Celtic Rose

by Campbell, Jill

  While the others were loading the SUV Kallisto walked up beside Gabriel and whispered, “Was that really a bobcat you fed us?”

  Gabriel grinned brightly, “No.” He paused a moment. “It was two bobcats.” Kallisto stared at Gabriel, astonished, but noticed the mischievous grin still in place and his eyes still sparkling. She continued staring at him until finally he broke, “Alright, it wasn’t bobcat. It was venison, properly seasoned and cooked. Everyone was so freaked I just couldn’t pass up messing with you all, mainly William; but all your faces were priceless. Now don’t you go telling anyone. Okay?” Kallisto smiled and nodded her head. She thought how it had been a long time since Gabriel was that playful. He must’ve found whatever he was looking for in his mind the night before. A playful Gabriel was more dangerous than a grumpy one, but also more keen in his thoughts.

  “I hope everyone’s ready for this,” Kallisto said to herself.

  Chapter 11

  They reached the airport in Oklahoma City by about half past ten. Their plane would leave at eleven. Kallisto was extremely nervous. She’d never been on an airplane in her adult life. All she could think about was that Alanis Morissette song ‘Ironic,’–the part where he’d waited his whole life to take the flight and his plane went down. Hope had only flown on a plane once in her life; Kallisto was with her, and she said the plane acted funny in the air. When they arrived at the airport, the pilot came on the radio and said that those who were on the through flight would need to get off and board another plane due to mechanical problems. Therefore, Kallisto was petrified of flying. Gabriel and Kalan could feel her panic rising and went to her. Talus and Kallisto were supposed to be two parts of a whole, but they weren’t able to feel what the other felt just yet. He saw the others walking to her and followed, as did William, Ramina, and Ephiny.

  Gabriel patted her shoulder. “Calm down, Kallisto. Everything’s just fine.”

  “Yeah Sis, I’ve ridden on an airplane twice. It’s not as bad as it seems.” Kalan smiled encouragingly.

  “I know that plane crashes don’t happen every day, but think about it. We only have a certain amount of time left. What if the plane is the cause of our death? What if we die quicker because this is the only life that we’ve actually ridden on a plane?” The panic rose as she rambled. Her heart felt like it would hammer through her chest. She started breathing heavily, gasping for air. Talus pushed past Gabriel and Kalan; they let him by. He grabbed her and started gently sliding his hands down the sides of her face.

  “Calm down, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be just fine.” Talus’ fingers slid down her cheeks gently, but it didn’t bring much comfort this time.

  Everyone but Ramina and Ephiny looked at Gabriel as he spoke. “Kallisto, remember what I told you in the truck on the way to the house. We do not die on a plane.”

  “I’d believe the plane death before I’d believe that someone in this group would betray us!” Only Ramina, Ephiny, and Kallisto knew about the betrayal; that’s what Gabriel wanted to talk to Ramina and Kallisto about when they first met and rode with him in his truck. He wanted to keep it from the guys to keep them from acting suspicious of one another. Kallisto hated secrets and she could only keep them for so long, but the pending plane ride was bringing it on quicker than expected.

  “Kallisto, do you want to cause the death to come quicker? If you blow this out of proportion you just may.” He was getting angry now. Everybody got angry when a secret was told, but when it meant life or death the secret became survival. Talus kept trying to comfort her even though he was confused by the conversation. She quit talking, but she couldn’t stop hyperventilating. Her whole body shook and trembled.

  Kallisto, honey, everything will be fine. The ghostly words didn’t come from anyone in the airport. A vision of the enchantress was in Kallisto’s head. She floated toward her, smiling brightly. She placed her hands on Kallisto’s shoulders.

  “The plane is not how you die, child. I know it’s scary, sweetheart, but you’ve died several times before. It doesn’t get better, but I promise, honey, you’ll come back like you have before and when the purpose is fulfilled then you’ll live the rest of your days with Talus. Your brother will be with Ramina. You will all be together and live full and happy lives when this is all over. I promise Kallisto, it’ll all work out. You’ll know the purpose of this in the end, and it will all be worth it.” She hugged Kallisto to her and a feeling of calm flowed through Kallisto.

