Chapter Sixteen
:Alana!: Dara called irritably. :Wake up for goddess sake!:
:What?: Alana asked.
:We have never gone to bed without a what's up!: She complained. :So what's up?:
:I'm sorry,: Alana apologized. :I just fell asleep.:
:I can feel your tiredness,: Dara told her. :It must have been a rough day.:
:A very strange day,: Alana told her. :Do you remember Jay and Briana Flanagan?:
:A little,: Dara frowned, :Papa's childhood friend and his wife. They stopped coming by a long time ago. That was when grandmother was staying over in the cottage.:
:Yes, that's them,: Alana agreed. :They are the family living up north that Chet was so concerned about.:
:Oh, that Katherine,: Dara laughed into the link remembering Katherine showing off her ring at the fair. It was a pretty ring. :I didn't recognize Chet yesterday, but then I wasn't paying that much attention.:
:Well, It's really a confusing mess up here,: Alana hesitated wondering where to begin.
Alana started with the seasonal shift of the area and continued from there. It was so good to feel her twin with her. They had never been this far apart before. She had missed her at a very deep level through the day. It felt strange to just fall asleep like that—without Dara close by.
She was telling Dara about Charger when she felt Dara's stillness.
:What is it?: She asked.
:It has been peculiarly quiet here,: Dara told her.
:?:
:I think a gift that I thought was ours is really yours,: Dara told her.
:What do you mean?: Alana asked.
:We've always heard a hum,: Dara told her. :I haven't heard that hum all day. It got fainter the farther you rode away. I think it's your hum. Maybe Meifen can help you to figure it out—if it's a gift. If it isn't—get rid of it. No offense, but it's been kind of nice not having that in my head.:
:Oh!: Alana was surprised. She had never thought about it. It had just always been there. :It would be nice to block it sometimes. It can be a little distracting. I'll have to think about it. So how are the sailors?:
:Crazy!: Dara told her. :They found out about us using Nick as a nutrient siphon and asked Molly for some hemp seeds. They were all lined up and ready to do the same. We told them to forget it. They all had typhoid for goddess sakes. They couldn't keep what nutrients they had, much less give some away. Molly did give them a hemp type paste smeared on some bread. It seems to be staying with them.:
Alana loved to hear the enthusiasm in Dara's thoughts. She personally would hate to be a healer, but was happy that Dara was happy. She then told her about the boy.
:Oops!: Dara sent. :Maybe we took on more than we can handle.:
:I don't think so,: Alana told her. :Briana's taking charge of him. We'll find where he belongs. Between all of us, we should be able to find his home. Can you imagine, lost for all time, which means that even his bones would have never been discovered. How sad is that?:
:I just mean that life can get pretty full—you know.: Dara reiterated.
:I know,: Alana said sadly.
:I'm going off to sleep now,: Dara told her. :Think about that hum thing.:
:I will,: Alana assured her. :Good night.:
:Night,: Dara responded sleepily.
It was some time before Alana found her way back to sleep. She had a lot of things to think about. She had missed Dara, and she could tell that Dara had missed her. They would have to work something else out. Being separated like this just didn't feel natural. In fact, Alana realized, it was out-and-out painful. She noticed that she was not the only restless sleeper. There was more than one pacer walking around the house. It was a busy night.
Most of the family was surprised to be suddenly waking up to the morning sun. They couldn't even remember falling asleep.
"Morning, little Briany," Jay called to his wife. "I have a surprise for you."
"What is that?" she murmured.
"Oh no," he laughed, stroking her hand. "You aren't using your sweet womanly ways on me to get me to spill the beans—well maybe—if you touch…"
"Get out of here!" She exclaimed laughing. "We do have guests in the house you know."
Chet had been watching Katherine through the night. Kane saw them and just rolled her eyes. Vevila giggled. Katherine was finally sleeping peacefully. For part of the night, she had been crying in her sleep. Chet finally settled in behind her to hold her close. Jay came out of the room at one time during the early morning and started to say something about his brazenness, but kept the words bottled upon seeing Chet's determined glare.
Everyone seemed to wake up groggily to wander into the kitchen.
"I feel like I got hammered last night," Jay complained. "What's the fun of that without the beer?"
"Is that what it feels like?" Kane asked. "I'm never drinking beer."
"It tastes like crap anyway," Vevila told her.
"Vevila!" Kellan laughed.
"Oh!" They heard Briana exclaim. "What beautiful berries!"
"It's a miracle really," Jay told her kissing her ear. "Seeing them berries in the dead of winter."
"You went out early," she accused him. "I never even stirred."
"I can be stealthy," he grinned at her.
"Yah, right!" Kellan scoffed. "He stumbles into the chair, then crashes off the stone step, only to bounce off the wall. He sounded hammered!"
