by Mary Eicher
“I want to know if I’ve disappointed you, Wolf,” Artemis finally confessed, rubbing her palms together nervously. “I never did what you asked. I never explained your theory of dark matter and the interconnection you see in the universe.”
His face grew soft as he listened to her. “My darling girl. You did everything I could have hoped.”
Artemis licked her lips. “So, you aren’t disappointed about dark matter, I mean? Even after what Angie’s angel told you?”
“But of course not, Temmie. My life has been one of discovery like yours but not quite as, shall we say, energetic as yours. I understand that my purpose was to encourage you, to help you see what you are capable of. If dark matter is a mystery I am not meant to solve, so be it. But I know this, dear goddess. My search was meant to bring us together, and you can’t deny dark matter’s role in that. We are connected. I am delighted to have been a part, however small, in your journey.”
Artemis grew serious. “Well, I still feel obliged to try.” She decided to share what her whispers had helped her remember when they had come to her last. The truth of what she was had been revealed to her and memories of an ancient time amid the stars had been unveiled. She knew, at last, her place in a universe, no longer mysterious or unknowable. Given all that Strang had done for her, she felt he deserved a few of the answers he sought.
“Dark matter is not matter at all, just like you first explained to me. It is the Akashic home of consciousness. It is the realm of the creative force where our essence resides and creates the material world we occupy from time to time. It is our true home. The one where Willa waits for you. Dark matter connects you still.” She lowered her head and leaned down, her elbows on the railing. “I think I’ve spent my whole life resenting having left it. The mortal world is a cruel teacher, Wolf, and I have been a poor student. I found myself in a world where I didn’t want to be and searched for answers I wouldn’t allow myself to find.”
Her words brought an aspect of gratitude to his eyes. And his heart swelled as he understood that Artemis finally accepted all she was.
“The realm of the creative force. I like that, Temmie. It’s biblical. It reminds me of the God of Genesis moving through the firmament and saying let there be light.”
He walked over and took her in his arms. He looked into her bright-blue eyes and then kissed her firmly on the lips. Artemis stared at him in shock. It was not something she had ever expected him to do.
Strang erupted in a throaty laugh. “So, the goddess can be surprised. Good. That is very good. There is more for you to do, my darling girl. The universe has a purpose for its harbinger. And if there is a true harbinger, Temmie, it is you.”
She felt a door open and new memories step through. A little girl holding her father’s hand. A vineyard in bright Tuscan sunlight. Climbing the steps to a library in Alexandria. Places in time and space where she had been. And Wolf was there. Like Lucy, he had always been there for her through the ages. She touched his face tenderly. The glint in his eye told her he knew it too. She returned his grin. Clearing his throat, he gave her a shy look and smoothed back his hair.
“Of all the things you’ve said, dear girl. The one I love most is ‘the universe is a thought, and we collectively are the ones who think it.’ Now we must see what to make of this new world we’ve wrought.”
Angie brought Strang a book she’d found and asked him to read it with her. It was the thank-you gift Artemis had sent to him and Willa.
“Ah, little oracle. This book is about the gods of ancient Greece. They are my great friends and have been for many, many years. They were the first ones who taught me about the stars.”
Angie leafed through the pages, looking intently at the pictures while he told her about Zeus and Ares and their mighty deeds. She turned a page and looked up, excited by the drawing she found there. “It’s Aunt Temmie.”
Strang tousled her hair. “Yes. That’s the goddess Artemis. Your aunt as she was long, long ago.”
Artemis looked over at the picture entitled Artemis among the Wood Nymphs by Henri-Léopold Lévy and shrugged.
“I prefer the portraits by Guillaume Seignac and Troy Caperton,” Strang told her. “But none of them do you justice, Temmie. I doubt any artist could.”
Artemis put her hands on her hips and gave Strang a shake of her head.
“At least this one is clothed,” she said, making Angie giggle.
Strang sighed. “Alas, little oracle, your aunt doesn’t like being a goddess anymore.”
Angie walked over to Artemis and put her hands on her own little hips in a mirror image of her aunt. “Why not?”
Artemis arched an eyebrow but couldn’t think of a reply.
*
The evening air was fresh and clean as Artemis sat on the lanai, lost in thought and listening for whispers. Lucy brought her a blanket and a cup of tea.
“It’s getting chilly,” she said, settling into the chair beside her. “You probably haven’t noticed since you are off in dark matter somewhere pondering the universe.”
Artemis glanced at her and smiled, her eyes refocusing as she released her thoughts. She took Lucy’s hand and squeezed. “Sorry. Was I gone long?”
“Long enough for me to put Angie to bed.” Lucy pulled her sweater close across her chest and folded her arms. “She told me about your visit to Wolf.”
Artemis grimaced. “Busted. I hope you don’t mind. It was something I just needed to do, and Angie always likes to see Wolf.”
Lucy sipped her tea. She was at peace with all of it. She had put it together and embraced it with her heart. And she didn’t mind if her little girl saw Artemis as a goddess. Lucy harbored more than a faint suspicion herself, although she never wanted to finally resolve the possibility. She handed a folded piece of paper to Artemis.
