Go Gently

by Nancy M Bell

  “They’re where?” Laurel was in no mood for riddles or jokes.

  “Who is Tom Butt? Gort asked.

  “Tom Butt was a boy who didn’t want to be pressed into service on a man o’ war. He hid in a cave for three days and nights. That was back during the reign of Queen Anne.” Gwin Scawen regaled them with the tale.

  “So there’s a cave around here somewhere,” Coll said.

  “Indeed, and indeed, there is,” Gwin agreed. “Come, it is just a little way down the slope here.”

  Gort eyed the steep hill, the way down covered with treacherous rocks. “Is it safe?”

  “You will all be unscathed as long as you are with me,” the piskie assured him.

  Aisling followed the little man as he picked his way down the slope. Gritting her teeth, Laurel went after her. Coll and Gort brought up the rear. When Gwin was almost down to the level of the sea, he suddenly disappeared. She heard Coll curse behind her and she silently echoed his words. Trust the little trickster to lead them somewhere and then just up and disappear.

  “Come on,” Ash called from below. She was too far ahead and past some outcropping rocks to be visible.

  Laurel scrambled the last few yards, ending up dirty and dishevelled beside Aisling. They were perched on a narrow ledge with a crumbling lip.

  “Is this it?” Laurel fought to control her frustration and rising anger.

  “Almost there,” Aisling said gaily. She took Laurel’s hand and led her around the shoulder of another boulder. A low opening yawned black in the cliff face.

  “Welcome to Tom Butt’s Bed.” Gwin Scawen bowed deeply, his long nose touching the earth.

  “Laurel!” Gramma Bella appeared in the opening.

  “Gramma!” Laurel threw herself into the woman’s arms. “Are you okay? Why did you go away? Why didn’t you take me with you?” Her words came out all jumbled and running together. She finally drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I miss you so much.” Tears made runnels in the dirt on her cheeks. Her grandmother was holding her so tight it was hard to breathe.

  “I missed you too, sweet child. But not even for you could I pass up the chance to be with Vear again. I know that’s selfish of me, but there it is. Your father was right about me. I only think of myself when push comes to shove,” Bella spoke into Laurel’s hair.

  Laurel hugged her tighter, afraid if she let go the woman would vanish right before her eyes. “Why are you hiding in a cave?” She loosened her hold and stepped back when Gramma Bella did the same. She kept one arm around Laurel’s shoulders.

  “I like caves,” Bella said. A small smile played on her lips. “Vear, come see who has come to visit,” she called into the shadows of the cavern.

  The tall man ducked his head as he emerged from the darkness. Drops of moisture glistened in his sable hair. “Laurel! Well met, young woman. You’ve grown up some since last I saw you.” He moved swiftly to her side and dropped a kiss on her forehead. He wrapped his arm around Bella’s waist and she smiled up at him.

  Laurel’s breath caught in her throat at the look of pure joy radiating from the older woman’s face. She lowered her gaze as a wave of embarrassment washed over her. She felt as if she were spying on something intimate. Coll cleared his throat and coughed behind her. She laid her hand on Vear’s arm.

  “Vear Du, this is Coll. He’s Emily’s grandson. And this is Aisling and Gort.”

  Gwin Scawen capered about, tiny puffs of sand spurting up in his wake. “Aisling is my own special friend,” he boasted.

  Vear smiled indulgently at the piskie before turning his attention to Laurel’s friends. “It’s pleased I am to make your acquaintance.” He bowed his head in acknowledgement of each visitor.

  “Oh my, where are my manners? Come, come, sit by the fire and I’ll pour some tea for you.” Bella moved away from the selkie and herded them toward the small fire pit. A number of boulders were pulled up in a circle around it.

  “Were you expecting us?” Coll eyed the boulders as if they might jump up and bite him.

  “Goodness, no.” Bella laughed. “We are expecting company, but I never dreamed you lot would show up.” She hugged Laurel again. “Come, sit.” She waved her hand to indicate the stones.

  Once they were all seated with a mug of hot tea in their hands. Laurel thought to ask just who was coming to visit. “Who are you expecting?”

  Bella glanced at Vear who raised one shoulder in a half shrug and nodded.

