The Gathering

by S L Dearing

  The light created by these two sources was beautiful, but more importantly it signified the start of the evening festivities.

  Molly Creegan was sound asleep when she fell on the floor, right on her face.

  "Come On! Wake up!""

  Molly groaned and rubbed her head. When she opened her eyes and she rolled over she was staring directly up at Jones, who was consequently looking down at her.

  "Sun's going down! We're gonna to miss the start if you don't get a move on. Let's go!"

  She sat up and then raised herself to her feet. She was now looking down at Jones, who was sporting a frown, which few ever saw. Molly raised her hands and grabbed for her clothes.

  "Ok, I’m going. I thank the gods you don't wear a kilt. I don’t need to see that when I wake up."

  "I'll put one on if it'll make you move faster."

  Molly grinned and bolted to the showers.

  Sean had just finished changing his clothes. He now wore a green long-sleeved shirt and brown leather pants with his boots. He stamped down on the stone floor to fix his boot when someone knocked.

  "Enter."

  Into the room walked Chris and Tanner Stark. They too were looking very handsome. They were identical twins, but they went to great pains to make themselves look different. Although they had the same medium build and both stood six feet in height, Chris had shoulder-length layered brown hair

  and had taken to wearing a van dyke. Tanner had dyed his hair black and it hung almost to his waist. He wore a goatee and a thin line beard around his jaw. They managed to look very different.

  Sean looked up and saw them.

  "What's up? Aren't you supposed to be setting up?"

  "Nah, Mr. Tippen is setting up, " answered Tanner.

  Then Tanner looked at Chris and nodded in Sean's direction, trying to get him to speak and Sean smiled as he thought about when they were only boys.

  As the silent prodding went on, Sean spoke.

  "Today, Gentlemen."

  Chris turned.

  "Ok, before our dad died, you and he would always celebrate the start of the Gathering with a toast."

  "Yeah," said Tanner.

  Sean raised his eyebrows.

  "Well," Tanner continued, "we asked him before he "left" if we could toast as well and he said when we were eighteen."

  Chris nodded.

  "Well, we’re eighteen now."

  Sean folded his arms in front of him.

  "And?"

  Chris's shoulders slumped slightly as Tanner started to answer.

  "Well, since dad's not here anymore and now we're eighteen and…well, we…we thought we could carry on the tradition with you."

  "If you want, that is,” stammered Chris.

  Sean looked at the boys and then put his hands on his hips and looked at the ground. He sighed heavily and raised his gaze to theirs.

  "You guys are putting me in a hell of a position, you know that? What if your mom finds out? What then?"

  The boys were looking at the floor as Sean moved to his armoire. He opened the doors and reached inside.

  He glanced over his shoulder with a smile and brought out a bottle of scotch and three glasses.

  Both Chris and Tanner looked at him and then each other with stunned wonder and smiled. Sean placed the glasses on the table and began to pour.

  "Well, I guess what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?"

  "Right,” they responded in unison.

  Sean handed the boys each a glass. Then he raised his and the boys followed suit. Sean smiled and looked at the young men. They were so grown up in so many ways, but he still saw the little boys he had met thirteen years before.

  "So you want to do the same toast?”

  The boys looked at each other and then Sean nodded.

  "Ok,” Sean spoke. “May we always find peace in our hearts. May we always find love in our homes. May we always remember the past. May we never have need to roam. For the days of old have brought us together to remember how we came here. We drink to our past, we drink to our love and we drink to our friends. May we always remember why."

  Sean held up his glass and the twins held up theirs.

  "To my friend, Paul Stark."

  Tanner looked at his brother.

  "To our father."

  Chris looked at Sean.

  "And to his best friend…and ours."

  Sean felt himself affected by the words, but managed to hide his emotion. He nodded at the boys.

  "To all of us."

  "To all of us!"

  They raised the glasses to their lips and swallowed. Sean blew out the liquored air as he watched the boys start to cough.

  "Nice, huh?"

  The twins looked at him as if he were insane. He took the glasses from them and slapped them on the back.

  "Don't worry, Guys, you'll get used to it. You have to acquire a taste."

  The twins nodded and tried to breathe when another knock came on the door.

  "Enter."

  Molly Creegan had dressed in record time and she and Jones stood at the door.

  "Sorry to bother you, Captain. We just wanted to confirm that we're not expected back on duty until tomorrow night. Is that correct, Sir?"

  Sean nodded and smiled.

  "That's right, Creegan. You both put in the hours, now go have fun."

  Jones leaned forward and looked concerned.

  "Are they ok, Sir?"

  "Sure, they just had their first whiskey. They'll be fine."

  Jones nodded and he and Molly walked away, barely containing their laughter.

  The twins had regained their composure and had stopped coughing.

  "It wasn't that bad," said Chris.

  Sean pointed at the door.

  "Out. Go set up."

  The boys smiled and started to leave.

  "Boys?"

  They turned and looked at their father's old friend.

  "Your dad would be proud of you. Never forget that."

  They smiled and turned.

  "Thanks, Sean."

