Dances Naked

by Dani Haviland

Marty finally found the nerve to look her directly in the eyes. He saw the shocked look on her face and his fear turned into joy. She hadn’t expected his question. “Well, will you?” he asked again, this time with confidence that she’d say yes.

  “Just try and stop me. I mean, you’re not going to change your mind are you? I mean, you’re not hallucinating, or in shock, or going to forget all about this as soon as you’re feeling better, are you?”

  Bibb’s stammering only increased Marty’s ardor. “Are you sure I can’t go home yet?” Marty asked Nate half in jest.

  Nate cocked his head and tried to find a way to tell him he’d have to wait another hour, at least. Billy interrupted and saved him the deed. “I know a preacher who does hospital weddings. All you need is a license and you’re ready to say your I do’s. James and Leah were married right down the hall.”

  “Or, I can get better and we can go to the British Embassy in Charlotte. It’s a couple of hours away, but I think I can pull a few strings and maybe get a proxy wedding set up, me being a subject of the Crown, and you being a Yankee and all,” Marty drolled in his attempt at a southern accent.

  Bibb was shocked at his suggestion. It was obvious he had thought about this for quite a while and it wasn’t a stress-induced fantasy. Marty saw she was speechless and added, “Unless you want to wait and have a big wedding with doves and ice sculptures and acres and acres of roses…”

  “Uh, no; just a little affair with you and Billy and, um, one or two others, will be fine with me. I just want you to get your strength back,” Bibb said then blushed at why she wanted him to be healthy again: her wedding night.

  Marty saw her blush then reflected it back to her. “Are we about done here, Nate? I have a wedding to plan!”

  Nate looked at the half-empty IV bag and said, “I think you need to wait a few hours before you start off on your honeymoon. And, you might want to be healthy enough to eat a meal and walk across the room by yourself before you undertake, um, anything more strenuous. Now, I’ll leave you three alone and see about getting you a clear meal. I take it you haven’t eaten anything substantial in a while?”

  Marty shook his head, remembering the small amount of ham he had eaten days before, the last gift Red Shirt had given him. “No, not for at least three days.”

  “Well, then, I’ll give you a choice: red or green Jell-O?” Nate asked as he stood by the door, ready to retrieve his charge’s meal.

  “I’ll go for the green. And bring some for everyone,” Marty said playfully, realizing that this was just the first of many meals he would have with his 21 century, North Carolina family.

  20 What next?

  h, my God,” Marty exclaimed after Nate left the room, suddenly bringing the joyful mood of his family down to the ground.

  “What’s wrong?” Billy and Bibb chorused.

  “My coin; I left it back at the site. I don’t want someone to find it there. I mean, it’s not the monetary value, but if someone finds it there, especially a child with an active imagination, or one of those Revolutionary War re-enactors, they could be flung back in time and not know what in the blazes happened. Good Lord, how could I have been so careless?” Marty moaned.

  “Uh, you had other things on your mind, like staying alive. But, don’t worry, Dad, I have it right here.” Billy held up the silver Greek drachma with two holes drilled in it. “You don’t want to use it again, do you?” Billy asked, his apprehension showing as his voice squeaked at the end of his question.

  “No way, Jose! At least not unless you two want to go, too,” Marty replied. He brought Bibb’s hand up to his face. “It’s a rough life, but if you want to go, I’ll get another coin.” He looked up at Billy. “And, one for you, too, son. I really, really don’t want to be separated from you two ever again.”

  “Me either,” Billy said. “Although, I hope you feel the same way after getting to know me better; me and my family that is…”

  “I’m sure your father will love Peter just as much as I do,” Bibb said proudly, showing her support for her son’s alternative lifestyle.

  “I’m sure I will,” Marty said, glad that he had been forewarned by his other son, James, that Billy had a same-sex partner. Marty reached out to hold Billy’s hand. “If he’s good enough for you, son, then he’s good enough for me, us, too.”

  “Oh, and Peter doesn’t know anything about you and James being time traveling fairies,” Billy joked. He then brought his perky tone down a notch. “But, there is another one of you out there,” he said seriously.

