“Will you stop thinking? Just be quiet for a while and let this place seep into you.”
Airy felt a jolt of irritation. She finished the rest of her breakfast without saying another word, watching Fehin read the brochure he’d taken from the motel room.
“If I specify a place do you think you can take us there?” he asked a few minutes later.
“I have no idea.”
Fehin pointed to a place on the map provided inside the brochure. “I want to go here.”
“Now?”
Fehin thought for a moment. “I want to spend the night there. That way, when we arrive no one will see us.”
“Just the ghosts of the Anasazi,” Airy said sarcastically.
Fehin glared at her. “I hope so,” he answered.
Airy finished her tea, trying to sort through her muddled thoughts. Why was she so irritable? She felt as close to Fehin as she always had, in some ways even closer. She wasn’t worried anymore about their blood ties and he was happier now than he’d ever been. And then she got it. This bridge was supposed to be a joint effort, which meant that their combined abilities would come into play. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it here but to her it didn’t feel right—it wasn’t the place where they would fulfill their destiny.
“Fehin,” she said, looking over at him, “What about Wyoming?”
Fehin glanced up from his perusal of the brochure. “I read about an ancient medicine wheel. It’s in Bighorn national forest.”
Airy immediately got goose bumps up and down her arms. “That’s it. That’s the place.”
Fehin stared at her. “You feel it?”
Airy nodded, rubbing her arms. “We can wait if you want. I know you want to explore, but I think the medicine wheel is where we’re supposed to be.”
Fehin lowered his gaze. He didn’t say anything for so long Airy wondered if he’d forgotten the conversation. When he finally looked up at her again she noticed a different expression in his eyes.
“I have to admit I can feel it too,” he said, rubbing his arms. “Maybe that’s why you’ve been so weird. Sorry for pushing the monument valley thing.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. It just seemed strange that I wasn’t excited about being here. I figured wherever it is would excite both of us. But I still have no idea why or what we’re supposed to do when we get there.”
Fehin grabbed her hand excitedly. “We’ll figure it out.”
“We need camping gear since I left ours on the bus heading to Terra Haute, and I need some warmer clothes. I think I’d like to travel by bus again.”
“Are you sure? It’s a long way from here.”
“The trip will give us time to talk. And the scenery is spectacular.”
Shopping took up the morning hours and in the afternoon they hopped on a tour of monument valley. Early the next morning they boarded the first bus of many that would take them to Wyoming.
51
The campfire had burned low and Airy was cold. She huddled close to Fehin trying hard not to shiver.
“Get in the sleeping bag,” he said.
“But I like the fire. I love sitting out here under the stars.” She looked up. “It’s amazing to think how many galaxies are out there.”
Fehin rose from the log and went over to the cheap two-man tent they’d purchased in Kayenta. When he came back he wrapped her sleeping bag around her shoulders.
“Thanks.”
They were camping in Bald Mountain campground not far from the medicine wheel. The hike up the mountain would be arduous since the medicine wheel was at the very top at 10,000 feet.
“I’ve never seen this many stars,” Airy said, looking up.
“No ambient light here. I would have thought the sky in the Otherworld would be similar.”
“Too many trees. This is wide open.”
On the way on the bus they talked about rituals they could do, ancient ceremonies that might help them realize their goals. They’d discussed purchasing drums or flutes or even buying an Indian peace pipe. Fehin had read a lot about Native American culture and brought up ceremonies that included peyote, ones that had to do with fasting, and several that required chanting and dancing. They discarded the peyote one right away because of Fehin’s addiction problems and then eliminated the fasting one because it required several days of no food. For some reason they both felt that the first of April was when it needed to happen. As far as chanting and dancing neither one knew what that meant.
Airy brought up ceremonies her grandmother and great-grandmother had participated in, naming a few of the gods and goddesses involved. In the end they scrapped all of them, agreeing that it was up to them to come up with something entirely their own.
Fehin poked at the embers, sending up a stream of sparks. From where they sat he could see several other campfires. It was very quiet with an atmosphere of respect, as though the other campers were here for the same reason Fehin and Airy were. And yet he knew that couldn’t be true.
“What do we want to achieve?” Airy asked suddenly.
“Achieve? All I can think about is bringing love to heal the earth. What about you?”
“I’m still caught up in the bridge thing. It has to connect something with something. What are we trying to connect?”
“People with the earth?”
Airy nodded. “Human beings have placed themselves outside the web of life. They think they’re separate and act as though they can control the rest of it when in reality they’re ripping it apart. And think about all the poor and homeless we’ve seen. They feel completely powerless in this society.” She turned and made a face. “I can’t imagine having the power to pull this off.”
Fehin put his arm around her shoulders. “Why don’t we wait until we’re there? Maybe the medicine wheel will tell us how to proceed. After all, it’s a sacred site. This may have nothing to do with power.”
Airy stared into the distance. “Somehow we have to reweave people back into the web.”
Fehin nodded. “That’s a good way of putting it. I hope the natives aren’t having ceremonies tomorrow. I asked the ranger, but you never know.”
