Autumn Mermaid (Mermaid Series Book 4)

by Dan Glover

  "I thought so too, darling Ginger. That's one of the reasons I studied medicine for so long, and why I begged Karen to become her assistant. I thought I could solve the dilemma that vexed everyone for so long. The answers are not so easy to come by, however. Technically, Lake Syndrome isn’t a disease as it is commonly considered.

  "Rather, it's a parasitic infestation that apparently rewrites the mitochondrial RNA within the nucleus of human cells. A cure would seem to hinge upon eliminating the parasite yet were we even able to discover how to do that, we would effectively be condemning ourselves to death.

  "With Lake Syndrome, there is a unique interaction occurring between parasite and host. The parasite starts out as more of a parasitoid, something that kills the host. However, perhaps due to a co-infection between interrelated species, the parasite becomes beneficial to humans as long as they maintain a presence with the true host, the people of the Lake."

  "So, my precious Amanda... what you're saying is that we have a choice: either we stay with a member of the Lake species, or we die. Are there no other options?"

  "As of now, no... but is that so bad, sweet Ginger?"

  "I only wish our lovely Nate was still here, I suppose. I never minded so much being around him."

  Chapter 13—Torment

  When his mother asked him to move back to Toulon his first impulse was to say no.

  He had learned to be alone and like it. He could muster no desire at all to return to the world of the People and their continual conflicts and persistent drama. While the girls intrigued him with their beauty, they simultaneously repelled him by their actions.

  Joshua had grown up without his father on the island of old Scotland. He lived with his mother Ginger in a small stone cottage behind the main castle. Being the only one of his kind... a pure blending of the People and of the Lake... he was shunned by humans and hybrids alike.

  "Why doesn’t anyone like me, my darling mother?"

  He must have been three years old when he had ventured alone to the courtyard of Orchardton Hall where a group of other children were playing some sort of game by kicking a round object about, squealing with laughter and delight.

  But when he tried to join in the fun, he was knocked down by a much larger boy, one who like him had gills where a human being's ears would have been, and yet who bore the unmistakable marks of the People.

  Later, Joshua learned the boy's name was Gunion, one of the sons of Ena and Alpin who lived on one of the north islands called the Isle of Skye. While Joshua's ancestry was natural, Gunion too was born of what were termed hybrids... beings who were engineered to have the traits of both those of the People and those of the Lake.

  "Why do you say no one likes you, my sweet Joshua? Has someone been picking on you again?"

  He hated to whine to his mother and more, he detested telling on others. The words had leaked out of him before he could shut his mouth, however, and now he realized he owned them, like it or not.

  "It's just that all the other children seem to know how to play games but when I try to join, I don’t understand what to do. I end up just standing there. I feel so stupid that I walk away to be alone."

  His mother had looked at him with such pity in her eyes that he was embarrassed. Even at such a tender age, Joshua knew his prowess exceeded that of the People who were three times as old as he.

  "These People and the others who torment you now, my darling Joshua, must realize on some level that you are their superior in every way. The hybrids too know that you are the only one of your kind. Your unique birth is perhaps unequaled in all of history. Let them have their fun now for when you become a man no one will be able to rival your achievements."

  "I don’t want to be unique, my precious mother. I want to be like everyone else."

  "No one asks to be born, my wondrous Joshua, nor do we get a say in who and what we are. To live in the world is to make do with what we are given. Remember, I will always love you, as will the Ladies. They too recognize your special gifts. Your Grandmother Lauren will one day speak to you about your heritage and the centuries she spent living beneath the waters of Lake Baikal. Once you understand how magnificent a people that you come from, you will no longer wish to be like anyone but yourself."

  "Did you have lots of friends when you were growing up, my darling mother?"

  "No, my sweet son... I was not favored to have companions until I grew to be a woman. My mother wasn’t around for me. She preferred spending her time with others. I thought for a long time that it was my fault... that there was something wrong with me that my own mother wouldn’t stay with me."

