by Nancy M Bell
“What symbols do I need to trace?”
The Lady shook her head. “That is for you to decide when you arrive there. Trust your heart and let it guide your hand.” She cocked her head for a moment and the breeze in the upper reaches of the trees grew stronger. “I must go, dear child. I wish you luck on your journey. Go gently.” The luminous figure blessed Laurel, resting a hand on her head.
Laurel blinked as a beam of sunlight lanced through the green gloom of the glade. When her vision cleared of the spots dancing before her, the Lady was gone. “I’ve got to tell Sarie and Gramma about this,” she spoke aloud. She stopped at the lip of the first waterfall. “Thank you!” she called. The air caressed her forehead like a kiss.
It seemed to take forever to get out of the valley and across the field to Sarie’s house. On her way past the grazing ponies, she stopped by Gort’s pony and hugged him. “Thank you,” she whispered into his silky neck. Releasing him, she jogged the rest of the way to the fence. Slipping through the fence, Laurel raced down the beaten path to the back door.
“Gramma! Sarie! Wait til I tell you what happened…” She skidded to a halt at the entrance to the kitchen. Sarie stood at the counter with the sun behind her streaming in the windows. Laurel’s three friends sat at the table. All of them looked unhappy and worried. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Where have you been, Laurel?” Sarie demanded. “Bella’s gone haring off to Nanjizal without us. I thought she was with you out by the pony field, but my car is missing and so is she. Oh, Bella, what have you done now?” Sarie almost wailed the last words.
Coll’s chair crashed to the floor startling Laurel. She whipped toward the sound to see him gripping the edge of the table, his blond hair sticking straight up in front as if he had just thrust his fingers through it. “We can take Emily’s car. I dropped her off in Marazion on the way out here. It’ll be a tight squeeze but I think we can all fit in. It’s bigger than my little mini at any rate.” He turned and set the chair upright, pushing it under the table.
“Let’s shake a leg, then. The silly woman’s got a head start on us.” Sarie snatched up her coat and shoved her feet into a pair of boots by the door.
Almost before Laurel could blink, she was in the back of the car with Gort and Aisling. Sarie rode shotgun in front beside Coll. He caught her eye in the rear view mirror and smiled. Laurel’s stomach did a queer twisting thing and a thrill of happiness ran through her.
They stopped briefly at Phillip’s Pasty Shop in Marazion where Emily was waiting for Coll to pick her up. “Oh my, you’ve got a full load, I see.” Emily waved at Sarie to stay where she was and squeezed into the rear. Gort lifted Aisling up to sit on his lap. Laurel grinned, marvelling at how different he was from the shy stuttering kid he’d been when she first met him.
“What’s the occasion?” Emily looked at Laurel.
“Bella’s run off to meet Vear Du. Nothing’s changed in all the years she’s been away, still haring off without thinking things through…and she took my car.” Sarie was thoroughly pissed off if the tone of her voice and the pinched look on her face was anything to go by.
Laurel was glad it wasn’t herself the woman was annoyed with.
“How is Bella? We haven’t had time for a good natter, yet. I was hoping to do that today,” Emily said.
“Bella is the same as she ever was. Impatient and impulsive. She’ll be in the middle of a mess before she realizes it—”
“And she’ll expect us to bail her out again,” Emily interrupted her.
“So it would seem.” Sarie snorted and mumbled something under her breath.
“Where are we off to? And Coll, please do slow down.” Emily gripped the back of the front seat for support as the car careened into the roundabout near the Penzance Superstore.
“Gotta drive with the traffic, Grandma,” Coll tossed the words over his shoulder without taking his eyes from the busy traffic.
“How do you know when to go?” The cars seemed to be going way too fast and with no guidance Laurel could see. Some vehicles merged onto the circle without hesitating, others stopped and waited. What they were waiting for was more than Laurel could figure out.
Coll flashed her a wild smile in the rear view mirror. “I just go,” he said.
“Coll!” Emily scolded him. “You just better not get a dent in my car, young man.”
Aisling glanced at Laurel and grinned.
“Do we know where Bella is headed?” Emily tried again to find out their destination.
“Nanjizal,” Sarie clipped the word off and clenched her jaw.
