Emmeline arrived at home before Alice, and MacGregor met his 2nd Most Important Person at the gate. "Hello, you!' Em greeted her favorite K9 with a pat as she entered the house through the back porch, taking jars of canned okra and tomatoes from the pantry shelf with her. A nice hot stew she thought, would be just the thing on a cold mid-winter's day.
An hour or so later with stew tasted and pronounced incredibly delicious, she fed MacGregor and sat at the breakfast nook as he appraised her with head cocked to one side. 'You, Sir, have been fed! And no, chilie peppers are definately not to your taste!' She and Alice always made sure to celebrate the fall harvest with plenty of dried chilies from the garden,herbs and mushrooms, and canning anything else that didn't move gave provender against the cold winter.
Where was Alice, anyway? Em knew they both had finished work at the same time, but Alice was not at the trolley stop when she headed home directly. Em sat at the table and pondered the day's events, Mac flopping at her feet. That signature sheet...bodes ill indeed, she decided, as she scratched his bristly head. 'Where's your mama, eh?' she asked. Mac sighed then, making her smile. My stars, but it's dark out! Where could the girl be?
Just then, Mac raised his head and 'whuff!'d.
'At last!' Em got up as Mac raced off to the front door.
'Oh, well now! My stars, dearie, it isn't as though I'd run off with the gypsies!'Alice bent to pick up Mac who was near wiggling out of his skin with joy to see his Numero Uno.
'Soup's on!' Em called from the kitchen, as she set bowls out for them both and a loaf of rye-caraway bread on the cutting board.
'Smells wonderful! I'm fair famished!' Alice exclaimed, hanging her coat and scarf in the hallway.
She washed up quickly then bent over the stove and dipped her spoon into the pot, thick with okra,mushrooms, tomatoes and rice, and chilies naturally.'Needs more chilie pepper!'she winked at Em.' But, not bad!'
'High praise indeed, coming from your mama!'Em addressed Mac who wagged in agreement. 'So! What have you been up to, then?' she asked as she took a seat and bent to her steaming supper.
Alice joined her and first savored several succulent sips of soup, purred like a cat and sat back before answering. 'Ummmm...Diosa, but that's what a body needs on a cold winter's eve! Good work, girl!' Al set to with knife upon rye then.'Have I got news!' she declaimed enigmatically.
Em cocked an eyebrow.
'Well! You recall the dread signature sheet we signed today? I took the matter up with some friends of mine.'
'Indeed, Al! Good! That has certainly been uppermost in my mind all day. I can't quite fathom what it portends...but I don't trust it.' Em sat back then,regarding Alice seriously.
'Exactly. I met with a couple of my old pals, a nurse and teacher, who have been trying to persuade their fellow workers into organizing for a labor union. You know one of them, I believe--Ernestine Guevara.'
'Oh,Ernestine! Truly? That's great news!' Em sat up now,'I haven't seen her since the night of the war games on the esplanade...'Em rested her chin on her hand in thought. 'That new 'guideline' as they call it...they're claiming that it was only instigated in order to target repeat offenders and take steps to get them to shape up or ship out.'
'Bull Frogs, Em!' Alice set her spoon down with a thwap. 'If that was the case, they'd simply deal with the bad apples, not the whole barrel! Oh, no. They are after the foolish long-timers like us who believe we actually have a career! Just you watch! They'll target us, and then we'll be replaced with youngsters desperate for work at bottom dollar!Not that I begrudge anyone a job.But we have worked hard, believe in our work as something worthwhile to the community. And we're good at what we do, doggone it!' Alice sighed and stood then. 'I have something to show you. Come into the parlor.'
...said the spider? Em thought as she followed Al and took a seat at one end of the sofa and curled up with Mac on his blanket in the middle.She could hear Alice rummaging about her coat pocket in the hallway. Alice then entered the room carrying papers which she proceeded to unroll.
'They look like handbills. Let's see, Al.'Em leaned foreward as Alice sat on the other side of Mac and
taking a glance at Em, Alice read: 'ORGANIZE! There Is Power In A Union!' She paused and handed Emmeline a couple of the flyers.
'Oh, Alice! At last! You know we've been talking about this ourselves! And I have spoken of it with Ernestine...' Em read the bill: 'Labor Meeting - Wednesday Evening 7pm - Community Center. A Grassroots Movement For Worker's Rights' Emmeline studied the papers. 'We're going!'
'You bet your boots.' Alice arose and went to the hallway.She returned boasting a handfull of handbills.
These she dropped triumphantly upon the tea table.
'Marvellous! Good work yourself, Al!' Em paused and reflected a moment, 'I wonder...dare we take them to work though? You know the chilly climate.'
Alice smiled her Cheshire cat smile. 'I'll give them a Chilie Climate!' She raised her fist in air. 'Viva la revolucion!'She and Em exchanged smiles. 'It was divine stew mi amiga. But...diosa! Where's the cayenne?'
Em grinned with determination. 'We should take them, don't you think?' She took up half the sheaf of bills.'And you're welcome to the stew!But you know I haven't your hot tongue, querida!'
'I'll give them muy caliente at the meeting Wednesday.'
Alice stared at the flyers.'By the way, I saw your old beau, Lev, at the printers when we went to pick these up.'
Emmeline leveled her gaze at Alice. 'Lev Kopalski?' She remembered.
'You two had quite the thing together at one time,'Alice ventured.
'Lev, back in Pankhurst.And, just in time for a labor demonstration!' Em smiled and shook her head slowly. 'Same old Lev.You're right, Al. We did have a great thing going. I miss him. But, it just wasn't in the stars.'
'Hm.' Alice regarded her. 'Well. He certainly remembers you. Asked about you, he did.'
Em sat back, her leaflets in hand, and stared into space. At last she closed her eyes and smiled again, a little wistfully. 'I remember Lev fondly.'She looked up then. 'And we had much in common. But...we had our differences too. Still...'she stared into the distance once more. 'it'd be nice to see him again.'
Alice stood. 'Wednesday night then.'
Em looked at her leaflets,'So it is written. So shall it be.'
. . . . .
The Community Center was lit up like a Christmas tree as the old song goes, and full of town&countryfolk as well as pro-union agitators from various parts.Wednesday was a good night for town meetings as the church also had prayer meetings then and so this kept the anti-union crowd down. However, there were one or two radical priests from out of town who actually had one foot on the ground as well as a head in the clouds, as it were. Alice and Emmeline jostled through the crowd trying to nab a couple of rare seats together. They'd just sat down near the podium when they heard a familiar voice call; " Em! Alice! Diosa, it's good to see you both!'
'Ernestine!' Em motioned her friend over and when she and Alice had hugged her hello, Ernestine began to regale them with the meeting's agenda in, well, earnest.
'At last! It looks as though it's coming together here in Pankhurst. The teachers are all of one mind on organizing and most of us in nursing are in agreement as well. Whether to consolidate the two unions or keep them separate is just one of the issues.'
'I wonder where our library would fit in...?' Emmeline
deliberated.
'We'll fit you in somewhere, never worry!' Ernestine was the perfect name for her,Em thought. She was always so ardent in her passions, for healing, and equality, for what seemed to her, basic human rights.
Her mother was something of a local legend, a curandera, who was held in reverence by the townspeople, especially the womenfolk, who went to her for healing herbs and advice when the medical doctors could do nothing.Ernestine had inherited her intuitive gifts and had taken that much farther; having gone to Mexico City for her medical training.Her father was a respected scientist there, although he and Tina's mother were now separated.
She herself,was the perfect blending of old world herbal healing and modern allopathic medicine. Her de jure standing in the community was given her by an ingrained probity;she commanded respect simply by believing, no, by knowing that she deserved it.'I must speak with someone. I'll see you at the next meeting, if not before?' Em nodded and Tina disappeared into the throng.
Several speakers approached the podium then, and as the crowd began to take their seats, Alice nudged Emmeline and said, 'There's Lev,'her eyes on a figure standing to the far left of the stage. Typical! Thought Em. Oh, my. He hadn't changed in the years since she'd seen him last...how long ago has it been now? 2, 3 years? Still ruggedly handsome, one might call him. Lev, rarely a snappy dresser, looked like a typical poster of a factory worker from the North Countries; cap on his head at an angle shading his brow, arms crossed over his chest and sleeves rolled up to reveal hard,tanned forearms,farmhands' denim trousers held with braces, and heavy workboots, with not quite a scowl on his face, but looking as dead serious as he usually was. She remembered when they first met that she thought here was a guy she could never joke with, but she found out differently! He had a ready wit that soon had her in competition for comedic material and droll one-liners.He was a playwright as well as a union agitator, and all of his plays were heavily armed with Marxist rhetoric,'Lev-ened' by some of that much-needed waggishness.
Ah, Lev...still looking deadly attractive with his long fair-to-auburn curls tied back in leather laces at the nape of his neck like Paul Revere ready to ride and rouse the town to revolution. Best keep my mind on the business at hand, Em decided. Lev was still trouble, for her. And diosa knew that she'd had enough problems with men lately.
'Ladies and gents, workers and sympathizers!' A voice rang out over the hall and shushed everyone into silent attention. 'We meet here tonight not to debate on whether unionizing is needed or not, for of course it is, absolutely!'
This pronouncement was met with loud cheers and applause, some whistles. The older distinguished looking gentleman at the podium with longish white strands of wispy hair and a full handlebar moustache continued, 'This is only the beginning of what will soon become a full-on assault of workers, together, against those institutions, individuals, corporations and legislations which have been lately gaining ground against the rights of every worker to a living wage, a chance to pursue their chosen field of endeavor, and to do so in a safe and healthy environment.' Again, a loud chorus of agreement from the crowd.
'Didn't realize our humble purlieus boasted such a
rout of tovarishtchi!' Alice murmured. Em had to agree...it felt good to finally be amongst those with whom one felt comraderie,rather than constantly pushing uphill against the tide of management and their endless rules, demands, 'guidelines' they'd trump up just to make life a little crazier, and the brown-noses who kowtowed to them...
. . . .
A couple of hours and several impassioned speeches later, Alice, Em and Tina were gathered 'round the podium speaking together with some of the organizers who pressed more leaflets and newspapers upon them and made sure to receive their promises to attend the next meeting come January of the new year. Em was perusing one of the hastily printed papers, noting the ink smudges on her hands, when a shadow fell over the article she was scanning. She looked up into Lev's intent cornflower-blue gaze. 'Hello, Emmeline,' he
said, but he didn't smile she noted. Was he still...ambivalent toward her, she wondered? 'Hello, Lev. It's good to see you here. You're looking well.Back in town, then?'
He looked around, not answering for awhile. 'Briefly,' he admitted. 'You look well, too, Em.' He didn't seem pleased by this observation. He was always so hard to read... Well, it probably was generous of him to even approach me, I suppose, she decided. 'Are you organizing for the library?'he asked at last.
'I hope to. Oh, Lev, it's getting worse there all the time! I know we don't have to deal with unsafe work conditions like the factory workers...but the bosses seem to want to be rid of those of us who have been there some years, so that they may hire younger folk at low wages to replace us.'Em paused, seeing how Lev took all this in. 'I'm worried, frankly.''
'Yeah,' Lev sighed and reached down to retrieve his ever-present satchel and heaved it over one shoulder.
'It's a story I've heard many times before, Em. Don't let them push you out! Organize! Together, we can effect change.' At last the ghost of a smile hovered about his handsome mouth.'But you've heard my speech-making before, I think! Say, I'm putting out a paper now. The printer is working on the newest edition...possibly it will be out soon. Shall I drop afew off at your place? You're still at Alice's, I reckon?' She noticed his gaze slide briefly over her left hand, devoid of any gold band.
'Oh, yes, of course! It's home, after all. You're welcome by anytime, Lev. And your input is always on target! Alice and I are heading into the City for New Year's Eve, but we'll be home before and after.'
Lev glanced all-too-briefly into her eyes, then looked away. 'Remember the New Year's Eve we had together
watching the fireworks over the river?'
She remembered. All too well. 'I do. It was a wonderful way to welcome the new year...'she gave a brief shrug, 'Freezing though, wasn't it? And such a crowd!'
'I didn't notice.' Lev looked at her again, then switched his bag to the other shoulder. 'Well, I'm off, then! Give my best to Alice and Tina, will you?
I'll drop off the latest edition of the Comrades Cooperative Speaks, ah, as soon as the ink dries!' he allowed himself a half-grin, eyeing her hands. 'Viva la revolucion, Em!' and with that he swung himself off the stage and joined a throng of men who exited together.
'See you, Lev...'she said to his retreating back, rather wistful now.
Alice approached her then. 'Well! That was energizing!
Ready to hit the road, Em? Workday tomorrow, I fear.'
Em smiled and linked arms with Alice as they strode from the hall into the night air. She noticed Lev in a wagonload of men who were rattling off down the road singing songs of revolution to the accompaniment of guitar and concertina.
'Saw you talking with Lev.'Alice looked at her enquiringly as they sauntered home along the elm and sycamore lined avenues.
'Yes, we spoke briefly.' Em sighed. 'Oh, Alice...whatever became of us?'
'You broke it off with him, as I recall!' Alice stated matter-of-factly.'So, you should know.'
Em looked down at her boots. 'I know, I know. I had to. But I didn't want to. It was...complicated.'
Alice gazed ahead into the night sky, stars twinkling above them, and began to softly sing:'"The song...has ended but the melody lingers on...."She winked at Em. 'You both seemed to get along so well. You were always laughing, carrying on together. And rarely a moment apart, it seemed to me!'
'Maybe...that was part of the problem. Things were just then getting more difficult at work. And, well, I simply didn't have his inexhaustable Scorpio energy! We Libras wear out easily,by comparison; even from too much fun! Diosa, imagine complaining that a relationship was what, too good?' Em smiled. 'Well, actually, it wasn't all roses.' Damn, she remembered...the huge bouquet of roses he gave her on Valentine's Day. He was always ferociously thrifty, most comrades are...but for that special holiday he'd gone all-out. She began to get teary. This won't do! Get a grip, Em, she told herself.'I was exhausted...trying to keep up with him.He's a one-man tornado on fire, that one. And, as much as we had in common politically, we differed on some very important issues.'
'You argued alot then?'asked Alice, genuinely curious.
'No. Not at all. I never...brought it up. When I found out he felt the way he did about some issues, I was appalled. I kept it to myself...'
'Appalled? Truly?' Alice gave Em a droll appraisal.'weighed, measured and found wanting...'Al intoned sonorously.
' Eventually, all these minuses added up in my book...'Em shot Al a wry glance, 'and yes,I felt it was just time to end it.'finished Em. 'But now, hopefully we can just work together. As comrades should.'
'Em how can minuses add up? It's highly illogical.'
Alice was gazing at the stars...' Never thought of bringing up these...differences of opinion? Politics! You split because of fine print,Em?'...you know...'Alice began anew, 'I used to talk with Yeats alot, in the kitchen back at Jack's.'she looked over at Em, to see how she was taking all these blasts from the past, as it were,'and he made the sage observation that all relationships can be mollified by the use of regular intervals of wine and copious amounts of garlic...'
Em actually laughed then. 'Oh, Al...Lev and I never lacked for either wine or garlic!'
'Lev is a good guy to have on our side,'Alice concluded. She always did like Lev.
'It was complicated, like I said! And a long time ago!' Em quickened the pace, 'Anyway, he said he's publishing a newspaper now. He'll drop some issues off for us when the new edition is out.Okay by you, Al?'
Alice squeezed her arm,'Of course, cherie. Lev is always welcome. Will he be in town long?'
Em didn't think so. 'Apparently not. He seemed abit cagey as to his doings of late. I didn't press him.'
'Well, at any rate, tonight seemed a good beginning. At least we're not in this fight alone! That's something! Have we a chance at organizing our library, do you think?'Alice frowned slightly.
'We have to try, Alice! It's either that or just get walked all over by the likes of the Soup From On High!'
'...Soup From Hell, more like...'Alice muttered.
'Bloody Halfwaffle! It curdles my brain to think of her! Lets get some of these flyers into the hands of our colleagues at least! That's a start. Maybe some will have the gumption to show up for the next meeting, then!'
'Hope springs eternal...' Alice concluded as the two friends' footsteps echoed down the empty street and they rounded the corner that brought them at last to their quiet avenue home.
.....
The next day, although Em was raring to go, Alice had decided the best approach was to be as circumspect and subtle as possible. Of course, Em agreed, knowing Alice had much more to lose than she, should their agitating become cause for disciplinary action.
So they each approached, on their own, friends and colleagues with whom they had some measure of trust and allegiance, and left them with a handbill and invitation to the next town meeting.
Em was feeling that she'd actually put in a good day's work by closing time, unlike some days when she just felt frustration. We did a good thing for worker's rights, and we didn't compromise the library or our jobs, she determined, by our efficient yet clandestine means to that hopeful end.
She was humming 'There is Power in a Union' while she read some of the previous night's literature at the trolley stop, when she noted Alice heading across the street her way.
'Alice!' she smiled and waved, but she noticed her friends' troubled countenance as she approached.
'What's up, Al?'she asked, taking Alice's arm in hers.
Alice looked at her and her chin began to tremble.Em had rarely witnessed such emotion in her normally stoic friend. 'Oh, my dear. Here, let us sit down!' and Em led her over to a nearby bench.
Alice took a deep breath and pulled herself together.
Then she looked down and began, 'Oh, Em. I, I am to be transferred.'
'What? Where?' Em couldn't imagine where or why.
'To...to...Siberia!'...Alice sortof wailed out the 'iiiiaaaa' part as she blew her nose into her handkerchief.
'Alice! What do you mean? Tell me!' Em demanded.
'Well. I think it's because they found some of the handbills on my desk.' Alice looked up at Em at last.
'Oh, no...Oh Alice. It's all my fault! I'll go in and tell them so, first thing! They cannot lay the blame on you!' Em was aghast.
'But why not?' Alice dabbed at her eyes. 'I can't deny it! Oh, Em...it's just that...'
"Alice. Tell me. Where do they want to send you?'
'It's the old archives warehouse. Across town.' Alice looked glum.
'They can't! Nothing's out there! And what are you to do? No trolleys run that far out...' Emmeline suddenly knew this was war. Diosa! They couldn't do this!...could they?
'Oh, Em...I'm afraid my days of a long walk to work or a short trolley ride are over! The only problem is, I'm not the young athelete I once was...'
Em smiled painfully,'Alice,were you ever a young athlete?'
'Nooo...more's the pity...' Alice slumped over in total misery.
'Alice, no, don't despair! I promise you, I'll tell them they were mine! They can't do this to you! It's my fault--I insisted we flyer the library!' Em felt lower than a backsliding gambler pilfering granny's cookie jar savings.
Alice sighed in resignation. 'Em, I won't let you do it. You have much more to lose than I!'
'I do not!'
'Don't argue. You do. You need gainful employment. You always have a place to stay, with me, and I always have my widow's pension. Frank is as good as gone.'
Em touched Alice's shoulder. Alice continued,'I'll make it somehow, Em. Get a bicycle? I don't know. Don't think I can afford a horse and buggy...and where to put them?'
The trolley pulled up then and the two friends embarked and managed to land a seat together. 'We'll think of something, Alice. They won't get away with this!'
Alice just looked at Em with eyes that bespoke her thoughts of more misery to come. 'All we wanted was some respect. Some rights. We just want to be able to do our jobs!Is that too much to ask?'
Em shook her head and said nothing as they rode home.
. . . .
Soundtrack: 'Brother Can You Spare A Dime' and Devotchka has that perfect Eastern European and Latin gypsy flavor.
Say don't you remember when you used to call me Al?
It was Al all the time--
Buddy do you remember, you used to be my pal?
Buddy can you spare a dime?
Monday, September 19, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Chapter 19 -Damage Control Freaks
Chapter 19
Silence. No sound was heard in the parlor then, except...tick...tick...tick...Jack and Aleister both noticed it at the same time, and stared into the corner where the old clock, Ben, was ticking once more.
Yeats spoke then, 'Yes, I took the liberty of setting Grandfather Time back upon his appointed rounds...' Yeats sat back upon the sofa, crossing his lengthy legs before him. Leaning back, his gaze settled upon Aleister then. 'Parsons!' Aleister's head went up as though his bridle had been jerked. 'You, are excused.'
Aleister stood, exiting without a sound, after sparing a sympathetic glance at Jack as if to say 'good luck old boy...'
Jack knew he'd need more than luck.
Neither man said a word for some time. Jack remained as still as possible under the eagle-eyed gaze of his superior. At last Yeats said, 'You are treading very dangerous ground here.'
Jack began to reply, but Yeats held up a hand. '--and, you have thus far, shown yourself to be capable of the most egregious errors in handling this entire business. I am tempted to ground you, both, indefinately.' Yeats continued to stare at him, his gaze narrowing. Jack knew what that meant: no timewalking.
Yeats continued: 'Your rash actions taken seemingly without consideration of consequence, nearly resulted in the displacement of Miss Page, and possibly Mrs. Stein as well. They must not be so imperiled! YOU, however, are expendable! Have I made myself clear?' The Eagle glared at Jack beneath tufted brows. Jack seemed to be his prey.