  "My father left me too, sweet mother."

  "You must never think that your father left you, my precious Joshua. He left me before he ever grew to know you as his son. If he had stayed I am sure he would have cherished every minute he could spend with you, just as I do. Your father was of the Lake while my mother was of the People.

  "Over the years I came to learn that the People are cruel beings prone to hating those who are closest to them. I even saw that trait in myself. When your father left us, I blamed him for not seeing what a wonderful life we could have had together. I didn’t realize that by my actions I pushed him away... the man who I loved more than life.

  "If Kāne was still here he might tell you how much he loved us both, but his is an affliction that runs deep. Rather than hating him for not devoting his life to us, I now know that there are deep conflicts raging in his mind and perhaps once he can resolve them to his satisfaction, he will come home to us."

  That conversation had taken place a thousand years ago yet he could still hear his mother's gentle voice caressing his auditory organs. Though he never told her, coming back to live in Toulon had been a dream of his for centuries. Though he had tried growing grapes and making wine his success was limited.

  Under his mother's tutelage, and Amanda's, Joshua discovered his calling. The vineyards that had been so carefully cultivated and cared for combined with the perfect climate produced grapes of surpassing quality. By using the techniques perfected over the last eight hundred years Joshua was soon bottling wine that bedazzled anyone who took so much as a sip.

  Yet there were always clouds on the horizon dampening any sense of happiness that arose on account of his accomplishments. The girl with whom he once lived, Tamara, decided to leave Toulon to go home with his old nemesis, Gunion. Joshua had known of their dalliance long ago but assumed it was over. When she left, she took their children with her.

  Tamara had been a rare beauty and of even rarer intelligence. She seemed to have a difficult time remembering her own name, refused to work in the vineyards while drinking wine all day long, and allowed him into her bed but once a month. Yet he had overlooked her many flaws in hopes that he had found the one woman who would stay by his side.

  He was wrong.

  Later there was Sally, a girl of the People who showed up at Toulon sick with Lake Syndrome. He had nursed her back to health and despite his better judgment allowed her to stay at his cabin behind the warehouse.

  She came to his bed late one night and by the morning he had fallen in love all over again. Sally had the kind of body that men would die for and what's more she read voraciously. He could actually hold a discussion with the girl without inwardly cringing at her stupidity.

  The girl had been flighty, however, and soon he discovered her missing. Three days later her body was found at the edge of an extinct village. No one could explain why she had gone there alone all the while knowing she would succumb to the fever.

  Over the centuries a parade of girls fell into and out of his bed. He'd forgotten most of their names and all their faces. Some were hybrids and some were human but they all seemed to be lacking in some essential feature that even he couldn’t put his finger upon.

  He had grown numb... even the most stunningly beautiful women who invariably allowed him to seduce them held no sway over him. He had come to accept that love was not for him... t
hat there were greater things in the world to occupy his time.

  The problem was finding interest in doing something other than drinking wine. It had become a passion. At first he told himself he was simply tasting it... that someone had to do it before the wine was bottled to know if it had matured sufficiently.

  Soon, however, he found himself drinking a bottle for breakfast and two more at lunch. It wasn’t uncommon for him to consume a case of twelve bottles each day. Grandfather Nate had noticed... so had Sally. They had both been tender with their words yet firm in saying they worried for his sobriety.

  He didn’t want to admit he had a problem. So, in an attempt to placate them both as well as other well-meaning friends and family he began to hide his drinking. It wasn’t a proper solution and he knew it, but it was the only one he could come up with.

  Finally, he decided to move away. He'd grown tired of the look in everyone's eyes that said more than any words could say. They pitied him. It didn’t seem to matter that he could do the work of four and still drink his fill. His was a constitution of iron.

  Perhaps it was an accident of his birth... the melding of two distinct species. The wine had no ill effect upon him other than to befuddle his mind at times, especially during the depths of night while everyone else slept.