  “Kallisto? Honey, are you back?” Talus looked at Kallisto, concerned again. “I thought you’d went into shock or something. You scared me.” He finished and then he laughed. Kallisto had a smile on her face and she guessed it comforted him. The announcer called for boarding on their plane.

  “Come on everybody, we better go or we’ll miss our flight.” Kallisto smiled brightly at them all. She grabbed Talus and pulled him along; everyone else followed. They made it through the gate quickly and boarded the plane. She felt calm as could be–so calm, in fact, that she went to sleep almost as soon as they were seated.

  The flight seemed like a dream. She woke once or twice to Talus’ smiling face and went back to sleep. She seemed to be walking in a daze the whole way. She barely remembered changing flights; she didn’t remember where they changed or even how many times they changed flights. The only thing she remembered was walking hand in hand with Talus, and she vaguely remembered the others walking all around them. She didn’t even remember what the airports looked like; it was all just a blur.

  Every plane ride was a blank except for a few glimpses of Talus and sometimes Gabriel as he checked on her. With Talus it was comforting smiles, but with Gabriel it was worried looks as he felt her forehead and checked her pulse. She couldn’t even muster a worried thought about why Gabriel looked that way. The only thing she could do was return Talus’ smiles and relaxed smiles for Gabriel, which only served to make the worried look on Gabriel’s face more defined. Kallisto tried to reach out and smooth the worried brow above Gabriel’s eyes, but half way to Gabriel’s face her hand would drop and she’d go out again.

  They finally reached Egypt. Kallisto wasn’t sure how long the trip actually took since it was a blur, but once she got out of the plane and her feet touched solid ground she felt wide awake and alert. She stopped immediately and turned to Gabriel.

  “Why did you look so worried on the plane?” she asked as she walked beside Gabriel with Talus still holding her hand. She finally reached out with her free hand like she tried to do in the plane and smoothed his brow. His brow smoothed out under her touch and he visibly relaxed. He let out a sigh and grabbed her hand, putting it to his chest and holding it with both hands.

  “You were incoherent ever since we left Oklahoma. I was worried that you were dying from shock or something. I’m so glad you seem to be fine now, but I just didn’t know what was going on or how to fix it.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Kallisto thought she saw a glint of a tear at the corner of his eye. He never showed much emotion, especially with William lingering so close. Kallisto wasn’t sure if William just didn’t notice or if he was keeping the cruel banter he usually used on Gabriel to himself. That was more than Kallisto could ever expect of William especially when it pertained to Gabriel. Usually he’d be more than willing to capitalize on anything he deemed as a weakness on Gabriel’s part. As Kallisto looked at William she noticed there was a worried look on his face much like Gabriel’s; maybe that was why he hadn’t said anything. Apparently he couldn’t be cruel to a feeling in Gabriel that he felt himself.

  Gabriel still had his eyes closed, breathing in shuttering breaths. A tear moved down his cheek, but there was only one. Kallisto realized in that moment that Gabriel hated not knowing what was going on; it made him feel out of control.

  “Gabriel, I know what happened. At least, I think I do,” Kallisto said, slightly confused. He opened his eyes then and looked at her seriously, no hint of worry or joking on his face. “In the airport when I
zoned out on you all, the enchantress...Mother came to me and told me everything would be fine. She comforted me and had me relaxed. You felt that, but I think she did something to me that would keep me calm through the traveling. As soon as my feet hit the ground here I seemed to wake up and now I feel fine.” Kallisto patted Gabriel’s chest where he still held her hand, and smiled at him. He smiled back and finally released her hand, practically vibrating with relief.

  They traveled away from the airport and found the nearest city. It was surrounded by a wall, and was the only one left that still had aspects of ancient Egypt. It was perfect. As far as they could tell there was only one opening to enter and exit. It very nearly resembled the outside of the castle from their first life, but it was much larger. It didn’t just hold one castle and the housing of the guards and servants; it held a whole city. The walls went on for miles before curving around. Inside they couldn’t really tell the city was encased in a stone wall. There were many tall buildings, businesses, and houses everywhere.

