Catee's Grace

by Keith Holmes

  Joli looked to Tara to find the revelation in her eyes. She found the young mother enraptured by the story as she quietly whispered, not wanting to interrupt.

  “Just like me.”

  Joli nodded as she turned the water off in her stall and stepped out to wrap a luxurious robe around her body, beckoning Tara to do the same. “And just like you, she took me into the store, fitted me for the dress and told me everything that I told you.” She paused here, watching Tara’s face closely; worried that she might frighten the poor girl with her next proposition. “Then she invited me to come home with her.”

  Tara nodded, not really understanding the double meaning of the statement.

  Joli continued the story; knowing she’d have to extend her invitation in another way.

  “She didn’t want sex. She didn’t want to kill me. All she wanted was for me to claim my birthright as a woman; to claim the power given to me by the creation of the universe. She took me back to the palace she called a home and gave me a room there. She clothed me, fed me and then… she tested me.”

  Tara’s brow lowered quizzically as she pondered the test. The tilt of her head seemed to ask the question upon her lips.

  “The first night in her home, at dinner she gave me the dress, then she gave me something more. She handed me a credit card and told me that I needed to understand power before I could wield it; that money was powerful but that it was only the adolescence of it. She told me to go out and spend what I liked on whatever I desired. Then she told me not to return to her until the rush of financial power no longer enticed me. Sauna?”

  Tara stood there; wet hair and all, blinking wildly at the story Joli had told her. “Excuse me?” she replied, unsure of how ‘Sauna’ fit into the yarn.

  “Would you like to go into the spa?” Joli chuckled. Tara's cheeks flushed red.

  “Oh… sure. Yes please.”

  The two padded barefoot the short distance to the entrance to the steam room, then stripped their silk cloaks from their backs and stepped inside.

  “Naturally I thought she was insane but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. So the next morning I left her home and gave her card a test; small things at first but when the card blinked ‘accepted’ I got bolder. Slowly I began tasting everything Paris had to offer until finally I’d spent nearly $20,000.00 by month’s end. And never once, not a single time was I denied. Two months and $50,000.00 later I returned to her, half out of curiosity but also because, just as she’d predicted, the power of that little card was losing its appeal.” Joli paused, deciding to make Tara ask for more. She didn’t wait for long.

  “What happened?” Tara questioned with urgency in her voice.

  “Claudia is truly the most enlightened person that I know. Nothing happened; and everything. I took up with her and helped run her company. It turns out that she had a very wealthy husband who passed away. She inherited everything; but more important than taking care of her affairs from day-to-day, I am learning from her; learning to claim my birthright as a woman. There’s no greater power in the world than creation Tara. And what is a woman other than the wellspring of all human life?”

  Tara nodded softly as she looked to the brooks of sweat flowing down her form. Her mind was grasping for deeper revelation than the surface of what Joli had offered.

  “What about you? Why are you in Paris, Tara?”

  The question brought Tara’s eyes to Joli’s in a snap, considering just how much trust she could place in this newfound friend.

  ***

  Salim’s apartment, was better kept than the safe house, but it was quite a bit smaller. It had more creature comforts and was far more ‘homey’ than the first place, but it was clear that Salim lived just above the level of poverty that his ilk vowed. There was one anomalous item however. An expensive looking computer system sat atop an old roll top desk.

  Salim welcomed the Moyers’ into his home with the wide opening of his door. “Make yourself at home,” he instructed, watching as Ethan and Catee’s heads turned to and fro, taking in the place. “What is mine, is yours,” he said.

  But Ethan had more than how the monk lived, on his mind. “How is Tara going to find this place?”

  “I’m leaving now to find her.” Salim extended a hand toward his kitchen. “Please, anything that I have, help yourself. You’ll find I have a bit of a sweet tooth which, I think Catee will appreciate.” The little one giggled a bit at the mention of sweets. Nodding a polite goodbye, he turned to head for the door.

