the dark alone?” Coll quizzed him.
“I waited for two hours and did a little reading, but the storm was getting worse, and I figured you would have
been there already if you were coming.”
“Did anything happen on the way home? You looked like you’d seen a ghost when I saw you. Did you see Stuart?”
“Stuart hasn’t bothered with me since you and him had that disagreement out by the mines last year.”
“So what spooked you then?” Coll persisted.
“Just nonsense. I thought I heard someone calling my name and footsteps behind me. There wasn’t anyone there when I looked, of course.”
“Are you sure? I thought I saw a shadow behind you when I came out onto the stoop, but it faded into the rain, and well, I didn’t pay it any more mind when I saw you were safe.” Coll’s forehead wrinkled in concern.
“Are you sure you didn’t hear someone? There was no one behind you? It seems strange Coll would get a message to keep him away. Something that would ensure you would be coming home on your own late at night.” Emily picked up his empty cup and refilled it. She handed another full cup to Coll as well.
“I didn’t see anyone when I looked, but it felt like someone was breathing down my neck. You know, like there were eyes boring into the back of my head.” He shivered under the blanket.
“I don’t like it at all. It’s just the kind of thing Stuart would pull.” Anger colored Coll’s words.
“Stuart was never one to stalk me though, Coll. He’d just have grabbed me and had his fun. Besides, Stuart never works alone, and I’m sure there was only one person behind me.” Gort’s voice shook, but the stutter that plagued him while living with his uncle didn’t come to the fore.
“Who else would be devious enough to send me a fake message and then track you down in the rain,” Coll mused. “You don’t think it could be your uncle, do you?”