"How are you feeling sweetie?" Briana asked Katherine as she entered into the kitchen.
"A little fragile, I think," she answered. "Okay though. How about you?"
"Probably about the same," Briana answered. "I'm putting things aside to deal with them later."
"Me too," Katherine told her. "I still have to sort through what almost was, and what is. It's terribly confusing." She looked up at Chet. "But darn worth it!"
"I promised Charger we would brush him out this morning," Alana informed Jay. "That is, if you have nothing more pressing to do?"
He looked at her guiltily. Charger had never been brushed out since arriving at the village. Everyone was afraid of him, and if Rhoswen's alternate pathway is correct, for a very good reason.
"I thought we were going to head for the village today," Katherine said disappointed.
"Do you really want to do that?" Rhoswen asked her. "Before you've sorted through that scrambled brain?"
"Well," Katherine thought about what the village people might ask of her, or expect, "maybe not this day. How many people think father is—you know—dead?"
"I didn't know," Chet said and frowned. He didn't know why he hadn't been told.
"It was about a month ago," Briana told them.
"We had no way—or desire—to get to the village," Katherine told them. "Glenna came to perform the rites. That's why Aine knew about papa's death, just Glenna and Aine."
"Well, at least we don't have to explain why I'm still breathing and walking," Jay said sardonically.
Rhoswen was a little worried, but didn't choose to share it with anyone. If it was a person's time to be gone, she believed that it would be so. It wasn't up to her mother to cheat death. She didn't even know if it was possible. She'd have to talk to Druantia about these alternative realities. She liked this family, and was scared for them. They had endured the pain of loss once. She didn't know if they could endure it again.
Just then a sleepy faced little boy stumbled out of the back room. He blinked at them.
"Would you like some breakfast?" Briana asked him. "Do you know what you would like to eat?"
The boy just stared at her and started to whimper. He started talking baby gibberish. Vevila was a little surprised. She thought he seemed a little old to not be able to talk out words. She listened harder trying to make out what he said through his tears. Her head pounded as she tried to hear him. Briana was asking him if he needed to use the toilet room. She started to make out a word here or there. He was settling down now, making more sense.
; "He just wants to go home now," Vevila told Briana. "He's not hungry."
"Well, of course, he wants to go home," Briana told her sharply, "but he needs to eat something."
Vevila watched with amusement as Briana mimicked eating, and then started pulling down various foods for him. He was frowning at her. Vevila shrugged and pulled a strawberry scone from her own family's basket. She warmed it up the way Kellan had taught them. Its fragrance could be smelled across the kitchen. Everyone turned to look at her.
"What?" She asked.
"Share," Alana scolded her.
"That smells really good," the little boy told her. "Can I have one?"
"Oh, of course," she told everyone and started handing out warmed scones. "We just learned how to heat things from Kellan. It does make things smell like they just came out of the oven."
"You learned how to heat them?" Katherine asked surprised.
"Well yes," Vevila told her, "with magic of course."
"Of course," Katherine murmured.
"I'd forgotten what it was like to hang around with an O'Byrne," Jay smiled. "Keegan used to do things like that."
"Really?" Kane said eagerly. "Like what specifically?"
"Well," Jay had to think a minute, "like he had pockets in his coat that could hold everything in them. Not just a few things, but a lot of things."
"Like our basket," Alana grinned. "Celeste just taught us how to make pockets. Since then I swear, Kane's been making pockets out of everything."
"They're darn handy," Kane said defensively.
"Can I see your basket," the little boy asked.
"We have all kinds of things in here," Vevila murmured to him as she scooted the basket closer to the boy. "This one we keep for food, cold and hot."
"I like you," he told her. "You can call me Davy."
"Davy then," Vevila smiled at him.
Vevila started pulling food out of the basket. The boy's eyes got bigger and bigger with every item she took out. Those watching couldn't help but laugh as Vevila kept pulling out items.
"Can I have some of those?" He asked her.
"Apples," Vevila handed an apple to Kane who deftly peeled and quartered it. Kane handed Davy a perfectly quartered apple.
Everyone could understand his expression of awe. Chet felt the same himself, watching Kane so deftly handle the knife.
"Where did you learn that?" he asked Kane.
"It just seemed like something interesting to know," she told him. "I just practiced it until I was good."
"You are very good," he told her.
"I'm going to brush out Charger now," Alana told them. "Anyone want to join me?" She looked pointedly at Jay.
She knew that Jay had ridden Charger to get the berries—and hadn't brushed or rubbed him down. She walked over to the other basket and reached inside calling for the donkey's grooming bag. She figured the tools in there would work for Charger as well.
She hadn't really gotten a good look at the horse during their nocturnal ride. She was startled to see the scrawny little beast. She laughed out loud. She knew it wasn't big, but hadn't realized how stubby he was. He was also very shabby. No one had combed or trimmed him in a long time. His coat was positively matted. She wasn't even sure what color it was. She groaned to herself for the task ahead.
