The Eye of Erasmus

by Teresa Geering

  Chapter 17

  The night had not been easy for Erasmus. He tried again to go back to his own time but again with no success. Once again he could see his mother but not touch her. Finally he had fallen into a fitful sleep of travelling through time and being stranded. He also dreamt of Hesper, seeing him as a fit and healthy man.

  Shaking off his fears, he went to see Shasta and they decided to take Hesper to spend the day lazing on the beach. It was taken for granted that Merlin would join them, although he ensured he kept a safe distance from any water.

  It gave Erasmus the chance to voice his fears to Shasta and also enlighten her on his visit to Liana. She finally admitted to him that she had seen danger for him when she read the tea leaves in his cup at the lecture.

  Shasta just had to ask the question. “Would you be very unhappy if you couldn’t go back to your own time Erasmus?” she asked, secretly dreading the answer.

  He looked long and hard at her as if weighing up the answer. “Yes and no. Yes, because I can only see my mother in a vision. No, because you have now become my life and I never want to be parted from you. I have had many women in my life, Shasta, I don’t deny that, but I never realised how love can make you feel inside. I love you with my whole heart and soul.”

  “Oh Erasmus,” was all she could say, completely overwhelmed by his admissions of love and at the same time completely accepting his admissions of other women. He was a good looking man and she supposed it was to be expected.

  To a certain extent he seemed to accept the lessening of his powers. If it was a choice between his power and losing Shasta there would be no contest. Shasta would win every time. In the meantime he put it to the back of his mind and enjoyed the rest of the day. If it were in his power he would make Hesper whole again as shown in his dream. But watching the speed he got around he wondered if it would be a good thing after all.

  As he watched Hesper, he was also aware that he was being watched in turn by the boy. It was a strange look, thought Erasmus, almost hostile at times, but he couldn’t think why and put it down to his imagination.

  Later that evening he sat quietly in the garden at Shasta’s house. The three of them had had their fill of good food. Shasta sat beside him as they watched Hesper and Merlin playing with the mouse on the stick that he had bought. Hesper rarely wore the shirt he had purchased but tonight he had deigned to wear it.

  He felt at peace with the world as he watched the sun set on the horizon and then the moon taking its place. From time to time Hesper stopped playing and they discussed different stars that suddenly appeared in the heavens. He knew complete happiness and was content in his new family environment.

  Shasta, without his realising it, had shown him humility and he had responded.

  Whatever lay in the future he would take it as it came. If there was a danger to be confronted somehow he would deal with it.

  Chapter 18

  Several time a week Shasta went to the market. It was nice to be out and about and meet up with friends, and look at what new wares were on display. Hesper usually accompanied her along with Merlin who only just fitted into the basket these days. Both of them seemed to be growing daily and most of her trips were to top up her cupboard which seemed constantly half full. Although Erasmus ate with them regularly, he didn’t seem to eat as much as Hesper. They laughed it off as Hesper being a growing boy.

  Hesper surprised her the most. He rarely used his crutch these days and somehow he seemed to be getting about better on his leg, which seemed to be filling out and getting stronger. At first she put it down to her imagination and then to the nourishing food he was being fed daily. Hesper, at these suggestions, just smiled and agreed. Merlin, they concurred, was definitely getting fatter. Very soon, she decided, he would have to walk to the market or stay at home as he was becoming too heavy to carry around.

  Today he was happily walking along beside Hesper, rarely straying more than a couple of feet in front him. Occasionally Hesper picked him up if there were too many people about and he seemed content to sit around the back of his neck, much to the amusement of passersby.

  Liana was in her usual place and, leaving Hesper to roam at will for a while, Shasta decided to wait her turn to speak to her. It was quite pleasant sitting in the late autumn sunshine. Best to make the most of it, she thought. Before so long, winter will set in.

  Almost as if in answer, a distant rumbling could be heard out to sea. Looks like we may be in for some rain then, she thought to herself. Heaven knows, the garden could do with it after the scorching summer we’ve had.

  “Did you want to talk to me, Shasta?” asked Liana suddenly breaking into her thoughts unexpectedly.

  Goodness she was miles away thinking of all sorts.

  Moving forward she greeted Liana and posed her question carefully. “Erasmus has been trying for some time to revisit his own time unsuccessfully. Why is this, Liana?”

  “Erasmus is in love”

  “I don’t understand, Liana. How does that effect his movement through time?”

  “By being in love with you he has become more emotional. This makes him more vulnerable and consequently it takes away his strength of resolve. Perhaps he doesn’t want to return to his own time, my dear. Maybe he is content where he is, therefore his subconscious won’t let him go. Erasmus is not used to weakness of any kind and finds it difficult to cope with.”

  While Shasta was taking this in, Liana said “Hesper seems to be improving in health, I see. You are certainly making a man of him.”

  “I love him dearly, Liana. When Erasmus and I are wed, we will accept and love him as our own son. Erasmus has grown equally fond of him.”

  “Heed my warning Shasta. All is not as it seems. Now go!”

  With that she was dismissed, unable to question further.