“Why here, Fehin?”
Fehin shook his head. “I think it’s because of what you said—the web of life thing. In native cultures they don’t talk about connection because everything’s already connected. This is a sacred pre-Columbian site and the tribes have been using it continuously for fasting ceremonies, vision quests, and a bunch of other rituals. I’m sure the energy up there is amazing.”
“It called to both of us so it has to be right, doesn’t it?”
“Are you doubting this?”
Airy turned, her eyes reflecting the firelight. “Just nervous, I guess. You know our money is nearly gone.”
“Have you checked your bank account lately?”
“No, but once they figure out what I’m doing they…”
“Remember, Airy, we’re in the past now. Maybe they aren’t angry anymore.”
Airy scoffed. “How they feel about you hasn’t changed. And my phone is nearly dead and I don’t have a charger.”
“Why do we need a phone?”
“Carla asked me to keep in touch.”
“That was before we came back. Carla may be pissed now that we took off without saying good-bye.”
Airy’s eyes went wide. “I don’t want her to be mad at us! The last thing she knew I was heading to find you—she must be worried sick. We should have gone back, Fehin.”
Fehin’s brow furrowed. “I feel bad now that you put it like that, but it’s too late to do anything. Why don’t you call?”
“It’s after midnight back there.”
***
When the phone rang the next morning Airy came instantly awake. She reached for it, her worried gaze going to Fehin who was now awake too.
“Airy? Where are you?”
Carla sounded frantic. “Carla, I’m so sorry. I’m fine. Fehin’s fine. We’ve had quite an a
dventure. I would have called sooner but once you hear what happened you’ll understand.”
She was still talking when Fehin pulled on his jeans and left the tent to make the fire.
Airy joined him twenty minutes later. “My phone is now officially dead,” she said. “But at least I had time to explain everything to Carla. She was kind of skeptical at first but I’m pretty sure she believed me.”
“Did you tell her about the future and the moonstone?”
Airy nodded. “And then I told her the second go-round and why we had to do it.”
Fehin pulled his eyebrows together. “I hope it wasn’t wrong to reveal this.”
“You mean like her knowing might mess up the time line continuum?”
Fehin chuckled. “You’ve seen too many sci-fi movies. No, I just meant it would be kind of weird to have someone tell you your future.”
“Her future won’t be the same. Everything’s different now.”
“You’re right.” He poured ground coffee into a small saucepan of water and placed it on a rack over the fire. “Coffee will be ready soon, M’lady.”
Airy turned, exasperated. “Will you stop that?”
Fehin grinned. “I don’t know where it’s coming from. It’s like I’m channeling someone.”
“I hope you’re not the reincarnated king of somewhere, like my dad.” Her gaze went into the distance, thinking about her own visions. “Does it feel like medieval times?”
Fehin looked down. “Yeah, kind of. Maybe it’s coming from one of the books I read while I was in rehab about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.”
“Camelot? I love that story!”
“It’s not just a story—it’s true.”
“How do you know?”
Fehin shrugged. “I just do. It’s part of my magic.”
Airy looked down at her ring. “If it’s true we could go there.”
Fehin laughed. “One thing at a time, Airy. First we have to save this world.” He poured hot coffee into the collapsible metal mug and handed it to her.
“When should we head up the mountain?” Airy asked, taking a sip.
“Tomorrow is April Fool’s day. Today we eat, hike and scout things out. I’m glad we have another full day to let this place soak in.”
“Do you want to go up there and check things out?”
Fehin shook his head. “It makes more sense to me to come upon it for the first time on the first of April. What do you think?”
“I agree. Otherwise we’ll start making plans and having all sorts of expectations.”
52
“It’s time to go,” Fehin whispered, shaking Airy’s shoulder.
Airy opened her eyes. “How long did we sleep?’
“Five hours or so. I thought dawn would be the best time. We can watch the sunrise from up there and there won’t be any people.”
“Dawn has good energy,” Airy agreed, looking for her clothes. She put on jeans, a shirt and a sweater and then pulled on her thick socks and hiking boots. When she opened the tent flap it was pitch black. “How can we find the trail?”
“I scoped it out yesterday when you were napping.”
“Do we need to bring anything?”
Fehin shook his head. “You have your ring?”
“I never take it off. Why?”
“I don’t know—it just came to me that it might be part of all this.”
“I’m excited,” Airy said, following him out of the tent. “But it’s strange not having a plan.”
“That’s the best part,” Fehin said, turning to look at her. “We should go as quickly as possible. Who knows when the tourists will arrive?”
The silence was unnerving as they headed toward the trail that would take them up the mountain. There were tents scattered here and there but all the occupants were still sound asleep. Airy’s boots were wet with dew by the time they reached the Medicine Wheel trailhead.
By now the sky had turned a pale shade of gray and the tall pines loomed out of the darkness like sentinels. The stars that had been so bright an hour before were disappearing one by one. Airy stopped for a second and closed her eyes. “They like what we’re doing,” she said, but Fehin was too far ahead to hear her. She hurried after him.