  Marty tried to bring the mood up again. “What, another fairy?” he asked lightly. He looked at Billy, then Bibb, and saw this was important—they were getting ready to lay a bomb on him.

  “Did you ever read the Lost novels by Lisa Sinclaire?” Billy asked.

  Marty nodded, saving his words. He was starting to tire but didn’t want the two of them to feel obligated to leave. After he had read Evie’s first letter years ago, he had waited for the first of the Lisa Sinclaire novels to be published, anxiously awaiting each episode to be released so he could find out more about the Pomeroys, the family 20 century-born Evie, the letter-writing, time traveling fairy, had married into during the Revolutionary War.

  “Well, they’re true, at least parts of the stories. You see, two months ago, just after James and Leah went back through The Trees to see you and her mother, Evie, someone came to me looking for Leah. It was Jody Pomeroy’s grandson, Benji. He said he wanted to go back with her to the 18 century to see his grandparents; that he had been born then, came forward to the 20 century as a child, and grew up here in this time. Dad, they’re real, the Pomeroys and MacKays; they’re not fictional characters. Those are history books written by Lisa Sinclaire, not historical novels. Benji’s here, now, but he’s going back, too.”

  “Well,” Marty said, “I met Benji when he was yay high, he and his father. But, I had no idea that they, or rather Benji, wanted to go back. And, I did get a chance to meet Jody’s nephew Ian Kincaid when I was back there. He was, is, Bibb’s great-great however so many times over, grandfather. He was the reason I went back. I thought you knew about that. Didn’t James share the letters with you before he left?”

  Billy and Bibb shook their heads in tandem, but it was Billy who spoke up. “They were stolen before James could read beyond the first one. It’s a good thing he read it though, or Leah would never have known that her mother went back in time, was alive and well in 1781, and had another family. They’re okay, aren’t they, James and Leah, that is?”

  “They took off in the opposite direction from me about two months ago. I’m sure they’re fine. They had horses, food and water, and good directions,” Marty explained, then remembered that they hadn’t read the rest of the letters. Neither James nor Leah’s arrival or life had been recorded in them, but he didn’t want to tell them that. He could only hope they had sent their dialogues to a different place and they just hadn’t been found yet.

  “So tell me more about this other fairy, Benji,” Marty said then looked to his IV bag. “He’s bound to have changed a bit in the last twenty years and I need some distraction while I’m waiting to get a refill.”

  End of Book Three

  Preview of the fourth in the series, THE GREAT BIG FAIRY, follows.

  Preview of THE GREAT BIG FAIRY:

  ell, Dad,” Billy said with a big inhale, proud of having a father, a living father, who he could use that designation with, “this is how it went down a few months ago. Actually, I remember the date: August 17, 2013. Let me tell you the story like a narrator. I’m still pretty tender about their loss—I mean James and Leah leaving. But, you need to know what was going on in my head when I met him, Benji, the biggest, sweetest man there ever was.”

  Billy began his narration sounding just like Dan Akroyd in Dragnet then quickly segued into his own voice:

  “Greensboro, North Carolina, Police Department. Billy was finally finished with his paperwork. It had been a long night. J
ames and Leah had left only an hour and a half ago and, unless something drastic occurred, and he didn’t even want to speculate on that possibility, he would never see his newfound brother or sister-in-law/best friend again. But, now he, Billy Burke, the lifelong orphan, had a mother, and that was a blessing he had stopped hoping for about fifteen years ago. He also knew who his father was and, although he may never be able to meet the elusive Marty Melbourne, he could find out more about him from his mother, the sweetest woman in the world, Bibb Stephens.

  “There was no reason for him to delay his final task. It was time to head out of town and pick up his going away present from James—the ‘Beast’, the classic 1964 red Dodge pickup truck. He would get one of the officers to drop him off near the site. He wouldn’t have to give him an explanation. That would make the task easier, but he still wasn’t ready to admit the finality of their departure. He missed them both already and actually hurt physically from their absence. The ache of emptiness went from his shoulders to his kneecaps and made it feel like his spine was an iced up rope, just dangling down through his midsection, holding his pelvis to his collarbones. He snorted; Leah would have told him that that was anatomically impossible, but that was how he felt.