  They walked out and as they closed the door, Sean walked back to the bottle of scotch and poured another drink. He walked over the window and looked at the lights.

  "Here's to you, Old Friend."

  He drank the shot and looked at the castle. Just then, he could see Alia from one of her windows. She looked over at him and threw up her arms and pointed at her wrist. He put his hands up and left the window.

  "She is a handful," he thought and looked at the old picture of he and Paul again. "Don't know how you did it."

  Sean opened the door and just as he was about to close it he thought he heard a voice, no higher than a whisper.

  "You will."

  Sean opened the door, but the only thing in the room was a raven on his windowsill. He shook his head and closed the door.

  20

  "Come on, Ellie."

  Grant Turner was pacing back and forth.

  "I got a message from Alia. We're supposed to meet her and everyone else at Donagan's Pub."

  "I'm almost ready, Grant. As God is my witness, you are the most impatient man."

  A knock interrupted their bickering as Grant walked over and opened the door to reveal his son. Ian was dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt, black pants and black boots.

  "Aren't you guys going to the pub?"

  Grant motioned towards the bedroom and threw his hands up. Ian moved into the room and laughed.

  "Well, I can see you have your hands full. I'm going to the main stage. Where's Hannah?"

  "She, Rebecca and Rachel took off after dinner. They're supposed to be at the main stage anyway and the pub is right there."

  Grant moved towards the bedroom doorway and yelled.

  "If there are any seats left when we get there!"

  Ellen Turner walked into the room and smiled sweetly at her son. She stopped to look him up and down.

  "Well, don't we look handsome? Any reason?"

  I
an folded his arms across his chest.

  "If you must know, yes."

  "I must know."

  Grant began to laugh, but turned it into a cough as his wife turned her head to give him the quiet-down look. She turned back to her son, reached up and straightened out his collar.

  "Never mind us, Ian. Just have a wonderful time."

  Suddenly there was another knock on the door. Chris and Tanner were standing there.

  "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Turner."

  They bowed, as was now the custom.

  "No pretense, Boys. I suspect you're looking for my son. He's here."

  They walked in and clasped hands.

  "We hate to run, but we have to go and set up."

  Chris walked to the door.

  “Ian, you coming?"

  Ian nodded and turned to his mom. He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

  "You look great! See you later."

  Ellen shooed her son and the Stark boys out, but stood wistfully looking after them, lost in her own world. She felt Grant's arms wrap around her. She sighed.

  "They grow up so fast. My little boy is a man."

  "Yeah."

  Grant kissed his wife on the cheek.

  "We have to go now, Darlin'. They're going to start the evening festivities."

  "How do I look? You didn't even notice."

  "Yeah, I did. I always do. Beautiful. You look beautiful."

  Ellen smacked her husband's hand and stepped towards the door.

  "C'mon, Liar."

  Grant smiled. He wasn't lying; she was a beautiful woman.

  As they walked out the door, they ran into Aaron and Lorraine Levine. They hugged and greeted one another, and then they took off to Donagan's Pub.

  21

  Kaley was on the main stage, setting up musical instruments with James Tippen. James always got nervous before a performance and the fact that the other Stark children were nowhere to be seen, left him with knots in his stomach. Kaley glanced over at him and smiled.

  “You’re going to give yourself an ulcer.”

  “They do it on purpose. I know it! Every time!” he said.

  Kaley took sheet music and placed it on the piano cabinet and several music stands, shaking her head.

  Not far from the main stage, Sara, Coeli and the three youngest Stark children were standing at a booth, looking at jewelry. The normal members of the Sara Squad were following from a distance and metaphorically drooling on their shoes every time Sara tossed her waist length blond tresses.

  Coeli just looked at her and smiled. She had felt silly about her jealousy when it came to Sam Hearst. She and Sara had always been close and she realized that no matter how much she liked him, if Sam liked Sara, she would be happy for them. She didn't know why these emotions came on so quickly.

  “What do you think?”

  Coeli was shaken from her thoughts as Sara held up a pair of silver earrings with opals and abalone on them. Coeli touched them with her fingers and cocked her head.

  “I like them. Pretty.”

  “Yeah, I thought so.”

  Brandon and Lisa Stark were each holding one of Amanda’s hands and getting very annoyed, but not nearly as annoyed as Amanda.

  "Let go! I'm not a baby."

  “C’mon! I want to practice and Manda's getting twitchy,” yelled Brandon.

  Sara and Coeli looked over at the children and Coeli put her finger up to motion that it would only be one more minute. Brandon stomped his foot. Sara turned and looked at them, which made them momentarily stop. Brandon's shoulders slumped.

  “What’s the matter, Little Man?”

  Brandon turned around and realized he and his sisters now stood in the shadow of Scott Forrester and Sam Hearst. Brandon looked up.

  “We have to set up and they just want to buy jewelry and we’re not supposed to go off by ourselves cause we have Amanda.”

  Brandon pointed to his sisters and the young men looked over. Scott slapped Sam on the back and looked over at him, smiling.

  "Here's your chance, Red."

  Scott then noticed that Sam wasn’t looking at Sara Stark, but rather her raven-haired sister.