  The first thing they had to do was find a place to stay. What they found was basically a palace, but it’d been transformed into a beautiful hotel. They got rooms using the coupons they received from the hotel in Phoenix; Kallisto guessed they came in handy after all. The rooms were next to each other with adjoining doors and were more like apartments. Each apartment had two bedrooms.

  Each room had a living room with an entertainment center complete with television, DVD player, video game consoles, DVD’s, and video games. There was a tan suede couch and matching recliners positioned around the entertainment center. Another huge chair faced the picture window that looked down into the square. The chair was big enough for two people to sit in, and it came with a foot stool.

  Standing at the window Kallisto could see the center of the square. There was a beautiful fountain in the center with a statue of Anubis holding what looked like a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. People walked around the square dressed in Egyptian clothing; not the fancy formal kind, but the commoner clothing with veils for the women. The garments were beautiful. There were shops everywhere around the square. People were going in the shops and coming out with bags of different items. There were a lot of tourists traveling around the square taking pictures and buying souvenirs. Kallisto walked away from the window to look at the rest of the apartment.

  The bathroom was huge. The tub looked like it was big enough for four people to sit it, maybe more. There were candles placed around it, unused. The sink was interesting. It looked like a blue bowl with gold Egyptian symbols and it was sitting in the middle of the table under the faucet. The table matched the bowl in design exactly. The faucet itself was golden; it ran up and then down to the bowl in a type of S shape. The handles for the hot and cold water were the shapes of hawks or eagles. The tub and the toilet matched the sink in the fact that they were blue with golden designs of Egyptian symbols all over them. The floor was blue tile with golden flecks. The walls were about the same color blue and there were designs of the Egyptian gods painted in gold all around the room.

  Kallisto went into the bedroom to unpack with the other girls. There was a door between the two bedrooms that could be opened, and they could see and talk to each other while they unpacked. Both of the beds in the room were on the far wall of the room facing the door to the other room, and two four-drawer dressers were on the side walls by the beds. A table with a lamp on each side sat between the two beds. The walls were blue-gray in color and adorned with paintings hung all around the room. Royal blue comforters with gold vines running through them decorated each bed, while the sheets underneath and the pillowslips were royal blue satin; they were very soft and slick. By the closet stood a white and gold vanity with a beautiful mirror surrounded with golden vines, and covered with several perfumes, brushes, hair clips, combs, and makeup. There was even a paper telling women how to do the traditional Egyptian look with their makeup. Kallisto thought it would be nice to be able to blend in and resemble a native of the country rather than a tourist.

  Gabriel knocked on the adjoining door; Kallisto opened their side. He walked in carrying several bags, and placed them on the couch.

  “Come on out here, girls. I need to talk to you for a minute,” Gabriel said loud enough for them to hear, and they walked into the living room area. Talus, William, and Kalan came in from the other room. Ephiny went to William and they sat on the couch together. Ramina and Kalan sat on the floor in front of the couch. Talus grabbed Kallisto’s hand and pulled her to one of the chairs. He sat in the chair and she sat on the arm. They waited, looking at Gabriel expectantly.

  “I have good reason to believe that the witch’s minions are somewhere here in Egypt. To be able to have any kind of safety out of doors, we’re going to have to be disguised. While you were unpacking I went to a store in the square and got us some disguises. These sacks hold all the items. There are many to choose from, and you won’t have to wear the same thing every day. Ours are in the other room. We’re going to need to go out tonight and look for the guide that was mentioned in the prophecy. I don’t know if we’ll find her tonight or if it’ll take a few nights, so we’ll stay disguised until we do,” Gabriel said, smiling.

  They looked at each other and back at Gabriel. They had smiles on their faces.

  “All right! We get to be super spies!” Kalan said ecstatically, and everyone laughed with him.

  “We can do that, Gabriel. We even have instructions in our room on how to do the traditional makeup of Egyptian women. We’ll look the part in no time,” Kallisto said happily.