“My latest article on the Harbinger. It talks about the children and what this all means for them. I was thinking of sending it to Jake.”
Artemis sat up. “I thought you quit.”
“I quit working for the Messenger. I didn’t stop being a reporter. That’s who I am.”
Artemis opened the paper and read. When she’d finished, she refolded the paper and held it between her hands. Lucy had defined the gift of the Harbinger beautifully. Artemis wasn’t surprised. After all, Lucy was a bard.
“What do you think?” Lucy asked.
“I think it’s perfection. I think Jake should publish it. What you’ve written is upbeat and optimistic. Vintage Lucinda Breem.”
“No, he won’t. He’s still angry with me for leaving like I did. And, I suspect, he’s really miffed I have you.”
Artemis laughed out loud at that. “He never had a chance.” She reached out and ran the back of her hand along Lucy’s arm. “We have each other.”
Lucy retrieved the article and slipped it into her pocket. “So, what’s been on your mind, Temmie? You’ve been lost in thought for hours.”
“I can’t shake the feeling that something’s bothering Wolf.” Artemis stood up and gazed at the night sky cloaked in Strang’s beloved dark matter emblazoned with stars. “There is a reason for the Harbinger. Something’s coming. Something our world needs to know before it happens. I’ll discuss it with Wolf again tomorrow.”
Lucy got up and put her arm around her partner’s waist. “Or we could just wait for the children to tell us.”
About the Author
Mary Eicher lives with her two daughters in Southern California. With degrees in Psychology and English from the University of California, she left an executive position in Silicon Valley to pursue a career in creative writing. Mary has traveled extensively in Europe and worked with the Pacific Whale Foundation in Australia and dolphin research facilities in Hawaii. Recipient of a Silver Pen award and other acclaim for her short stories, Mary is a frequent contributor to fandom sites and anthologies. She is currently completing The Artemis Series trilogy.
Email: [email protected]
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Coming Soon from Mary Eicher
Perceptions
Artemis, Book Two
The agile young girl rode the remnants of a collapsing wave onto the beach, hopped expertly off the board, and let it sidle along the sand. Her damp curly blonde hair fluttered in a gust of wind as she retrieved her board and waved at the slender dark-haired woman watching from a nearby bluff. Artemis stood with her hands on her hips and an undeniable look of approval in her pale-blue eyes.
“Not bad!” Artemis called down, pleased to see that Angie, a natural water child, was making excellent progress. The pretty young daughter of her partner Lucy, Angie had grace and balance and something more, something harder to define but definitely rooted in confidence.
Artemis watched Angie saunter up the beach toward her and shook her head. Angie’s budding adolescent body was on the verge of the trickiest part of growing up. In a month she would officially be in her teens and the very thought gave Artemis a chill. Whatever influence either she or Lucy had over Angie would soon dissipate like waves withdrawing from the beach. And given the horrors of the current world what would be normal trepidation tipped toward full blown terror.
She greeted Angie with an arm around her shoulders and a gentle hug. Angie grinned.
“Can we show Mom when she gets home?”
“Sure.” Artemis shielded her eyes from the blazing sun descending in the west. “I’ll text her right now. It’s close enough to closing time. She can board up shop and head this way. Want to get some lemonade while we wait?”
Angie nodded enthusiastically. “Can we get…?”
“…another round of Maui onion rings?” Artemis chuckled, getting a grin in response.
They headed to Leilani’s and took a free table by the pool. Lucy arrived twenty minutes later, still dressed in her shop clerk slacks and blouse, just as Angie polished off the final greasy ring. She gave Artemis a disapproving arch of her eyebrow when she saw what they’d been eating and settled into the chair between them.
“Mother wanted to stay open for art night, so I left her in charge instead of closing up,” Lucy said, motioning the waitress for her usual pineapple iced tea. “I think she likes running the shop just as much as she loves shopping.”
Artemis’s eyes crinkled in amusement. “No doubt about that. Buying and selling are all the same to her so long as she gets to be in a store. I hope we have some inventory left though. We aren’t getting supplies again for three more days. And it promises to be a busy weekend.”
Lucy accepted the frosty glass from the waitress and took a long drink. “Oh, I needed that. This has been one hot summer.” She rolled the glass along her forehead and relished the cooling effect. “I may never get used to the tropics.”
“Maybe you’re just having hot flashes, Mom,” Angie offered with a wicked little smirk.
Horrified at the idea, Lucy looked at Artemis who was sucking in her cheeks to keep from reacting and then scowled at her daughter. “Listen, kid. You aren’t a teenager yet. I still have a few weeks before I have to put up with that ‘you are so old’ commentary.”
She set the glass of tea on the table a touch too forcefully and gritted her teeth. Artemis was not being helpful and if her partner laughed out loud Lucy was going to—something. She wasn’t quite sure what. Artemis may be her soulmate, but she was also a formidable opponent.
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