The Simpatico Series Box Set (3 books in 1)

by Dermot Davis

  “Go higher, Icarus,” Fiona joined in. “Don’t listen to the groundlings who don’t know what it’s like to fly,” she yelled, looking over at Andrew and laughing. “Fly! Fly, like there’s no tomorrow, Icarus. Fly like your sole existence depends on it!”

  “Come back, Icarus!” Andrew yelled up. “You’re going to crash and burn!”

  “So what if you crash and burn, Icky, my friend,” Fiona yelled and laughed. “It’s better to have flown to the sun, and burnt up on the holy pyre of your ambition, and crashed, than never to have flown at all.”

  “Oh, see... he heard me,” Andrew said, looking closely at the craft as it lost altitude. “They’re coming down. Good going, Icarus! Live to fight another day, that’s the spirit,” he shouted.

  “Oh, look at that one,” Fiona pointed at a balloon shaped like a flying saucer. “It’s a hot air balloon from outer space.”

  “Obviously,” Andrew said. “Lake Havasu is a travel destination well-known throughout the entire galaxy.”

  “And beyond,” Fiona added. “Aren’t their colors amazing?” she then said, taking in the scope of all the floating balloons. The balloons were every bright color of the rainbow as well as metallic and, like priceless jewels, almost breathtaking in their radiance.

  “Which is your favorite?” Andrew asked, looking around to pick a favorite for himself.

  “They’re all winners,” Fiona said. “Hey, there’s London Bridge!”

  “London Bridge?” Andrew said, looking towards the lake.

  “Yeah, believe it or not that bridge used to be in London, England. It was shipped over here, brick by brick,” Fiona explained.

  “No, it wasn’t,” Andrew said, looking more closely at the bridge. “It doesn’t even look like London Bridge.”

  “Suit yourself,” Fiona said. “You owe me dinner and a movie when you look it up on Wikipedia.”

  “You don’t have to win a bet for me to take you on a date, gorgeous,” Andrew said, smiling.

  “I should hope not,” Fiona answered, now smiling mock-demurely and fluttering her eyelids in a sexy Betty Boop kind of way.

  “I’ll just need to borrow like, twenty bucks,” Andrew said.

  “If you can get us dinner and a movie with twenty bucks, I’m putting you in charge of all the household finances,” Fiona said, reaching over to take his hand. “Maybe you could get us a cozy house somewhere for like a couple thousand bucks?”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Andrew said and winked, like he had it totally under control.

  Chapter 10

  Andrew and Fiona had a fantastic time as they goofed around the small fairgrounds. As they rode the Ferris wheel the happy couple looked and acted like they could have been on their honeymoon. When Andrew won a small teddy bear, by knocking down five skittles with one baseball throw, Fiona bowed down to him like he was a god.

  Having successfully pleaded with Andrew, and gotten him to agree to spending a significant amount of cash for a sunset balloon ride, Fiona was thrilled. Stepping into the basket, she was bursting with excitement. “You’re so going to love this,” she said as he followed in behind her.

  Expecting the basket to be larger, Andrew smiled nervously as the pilot closed the basket door. As the pilot explained the safety protocol, Fiona barely listened to a word. Nuzzling her face into Andrew’s shoulder, she powerfully squeezed his hand. Andrew smiled and kissed her forehead. A moment later, his body jerked upright, spooked by the thunderously loud noise of the burner as the pilot made his preparations. Once satisfied, the pilot radioed to an unseen crew that they were ready for takeoff.

  Holding the rail of the basket to steady himself, Andrew put his arm around Fiona and pulled her in tight. “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” he said, smiling with nervousness.

  “Your love will take me higher,” Fiona said into his ear as the hot air from the burner urged the balloon upwards.

  “Are you going to sing?” Andrew asked, touched by her overt and obvious affection towards him.

  “If this was a movie, that would totally be the song playing,” Fiona suggested. “I think you should sing it.”

  “I don’t think so,” Andrew demurred. “I don’t even know how it goes.”

  “It goes higher and higher, silly,” Fiona said, fluttering her eyelids at him.