  As always, Shasta came away from Liana with even more unanswered questions than when she started out. She made up her mind not to approach Liana again, but deep in her heart she knew that she would of course.

  CHAPTER 19

  “Yes, that’s it. I’ve got it!” shouted Erasmus to anyone who was listening outside of his cave that morning.

  Tripping over his own feet in his haste, he stumbled and fell on to the sand. Laughing, he got up and carried on towards Shasta’s house, only to feel disappointment on discovering she wasn’t there. She must be in the market place, he thought, and made off there. He passed several people on the way who remarked on the change in him of late. He was no longer the strange caveman, as he had become known locally.

  Finally he caught sight of her in the distance and hurried to catch up. As he called her name she turned and hurried back to meet him. With eyes for only each other, neither saw the look of annoyance on Hesper’s face or Merlin digging his claws in the back of his neck.

  He explained his idea and wondered how she felt about it. Her face lit up.

  “That would be wonderful, Erasmus, but you would need a lot of help.”

  “Well I’m sure the neighbours will help. After all, I have helped them often enough. If we do it at night mostly, he won’t really know. We will need to hurry though as the seasons are against us.”

  Putting his plan to the neighbours, they were only too glad to help out and agreed much haste was needed if they were to be finished before the weather got too bad.

  So for the next couple of months Erasmus worked solidly on the project. From the front nothing looked very different but at the back it was a different matter. Everything started to take shape.

  Shasta was content to see him when she could and Hesper seemed quite content with things as they were also. So the pattern was set. Finally on a very cold mid December morning, it was finished. The women had lent a hand where necessary, and Erasmus could hardly contain himself. He felt wonderful looking at all he had achieved. He reminisced on his former years when he had considered himself so superior to everyone. This feeling of self-satisfaction was far better.

  Whistling to himself
he walked to Shasta’s house. She was overjoyed to hear the news and decided that they should keep quiet about it until after the evening meal. For now it would be their secret.

  Explaining to Hesper that they would be eating early this evening, and putting off her friend Esme until the following evening, they sat down to eat.

  Erasmus and Shasta couldn’t eat their food fast enough. When it was finally finished, they told Hesper what had been done.

  He looked aghast and went ashen. Then his face went bright red with anger.

  “You have rebuilt my parent’s house? Without even asking how I felt about it? Did you not even consider that I would like to be consulted?”

  Erasmus and Shasta looked on in astonishment, firstly because of his outburst, but mostly because his persona seemed to change in stature. His body looked larger and stronger and his eyes went from blue to black.

  Instantly, and in turn, the old Erasmus was back. His eyes went from blue placid pools to black coals. Pulling his body to its full height he said “How dare you, you ungrateful little wretch? Have you any idea how much hard work went into rebuilding that house, the amount of people that have helped simply because they wanted to make amends to you for their neglect of you in the past? There have been days when our hands have bled and our backs virtually broken, and you question why we did it?”

  Taken back and surprised by Erasmus’ reaction, Hesper immediately reverted to the little boy again. “I’m sorry, Erasmus, please forgive me. It was such a shock. Will you take me to see it?”

  Instantly Erasmus quietened down. “Perhaps I should apologise too. I thought you would be pleased. I know you often visit the ruin and I felt it would be nice to see it rebuilt.”

  Shasta sat down, getting her breath back. She couldn’t believe the difference in both of them. With Hesper, it was because of the change in him. Suddenly, it seemed like she was watching and listening to a mature man. Erasmus, she had never seen lose his temper so she was equally shocked at the way he raged at the boy.

  Thank goodness for the calm which had now settled. Even Merlin had retreated to the basket. He was far too big for it now but still he tried to curl up in it out of harm’s way.

  Now that they were both calm, Erasmus agreed to walk to the house with Hesper. Shasta decided to stay with Merlin. It wasn’t a very pleasant evening and she preferred to stay in the warm by the fire. In the distance she could hear the sea roaring as it crashed against the shore. Besides it would give them time to get over their differences, she thought to herself.

  Looking back, she realised that she hadn’t noticed how much Hesper had matured since he had been with her. It seemed that Erasmus had mellowed as time went on and Hesper now showed signs of aggression. A couple of times before he had reacted similarly, but she had put that down to the frustration of his leg. No excuses now, though, she thought. There had been a dramatic improvement. He never used his crutch and, apart from a slight limp when he was tired, no one would ever recognise him as the boy he was. The leg had filled out and now looked no different to the other one. Thinking about it, his body had really filled out as well. Why hadn’t she noticed the changes in his body before? In the heat of the summer he had barely worn clothes at all apart from breeches and, yes, his shirts did now look a bit tight. She really had to consider buying him some more. She would see to it tomorrow at the market.

  Chapter 20

  As Erasmus and Hesper made their way towards the house, the strong wind beat them back. With their heads down there wasn’t much chance of talking or voicing their opinions on their recent outburst.

  Hesper, for his part, had regretted it bitterly. He had shown his other self far sooner than he intended. He would have to learn more self control. His time was not yet. A few more weeks and he would be ready.