Young Van Horn was obviously trying to get hold of himself, struggling with many conflicting emotions. He had believed, sincerely believed, that everything they had done had been necessary to protect Emmeline and Alice....but, after seeing, or rather not seeing Emmeline after the timewalk, he had to admit to himself that it had been a bad move. Perhaps, she had nearly been lost, for good. And it was their fault. His fault.'Yes, of course. You are right,' was all he could manage at last.'Please forgive us, sensei, I take full responsibility.'
Yeats released Jack from his gaze and sighed then, looking out the window at the grey sky.'Do not 'sensei' me nor pretend that you even practice anymore! I do not want to hear your excuses! If you had more wit, more practice! --and less spastic reaction, you would have spared many.' he sat then, staring seemingly at nothing...
'Patience.' the Head paused.
'You have yet to learn.'
(tick...tick...tick...)
'I have not yet decided what course to take from here. I shall have to consult with...some others upon this matter.' He looked back at Jack then. ' Meanwhile, you and Parsons will return to Crowley House as soon as possible. Take only what is absolutley necessary. That means: LEAVE THE ARTEFACT HERE. In the safe.' The Heads' magnetic gaze again locked upon Jack and forced him to stare into his eyes. Only then did Jack notice what color they were. Gold. Like a panther. Or a wolf.
. . . . .
Pankhurst Library was a busy place that morning. It was a Tuessday which meant storytime for the children. Downstairs Emmeline was running the desk whilst Alice sat before the hearth at the end of the room with a semi-circle of young children gathered about her, reading from a large book of fairy tales, which she would open occasionally to display the artwork within, to the 'Oooh's and Aaah's, of her attentive little audience. Today's featured story was 'Cinderella' which had been requested by many of the girls. The lads would have their turn later next week with Paul Bunyan and his Big Blue Ox, but for now it was Ladies' Choice and they listened as quietly as young boys could...
One of the older girls came up to the desk then. Emmeline recognized her as one of their 'regulars'--kids who popped in after school or on holiday breaks such as this, avid readers at an early age. 'Hello Cynthia! What have you there?' The girl, a dark haired lass of about 11 years, smiled and produced Anna Sewell's 'Black Beauty'--also a favorite of many girls her age, and bookmarked already in the middle of the book. Ah, horse fever! Em knew it well.'A fine choice! Miss Sewell's book is becomming ever more popular here in the states now! I enjoyed it myself.' Em admitted, as she stamped the due date on the check out card and slipped it into the the book cover.'I see you've made great inroads upon it already!'
'Oh, yes, Miss Page!' Her dark eyes flashed. 'But, the carriage horses in London! They were treated so poorly, some of them! Oh, and when Beauty meets his old friend, Ginger! Oh, Miss Page! It's too awful! Ginger was old then, and tired-out, and they just wanted to work her into the ground!' The girl looked near to tears.
Oh, my. Well, fiction is a good way to teach children about life. Even Alice over there, with her fairy tales for the young ones...Grimm, some of them. There were real wolves in the woods.'Yes, Cynthia, it is sad! But, you see, because Miss Sewell wrote the book, and made people more aware, conditions are improving...just see the trolleys all round and even motor-cars now! Soon, horses will be used just for pleasure riding and won't have to work so hard, eh?' Em smiled as she handed the book, not losing her young patron's place, back to the girl, now smiling as she took her leave, trotting back upstairs. Ah, youth! When did I last trot up those bloody stairs? Em shook her head knowing full well she never had.
"...and they lived happily ever after! The End!' finished Alice and her audience clapped delightedly with appreciation. Parents converged upon their wee charges and Emmeline was busy with check-outs for a time, as Alice put the chairs back around the little tables. When the crowd dispersed, they then noticed the new circulation supervisor standing at the bottom of the stairs, her arms full of papers and a frown on her face. For Regina Halfwaffle, there was nothing new in this. But Emmeline still feared some fresh hell from on high, as it were.
Alice approached the desk then and Halfwaffle thwacked her pile of papers down upon it and addressed them both. 'New Rules, for the New Year!' No hello-how-are-you's from the New Fearless Leader. Em and Alice looked at the paper pile without enthusiasm. 'Beginning with this:' the Soup as she was thought of by most, then handed to each a paper requiring a signature at the bottom. 'Read and sign.'
She then took a couple of small booklets' worth of pages and
handed them over, 'These, you will study and keep handy. The old circulation manual has been discarded, and This will be our new Bible, as it were! Treat it as such!' Hm, thought Em. Word from on High, indeed! Halfwaffle always did see herself as Above It All...to which she repaired,after issuing her edicts, returning then to her lofty aerie in the upper levels without so much as a fare-thee-well.
Alice put her glasses on and was frowning at the signature sheet. 'But...is this even legal? Emmeline, look at this, this, aaagh!' Alice was quite beside herself now, '"Employees will sign the new guideline as agreed upon by the Library Board of Directors. I,(name) do hereby agree to the following:Employees of Pankhurst Public Library who do not report on time for work upon their scheduled days will be subject to termination of employment, even if due to illness or injury,and the incidents of absenteeism are agreed upon to have been incurred more often than is acceptable by their supervisors. To remain in good standing as an employee of Pankhurst Public, I (name) do hereby sign below. (date)"!' Alice looked up at Emmeline over the edge of her glasses with a look of shock and dismay.
Emmeline was staring at the sheet before her feeling as though time was standing still suddenly. Something was shifting...as if a cold wind had suddenly come unannounced and allowed within.. This New Rule...was somehow lodged it in her brain on the same shelf as her conversation with little Cynthia...she thought of some of her older colleagues and friends. This did not bode well for them, or for any of us, she knew. 'What can this mean, Alice...?' she pondered.
Alice set her jaw. 'Trouble. That's what it means.'
. . . . .
An even colder wind off the Atlantic was whipping through the trees outside of the Van Horn estate. After the hurried departure of Jack and Aleister, Yeats had stayed on to take care of some things and close up after. He was allowing the fire to burn out while taking advantage of the lull in activity to sit down to an unhurried cup of java in the parlor.
He'd just taken a sip of the hot black brew when a flash of light burst before him, causing him to do the standard spit-take in surprise.
Standing before him, his ample mid-section straining buttons behind a hideously plaid waist-coat, stood Mr. Pudge, his face split in a beaming self-satisfied grin.
'Surprised?' Pudge asked.
. . . . .
Meanwhile, back at Crowley House...
Jack was scraping ash from the fireplace and then trying, thus far unsuccessfully, to start a new fire. Aleister was stamping his feet and huddling hard by with an old tartan afghan about his shoulders. 'I say, Jack, need any help with that...? This place feels cold as if it's been shut up for months!'
Jack looked up at Al, his face 1/2 black with soot from having wiped it with his chimney-sweeps' hands.
'Sorry I haven't Yeats' adept touch with salamander magic!--
but I haven't given up yet!--There!' At last he produced a meager flame which slowly caught the papers below his kindling.
'Black Jack, indeed!' observed Al, as Jack stood, nearly wiping his hands on his pants, but catching himself in time. 'I have the kitchen stove lit, and water on the boil. You could use a bath.'
'Obviously.' said Jack, who just stood there, looking grimy and cold and miserable, and feeling like he deserved it all, and more.
Al sidled up to the fireplace and inspected his cigar-box, feeling his ciagrillos for dampness. He cocked an eyebrow at his friend. 'I...don't know what you and Yeats were about after I left, but...don't take it so hard, old boy.'
Jack said nothing, staring at the small fire. 'Al...you don't know...but, it's all true what the Head had to say. I still can't fathom it, Yeats! I just can't wrap my head around it! But he had me dead to rights. Both of us, really.'
Al put back his too-damp cigars and closed the box. 'Jack, I know you. And you know me, well enough, I hope, to know that we, neither of us, ever would have knowingly done anything to have caused harm to Alice or Emmeline. That we were trying, in good faith, to keep them safe! To keep them away from Flubber!'
'Yesss...' Jack looked up then and turned about, facing Al. 'I can't help but wonder though...why did Yeats warn us off Flubber? Why are we all back here now? I admit it was abit of hare-brained idiocy...some of the things I did. That business with the Professor's Box, and the Artefact...' Jack smacked his forehead with an ashy palm leaving yet another mark. He sighed. 'I wish we could see them. Emmeline and Alice. Just...to make certain they're alright.'
'That wouldn't be wise Jack, not yet.' Aleister took off his blanket, tossing it on the sofa. 'But I know how you feel. I'm not so dismissive of Flubber as our Head seems to be.
I wouldn't be surprised if he were to simply show up when we least expect it!'
. . . . .
Yeats stood and was wiping coffee from his otherwise immaculate jacket as he frowned at his intrusive visitor.
'MUST you EXPLODE upon the scene like...like Daryl Van Horn in a carnival show!?' he sighed and extracted a red handkerchief from his breast pocket, dabbing at the stains.
'Club soda, on the credenza, if you please?' he directed Pudge without glancing up.
Still grinning, the plaid suit with ample Pudge inside strode over to the bottles and made as if to aim the seltzer at Yeats.
Not looking up still, Yeats merely said,'Don't even think about it.'
Pudge sighed, and handed the much taller man the soda. Yeats
snatched it from him and sat back down, applying remedy to stain.
Unbuttoning his westkit, Pudge went to the mantlepiece, opening the cigar box. 'May I?' he enquired. Yeats merely looked at him briefly, then frowned at the assault upon the eyeballs that was his visitors' repulsive excuse for clothing. 'Nice suit,' Yeats observed.
Pudge extracted a fine Havana and lit it with a fingertip.
'Ahhh, you always did have decent taste, I must say!' he blew a satisfied cloud airways & leaned against the mantle then. 'Like it? I believed it might help me stay in character...rather Pagliacci, I thought!' he took a deep drag, blowing smoke ring punctuations..
'Rather more 'Bozo' I think.' Yeats countered, stuffing his kerchief back in his pocket. He stared hard at the plaid man through the cigar haze.'John, I do appreciate all your attempts to distract our wandering boys...'he took a small sip of now-cold coffee, '...but, alas, it didn't help in the end.'
'The lads are back in Pankhurst now?' asked John, sitting across from Yeats.
'They are. With strict orders to simply Let It Be, for awhile. I told them I would 'deal' with you.'
John, Mr. Pudge, raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
Yeats sat forward, elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands together before him. 'I am truly as much to blame for what went wrong as they. I know--' he held up a hand, 'I asked you to go to the theatre and get the ladies' frequency signatures in case we had to transport them elsewhere in a pinch! But, I had no idea that Jack and Al would get out of the blasted warehouse so quickly!' Yeats stood and strode over to the window.
John blew out a fresh haze of blue smoke. 'So...you didn't send them to kick me 'round and steal my Box? Mad timing that! Right at the stroke of midnight! How very...dramatic.'
'Lord and Lady, no!'Yeats turned to him. 'If I hadn't been in Council with the Elders ..I knew something was up right away of course, but by then it was too late to do anything , other than damage control.' He walked over to the fireplace and stared into the flames. 'Thelene was ready to roast me for that...mishap, she termed it. Bless her. We are to thank her, and the High Council, that it wasn't as catastrophic as it could have been.'Yeats paused, his shoulders relaxed. 'I don't deserve her.' he declaimed.
'No you most certainly do not.' John flicked his ash into the fire. 'Well, now what, then?'
'Now?' Yeats looked at John. 'Now, it's rather up to Emmeline, isn't it?' And with that enigmatic statement, Yeats went back to the window, John following. When he turned he squelched a grimace.
John had changed in an instant into a kimono, his hair, what little there was...plenty on the sides as he liked to say!
was gathered into a Japanese-style...sideknot.
'I wish you wouldn't do that. You look like Van Horn's goodbadugly brother.'
'But ever so charming!' The two men watched as the sun began to sink behind the low distant hills..
John spoke, 'How much Time do we have then?'
Yeats heaved a short sigh. 'Not enough, I'm afraid. Not nearly enough.'
. . . . .
.
Silence. No sound was heard in the parlor then, except...tick...tick...tick...Jack and Aleister both noticed it at the same time, and stared into the corner where the old clock, Ben, was ticking once more.
Yeats spoke then, 'Yes, I took the liberty of setting Grandfather Time back upon his appointed rounds...' Yeats sat back upon the sofa, crossing his lengthy legs before him. Leaning back, his gaze settled upon Aleister then. 'Parsons!' Aleister's head went up as though his bridle had been jerked. 'You, are excused.'
Aleister stood, exiting without a sound, after sparing a sympathetic glance at Jack as if to say 'good luck old boy...'
Jack knew he'd need more than luck.
Neither man said a word for some time. Jack remained as still as possible under the eagle-eyed gaze of his superior. At last Yeats said, 'You are treading very dangerous ground here.'
Jack began to reply, but Yeats held up a hand. '--and, you have thus far, shown yourself to be capable of the most egregious errors in handling this entire business. I am tempted to ground you, both, indefinately.' Yeats continued to stare at him, his gaze narrowing. Jack knew what that meant: no timewalking.
Yeats continued: 'Your rash actions taken seemingly without consideration of consequence, nearly resulted in the displacement of Miss Page, and possibly Mrs. Stein as well. They must not be so imperiled! YOU, however, are expendable! Have I made myself clear?' The Eagle glared at Jack beneath tufted brows. Jack seemed to be his prey.
Young Van Horn was obviously trying to get hold of himself, struggling with many conflicting emotions. He had believed, sincerely believed, that everything they had done had been necessary to protect Emmeline and Alice....but, after seeing, or rather not seeing Emmeline after the timewalk, he had to admit to himself that it had been a bad move. Perhaps, she had nearly been lost, for good. And it was their fault. His fault.'Yes, of course. You are right,' was all he could manage at last.'Please forgive us, sensei, I take full responsibility.'
Yeats released Jack from his gaze and sighed then, looking out the window at the grey sky.'Do not 'sensei' me nor pretend that you even practice anymore! I do not want to hear your excuses! If you had more wit, more practice! --and less spastic reaction, you would have spared many.' he sat then, staring seemingly at nothing...
'Patience.' the Head paused.
'You have yet to learn.'
(tick...tick...tick...)
'I have not yet decided what course to take from here. I shall have to consult with...some others upon this matter.' He looked back at Jack then. ' Meanwhile, you and Parsons will return to Crowley House as soon as possible. Take only what is absolutley necessary. That means: LEAVE THE ARTEFACT HERE. In the safe.' The Heads' magnetic gaze again locked upon Jack and forced him to stare into his eyes. Only then did Jack notice what color they were. Gold. Like a panther. Or a wolf.
. . . . .
Pankhurst Library was a busy place that morning. It was a Tuessday which meant storytime for the children. Downstairs Emmeline was running the desk whilst Alice sat before the hearth at the end of the room with a semi-circle of young children gathered about her, reading from a large book of fairy tales, which she would open occasionally to display the artwork within, to the 'Oooh's and Aaah's, of her attentive little audience. Today's featured story was 'Cinderella' which had been requested by many of the girls. The lads would have their turn later next week with Paul Bunyan and his Big Blue Ox, but for now it was Ladies' Choice and they listened as quietly as young boys could...
One of the older girls came up to the desk then. Emmeline recognized her as one of their 'regulars'--kids who popped in after school or on holiday breaks such as this, avid readers at an early age. 'Hello Cynthia! What have you there?' The girl, a dark haired lass of about 11 years, smiled and produced Anna Sewell's 'Black Beauty'--also a favorite of many girls her age, and bookmarked already in the middle of the book. Ah, horse fever! Em knew it well.'A fine choice! Miss Sewell's book is becomming ever more popular here in the states now! I enjoyed it myself.' Em admitted, as she stamped the due date on the check out card and slipped it into the the book cover.'I see you've made great inroads upon it already!'
'Oh, yes, Miss Page!' Her dark eyes flashed. 'But, the carriage horses in London! They were treated so poorly, some of them! Oh, and when Beauty meets his old friend, Ginger! Oh, Miss Page! It's too awful! Ginger was old then, and tired-out, and they just wanted to work her into the ground!' The girl looked near to tears.
Oh, my. Well, fiction is a good way to teach children about life. Even Alice over there, with her fairy tales for the young ones...Grimm, some of them. There were real wolves in the woods.'Yes, Cynthia, it is sad! But, you see, because Miss Sewell wrote the book, and made people more aware, conditions are improving...just see the trolleys all round and even motor-cars now! Soon, horses will be used just for pleasure riding and won't have to work so hard, eh?' Em smiled as she handed the book, not losing her young patron's place, back to the girl, now smiling as she took her leave, trotting back upstairs. Ah, youth! When did I last trot up those bloody stairs? Em shook her head knowing full well she never had.
"...and they lived happily ever after! The End!' finished Alice and her audience clapped delightedly with appreciation. Parents converged upon their wee charges and Emmeline was busy with check-outs for a time, as Alice put the chairs back around the little tables. When the crowd dispersed, they then noticed the new circulation supervisor standing at the bottom of the stairs, her arms full of papers and a frown on her face. For Regina Halfwaffle, there was nothing new in this. But Emmeline still feared some fresh hell from on high, as it were.
Alice approached the desk then and Halfwaffle thwacked her pile of papers down upon it and addressed them both. 'New Rules, for the New Year!' No hello-how-are-you's from the New Fearless Leader. Em and Alice looked at the paper pile without enthusiasm. 'Beginning with this:' the Soup as she was thought of by most, then handed to each a paper requiring a signature at the bottom. 'Read and sign.'
She then took a couple of small booklets' worth of pages and
handed them over, 'These, you will study and keep handy. The old circulation manual has been discarded, and This will be our new Bible, as it were! Treat it as such!' Hm, thought Em. Word from on High, indeed! Halfwaffle always did see herself as Above It All...to which she repaired,after issuing her edicts, returning then to her lofty aerie in the upper levels without so much as a fare-thee-well.
Alice put her glasses on and was frowning at the signature sheet. 'But...is this even legal? Emmeline, look at this, this, aaagh!' Alice was quite beside herself now, '"Employees will sign the new guideline as agreed upon by the Library Board of Directors. I,(name) do hereby agree to the following:Employees of Pankhurst Public Library who do not report on time for work upon their scheduled days will be subject to termination of employment, even if due to illness or injury,and the incidents of absenteeism are agreed upon to have been incurred more often than is acceptable by their supervisors. To remain in good standing as an employee of Pankhurst Public, I (name) do hereby sign below. (date)"!' Alice looked up at Emmeline over the edge of her glasses with a look of shock and dismay.
Emmeline was staring at the sheet before her feeling as though time was standing still suddenly. Something was shifting...as if a cold wind had suddenly come unannounced and allowed within.. This New Rule...was somehow lodged it in her brain on the same shelf as her conversation with little Cynthia...she thought of some of her older colleagues and friends. This did not bode well for them, or for any of us, she knew. 'What can this mean, Alice...?' she pondered.
Alice set her jaw. 'Trouble. That's what it means.'
. . . . .
An even colder wind off the Atlantic was whipping through the trees outside of the Van Horn estate. After the hurried departure of Jack and Aleister, Yeats had stayed on to take care of some things and close up after. He was allowing the fire to burn out while taking advantage of the lull in activity to sit down to an unhurried cup of java in the parlor.
He'd just taken a sip of the hot black brew when a flash of light burst before him, causing him to do the standard spit-take in surprise.
Standing before him, his ample mid-section straining buttons behind a hideously plaid waist-coat, stood Mr. Pudge, his face split in a beaming self-satisfied grin.
'Surprised?' Pudge asked.
. . . . .
Meanwhile, back at Crowley House...
Jack was scraping ash from the fireplace and then trying, thus far unsuccessfully, to start a new fire. Aleister was stamping his feet and huddling hard by with an old tartan afghan about his shoulders. 'I say, Jack, need any help with that...? This place feels cold as if it's been shut up for months!'
Jack looked up at Al, his face 1/2 black with soot from having wiped it with his chimney-sweeps' hands.
'Sorry I haven't Yeats' adept touch with salamander magic!--
but I haven't given up yet!--There!' At last he produced a meager flame which slowly caught the papers below his kindling.
'Black Jack, indeed!' observed Al, as Jack stood, nearly wiping his hands on his pants, but catching himself in time. 'I have the kitchen stove lit, and water on the boil. You could use a bath.'
'Obviously.' said Jack, who just stood there, looking grimy and cold and miserable, and feeling like he deserved it all, and more.
Al sidled up to the fireplace and inspected his cigar-box, feeling his ciagrillos for dampness. He cocked an eyebrow at his friend. 'I...don't know what you and Yeats were about after I left, but...don't take it so hard, old boy.'
Jack said nothing, staring at the small fire. 'Al...you don't know...but, it's all true what the Head had to say. I still can't fathom it, Yeats! I just can't wrap my head around it! But he had me dead to rights. Both of us, really.'
Al put back his too-damp cigars and closed the box. 'Jack, I know you. And you know me, well enough, I hope, to know that we, neither of us, ever would have knowingly done anything to have caused harm to Alice or Emmeline. That we were trying, in good faith, to keep them safe! To keep them away from Flubber!'