  “He gathered up the piles of reports, straightened the edges by banging them just a little too hard on the top of the desk, and tugged at the drawer with more force than necessary. It felt like his left hand had four thumbs as he fumbled through the dividers. He finally found the file for the case and tossed it in like a shovelful of coal into a furnace, messing up the neat pile he had just put it in. “That’s enough of you!” he said. Hopefully, he would never hear the name Atholl MacLeod again.

  “Sir, there’s someone here to see you. He says it’s very important,” Dyane called on the intercom.

  “Have Sergeant Carter take care of it, will you? I’m off shift now,” he replied with exasperation. He realized it was the wrong tone but it was better than the one he was holding back. He didn’t know if he wanted to scream, or cry, or laugh. But, he did know that this was not the place to let loose. He stood up to leave then scanned the remaining papers still on his desk, making sure they were devoid of anything that would remind him of his time traveling family when he came back to work that evening.

  “Sir,” Dyane came back, “He says it’s about someone named Evie and her daughter, Leah, the nurse. He says you’ll know who he’s talking about.”

  “Billy went weak in the knees then everywhere else. Fortunately, his chair was strategically placed and caught him as he plopped down solidly in a controlled fall. He swallowed hard, started to speak, but only an embarrassing squeak came out. He tried again. “Send him in,” he said, this time, the words coming together and finding a way out of his mouth.

  “Dyane opened the door for the large visitor. Billy stood up and his eyes widened as they watched the man duck his head in order to enter his office. He wasn’t the tallest man he had ever seen; he had met a couple of the gangly basketball players with the Hornets, but he was the biggest in terms of being a proportionately built man. Billy quickly tipped his head down when he realized he was staring. He walked around to the front of his desk to shake the hand of the huge man with auburn red hair. He glanced up again and the gentle giant grinned and whispered, “Six seven,” like he was sharing a secret.

  “Billy pointed to the chair, offering his congenial new acquaintance a place to sit, then walked back around his desk, touching its surface as much for reassurance that he was awake as for physical support, lest he fall down from shock. He sat down slowly in his seat, his head bowed down, concentrating on the desktop. He didn’t think he could make the transition from standing to sitting while looking into the face of this big man.

  “I didn’t mean to stare,” Billy apologized as he looked up again. “It’s just that you remind me of someone. All you’re missing is the Scots accent.” Billy couldn’t help but think of the man’s resemblance to Jody Pomeroy of the Lost novels. If James and Leah had just gone back to his time, the 18 century,could it be that Jody Pomeroy had come back here, to this time? He fought back the urge to shake his head ‘no’ in answer to his own unspoken question and smiled nervously.

  “Weel, I guess I lost a bit of the accent since I’ve been back here in North Carolina. Now, that bein’ said, are ye the one to talk to about Leah and Evie?”

  “Who are you?” Billy asked incredulously before he answered the Jody look-alike’s question.

  “I’m sorry. I dinna introduce myself. I’m Benjamin MacKay, but ye can call me Benji.”

  “Billy nodded his head slowly in answer to Benji’s question about being familiar with Leah and Evie. He didn’t even try to talk lest the sounds come out as the ‘baa, baa, babble’ that were coursing through his brain. He’d read all the Lisa Sinclaire novels at least once. Benji was Jody Pomeroy’s grandson, and he was now sitting in front of him, all grown up. He was supposed to be a fictional character!

  “Weel then, I hope it’s not too late to catch a ride back with Leah. I got distracted with a couple of unsavory characters. But, it seems that ye’ve helped me quite a bit and have the MacLeod brothers out of my hair now. I, um, heard that Leah was goin’ back to see her mother soon. I understand she knows how to, um, travel safely and without a lot of pain involved?” he asked rather than stated, focusing on Billy’s eyes for his reaction.