“Mill Bay?” Emily used the alternate name for the little cove. “She’s not planning to meet up with poor old Treagle, is she? He’ll be far too busy moving that sand into the bay to be of any help.” Emily referred to the legend of the demon Treagle, doomed for eternity to sweep the shifting sands from Porthcurnow Cove round Tol-Pedn-Penwith into Nanjizal Bay. The Gulf Stream churning by in the opposite direction ensuring his task was never ending.
A fission of fright curled through Laurel, the last thing she wanted was to confront a demon. Although after Gwin ap Nudd, maybe a mere demon wouldn’t be so bad. “She’s gone to meet up with Vear Du,” Laurel said.
“She can’t. The Council forbid him from communicating with mortals, didn’t they?” Emily tapped Sarie on the shoulder.
“They did, but…Treagle hates the Council and he’s only too happy to run a bit of magical interference to hide the fact they are together.” Sarie didn’t sound thrilled about the idea.
“I have to tell you what happened in the field, down in the valley,” Laurel interrupted. She bounced on the seat in her excitement.
“Leave off, will ya?” Gort protested as Aisling slid a bit on his lap.
“But it’s important, I need to tell you,” she insisted.
“What is it then?” Sarie glanced over her shoulder.
“I was standing by the fence and Gort’s pony made me go with him down into the little gully in the field,” she began.
“The Lady’s Vale?” Sarie interrupted her.
“Sure, the gully with the stream and the marsh at the bottom. Anyway, I went to the spring and the Lady showed up. I asked her about Gramma and Vear, but she said she couldn’t help me.”
“Figures,” Coll muttered. “They only help if it benefits them.”
“That’s not true,” Laurel objected. “She said she couldn’t help me, but that I should go and talk to the old man in the Men Scryfa. The Lady said he might be willing to help us.”
“Hmmm, now isn’t that interesting?” Emily mused.
“Do you know where the stone thing is? She said it was near the Men an Tol, but that was all.” Laurel looked at Aisling.
“I’ve been there a very long time ago, but we’ll need to look at an ordinance survey map to be sure. I think the Nine Maidens Stone Circle is nearby,” Sarie said. She rummaged in the glove box.
Not long after the car whipped past the turnoff for the Minack Open-Air Theatre, Coll slowed and parked in a layby just south of Polgigga. He engaged the parking brake and stepped out of the car, shoving the keys in his jeans pocket. Sarie’s little car was pulled up on the grassy verge just ahead of them. Once everyone was standing outside, Sarie led the way down a laneway bordered with high hedges of blackberry and raspberry canes. Laurel marvelled at the height and thickness of the plants, growing as they did on top of dry stone walls that were completely concealed from view.
Aisling pointed as a small flock of brightly coloured Red Admiral butterflies rose in a spiral as they passed. Laurel found it strange to walk along what was obviously a private drive and then through the yard of Bosistow Farm. The stone house looked solid and inviting, it blocked a bit of the wind as they walked in the lee of it. It wasn’t long before they left the hedgerows behind and followed the beaten path onto the moor. Purple heather and golden gorse carpeted the rolling swell of the land. Laurel inhaled the heady scent of coconut and vanilla
as her leg brushed the low growing bushes in passing. Sarie halted and shaded her eyes with her hand.
“I don’t see her anywhere. Bella must already be at Nanjizal.”
Laurel had to stretch her legs to keep up with Sarie’s increased pace. She spared a moment to admire the massive granite rock perched on the edge of Carn Les Boel. What a perfect way to mark where the Michael and Mary earth energy lines enter England. There was a node point where the lines crossed each other a short distance from the marker but there was no time to appreciate it now. She jogged to catch up with the others as they followed the South-West Cornish Coastal Path across the broad shoulder of Bosistow Cliff toward the steep path that led down to the cove.
“Oh my,” Emily paused to wipe perspiration off her face, “I didn’t realize I’ve been such a slug a bed.”
Coll laughed at her and waited for her to catch up to him at the gate partway down the sharp incline. Laurel scanned what she could see of the sandy beach, but Gramma Bella was nowhere to be seen. “Hell and damnation,” she muttered. “Why couldn’t she have just waited for me?”