'Yesss...' Jack looked up then and turned about, facing Al. 'I can't help but wonder though...why did Yeats warn us off Flubber? Why are we all back here now? I admit it was abit of hare-brained idiocy...some of the things I did. That business with the Professor's Box, and the Artefact...' Jack smacked his forehead with an ashy palm leaving yet another mark. He sighed. 'I wish we could see them. Emmeline and Alice. Just...to make certain they're alright.'
'That wouldn't be wise Jack, not yet.' Aleister took off his blanket, tossing it on the sofa. 'But I know how you feel. I'm not so dismissive of Flubber as our Head seems to be.
I wouldn't be surprised if he were to simply show up when we least expect it!'
. . . . .
Yeats stood and was wiping coffee from his otherwise immaculate jacket as he frowned at his intrusive visitor.
'MUST you EXPLODE upon the scene like...like Daryl Van Horn in a carnival show!?' he sighed and extracted a red handkerchief from his breast pocket, dabbing at the stains.
'Club soda, on the credenza, if you please?' he directed Pudge without glancing up.
Still grinning, the plaid suit with ample Pudge inside strode over to the bottles and made as if to aim the seltzer at Yeats.
Not looking up still, Yeats merely said,'Don't even think about it.'
Pudge sighed, and handed the much taller man the soda. Yeats
snatched it from him and sat back down, applying remedy to stain.
Unbuttoning his westkit, Pudge went to the mantlepiece, opening the cigar box. 'May I?' he enquired. Yeats merely looked at him briefly, then frowned at the assault upon the eyeballs that was his visitors' repulsive excuse for clothing. 'Nice suit,' Yeats observed.
Pudge extracted a fine Havana and lit it with a fingertip.
'Ahhh, you always did have decent taste, I must say!' he blew a satisfied cloud airways & leaned against the mantle then. 'Like it? I believed it might help me stay in character...rather Pagliacci, I thought!' he took a deep drag, blowing smoke ring punctuations..
'Rather more 'Bozo' I think.' Yeats countered, stuffing his kerchief back in his pocket. He stared hard at the plaid man through the cigar haze.'John, I do appreciate all your attempts to distract our wandering boys...'he took a small sip of now-cold coffee, '...but, alas, it didn't help in the end.'
'The lads are back in Pankhurst now?' asked John, sitting across from Yeats.
'They are. With strict orders to simply Let It Be, for awhile. I told them I would 'deal' with you.'
John, Mr. Pudge, raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
Yeats sat forward, elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands together before him. 'I am truly as much to blame for what went wrong as they. I know--' he held up a hand, 'I asked you to go to the theatre and get the ladies' frequency signatures in case we had to transport them elsewhere in a pinch! But, I had no idea that Jack and Al would get out of the blasted warehouse so quickly!' Yeats stood and strode over to the window.
John blew out a fresh haze of blue smoke. 'So...you didn't send them to kick me 'round and steal my Box? Mad timing that! Right at the stroke of midnight! How very...dramatic.'
'Lord and Lady, no!'Yeats turned to him. 'If I hadn't been in Council with the Elders ..I knew something was up right away of course, but by then it was too late to do anything , other than damage control.' He walked over to the fireplace and stared into the flames. 'Thelene was ready to roast me for that...mishap, she termed it. Bless her. We are to thank her, and the High Council, that it wasn't as catastrophic as it could have been.'Yeats paused, his shoulders relaxed. 'I don't deserve her.' he declaimed.
'No you most certainly do not.' John flicked his ash into the fire. 'Well, now what, then?'
'Now?' Yeats looked at John. 'Now, it's rather up to Emmeline, isn't it?' And with that enigmatic statement, Yeats went back to the window, John following. When he turned he squelched a grimace.
John had changed in an instant into a kimono, his hair, what little there was...plenty on the sides as he liked to say!
was gathered into a Japanese-style...sideknot.
'I wish you wouldn't do that. You look like Van Horn's goodbadugly brother.'
'But ever so charming!' The two men watched as the sun began to sink behind the low distant hills..
John spoke, 'How much Time do we have then?'
Yeats heaved a short sigh. 'Not enough, I'm afraid. Not nearly enough.'
. . . . .
.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Chapter 18 -No Time Like the Prescient
Chapter 18
No Time Like the Prescient
Meanwhile, Aleister had finally located Jack down in the lab.
After the initial shock at finding Emmeline and Alice gone, Jack had stormed off into parts unknown and Aleister wisely let him blow off steam awhile before tracking him down to his 'lair' below.
Years of experience with Jack had taught Al that whenever his friend was troubled, he would often lose himself in his work. For hours, or days or weeks on end. He'd have to have Yeats haul him out of the lab just to make sure he fed and showered occasionally.
Al feared that just such a work jag was coming on Jack now. He knew that Jack just wanted to put Emmeline and all else out of his mind and concentrate on solving some problem or puzzle just to give himself focus of some sort other than blaming himself for all that had gone...sideways.
Aleister, thinking himself somewhat older and wiser, or at least more experienced, knew that...stuff happened. Perhaps this was for the best at this juncture. One can control events, and especially human beings, only so far...
He found Jack seated on a stool gazing at an object in rapt attention,and with an elbow on one knee and head leaning against his fist, he seemed the personification of The Thinker. He recognized Miles Davis: 'So What' played in the background. Ah. Jack could listen to 'Kind of Blue' over and over, never even hearing it, but needing it like a morphine drip when he was, himself, Kind of Blue.
'What have we here, then?' Aleister approached cautiously. Jack still had a rather wild look about him;his hair standing on end on one side of his head, the result of his nervous habit of running his hands through it when he was exasperated usually.
Jack looked over at Aleister, straightening. 'I managed to get The Box open that we found in Em's trunk. This,'he gestured at the odd object on the table before him, 'was the only thing inside.'
Aleister bent over the object, curious. 'May I?'
Jack nodded, and Al picked it up. It was a sort of matte-silverish color, although when he turned it around, it seemed to have a violet sheen. It was egg-shaped, although rather flattened, perhaps like a soapcake, and slightly larger than palm-sized. It was seamless and had no markings on it whatsoever.
'Hm.' Aleister was baffled by the thing. 'Any ideas...?'
Jack sighed and stretched his legs out to the floor,
'No.I'd try xray diffraction analysis but using a scanning electron microscope I can find no inclusions.Nothing.Useware analysis can't be done.It would seem as if newly made without any preterite status. Can't get a picture, can't get a read-out. No response from any stimuli; electrical or magnetic, or sonic even. It seems inert. I somehow doubt that it is. But what it is, or it's use, is beyond me, other than it's obviously magnesium, zinc and bismuth. If it wasn't such a unique artefact,I could run it over to the university for laser Raman spectroscopy, wavelength dispersive spectroscopy, EDS, MRI...' Jack's eyes had that glassy look that Aleister knew all too well. Jack continued:
'The zinc could be a catalyst for magnesium ionization...but I can't yet locate any oxygen, they could both act as potentiators but we'd need ion probe spectra for analysis...'
Al stepped up to the plate, as it were.'Come have something to eat, old man. Coffee, at least, eh? We'll look into this later. I may have some ideas...' Aleister looked hopeful.
Jack stretched and rolled his head in a arc, setting bones to cracking with a loud crunching sound. 'Gods I'm stiff!I guess I have been down here awhile already.' He blinked at Aleister and seemed to focus at last. 'Coffee. Oh, mercy, yes...'
Al smiled as he watched Jack return The Object to The Box and put both in the safe, glad that Jack was amenable to something other than 'stewing' down in the lab for aeons.
As the two men came upstairs, Jack sniffed, scratched his hair and smiled at last. 'Coffee! Gods it smells good. Thanks Al, I admit I can use it!'
'I hadn't made any yet Jack!' Aleister said, 'I wonder--'
They both were surprised, but only slightly, to find Yeats in the kitchen, sipping coffee and leaning casually on the counter.
'I have something to impart to you both,' said Yeats, in his low melodious voice. 'But do help yourselves to some mocha java and then join me in the parlor. I have news.' And with that enigmatic proclamation, Yeats exited the scene.
. . . . . .
Duly summoned, Aleister and Jack took their coffees into the parlor in Yeats's wake and sat at opposite ends of the sofa, whilst Yeats leaned upon the mantlepiece, staring out the French doors at the still stormy landscape blowing about the house. A tall, already imposing figure, Yeats, when he was of a mind to, could also give one the creeps. He was dashed uncanny, that's what it was.
His early history was not known amongst the Order proper, but, being a blackbelt in karate was a plus not to be sneezed at, and also he was a bloody great chef and loved to cook.
So, indeed Al and Jack did attend smartly to his summons.
Yeats took a poker from the fireplace and a cigarette from the case on the mantlepiece. He held the poker in the fire awhile, heating it nicely.
Jack looked to Aleister, who shrugged and maintained his poker face. He thought. Oh gods, poker face.
When sufficiently heated, Yeats took the red-hot poker from the fire and touched it gently to his cigarette tip, inhaling whilst casting an eye at the two on the couch.
'You bloody idiots.' Yeats announced matter-of-factly.
'Well, I...' Jack began,
'Are you arguing with me?' Yeats enquired, holding the hot poker tip up to his eye level.
'Wouldn't dream of it.' Jack was certain on that account.
Yeats dropped into the armchair. 'Lord and Lady, what a run you have given me.'he sat forward and leaned the poker against the fireplace.' I say, would either of you lads - he stressed the word - mind fetching this old man a brandy? I've had the devil's own Time of chasing your lady friends throughout It.'
. . . . .
Suiting action to suggestion, Jack did the honor and handed Yeats a snifter of Courvoisier. Al and Jack wisely stuck to caffeine. Unused to Yeats's newfound
verbosity, they sat dumbstruck, waiting.
'First of all. Miss Page and Mrs. Stein are safe at home in Pankhurst.'
Both Jack and Aleister visibly relaxed at this news.
'No thanks to either of you lot!' Yeats continued. 'Secondly, Flubber is on the lam. After the...altercation shall we say? -- at the theatre,
he was singled out as the cause of the disturbance
and had the crowd out for his blood thinking that he had somehow threatened Jacky when you two 'gents' tossed him out of her room on his backside. He'd managed to get away from them, but the police were given a fair description of him and have been on the lookout for him. I tracked him to a whistle-stop en route to Pankhurst and intercepted him there. When I showed him a fake badge and made a grab for him, he ran and managed to catch a train heading back westbound. I decided to let him go, as he seemed to know that we knew of his intentions and were looking for him. He'll lie low for awhile now. I kept watch over the Stein residence for a couple of days without incident.'
Yeats paused and sipped his cognac.
Jack and Aleister quietly drank their coffees and glanced at one another surreptitiously.
'What happens now...is in the lap of the gods,' Yeats finished enigmatically.
'However!' He blew smoke forcefully, 'We need some new ground rules for you two.'
Aleister finally roused himself to confront this 'new' Yeats. 'Eh, and what does the Head have to say about
ah, things, as they now stand?'
Yeats peered down at Aleister over his cigarette, studying him like some sortof slightly odious insect.
'I AM the 'Head', you idiot.' He informed them with a cloud of smoke.
. . . . .
'Anara!' Thelene's voice sounded in her head bringing her more fully into The Dream.She 'woke', lying in a bed and saw her sensei seated on the bed next to her,gently holding her hand.
'Hai, Sensi!'Anara looked at her teacher.' Oh, Thelene! It's so good to see you!'
'How are you Mermaid?' Thelene tucked a straying lock behind Anara's ear. 'You had me worried so of late.'
'I feel amazing, Thelene! I feel renewed somehow...but it's odd. I...feel as though I've just been through something dark and troubling, but I can't recall what it was.'
'We had to do some work on you.' Thelene looked concerned. 'You were losing cohesion, in every Timeline, thanks to...well, it matters not. Now. You
should be fully recovered. But we will not allow things to get so far out of hand, not again.'
Anara realized the gravity of the situation now. 'I see. Somewhat. I, I haven't had to forfeit the Mission, have I?' Her eyes pleaded. 'I don't want to fail you, and everyone...'
Thelene looked hard at her, 'Don't even think that way! You are not the only volunteer you know! The Mission will continue, Anara!' her voice softened. 'Forgive me, little fish, you had me very concerned is all. Be assurred that you cannot 'fail' us by doing your best! Which you have done, already.'
Anara looked down. Fearing the worst she asked, 'Am I to be...taken off the Mission then?'
Thelene stood and went to gaze out at the sea beyond. She turned and regarded her favorite student.
'No. You will return to your duties soon enough. Although it is not what I would wish. If it were up to me alone, I would keep you here. '
Thelene looked outward again.'You have done more than your share already! But-- '
She came back over to Anara's bedside again. 'I'm not the only voice in this matter. The High Council has decided that we can't pull you out now. The Nexus point is imminent.'
. . . . .
The sound of waves, crashing on the beach. Calls of sea-birds. Emmeline's dream delivered her back upon mundane shores with the lingering memory of ocean air and cool breezes.
She wakened, stretching her arms above her head and sighed contentedly...it was a wonderful dream! She was back, in...that place again. It's near the sea, she remembered that much. And such a relaxing spot, she knew it must be somewhere special. But, why can't she remember where?
Glancing out her bedroom window she saw the sun rather high in the sky already and decided she'd best catch up on some things and get moving. Mercy, but it seemed a lifetime ago she when was home at last!
Heading downstairs she found Alice in the breakfast nook poring over some papers. 'Good morning Alice! How's your morning?' Em put the tea kettle on. How good it was to be in control of one's life again! She briefly thought of Jack and his dark, albeit delicious java and his 'almond milk' as he called it...she felt a slight pang of...regret, was it? No, it was merely common sadness.
'Greetings Em!' Alice studied her friend a moment, noting that she seemed more at ease. 'Good to be home, isn't it?'
'Oh, Alice...just kick me, will you, if ever I moan about life in Pankhurst again!' Emmeline answered the kettle's singing and poured for her Earl Grey. 'I'm so ready for some uninterrupted tedium.' She covered the pot with a cozy and took it with two cups to the table.
'What are you studying there?'
Alice sat back and removed her glasses, rubbing her forehead. 'Actually, some papers of Frank's! I didn't think I'd left anything of his here in the house, but...I found these in an old desk.' She sighed, and accepted the cup Em poured for her. 'Ta, Em!'
'Oh!'Emmeline glanced at the stack before Alice. 'Anything...of interest?'
Alice smiled. 'I'm sure it would be of interest, to Certain Parties.'
'Ah.' Em sipped her tea sedately, and setting her cup down, gazed at the garden outside seemingly intent on watching MacGregor tear about the yard.
Noting that Em wasn't about to 'bite', Alice decided to simply take the eh, heifer by the horns. 'So...still intent on heading back to the City for New Year's?'
Emmeline did look at Alice then. 'Oh, yes. Yes indeed!
I have a laundry list of questions for Miss Morgana, you can bet.'She frowned abit then. 'Alice...did Aleister ever speak to you about this so-called Nexus point?'
'Hmmm,' Alice bit her lip and frowned in turn. 'Nooo, not really, Em. However...'she looked up then, staring off into the corner, as if trying to dredge up a stray memory, 'It might have something to do with a thing that Frank had mentioned.'
'Truly, Alice? It's so exasperating! Those two...'she still couldn't bring herself to even say Jack's name,
'...they make something out to be so, so monumentally important, yet tell one nothing about it!' Em cleared her throat. 'Sorry. I still get, befuddled by it all.You were saying, Alice? Any information would be
helpful!'
Alice put her glasses back on, glancing at her papers.
'Well...when I find more, I'll try to put it together for you. I'm trying to remember, and it's not easy,'she peered over her frames at Em,'it was long ago, and also somewhat technical in it's way, and I really haven't the background in physics to relate to much of what he tried to impart to me...but! He did mention something about a...oh, what did he call it? Some sort of dimensional intersection...Time...quake? Was that it?
Possibly. A Timequake.'
'That doesn't sound very reassuring!' Em poured more tea. 'Anything else?'
'It'll...take awhile, like I said.' Alice looked at Em. 'I want to research this. It's just possible that, well, Em, it is possible that Jack and Aleister were right about that. The Nexus point.'
'Oh, Alice! Do you regret coming back here? Are you sorry we left, then?' Em felt badly now. She'd had her own doubts, but felt that she and Alice had done the right thing by leaving.
Alice removed her glasses and touched Emmeline's arm.
'Oh, no, dear! Not at all! We did do the right thing, by leaving.' Alice sat back with her tea,and crossing her legs, she sighed then.'Long before they had abducted us, I felt that they were becoming rather more...proprietary in their actions regarding us both than I would have liked. We had to be decisive about ourselves, or they'd overstep some serious bounds. And they did.'
Em visibly relaxed. 'Oh good. No regrets then!' Alice shook her head.
'None. However, we shouldn't just forget about things. And yes, speaking with Morgana is indeed a good clue to follow. But we can, in our own small way, get to the heart of this whole mystery on our own, I'm thinking.'
Alice seemed resolute.'You haven't forgotten that Mr. Orez as well as the Captain are due back rather soonish?'
'Mr. Orez!' Emmeline sat up and took notice now.
'Yes, Em.' Alice smiled. 'My! That's a switch! I never noticed how excited you become when I mention Alejandro's name before!' She couldn't resist teasing her friend.
'Alice! You said...Mr. Orez could...what's the term then?--access Frank?' Emmeline was excited, indeed.
This had some far-reaching possibilities!
'We'll see, dear.' Alice didn't want to 'presume' upon Alejandro unduly. She'd have to work up to things, so to speak. 'I'll certainly give it a shot.'
Emmeline was already off and running, in her mind. 'This could be just the ticket, Alice! If we can speak to Morgana, and, ah--interact with Frank at all, well, we could possibly find out what's behind this whole Nexus thing!'
Alice stood then, gathering her papers. 'Possibly. Or, we could simply wind up with a whole new laundry list of questions.' She took her papers into her room with her, muttering, 'Uninterrupted tedium, indeed.We should be so lucky.'
. . . . .
Jack and Aleister were not only dumbstruck, they were downright gobsmacked and discombobulated with this news. True, they hadn't actually ever met with the Head of their Order, but....Yeats?! It was mind-boggling. It was also most embarrassing, now that they'd a chance to recall some of their past, escapades. Oh, Lord and Lady...now what...?
Yeats, meanwhile, drank his cognac and puffed his cigarette with an air of detached serenity. No doubt giving them a chance to stew in their own juices a bit. Plenty of time for chastisement...then again, why put off what one can do so readily here and now?
He leaned forward and expertly flicked his cigarette into the fire.
'That was a major mistake on your part. I do hope you both realize that,' he said to the guilty pair.
Jack spoke up first, 'We didn't want to let them go!
We had no idea...'
'Let them GO?!!' Yeats thundered. 'They never should have been here at all, man!'
Jack looked suitably chagrined. He sat back and said nothing.
Yeats sighed softly and continued in a milder voice,
'Due to your work on the more technical aspects of this project, you were allowed--(he stressed the word)--
to co-chair the work here with Dr. Parsons. Who, I might add, did more than his share of haring about like an 'anserine rookie' was it?' his gaze flickered to Aleister briefly, who felt like a fieldmouse that had been sighted by a swooping hawk. Yeats continued,'Very
few in the order know of my identity.' He nailed them both with a heavy-browed look. 'Before you get any further ideas of being amongst the privileged few, the only reason I have revealed myself to you is that
things have gotten out of hand here, and you are both to share the blame.'
Not knowing what to say or do, the two friends did and said nothing. They both appeared to shrink into themselves whilst being chastised by their Head. As bad as things were before, they'd become considerably more horrific suddenly. But Yeats wasn't done with them yet.
'And, you are both to shoulder the job of cobbling back together some semblance of order here and seeing if we can turn this whole calamity about somehow...'he sighed, as if resigned. 'As I mentioned before: new ground rules.
Rule number one:'Yeats went slowly and carefully, as if speaking to a new puppy that had just made a mess in the corner, 'Neither of you will give another thought to Flubber. You will forget about him. You will leave him, to ME.' He stopped and looked at each of them in turn, being certain of eye contact.'Do. You. Understand?'
They nodded.
'Good. Maybe now we can get somewhere.' Yeats swirled the brandy in his glass and watched the amber liquid
awhile.
'Rule number two: You will both return to Crowley House in Pankhurst and act as though nothing is amiss.' He looked at them.
They both seemed abit nonplussed at this directive. 'I--'began Aleister.
'DO. You. Understand?' asked the Head.
Again they both nodded assent.
'We'll see...'said Yeats, almost to himself. He took a sip and then surprised them both with a question. 'How did you find the artefact?'
Jack cautiously answered. 'It's...in perfect shape. I haven't actually had time to analyze it much...'
'No, no, I mean HOW did you find it? Think now!' The Head was not above sarcasm it seemed.
'Well, Aleister spoke to Alice and got her permission to retrieve the trunk, as you know,' Jack began,looking to Aleister,and wondering what sort of new hole he'd been directed to dig himself into now.
'Exactly.'Yeats confirmed.' Which I did. Believing of course, that you had Miss Page's expressed consent to do so.'He paused. 'Which you did not.'