  Night was the only time he could drink unfettered by the sour looks of others. Alone with the sea and stars, Joshua plotted a path that might lead him to a place where he could do as he pleased rather than succumbing to the itinerant wishes of others. No one would miss him anyway.

  The little island called out to him like a beacon on a hill. The old houses were nearly shattered but he used their rubble to rebuild lodgings to keep the rain off his head. Sailing away with half a dozen casks of wine had been no problem and though he thought they would last him for decades, he was wrong.

  Still, it was relatively easy to slip back into Toulon and make off with more... until the night he found the caves bare where they aged the wine in oaken casks... though there were still casks inside, they were all empty, waiting to be filled with the vintage that was no longer being produced.

  "Of course I'll move back to Toulon, my darling mother."

  He never thought he would regret his decision.

  Chapter 14—Uselessness

  He kept telling himself he should feel guilty.

  He had lured Ginger into a relationship because he felt abandoned by Lily. He knew the girl had adored him for centuries yet all he had ever done was ignore her until he wanted something from her. Was it adulation that he sought? Was that love?

  Amanda had come to Toulon of her own accord. She was the stronger of the two women who had made a life with him. Her intellect exceeded his own though he was loath to admit it even to himself.

  "Why are you always reading the old Archives, darling Amanda? What is so appealing about those old words?"

  "I like to compare the thoughts of those authors to my own, sweet Nate. I know I'll never be the equal of those long dead writers but when I read their words, I am with them anyhow, even if I fail to understand what they're saying."

  "Karen once told me that you are the best doctor she ever had the pleasure of working with."

  "Karen is sweet, my lovely Nate, but she is only being generous. I'm sure she knew many others before the Great Dying who were far more knowledgeable than I will ever be. I'm not even a real doctor. I never went to school for it. Everything I know, I learned on my own, or from Karen."

  Though they'd been apart for centuries, Amanda's words still haunted him. He considered himself a fool for having left his family in Toulon. Lily didn’t want him at Orchardton Hall but he stayed on anyway, hoping she'd change her mind. He heard the disdain in her voice yet he rationalized that she had only to grow used to his presence once more and their old love affair would flare anew.

  The infatuation with Lily started when he was a child. He could never shake it until Lily left him and he himself moved to the south of Old France to start a new life. When he returned to Orchardton Hall after his long absence, the obsession with Lily began anew. Each night as he lay down to sleep visions of her danced through his mind's eye. When he dreamed of being with Lily, he could think of nothing else for weeks. He would have stayed at Orchardton Hall forever if Natalia had not intervened.

  It wasn’t until his mother told him to leave that he went north to the Isle of Skye. He didn’t want to hear what she was saying yet he had to confess she was right. He didn’t belong there. The whole of old Scotland wore on his spirit yet he couldn’t bring himself to admit he was wrong for having come there. Instead, he immersed himself in toil and thought.

  As the work on Pete's star ship prototype progressed, Nate forgot about the vineyards in the south of old France. He forgot about his old friend Kirk, and he even forgot about Niall, his long lost grandson. The lure of the stars wheeling through the night sky had seeped into his body and lodged in his bones.

  "Do you ever think of going back to the south of old France, Grandfather Nate? Don't you miss your family there?"

  Ena had a way of bringing out the best in everyone, except for him. He found himself resenting her prescient ways and the self-assuredness that followed her around like so many lost puppy dogs. She had no right to reproach him for the way he lived his life.

  "I don’t know what I would say to either Ginger or Amanda if I went home again, my darling Ena. Do you think that might be why Alpin stays away from here too?"

  As soon as he said it, he suspected that he'd struck a nerve with Ena. As the centuries unfolded, it had become clear that the men of the Lake were fickle creatures and not so different than Kāne. Though he detested the man ever since he discovered Kāne was once Lily's lover, Nate knew they shared a genetic heritage that made them more alike than not.