“Don’t you mean waited for us?”
Laurel squeaked in surprise at the unexpected sound of Aisling’s voice close to her ear.
“Sure, waited for us,” she agreed.
Sarie reached the bottom of the cliff first and hurried to the wooden set of steps leading down to the beach proper. Laurel reached the bridge over the stream that ran down to join the sea as Sarie jumped the last step down onto the sand.
“Bella! Bella! Wait!”
Laurel raced to the steep steps and almost fell down them in her hurry. Coll was right behind her and caught her about the waist to keep her from pitching into the soft sand. She shook him off and ran to Sarie. The high slit in the rocks shimmered in the sunlight. Gramma Bella was almost to the end of the narrow fissure. The figure of a large man was silhouetted against the brightness at the base of the slit. Her heart leapt in recognition.
“Bella, stop,” Sarie called.
Laurel passed her as she ran to reach her grandmother. “Gramma, wait, wait for me,” she called breathlessly. The wind whipped the words from her lips and threw them at the towering rock cliffs. She can’t hear me. “Gramma!” She struggled to move faster over the uneven sand, hard up-thrust ripples left by the receding tide threatened to send her sprawling on her face.
Bella stopped short when she reached the widest spot at the bottom of the slash in the rock. The opening narrowed as it speared upward. Laurel ran harder. Vear Du reached out his hand toward Bella and she clasped it. The air seemed to shimmer and whirl with rainbow colours and shadows. Sarie pulled Laurel up short by the collar of her jacket before she could reach her grandmother. She twisted and fought to free herself.
“Let me go, Sarie! I have to stop her,” Laurel pleaded.
Coll stumbled up beside them leaning forward with his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
“Hold onto her, Coll,” Sarie commanded as he straightened. “Don’t let her come near the portal. Do you understand? No matter what happens. I’m depending on you.”
Coll nodded and put both arms around Laurel from behind, holding her against his body. “Let me go.” Laurel fought back tears of frustration. Something terrible was going to happen, she just knew it.
With a backward glance to be sure Coll still had Laurel pinioned, she strode forward. “Bella, think about what you’re doing. You’re only going to make it worse for the selkie.” She attempted to get Bella to see reason.
“No, I can help him,” she insisted without turning away from the opening.
“Arabella, for God’s sake use some common sense for a change. This is madness. What about Laurel? Are you willing to walk away from her?”
“Gramma Bella,” Laurel wailed. The realization that her grandmother was planning to go with Vear Du, and maybe never return, hit her like a physical blow. Her knees sagged and she leaned on Coll for support.
Bella half-turned at the sound of her voice. She met Laurel’s anguished gaze over Sarie’s shoulder. “You don’t understand, Laurel. I have to go with him. When you’re older you’ll see that I am right to do this.”
“Time is short, my love. If you’re coming, do it now. We need to be moving on. Treagle can only keep the Council’s searchers at bay for a short time,” Vear Du’s deep voice reached Laurel’s ears.
“I’m ready,” Bella said firmly.
“I’m sorry, little one. But it’s not forever if you don’t wish it to be. You still have my talisman and it is still potent,” Vear spoke directly to Laurel as if her were standing beside her.
Sarie lunged forward and threw herself at Bella while the wind suddenly picked up throwing loose sand and sea spray high into the air.
Through her tears Laurel watched as Bella stepped into the portal without a backward glance. Wild music swelled, vibrating in her breast bone. “No!” The wind caught her words and threw them back at her.
Coll fell to his knees, taking Laurel with him. Sarie lay sprawled on the wet sand by the portal. Laurel blinked the sand from her eyes. The split in the rock stood empty. No sign of Gramma Bella or Vear Du. Sobs shook her and she welcomed the solid comfort of Coll’s arms around her.
“Did you see that?” Gort’s voice was incredulous. “They just disappeared, just like that.” He snapped his fingers.
“Did you hear the music?” Aisling’s voice sounded dreamy. “Did you hear it? How beautiful it was.” She took a step toward the rock split. “I want to hear it again,”
“Ash, snap out of it,” Gort said giving her a shake. “Stay away from that place.”
“Oh, all right. But it was so beautiful…” her voice trailed off.
