by Dan Glover
As they worked unplugging plug-ins from sockets and unscrewing pipes Kirk became aware of a low sound emanating from across the room. At first, he thought it was inside his own head until Karen put up a hand and widened her eyes at him as if to say stop what you are doing and listen.
"What is that?"
She whispered the words rather than speaking them aloud. He shook his head. He could not place the sound and had no idea what might be making it. It seemed rhythmical... a kind of near to the ground rustling or scratching one might hear a snake make as it slithered through dead leaves on a forest floor. He thought of the fetuses in those horrid glass jars down in the basement wondering where they came from.
The feeling of being where he shouldn’t came rushing back.
They had left their rifles downstairs; Kirk pulled out the handgun he kept in an ankle holster. He checked the chamber making sure it was loaded. Still, the firepower seemed inadequate. Karen huddled behind him as they advanced toward the sound.
Chapter 37—New Love
The lines of Amanda's body both enticed and enthralled him.
Alpin lost all sense of time each time they made love. He knew how upset Ena would be when she discovered their affair, and discover it she would. There were few secrets kept for any length of time at Orchardton Hall.
"Let's go away together, Amanda. We can make a life of our own anywhere in the world."
"I'm sorry but I can't leave. I'm doing important work here with Karen. She needs me."
Alpin knew Amanda was right. He wouldn’t know where to go anyway. At the same time, however, he dreaded telling Ena that he didn’t love her, that he had never loved her. He took advantage of her love for him and now that mistake was growing within her belly.
There were no hard and fast rules at Orchardton Hall so far as monogamy went. It was common knowledge that all three of the Ladies shared a bed even though Grandmother Lily was also partnered with Grandfather Nate.
Still, he knew how jealousy overcame him when he saw Kāne reach out to touch Ena. He was ready to throttle the man. Kāne's massive physique wasn’t the only thing that stayed him that day, however. It was more a fleeting feeling of having had Ena and how she interested him no longer.
Meeting Amanda changed his outlook on both life and love. She confessed how she was still a virgin and though she was sixty years his senior with the dearth of males he understood how she might never have taken a lover. Though she kept company with Dr. Karen, he never saw the two of them acting like anything more than co-workers.
It started the day he went down to the ocean with the others to watch the Nautilus sail. He saw a look of disappointment bleeding out of Ena's eyes yet something stopped him from going to her. Instead, he faded away while she was still staring at the receding schooner growing ever smaller on the horizon.
He walked along the beach without any destination in mind kicking at the seashells washed in with the tide. Movement caught his eyes. Amanda was weeping as she hunkered down by a stony grotto. Her blonde hair sparkled in the morning sun as if she shampooed with diamonds. In the silhouette of her face in the light he saw a smattering of peach fuzz growing on her cheeks but rather than making her seem masculine it only enhanced her femininity. Apparently she didn’t notice him until he walked right up on her.
"Oh... I didn’t know anyone else was around."
She seemed embarrassed as she dried her tears with the sleeve of her shirt. Until that moment, Alpin did not realize how beautiful the girl really was. High cheekbones suggested royalty and her eyes were so blue as to be cobalt with long natural lashes. They seemed to have a habit of looking right into a person's soul.
She was chunky without being fat. Her lips were full without any need of lipstick. When she smiled at him her teeth were pearly white and evenly spaced and shone in the sunshine.
"I'm sorry, Amanda... I didn’t mean to startle you."
At that moment, Alpin was sure he had never seen a more beautiful woman. He became tongue-tied. Though he wished more than anything to sit down beside Amanda, he turned and began to walk away. Tumults of thoughts cascaded through his mind making him stammer when she rose and jogged after him.
"I wanted to go with them."
"Go with whom? Where did you want to go?"
He knew full well who and where she was talking about. He felt stupid asking such inane questions but Amanda didn’t seem to mind. He noticed their steps synchronized immediately as they walked together along the blazing beach.
"When Karen told me she was going to old America, I thought for sure she'd ask me to come along. I kept waiting. I guess I didn’t realize I wasn't invited until the ship sailed away without me. I'm so stupid."
"Oh no, Amanda... you're too beautiful."
"And just what does that have to do with being stupid, you silly."
She laughed and her whole face lighted up. Her smile reached her eyes the way a smile did when it was really genuine. Though his comment erupted involuntarily it gladdened him to see how she responded.
"You're a doctor like Karen too, right?"
"I like to think so, but not really. To be a real doctor a person has to go to school. But there are no schools. Karen talks about starting one but that’s all it is... talk. I study all the time and read lots of medical journals. Sometimes I even tell Karen stuff she doesn’t know about. I'm the one who suggested the work we did for your parents to give birth to your sister."
"See... you must be smart to do all that, Amanda. Ena isn’t really my sister, though."
"I know that. You like each other though. She's having your baby."
He felt his ears redden as his eyes went involuntarily to the ground. Of course everyone at Orchardton Hall knew Ena was having his baby but he hadn’t actually spoken about it to anyone, not even Ena. He didn’t know why he felt the way he did but a sense of shame permeated his heart every time he thought about making love with his own sister.