  “Do you think that Tara is with the… what did you call it?” Salim paused and winced. It was a question he was hoping to avoid. Erasing his grouse, he turned to Ethan.

  “I don’t know. Regardless of where she is or who she’s with, Jahleel and I will bring her back.”

  Ethan nodded as he put Catee down, she making a b-line for a package of cookies on the small kitchen table.

  “I’ll be back very soon,” Salim promised and pulled the door to behind him.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Tara used both hands to push her hair back out of her eyes and smiled at Joli before clearing her throat. “It’s complicated,” she offered, still teetering on the brink of telling Joli her story, discouraged by Salim’s advice.

  “I know complicated Tara,” Joli offered, “I’m not afraid of it.”

  Tara sighed and leaned back further into the wall as her eyes searched the thick steam for a place to begin.

  “It’s my daughter,” Tara spoke, her voice wavering and almost a whisper. “She’s special.”

  Joli nodded though she didn’t speak. She looked to Tara, anticipation in her eyes.

  “My daughter healed someone. Like, this guy was having a heart attack and she healed him.” Tara’s neck craned quickly to look to Joli, to see if the woman thought she was crazy. Instead of shock or disbelief, she found only curiosity.

  "Go on," Joli' encouraged.

  In silence Tara searched her thoughts for the best way to continue. The entire story was madness, no matter how delicately it was presented. She thought of Asa and how he must have felt sitting at their kitchen table.

  “It’s… weird. Crazy really,” Tara said, shaking her head. She didn't want Joli' to think her mad.

  Sensing her apprehension, Joli leaned forward and placed a hand on Tara’s thigh, shaking her head as well.

  “No Tara. It isn’t crazy. There are things in this world beyond our understanding; things that nobody knows or sees. Please, tell me your story?”

  Tara looked into Joli’s earnest eyes, nodded and sighed.

  “These guys came to us, said they would help us because we were in danger,” she said, her gaze floating around the room as she remembered. “They said they would take us someplace safe so that people… and things, would leave us alone.”

  Joli' nodded softly, keeping eye contact so that she could reassure the nervous young mother.

  "Who were they?" she asked.

  “They said they were knights and were going to take us to some priests that would help take care of us.”

  Joli shot upright, scaring Tara into doing the same.

  “Knights? Templars?” Joli asked, her voice ringing with urgency. “The Vigilant are helping you?”

  Tara blinked a time or two, her heart racing as Joli spoke.

  “That’s who they said they were.”

  “Your daughter, they called her an 'Argent Child', right?"

  Tara’s eyes widened with the question and again she nodded.

  “How do you know that?”

  “I... we - my sisters and I - we've seen it before. We have to get your daughter away from them Tara. They mean to harm her, to use her for their own selfish interests."

  "No, they said...," Tara began.

  "They say whatever it takes to get you into their grasps."

  Tara was nearly shaking as she listened to the doom in Joli’s voice. Chills ran up her spine.

  “How do you know all of this?”
/>   “When I saw you today Tara, I knew you were special, but I didn’t know why. You are like me, like Claudia, like all of my sisters and apparently your daughter is too. I approached you because I thought that I planned to invite you to join us, just as Claudia did for me but now…,” her voice trailed off as she looked to the floor, letting her mind absorb the new revelation, then suddenly her eyes found Tara’s again and she took her hand.

  “You know as well as I do Tara, ‘men rule the world’. They fear women; they fear our power, our minds. It’s the reason we are treated as slaves in the Middle East, the reason it took so many years to earn the right to vote in the States… they use us. Everything about our society is built to train us to serve them; from the Barbie Dolls we are given to model ourselves after to the kitchen play-sets we are awarded for being good little girls. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Let me help you and your little girl Tara. Come live with me and I promise you, you and your daughter will have more opportunity than you’d ever hoped for.”

  Tara was stymied. She didn’t realize she was speaking aloud as she thought his name, “but Ethan,” tripping from her lips softly.