  “Wow, this is amazing,” Andrew said as he looked around and finally began to relax. Even though it was billed as a sunset ride, the sun was still high in the sky and they could see everything around them clearly. Passing over the fairgrounds, they watched as people lined up for the Ferris wheel. Courting couples walked hand in hand eating typical fairground food like corndogs on a stick and light pink and baby blue candy floss.

  People boated lazily on the lake while others sun bathed on the banks. Bodies swam and splashed about in the water. Here and there, dotting the skyline, other hot-air balloons floated in various stages of elevation. Some balloons were landing, some taking off. “I never expected to see something like this in what is practically a desert, did you?” Andrew asked Fiona as he embraced her fully from behind.

  Smiling that Andrew now seemed to be excited and enjoying himself, Fiona pulled his arms tighter around her. “Let’s be like this forever,” she said without a hint of irony.

  “I’ll check out the auction sites for a used balloon, how’s that?” Andrew joked.

  “I’m serious,” Fiona said.

  “Oh,” Andrew replied, feeling somewhat reprimanded. “I want to be like this with you forever,” he then said, pleasing her with the earnestness in his voice.

  “We should get a nicer motel room this time,” she said, her voice sounding romantic.

  “Nicer than the one last night?” Andrew asked. “That won’t be hard.”

  “We should get something with a pool and a hot tub,” she said as she looked wistfully at the baby white clouds that drifted slowly along. "They look like balls of cotton wool, don't they?" she asked.

  “I like it when you get all soft and sexy,” Andrew commented.

  “There’s London Bridge,” Fiona nodded as they drifted higher.

  “Blimey,” Andrew said in his best London Cockney accent, “the bloody yanks stole our bridge, guvnor. We let them win the war and this is how they repay us, bloody ‘ell.”

  “Don’t give up the day job just yet, guvnor,” Fiona joked. “Hey,” she said, turning to the pilot. “That’s London Bridge, isn’t it?”

  “It is indeed, miss,” the pilot answered, looking happy to be engaged. “It’s not the tower bridge, obviously, but it did straddle the Thames in London once. They shipped it over to its present location, brick by brick.”

  Turning to smile at Andrew, she didn’t need to say “I told you so.” Her facial expression said it all.

  “I knew it wasn’t the London Bridge,” Andrew responded. “I just saw a picture of that a few days ago, as a matter of fact.”

  “You guys want a splash and dash?” the pilot asked, looking hopeful that they would say yes.

  “Sure,” Fiona answered, not knowing what it was and sensing that Andrew was about to ask for an explanation. “That would be great,” she said, looking and smiling at Andrew. “Splash and dash, guvnor?” she asked him in a bad cockney accent.

  “That would be delightful, darling,” he answered in a posher English accent.

  Almost losing her balance, Fiona held Andrew tighter as the balloon dropped in elevation. Looking down and then back again at each other, they wondered why the balloon looked like it was going to land on the water. “What’s he doing?” Fiona whispered into Andrew’s ear.

  “I thought you knew,” Andrew whispered back to her.

  “I didn’t hear him use the word crash, did you?” she whispered.

  “Can this thing land in the water?” he asked as he checked out the bottom of the basket. “I don’t see anything that would even float, do you?” he asked.

  “He looks like he knows what he’s doing,” Fiona whispe
red back as she watched the craft drop even closer to the water. The pilot looked unconcerned.

  “We’re going into the water,” Andrew whispered as the balloon sailed over the bridge and narrowly evaded some tall lampposts.

  “At least we’ll make it to YouTube,” Fiona commented quietly as she drew his attention to some people on the bridge. As they became a spectacle, groups of people gathered, some taking photographs, many taking video. Dropping closer and closer to the water, Andrew and Fiona held each other tighter for the inevitable.

  With his hand on the burner lever, the pilot guided the balloon downward. He watched intently as the basket glided towards the shimmering surface of the water. Timing his move, he then pulled on the lever to force a resurgence of hot air into the balloon.