  “You know the Council of Kernow has decreed that we can’t be together, Vear and I,” she paused and looked around the circle of faces. Seeing their confirmation of her statement, she continued. “Given the circumstances it seems a bit unfair and heavy handed, so we have appealed to The Council of Alba, which is really Vear’s home council in any case.”

  “I didn’t realize there was more than one council,” Aisling said. Gwin Scawen sat perched on her knee, his twiggy legs crossed.

  “Oh yes, each region has its council to see to local affairs. The Grand Council oversees all the local ones. A representative from each local council sits on the Grand Council,” Vear explained.

  “What is The Council of Alba?” Coll asked.

  “It rules over what in your world is known as Scotland,” the selkie answered.

  “How is that your home council when you live in Cornwall?” Coll persisted.

  “Selkies are not native to Cornwall but some have migrated down from the cold northern shores of Scotland. However, no matter where we chose to live we are governed by the Council of our birthplace. I was born on the shores of the Calf of Eday, so the Council of Alba is my home Council.”

  Coll burst out laughing. “The Calf of Eday? Where the bloody hell is that?”

  Aisling frowned at him and Gort kicked him in the ankle. “Gerrof, you git.” Coll glared at him.

  “The Calf of Eday is an island in the Orkneys off the north coast of Scotland. It is a wild and lonely place, but beautiful in its own right.” Vear looked over their heads with a faraway look in his eyes.

  “Can your Council tell this other Council to let you and Gramma be together?” Laurel squeezed Gramma Bella’s hand.

  “This is our hope,” Bella replied.

  “So will you come and live with Gramma in Bragg Creek?” Laurel addressed Vear Du. An uncomfortable silence greeted her words. “What? You’re planning on coming home, aren’t you?” She turned to Bella.

  “I am home,” Bella said. The look she exchanged with the selkie seemed to shut out everyone present, as if it were only the two of them in the whole world. Vear’s smile seemed to light the whole cave.

  “Where are you going to live if you don’t come back to Alberta?” Laurel demanded. She didn’t like where the conversation seemed to be headed.

  “We haven’t worked that out yet, but most likely it will be here in Cornwall,” Bella said. “I know you probably don’t want to hear that, but it is what I desire.”

  “What about me?” Laurel wailed. “What about Dad? He’s pissed at you for lying to him, but he still loves you. You have to come home and make things right with him. He’s never changed anything in that cabin you lived in behind our place, you know. He still goes up there sometimes, but he thinks Mom and I don’t know that.”

  “Does he, now?” Vear fixed Bella with a strange look.

  Tears stood in Bella’s eyes, intensifying the deep blue of the irises. “I’ll contact him when all this is done with and see if he is ready to speak to me,” she promised.

  “You know my feelings on this subject,” Vear said. “But that is at least a step in the right direction.”

  “Getting back to this council thing,” Aisling changed the subject, “Is there a chance the decision could be changed? Wouldn’t all the councils have equal say in things?”

  “I plan to ask the Council of Alba to appeal the decision by the Council of Kernow to the Grand Council. If they agree, I think there is a strong enough case that the sentence will be rescinded,” Vear
spoke gravely.

  “When will all this happen?” Gort piped up.

  “I have had word that the Council of Alba has agreed to come down and hear my case. They should be arriving tonight.”

  “Can we stay and see it?” Laurel asked.

  “No, lass. It must be only Bella and myself. And Gwin,” he added.

  Gwin nodded, the tip of his tall pointed hat bobbing.

  The selkie tipped his head and his eyes unfocussed for a moment. “It is time you youngsters were going. You have been journeying long enough and the connection is growing thin.”

  “But I want to stay and find out what happens. I don’t want to leave Gramma.” Laurel clung to Bella who stroked her hair.

  The deep sonorous tolling of a bell filled the cavern, the rock around them vibrating.

  “Your time and place is calling,” Gwin said seriously and hopped down from Aisling’s knee. Taking her hand, he pulled her to her feet. Gort rose with her. Coll came to stand with Laurel.

  “You’ll let us know how the meeting goes, won’t you?” Laurel looked at Vear.