"She isn't my sister, you know."
It was as if he had to defend something he wasn’t guilty of doing. Even though Amanda had told him that she knew Ena wasn’t his sister, he still felt pangs of guilt gnawing at his conscience as he repeated himself.
"Hush... everyone knows you and Ena aren’t related, Alpin. It's no sin to like someone enough to have a baby with them. Lots of the girls have had babies."
"I guess I feel confused. I mean, I like Ena but I don’t think I love her. I don’t really know for sure, though. Have you ever been in love, Amanda?"
"I think I'm in love right now, Alpin."
"Oh... I should have known."
He felt down hearted though he didn’t know why. For some reason he was thinking how wonderful it might be to take Amanda's hand and perhaps kiss her right there on the beach with the surf frothing around their ankles.
Of course a girl like her would be in love... she was beautiful, articulate, and playful without being sleazy like some of the other girls of the People. He wondered who she could be in love with... certainly not Kirk, and he had never seen Grandfather Nate mingle with the People.
She liked other women. That had to be it. It didn’t surprise as much as it disappointed him. Up until that moment he had no idea how much he wanted the girl. It wasn’t like his fling with Ena... a curiosity... but rather like a sledgehammer to his heart. He couldn’t recall ever being as disappointed in his life.
Suddenly she was facing him and though he couldn’t remember her walking around in front of him he had to stop short to keep from knocking her down. Her hands draped his shoulders as she tilted her head up into his face. When their lips met it felt as if his heart skipped a beat. When she pulled away she stared deep into his eyes.
"You thought I meant someone else. I'm teasing you... you better get used to it because I'm in love with you, Alpin... and I'll be teasing you all the time."
At that very moment he swore to all the seven seas that he could drown in those eyes.
Chapter 38—Missing
&n
bsp; Waiting aboard the Nautilus was maddening.
Lily kept scanning the beach with high-powered binoculars but there was no sign of the landing party. The skiff was still lying on the oddly colored beach. She noted the tide was beginning to come in worrying how it might carry away the small craft since she could see from her vantage point that no one bothered with tying it up.
"They probably thought they'd be back by now, sweet Natalia."
The sun was beginning to cast shadows... late afternoon was fading fast.
"How much time do we have before it starts to get dark, darling Lily?"
"Maybe two hours if we're lucky... it's hard to say at this latitude. Maybe we should go searching for them, my lovely Natalia. I've got a bad feeling."
"I'm coming with you."
"We need someone to stay with the Nautilus, darling Delilah."
"Please don’t make me stay here all by myself, Lady Lily. Why can't we all go? Nothing is going to happen to the ship. There's no one else around."
The girl was lovely but exasperating. Why couldn’t she just do as she was asked? Everything seemed too much like a battle when dealing with the People. It had irritated her when Natalia informed her Kirk and Delilah were coming with them to old America and the trip across the ocean had not changed her mind.
She thought it was ostentatious for the couple to ask Nate to marry them. Both Kirk and Delilah knew they were on a mission to help Nate and to locate precious medical equipment for the betterment of all at Orchardton Hall, not for the two of them to act like manic monkeys in love. The way they continually fawned over one another sickened her, as if she was watching two dogs in heat.
It was one thing to love someone but quite another to make a spectacle of it for all to see. Only human beings seemed to feel the need to display affections better left to private moments.
Lily sighed. She understood her comments would be taken out of context and so she kept quiet. Even now, when she wanted to scream at Delilah... to tell the girl to grow up and take some responsibility... she couldn’t bring herself to harangue her. Not only would it do no good, harsh words only created a bad environment.
"Sweet Natalia... would you mind staying here while I take Delilah to look for the landing party?"
"I will do whatever you desire, my love. You have but to ask... you know that."
It was amazing to Lily how different Natalia was from the rest of the People. Though she was human like them, she was nothing like the others. Instead of arguing over inane requests and refusing to do what was needed, Natalia simply said yes.
Perhaps it was the love they felt for one another that guided Natalia's gentle persona. Lily couldn’t remember a cross word issuing from the girl's mouth, ever. She took a deep breath and resigned herself to dealing with Delilah the same way Natalia would.
"Please go below, precious Delilah. Gather two shotguns and two handguns from the weapons locker and ammunition for all. Bring along two flashlights as well, please. I'll prepare the rubber dingy for launch."
Clouds were gathering on the western horizon. The wind licked up her body as Lily lowered the dingy into the ocean bringing a salty mist into her face which stung her eyes. She jumped as an unexpected screech sounded on the shoreline. Though she was familiar with many wild beasts back home in old Scotland, this one seemed somehow more menacing and way too close for comfort. Suddenly she wasn’t sure she should leave Natalia alone aboard the Nautilus.
If an unexpected squall swept in, the ship's hull could well be dashed upon the rocks. Not only that, but if whatever made that noise came calling, it wouldn’t do for Natalia to be all on her own. She had no idea what it was, but she suspected only a creature of immense stature could make a noise like that.
"You should come with us too, my love. Delilah is right. We are better together than apart."