'She was...'--Jack began.
'Yes. She was knocked-out cold by one of Parson's brewwws (he stressed this)and was somewhat incapacitated at the time. How convenient.' Yeats wasn't going to let up however. 'So, then! On to the artefact! With Miss Page AND Mrs. Stein out of the way, we simply blustered ahead and pried open the box, did we?'
Jack looked suitably mortified. 'I...yes.'
'Rather wondered about that, Jack,'Aleister mumbled.
'I'm not done with you either, Parsons.' Yeats drank off the last of his cognac and sat the glass on the table before him. 'And, then what did we do with this very singular artefact from out of Time?'
'Tested it?' asked Jack, tentatively.
'An acid-test, as well?' asked the Head, sweetly. 'Why bloody not? Why not simply drop it from a great height and see if it bounces?!' He stood. 'Did you try to PRY it open as you did the bloody BOX? Lord and Lady...' Yeats wandered the parlor his head down, hands behind his back. He stopped at the piano and ran a hand over it's smooth black back as if stroking a cherished pet.
'Empirical experimentation is not performed upon such
a RARE object with HAMMER AND TONGS!' He turned to face them both then. 'What were you thinking? Were you, at all?'
Jack sighed and leaned over, his arms on knees and grasping his hands together as if to hold on to himself. 'You're absolutley right. I had no authority to test it, or even to, to remove it from the Box as yet. And, much could have been done before putting it to test...'
'Like receiving permission from Miss Page regarding her FATHER'S, NOW HER ONE OF A KIND ARTEFACT FROM BEYOND TIME ITSELF.'
'Yes.' Jack agreed. 'I felt, desperate. So much seemed to be spinning out of control, and I did feel that I was to blame for much of what had gone wrong.' He looked at Yeats. 'I couldn't bear to think of either of them coming to harm on our account. And with Flubber on the loose and looking for them...'
'Save it.' Yeats was having none of it. 'How, exactly would concentrating on the artefact help the two ladies then?'
'I don't know. Like I said, I felt desperate.'
'Desperate scientists wind up like El Juan Flubber, Jack.' Yeats said matter-of-factly.'The words 'desperate' and 'science' should have some degrees between the two, don't you think? A rather anode and cathode sort of thing, do you see, Jack?'
Gods...the Head could be a right bitch, thought Aleister, who sat stroking his goatee and hoping Yeats wasn't going to flay the piss out of him the same way.
Jack looked the picture of dejection. It'd take more than Miles Davis to lift him out of this pit. Finally, not knowing what he could do or say anymore, he simply said, 'I love her.'
Yeats slowly swiveled his eyes to rest upon Jack, and then arched one brow. 'Indeed?'
'Emmeline. Miss Page. I'm in love with her. Desperately.' Jack admitted.
'I say, Jack!' Aleister sat forward now, 'I didn't realize things had...gone this far!'
'I've been, I don't know, trying to deny it!' Jack stood himself and began pacing in his turn. 'But, it's just so...'he ran a hand through his hair, 'complicated.' He turned to face Yeats. 'I have dreams of her. Even before I met her, I, I dreamed of this same redhaired woman...when I met her, I knew it was her...'
'--The Girl of Your Dreams.' Yeats said, as a statement,not a question.
Jack sighed.'Yes. The Girl of My Dreams.'
. . . . .
One may wish to have tea whilst reading, and listen to the Miles Davis classic album, 'Kind of Blue' from beginning to end, and over again...
No Time Like the Prescient
Meanwhile, Aleister had finally located Jack down in the lab.
After the initial shock at finding Emmeline and Alice gone, Jack had stormed off into parts unknown and Aleister wisely let him blow off steam awhile before tracking him down to his 'lair' below.
Years of experience with Jack had taught Al that whenever his friend was troubled, he would often lose himself in his work. For hours, or days or weeks on end. He'd have to have Yeats haul him out of the lab just to make sure he fed and showered occasionally.
Al feared that just such a work jag was coming on Jack now. He knew that Jack just wanted to put Emmeline and all else out of his mind and concentrate on solving some problem or puzzle just to give himself focus of some sort other than blaming himself for all that had gone...sideways.
Aleister, thinking himself somewhat older and wiser, or at least more experienced, knew that...stuff happened. Perhaps this was for the best at this juncture. One can control events, and especially human beings, only so far...
He found Jack seated on a stool gazing at an object in rapt attention,and with an elbow on one knee and head leaning against his fist, he seemed the personification of The Thinker. He recognized Miles Davis: 'So What' played in the background. Ah. Jack could listen to 'Kind of Blue' over and over, never even hearing it, but needing it like a morphine drip when he was, himself, Kind of Blue.
'What have we here, then?' Aleister approached cautiously. Jack still had a rather wild look about him;his hair standing on end on one side of his head, the result of his nervous habit of running his hands through it when he was exasperated usually.
Jack looked over at Aleister, straightening. 'I managed to get The Box open that we found in Em's trunk. This,'he gestured at the odd object on the table before him, 'was the only thing inside.'
Aleister bent over the object, curious. 'May I?'
Jack nodded, and Al picked it up. It was a sort of matte-silverish color, although when he turned it around, it seemed to have a violet sheen. It was egg-shaped, although rather flattened, perhaps like a soapcake, and slightly larger than palm-sized. It was seamless and had no markings on it whatsoever.
'Hm.' Aleister was baffled by the thing. 'Any ideas...?'
Jack sighed and stretched his legs out to the floor,
'No.I'd try xray diffraction analysis but using a scanning electron microscope I can find no inclusions.Nothing.Useware analysis can't be done.It would seem as if newly made without any preterite status. Can't get a picture, can't get a read-out. No response from any stimuli; electrical or magnetic, or sonic even. It seems inert. I somehow doubt that it is. But what it is, or it's use, is beyond me, other than it's obviously magnesium, zinc and bismuth. If it wasn't such a unique artefact,I could run it over to the university for laser Raman spectroscopy, wavelength dispersive spectroscopy, EDS, MRI...' Jack's eyes had that glassy look that Aleister knew all too well. Jack continued:
'The zinc could be a catalyst for magnesium ionization...but I can't yet locate any oxygen, they could both act as potentiators but we'd need ion probe spectra for analysis...'
Al stepped up to the plate, as it were.'Come have something to eat, old man. Coffee, at least, eh? We'll look into this later. I may have some ideas...' Aleister looked hopeful.
Jack stretched and rolled his head in a arc, setting bones to cracking with a loud crunching sound. 'Gods I'm stiff!I guess I have been down here awhile already.' He blinked at Aleister and seemed to focus at last. 'Coffee. Oh, mercy, yes...'
Al smiled as he watched Jack return The Object to The Box and put both in the safe, glad that Jack was amenable to something other than 'stewing' down in the lab for aeons.
As the two men came upstairs, Jack sniffed, scratched his hair and smiled at last. 'Coffee! Gods it smells good. Thanks Al, I admit I can use it!'
'I hadn't made any yet Jack!' Aleister said, 'I wonder--'
They both were surprised, but only slightly, to find Yeats in the kitchen, sipping coffee and leaning casually on the counter.
'I have something to impart to you both,' said Yeats, in his low melodious voice. 'But do help yourselves to some mocha java and then join me in the parlor. I have news.' And with that enigmatic proclamation, Yeats exited the scene.
. . . . . .
Duly summoned, Aleister and Jack took their coffees into the parlor in Yeats's wake and sat at opposite ends of the sofa, whilst Yeats leaned upon the mantlepiece, staring out the French doors at the still stormy landscape blowing about the house. A tall, already imposing figure, Yeats, when he was of a mind to, could also give one the creeps. He was dashed uncanny, that's what it was.
His early history was not known amongst the Order proper, but, being a blackbelt in karate was a plus not to be sneezed at, and also he was a bloody great chef and loved to cook.
So, indeed Al and Jack did attend smartly to his summons.
Yeats took a poker from the fireplace and a cigarette from the case on the mantlepiece. He held the poker in the fire awhile, heating it nicely.
Jack looked to Aleister, who shrugged and maintained his poker face. He thought. Oh gods, poker face.
When sufficiently heated, Yeats took the red-hot poker from the fire and touched it gently to his cigarette tip, inhaling whilst casting an eye at the two on the couch.
'You bloody idiots.' Yeats announced matter-of-factly.
'Well, I...' Jack began,
'Are you arguing with me?' Yeats enquired, holding the hot poker tip up to his eye level.
'Wouldn't dream of it.' Jack was certain on that account.
Yeats dropped into the armchair. 'Lord and Lady, what a run you have given me.'he sat forward and leaned the poker against the fireplace.' I say, would either of you lads - he stressed the word - mind fetching this old man a brandy? I've had the devil's own Time of chasing your lady friends throughout It.'
. . . . .
Suiting action to suggestion, Jack did the honor and handed Yeats a snifter of Courvoisier. Al and Jack wisely stuck to caffeine. Unused to Yeats's newfound
verbosity, they sat dumbstruck, waiting.
'First of all. Miss Page and Mrs. Stein are safe at home in Pankhurst.'
Both Jack and Aleister visibly relaxed at this news.
'No thanks to either of you lot!' Yeats continued. 'Secondly, Flubber is on the lam. After the...altercation shall we say? -- at the theatre,
he was singled out as the cause of the disturbance
and had the crowd out for his blood thinking that he had somehow threatened Jacky when you two 'gents' tossed him out of her room on his backside. He'd managed to get away from them, but the police were given a fair description of him and have been on the lookout for him. I tracked him to a whistle-stop en route to Pankhurst and intercepted him there. When I showed him a fake badge and made a grab for him, he ran and managed to catch a train heading back westbound. I decided to let him go, as he seemed to know that we knew of his intentions and were looking for him. He'll lie low for awhile now. I kept watch over the Stein residence for a couple of days without incident.'
Yeats paused and sipped his cognac.
Jack and Aleister quietly drank their coffees and glanced at one another surreptitiously.
'What happens now...is in the lap of the gods,' Yeats finished enigmatically.
'However!' He blew smoke forcefully, 'We need some new ground rules for you two.'
Aleister finally roused himself to confront this 'new' Yeats. 'Eh, and what does the Head have to say about
ah, things, as they now stand?'
Yeats peered down at Aleister over his cigarette, studying him like some sortof slightly odious insect.
'I AM the 'Head', you idiot.' He informed them with a cloud of smoke.
. . . . .
'Anara!' Thelene's voice sounded in her head bringing her more fully into The Dream.She 'woke', lying in a bed and saw her sensei seated on the bed next to her,gently holding her hand.
'Hai, Sensi!'Anara looked at her teacher.' Oh, Thelene! It's so good to see you!'
'How are you Mermaid?' Thelene tucked a straying lock behind Anara's ear. 'You had me worried so of late.'
'I feel amazing, Thelene! I feel renewed somehow...but it's odd. I...feel as though I've just been through something dark and troubling, but I can't recall what it was.'
'We had to do some work on you.' Thelene looked concerned. 'You were losing cohesion, in every Timeline, thanks to...well, it matters not. Now. You
should be fully recovered. But we will not allow things to get so far out of hand, not again.'
Anara realized the gravity of the situation now. 'I see. Somewhat. I, I haven't had to forfeit the Mission, have I?' Her eyes pleaded. 'I don't want to fail you, and everyone...'
Thelene looked hard at her, 'Don't even think that way! You are not the only volunteer you know! The Mission will continue, Anara!' her voice softened. 'Forgive me, little fish, you had me very concerned is all. Be assurred that you cannot 'fail' us by doing your best! Which you have done, already.'
Anara looked down. Fearing the worst she asked, 'Am I to be...taken off the Mission then?'
Thelene stood and went to gaze out at the sea beyond. She turned and regarded her favorite student.
'No. You will return to your duties soon enough. Although it is not what I would wish. If it were up to me alone, I would keep you here. '
Thelene looked outward again.'You have done more than your share already! But-- '
She came back over to Anara's bedside again. 'I'm not the only voice in this matter. The High Council has decided that we can't pull you out now. The Nexus point is imminent.'
. . . . .
The sound of waves, crashing on the beach. Calls of sea-birds. Emmeline's dream delivered her back upon mundane shores with the lingering memory of ocean air and cool breezes.
She wakened, stretching her arms above her head and sighed contentedly...it was a wonderful dream! She was back, in...that place again. It's near the sea, she remembered that much. And such a relaxing spot, she knew it must be somewhere special. But, why can't she remember where?
Glancing out her bedroom window she saw the sun rather high in the sky already and decided she'd best catch up on some things and get moving. Mercy, but it seemed a lifetime ago she when was home at last!
Heading downstairs she found Alice in the breakfast nook poring over some papers. 'Good morning Alice! How's your morning?' Em put the tea kettle on. How good it was to be in control of one's life again! She briefly thought of Jack and his dark, albeit delicious java and his 'almond milk' as he called it...she felt a slight pang of...regret, was it? No, it was merely common sadness.
'Greetings Em!' Alice studied her friend a moment, noting that she seemed more at ease. 'Good to be home, isn't it?'
'Oh, Alice...just kick me, will you, if ever I moan about life in Pankhurst again!' Emmeline answered the kettle's singing and poured for her Earl Grey. 'I'm so ready for some uninterrupted tedium.' She covered the pot with a cozy and took it with two cups to the table.
'What are you studying there?'
Alice sat back and removed her glasses, rubbing her forehead. 'Actually, some papers of Frank's! I didn't think I'd left anything of his here in the house, but...I found these in an old desk.' She sighed, and accepted the cup Em poured for her. 'Ta, Em!'
'Oh!'Emmeline glanced at the stack before Alice. 'Anything...of interest?'
Alice smiled. 'I'm sure it would be of interest, to Certain Parties.'
'Ah.' Em sipped her tea sedately, and setting her cup down, gazed at the garden outside seemingly intent on watching MacGregor tear about the yard.
Noting that Em wasn't about to 'bite', Alice decided to simply take the eh, heifer by the horns. 'So...still intent on heading back to the City for New Year's?'
Emmeline did look at Alice then. 'Oh, yes. Yes indeed!
I have a laundry list of questions for Miss Morgana, you can bet.'She frowned abit then. 'Alice...did Aleister ever speak to you about this so-called Nexus point?'
'Hmmm,' Alice bit her lip and frowned in turn. 'Nooo, not really, Em. However...'she looked up then, staring off into the corner, as if trying to dredge up a stray memory, 'It might have something to do with a thing that Frank had mentioned.'
'Truly, Alice? It's so exasperating! Those two...'she still couldn't bring herself to even say Jack's name,
'...they make something out to be so, so monumentally important, yet tell one nothing about it!' Em cleared her throat. 'Sorry. I still get, befuddled by it all.You were saying, Alice? Any information would be
helpful!'
Alice put her glasses back on, glancing at her papers.
'Well...when I find more, I'll try to put it together for you. I'm trying to remember, and it's not easy,'she peered over her frames at Em,'it was long ago, and also somewhat technical in it's way, and I really haven't the background in physics to relate to much of what he tried to impart to me...but! He did mention something about a...oh, what did he call it? Some sort of dimensional intersection...Time...quake? Was that it?
Possibly. A Timequake.'
'That doesn't sound very reassuring!' Em poured more tea. 'Anything else?'
'It'll...take awhile, like I said.' Alice looked at Em. 'I want to research this. It's just possible that, well, Em, it is possible that Jack and Aleister were right about that. The Nexus point.'
'Oh, Alice! Do you regret coming back here? Are you sorry we left, then?' Em felt badly now. She'd had her own doubts, but felt that she and Alice had done the right thing by leaving.
Alice removed her glasses and touched Emmeline's arm.
'Oh, no, dear! Not at all! We did do the right thing, by leaving.' Alice sat back with her tea,and crossing her legs, she sighed then.'Long before they had abducted us, I felt that they were becoming rather more...proprietary in their actions regarding us both than I would have liked. We had to be decisive about ourselves, or they'd overstep some serious bounds. And they did.'
Em visibly relaxed. 'Oh good. No regrets then!' Alice shook her head.
'None. However, we shouldn't just forget about things. And yes, speaking with Morgana is indeed a good clue to follow. But we can, in our own small way, get to the heart of this whole mystery on our own, I'm thinking.'
Alice seemed resolute.'You haven't forgotten that Mr. Orez as well as the Captain are due back rather soonish?'
'Mr. Orez!' Emmeline sat up and took notice now.
'Yes, Em.' Alice smiled. 'My! That's a switch! I never noticed how excited you become when I mention Alejandro's name before!' She couldn't resist teasing her friend.
'Alice! You said...Mr. Orez could...what's the term then?--access Frank?' Emmeline was excited, indeed.
This had some far-reaching possibilities!
'We'll see, dear.' Alice didn't want to 'presume' upon Alejandro unduly. She'd have to work up to things, so to speak. 'I'll certainly give it a shot.'
Emmeline was already off and running, in her mind. 'This could be just the ticket, Alice! If we can speak to Morgana, and, ah--interact with Frank at all, well, we could possibly find out what's behind this whole Nexus thing!'
Alice stood then, gathering her papers. 'Possibly. Or, we could simply wind up with a whole new laundry list of questions.' She took her papers into her room with her, muttering, 'Uninterrupted tedium, indeed.We should be so lucky.'
. . . . .
Jack and Aleister were not only dumbstruck, they were downright gobsmacked and discombobulated with this news. True, they hadn't actually ever met with the Head of their Order, but....Yeats?! It was mind-boggling. It was also most embarrassing, now that they'd a chance to recall some of their past, escapades. Oh, Lord and Lady...now what...?
Yeats, meanwhile, drank his cognac and puffed his cigarette with an air of detached serenity. No doubt giving them a chance to stew in their own juices a bit. Plenty of time for chastisement...then again, why put off what one can do so readily here and now?
He leaned forward and expertly flicked his cigarette into the fire.
'That was a major mistake on your part. I do hope you both realize that,' he said to the guilty pair.
Jack spoke up first, 'We didn't want to let them go!
We had no idea...'
'Let them GO?!!' Yeats thundered. 'They never should have been here at all, man!'
Jack looked suitably chagrined. He sat back and said nothing.
Yeats sighed softly and continued in a milder voice,
'Due to your work on the more technical aspects of this project, you were allowed--(he stressed the word)--
to co-chair the work here with Dr. Parsons. Who, I might add, did more than his share of haring about like an 'anserine rookie' was it?' his gaze flickered to Aleister briefly, who felt like a fieldmouse that had been sighted by a swooping hawk. Yeats continued,'Very
few in the order know of my identity.' He nailed them both with a heavy-browed look. 'Before you get any further ideas of being amongst the privileged few, the only reason I have revealed myself to you is that
things have gotten out of hand here, and you are both to share the blame.'
Not knowing what to say or do, the two friends did and said nothing. They both appeared to shrink into themselves whilst being chastised by their Head. As bad as things were before, they'd become considerably more horrific suddenly. But Yeats wasn't done with them yet.
'And, you are both to shoulder the job of cobbling back together some semblance of order here and seeing if we can turn this whole calamity about somehow...'he sighed, as if resigned. 'As I mentioned before: new ground rules.
Rule number one:'Yeats went slowly and carefully, as if speaking to a new puppy that had just made a mess in the corner, 'Neither of you will give another thought to Flubber. You will forget about him. You will leave him, to ME.' He stopped and looked at each of them in turn, being certain of eye contact.'Do. You. Understand?'
They nodded.
'Good. Maybe now we can get somewhere.' Yeats swirled the brandy in his glass and watched the amber liquid
awhile.
'Rule number two: You will both return to Crowley House in Pankhurst and act as though nothing is amiss.' He looked at them.
They both seemed abit nonplussed at this directive. 'I--'began Aleister.
'DO. You. Understand?' asked the Head.
Again they both nodded assent.
'We'll see...'said Yeats, almost to himself. He took a sip and then surprised them both with a question. 'How did you find the artefact?'
Jack cautiously answered. 'It's...in perfect shape. I haven't actually had time to analyze it much...'
'No, no, I mean HOW did you find it? Think now!' The Head was not above sarcasm it seemed.
'Well, Aleister spoke to Alice and got her permission to retrieve the trunk, as you know,' Jack began,looking to Aleister,and wondering what sort of new hole he'd been directed to dig himself into now.
'Exactly.'Yeats confirmed.' Which I did. Believing of course, that you had Miss Page's expressed consent to do so.'He paused. 'Which you did not.'
'She was...'--Jack began.
'Yes. She was knocked-out cold by one of Parson's brewwws (he stressed this)and was somewhat incapacitated at the time. How convenient.' Yeats wasn't going to let up however. 'So, then! On to the artefact! With Miss Page AND Mrs. Stein out of the way, we simply blustered ahead and pried open the box, did we?'
Jack looked suitably mortified. 'I...yes.'
'Rather wondered about that, Jack,'Aleister mumbled.
'I'm not done with you either, Parsons.' Yeats drank off the last of his cognac and sat the glass on the table before him. 'And, then what did we do with this very singular artefact from out of Time?'
'Tested it?' asked Jack, tentatively.
