by J F Rogers
Chapter Thirty-Three
◊◊◊
I GLANCED ABOUT THE small room. Kai’s room. He must want it back. I hated to leave, but it was time to move on. I didn’t want to overstay my welcome any further, and I had to get back on task.
Besides, now I needed to find Cataleen and ask her about my birth. Guilt washed over me. Was I more interested in finding out what the mystery person in the dream knew than ensuring my mother was still alive?
Everything around me belonged to Kai. The tunics he let me wear, the brush he let me borrow. Nothing was mine. I had nothing to pack or a bag.
“Take this.” Kai threw a stuffed satchel over my shoulder, then pushed a package into my hands. “It’s dried fish. In case you get hungry.”
I blinked back tears. “Thanks for all you’ve done.”
“What? You think we’re parting ways right now? I know where the statue is you’re looking for. I’ll get you there.” He grabbed another small pack and shoved it into a satchel. In one sweeping motion, he threw the satchel around his neck and shoulder. “Want me to carry you?”
“I can walk. Thanks.”
“I’m happy to carry you, whether or not you can walk.” There were those dimples again. Sigh. Why was he making this so hard?
Kai led me up the hill, past what had been my bedroom window, and into the woods where I’d met Declan. “I still don’t understand how you know about the statue.”
What was I supposed to say? So, this guy I used to like is a vampire now, and he’s been following me around. He told me about the statue and how to use it to find Pepin. Yeah, right. Kai would never let me follow a stalker vampire’s instructions. “It’s hard to explain.”
Raising an eyebrow at me, he released a defeated breath. “All right. I’ll take you there.” We walked down a steep trail. Kai had wrapped my ankle tight, but I had to maneuver around roots, rocks, and sloping ground with care to keep from reinjuring myself.
“The statue is up ahead.” He pointed at more woods.
As we neared, a gray shape emerged amongst the spindly branches. The statue. A man. An angry man judging by his scowl. He clutched something in his left hand. He raised his right arm as if about to strike.
“Do you know where to go from here?” Kai surveyed the scene. Hard to read, he looked both relieved and concerned.
“Yeah.”
“Let me take you there.”
“No. It’s fine. I know what to do.”
Kai grasped my upper arms. Tight. He stared into my eyes. “I’m not leaving you until you’re with your friends. Safe.”
How was I supposed to respond? Would the pech be angry if I shared their secret with a selkie? Approaching Pepin this way alone was already risky. But Pepin should be able to explain me. But Kai? I dared look into his intense, dark eyes, still fixed on mine, intent on making his terms clear.
“Okay, okay.” I shrugged him loose. “But you can’t share this with anyone.” I moved toward the statue, grasped the raised arm, and tugged. It creaked as I pulled it down.
He sucked in his breath. “What does that do?”
“I guess we’ll find out.” I lowered the arm as far as it would go, and a tremor pulsed through the ground from the statue outward. I held the statue to keep from falling.
Kai widened his stance and splayed his arms. “What was that?” He turned around as if trying to see where the tremor went. “I thought that was just another piece of ruins.”
Something rustled in the woods.
“Is someone there?” I asked.
If it was pech that weren’t expecting us, they might not show themselves. I had to lure them out. “I’m looking for a pech named Pepin. Is he with you? I’m his friend, Fallon.”
More rustling. Hushed voices. Then nothing.
“Hello?” I stepped toward the woods.
Kai grasped my shoulder and yanked me back. “They’re gone. But let’s wait. Maybe they’ve gone to give Pepin the message.”
We sat on the path and munched our dried fish while we waited.
“You don’t have to stay.” I reminded him.
“Yes, I do.”
So, the guy had a stubborn streak. Why, if he was so eager for me to leave, did he refuse to let me go?
Trees rustled behind me.
“Fallon!” Pepin emerged. “How did you find me?”
I bent over to hug him. “It’s a long story. It is so good to see you. I thought I’d lost you. Do you know where the others are?”
Pepin shook his head. “I’m hopeful Turas might help.”
“Who’s Turas?” I asked.
“Not who, but what.” Pepin shrugged his stocky shoulders.
“The old rocks?” Kai ran his fingers through his wavy hair.
“Old rocks. Hmph.” Pepin crossed his arms and scowled at Kai. “Who is this…” He waved his hand toward Kai, scrunching his eyebrows as if trying to come up with the right word.
“Person?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
Pepin tipped his head as if that word sufficed but wasn’t what he’d been thinking.
“This is Kai. He took me in while I was hurt.”
“Hurt?”
“I sprained my ankle jumping from a tree.”
Pepin tugged his beard. “Thank you for caring for our Fallon. I’ll take care of her from here.”
Kai’s gaze ping-ponged from me to Pepin, then rested on me, his soulful eyes searching me for certainty.
I nodded.
So he turned, threw one last glance over his shoulder, then headed home. Why did I want him to turn back and say he couldn’t leave without me? A pain in my chest deepened with each step widening the distance between us. The connection stretched, attempting to keep us united as the growing gap threatened to tear it apart. I could almost see it writhing and bleeding as Kai disappeared around the bend, severing the link. I held my fist over my heart as if I could keep the ache from spreading. Did we suffer from a watered-down version of the gachen-selkie attraction?