By the time they made it to shore the afternoon had turned dark with both approaching night and inrushing clouds. It was nigh on impossible to row the dingy with any sense of control. It skipped across the waves like an empty bottle going where it would rather than where they willed it.
Lily was tempted to shed her clothes and dive into the water to tow the craft herself but the salt kept her from it. The ocean did not agree with her constitution in the same way the waters of the Lake did, and besides, there was something faintly sinister about the murky depths below them. She had no trust in the sea.
After several failed attempts at making their way to the island, the tides began flowing in helping them rather than hindering. When they finally made it to shore Lily secured the dingy to the rusty iron pillars jutting up out of the beach and then pulled the skiff higher onto the land before tying it off.
"Where do we start our search, sweet Natalia? Did Karen say where she wanted to go first?"
"The medical school at Cornell University was their primary destination. I have no idea where it is, however."
"Look... I see their footprints in the sand."
Delilah pointed out three sets of tracks leading into the decimated city. A light rain began falling. Lily was suddenly glad they were all three together. Tilting her face to the sky for a few seconds she allowed the raindrops to wash away the brine that had accumulated on her skin. She suddenly realized the same thing would soon happen to the tracks in the sand.
"Hurry... we better follow before the rain washes them away."
She noticed other tracks beside the three sets of footprints... apparently wild animals frequented the area. One particular set of paw prints both impressed and startled her at its size and depth... the creature that had made that track was obviously larger than any beast she imagined.
"What on earth could have made these, sweet Lily? Do you think it was stalking our people?"
Natalia pointed at the set of prints about the same time Lily noticed them.
"I don’t think so, darling Natalia... see, it doesn’t look as fresh. But I have no idea what it is... from the looks of it I'd say it might be a tiger but they don't grow that large."
"Maybe they do here, Lady Lily."
Delilah could well be right. The rifle she carried suddenly seemed poor protection against the unknown and she was more than glad when a red brick building came into view as the rain fell harder and the wind picked up. The large steel front door was locked and though she put a shoulder against it, she only hurt herself pushing.
"This way... their tracks lead this way."
Delilah pulled on Lily's arm leading her around the side of the structure. She looked over her shoulder to make sure Natalia was following. A basement window stood open, the iron grating pulled aside, the interior of the building yawning dark and menacing.
"Nate! Are you in there, Nate? Karen, are you here? Where are you, Kirk?"
Lily listened but heard nothing.
"Come on... they must be in here somewhere. I don't see any tracks leading out of here."
Lowering herself into the murky chasm first—she was the taller than the others by far—her feet found the floor solid under the soles of her shoes as the darkness closed around her like a shroud. She gladly took the flashlight offered by Delilah, laid it on the floor, and reached up again.
"I'll help you down, Natalia... it isn’t far."
She carefully guided her lover into the basement and then the two of them helped Delilah reach the bottom. Shining their flashlights into the gloom the first thing she noticed was how clean everything was.
Lily remembered her first sojourn into the depths of Orchardton Hall and how old dusty cobwebs were draped over every wall and even covering the ceilings. Here, the stainless steel shelving shined like it was newly made and the floor was spotless.
"Do you think we are in the right place?"
The building was made of whispers that echoed in the darkness and which seemed way too loud for comfort. She half-expected to see red glowing eyes peering at her as they rounded each corner.
"We have to be, Lady Lily... we followed the tracks. They have to be
here somewhere."
Delilah whispered back as if she too felt the dread of the building that they were creeping through. The air should have been stagnant, musty, like all basement air, but it wasn’t. Instead, a fresh breeze seemed to waft over them from an unknown source, perhaps an overhead ventilation system. But that meant someone was here.
Lily spotted a staircase going to the upper floor. Pointing it while she began to walk towards it, Delilah let out a gasp. Her flashlight was pointed to the ceiling across the way where something reddish brown and viscous was dripping through the flooring from upstairs.
"Is that blood?"
Chapter 39—To the Rescue
He didn’t pretend to be as skillful at mind reading as other members of the Lake species yet he was deeply troubled by portends of disaster.
They left before sun up. The trip to old Aberdeen would take but a couple hours. Maon recalled going there many times with his father while they were working on the Nautilus together. It took them ten years to repair the schooner. He knew there wasn’t that much time so he was hopeful of finding a sea-faring craft in better repair hidden away in one of the crumbling buildings still dotting the harbor cities.
"Let me come with you, my darling. It's too dangerous going alone into those old ruins."
Knowing Sileas was engineered to be his mate did nothing to detract from the love he felt or from her beauty. They were childhood sweethearts who grew into full-fledged lovers. While he would rather she wasn't put into harm's way he was ecstatic when she asked to accompany him. He knew he might spend a night or two in Aberdeen and they hadn’t been apart that long in their lives.
"If we decide to sail to America, Lady Lauren wishes to come along with us, sweet Sileas."
"She's concerned about the Nautilus too. She's having nightmares. Do you really think they're in trouble, darling Maon?"
"They've been gone over a month and now their radio has gone dead. If they're not back in another month, I think we should be ready to go after them. Something might have happened... they may have encountered trouble with the ship... they might have run aground... who knows? It could be there are still people there and they were attacked, perhaps captured."