  Gracefully skimming the surface of the water, the water lit by the blaze of the reflection of the later afternoon sun, the basket then rose back into the air. Water droplets fell from the base as the onlookers clapped and cheered. The pilot waved at them and smiled with pride.

  “Wow,” Andrew exclaimed, clearly relieved, yet impressed. “That was awesome!”

  “Splash and dash,” the pilot said, still smiling. “Thought you guys knew about it, otherwise I would have explained beforehand.”

  “Not knowing was much better,” Fiona said, looking like she was totally thrilled. “Can you do it again?”

  “Maybe next time. We need to head back,” the pilot explained. As he pulled the lever on the burner, the red and orange and yellow flames shot higher. “Most folks are too scared to do it once, never mind wanting a repeat,” he said in a complimentary tone. “Helps to be young and in love, I guess,” he said and gave them a friendly wink.

  As the balloon rose higher and higher, Fiona noticed the onset of a beautiful sunset. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked Andrew, her eyes focused on the sun dropping in the sky.

  “It’s amazing,” Andrew answered. “Thank you for talking me into it.”

  "Any time, guvnor," Fiona said and smiled. "Any time."

  Simon exited the freeway at Albuquerque and drove away from the city. Dowling sat uneasily as they approached some upscale neighborhoods. Wondering what he had gotten himself into, he tried not to think about how the evening could go disastrously wrong for himself. Going over cover stories in his head, he was unsuccessful in coming up with anything convincing. He was not looking forward to meeting with other members of this mysterious group.

  “You know, Gus,” Simon said as he pulled into the driveway of a large house. “I think that after tonight, you might just be converted back into the fold.”

  “You think so?” Dowling asked, playing along.

  “These are good people, my friend. You’ll see,” Simon said as he exited the SUV. As the front door opened, a middle-aged, well-dressed elegant woman, came out to greet them. She looked especially pleased to see Simon. "Are you a sight for sore eyes, Ursula," Simon said as they hugged.

  Once inside, Dowling lagged behind as Simon was greeted by four males and two other females, all Wise Serpent devotees, presumably. “Everybody, this is Gus Dowling, formerly of the San Francisco lodge,” Simon announced.

  Dowling shook hands with the others as Ursula reappeared from the kitchen. “Come, sit down everybody,” she said brightly. “Let’s eat!”

  Although he hadn’t eaten since early morning, Dowling looked at the sumptuous spread with ambivalence. Wishing not to engage, he hoped to remain anonymous and invisible. “Gus is anxious to meet Frank and Herb,” Simon said to Ursula. “They haven’t arrived yet?”

  “They hit traffic in Tucson but they should be here in time for the meeting,” Ursula answered.

  “I asked if everyone could sit in on a ritual for Fiona,” Simon explained to Dowling. “Just to ensure her safety. And your Andrew, of course. I hope you can join us?”

  “My pleasure, sure,” Dowling responded, uncertain of the full implications.

  “You were with the Frisco group?” an older gentleman, Benjamin asked Dowling.

  “Long time ago,” Dowling responded, waving it off like it was in a different lifetime altogether. “So long ago, I hardly even remember.”

  “Gus hasn’t been active for a long time," Simon announced. "But I’m hoping that maybe tonight we can do something special for him?” Simon looked around the table as the others signaled their assent. “Sure thing,” Benjamin said, as if he spoke for the others.

  “I appreciate that,” Dowling said, sounding humble but secretly panicked. “However, there’s really no need to do anything special.”

  “Nonsense, my friend,” Simon said as he patted Dowling on the back. “One for all and all for one, right people?”

  “Once a serpent, always a serpent,” Benjamin said as he raised his glass in a toast. Standing up, everybody around the table enthusiastically toasted each other.

  Once the conversation shifted to the members catching up with each other, Dowling was relieved to be left alone. He made himself look very preoccupied with his food. Even though they looked and acted like decent folk, Dowling reminded himself not to let his guard down. Hiding behind masks and robes, the earlier incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan were allegedly decent people that performed pretty hideous hate crimes.