"It's okay," she patted his neck, "we'll get you straightened out, and Dara will help you with that mouth of yours—I'm sure."
"Dara?" Jay asked her.
"My twin," Alana answered. "She's working with Celeste at the manor with the healing arts. She can definitely make Charger better."
Alana looked down at Chargers legs and started laughing.
"How did he get that kind of speed out of those stubby little legs?" She asked.
"Hey," Jay cautioned. "Don't tell him that. He'll start feeling small around the ladies."
"I don't think so," Alana told him staring at the horse's dangly.
Jay just laughed. Charger nickered excitedly on seeing the dandy brush.
"Not so fast my friend," Alana told him pulling out the curry comb. "First things, first."
"He's sure a changed beast," Jay told her. "I can't believe the change within one night."
"It was a long night," Alana told him. "He wanted to have a friend. He'd had a friend before. Horses are very sociable people."
He looked at her strangely—wondering where she got these things. Was this magic? Another type of magic than what her father had?
Kane and Vevila came out to watch Alana and Jay groom the horse. Meifen watched with interest when the little boy started following Vevila around. He wondered if she knew that she was the only one who could understand him. He doubted it. She hadn't started talking the other language to him yet, but he figured that would come. He would like for her to soon learn his own language. It had been a long time since he had heard it spoken—not counting by himself to himself.
"I think we should ride this part of the property out," Kellan told them as she watched them playing with Charger. "It's early still," she frowned. "I would also like to know how the average family eats. I've been reading some of mama's entries and she mentions the mass amounts of potatoes the common man eats. I just don't see how they can eat all that. What can we advise them to grow instead? Everything that I can think of doesn't require a person to eat those kinds of quantities. They will eat too much."
"There's still time," Vevila said uninterested.
"There's time to grow things," Alana shared Kellan's concern, "but not much time to convince people to change such a major everyday occurrence. It would be like us, suddenly having to eat only potatoes day in and day, out for a year. We wouldn't like that."
"Oh," Vevila frowned. They had never eaten only potatoes. Mama had always varied their fare. She would sure get tired of eating only potatoes.
"It will help with this property being in an opposite season," Jay told her. "Whatever is grown, can be grown year round. It's always the dormant months which are the hardest. I could have wished for this little bit a magic, a few years sooner."
"I could agree with that," Briana told them walking up to the fence. "I am so looking forward to riding into June weather tomorrow."
"So you will be okay to go to the village tomorrow?" Jay asked with a smile.
"Very," she hugged him close.
"Well, look at that!" Rhoswen exclaimed. "He's beautiful.
Charger's coat was of lush light browns and gleamed in the winter sun. His face was creamy blond. Alana had already liked his intelligent, big brown eyes, but who would ever guess that a bath and brush could produce such a lovely creature.
"He's truly amazing," Jay said happily. "If he will pull the wagon, I'd like Charley to get a good look at him. He was so damned ready to make him into stew meat."
"Yes," Katherine said sardonically, "but then Charley would eat most anything." She looked over at Kellan, "It was rumored that last winter he cut off his dog's leg when he got hungry, and then let the stump heal. He then cut down another leg later."
"That's sick!" Alana said angrily. "Animals feel pain the same as we do. Someone should do that to him, see how he feels then."
"No animal will stay with him now," Jay told them, "they all run away."
"Good for them!" Alana said with narrowed eyes.
"We should ride to the real ocean," Kane called out restlessly. She had been hovering while they brushed out Charger. He looked pristine now, so why were they still here? "We sure have a lot of ground to look over."
Kellan wasn't surprised by Kane's comment. She had been surprised by how patient she had been up till then. Kane couldn't hold still for very long—ever.
"We could actually get to the beach by nightfall," Rhoswen prodded. "A beach bonfire sounds delightful. I wonder what season it will be?"
"Summer again, I hope," Vevila said shivering. "Beach parties aren't much fun in the dead of winter."
"See you soon new friend," Alana said as she patted Charger good-bye. Charger wo
ofed into her hair.
They reloaded the wagon. Meifen again took the reins with Kellan sitting up beside him. Davy broke free from Briana.
"I want to go with you," he told Vevila and started climbing into the wagon.
Kellan looked over at Briana and noted her tear filled eyes.
"We will take very good care of him," Kellan told her, "and we have the best tools to find out where, and when, he belongs."
"We can bring him over for visits," Alana told her, "until we find his parents of course."
Briana nodded. She knew that it was right for him to be going with them. She tried not to see the relief in Jay's eyes. Chet and the Flanagan's watched as they drove on down the dirt path, wondering what other changes they were going to find. Hoping the most shocking changes had already been discovered. Briana for one, didn't think she could accept much more.
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