'An acid-test, as well?' asked the Head, sweetly. 'Why bloody not? Why not simply drop it from a great height and see if it bounces?!' He stood. 'Did you try to PRY it open as you did the bloody BOX? Lord and Lady...' Yeats wandered the parlor his head down, hands behind his back. He stopped at the piano and ran a hand over it's smooth black back as if stroking a cherished pet.
'Empirical experimentation is not performed upon such
a RARE object with HAMMER AND TONGS!' He turned to face them both then. 'What were you thinking? Were you, at all?'
Jack sighed and leaned over, his arms on knees and grasping his hands together as if to hold on to himself. 'You're absolutley right. I had no authority to test it, or even to, to remove it from the Box as yet. And, much could have been done before putting it to test...'
'Like receiving permission from Miss Page regarding her FATHER'S, NOW HER ONE OF A KIND ARTEFACT FROM BEYOND TIME ITSELF.'
'Yes.' Jack agreed. 'I felt, desperate. So much seemed to be spinning out of control, and I did feel that I was to blame for much of what had gone wrong.' He looked at Yeats. 'I couldn't bear to think of either of them coming to harm on our account. And with Flubber on the loose and looking for them...'
'Save it.' Yeats was having none of it. 'How, exactly would concentrating on the artefact help the two ladies then?'
'I don't know. Like I said, I felt desperate.'
'Desperate scientists wind up like El Juan Flubber, Jack.' Yeats said matter-of-factly.'The words 'desperate' and 'science' should have some degrees between the two, don't you think? A rather anode and cathode sort of thing, do you see, Jack?'
Gods...the Head could be a right bitch, thought Aleister, who sat stroking his goatee and hoping Yeats wasn't going to flay the piss out of him the same way.
Jack looked the picture of dejection. It'd take more than Miles Davis to lift him out of this pit. Finally, not knowing what he could do or say anymore, he simply said, 'I love her.'
Yeats slowly swiveled his eyes to rest upon Jack, and then arched one brow. 'Indeed?'
'Emmeline. Miss Page. I'm in love with her. Desperately.' Jack admitted.
'I say, Jack!' Aleister sat forward now, 'I didn't realize things had...gone this far!'
'I've been, I don't know, trying to deny it!' Jack stood himself and began pacing in his turn. 'But, it's just so...'he ran a hand through his hair, 'complicated.' He turned to face Yeats. 'I have dreams of her. Even before I met her, I, I dreamed of this same redhaired woman...when I met her, I knew it was her...'
'--The Girl of Your Dreams.' Yeats said, as a statement,not a question.
Jack sighed.'Yes. The Girl of My Dreams.'
. . . . .
One may wish to have tea whilst reading, and listen to the Miles Davis classic album, 'Kind of Blue' from beginning to end, and over again...
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Chapter 17 - Back to the Future - Again
Chapter 17 - Back to the Future Again
Jack didn't think it was all that late when he awoke the next day. Surely it was morning still...wasn't it?
...that's odd, he thought, as he came to the stairs, listening. Something's off...so quiet. As he bumped down the stairs, it came to him:
that's it. It's never this quiet. The clock! Of course.
As the old clock was one of the constants of this place, it's quietude was enough to throw off the whole order of things. Jack really couldn't remember this happening before...
He rounded the corner into the parlor and could tell all was not as it should be, and it wasn't just the absence of the old clock's ticking that was amiss.
What the--? Whatever could this mean? Furniture piled up against the fireplace like this? He spun about to face the clock. Dead still. 'Yeats!' he called. And then he strode to the bottom of the stairway. 'Aleister!? Yeats?'
No sign of Yeats, either, then.
He had a bad feeling about all this. He began running up the stairs taking two at a time, and headed first for Emmeline's room, just as Aleister
popped out of his, asking, 'What's up, Jack?' Jack opened the door to Em's room, and finding nothing and no one within, he shot a silent look at Al and
was at Alice's door next, opening it, and finding nothing there as well, he hung his head, and slammed it shut. 'Yeaaats!' he yelled, and began running back downstairs, with Aleister following.
Back into the parlor they barreled, and Jack pointed to the pile-up before the hearth. 'What do you make of that?!' he demanded of Aleister. He ran his hands through his hair and went to the window, staring outside. 'And where the hell is Yeats!'If Yeats was gone, Jack knew all was fubar'd.
'I see.' Aleister rubbed his goatee, and turned to Jack, looking altogether serious. 'They're gone, Jack. And, possibly Yeats followed.'
'WHAT!? How?' Jack threw up his hands and hovered over Aleister.
'Alice knew about the mirror. The fleur-de-lis sign of St. Germaine. And she showed me the locket that Frank had given her,which had the same engraving...I'm afraid I admitted that it could be keyed to the same resonance that would alter the body's vibratory rate and enable one to...use the mirror to timewalk. She and Frank had encountered such portals before.'
'Aleister...'Jack couldn't believe it.'How could you?'
'It never occurred to me that they would use it!'Al
looked genuinely baffled. 'We were all getting on so well...I thought they felt perfectly safe here, and understood that it's probably the only place where they were!It was only shared info;which she already knew!'
'Yes. Exactly.'Jack sighed in exasperation, and sat down. 'Now they've gone, who knows where...and,' he
looked at Al,'...do you know?'
Aleister walked over to the mantlepiece and put a hand upon it. 'Possibly. It usually returns one to the point of departure, spatial and temporal.'
'So, they're back in San Francisco, then.' Jack stared hard at nothing.
Aleister came and sat beside him. 'Most likely, yes. But Jack, don't you see? They obviously have not the trust in us that we had hoped for. We cannot just corral them and keep them here, if they'd rather not stay.' he sighed and looked at the floor dejectedly.
'It'd probably been building up all this time, but... I wonder what drove them over the tipping point...?'
Jack leaned his head on his hand then. 'I tried to kiss her.'
Al looked up at him.
'Emmeline. Last night. She came downstairs about midnight as I was playing the piano. And I, tried to kiss her.'
'Tried?' Aleister enquired. 'Did you--miss?'
'Yes. I missed.' Jack spat out the words. 'She turned away from me, and ran upstairs.' he sighed heavily. 'She doesn't like me, much, I don't think.'
Aleister stood again. 'Beside the point,' Al replied, never one for tact. He believed he was being so, tactful, indeed.'They had to have planned this much earlier...well! If you'll take my counsel, we should just stay put here and wait and see what Yeats has to report first. We don't want to give them cause to do anything even more rash in fleeing from us...again.'
Jack only stared at the silent clock. Time would stand still, for him at least, until Emmeline and Alice were found, and he knew they were well. This was just the beginning of a very long day.
. . . . .
Emmeline emerged from a mirror on Alice's heels, as they found themselves standing on a dressing table, with only dim wall sconces lighting the now deserted dressing room backstage of Mendation's Theatre.
Alice stepped down onto a chair and turning to Em, took her hand and helped her down and onto the floor. 'Jacky's dressing room,' Alice whispered, confirming Em's first thoughts. 'No one here now...'
she ventured a peek outside the door and into the hallway.
Indeed, although it seemed to be only moments after their 'disapperance' and reappearance, the crowds had all gone elsewhere and only vague sounds could be heard back toward the lobby. 'We best exit quietly, soon as we may!' Alice turned to head back out into the wings to find a way out.
Emmeline followed and as she moved quietly and close to the wall she happened to notice a poster advertising an upcoming show at the theatre. She almost passed it by, but something about the woman in the poster seemed familiar to her...what was it?
She stopped suddenly as she recognized her. 'Alice!'
she spoke up, surprised.
Alice turned back and took a look at what Em was staring at. It was a poster announcing 'Direct From Paris! The New ORPHEUS! With Margueritte Carrington as Eurydice. December 29th-Jan 1st'
'Do you see her too, Alice?'Emmeline's eyes were bright with excitement as she stared at the poster 'That's Morgana Carlysle!'
'It can't be, Em!' Alice took a closer look. 'That's just--it can't be!...It does look like her though, I'll give you that!'Alice narrowed her gaze, peering closely.
'It IS her, Alice! And I'm going to this play, and I'm going to speak to her!' Emmeline seemed dead set on this, Alice could see.'No time now, Em, let's get out of here, while we can!' Alice took her arm and hustled her out of the side exit while no one was about.
As they came out into the fresh cold night air of the city by the bay, they each breathed sighs of frosty relief. 'It's good to breathe free air at long last!' Emmeline said. 'Oh, good work, Alice! How lovely it is to be back somewhere familiar!'
'Yes, well, I'll not relax until we're both in our hotel room and have a locked door behind us! Come on!' and Alice led the way down the city block and around the corner to their small hotel which they had secured earlier. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was neat and clean and catered to theatre goers who came in at rather later hours. All seemed quiet as they went upstairs to their room and as Alice locked the door behind them, she did in fact, sit down and sigh at last with well-earned relief.
'Now. We can say at last, 'we made it!' Alice declared, putting her feet up on the bed as she removed her shoes. 'what a long, strange trip it's been! To San Francisco, Through the Looking Glass and Back Again!'
Em said nothing, but did take off her coat and shoes as well and sat upon her bed next to Alice's. After a bit, she said, 'I could use a cuppa.'
Alice laughed then. 'Ooh, Em...'she reached down into her bag and brought forth a small flask. 'Well, I don't know about tea at this late hour, but...'
She handed the silver flask to Emmeline.
'Oh, Alice!' Em took the top off and sniffed. 'Some of Jack's good cognac I'll wager...' and with a 'Merry Solstice, Alice!' she tipped it to her lips and let the bracing beverage warm her insides. 'Hard to believe it's still just gone midnite, Solstice Day here now...'Em said, handing the flask to Alice.
'That's correct, luv.' Alice took a small sip in turn. 'We'll be home again, in just hours from now, and it will be as though we only just journeyed to the City for a night and back.'
The two were quiet for a moment. 'We did the right thing, you think?' Emmeline just looked at her toes.
Alice set her flask on the night table between them, and began getting ready for bed. 'Yes, Em, I think that, well, something had to be done. I was feeling altogether too much a simple bystander in my own life!'
'Yes. That's it, isn't it? Without so much as a 'by your leave'--ambushed and abducted, really!' Emmeline stripped down to her chemise and slipped between the sheets. 'I don't like feeling out of control of my life, Al.'
Alice made a noncommittal 'hmmm'-ing noise. 'Lights out, Em?' Em nodded, and Alice turned down the wick.
All seemed quiet and peaceful again, almost as though their mad adventure had never happened. A lone fog horn could be heard outside in the distance.
'You do know of course,' Alice ventured, '...that we probably have not seen the last of Dr. Parsons and Mr. Van Horn.'
Emmeline sighed in the dark. 'No, probably we haven't seen the last of them. But I do sincerely relish their absence whilst I can!' And with that
happy thought, Emmeline drifted off exhausted down into the velvety softness of Morpheus's all-embracing realm. . . . . .
Outside, all was quiet and relatively still. Except for the subtle movement of a large, burly man who stood in the shadows smoking a cigarette and gazing up at the window of Alice and Emmeline's chambers.
Satisfied that they had indeed returned to their departure point safe and sound, Yeats put his cigarette out and turned the corner, heading back to the theatre, his steps quiet in the muffling fog.
. . . . . .
Luckily Emmeline and Alice found a train leaving just after noon and managed to get in several winks prior to their departure eastbound, as well as a near-deserted train car. As they took their seats next to the window on the bayside, Em set her bag down and taking her hat off, sighed deeply and leaned her chin on her hand. 'You know Alice, it seems a year and a day since we left Pankhurst, and not just a night and a day!'
Alice followed suit and set her hat on the empty seat beside her. 'Oh, Em. You have no idea, my dear. Oh, I'm sorry...there I go again! Of course I'm not the standard of measure for all earthly experience!'
'Oh, Alice...now you tell me!' Em smiled.
Alice looked at her friend. Glad to see her all of a piece, as it were. 'It has been quite the holiday.'Alice sighed and leaned back in her seat, glad that the train was uncrowded as yet and gazed out at the soft hillsides coated with foghats.
'"Corrina, Corrina, where'd you stay last night? Corrina Corrina where'd u stay last night? Come home this morning, sun was shining bright..."' Alice sang softly, as the train wound around the foggy foggy dew-dropped hillsides which crouched down to the bay.
The afternoon wore on as they steamed their way across the rice-paddies,and Emmeline made a rather strange observation, 'This reminds me of back home in Japan.'
'Truly, Emmeline-chan?' Alice smiled at her, then noticed Em's thoughtful expression.
'Hai...back home,'Em turned to Alice and the setting sun reflected light oddly from her eyes, orange, like a mirror.
'Everyone is gone now...' Emmeline looked down, then up at Alice, blinking. 'Hmm. Was I, asleep just now?'
'I don't think so, Em. You said some things I couldn't quite decypher. Something about Japan, I believe.' Alice looked concerned. Was Em about to 'fade out' again, as she had done? 'You seemed to speak in a foreign tongue when you were fading, you know.'
'It's strange...hypnotic,really, just watching scenery go by. ' Em didn't seem to register external stimuli just then. 'I suddenly felt I was really there! somewhere else! And it was real, as real as this is here, now! But, I knew it was not here...but very much else where. But, it was somewhere familiar to me. Someplace I missed...' Emmeline stared out at the landscape glowing in the russet hues of early sunset. 'I sometimes feel I am at home in two worlds.'
'We'll be home soon.' Alice looked at her friend, wondering...as she felt much the same way, dare she tell her friend...?
Em smiled and leaned back, looking out at the familiar plain, and the Sierras beyond, coated with their winter white. She hearkened back to the here and now and appreciated having a home to come back to, and all her familiar comforts. She'd not chafe at too much of the same old same old for some time, she thought, as the train slowed for the bridge across the bay and Em was so grateful for the little familiar remembrances she swore never to take her small town for granted, be it ever so exasperating, at times, there's no place like home.
'Sometimes...when I'm with you, Al, because we know one another so well, I don't censor myself and just allow whatever's in my head to emerge into light...however odd it may seem. Thank goodness we're used to each other's idiosyncracies.' Emmeline
looked at Alice, smiling a little, as her gaze went back to the window.
'I do the same as well, Em. In fact, there's something I've rather thought of sharing with you for some time... Perhaps, now I can.' Alice surprised Em with this news.
Emmeline looked back at her and leaned over with a hand on Alice's arm. 'But of course, Alice! My goodness, what haven't we been through together?' Em leaned back then, smiling still.
'True,'Al replied, then gazed out at the fields, collecting her thoughts a moment. 'Well, Em, remember when we met Captain Omen and Mr. Orez...goodness, was it only yesterday, now?!--anyway, it seems so much has passed since then!'
Emmeline, still gazing at the occasional fisherman on the shore trying his luck with the bay, seemed lost in recollection,'Indeed. But, it was so good to see them again.'
'Oh, yes, for me as well.'Alice looked down then, seemingly flustered.
'Alice? Is there something...else, going on between yourself and Mr. Orez now?' Emmeline guessed this was so.
Alice laughed lightly. 'Ah, that indeed is one way of putting it! You might almost say, some one else!'
'How so?' Em was confused now.
Alice sighed then.'Em...this isn't easy to say. It's even harder to think about! But, here goes: Em, it's just this: Frank, my husband, isn't dead.'
Em stared at Alice. 'Alice?' She took her hands then. 'What do you mean?'
Alice glanced about, not knowing quite where to begin. She squeezed Em's hands, and patted them. 'I've known for awhile now. Well, it was during one of his timewalks that he...'went missing in action' as they say. As you know, the military wanted to get Frank involved in their war research; which he wanted nothing to do with, and was most adamant about it! But still, they pressured him, until he confessed to me that he felt he had to...leave. And, do it in a way that would put them off his trail for good.'
'Oh, Alice!' Emmeline registered shock. 'I'd no idea! What happened?'
'Well, he staged an experiment for some military representatives and fellow scientists at a research facility in Virginia. This, is where he supposedly 'died.' But although that is how things appeared to happen, actually he is...well, he isn't dead, but Em, neither is he here, obviously. He is, in effect, lost. Or,he has lost corporeal cohesion.'
'Alice, I...I don't know what to think! How, well, how is he? And, how are you taking all this, my dear?'
Alice sighed again, looking out the window. 'I'm taking it as well as I may. Poor Frank...you must understand, Em, this happened, well over 10 years
ago! We've been trying to well, return Frank and keep him sequestered, but our efforts have all failed. However...' she looked at Em then. 'Frank does have a way of relating in this world, somewhat.'
'How so?'
'He has found that he can share, a body, with a willing co-participant, and that I can relate to Frank, sharing the consciousness and coporeality of, oh, Mr. Orez, let's say...'
'Oh, my! Alice! But, that's...good news, yes? How wonderful of Mr. Orez! So, he knows about Frank, and has agreed to...share?'
Alice looked relieved. 'Yes, Em, it is wonderful. Mr. Orez is a very unique individual. Surely t'was grace that put him in our way, for it was his work with Candomble' in Brazil that gave Mr. Orez his proclivity for this particular type of...sharing.'
'Ah!'Em knew abit about Candomble' with it's adherents' practice of 'carrying' the gods within them. 'Amazing...oh, Alice! I'm glad you told me!
I'll certainly keep your secret safe!'
'Thanks, Em. Yes, we still have to be secret about it all. Everyone must still believe Frank to be...gone.' She leaned forward then and whispered,
'Especially Jack.'
Emmeline leaned back then, her mouth set in serious lines. 'Indeed. Yes, you needn't worry about that!
Oh, Alice! If I never see Mr. Jack Van Horn again, I should consider myself most fortunate.'
The two women sat quietly awhile, then Emmeline became pensive. 'So, with Frank still in the picture, as it were, and, now--with the return of Morgana Carlysle, events seem to be collecting about
this particular...hmmm, nexus point, was it?'
'Do you think it exists, then?' asked Alice.
'I give very small credence to anything coming out of Jack's mouth. However, I am going to go see Morgana, and I would very much like to hear whatever she has to say!' Emmeline declared, decisively.
'That would indeed be a singular revelation, I imagine,'Alice agreed.
'Good. I'm glad you are coming with! What day shall we go? I'll tell you what, we're closed New Year's Eve and the day after, of course. Let's go then, why not? Spend the new year...meeting a woman from the future, eh?' Emmeline gazed outside, letting such fancies flow.
'I don't know how I let myself be talked into...oh, Em, if you must go, I can't let you go alone! And, yes, I am curious myself, I admit. Alright! Back to Mendation's New Year's Eve it is then!' Alice gave in with good grace.
'Back, to the Future!' Emmeline held out her hand, and Alice gave it a mock-shake, then they leaned back in their seats, with Em looking pleased and flushed with anticipation, while Alice seemed abit more anxious, a slight frown upon her brow, as the train slowed for one more quick stop that would be their last before their arrival at Pankhurst Station.
No one but Yeats took notice of a non-descript pudgy fellow in a too-tight suit who was the only passenger entering the train in the throng of those exiting. But Yeats did notice and followed the man into the car reaching into his jacket as he did so.
........
Jack didn't think it was all that late when he awoke the next day. Surely it was morning still...wasn't it?
...that's odd, he thought, as he came to the stairs, listening. Something's off...so quiet. As he bumped down the stairs, it came to him:
that's it. It's never this quiet. The clock! Of course.
As the old clock was one of the constants of this place, it's quietude was enough to throw off the whole order of things. Jack really couldn't remember this happening before...
He rounded the corner into the parlor and could tell all was not as it should be, and it wasn't just the absence of the old clock's ticking that was amiss.
What the--? Whatever could this mean? Furniture piled up against the fireplace like this? He spun about to face the clock. Dead still. 'Yeats!' he called. And then he strode to the bottom of the stairway. 'Aleister!? Yeats?'
No sign of Yeats, either, then.
He had a bad feeling about all this. He began running up the stairs taking two at a time, and headed first for Emmeline's room, just as Aleister
popped out of his, asking, 'What's up, Jack?' Jack opened the door to Em's room, and finding nothing and no one within, he shot a silent look at Al and
was at Alice's door next, opening it, and finding nothing there as well, he hung his head, and slammed it shut. 'Yeaaats!' he yelled, and began running back downstairs, with Aleister following.
Back into the parlor they barreled, and Jack pointed to the pile-up before the hearth. 'What do you make of that?!' he demanded of Aleister. He ran his hands through his hair and went to the window, staring outside. 'And where the hell is Yeats!'If Yeats was gone, Jack knew all was fubar'd.
'I see.' Aleister rubbed his goatee, and turned to Jack, looking altogether serious. 'They're gone, Jack. And, possibly Yeats followed.'
'WHAT!? How?' Jack threw up his hands and hovered over Aleister.
'Alice knew about the mirror. The fleur-de-lis sign of St. Germaine. And she showed me the locket that Frank had given her,which had the same engraving...I'm afraid I admitted that it could be keyed to the same resonance that would alter the body's vibratory rate and enable one to...use the mirror to timewalk. She and Frank had encountered such portals before.'
'Aleister...'Jack couldn't believe it.'How could you?'
'It never occurred to me that they would use it!'Al
looked genuinely baffled. 'We were all getting on so well...I thought they felt perfectly safe here, and understood that it's probably the only place where they were!It was only shared info;which she already knew!'