  “Of course, little love. If I can’t come myself, if the news is not what I wish it to be, I will send Gwin in my place,” he promised.

  “We should go.” Aisling pulled at her arm.

  Laurel nodded. “C’mon, Gramma.” She started to follow her friends toward the entrance of the cave.

  “I’m not coming with you,” Bella’s voice sounded choked.

  Laurel’s heart jumped in her chest, she tried to protest but couldn’t seem to get enough breath to form the words. She whirled around and strode back to confront her grandmother. Finally finding her voice she exploded. “What do you mean you’re not coming?” Her voice rose unsteadily.

  Bella’s hand flew to her throat. “Oh my Lord, Laurel! You’re the spitting image of my Colton.” She sank down onto a boulder. Vear placed a steadying hand on her shoulder.

  “I’m beginning to understand why Dad is so mad at you,” Laurel spoke through clenched teeth. “How are you supposed to call him and set things right if you don’t come back with us?”

  “I don’t know. I won’t know until after the council meeting.” Bella’s voice grew stronger and she leaned against Vear.

  “You promised!” Laurel hissed. How could Gramma betray her like this?

  “Laurel, please try to understand. I have to stand with Vear before the Grand Council and face the charges against him, and me, really. It’s my fault the Kernow Council is unhappy with him in the first place.” Bella pleaded with her granddaughter.

  “How does the Council even know who you are?” Laurel crossed her arms and scowled.

  Bella sighed and looked up at Vear. “When I first met Vear he used magic in front of me, and to aid me, he broke the rules set by the Council of Kernow. They might have been persuaded to look the other way, but…”

  “But I made a grave error in judgement in their eyes. I allowed myself to fall in love with a mortal, and to compound the problem further, against all odds I fathered a child on that mortal,” Vear took up the tale.

  “It was never a mistake! Don’t ever say that. I have no regrets about loving you,” Bella declared.

  “So if you loved each other so much, why didn’t you marry her? Why did you run away?” She addressed the last question to Gramma Bella. Laurel shook off the calming hand Coll placed on her arm. “Leave me alone,” she hissed through her teeth.

  “Laurel, my little love, it wasn’t that simple,” Vear began. “As you know, I never realized Bella was with child until many years later, when you yourself told me about your father.”

  “I was terrified and Da was livid. I thought he was going to kill me, and then he tried to make me marry Daniel Treliving,” she glanced at Gort, “there was no way on heaven or earth I would let that man touch me. I was afraid to tell Vear I was pregnant after the way Da acted. I was young, Laurel, and very afraid.” Bella reached out her hand and Laurel took a step backward.

  “So you lied to your lover, and then you lied to Daddy,” she accused.

  “I never lied to Vear—” Bella began.

  “You never told him the truth either, that’s a lie by omission,” Laurel maintained, not willing to offer any quarter.

  “Laurel, we need to go,” Coll sounded desperate.

  “You are your father’s daughter, that’s for sure. Anna was more understanding,” Bella said.

  “Laurel!” Aisling called urgently. “We need to go, now.”

  Gwin Scawen scampered over and pulled at Laurel’s jeans. She swatted at him with her hand. “I’m coming in a minute.” A wave of dizziness made her stagger backward.

  “You must go, Laurel. I’m staying with Vear, but I will find a way to come to you and answer whatever questions you have. I love you.” Bella hugged her.

  Laurel held herself stiffly and didn’t return the embrace. She was afraid to speak in case she revealed the tears threatening to choke her. She turned and joined her friends by the entrance to the cave. She took one last look back at Gramma Bella and Vear.

  “Go gently,” Bella called.

  Laurel nodded and stepped out into the light. “How could she do this to me?” She blinked back the tears.

  “I don’t know. Maybe we’ll understand better when we’re older,” Aisling said. She hooked her arm through Laurel’s and drew her onto the narrow path leading up the cliff face.

  Laurel scrambled up the steep incline close behind her friends. Coll reached down with his hand and hauled her the last few feet. Gwin Scawen was already perched on the Logan Stone with Gort and Aisling. Coll joined them and Laurel dragged herself up beside him.

  “Rock the stone. Rock the stone,” Gwin chanted.