Gwin Scawen stepped into view beside her, materializing out of thin air. “I’m late, oh dear, I’m too late.” The twig thin piskie wrung his hands and hopped from foot to foot. “Oh dear, oh dear. The big ‘uns are going to be gorbolleck, so they are. So very, very angry they’ll be. No telling what they’ll do now.”
Aisling dropped to her knees beside the distraught little man and attempted to sooth him, her fascination with the music forgotten for the moment.
Laurel struggled to her feet and pulled free of Coll’s arms. Trembling, she moved toward the last place she saw Gramma Bella. She reached the rock split and looked down. No foot prints marred the sand. Holding her breath she stuck her hand and arm through the opening before Coll could stop her. Nothing. She’s gone, she’s really gone. “What is this place?” She whirled toward Sarie. “You knew this could happen, didn’t you? That’s why you were so worried, isn’t it?”
“No, Laurel. I had no idea the place had so much power. They call it Zawn Pys, the Song of the Sea. I had no idea it could be used as a portal. I just know what Bella is like when she gets the bit in her teeth…” Her voice faltered and tears pooled in her eyes.
Laurel walked all the way through the opening and back again. “Gramma Bella,” she screeched, setting the seagulls wheeling overhead to screaming in response. Laurel sank onto the wet sand and put her head in her hands. “Oh, Gramma, why didn’t you take me with you?”
Chapter Twelve
Laurel slept late the next morning. When she finally made her way downstairs she found Sarie still sitting at the table, a mug of cold tea in front of her, the milk curdled on top.
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Sarie spoke slowly as if each word was a chore.
“I know. But she’ll come back. Won’t she?” Laurel sat down opposite the older woman and clasped her hands together on the linoleum table cover.
“I don’t rightly know, Laurel. I just don’t know.”
Fear and disbelief gathered in her chest. Sarie was never without an answer to even the trickiest of problems. Laurel had never seen her so defeated and without a plan.
“What are we going to do? We have to go after her and bring her back.” She drummed her fingers on the table, waiting for Sarie to reply.
After a lon
g time she looked up and met Laurel’s gaze. “I don’t think she wants to come back.”
The words hit Laurel like a physical blow. Shock squeezed the breath from her lungs and her pulse thundered in her ears. “What?” she managed to squeak out.
Without speaking Sarie pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her shirt pocket and handed it to her. The letter crackled as Laurel took it in her trembling hands and smoothed it out on the table. It was Gramma Bella’s dark slanted writing that looked back at her. She had to read it twice before the meaning sank in.
Dearest Sarie,
I hate to leave like this but secrecy is of the utmost importance. I can’t risk speaking about my plans as the Council has spies everywhere. I know you understand a bit of how the other worlds overlap ours and that they exist side by side. So you will see what I am proposing is possible. I have spoken with Vear and he told me that he would gladly have accepted his exile if I hadn’t come back to Cornwall. But now that I am here we cannot stand to be apart. I am to meet him at the portal in Nanjizal, (did you ever guess that split in the rocks was a doorway to the barrow world and others? I never did), then we’ll disappear into the other worlds. Vear says they are like unpeeling an onion, layers upon layers of worlds. Some very much like the one we know and others that are vastly different. The plan (which you must never speak aloud) is to slip from layer to layer and avoid anyone the Council might send after us.
I hate to leave Laurel so soon after I have just reconnected with her again, but all I can think of is being with Vear again. He doesn’t mind that I am not the young woman I was when he last saw me. He hasn’t aged very much at all and so we make an odd couple, but inside my heart where it counts I am still that young girl who fell in love with him all those years ago. Please try to explain all this to Laurel and tell her how much I love her.
Don’t try to come after me and don’t let Laurel and her friends try to find me. It would be dangerous for everyone involved. I am happier than I have been since I left Vear Du’s cave, it seems so long ago now. I could weep for all the wasted years. I would write more but time is short and it is time I was going. I apologize for taking your car. You will find it in the layby near Polgigga, the keys under the driver side floor mat. (I know that’s not very original, but there it is). Please don’t follow me or try to stop me. You’ve always said I was impetuous and impulsive, but I’ve thought this through, I really have.