Her breath was a cloud of white as they climbed. There were no more trees now, only rocks and scrub grass. Fehin didn’t look back as he moved steadily upward. They had not spoken for a good half hour. Her thoughts were muddled, wondering what they would find at the top and how they would decide what to do. When she looked down she noticed that her ring was beginning to glow, becoming brighter the further up she went. She wanted to tell Fehin, wanted his easy laugh and assurance that this was a good thing, but she didn’t have the breath or the energy to call out.
It seemed like hours before she could see where the ground leveled out. There were streaks of orange and rose in the sky now, mixed in with the gray. How long till dawn? They had to be up there and engaged in whatever they were doing before the sun rose. Adrenalin shot through her body giving her the stamina to catch up to Fehin. She grabbed his arm. “Are we almost there?”
Fehin turned. “You know as much as I do. What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“It’s almost dawn.”
“Yeah. So?”
“We have to do it before dawn.”
“Who says?”
“Well, I…I….” Airy stuttered.
Fehin took hold of her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “We’re nearly there.”
They walked together the rest of the way, his warmth calming her as they climbed up the last rock-strewn ridge. And then they were standing on the top with a 360* view. Below them the valley stretched into mist filled distance, fog filling in the gaps between the lineup of smaller hills and ravines. The sky was a dome of pale blue-gray and at the eastern edge it looked as though a huge paintbrush had slashed across it, turning the clouds rose and the horizon deeper shades of orange and gold. “Holy crap!” Fehin said, his eyes going wide. “This is incredible!”
Airy rubbed her arms. “I have chills all over my body.” She pulled her gaze away from the horizon and stared at the enormous circle, taking in the vastness of it and the imbedded rocks that had been in the same place for hundreds of years. Those who had visited had left behind bits of cloth, feathers, plants, shells, and stones stacked into Cairns.
“Do you feel that?” Fehin asked, holding his arms out.
Airy felt energy bubble up inside her and she began to dance in a circle, grabbing Fehin’s hand as she skipped by. “I can see the web! It’s all around us!”
She pulled him into the circle, heading to the center. They began to twirl together, going faster and faster as the sky lightened around them. “I see colors,” Airy called out. “We’re caught in the web and it’s full of colors!”
Fehin glanced down at her hand. “Your ring, Airy—look at your ring!”
The moonstone hummed, sending out rays of brightness in every direction. “Take it off! Put it on the ground!” Fehin grabbed her finger and tugged.
Airy began to laugh hysterically. “I’ll do it.” She pulled the moonstone off and placed it where it wished to be and then stood back as colors of every hue began spiraling upward from its surface. Airy grabbed Fehin’s hands again, her eyes meeting his. “I love you,” she said, her gaze liquid. “I love you, I love you, I love you!” Her voice grew stronger with each utterance. And then Fehin began, his tone deep and resonant. “I love you, Airy. I love you, I love you!”
They began to spin together lost in the rainbow that came from her ring, and as they moved they lifted into the air, pulsing in rhythm to their continued chant. A web reached outward, into the heavens and beyond where their vision could go. Its intricate golden threads were woven together seamlessly.
“Can you see it?” she asked at one point. “Can you see the web?”
Fehin nodded, smiling as he briefly moved his eyes from hers. A second late
r he met her gaze again and it felt as though he was her, or was it the other way around? They had become a spinning ball of white light. “Look!” he yelled out.
Energy moved from them in waves and as it expanded, bridges grew within the pulsating colors. They were woven, gossamer, webs within webs, strong but delicate, and there were four of them, one for each of the four directions. The bridges of mist and fog moved outward in ever expanding distances until they narrowed into nothingness. Airy held tightly to Fehin’s hands as they spun and spun and spun. They had dissolved into a blur now, couldn’t even see each other anymore. But each one could feel the other as though they were one being. The sun slowly rose in the East, its rays joining the rainbows coming from the stone. And with the sun came a feeling of limitlessness. They felt it outside themselves and inside themselves—boundless, infinite, and never-ending possibility. Their minds were one now and so they reveled in each other, exploring and touching deeply.
Very slowly the stone took back its colors and Airy and Fehin returned to the earth. They stood facing one another, their eyes locked together and then they moved closer and closer until they were pressed as tightly as they could possibly get. Their hearts beat rhythmically as though they had one heart between them. They kissed then, and didn’t stop until it felt right to let go, which was several long moments of pure bliss.
When Airy and Fehin came out of their trance and pulled apart they heard applause. Around them were people, lots of them, and their smiling faces looked beatific in the morning light. They clapped and clapped and then they all locked arms and began to chant ‘I love you’, as though they were part of what had happened here. And they were.
53
When Airy and Fehin came down off the mountain nearly one hundred people followed them. Somehow the news had spread, bringing more and more hikers to the medicine wheel to participate in the ceremony. In the campsite they were treated like royalty, given gifts of food, jewelry and other trinkets. They refused these offerings, trying to explain what they hoped had happened as a result of what they’d all participated in.
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