'Yes. Exactly.'Jack sighed in exasperation, and sat down. 'Now they've gone, who knows where...and,' he
looked at Al,'...do you know?'
Aleister walked over to the mantlepiece and put a hand upon it. 'Possibly. It usually returns one to the point of departure, spatial and temporal.'
'So, they're back in San Francisco, then.' Jack stared hard at nothing.
Aleister came and sat beside him. 'Most likely, yes. But Jack, don't you see? They obviously have not the trust in us that we had hoped for. We cannot just corral them and keep them here, if they'd rather not stay.' he sighed and looked at the floor dejectedly.
'It'd probably been building up all this time, but... I wonder what drove them over the tipping point...?'
Jack leaned his head on his hand then. 'I tried to kiss her.'
Al looked up at him.
'Emmeline. Last night. She came downstairs about midnight as I was playing the piano. And I, tried to kiss her.'
'Tried?' Aleister enquired. 'Did you--miss?'
'Yes. I missed.' Jack spat out the words. 'She turned away from me, and ran upstairs.' he sighed heavily. 'She doesn't like me, much, I don't think.'
Aleister stood again. 'Beside the point,' Al replied, never one for tact. He believed he was being so, tactful, indeed.'They had to have planned this much earlier...well! If you'll take my counsel, we should just stay put here and wait and see what Yeats has to report first. We don't want to give them cause to do anything even more rash in fleeing from us...again.'
Jack only stared at the silent clock. Time would stand still, for him at least, until Emmeline and Alice were found, and he knew they were well. This was just the beginning of a very long day.
. . . . .
Emmeline emerged from a mirror on Alice's heels, as they found themselves standing on a dressing table, with only dim wall sconces lighting the now deserted dressing room backstage of Mendation's Theatre.
Alice stepped down onto a chair and turning to Em, took her hand and helped her down and onto the floor. 'Jacky's dressing room,' Alice whispered, confirming Em's first thoughts. 'No one here now...'
she ventured a peek outside the door and into the hallway.
Indeed, although it seemed to be only moments after their 'disapperance' and reappearance, the crowds had all gone elsewhere and only vague sounds could be heard back toward the lobby. 'We best exit quietly, soon as we may!' Alice turned to head back out into the wings to find a way out.
Emmeline followed and as she moved quietly and close to the wall she happened to notice a poster advertising an upcoming show at the theatre. She almost passed it by, but something about the woman in the poster seemed familiar to her...what was it?
She stopped suddenly as she recognized her. 'Alice!'
she spoke up, surprised.
Alice turned back and took a look at what Em was staring at. It was a poster announcing 'Direct From Paris! The New ORPHEUS! With Margueritte Carrington as Eurydice. December 29th-Jan 1st'
'Do you see her too, Alice?'Emmeline's eyes were bright with excitement as she stared at the poster 'That's Morgana Carlysle!'
'It can't be, Em!' Alice took a closer look. 'That's just--it can't be!...It does look like her though, I'll give you that!'Alice narrowed her gaze, peering closely.
'It IS her, Alice! And I'm going to this play, and I'm going to speak to her!' Emmeline seemed dead set on this, Alice could see.'No time now, Em, let's get out of here, while we can!' Alice took her arm and hustled her out of the side exit while no one was about.
As they came out into the fresh cold night air of the city by the bay, they each breathed sighs of frosty relief. 'It's good to breathe free air at long last!' Emmeline said. 'Oh, good work, Alice! How lovely it is to be back somewhere familiar!'
'Yes, well, I'll not relax until we're both in our hotel room and have a locked door behind us! Come on!' and Alice led the way down the city block and around the corner to their small hotel which they had secured earlier. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was neat and clean and catered to theatre goers who came in at rather later hours. All seemed quiet as they went upstairs to their room and as Alice locked the door behind them, she did in fact, sit down and sigh at last with well-earned relief.
'Now. We can say at last, 'we made it!' Alice declared, putting her feet up on the bed as she removed her shoes. 'what a long, strange trip it's been! To San Francisco, Through the Looking Glass and Back Again!'
Em said nothing, but did take off her coat and shoes as well and sat upon her bed next to Alice's. After a bit, she said, 'I could use a cuppa.'
Alice laughed then. 'Ooh, Em...'she reached down into her bag and brought forth a small flask. 'Well, I don't know about tea at this late hour, but...'
She handed the silver flask to Emmeline.
'Oh, Alice!' Em took the top off and sniffed. 'Some of Jack's good cognac I'll wager...' and with a 'Merry Solstice, Alice!' she tipped it to her lips and let the bracing beverage warm her insides. 'Hard to believe it's still just gone midnite, Solstice Day here now...'Em said, handing the flask to Alice.
'That's correct, luv.' Alice took a small sip in turn. 'We'll be home again, in just hours from now, and it will be as though we only just journeyed to the City for a night and back.'
The two were quiet for a moment. 'We did the right thing, you think?' Emmeline just looked at her toes.
Alice set her flask on the night table between them, and began getting ready for bed. 'Yes, Em, I think that, well, something had to be done. I was feeling altogether too much a simple bystander in my own life!'
'Yes. That's it, isn't it? Without so much as a 'by your leave'--ambushed and abducted, really!' Emmeline stripped down to her chemise and slipped between the sheets. 'I don't like feeling out of control of my life, Al.'
Alice made a noncommittal 'hmmm'-ing noise. 'Lights out, Em?' Em nodded, and Alice turned down the wick.
All seemed quiet and peaceful again, almost as though their mad adventure had never happened. A lone fog horn could be heard outside in the distance.
'You do know of course,' Alice ventured, '...that we probably have not seen the last of Dr. Parsons and Mr. Van Horn.'
Emmeline sighed in the dark. 'No, probably we haven't seen the last of them. But I do sincerely relish their absence whilst I can!' And with that
happy thought, Emmeline drifted off exhausted down into the velvety softness of Morpheus's all-embracing realm. . . . . .
Outside, all was quiet and relatively still. Except for the subtle movement of a large, burly man who stood in the shadows smoking a cigarette and gazing up at the window of Alice and Emmeline's chambers.
Satisfied that they had indeed returned to their departure point safe and sound, Yeats put his cigarette out and turned the corner, heading back to the theatre, his steps quiet in the muffling fog.
. . . . . .
Luckily Emmeline and Alice found a train leaving just after noon and managed to get in several winks prior to their departure eastbound, as well as a near-deserted train car. As they took their seats next to the window on the bayside, Em set her bag down and taking her hat off, sighed deeply and leaned her chin on her hand. 'You know Alice, it seems a year and a day since we left Pankhurst, and not just a night and a day!'
Alice followed suit and set her hat on the empty seat beside her. 'Oh, Em. You have no idea, my dear. Oh, I'm sorry...there I go again! Of course I'm not the standard of measure for all earthly experience!'
'Oh, Alice...now you tell me!' Em smiled.
Alice looked at her friend. Glad to see her all of a piece, as it were. 'It has been quite the holiday.'Alice sighed and leaned back in her seat, glad that the train was uncrowded as yet and gazed out at the soft hillsides coated with foghats.
'"Corrina, Corrina, where'd you stay last night? Corrina Corrina where'd u stay last night? Come home this morning, sun was shining bright..."' Alice sang softly, as the train wound around the foggy foggy dew-dropped hillsides which crouched down to the bay.
The afternoon wore on as they steamed their way across the rice-paddies,and Emmeline made a rather strange observation, 'This reminds me of back home in Japan.'
'Truly, Emmeline-chan?' Alice smiled at her, then noticed Em's thoughtful expression.
'Hai...back home,'Em turned to Alice and the setting sun reflected light oddly from her eyes, orange, like a mirror.
'Everyone is gone now...' Emmeline looked down, then up at Alice, blinking. 'Hmm. Was I, asleep just now?'
'I don't think so, Em. You said some things I couldn't quite decypher. Something about Japan, I believe.' Alice looked concerned. Was Em about to 'fade out' again, as she had done? 'You seemed to speak in a foreign tongue when you were fading, you know.'
'It's strange...hypnotic,really, just watching scenery go by. ' Em didn't seem to register external stimuli just then. 'I suddenly felt I was really there! somewhere else! And it was real, as real as this is here, now! But, I knew it was not here...but very much else where. But, it was somewhere familiar to me. Someplace I missed...' Emmeline stared out at the landscape glowing in the russet hues of early sunset. 'I sometimes feel I am at home in two worlds.'
'We'll be home soon.' Alice looked at her friend, wondering...as she felt much the same way, dare she tell her friend...?
Em smiled and leaned back, looking out at the familiar plain, and the Sierras beyond, coated with their winter white. She hearkened back to the here and now and appreciated having a home to come back to, and all her familiar comforts. She'd not chafe at too much of the same old same old for some time, she thought, as the train slowed for the bridge across the bay and Em was so grateful for the little familiar remembrances she swore never to take her small town for granted, be it ever so exasperating, at times, there's no place like home.
'Sometimes...when I'm with you, Al, because we know one another so well, I don't censor myself and just allow whatever's in my head to emerge into light...however odd it may seem. Thank goodness we're used to each other's idiosyncracies.' Emmeline
looked at Alice, smiling a little, as her gaze went back to the window.
'I do the same as well, Em. In fact, there's something I've rather thought of sharing with you for some time... Perhaps, now I can.' Alice surprised Em with this news.
Emmeline looked back at her and leaned over with a hand on Alice's arm. 'But of course, Alice! My goodness, what haven't we been through together?' Em leaned back then, smiling still.
'True,'Al replied, then gazed out at the fields, collecting her thoughts a moment. 'Well, Em, remember when we met Captain Omen and Mr. Orez...goodness, was it only yesterday, now?!--anyway, it seems so much has passed since then!'
Emmeline, still gazing at the occasional fisherman on the shore trying his luck with the bay, seemed lost in recollection,'Indeed. But, it was so good to see them again.'
'Oh, yes, for me as well.'Alice looked down then, seemingly flustered.
'Alice? Is there something...else, going on between yourself and Mr. Orez now?' Emmeline guessed this was so.
Alice laughed lightly. 'Ah, that indeed is one way of putting it! You might almost say, some one else!'
'How so?' Em was confused now.
Alice sighed then.'Em...this isn't easy to say. It's even harder to think about! But, here goes: Em, it's just this: Frank, my husband, isn't dead.'
Em stared at Alice. 'Alice?' She took her hands then. 'What do you mean?'
Alice glanced about, not knowing quite where to begin. She squeezed Em's hands, and patted them. 'I've known for awhile now. Well, it was during one of his timewalks that he...'went missing in action' as they say. As you know, the military wanted to get Frank involved in their war research; which he wanted nothing to do with, and was most adamant about it! But still, they pressured him, until he confessed to me that he felt he had to...leave. And, do it in a way that would put them off his trail for good.'
'Oh, Alice!' Emmeline registered shock. 'I'd no idea! What happened?'
'Well, he staged an experiment for some military representatives and fellow scientists at a research facility in Virginia. This, is where he supposedly 'died.' But although that is how things appeared to happen, actually he is...well, he isn't dead, but Em, neither is he here, obviously. He is, in effect, lost. Or,he has lost corporeal cohesion.'
'Alice, I...I don't know what to think! How, well, how is he? And, how are you taking all this, my dear?'
Alice sighed again, looking out the window. 'I'm taking it as well as I may. Poor Frank...you must understand, Em, this happened, well over 10 years
ago! We've been trying to well, return Frank and keep him sequestered, but our efforts have all failed. However...' she looked at Em then. 'Frank does have a way of relating in this world, somewhat.'
'How so?'
'He has found that he can share, a body, with a willing co-participant, and that I can relate to Frank, sharing the consciousness and coporeality of, oh, Mr. Orez, let's say...'
'Oh, my! Alice! But, that's...good news, yes? How wonderful of Mr. Orez! So, he knows about Frank, and has agreed to...share?'
Alice looked relieved. 'Yes, Em, it is wonderful. Mr. Orez is a very unique individual. Surely t'was grace that put him in our way, for it was his work with Candomble' in Brazil that gave Mr. Orez his proclivity for this particular type of...sharing.'
'Ah!'Em knew abit about Candomble' with it's adherents' practice of 'carrying' the gods within them. 'Amazing...oh, Alice! I'm glad you told me!
I'll certainly keep your secret safe!'
'Thanks, Em. Yes, we still have to be secret about it all. Everyone must still believe Frank to be...gone.' She leaned forward then and whispered,
'Especially Jack.'
Emmeline leaned back then, her mouth set in serious lines. 'Indeed. Yes, you needn't worry about that!
Oh, Alice! If I never see Mr. Jack Van Horn again, I should consider myself most fortunate.'
The two women sat quietly awhile, then Emmeline became pensive. 'So, with Frank still in the picture, as it were, and, now--with the return of Morgana Carlysle, events seem to be collecting about
this particular...hmmm, nexus point, was it?'
'Do you think it exists, then?' asked Alice.
'I give very small credence to anything coming out of Jack's mouth. However, I am going to go see Morgana, and I would very much like to hear whatever she has to say!' Emmeline declared, decisively.
'That would indeed be a singular revelation, I imagine,'Alice agreed.
'Good. I'm glad you are coming with! What day shall we go? I'll tell you what, we're closed New Year's Eve and the day after, of course. Let's go then, why not? Spend the new year...meeting a woman from the future, eh?' Emmeline gazed outside, letting such fancies flow.
'I don't know how I let myself be talked into...oh, Em, if you must go, I can't let you go alone! And, yes, I am curious myself, I admit. Alright! Back to Mendation's New Year's Eve it is then!' Alice gave in with good grace.
'Back, to the Future!' Emmeline held out her hand, and Alice gave it a mock-shake, then they leaned back in their seats, with Em looking pleased and flushed with anticipation, while Alice seemed abit more anxious, a slight frown upon her brow, as the train slowed for one more quick stop that would be their last before their arrival at Pankhurst Station.
No one but Yeats took notice of a non-descript pudgy fellow in a too-tight suit who was the only passenger entering the train in the throng of those exiting. But Yeats did notice and followed the man into the car reaching into his jacket as he did so.
........
Monday, May 16, 2011
Chapter 16-Through The Looking Glass Darkly
Chapter 16
Through The Looking Glass Darkly
Silence descended upon the company then.Evening now, the storm seemed to have abated. The fire burned low in the hearth, and only the hissing embers breaking apart remained. That, and the inexorable ticking of Grandfather Time in the corner were the only sounds echoing about the parlor.
No one heard Yeats's silent entry and when he announced, 'Dinner will be served shortly,' they all jumped.
'That time already?' Jack roused himself from reverie and went to the window. Drawing back the heavy curtain he gazed out at the night sky. How somber the day had become, he soliloquized...and he felt aware of a vicissitude from the morning's lighthearted banter betwixt himself and Em which had now declined into a wary sort of melancholy. Or maybe that was just him...
'Well, ladies?' Aleister enquired ,with a hand out to Alice,'Shall we?'
The party went in to the dining room, set for dinner for four. Emmeline paid little attention to the meal;it would have been delicious, if she'd the taste for it. She'd lost her appetite in the wake of Jack's meretricious meanderings and applied herself to the cassolet before her simply to settle her stomach after all that cognac...Her temples ached, her brain felt inflamed and seemed to pound against the parietal.
How much of that magniloquent tale should she swallow, she wondered?...Magick, eh? Merciful goddess...
'...is there any coffee, I wonder, Jack? I'm afraid I've abit of a slight headache,'Emmeline confessed.
Jack smiled and rose, saying,'that sounds an excellent idea, Em. I'll just see to it, and make a pot for all--'and exited into the kitchen.
Aleister eyed Em sideways then, and taking a ripe Winesap apple from the fruitbowl, began cutting it into sections. 'You know, the ancient Druids were magicians of a sort...Kelts in general seemed to have much of the uncanny in their generic make up,"Second Sight" and all that.' He crunched into an apple wedge.
'Have you Keltic ancestry yourself, Doctor?' Emmeline asked.
Al snorted softly a 'Ha!' and then, 'Well, "Aleister" should give me away! Yes, Scots-Irish, German and Cherokee my dear.'
'Quite close to my own ancestry!' Em remarked. 'Of course, you knew the Cherokee part already...'
Parsons munched meditatively.'Try some apple. Marvellous variety, Winesap...you can see the delicate red veins throughout the meat of the apple' the doctor handed out apple crescents to Alice and Em to sample. '"the Apple Isle", Avalon...' he mused.
'We have learned much of the Old Lore from the Neo-Druids back home,of course,'Alice joined in. 'I do so love tales from the Mabigion.'
'Yes,'Em agreed,'But the Druid's so-called magic is all Earth-based. They revere trees in particular-- oak, ash and thorn, holly and hazel. My great-grandmother's name was Oaks.'
'Indeed?' Aleister paused, mid-munch, apple wedge in air.
'Tree magic...'Alice rejoined,'Many different cultures have their own legends. The World-Tree in Norse mythology. And of course, the Hebrews have the Tree of Knowledge, the Kabbalah.'
Jack returned then, bearing with him the refreshing scent of roasted, freshly ground hot coffee on a tray with mugs for all. He cleared the table, setting dishes on the sideboard, and poured first for Em. 'Have I missed anything interesting?' he asked, setting a mug before her.
'We were just speaking of the ancient Druids, and Kelts, and diverse cultures world-wide which share much of the same elements.' Em sipped her coffee gratefully. Mercy, why did I give myself such free rein with the brandy? Paying for it now, she thought.
'Tree magic,'Aleister heaped the sugar lumps into his cup,'and the Apple Isle of Avalon...'
'Ah.' Jack plucked a Winesap for himself. Shining it on his sleeve, he bit into it whole, and raised his cup. 'Here's to Arthur! The Return of the King!' he clacked mugs with the company and drank deep.
'...and Guinevere and Lancelot as well?' Em enquired, gazing up at Jack. 'Menage a tois' rarely fare happily history has shown. Ceasar, Marc Anthony, and Cleopatra...'she paused for a sip,'or John, Daryl and Morgana?'
Jack munched his apple and seemed to ponder it at arm's length. When he spoke, although his voice was soft and low, it carried a weight which gave his words a full sort of echoing resonance: 'The Tale of Percival, in particular, should be the herald of the New Age. When all men become as Percival, then
the lion shall indeed lie down with the lamb.'
Emmeline looked at Jack then. He seemed lost in a reverie of his own, frowning slightly at his apple. 'Percival...the knight who quested for the Holy Grail, Jack?'
Jack didn't answer for a moment. Then in the same low cadence he replied,'and what is the Holy Grail, indeed? Some think it a lost treasure of sorts. A cup, or bowl, the San Grael, which held Christ's blood. Some think it a family bloodline. How long has the tale been told, of knights of old, who quested forth and brought back only...tales.' He paused and sipped his black midnight brew, and sighed. 'Long, long has the world turned, on and on men quest, for power, or glory, or holy grails...ages and aeons pass,all the while missing the very thing they seek century after century, and the world spins on into chaos and nothing changes, especially men themselves, and they return from their questing, old and broken, bearing only
some bright bauble perhaps, which they cannot take with them across the River Styx. Having nothing then,to barter with the Ferryman, so they go...leaving: nothing.Nothing perhaps, but ruin.'
The company all looked at Jack, wondering if he was drunk perhaps. What brought on this lugubrious tale? But Jack wasn't finished with them yet.
'The Tale of Percival, the questing knight, is an old lay. There are many, many versions of it. Do you know it, Emmeline?' he seemed to emerge from a trance and looked over at her with his Misty Isle grey-blue gaze.
Em blinked and mentally shook herself from Jack's Ancient Mariner spell he'd cast over them all. 'Well, I, yes...'she sipped from her cup, trying to recollect it. 'Percival in his quest, comes upon an old man who is injured, I believe. But because he is a Knight Errant Upon A Holy Quest, he continues on, seeking. There are others who can aid the old man, he reasons to himself.'
Jack looked at her then and smiled. 'Yes, Em, exactement!--and so he didn't find The Grail.Not then.
He failed to utter the magic phrase...'
Emmeline leaned forward then,'And what was it?'
Jack smiled at her, 'The 'magic' phrase which had so escaped all men? It was, 'how can I help you?'
'There's a similar tale I heard from my aunt, a Cherokee legend,'Emmeline added,' Would you care to hear it?'
Jack nodded.
'Well, long ago, when this land belonged to the People, there was a fine young brave, the chief's son, who needed a wife. The chief decided to hold a contest amongst the
Indian maidens who were of marriagable age, a footrace, and the winner would be the bride of the handsome young brave.
And so the racecourse was marked over hill and dale and through the forest and back to camp, not an easy or quick route! Many young women lined up for the chance to become bride to the chief's son, who was not only handsome and brave, but a kind and gentle man who was good with animals and spoke their language. He was known for being wholley honest, and always talked 'across the pipe';speaking truth.
The day of the race came, and one young woman who had been playmates with the cheif's son, had always loved him because of his gentle ways and knowing him, she felt they belonged together. She took her place at the start of the race along with the many other
strong and athletic girls who all coveted the honor of being chosen as the young man's bride. And the race was on!
