Vinia gave both Ahn and Barla big hugs and said, “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me and my family again. I can’t begin to tell you what it’s meant to me. You two feel like family!”
“I agree,” Barla answered as she held onto Vinia a second longer. She let her go and watched as she entered the telepod and sat down in the seat next to her daughter. Barla waved and felt her heart break just a little more as they left to go onto their new adventure. She hoped it would work out well for the two of them; they deserved to be happy for once.
Amanda set the coordinates for the Roanoke Colony and activated the flight. They appeared just above and beside the rolling waves of the ocean. Amanda carefully navigated the breezy landing and then powered down the telepod.
The group gathered all of Vinia’s belongings and trooped back through the trails which led to the village. When they got to Vinia’s house, they all realized just how long it had been abandoned. Wind, weather, and dirt had taken its toll on the interior, and they were going to have to get the place cleaned up before anyone would be spending any time inside.
Luckily Rasa and Vinia were both proficient in their ability to use the elemy to scour away the dirt and dust. Amanda watched in amazement as one thing after another became spotless. She had never had to practice this particular aspect of their skills since they had maids at her own home. She could definitely see the value in having the power to make such changes so easily.
Amanda began to unpack the bags onto the cleaned kitchen table so Vinia could decide where everything would go. She watched Rasa and Vinia go outside. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she abandoned her task to follow after them.
“What are you two doing?” Amanda asked.
“I’m setting up protection wards around Vinia’s house,” Rasa explained.
Amanda frowned and tilted her head as she tried to understand why Rasa would even need to do such a thing. “Why?” she finally asked.
“I asked her to do something to make sure Grobin would not be able to harm us should he discover a way to come back to Tuala,” Vinia answered.
“Oh,” Amanda said with raised eyebrows and a questioning look over at Rasa.
“Okay, your home is protected,” Rasa announced. “We should get going so we can bring the other villagers home tonight. They’re going to want daylight to clean up their homes since none of them know how to use elemy to get it done efficiently.”
Suddenly nervous, Vinia asked, “Is there something I should do or say when they get here?”
“Maybe greet them as they go into their homes. Let them know you’re here and available to hear their needs,” Amanda suggested.
“We’ll talk with them before we bring them,” Rasa assured her.
Vinia nodded as she held Danika closer to her chest as she tried to decide if she were more nervous or excited for her new role. “I’ll see you in a little while then.”
“Do you want to walk back to the beach with us?” Amanda asked.
“No, I think I’ll stay here and put my things away. I want to be ready and settled when everyone else arrives.”
“Okay,” Amanda said as she stepped forward and gave Vinia a quick hug. “We’ll be back soon.”
Vinia nodded before turning back to go into her house.
Amanda exchanged a significant look with Rasa. They were definitely going to have to set up some rules with the refugees before bringing them back. The sooner the people recognized the importance of Vinia’s role, the better their lives would become.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Petre watched as the three women entered the Harbor Master’s house. Since he had been watching the place, he had noticed there was a lot of people who visited. He sat back against the tree and waited to see what would happen next.
It was rather boring just sitting around, it had never been his strong suit since he liked taking action. He closed his eyes in anticipation of a long wait. He was uncertain how long a time had passed, yet a noise had caught his attention. Opening one eye, he realized something different was happening.
He did not like what he was witnessing. It appeared as though Vinia were leaving the captain’s house and he could not let that happen. He jumped up from his hiding spot and began to trail after the group of people. Once he figured out they were heading to the landing field, he cut behind one of the neighbor’s houses and began to run.
He had to hurry if he were going to reach their destination first. If they got into the telepod, he would never know where they were heading. He had to be in position so he could overhear their conversation. Vinia was not going to get away from him again.
After only passing two houses, Petre had to stop, bend over, and hold onto his knees while his breath came raggedly into his lungs. Living on the sea had not conditioned him for this kind of exertion. With his chest still heaving, he began to walk slowly, desperately needing to find out where the love of his life was going.
Chapter Thirty-Three
WILLIAN ACTIVELY DESPISED the role his father had forced him to take on Earth. He had spent another day slogging through the sea of humanity at the school, and he still had not seen Jena at all. The only way he could resolve their situation was if he could sit down with her and work it all out. Knowing how to create a stupid bowl in pottery was never going to benefit him in life, and he resented having to waste his time on such trivial matters.
Melissa had driven him home from his second day of school. She had taken one look at his dark expression and decided not to ask him how his day had gone. Willian had been grateful for her observation so he would not have to pretend to be in a better mood for her sake.
He sat alone in his bedroom and kept punching the soft mattress to vent some of his frustration. To add insult to injury, he had discovered Shemalla had left to return home while he was out so he could not even ask her opinion on the matter. He felt alone, abandoned really, and it did not sit well with his foul mood.
Pesi came trotting into his room and begged to be brought up onto his bed. Without thinking, Willian reached down and hoisted her up. He did find some solace and comfort in petting the animal, but his mood was still pretty foul. The fluffy dog lay down right next to his thigh, and he wished he could be touching Jena instead of this animal.