  Erasmus walked silently to the house. He recalled all of the hard work that had been put into it. Many nights he had gone back to his cave his back breaking from his toil. He had not even considered food; he had been too tired. Many hours had been put in also by the friends helping him. Yes, he considered them friends now and had begun to feel like part of the community. They had all worked together, stone by back-breaking stone, in atrocious weather sometimes; then that boy asked how we dared build without consulting him.

  It still angered him to the core of his soul but he also had to recognise that he hadn’t consulted Hesper who claimed it to be his home, although he had never explained how or why. Erasmus and Shasta had even speculated that Hesper might be a time traveller too, projected forward by a tragedy, who had got stuck here in this time, as Erasmus had. If only he would admit it. Why such secrecy?

  Whatever the explanation, Erasmus had thought Hesper would have been so pleased with the surprise. Well, time would tell. They were nearly there.

  They both started to walk with more earnest as if in silent agreement. Finally, with red faces and watery eyes from the high wind, they arrived.

  From a distance, the front still looked derelict but, close up, Hesper could see the improvements that had been made and the all round appearance. He admitted to himself that a lot of hard work had been put into it and he should be grateful to Erasmus. But he wasn’t prepared to admit to that just yet. He wanted to see inside first.

  As he walked round to the side of the house and inside, he stopped. It looked exactly as it had done before the fire. Even the garden area had been tended.

  “It probably looks nothing like the way you remember it,” Erasmus ventured.

  “It looks exactly the way I remember it.”

  Erasmus frowned. How could that be? Was the boy telling the truth or merely humouring him.

  Hesper knew exactly how that could be.

  As Erasmus stood back and watched, he could see the boy suddenly become smaller in stature. His shoulders hunched and his body shook with emotion. As he moved forward to console him he shook him off. Wiping the tears with the back of his hand he recovered himself instantly.

  “Yes, well, I suppose I need to thank you for your part in this. Can we go now? I’m tired.”

  Realising that the boy was overcome but trying hard to hide it, he agreed that they should get back and maybe visit again tomorrow in daylight. As they left the house, a seagull swooped over the head of Erasmus from the roof, screeching loudly, taking him completely by surprise and causing him to duck down.

  Hesper chuckled to himself and moved off the craggy rock back down the hill to Shasta’s house, their return journey that much quicker with the wind behind them.

  Shasta was eager to hear all about the house she had visited many times but had not seen completed. She intended to go there during the daytime to enable her to have a good look round. Hesper said it was almost identical to the original, which puzzled her, because if that were the case, why was his mood so subdued? Feigning tiredness from the walk, he asked to go to his bed and, disappointed by his lack of enthusiasm, she agreed.

  Erasmus, with mixed feelings, had decided to go back to his cave, arranging to see Shasta the following morning. They both intended to look at the house again in daylight.

  Over the next few weeks Hesper visited the house often, getting the feel of it again. He seemed reluctant to let anyone else go there. It had been furnished almost the same as before with only a few changes.

  It was his. Erasmus had made that quite clear to him. He could come and go as he pleased or stay there permanently if he wished. He had mixed feelings about this as he enjoyed the company of Shasta who had taken him into her home when he was at his lowest ebb. The added bonus to that, of course, was finding Merlin again.

  So he spent some of the time in his new home and other times with Shasta. This seemed to work out quite well as Erasmus and Shasta planned to wed soon.

  Well, we will see what happens after that, he thought to himself, and he let out a heinous laugh which no one but he and the seagull on top of his roof heard.

  Chapter 21

  Christmas came and went, celebrated by the three
of them at Shasta’s house. Much food was eaten and presents exchanged. Many friends were visited and they in return called on Shasta and Erasmus to continue the celebrations. In the New Year Hesper decided he wanted to spend more time in his own home which he did with their blessing.

  As the cold winter came to an end, the wedding of Erasmus and Shasta drew near.

  It had been delayed until the early spring for several reasons. Now, as the spring sunshine did its best to warm the earth, the area took on a new life. Local people began to come out and about, taking walks along the beach eager to rid themselves of the winter cobwebs. Although there wasn’t much warmth in the sun, there was a promise of warmth to come.

  Hespers’ leg was hardly noticeable now. No one had any answer for it but just regarded it as a gift of fate to be accepted without question.

  Erasmus, in his quieter moments, had tried several times to return to his own time with no success. As he sat in his cave, he had many visions but had to accept that he could now only watch his mother from afar. Occasionally he saw his sisters. Their families still seemed to increase yearly but he was sad to see his mother looking so frail.

  Maybe this was the price he had to pay for true love, he thought.

  Shasta sympathised with him, but she had convinced herself that if he was able to travel back to his own time she would never see him again. She would be devastated if he went and then couldn’t return. The sooner they were wed the better.

  Shasta had decided on a small ceremony in the local church near the market. Her dress was being made for her by Esme and she would have a head-dress and bouquet of spring flowers. Hesper would wear black breeches, black shoes, long white socks and a white silk shirt. This was much to his disgust but he agreed to it to please her. He was now as tall as Erasmus and, although slimmer, he was certainly sturdy. Merlin would wear a white silk ribbon so as not to be left out. It was now just a matter of the day arriving.