“Follow me.” Pepin waved and headed into the woods.
I followed, but it was tough going without a path. I had to push through shrubs, and I had no way of knowing if I was stepping on uneven ground.
He kept stopping and waiting. “Why so slow?”
“I’m trying to be careful of my ankle.” I pushed a branch aside. “Where are we going?”
“We’re almost there.”
That wasn’t what I asked, but whatever.
We stopped at a boulder. Pepin shoved it aside, revealing steps into the ground.
I groaned. How I hated small enclosed spaces! Why were there so many caves and tunnels in Ariboslia?
He directed me to enter first, so I stepped down the dirt stairs into the dank hole. He followed me down a few steps, lit a torch attached to the wall, then tugged a handle under the boulder to close the opening. The ceilings were so low, I had to stoop. The walls seemed to close in on me. Breathing became difficult.
God, help me. Don’t let me have a panic attack. Not now.
The chorus of a hymn we’d sung a million times in church popped into my head.
Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
I sang it over and over, letting nothing else penetrate my mind as we proceeded down the entombed hall.
My back and neck ached after only a few minutes. The ground sloped downward. More tunnels jutted off ours. Sometimes we made a turn; sometimes we walked past the openings. I might have been an ant in an ant farm.
We rounded a corner to a straightaway. At the end, light flickered, and gruff voices grew louder. We emerged in a room tall enough for me to stand with about an inch gap between my head and the stone ceiling. Something pulled at my hair. I grasped my head and ducked to find what got me. A sh
ard poking out from the roof.
Standing on the promises…
Hands on my hips, spine still not fully extended, I took deep breaths. Where was I? Some pub with a bar, tables, and pech? Great. Only they weren’t like Pepin’s people in the Tower of Galore. Pepin’s description of them anyway. Darker skin, black hair, and dark eyes blended into a blur that enhanced the underground feeling of no light. One by one, they swiveled and hushed until every gaze in the room fell on me and the steady hum declined to a few isolated words then complete silence.
Pepin cleared his throat. “This is Fallon—the girl I told you about.”
Groans erupted as pech returned their attention to whatever held it before our entrance and conversations resumed.
Wow, what a welcome.
Pepin grabbed my arm and propelled me to a pech sitting alone at a table. His stubby fingers tightened around a stein almost half his size—at least it looked huge in his hands. As we approached, he took a deep swig, clanged his mug to the table, and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
“Aldrick, this is Fallon.”
“So you said.” He swigged another gulp. “Where’s Drochaid?”
Wow. These people were oozing with friendliness.
Pepin motioned to me so I revealed Drochaid from beneath my neckline and bent forward for Aldrick to inspect it.
Aldrick’s eyes narrowed, then widened. He angled his stout body on the stool, facing Pepin. “You said an angel gave you these specifications?”
“Yes.”
Aldrick released to Drochaid. “Interesting.” He braced both elbows on the stone table before him. “Have a seat.”
Pepin and I sat across from him.
“It might work,” Aldrick said.
“What might work?” I bent my knees up by my chest as I crunched myself onto the short stool.
“Turas. Drochaid might be the key to get it working again,” Aldrick whispered, scanning both directions.
“What’s Turas?”
Aldrick gripped the table and leaned back as if preparing for a long story. His black braid slipped from his shoulder and swung behind him.
“The pech were the first intelligent life in Ariboslia. The gachen came later,” Pepin said.
A pech at another table twisted toward us, his head hovering by Aldrick’s shoulder. “You mean the pech are the only intelligent life in Ariboslia.” He laughed and returned to his friends at his table who congratulated his wit.
Aldrick and Pepin rolled their eyes.
I stifled a yawn for fear of seeming uninterested.
“In those days, the pech had a special megalith. When it was whole, it formed a complete circle. Inside the circle was a semicircle.” Aldrick gulped his drink. “It was our ancestors’ masterpiece.”
Pepin nodded. “As a child, every pech hears the stories of those days. Turas allowed us to tap into the spiritual realm. Once inside the spiritual realm, time and space were of no consequence. You could go wherever and whenever you chose, just by thinking about it.”
“Seriously?” I sat upright, slamming my knees against the stone table. Ouch. Oops. I rubbed them. “What happened to it?”
Aldrick growled. “People in the human realm. Romans, I think they were called, tore most of it apart. They stole many of our stones to create roads.”
“Such a sad sight.” Pepin clicked his tongue. “To think there was a day when pech weren’t separated by the sea. We traveled via Turas. But pech won’t risk traveling the seas, so now the ocean keeps us apart.”
“Except for one brave, little pech.” Aldrick smiled under his facial hair. Did all pech have such white teeth? Despite the lack of a welcome, there was something about Aldrick I liked. He seemed to respect Pepin. Perhaps these pech weren’t as bad as where he’d lived. According to Pepin’s stories, the others had been so mean.
Pepin’s face flared as red as his hair.
I reangled my feet to give my knees more space. “So, if Turas is broken, what makes you think Drochaid can get it to work?”
Pepin straightened. “I had a dream.”