Unable to remain inside, Willian put on his shoes and marched out of his room to go outside. Maybe he could get some inspiration if he could take a walk in the fresh air. Just as he reached the front door, he heard Melissa calling him. He rolled his eyes in frustration before he stepped back to see her sitting in the living room.
“Are you going somewhere?” she asked kindly.
“I thought I’d go for a walk. I need some time to think about things,” he added lamely.
“Don’t go too far, okay?” she advised.
“I won’t.”
“Have fun.”
“Sure,” he said glumly, and he opened the door and stepped out into the sunshine. Have fun? he asked himself. How am I supposed to do that when I don’t know anyone around here, and I can’t find Jena to talk to her? Earth is not a place I would come back to willingly. Pesi tried to follow him, and he had to put his foot up to stop her. He swiftly closed the door and walked away from the house.
He kept walking at a brisk pace as he played different scenarios in his mind. There was always the option of returning to Tuala and waiting for Jena to come back to him. He shook his head in dismissal as he realized his letters had been too damaging to risk leaving her alone for so long.
Turning down another street, Willian became aware of another presence near him. He looked down and noticed a large black dog had decided to trot alongside him. It pleased him to realize he remembered this type of dog was called a Labrador retriever. He looked around to see if its owner were nearby yet nobody was out walking except himself.
His attention was drawn to a couple of people who were playing some sort of game. He crossed the street and stood at the fence to watch. Both players were holdi
ng some sort of a racket in their hand, and they were hitting a yellow ball back and forth between them. Willian lost track of time as he became fascinated with the number of times the players volleyed the ball.
The player furthest away from him had to almost leap to hit a fast-coming return. The angle was wrong, and the ball glanced off the edge of the racket and flew high up, over the fence, and out into the road. The Labrador decided it would give chase and ran after it.
Too late, Willian realized there was a car coming down the road at the same time. The vehicle was unable to avoid hitting the big dog, and Willian watched in horror as the animal was thrown up and to the side of the vehicle. It twirled several times before it skidded along the pavement and came to a stop when it hit the curb.
Possibly the worst part about the whole thing was the animal’s cries of pain as the car never even slowed down. Willian rushed over to the injured animal, and he put his hands on its roughened fur. The dog’s leg was bent in a peculiar angle, and it had several gashes where the bumper had struck it.
Willian could not stand to hear the animal whimper and whine as it writhed in pain. He immediately called on the elemy to come up and begin repairing the damage. His concentration was so complete he never noticed the two tennis players leave their game to come over to offer assistance. Luckily, most of the exterior damage had been repaired before they arrived, so they did not witness much.
After several minutes, Willian leaned back away from the healed animal and watched as it picked itself up from the pavement. As if to thank him for helping, the dog began to lick his hands. He realized there was blood in between his fingers and then he looked up to see the two people.
“Is the dog okay?” the first man asked.
“Yeah, I think he was just stunned,” Willian lied.
“That was incredibly lucky. I can’t believe the car didn’t even stop. What a jerk!” the other man stated. He bent down and picked up the tennis ball which had started the whole scene and put it into his pocket. Next, he stepped over to the black lab and pet the top of his head as he said, “Now don’t you go running into the street anymore. You might not be so lucky next time.”
The first man spoke up and said, “I think I’m done for the day. What about you?”
“Yeah, let’s call it a day,” he agreed.
The two men left, and Willian watched them go. He felt a rush of guilt for almost giving himself away so easily. Obviously, the men had not seen him actually healing the dog, yet he could not forget how close it had been. He was going to have to be more careful in the future. The dog sat down and leaned against him. Willian put his arm around the big dog’s neck and said, “I’m glad you’re okay, boy. You were really lucky I was here to take care of you. Let’s go find your home.”
He pushed himself up from the sidewalk and began walking back the way they had come. They walked several blocks before Willian began to hear someone calling out. Soon they came upon a man who eagerly raced out to intercept them.
The man knelt down in front of the dog and put his hands on either side of his head and said, “You’re a bad boy for jumping the back fence again. It’s a good thing this young man was bringing you home.” The man looked up and asked, “Where did you find him?”
“Down by the park,” Willian replied.
“Thank you for bringing him home,” the man said as he stood back up and kept his fingers under the dog’s collar to make sure he stayed with him.
“No problem,” Willian answered as he continued to walk back to his foster home. At least the dog was going to have a happy ending. He hoped his would be just as fortunate.
His outlook was much better now that he’d been able to help another living creature. Touching the elemy helped to ground him, and he realized he actually missed using it daily. He felt a calmness spread throughout his body and knew he would have better luck with Jena because of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I think we should stop off at Elder Daven’s Residence before we go get the people,” Amanda suggested.
“Good idea. Maybe he’ll want to be at the village already when the people return.”