  “Ethan is your husband?” Joli asked. Tara nodded looking into the woman’s eyes. "Do you love him?"

  Tara smiled softly and nodded.

  "Can you trust him?"

  Tara seemed offended by the question.

  "Of course," she said. It made Joli' frown.

  "Never mind," Joli' said, turning away. "I'm sorry for your daughter."

  Tara's brow drew inward, confused.

  "Never mind what?" the young mother questioned. Joli' glanced to her.

  "It doesn't matter Tara. If you love and trust your husband, you'll do as he deems best. And I promise you, he will place his trust in the Vigilant. Their magic will ensure it."

  Tara was shaking her head and scooted closer to Joli' touching her atop the hand. "What do you mean?"

  Joli' turned back to the young mother and looked into her eyes.

  "It's what they do. They'll convince him that he has to make 'tough choices', soften him to the idea that struggling and hiding in the squalor is somehow noble. But most of all they'll convince him that only they can ensure your daughter's safety. I've seen it before. Does he do what they say?"

  Tara shook her head. Ethan was anything but agreeable as it came to the Vigilant. "No. You should have seen him when they suggested we leave Chicago."

  "And yet, here you are," Joli' interjected.

  "Monsters... came...," the young mother said, shuddering at the memory and rubbing her wrist.

  "Monsters that the Vigilant sent," Joli' suggested. She shook her head again. "It doesn't matter. You'll follow him. I'm sorry I mentioned it."

  "I don't do everything Ethan says," Tara said, frustrated with the implication.

  "Are you sure? Because what I'm going to suggest, it's much bigger than buying a dress even though he told you not to."

  "I'm listening," the young mother replied.

  "Very well; I want for you and your daughter to come with me to safety. Just the two of you."

  "You want me to leave my husband?"

  "For a time. Long enough to ensure your safety and to teach you that you are so much more than 'Ethan's Old Lady'."

  Tara stared into Joli's eyes for a moment, then shook her head.

  "You're crazy."

  "And you're frightened. I'll take you and your daughter to high-rises and mansions Tara. I'll provide you with steak instead of bologna. Claudia will teach your little girl to use her gifts not for the world, but for herself, so that she can decide her future and no one else."

  Tara's face softened as she listened.

  "We'll take your little girl back with the power of the Paris Police Force, not some loner with a sword. They're trying to scare you Tara - with monsters and shadows. Don't let them ruin you. Don't let them ruin your daughter."

  "I can't leave Ethan...," Tara said, though she wasn't nearly as offended by the idea as she had been.

  "He can't come with us. They have his thoughts now. But come with me Tara, and when you've decided that you've learned enough, you can return to him. You won't be our prisoners, you'll be our sisters."

  Tara’s eyes grew distant as she considered leaving the love of her life, even if just for a while. This was the biggest decision she'd ever made - one that would change the course of all of their lives forever. As she pondered, Joli' leaned in to whisper to her. "You're not being selfish. If anything this is a sacrifice as much as it is a gain. Your marriage aside, think of your little girl. Don't let them decide her fate, not when you've the power to give her something much greater."

  Tara pressed he fingers to her forehead as she contemplated.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  In the fashion district Jahleel stuck out like a sore thumb. And though his prey was dressed much the same as he, she moved with more confidence, at home on the turf. Less bold, he held to the corners and any shadow, moving with as much obfuscation as his trained eyes could find.

  It surprised him to see her stop before the ‘Salon du Paris’ and step inside. Surely she knew he’d be trailing her. Surely she wouldn’t be so foolish as to lead him to Tara. With hope in his heart he found a statue to step behind and watched the doors to the salon.

  Inside, the young woman made her way to the receptionist and addressed her; oblivious to the stares she’d drawn. “I have an urgent message for Ms. Mariee,” she said speaking of the alias that Joli had taken many years ago.

  “I'll see if she will be disturbed,” the receptionist said, before disappearing into the back of the salon. The young woman propped her elbow on the counter and waited.