  “What are you doing? Why are you watching Coeli?”

  “Huh? Oh, I hadn’t realized how grown up she was now. Yeah, let’s go, now or never, right?”

  Scott and Sam walked over to the girls, which caused great concern among the members of the Squad. Sam slipped quietly behind Sara and slyly glanced over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. He noticed the earrings and a few bracelets that she had in her hands and he could smell the flowers in her hair. Again he felt himself drawn to look at Coeli who had now noticed him and he found himself looking into the most beautiful charcoal eyes he had ever seen, the same eyes he had seen that morning during the attack. He stared for a minute until he noticed that Sara was now looking at them.

  “Hello, Sam, Scott. How are you boys?”

  Sam looked at Sara and realized he no longer felt the knot in his stomach. For so long he had done nothing but dream about Sara Stark and here he was, completely uninterested. He smiled at her.

  “Hi, Sara. Good.”

  Sara looked at Scott. He had been tying a knot in his sleeve, but noticed that she was waiting for a response and looked up.

  "Oh, yeah, hey. Good."

  Sara glanced at Coeli, who was now trying to look busy, and then she turned back to the boys.

  “Ok, guys, what do think? Which one of these should I get?”

  Sam and Scott looked at the jewelry and then each other.

  “They both look great,” Sam said with a shrug.

  Scott rubbed the back of his neck. He still had a bit of pain there, but he looked at the earrings.

  “I like those.”

  Sam looked at his great hulking friend and smiled. Sara turned around and proceeded to buy the earrings. Sam once again looked at Coeli, who was looking at him. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

  “Hi, Coeli.”

  “Hi.”

  Sara turned back around and smiled brightly at Sam and Scott.

  “So, are you boys going to the main stage?”

  They nodded and Sam crossed his arms and smiled at Sara and then heard an enormous sigh from over his shoulder as Brandon and the girls looked angrier by the minute.

  Coeli looked at the sky and then grabbed Scott’s wrist to see his watch.

  “Oh, by the gods! C’mon we’re late!”

  The crowd was overwhelming as Coeli looked around. She turned and looked at Sara and raised her hands in defeat. Sara stepped forward and took the young men by their arms.

  “How about a little help, Guys? We have to get the kids to the stage.”

  Scott shrugged and stepped forward, scooping all three kids into his enormous arms. They all laughed and shrieked as he ran through the crowd with children. Coeli followed closely, but turned to see Sara take Sam’s arm as they walked through the remaining open path leading to the stage. She turned back around and tried to focus on her songs. Once again she felt the green monster raise its ugly head and felt her face getting hot.

  James Tippen was now sitting on the steps leading to the stage, hyperventilating into a bag, when a great hulk of a young man brought the Stark children to him.

  “You’re late! You’re all late! Where are those other twins?!”

  As if on cue, Chris and Tanner walked from the opposite direction with Ian Turner.

  “Right here.”

  “Yo.”

  Kaley turned to see Ian, who gazed right into her eyes and smiled. She felt herself smile back and then turned around as she felt herself begin to blush.

  "Stop it, Stupid," she thought to herself.

  Sam and Sara were talking as they walked up the path and as Sam walked Sara over to the steps, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. He felt odd and looked over at Coeli, who was trying desperately not to be angry as she watched from the corner of her eye.

  James Tippen's breathing w
as beginning to normalize again.

  “Ok, three left.”

  From the direction of the castle, Brian Stark came running over with the Turner boys and Joe Levine.

  “I’m here.”

  "Me, too."

  Rebecca came running from the opposite direction with Rachel Levine, Chelsea Hearst and Hannah Turner, who ran up on stage to hug Coeli and Sara hello, before running back down.

  James turned to Kaley, who was now trying desperately not to laugh. The defeated look in his eyes was almost more than she could deal with, but before he could speak of his anguish, they heard a familiar voice.

  “Ok, I’m here.”

  Alisha and Vance arrived at the stage and James looked completely relieved. He stood up and clapped his hands.

  “Ok, everyone, places for tuning and practice. Please, your mother will be here shortly.”

  Vance kissed Alisha and all the friends told each other they would see them after they were done. Kaley felt a hand on her wrist. She turned to see Ian next to her.

  "Are you doing anything after?” he whispered.

  "No, no plans."

  "I thought we could get a drink...or if not that then maybe dance or talk or something."

  Kaley smiled and nodded.

  "Yeah, I'd like that."

  Ian let his hand slip down her wrist and felt the softness of her fingertips against his own. Kaley turned as Ian's hand left hers and she felt the onset of butterflies in her stomach, much to her joy and equal chagrin, but she smiled nonetheless.

  The children walked to their places and Sara went to stand by Coeli who took a step away from her. Sara looked at Coeli but couldn’t understand why she was moving away from her.

  Sara took another step towards her and Coeli turned to look at her sister.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Sara asked.

  “Why do you have to take all of them, Sara? Can’t you just pick a few and throw the others back for the rest of us?”

  Sara shook her head and grabbed her sister’s arm.

  “What are you talking about?”