Amanda entered the coordinates into the telepod and activated the trip. They arrived over the landing field and made a smooth touchdown. Even before they had left the aircraft, Amanda noticed Nena standing on the balcony waving over to them.
She grinned over at Rasa for her mother-in-law’s predictable ways as they walked away from the telepod and toward the Residence. They went up the stairway where Nena greeted them warmly with hugs. Amanda asked, “Is Daven home?”
“Yes, yes, come inside out of the heat,” Nena answered as she gestured for them to go into the house. “He’s just in his office. He’ll be thrilled to see you.”
Amanda led the way as she knew where his office was located. When she reached the open door, she knocked before entering to make sure he was not working on anything confidential.
Daven hurriedly rose from his chair and crossed the room with a huge smile, “Hello, Amanda!” He gave her a hug and then noticed Rasa and greeted her the same. “Come in and sit down.”
“We came to ask a favor of you,” Amanda said as she moved over to sit down across from him at his desk.
“What can I do for you?” Daven asked curiously.
Amanda explained what had happened with the Roanoke Colony and ended with, “Would you be willing to go out there tonight and welcome everyone back home? Vinia is really nervous about her position, and how to greet them, maybe with you by her side, the residents will understand what changes will need to take place to make their village prosperous again.”
Daven was in awe of everything they had managed to achieve in such a short time. He had plenty of work to keep him busy, but he knew this was an opportunity not to be missed. He turned off his patil and announced, “I’ll head over there right now.”
“Maybe you should see if wise-woman Copa could come with you. Some of the people have never had any medical care. After everything they’ve gone through it might be nice to see if any of them need help. We might as well begin as we mean to end, right?” Amanda asked.
Daven nodded his agreement and asked, “Is there anything else I’ll need to know?”
“Not that I can think of,” Rasa answered and looked over to Amanda to see if she could think of anything.
“Vinia will need a patil to be able to get in touch with you. Do you have any extras around?” Amanda asked. She realized then that she did not understand how the patils were disbursed and if all households had one. She also did not know what type of infrastructure was needed to be able to work one. For all she knew, the Roanoke Colony would be unable to use a patil until electricity was brought out to them. They still lived as if it were the fourteen hundreds on Earth with all of their old-fashioned tools and ideas.
Daven laughed at Amanda’s expression. “We have a lot of extras we use for the children. I’ll bring one along and spend some time teaching Vinia how to use it. Do you think she’s ever had the opportunity to use one before?”
“It’s probably been a long time, but she did enter bills of lading on the patil for Captain Ahn many anons ago,” Amanda replied.
“Let me go grab one, and then I’ll walk out with you,” he announced as he stood up and left the room. They only had to wait a few minutes before he stood in the doorway with a satchel slung over his shoulder. “I’m ready,” he announced and then waited for the women to come out of his office to lead the way.
Nena came up beside Rasa and said, “I’ve been asked to assemble everyone from Jehoban’s meeting. Are you available this Kamis? I think everyone has been available for getting together on that day.
“I’ll make the time because it’s really important we keep in touch and move forward with figuring it out. Just let me know when and where and I’ll be there,” she answered.
“Together, we will get it figured out,” she agreed and put her arm around Rasa’s lower back as they descended the stairs
down to the landing field.
Chapter Thirty-Four
SHEMALLA ARRIVED BACK home and found Lillia was still there. “What do you have planned?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I’m just keeping out of Lucinden’s way for a while. I’m going to have to report back soon, but I’m not sure what I should tell him. What do you think?”
“You could try for the truth and say you didn’t discover anything unusual. After all, there isn’t anything going on here in Roswell.” She laughed at her own joke since Roswell seemed to be the most laid back place she had ever lived.
“I have to agree with you there! How do you manage to keep from dying of boredom in this town? Not to mention working in the museum and hearing all of the visitors theorizing about what really happened!”
“I’ve had to bite my tongue so many times,” she laughed. “Knowing Elder Vargen’s son was actually responsible for the original crash makes it pretty funny, though.”
“I bet,” Lillia wiped the laughter tears from her eyes and then sobered. “I probably should think about returning to Tuala.”
“You could travel across America and find people who are friends of Tuala. I’m sure they’d love to get an update on what’s going on in our world. They really have been the nicest people I’ve ever met.”
Lillia tipped her head and raised an eyebrow at the suggestion. She had never really spent too much time with the Tualan supporters, and she thought it might be an education. They might even lead her to find out something to share with Lucinden after all. “I think I might just do that! Do you have any suggestions on the route to take?”
“I’ll print you up a map,” she answered happily.
“How was your trip? Were you able to complete your assignment?” Lillia asked innocently.
Shemalla did not dare discuss what she had been doing with Lillia. While she trusted the woman implicitly, her association with Lucinden made some information ill-advised to share. She knew Lucinden could read her mind if he ever chose to do so, and the less information Lillia knew about the Elders of Tuala, the safer they would all remain. “It went alright,” she answered noncommittally.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 20