  "I have never understood Alpin, Grandfather Nate. Even while we were growing up, he'd tease me incessantly about how I wasn’t his real sister. I knew he was telling the truth but it was a truth I didn’t care to examine.

  "I think we all seek absolution from those we love best. I was cruel to Alpin too. I neglected him to make a home for our children. When he asked me to come live with him in the Grampians, I refused to consider it.

  "For my part, I never really forgave him for abandoning us when we came in search of the Nautilus. After he found the Liberty, Father—and mother too—was so sure Alpin would sail with us to old America. Instead, he became angry with me when I asked him about it.

  "Later, I learned that Kāne's presence may have been influencing his judgment. Still, he had always been like a recalcitrant child when it came to associating with me, especially after our first love affair. We had swum to a beach in old France. One thing led to another and I became pregnant with Catan. Am I embarrassing you, Grandfather Nate?"

  He hadn’t realized he was blushing. Even though she was centuries old Nate still thought of Ena as the same little girl who used to sit wide-eyed on his lap as he told stories about his own exploits as a child, embellishing the bad and always neglecting the good.

  "Perhaps just a bit, my beautiful Ena... I suppose I'm still a little old fashioned when it comes to the ways of love."

  He had always fancied himself a bit of an outlaw but when it came to actually living up to the fantasy, he found he was forever falling short. Rather than playing around the edges of society as a misfit and a scoundrel, he was compelled to become a leader... a person that others looked up to and attempted to follow.

  "Lead by example, darling Nate... otherwise, the People will not respect you."

  His mother's words were as perceptive as they were inspiring. Natalia had allowed him the luxury of discovering the world on his own yet she had always been close enough to offer counseling when he needed it.

  Growing up without a father had placed the emphasis of leadership squarely upon his shoulders even as a youngster. He felt it was his duty to protect the Ladies from the unheard slander hurled their way by certain members of the People. T
hough Lily and Lauren never seemed to notice the insults, Nate did.

  A kernel of hate began to grow, not only towards the instigators of the disparaging remarks but to the People as a whole. Despite knowing better, he began taking out his angst upon Ginger. She was an easy target and the fact that she was clearly entranced by his presence only aggravated him.

  The remorse he felt over how he treated the girl was still there, a hard pit lodged deep in his throat. He had never stood up for her even when he saw Drummond bedeviling her the same way he used to use Lucy.

  When he took her for a wife, he told himself he was making amends for the bitter actions he doled out in their youth. He knew Ginger had no one watching out for her as a child. Her mother was an abomination who never should have been a parent and her own father raped her repeatedly if the rumors he heard were true.

  It wouldn’t have been so much to show her a simple kindness once in a while. Perhaps it was his own distain for the girl that drove others to treat her as they did, seeming to go out of their way in wreaking havoc upon her each time Ginger found a little solace in the hardness of her world.

  Perhaps that was why Niall grabbed a place in his heart. When the boy showed up unlooked for at Toulon, Nate was ready to take him home at once. He knew Ena and Alpin must have been concerned for Niall's well-being. But then something in the boy's demeanor had convinced Nate to ask Ena if Niall could stay at Toulon and serve as an apprentice. Perhaps it was a vision of Ginger at that age and how he turned his back to her.

  The boy proved to be the next closest thing to useless. He sat in rapt concentration as Nate explained the many nuances of winemaking yet Niall would promptly forget everything he learned by the next day. If assigned a task, it wouldn’t get done. Nate never doubted Niall's good intentions but his attention span was shorter than the time it took to take a breath and let it out.

  The boy needed guidance yet Nate had let him down. Instead of staying by Niall's side, he had taken off first to Lake Baikal and then to Orchardton Hall without ever letting the boy know. No wonder Niall did the same thing. He had grown up with an absent father as well as a grandfather who could never stay in one place long enough to put down roots.