  “Oooh. I can’t wait to see what you girls look like in those outfits and that makeup. I wonder if you’ll look as good as you did in the traditional Celtic clothing.” William looked at Ephiny.

  “I bet we’ll look better than we did, even then,” Ramina told him. Ephiny stayed quiet with a shy smile.

  Kallisto grinned. “I can’t wait to see what you guys look like in your clothes. From what I’ve seen outside it should be quite a sight.”

  The guys grimaced, all but Gabriel, who smiled smugly, like he knew it was going to be a sight–at least for William and maybe the others, depending on how elaborate Gabriel decided to go.

  “Now Gabriel, the guys have to be able to blend in with the locals, not stand out like circus freaks,” Kallisto joked.

  “You know me better than that, Kallisto. They’ll blend, but they might blend with a different part of the culture than is usually seen,” Gabriel laughed. Somehow, Kallisto thought their clothes would blend just fine. He just liked to see the fear in their eyes. She shook her head, still smiling. Talus, William, and Kalan stared at Gabriel as though his teeth and claws had grown out again.

  “Come on boys; let’s go see what Uncle Gabriel has for you.” Gabriel turned and walked through the door to their room. The guys stood up slowly and walked sadly to the other room. They looked like kids who’d just lost a puppy. Kallisto had to smile. They looked back, asking for help with their eyes–the girls just smiled and waved them on. They shut the door as they went through to confront their fate. The girls laughed at their expressions and turned to the bags Gabriel had left behind.

  “Well, let’s see what we have so we can get ready for a night on the town.” The girls smiled at Kallisto and each grabbed a bag to go through. There were several blue outfits in the bag Kallisto chose; Ramina chose the bag with green outfits, and red outfits filled the bag Ephiny chose. The other three bags held clothing in yellow, purple, and black. Each bag held several garments in a single color throughout, so the bags were designated by color. They each chose garments in each of the colors. One bag had several different pairs of shoes and another bag had many different accessories to accent the clothing. They were definitely going to look the part. Kallisto chose a blue outfit for the first night’s festivities. Ramina chose a black one, and Ephiny chose a purple one. They dressed and then looked at each other. The outfit Kallisto had on was loose fitting on the arms and legs
with sheer fabric in those places. The fabric that encased her chest was thick satin that hugged her curves, what little of them there were. The delicate areas were encased tightly in that type fabric, but the rest was sheer like the arms and legs. Kallisto’s stomach showed through the sheer fabric just below the thick satin until it reached her hips. The scarf that went with it was the same sheer fabric but did a good job of hiding her face, all except for the eyes. The sandals she chose to go with the outfit were like spun gold and matched the glitter in the outfit, defining it. Ramina and Ephiny’s outfits were made in the same fashion as hers only different colors. They all had golden glitter in them, and the girls chose golden sandals to match. They found several items of belly jewelry that were easily seen through the thin cloth, along with rings, necklaces, and earrings to match.

  The next thing to be done was the makeup. They followed the instructions and made it look very natural and authentic, and when they were finished they looked in the mirrors and then at each other; everyone was very pleased with the outcome. All that was left was to wait for the guys. Kallisto couldn’t wait to see just what Gabriel had in store for them.

  The guys finally made their way into the room. Talus was the first one they saw. He looked relatively normal. The pants he had on were white and a little baggy but nothing unsightly. The top he wore was blue, a little darker color than Kallisto’s. It was a pull over shirt that came to the middle of his thighs, with a white belt around the center of it and a slit in the top that came down to a point a little higher than mid-chest. The shoes looked like comfortable walking shoes. He was very handsome, even in the baggy clothes. Kallisto had seen others down on the street dressed like him. Kalan was dressed much the same as Talus, but his shirt was black and the pants had a tinge of grey, as did the belt. William was the one that had the more traditional Egyptian clothes. It was sackcloth that went over the head and came down to his ankles. He was frowning when he came into the room. He was completely covered and the clothing was baggy. Kallisto had seen many of the men looking like him down on the street as well. He had another piece of cloth over his shoulders that hung down to his ankles. His shoes were just like the others. He had a head wrap on and looked very much like a pale Egyptian.