  ***

  Tara languished over her decision, trying as best she could to think forward to all of the ramifications of the choice she would make. She hadn’t spoken since Joli made the offer.

  Joli let Tara sit in silence for a long while. Then, ready to spur the young mother forward, She reached out to touch her shoulder when the door to the spa swung open. The receptionist’s voice followed.

  “Madame Joli?”

  “What is it?” she demanded, irritation laced in her voice.

  “An urgent message Madame… a young woman at the desk.”

  Joli’s eyes shifted as she considered what could be so urgent. “Send her up,” she said, softening her features before speaking.

  “I know how difficult this is Tara. But remember this; if your husband is under the Vigilant’s spell, then he is not himself. Take what they want from them; claim your daughter’s freedom and they will be finished with Ethan. Then the two of you can reunite," she explained. “I will help you through it all. I promise you," Joli said. With that Joli stood and walked to the door, turning for a moment to look back through the swirling steam at the young mother. “I’ll be right back. Probably business.”

  Tara nodded as she watched her disappear into the steam and chewed nervously at her lip.

  She'd barely closed the door before her mannerism changed. Bother filled her face as she looked to the young woman in tattered clothes and spoke.

  “Sasha… do you have them?”

  “Yes Priestess, I have the photos.”

  Joli took Sasha by the arm and walked her several feet from the steam room door. “I told you never to call me that in public. Why did you bring them here? Why did you not deliver them as I told you to?”

  “I believe I am being followed. There was an altercation with the Vigilant…,” Sasha explained, apology on her face.

  “You’ve lead the Vigilant here?!” Joli' exclaimed in a raised whisper. Sasha melted further and appeared to be on the verge of tears.

  “I’m sorry Joli… I didn’t know what else to do.”

  Quickly the Priestess calmed herself and softened her posture, passing a finger over Sasha’s brow.

  “Very well," she nodded, offering the girl a comforting smile. “You’ve done well. Go to the police station and deliver the pi
ctures as originally planned. Have Captain Adele or one of his men drive you home, then catch a train for the Chantry.”

  Sasha nodded softly as she reflected Joli’s smile and then she headed for the door.

  Joli watched her leave and paused, reflecting on how easily her plan was coming together. Claudia would be pleased. As the moment passed, she stepped to the spa and took Tara’s robe into her hands then opened the door wide. With wafts of steam billowing forth she called to Tara.

  “Come out of there before you wither away,” she instructed playfully, welcoming Tara’s long face with a smile and opening the robe for her to step into.

  “Is everything okay?” Tara questioned, turning to place her arms in the robe. Joli’s smile widened.

  “Everything is perfect Tara,” she said, draping the robe over the young mother’s shoulders.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Salim was in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, dusk settling over the city when his cell phone rang. "JAHLEEL" his phone read. Quickly he flipped it open.

  “Please tell me you’ve found her,” he said, his eyes searching the landscape around him.

  “I may have,” Jahleel offered. “The witch stopped at the Salon du Paris. She’s inside now.”

  “I’m on my way,” Salim said, heading off toward his van.

  “If the witch leaves, I’m going to follow her,” Jahleel replied, his eyes burning a hole through the door of the salon.

  “Yes… I’ll be there as quickly as I can to watch the salon. She may be leading you on. Best to stay with her,” Salim agreed, ending the call.

  As if on cue, Sasha emerged through the front doors of the salon and retrieved her bicycle, walking it down the busy sidewalk. She was nervous; her head twisting to and fro to watch for Jahleel but the knight was trained to track creatures with far greater skills of eluding than Sasha possessed. Though he stood out in this high-class crowd of tourists and fashionistas, spotting him was impossible. Jahleel hounded her hurried steps, weaving through people and traffic. Sasha finally paused at the stoop of the police station and glanced over her shoulder with a daring grin. She couldn’t see the Vigilant, but she knew he was there.