Far and long they ran, and many fell by the wayside from exhaustion, but the girl who had been the young brave's little friend, kept pushing on, until she came upon a wounded baby hawk, who seemed to have a broken wing. It pained her to have to stop, but it pained her more not to, and so she gathered up the little bird and gently folded him into her pouch and tucking it secure below her ribcage, ran on with the injured hawk chick knowing that she could bind the wing when she returned to camp.
She'd lost much time, however, and most of the girls had passed her by. But on she ran, until she rounded a large rock and heard cries of 'help!'--she ran to where she thought the voice had come from, to find an old Grandmother who had fallen into a deep gully and could not get out. 'I'll help you Grandmother!' she called, and searched until she found a log and rolled it into the gully longways, propping it up against the cliff edge. 'I'll hold the log, until you can climb up far enough for me to reach you, and then I can pull you out!' Which she did, when the old lady had climbed up the log far enough to grab her hands, and with a hefty heave, she hauled the woman out of the ditch. 'Thank you, young one! I'll be fine now, it's not far for me to walk. You go on and run your race!' And so the girl ran on, although the sun was now much lower and no other contestants could be seen.
Of course, when she made it back to camp, she was the last one in. All the tribe was there, the chief, and the beautiful young Indian brave were gathered around a huge bonfire, waiting.
'You are late, and you are last!' the chief said to her, as she came panting up to him, taking the bird out of her water pouch.
'I came as soon as I could, I mean no disrespect. I found a young hawk, injured. I could not leave him, he needs his wing bound.' She showed the chief and his son the poor bird.
Just then, the Grandmother she had helped stepped forth into the firelight. 'She means no disrespect. I fell into the gully and she helped to pull me out with a log. She is a good girl, and worthy of your son!' she said to the chief.
'This is so?' the chief asked the girl, who nodded. And, smiling, the chief turns to his son, and taking his hand, and the girls, put their hands together. 'Because you showed kindness and mercy to others, and thought of yourself not first but last -- although you were last to run the race, you are first in the hearts of the People. You have a true heart, the heart of an eagle! And may your hearts now beat together as one!' And so saying, the young brave smiled into the tired but happy girl's eyes and said, 'I have always loved you, ever since we played together as children.'
'And I, you!' she said.
'Ah Ho!' said the chief, and it was done.
--The End!' finished Em, with a small smile.
. . . . .
'Yes..' Jack said, after a while. 'I have heard the tale. Slightly different, but it has the same message. That is the lesson of Percival's Quest, and the Holy Grail. The Return of the King shall come when humankind finds kindness within and is thus evinced without.' Jack sighed. 'If the day ever comes, before we destroy ourselves and the entire planet with us.'
'Are things that bad now, Jack?' Emmeline asked quietly.
'They have never been worse.' Jack admitted, unwilling to elucidate further.
'You mentioned...a Nexus point.'
Jack sat up, pouring more coffee for them both. 'We...are hoping, that at a certain time, we may be able to effect a change in the snowballing chaos that now has become the norm in the world. We have so little to go on, however. It's a shot in the dark.
But it's all we have. Clues, here and there. We are desperate, Em.' he paused and took a long drink.
'Otherwise, we never would have...done the things we did.'
'What brought the world now to such dire straights?'
'What else? Greed. Man's inhumanity to man. Wars. Compounded of course by dwindling resources coupled with overpopulation, causing climate change, drought, famine, and floods--a vicious cycle. My dear Em, you have no idea, thank the gods, of what unspeakable weapons of madness modern man hath wrought...'
'So, Mister Wells and Mssr. Verne were not so far off in their speculations...' Em decided.
'Spot on, I'm afraid.' Jack looked at her. 'But the turn of the 19th century was, IS, a time of great possibility--a different future was still possible then; and perhaps, still is.'
The company drank their coffee and fell into a somber and thoughtful reverie about the round table then.
'Well, I feel I must shift myself and clear my head' Emmeline said at last, pushing away from the table, and gathering the dinner things, 'I'll just take these in to the kitchen. I'm feeling in need of some fresh air. Care to join me, Alice, in a postprandial perambulation?'
Alice and the gentlemen all stood then, as Em and Alice exeunt, with 'We shall take a turn about the
house and not be long,'Alice took the empty coffee tray and mugs into the kitchen behind Em, and taking their coats from the hall closet, the two then
proceeded out of doors into the wild gardens about
the 'magically defended' Van Horn estate...
. . . . .
It was nearing dusk as the two friends went roaming in the gloaming together, amongst the straying tendrils of wisteria gone wild, now with winter's brown and winding branches. 'What a welter of uncontrolled wilderness this garden has become!' Alice noted as they pushed branches away that choked the walk in places.
'Rather like Jack himself,'Em commented.
'Do you truly think so?' Alice looked at her friend.
Em sighed softly. 'What can I say? Just how much of that exegete palaver has versimilitude, do you think?'
Alice said nothing for awhile, as they strolled on into the gathering shadows. 'Not only I, myself, but we both have been through some experiences of late that ventured rather far beyond the pale my dear.'
Em stopped a moment as they came to a break in the bush, and gazed at the dying sunset that had broken through the grey clouds. 'Yes.' She looked at Alice then. 'There's more to you than meets the eye, indeed, Al! Why did you never tell me of the incredible scope of your...adventures?'
'You said it yourself--'incredible!'--that's why,'answered Alice. 'Also...it happened so long ago, it sometimes seems just surreal to me now. I don't know...it's painful to think of Frank too much sometimes. There are things, I would prefer to forget.'
'Of course, oh, Alice--dear, I certainly don't mean to cause you any pain.'Em touched her arm, then put her arm through her friends', as they sauntered on.
'I know what you mean though, about remembering the past...I don't recall much of my childhood at all, certainly nothing before the accident. And after--I guess I just wanted to forget.' She looked over at the last glimpse of sunlight as it dimmed behind the cloudbank. 'Alice...I must ask, though--'
Alice, still gazing at the darkened path, made an inquiring 'hmmmm?'
'Why were you all so concerned about me when I...arrived here? I know I somehow 'lost' two days...how, exactly? Surely I wasn't unconscious all that time?'
Alice put her hand over Em's hand upon her arm. 'Emmeline. We all arrived here together, the four of us. And things seemed to be as they should. But, oh--I don't know how to put this...you began to, fade.'
'What do you mean?' Em stopped walking, and turned to face Alice, her face dark with shadows.
'Just that. One moment you were lying on the couch, and then you became sort of transparent. Then you faded out altogether. For some time.' Em looked down at the dark nothingness that was now their surroundings. 'Jack and Aleister, and I, of course, about went mad then, trying to get you back.'
'Did I 'fade out'--for two whole days?'Em demanded.
'No, dear, no! You seemed to fade in and out again,
not that often, but you were unconscious off and on as well. Sometimes, when you were wholley 'there' you were sortof talking in your sleep. But we couldn't rouse you fully. We each took care of you, and sat with you by turns, until your final renascence at last.'
Em took all this in silently as they continued around the garden and headed back to the house. This was becoming altogether too much, she thought. She was so weary of being someone's lab experiment! '...trapped like rats in a pyramid on Mars!' she muttered.
'What's that, Em?' Alice was becoming concerned.
'Oh, nothing. Just something my father used to say...'
Emmeline looked into Alice's face, now just silver and shadow in the dark. 'Alice. You know why Jack and Aleister came to Pankhurst? Why they wished to meet us?'
'Well, Em, as I understand it, from Aleister at least, and what I can glean from Jack's jibberjabber,
they want our help in averting some awful calamity they fear may happen in the future...'
'Alice, doesn't this make you at all nervous? Don't you question this, this--mad science?' Emmeline paused and stopped, staring at the mansion house which squatted and sprawled before them.'You realize of course, that the only reason they have us here, is because of our relationship to Frank and my father!'
Em stared at the ground then, and began walking. 'We're being used, Alice.'
Just then, they beheld a red glow in the dark, next to the stairway leading to the house. Someone, Aleister probably, was smoking a cigar. 'Keeping an eye on us,' Emmeline discerned.
'Well, what should we do, then?' Alice stared at the red glow, perceiving some wisps of smoke in the half-light.
'Al, surely we're not altogether at their mercy, are we? Besides, even IF, and it's a huge IF, in my opinion--if there is something in the future that must be avoided, we've already given them what they wish!
They have my father's things, all that's left of them. They know where you have Frank's files kept.
I'm sure they can access about anything with their...
nefarious devices and machinations! They don't really need us any longer! I'm for getting out of here. How about you?'Emmeline stopped and faced her friend.
Alice looked at the dark glow in the distance where Aleister stood smoking, unaware of their plans for extemporaneous defection. 'Perhaps you're right.' she admitted at last. 'As, well, fond as I was becoming of Aleister, he doesn't inspire complete confidence. We don't really know these men all that well, it's true.'
She looked at Em then. 'I might know of a way,' she confessed.
'Do you Alice?!' Emmeline was ready for action now.
'Yes. At least, I believe so. And it doesn't require breaking into that stronghold of a laboratory downstairs, either.'
Em sighed, relieved. 'Oh, good. That was the tricky part, I was thinking. Oh, Alice, I so hoped you would
see things in this light! And when you said you had traveled, timewalked, with Frank, I thought perhaps you knew the, well, mechanics of it.'
'We'll see...' Alice took Em's arm then and continued their stroll. 'Well,' she sighed, 'No time like the present!' She looked at Em, and Em at her, and they laughed suddenly at the variable truth of that statement. 'So. How about later tonight then?'
'Yes. Definately!' Em agreed. 'Where and when?'
'Meet me in my room...oh, rather late, I'm thinking, when they should be asleep. How about 3 a.m., then?'
'Sounds good. I'll be there.' Em agreed, as they
neared the house and could smell cigar on the wind.
'How was your walk, ladies?' Aleister crushed his stogie underfoot and retrieved the butt.
'Most refreshing!' Alice answered him, as the threesome climbed the broad stairway and together entered the foyer of what Emmeline and Alice now considered the 'castle keep', although they'd not be kept long now, Em decided finally.
. . . . .
It was nearing midnight when Emmeline,pacing in her room, was thinking about their escape to come; her anxious thoughts came and went uncontrollably and she debated still about her decision, although she still believed that it was the only choice to be made.To think that she had 'faded out'for two days! Goddess!
What if she begins to 'fade' again? She certainly wasn't given to 'fading' before she met Jack! Oh, to be free of all...this!...she thought, and to have an end to meddlesome men and their interfering at last!
She felt quite rejuvenated as she considered the night's contrivance to come, and the liberation it would finally bring!
She moved softy to her bedroom door and opened it quietly, listening, hoping that the gentlemen...('gentlemen' were they? she mused)would turn in early for a change...then she discerned the notes of a piano rising faintly from the parlor below. Who could be playing at this hour? Jack, possibly?
She edged around the door and out into the hallway.
Yes, definately music. Drat! She thought. Now what?
She decided to, well, put an end to it, wouldn't she, then...and headed on downstairs.
As she reached the foyer, and turned toward the parlor, she recognized the haunting notes of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. The old but well-tuned grand piano rang out, resonating with echoes as of great bells from a distance.
She paused at the doorway to listen, and could now see Jack's dark head bent over the keyboard, eyes closed as he played, swaying a little and pressing forward and back, working into the piano some wild
passion that he seemed to feel then, the volume rising and falling, until he was playing quiet, hushed notes as he leaned back, with such an ineffable look of sadness on his face, Emmeline nearly turned to go; but just then, he opened his eyes and saw her there, and as he continued playing, his face became a mask of inscrutability.
Emmeline approached slowly, and stood next to and a little behind him, watching as he played the soft closing notes of the rhapsody; he then switched gears as it were, and began a different song, something she didn't recognize.
'What a lovely melody. Although it seems a bit sad. What is it, Jack?' she asked quietly.
'It's a 20th century tune, by Lennon and McCartney, called 'Yesterday'...' Jack played on. 'Shall I sing it for you?'
'Please,'Em answered.
Jack's fingers ran lightly over the ivories then as he intoned in a low voice,
'Yesterday...all my troubles seemed so far away.
Now it looks as though they're here to stay.
Oh, I believe in yesterday.'
Jack extrapolated on the melody then, improvising almost a different tempo, before coming back to the original beat.
'Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be.
There's a shadow hanging over me...
O yesterday came suddenly...'
As Jack continued playing the somewhat melancholy yet sweet and somehow endearing tune, Emmeline felt her throat grow tight. Oh, why does he have to play this now? Why can't he just plunk out 'Roll Out the Barrel' or something, damn him!? she thought to herself. But, truly, she didn't want him to stop. Ever.
'Why, she, had to go--I don't know.
She wouldn't say.
I, said, something wrong, now I long...
for yes-ter-day-y...yesterday...'
and Jack let the notes die off slowly.
'It's beautiful. Is that how it ends, Jack?' she roused herself to comment.
'No. No, it just sortof played itself that way... tonight.' Jack sighed, and continued on with 'Claire de Lune', she recognized.
'How was your walk?' he asked as he played on quietly.
Jack had been in the lab when she and Alice returned and had remained there until the company retired to bed. He sighed, 'We'll have to watch Dr. Who together sometime...'
Emmeline was caught off guard. 'It was, good.' Dr. 'Who'? thought Em.' I... admit I needed some fresh air. I do hope you realize that I am unused to strong spirits so early in the day, Jack!
I, I wasn't feeling quite myself at the time...'
'Understood.'
'...Dr. Who? Is that one of your uncle's plays, then?' Em asked, all innocence...
Jack's fingers faltered abit as they both heard the Grandfather clock start to chime the Witching Hour. He stopped playing then, and closed the piano as the last chimes died down to echoes and only ticking remained. 'Ah,no.Not exactly. It's late. I hope I wasn't keeping you up, Em?' He looked at her at last.
The only light in the room came from the low-burning fire in the hearth, and, she saw, the curtains were open to the night outside where the full moon had now risen exuding a pallid silver glow. She looked into Jack's eyes, dark now in the muted light, trying to read what lay behind them, trying...to see the real man, and to know his thoughts and discern his true motives. 'No. No, I was awake. I just, came into the hallway and heard you playing then. I'm glad I did,' she smiled. It was true, she was glad she had seen this side of him. But she steeled herself for what she knew she had to do, despite.
'I'm glad you did, too,' Jack said, and took her hand suddenly. He looked deeply into her eyes and a small sort of frown came between his brows. He leaned forward and, he was going to kiss her, she feared. She turned her head away, and his kiss landed on her cheek.
'I'd better...go up to bed, now...' she flustered, and spun away from him, heading determindly away from the parlor and away from Jack, away, away...up the stairs and away from here; Oh, Jack, damn you! She thought, as she gained her bedroom door, and closing it behind her, she leaned against it and realized she was crying, silently...
. . . . .
The moon lay low in the hollow of night when Grandfather Time chimed the lonely hour of 3 a.m.
Emmeline roused herself from an armchair then;she hadn't dared to lie down on the bed, fearing she'd miss her assignation with Alice.
They had decided to keep their coats with them in their rooms, and she grabbed hers then and went to the door, and opened it. She put an ear to the crack and listened for any noises, then tiptoed to Alice's room next door.
The door was unlocked, Em went inside to find Alice, not surprisingly, bright-eyed and ready to roll, her coat with her. 'Ready Em? You're certain you wish to go through with this?' she whispered.
'Oh, yes. Alice I just want our old lives back. Don't you?' Em kept her voice low, but Alice could hear the longing still.
Alice nodded, and for a moment touched the locket she always wore about her neck, with a picture of Frank inside, Em knew. She smiled at Em then, took her elbow, and said, 'Come with me then. Quietly now!' The two women exited the bedroom out into the hallway and paused, listening. So quiet! They could even hear the muted ticking of the parlor clock from downstairs.
Down they crept and into the parlor. The fire had burned out by now and Jack had left the window curtains open she saw. There was just enough ambient light from the few electric lamposts outside to enable them to see. 'What now?' Em whispered.
Alice held her finger to her lips, listening. After a moment's pause, she looked at the fireplace, with it's balcony of marble and mahogany mantlepiece, and the immense looking glass which covered the wall above it, the frosted fleur-de-lis decorating the corners glowed somewhat in the dim light. 'Help me move this table over to the mantle. Quietly!'
Em looked at her, frowning, but then softly stepped over to the other end of the heavy wooden table and together they hefted it up against the side of the fireplace. 'That'll do. Now the chair,' said Alice as they lifted a hearthside armchair up against the table.
'Follow me,' said Alice, and to Emmeline's astonishment, she actually crept up onto the seat of the chair, and from there, onto the table; and reached down a hand to her. 'Come on, Em.'
Well, I asked for it, didn't I? thought Emmeline, and hoisting her skirts, followed Alice up their makeshift stairway til they both stood on the tabletop.
Alice's head was craned forward, listening. Only the Grandfather clock persevered in counting time's continual passing. Al blew out a relieved breath of air, then whispered, 'Alright then, Em. Here we go, follow me!' and holding out her hand to Emmeline, they stepped from the table onto the mantlepiece. Alice and Emmeline paused, and looked at one another. 'Ready?' asked Alice. Em nodded. Alice inhaled deeply and put her hands upon the surface of the looking-glass, which to Emmeline's shock, became rather fluid, and Alice's hands passed through and into the mirror, followed by Alice herself.
Em swallowed in a dry throat, and stepping up to the glass, 'mirrored' Alice's actions and was still surprised when her own hands went through the glass like water. She closed her eyes as she stepped through, and disappeared, following Alice into the other side of the looking-glass.
The parlor they left was empty now and quiet. Very quiet. The Grandfather Clock had quit marking Time.
. . . . .
...how about 'Laura' by Oscar Peterson...
Through The Looking Glass Darkly
Silence descended upon the company then.Evening now, the storm seemed to have abated. The fire burned low in the hearth, and only the hissing embers breaking apart remained. That, and the inexorable ticking of Grandfather Time in the corner were the only sounds echoing about the parlor.
No one heard Yeats's silent entry and when he announced, 'Dinner will be served shortly,' they all jumped.
'That time already?' Jack roused himself from reverie and went to the window. Drawing back the heavy curtain he gazed out at the night sky. How somber the day had become, he soliloquized...and he felt aware of a vicissitude from the morning's lighthearted banter betwixt himself and Em which had now declined into a wary sort of melancholy. Or maybe that was just him...
'Well, ladies?' Aleister enquired ,with a hand out to Alice,'Shall we?'
The party went in to the dining room, set for dinner for four. Emmeline paid little attention to the meal;it would have been delicious, if she'd the taste for it. She'd lost her appetite in the wake of Jack's meretricious meanderings and applied herself to the cassolet before her simply to settle her stomach after all that cognac...Her temples ached, her brain felt inflamed and seemed to pound against the parietal.
How much of that magniloquent tale should she swallow, she wondered?...Magick, eh? Merciful goddess...
'...is there any coffee, I wonder, Jack? I'm afraid I've abit of a slight headache,'Emmeline confessed.
Jack smiled and rose, saying,'that sounds an excellent idea, Em. I'll just see to it, and make a pot for all--'and exited into the kitchen.
Aleister eyed Em sideways then, and taking a ripe Winesap apple from the fruitbowl, began cutting it into sections. 'You know, the ancient Druids were magicians of a sort...Kelts in general seemed to have much of the uncanny in their generic make up,"Second Sight" and all that.' He crunched into an apple wedge.
'Have you Keltic ancestry yourself, Doctor?' Emmeline asked.
Al snorted softly a 'Ha!' and then, 'Well, "Aleister" should give me away! Yes, Scots-Irish, German and Cherokee my dear.'
'Quite close to my own ancestry!' Em remarked. 'Of course, you knew the Cherokee part already...'
Parsons munched meditatively.'Try some apple. Marvellous variety, Winesap...you can see the delicate red veins throughout the meat of the apple' the doctor handed out apple crescents to Alice and Em to sample. '"the Apple Isle", Avalon...' he mused.
'We have learned much of the Old Lore from the Neo-Druids back home,of course,'Alice joined in. 'I do so love tales from the Mabigion.'
'Yes,'Em agreed,'But the Druid's so-called magic is all Earth-based. They revere trees in particular-- oak, ash and thorn, holly and hazel. My great-grandmother's name was Oaks.'
'Indeed?' Aleister paused, mid-munch, apple wedge in air.
'Tree magic...'Alice rejoined,'Many different cultures have their own legends. The World-Tree in Norse mythology. And of course, the Hebrews have the Tree of Knowledge, the Kabbalah.'
Jack returned then, bearing with him the refreshing scent of roasted, freshly ground hot coffee on a tray with mugs for all. He cleared the table, setting dishes on the sideboard, and poured first for Em. 'Have I missed anything interesting?' he asked, setting a mug before her.
'We were just speaking of the ancient Druids, and Kelts, and diverse cultures world-wide which share much of the same elements.' Em sipped her coffee gratefully. Mercy, why did I give myself such free rein with the brandy? Paying for it now, she thought.
'Tree magic,'Aleister heaped the sugar lumps into his cup,'and the Apple Isle of Avalon...'