Suddenly, I didn’t care about my physical discomfort. Every cell attuned to Pepin. “Like when you knew we had to flee from Ceas Croi?”
“Sort of. You kept repeating the date April 24, 1521 BC. Turas brought us to that time when it was whole. From there, we could travel wherever and whenever, as if it were still intact.”
“So, when do we check it out?”
“In the morn.”
“So soon? Aren’t we going to look for our friends?”
Pepin frowned. “I’ve searched and found no evidence they washed up on these shores.”
Guilt panged within my chest. “They might be in trouble. Selkie live on these lands. If they find our friends and learn they’re gachen, they’ll throw them in prison.”
“All the more reason to get to Turas tomorrow.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
◊◊◊
PEPIN PADDLED THE SMALL boat, grumbling whenever the breeze wafted water droplets his way.
Sitting back, I folded my arms over my chest. Though he hadn’t said it, he didn’t trust me to row. “If you hate water so much, why are we taking a boat?”
“It takes too long to circumvent this accursed, bottomless pool.” Sweat dampened his hair and the sides of his beard. “It’s too deep to tunnel under.” More water droplets sprinkled his face. “Dah! Water is meant for drinking and bathing, not teetering upon.”
Kai’s home must be close. But where? Nothing looked familiar.
We nosed the dinghy up to a rocky shore surrounded by shrubs and tall trees. Pepin hopped out the front and lugged the boat ashore. I grabbed my satchel and followed him through the trees. We walked for hours over sticks and stones. Though my time with Kai involved little walking, I’d swam so much, I felt stronger. My ankle was much improved. I could’ve kept going when he suggested we take a break.
He leaned against a tree, panting, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. When I sat beside him, he tossed a meat stick at me, then chomped on his own.
“How far is this place?”
“Another day’s walk. We’ll camp tonight.” He chewed with his mouth open. “We’re far enough inland the selkie shouldn’t be a problem.”
“What about the fasgadair?” My piece of jerky was tough. I clamped my teeth and pulled, tearing it apart.
“Fasgadair?” He sniffed as if seeking hints of them on the wind.
“Aren’t there fasgadair here? I mean, Declan…”
“What of Declan?” Pepin squished his furry caterpillar eyebrows together.
“I—He—” I took a deep breath. “Declan is here. He led me to you.”
“What?” He sat up straight. “Where?”
“Doesn’t matter. But—” Better just yank the Band-Aid. “He’s a fasgadair.”
His eyes bulged. Then he frowned. “Did you try to save him?”
“He won’t let me.”
Pepin returned to his slouch. “Why?”
I shrugged. “He won’t tell me.” I tore a piece of my jerky.
“Is he alone?”
“I think so. He’s been following us all along—since we first came through the megalith.”
“How is that possible?” He rubbed his beard, eyeing me skeptically.
“Remember the bird I thought was following me? And stole Rowan’s food? It flew into our room in Bandia. Then it stole Valter’s food.”
“Valter wasn’t lying to get more food?”
I shook my head. “No.”
Pepin groaned. “Not to worry.” He patted my knee. “We’ll find a way to save him…after we find our friends.”
****
The following day, as the sun was sinking in the sky, the forest cleared. Massive rocks in a circular pattern protruded from the earth before us. Some stood on end with others balanced over the tops while others lay resting on the ground. I sucked in a breath
, full of awe at the enormousness and beauty that lay in the lush grass. “Stonehenge?”
Pepin beamed with pride as if this was his baby. “Is that its name in your realm? You know it?”
“Everyone who ever went to school knows it.”
He seemed to grow a couple of inches. He closed the gap, reached out, and caressed the stone like an equestrian with a prized racehorse. “Such a beauty.”
“I’ve always wanted to see it in person.” I entered the center and twirled. “So, I could visit the time when Cataleen brought me back to Ariboslia and prevent her from going? My dad wouldn’t die, and we could live together?”
His hands fell limp to his sides. “We can’t change history.” He touched my arm.
“Then what’s the point?”
“From what I understand from Aldrick and the dark pech, when we use Turas to tap into the spiritual realm and visit the past, we’re like shadows watching events in history unfold. People in history can’t see or talk to us.”
“I thought you said the pech used Turas to travel across the ocean.”
“They traveled to other locations in the current time by removing the amulet from the stone.”
“What’s the point in going back in time if we can’t change anything?”
“For one, we have to if we want to visit another location. We have to go back to when Turas was whole. For another, to learn. To watch events as they transpired.”
So, rather than wait to talk to my mother about my birth and hope she told the truth, I could visit the day I was born and see for myself? “Can we go to the shipwreck and find out where our friends went?”
“Ummm.” He scratched behind his ear. “That’s my hope. But I’m not sure what happens on the sea.”
“If we’re not really there, we can’t get hurt, right?”
“Probably.” He moved to an itch on his forehead. “Better to test it out on something safer first.”
“Like what?”
“Let’s try to go to April 24, 1521 BC first. Here.” He took Drochaid, still around my neck, and placed it in a matching depression in a rock standing near the center. He glanced at me. “Keep repeating April 24, 1521 BC. No matter what happens, don’t move from this spot.”