  “Think of Sarie and Emily,” Aisling called as the stone hummed underfoot.

  Wild music rose and another wave of vertigo made Laurel close her eyes. She opened them when the song of the rock ended abruptly. They were back on the Logan Stone near Treen Dinas.

  “Almost home,” Coll said. He gripped her hand, Gort took her other hand. His and Aisling’s were entwined as well.

  “Can you help us the rest of the way?” Ash smiled at Gwin Scawen.

  “Of a certainty, my flower,” Gwin replied.

  Before Laurel could open her mouth to say anything she was swept up by a strong wind. She worried she would be blown apart as the fingers of wind plucked at her consciousness. Without warning the wind died and the sun shone warm on her shoulders. She was balanced on a point above the angled stone of the Boscawen-un Circle. She glanced around to be sure everyone was with her. Gort, Aisling, and Coll were still joined to her by their connected hands. With a huge sense of relief, Laurel placed her feet on the slanted stone and walked through the brilliant rainbow light. She glanced at the doll-like figures sprawled on the wet grass below her. A vague unease teased at the corner of her mind. Gwin Scawen pulled at her free hand, urging her to move quicker. She hesitated for a moment before giving in to the compulsion to leap from the stone finger. Relief washed over her when she jumped the last few feet. A flash of heat and light blinded her for a moment. The next thing Laurel knew, she was kneeling on the wet grass while the wind and rain beat at her. Raising her head, she saw Coll sitting next to her with his head in his hands. Aisling struggled to her knees and then threw herself at Gort’s prone body. Laurel staggered to her feet. Sarie caught her when she would have fallen. Emily helped Coll to his feet, throwing a blanket over his shoulders. Leaving him, she hurried to Gort and Aisling.

  “I can’t get him to wake up.” Aisling was distraught. “Why won’t he wake up?”

  “I’m here,” Gort’s voice was thin, as if it came from a long way away.

  Ash shoved his upper body up off the ground and supported him against her. Emily wrapped another blanket around both of them. She produced a thermos from under her waterproof cape and offered Gort a container of tea.

  “It’s just so hard to come back. I’m so happy when I’m with GogMagog
in the other worlds. Things are so much easier there.” His voice was stronger and more grounded. Aisling released a sigh of relief.

  Laurel let Sarie guide her out of the centre of the stone circle. The quartz stone glowed with an iridescent light. When she turned her head to look directly at it, she saw only the rain darkened stone. No light emanated from it. She paused at the break in the circle and looked back. Gwin Scawen danced at the base of the centre stone and then with a series of leaps and bounds that would do an Olympic athlete proud, he popped out of sight. Coll came up on her other side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

  “We did it, we found your gramma,” he whispered in her ear.

  “We did, didn’t we?” She nodded.

  “Come along, you two. Emily will bring the others in a jiffy.” Sarie shepherded them out of the clearing and onto the muddy path. Sodden brambles dropped more moisture onto Laurel’s clothes. She shivered and almost stumbled. Coll steadied her and she regained her footing.

  “Not far now. You must be chilled to the bone.” Sarie chivvied them along faster.

  Laurel sank into the rear seat with a grateful sigh. Coll shut the door behind him and crowded close to her, spreading his blanket over them both. Sarie started the car and turned the heater on full blast. When Gort and Aisling emerged from the gateway with Emily behind them, Sarie put the car in gear and reversed out of the layby.

  “How long were we gone?” Coll asked. “What time is it?”

  “About six hours, give or take. It’s just gone midnight,” Sarie answered.

  “That long?” Laurel exclaimed. “It didn’t seem like it took so long.”

  “Time runs different in the other worlds, remember?” Sarie caught her eye in the rear view mirror.

  “I suppose.”

  “Did you find Bella and Vear? I hope your journey wasn’t in vain,” Sarie said. “My goodness, it’s raining cats and dogs.” She peered out the windscreen which the wipers failed miserably to clear.

  “We did find them,” Laurel replied. “Gramma didn’t want to come back with me.”

  “I can’t say as I’m surprised. Where the selkie was concerned, Bella never could think straight, or see past her own desires,” Sarie said.