'Ah.' Jack plucked a Winesap for himself. Shining it on his sleeve, he bit into it whole, and raised his cup. 'Here's to Arthur! The Return of the King!' he clacked mugs with the company and drank deep.
'...and Guinevere and Lancelot as well?' Em enquired, gazing up at Jack. 'Menage a tois' rarely fare happily history has shown. Ceasar, Marc Anthony, and Cleopatra...'she paused for a sip,'or John, Daryl and Morgana?'
Jack munched his apple and seemed to ponder it at arm's length. When he spoke, although his voice was soft and low, it carried a weight which gave his words a full sort of echoing resonance: 'The Tale of Percival, in particular, should be the herald of the New Age. When all men become as Percival, then
the lion shall indeed lie down with the lamb.'
Emmeline looked at Jack then. He seemed lost in a reverie of his own, frowning slightly at his apple. 'Percival...the knight who quested for the Holy Grail, Jack?'
Jack didn't answer for a moment. Then in the same low cadence he replied,'and what is the Holy Grail, indeed? Some think it a lost treasure of sorts. A cup, or bowl, the San Grael, which held Christ's blood. Some think it a family bloodline. How long has the tale been told, of knights of old, who quested forth and brought back only...tales.' He paused and sipped his black midnight brew, and sighed. 'Long, long has the world turned, on and on men quest, for power, or glory, or holy grails...ages and aeons pass,all the while missing the very thing they seek century after century, and the world spins on into chaos and nothing changes, especially men themselves, and they return from their questing, old and broken, bearing only
some bright bauble perhaps, which they cannot take with them across the River Styx. Having nothing then,to barter with the Ferryman, so they go...leaving: nothing.Nothing perhaps, but ruin.'
The company all looked at Jack, wondering if he was drunk perhaps. What brought on this lugubrious tale? But Jack wasn't finished with them yet.
'The Tale of Percival, the questing knight, is an old lay. There are many, many versions of it. Do you know it, Emmeline?' he seemed to emerge from a trance and looked over at her with his Misty Isle grey-blue gaze.
Em blinked and mentally shook herself from Jack's Ancient Mariner spell he'd cast over them all. 'Well, I, yes...'she sipped from her cup, trying to recollect it. 'Percival in his quest, comes upon an old man who is injured, I believe. But because he is a Knight Errant Upon A Holy Quest, he continues on, seeking. There are others who can aid the old man, he reasons to himself.'
Jack looked at her then and smiled. 'Yes, Em, exactement!--and so he didn't find The Grail.Not then.
He failed to utter the magic phrase...'
Emmeline leaned forward then,'And what was it?'
Jack smiled at her, 'The 'magic' phrase which had so escaped all men? It was, 'how can I help you?'
'There's a similar tale I heard from my aunt, a Cherokee legend,'Emmeline added,' Would you care to hear it?'
Jack nodded.
'Well, long ago, when this land belonged to the People, there was a fine young brave, the chief's son, who needed a wife. The chief decided to hold a contest amongst the
Indian maidens who were of marriagable age, a footrace, and the winner would be the bride of the handsome young brave.
And so the racecourse was marked over hill and dale and through the forest and back to camp, not an easy or quick route! Many young women lined up for the chance to become bride to the chief's son, who was not only handsome and brave, but a kind and gentle man who was good with animals and spoke their language. He was known for being wholley honest, and always talked 'across the pipe';speaking truth.
The day of the race came, and one young woman who had been playmates with the cheif's son, had always loved him because of his gentle ways and knowing him, she felt they belonged together. She took her place at the start of the race along with the many other
strong and athletic girls who all coveted the honor of being chosen as the young man's bride. And the race was on!
Far and long they ran, and many fell by the wayside from exhaustion, but the girl who had been the young brave's little friend, kept pushing on, until she came upon a wounded baby hawk, who seemed to have a broken wing. It pained her to have to stop, but it pained her more not to, and so she gathered up the little bird and gently folded him into her pouch and tucking it secure below her ribcage, ran on with the injured hawk chick knowing that she could bind the wing when she returned to camp.
She'd lost much time, however, and most of the girls had passed her by. But on she ran, until she rounded a large rock and heard cries of 'help!'--she ran to where she thought the voice had come from, to find an old Grandmother who had fallen into a deep gully and could not get out. 'I'll help you Grandmother!' she called, and searched until she found a log and rolled it into the gully longways, propping it up against the cliff edge. 'I'll hold the log, until you can climb up far enough for me to reach you, and then I can pull you out!' Which she did, when the old lady had climbed up the log far enough to grab her hands, and with a hefty heave, she hauled the woman out of the ditch. 'Thank you, young one! I'll be fine now, it's not far for me to walk. You go on and run your race!' And so the girl ran on, although the sun was now much lower and no other contestants could be seen.
Of course, when she made it back to camp, she was the last one in. All the tribe was there, the chief, and the beautiful young Indian brave were gathered around a huge bonfire, waiting.
'You are late, and you are last!' the chief said to her, as she came panting up to him, taking the bird out of her water pouch.
'I came as soon as I could, I mean no disrespect. I found a young hawk, injured. I could not leave him, he needs his wing bound.' She showed the chief and his son the poor bird.
Just then, the Grandmother she had helped stepped forth into the firelight. 'She means no disrespect. I fell into the gully and she helped to pull me out with a log. She is a good girl, and worthy of your son!' she said to the chief.
'This is so?' the chief asked the girl, who nodded. And, smiling, the chief turns to his son, and taking his hand, and the girls, put their hands together. 'Because you showed kindness and mercy to others, and thought of yourself not first but last -- although you were last to run the race, you are first in the hearts of the People. You have a true heart, the heart of an eagle! And may your hearts now beat together as one!' And so saying, the young brave smiled into the tired but happy girl's eyes and said, 'I have always loved you, ever since we played together as children.'
'And I, you!' she said.
'Ah Ho!' said the chief, and it was done.
--The End!' finished Em, with a small smile.
. . . . .
'Yes..' Jack said, after a while. 'I have heard the tale. Slightly different, but it has the same message. That is the lesson of Percival's Quest, and the Holy Grail. The Return of the King shall come when humankind finds kindness within and is thus evinced without.' Jack sighed. 'If the day ever comes, before we destroy ourselves and the entire planet with us.'
'Are things that bad now, Jack?' Emmeline asked quietly.
'They have never been worse.' Jack admitted, unwilling to elucidate further.
'You mentioned...a Nexus point.'
Jack sat up, pouring more coffee for them both. 'We...are hoping, that at a certain time, we may be able to effect a change in the snowballing chaos that now has become the norm in the world. We have so little to go on, however. It's a shot in the dark.
But it's all we have. Clues, here and there. We are desperate, Em.' he paused and took a long drink.
'Otherwise, we never would have...done the things we did.'
'What brought the world now to such dire straights?'
'What else? Greed. Man's inhumanity to man. Wars. Compounded of course by dwindling resources coupled with overpopulation, causing climate change, drought, famine, and floods--a vicious cycle. My dear Em, you have no idea, thank the gods, of what unspeakable weapons of madness modern man hath wrought...'
'So, Mister Wells and Mssr. Verne were not so far off in their speculations...' Em decided.
'Spot on, I'm afraid.' Jack looked at her. 'But the turn of the 19th century was, IS, a time of great possibility--a different future was still possible then; and perhaps, still is.'
The company drank their coffee and fell into a somber and thoughtful reverie about the round table then.
'Well, I feel I must shift myself and clear my head' Emmeline said at last, pushing away from the table, and gathering the dinner things, 'I'll just take these in to the kitchen. I'm feeling in need of some fresh air. Care to join me, Alice, in a postprandial perambulation?'
Alice and the gentlemen all stood then, as Em and Alice exeunt, with 'We shall take a turn about the
house and not be long,'Alice took the empty coffee tray and mugs into the kitchen behind Em, and taking their coats from the hall closet, the two then
proceeded out of doors into the wild gardens about
the 'magically defended' Van Horn estate...
. . . . .
It was nearing dusk as the two friends went roaming in the gloaming together, amongst the straying tendrils of wisteria gone wild, now with winter's brown and winding branches. 'What a welter of uncontrolled wilderness this garden has become!' Alice noted as they pushed branches away that choked the walk in places.
'Rather like Jack himself,'Em commented.
'Do you truly think so?' Alice looked at her friend.
Em sighed softly. 'What can I say? Just how much of that exegete palaver has versimilitude, do you think?'
Alice said nothing for awhile, as they strolled on into the gathering shadows. 'Not only I, myself, but we both have been through some experiences of late that ventured rather far beyond the pale my dear.'
Em stopped a moment as they came to a break in the bush, and gazed at the dying sunset that had broken through the grey clouds. 'Yes.' She looked at Alice then. 'There's more to you than meets the eye, indeed, Al! Why did you never tell me of the incredible scope of your...adventures?'
'You said it yourself--'incredible!'--that's why,'answered Alice. 'Also...it happened so long ago, it sometimes seems just surreal to me now. I don't know...it's painful to think of Frank too much sometimes. There are things, I would prefer to forget.'
'Of course, oh, Alice--dear, I certainly don't mean to cause you any pain.'Em touched her arm, then put her arm through her friends', as they sauntered on.
'I know what you mean though, about remembering the past...I don't recall much of my childhood at all, certainly nothing before the accident. And after--I guess I just wanted to forget.' She looked over at the last glimpse of sunlight as it dimmed behind the cloudbank. 'Alice...I must ask, though--'
Alice, still gazing at the darkened path, made an inquiring 'hmmmm?'
'Why were you all so concerned about me when I...arrived here? I know I somehow 'lost' two days...how, exactly? Surely I wasn't unconscious all that time?'
Alice put her hand over Em's hand upon her arm. 'Emmeline. We all arrived here together, the four of us. And things seemed to be as they should. But, oh--I don't know how to put this...you began to, fade.'
'What do you mean?' Em stopped walking, and turned to face Alice, her face dark with shadows.
'Just that. One moment you were lying on the couch, and then you became sort of transparent. Then you faded out altogether. For some time.' Em looked down at the dark nothingness that was now their surroundings. 'Jack and Aleister, and I, of course, about went mad then, trying to get you back.'
'Did I 'fade out'--for two whole days?'Em demanded.
'No, dear, no! You seemed to fade in and out again,
not that often, but you were unconscious off and on as well. Sometimes, when you were wholley 'there' you were sortof talking in your sleep. But we couldn't rouse you fully. We each took care of you, and sat with you by turns, until your final renascence at last.'
Em took all this in silently as they continued around the garden and headed back to the house. This was becoming altogether too much, she thought. She was so weary of being someone's lab experiment! '...trapped like rats in a pyramid on Mars!' she muttered.
'What's that, Em?' Alice was becoming concerned.
'Oh, nothing. Just something my father used to say...'
Emmeline looked into Alice's face, now just silver and shadow in the dark. 'Alice. You know why Jack and Aleister came to Pankhurst? Why they wished to meet us?'
'Well, Em, as I understand it, from Aleister at least, and what I can glean from Jack's jibberjabber,
they want our help in averting some awful calamity they fear may happen in the future...'
'Alice, doesn't this make you at all nervous? Don't you question this, this--mad science?' Emmeline paused and stopped, staring at the mansion house which squatted and sprawled before them.'You realize of course, that the only reason they have us here, is because of our relationship to Frank and my father!'
Em stared at the ground then, and began walking. 'We're being used, Alice.'
Just then, they beheld a red glow in the dark, next to the stairway leading to the house. Someone, Aleister probably, was smoking a cigar. 'Keeping an eye on us,' Emmeline discerned.
'Well, what should we do, then?' Alice stared at the red glow, perceiving some wisps of smoke in the half-light.
'Al, surely we're not altogether at their mercy, are we? Besides, even IF, and it's a huge IF, in my opinion--if there is something in the future that must be avoided, we've already given them what they wish!
They have my father's things, all that's left of them. They know where you have Frank's files kept.
I'm sure they can access about anything with their...
nefarious devices and machinations! They don't really need us any longer! I'm for getting out of here. How about you?'Emmeline stopped and faced her friend.
Alice looked at the dark glow in the distance where Aleister stood smoking, unaware of their plans for extemporaneous defection. 'Perhaps you're right.' she admitted at last. 'As, well, fond as I was becoming of Aleister, he doesn't inspire complete confidence. We don't really know these men all that well, it's true.'
She looked at Em then. 'I might know of a way,' she confessed.
'Do you Alice?!' Emmeline was ready for action now.
'Yes. At least, I believe so. And it doesn't require breaking into that stronghold of a laboratory downstairs, either.'
Em sighed, relieved. 'Oh, good. That was the tricky part, I was thinking. Oh, Alice, I so hoped you would
see things in this light! And when you said you had traveled, timewalked, with Frank, I thought perhaps you knew the, well, mechanics of it.'
'We'll see...' Alice took Em's arm then and continued their stroll. 'Well,' she sighed, 'No time like the present!' She looked at Em, and Em at her, and they laughed suddenly at the variable truth of that statement. 'So. How about later tonight then?'
'Yes. Definately!' Em agreed. 'Where and when?'
'Meet me in my room...oh, rather late, I'm thinking, when they should be asleep. How about 3 a.m., then?'
'Sounds good. I'll be there.' Em agreed, as they
neared the house and could smell cigar on the wind.
'How was your walk, ladies?' Aleister crushed his stogie underfoot and retrieved the butt.
'Most refreshing!' Alice answered him, as the threesome climbed the broad stairway and together entered the foyer of what Emmeline and Alice now considered the 'castle keep', although they'd not be kept long now, Em decided finally.
. . . . .
It was nearing midnight when Emmeline,pacing in her room, was thinking about their escape to come; her anxious thoughts came and went uncontrollably and she debated still about her decision, although she still believed that it was the only choice to be made.To think that she had 'faded out'for two days! Goddess!
What if she begins to 'fade' again? She certainly wasn't given to 'fading' before she met Jack! Oh, to be free of all...this!...she thought, and to have an end to meddlesome men and their interfering at last!
She felt quite rejuvenated as she considered the night's contrivance to come, and the liberation it would finally bring!
She moved softy to her bedroom door and opened it quietly, listening, hoping that the gentlemen...('gentlemen' were they? she mused)would turn in early for a change...then she discerned the notes of a piano rising faintly from the parlor below. Who could be playing at this hour? Jack, possibly?
She edged around the door and out into the hallway.
Yes, definately music. Drat! She thought. Now what?
She decided to, well, put an end to it, wouldn't she, then...and headed on downstairs.
As she reached the foyer, and turned toward the parlor, she recognized the haunting notes of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. The old but well-tuned grand piano rang out, resonating with echoes as of great bells from a distance.
She paused at the doorway to listen, and could now see Jack's dark head bent over the keyboard, eyes closed as he played, swaying a little and pressing forward and back, working into the piano some wild
passion that he seemed to feel then, the volume rising and falling, until he was playing quiet, hushed notes as he leaned back, with such an ineffable look of sadness on his face, Emmeline nearly turned to go; but just then, he opened his eyes and saw her there, and as he continued playing, his face became a mask of inscrutability.
Emmeline approached slowly, and stood next to and a little behind him, watching as he played the soft closing notes of the rhapsody; he then switched gears as it were, and began a different song, something she didn't recognize.
'What a lovely melody. Although it seems a bit sad. What is it, Jack?' she asked quietly.
'It's a 20th century tune, by Lennon and McCartney, called 'Yesterday'...' Jack played on. 'Shall I sing it for you?'
'Please,'Em answered.
Jack's fingers ran lightly over the ivories then as he intoned in a low voice,
'Yesterday...all my troubles seemed so far away.
Now it looks as though they're here to stay.
Oh, I believe in yesterday.'
Jack extrapolated on the melody then, improvising almost a different tempo, before coming back to the original beat.
'Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be.
There's a shadow hanging over me...
O yesterday came suddenly...'
As Jack continued playing the somewhat melancholy yet sweet and somehow endearing tune, Emmeline felt her throat grow tight. Oh, why does he have to play this now? Why can't he just plunk out 'Roll Out the Barrel' or something, damn him!? she thought to herself. But, truly, she didn't want him to stop. Ever.
'Why, she, had to go--I don't know.
She wouldn't say.
I, said, something wrong, now I long...
for yes-ter-day-y...yesterday...'
and Jack let the notes die off slowly.
'It's beautiful. Is that how it ends, Jack?' she roused herself to comment.
'No. No, it just sortof played itself that way... tonight.' Jack sighed, and continued on with 'Claire de Lune', she recognized.
'How was your walk?' he asked as he played on quietly.
Jack had been in the lab when she and Alice returned and had remained there until the company retired to bed. He sighed, 'We'll have to watch Dr. Who together sometime...'
Emmeline was caught off guard. 'It was, good.' Dr. 'Who'? thought Em.' I... admit I needed some fresh air. I do hope you realize that I am unused to strong spirits so early in the day, Jack!
I, I wasn't feeling quite myself at the time...'
'Understood.'
'...Dr. Who? Is that one of your uncle's plays, then?' Em asked, all innocence...
Jack's fingers faltered abit as they both heard the Grandfather clock start to chime the Witching Hour. He stopped playing then, and closed the piano as the last chimes died down to echoes and only ticking remained. 'Ah,no.Not exactly. It's late. I hope I wasn't keeping you up, Em?' He looked at her at last.
The only light in the room came from the low-burning fire in the hearth, and, she saw, the curtains were open to the night outside where the full moon had now risen exuding a pallid silver glow. She looked into Jack's eyes, dark now in the muted light, trying to read what lay behind them, trying...to see the real man, and to know his thoughts and discern his true motives. 'No. No, I was awake. I just, came into the hallway and heard you playing then. I'm glad I did,' she smiled. It was true, she was glad she had seen this side of him. But she steeled herself for what she knew she had to do, despite.
'I'm glad you did, too,' Jack said, and took her hand suddenly. He looked deeply into her eyes and a small sort of frown came between his brows. He leaned forward and, he was going to kiss her, she feared. She turned her head away, and his kiss landed on her cheek.
'I'd better...go up to bed, now...' she flustered, and spun away from him, heading determindly away from the parlor and away from Jack, away, away...up the stairs and away from here; Oh, Jack, damn you! She thought, as she gained her bedroom door, and closing it behind her, she leaned against it and realized she was crying, silently...
. . . . .
The moon lay low in the hollow of night when Grandfather Time chimed the lonely hour of 3 a.m.
Emmeline roused herself from an armchair then;she hadn't dared to lie down on the bed, fearing she'd miss her assignation with Alice.
They had decided to keep their coats with them in their rooms, and she grabbed hers then and went to the door, and opened it. She put an ear to the crack and listened for any noises, then tiptoed to Alice's room next door.
The door was unlocked, Em went inside to find Alice, not surprisingly, bright-eyed and ready to roll, her coat with her. 'Ready Em? You're certain you wish to go through with this?' she whispered.
'Oh, yes. Alice I just want our old lives back. Don't you?' Em kept her voice low, but Alice could hear the longing still.
Alice nodded, and for a moment touched the locket she always wore about her neck, with a picture of Frank inside, Em knew. She smiled at Em then, took her elbow, and said, 'Come with me then. Quietly now!' The two women exited the bedroom out into the hallway and paused, listening. So quiet! They could even hear the muted ticking of the parlor clock from downstairs.
Down they crept and into the parlor. The fire had burned out by now and Jack had left the window curtains open she saw. There was just enough ambient light from the few electric lamposts outside to enable them to see. 'What now?' Em whispered.
Alice held her finger to her lips, listening. After a moment's pause, she looked at the fireplace, with it's balcony of marble and mahogany mantlepiece, and the immense looking glass which covered the wall above it, the frosted fleur-de-lis decorating the corners glowed somewhat in the dim light. 'Help me move this table over to the mantle. Quietly!'
Em looked at her, frowning, but then softly stepped over to the other end of the heavy wooden table and together they hefted it up against the side of the fireplace. 'That'll do. Now the chair,' said Alice as they lifted a hearthside armchair up against the table.
'Follow me,' said Alice, and to Emmeline's astonishment, she actually crept up onto the seat of the chair, and from there, onto the table; and reached down a hand to her. 'Come on, Em.'
Well, I asked for it, didn't I? thought Emmeline, and hoisting her skirts, followed Alice up their makeshift stairway til they both stood on the tabletop.
Alice's head was craned forward, listening. Only the Grandfather clock persevered in counting time's continual passing. Al blew out a relieved breath of air, then whispered, 'Alright then, Em. Here we go, follow me!' and holding out her hand to Emmeline, they stepped from the table onto the mantlepiece. Alice and Emmeline paused, and looked at one another. 'Ready?' asked Alice. Em nodded. Alice inhaled deeply and put her hands upon the surface of the looking-glass, which to Emmeline's shock, became rather fluid, and Alice's hands passed through and into the mirror, followed by Alice herself.
Em swallowed in a dry throat, and stepping up to the glass, 'mirrored' Alice's actions and was still surprised when her own hands went through the glass like water. She closed her eyes as she stepped through, and disappeared, following Alice into the other side of the looking-glass.
The parlor they left was empty now and quiet. Very quiet. The Grandfather Clock had quit marking Time.
. . . . .
...how about 'Laura' by Oscar Peterson...
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