  “So, shall we make our way to the meeting room?” Ursula asked once everyone had finished eating. One by one, the members put down their drinks, napkins and such, and followed Ursula. She led the assembled out of the dining room and across the hall to a more private section of the house.

  “Don’t worry, Gus,” Simon said privately, noticing that Gus looked somewhat anxious. “It’s just like riding a bike.”

  “Oh, I’m not nervous,” Gus protested. “Just feeling a bit tired,” he said. Hoping that Simon would suggest that he sit out and maybe adjourn for the evening, he yawned.

  “Me too,” Simon said, not at all sounding tired, “but I’m pretty sure the group energy will revive us both. Trust me, it’ll be fine.”

  “Simon, why don’t you sit at the head?” Ursula suggested as everyone congregated around a huge table in the center of the ornately adorned room. Filled with ancient Egyptian Royal regalia, Dowling tried to look not to stare around or appear too inquisitive or nosey.

  “Come sit here, on my right,” Simon addressed Dowling, who looked like he was wondering to himself what the proper seating etiquette might be. “May I say how wonderful it is to be sitting again with such familiar, warm and friendly faces,” Simon said, looking sincerely at each and every pair of eyes sitting around the table. “We are stronger together,” he continued to the earnest and enthusiastic gathering, “and if there’s anything I or the group can do for any of you, don’t be too proud or too shy to let me know, in group or privately, if that would be more appropriate.”

  A palpable sense of ease and calm descended upon the group as Simon spoke. Each of the members smiled and nodded their approval and appreciation for his kind words.

  “Here, here,” Benjamin responded as if Simon were taking the very words from his own mouth.

  “So, if there are no other pressing matters, I’ll start us off with a brief meditation so as to align our energies and achieve a group focus,” Simon said. Dowling watched as each of the members took both their neighbors hands and placing them on the table, formed a circle of comradeship. Dowling joined along and as they each closed their eyes, he was the last to follow suit.

  “So let’s all focus in the third eye,” Simon said softly, “and leave the material world behind along with all its stresses and concerns. Only here and now exists.”

  A deep and heavy silence fell upon the group. As no one spoke for a good bit of time, Dowling resisted the temptation to open his eyes to check them all out. “Keeping your eyes closed,” Simon said, as if he had read Dowling’s thoughts, “let us join our energies with all who have come before and all those who are with us in spirit and in like mind and purpose. Let the work move forward.”

  Once again, there was a long
pause and Dowling noticed how still everything had become, as if time itself had slowed down.

  “I know that some of you have met my daughter,” Simon finally said. Even though he spoke softly, Dowling’s body jolted upright by the sudden break of silence. “But for this visualization it’s not necessary to know what she physically looks like. Simply imagine her enfolded in a bubble of bright light, safe from all harm.”

  Simon paused once more and Dowling resisted the urge to clear his throat by coughing or making any other kind of noise. Just as Simon was about to speak again, the doorbell rang. Wondering what the group response was going to be, Dowling sneaked a peek by opening one of his eyes. As the doorbell rang again, Dowling could see that Ursula was the first to fully open her eyes.

  “I’ll need to get that, Simon,” she said quietly. “Most likely Herb and Frank arriving.”

  “Why don’t we end our focus here,” Simon announced to the group, “for the time being. Once the others join us, we’ll resume with the larger group.”

  Very quietly and somberly, the group reopened their eyes. When Ursula left the room, no one seemed to want to talk or chat unnecessarily. As Ursula opened the front door, Dowling heard the voices of two men and immediately felt a surge of dread erupt in his chest. His thoughts raced. What would happen if, when, they uncovered his deception? He simultaneously felt overly warm, a bead of sweat trickled down his brow, as he broke into a cold sweat. What would they do? What would they say?

  “This should be a nice reunion for you guys,” Simon said quietly, leaning closer towards Dowling. “I’m sure they’ll be very glad to see you.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they won’t…” Dowling began but lost Simon’s attention as Ursula led two older gentlemen into the room. Everyone remained seated as Ursula added two more chairs to the table.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Frank said. “Hope we’re not interrupting at an inconvenient time or anything.”