  “Benji could see by the detective’s wide-eyed and slack-jawed appearance that Billy understood what he was talking about. He waited for Billy’s reply, but the stunned police officer just sat at his desk, palms flat like he was holding down the wooden furniture down, and shook his head back and forth slowly. “You’re too late,” he whispered, his head still moving back and forth at the same, slow pace. “About two hours too late. They’ve already gone.”

  “Benji winched, shut his eyes, and shook his head with a look of sadness and frustration. “Jest two hours…” he exhaled. “Um, do ye happen to know how they traveled?” he asked tentatively.

  “Billy pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his thumb and index finger out over his eyebrows, rubbing them back and forth in a nervous manner. He wanted to delay the answer. He didn’t know if this Benji, this 21 century Benji, was a good person or not. Could it be that he was in with the MacLeods? But, before he answered, he heard the cautious question.

  “Are ye related to Marty Melbourne, per chance?”

  “Billy’s head snapped to attention, the fog of indecision blown away with the hurricane force of the shocking inquiry. “Why?” was all that he could think to answer.

  “Benji chortled. “Weel, ye must be then or ye woulda answered ‘who’ or ‘no.’ Ye look jest like him, have his same nervous habit of pinchin’ yer eyebrows, and I’ll wager if ye had the English accent, ye’d sound jest like him, too. But, yer not James, are ye? I mean, yer an American and an officer of the law. He’s a member of parliament and a businessman.”

  “Billy drew a deep breath, making the snap, gut decision that this was a good man and could be trusted. “James is my brother and Marty is my father,” he said with a big exhale. He started to say more of their relationship but stopped. He’d let Benji talk and see how much he knew.

  “Ye said ‘they’ went back, not jest Leah. Who went with her?” Benji asked.

  “James did. He’s her husband now. I don’t think he would have let her go by herself. He was quite smitten with her. They only knew each other two weeks, but as soon as I saw those two together, I knew that it wouldn’t be too long and… Hey, how did you know Leah went back?” Billy asked, losing his original train of thought. This man was sharp and didn’t miss a word.

  “I read about it in a letter,” Benji said plainly. He opened his mouth to say more then decided he’d wait to see if this American was going to let something slip. He wanted to know how much he knew before talking about time travel to a total stranger.

  “But Billy was smart, too. He was also playing the ‘show me your cards and I’ll show
you mine’ game. “So how do you know Marty Melbourne?” he asked with a glint in his eye, letting the big Scot know they were playing mental poker.

  “Benji grinned and replied, “Ye make a livin’ out of this, aye? I mean, jest any little thing a man says, ye can use to find out more about a situation.”

  “Billy pointed to the first part of the nametag on his desk. “It says detective, aye? So how do ye ken him?” he asked, mimicking Benji’s accent.

  “He came to our place when I was much younger. He and my father talked fer quite a while. Ye see, my father had read a letter about a James Melbourne and was tryin’ to find him. He dinna ken much about him or his family, but what he kent was enough. It turns out that both men were lookin’ fer each other. My father was writin’ a book about, um, writin’ a book that interested Lord Melbourne, and the two actually took a trip here to North Carolina in the early 90’s. Young James and I came with them.”

  “Billy decided to lay out a card and see if he could gain Benji’s confidence. “So was the book about,” he paused then made eye contact with the large red haired man, “about time travel?”

  “What?” his new acquaintance laughed, “Do ye believe in that nonsense?”

  “But, Billy could tell that Benji was just having fun with him. The walls were down and they were now both comfortable. “So, does this mean that you’ve traveled and it was painful? I mean, you mentioned Leah finding a way to travel without pain.”

  “Benji rolled his eyes. “Ye have no idea how painful. I was jest a lad, but I get the cold goose flesh jest thinkin’ about it. I guess this means ye never went, um, back?”

  “No, I’m sort of new to all of this. Have you had breakfast yet? I’m just getting off work and I think we have a lot to talk about.”

  “And that’s how we met,” Billy told Marty. “But there’s so much more to the story. Stick around and I’ll tell you about it.”