Larkspur (45 page)

“
I’m sure,” Jill said.
“It’s Christ who heals, right?”

The boy scowled.

“
Don’t your monks say
that?” Jill asked.

“
You’re not Christ,” the
boy said.

“
No, I’m not,” Jill said.
“But I like to think his Father gave me this gift to help
people.”

“
Oh.” The boy’s head went
up and down in a kind of a nod.

Delphie put her hands on his shoulders and
guided him to Jill’s lap. He looked into Jill’s eyes.

“
Come sit on my lap,” Jill
said.

“
You don’t have a lap,”
the boy said.

Jill patted her legs. With Delphie’s help,
the slight boy sat down. Jill put her arms around him and held him
tight.

“
Are you ready?” Jill
whispered in his ear.

The boy nodded.

“
Here we go,” Jill
said.

Chapter Two Hundred and
Seventy-five

Don’t let go

“
NO!” Celia appeared out
of the ether beside the battle of the spirit armies in the fog.
Celia’s spirit raced through the protective bubble to where Jill
held Kirk on her lap. Jill’s and the boy’s eyes were closed. They
seemed to be in a still trance. Her voice dropped to a whisper,
“No.”

“
Where have you been?”
Delphie asked.

“
I don’t know,” Celia
said. “I’ve been . . . detained, I think.
I . . . I don’t know. I was there and
then . . . I was . . .
nowhere.”

“
Fairies,” Delphie said
with disgust.

Celia knelt down to Jill.

“
What . . .?” Delphie started, but realized she
didn’t know the question to ask. “Celia?”

“
This is what we do,”
Celia said. “Do you remember, Delphie? When I was having Jake? I
wanted to . . .”

“ 
. . .
heal the boy.” Delphie’s voice came out in a gasp. “I’d totally
forgotten. Was it this boy?”

“
Yes, this boy,” Celia
said. “You argued with me. ‘Save Jake,’ you said over and over
again. ‘Save your boy first.’ This
is . . .”

“ 
. . . how
they kill the mothers.” Delphie kneeled down and tried to yank Kirk
off Jill’s lap. He seemed to be rooted in one spot.

“
You can’t,” Celia
said.

“
Will
he . . .” Delphie sucked in the end of her question
so as not to have to say it out loud.

“
He will kill her,” Celia
said. “And the babies too.”

Delphie touched Jill’s shoulder.

“
Look,” Celia
said.

Jill snorted a laugh, and then laughed
again. She didn’t open her eyes, but she didn’t seem to be in
pain.

“
Do you remember
laughing?” Delphie asked.

“
No,” Celia said. “I was
too scared.”

“
Then
maybe . . .” Delphie started.

Delphie waded into the stream and sat down
behind Jill, her knees were on either side of her. She waved for
Celia to join her. Celia sat near Jill’s feet and wrapped her
spirit body around Jill’s legs.

“
We’re here for you,
Jill,” Delphie said in her ear. “Draw from us or ask for what you
need. We’re here for you.”

Jill’s head went up and down in a slow nod.
She became very still.

“
Don’t let go,” Celia
said.

“
Don’t let go,” Delphie
repeated.

~~~~~~~~

“
Here we go,” Jill
repeated to herself.

The moment she closed her eyes, she felt the
ground slip out from under her. She felt as if she were on a roller
coaster racing through time and trauma. She saw past the beginning
of this century and beyond the druids’ arrival in the world.

When the scene settled, she was standing on
the beach next to this seven-year -old boy. She was wearing the
formal dress of a queen, with a golden crown on her head.

“
You must go,” Jill
whispered as the boy’s mother. She did not choose the words. She
was clearly acting out something that had happened
before.

“
I won’t leave
you!”

The boy ran back to her and threw his arms
tight around her waist. Taller, darker men wearing the armor of
light infantry wrenched the boy from her. As the boy kicked and
screamed, they dragged him across the sand.

“
Prince Kirk,” the men in
a skiff floating offshore said to the boy.

“
I won’t leave her,” the
boy said.

“
You must go,” Jill said.
“Seek your life, son. Away from this.”

The men dumped him into the boat. They took
up the oars, and the skiff made its way across the flat surf of the
Isle of Man. The skiff was a hundred feet from the shore when two
men forcefully tied Jill’s hands behind her back. They picked Jill
up and carried her to a stack of wood.

“
Kill the witch!” A crowd
appeared out of nowhere. “Kill the witch!”

Jill found herself on top of a stack of
wood. The men tied her to a long pole sticking out of the top of
the stack. The crowd was growing in size and fervor. A ripe tomato
hit Jill in the face. Her eyes flicked to the skiff before she
dropped down to her knees. The crowd cheered at what seemed to be
her demise.

She wasn’t sure why, but she felt calm and
capable.

“
This scene?” Jill said to
no one in particular. “It would be a lot scarier if I thought it
was real.”

“
Oh, it’s real!” a man
yelled from the crowd.

“
Yeah . . .” Jill nodded.

She leaned back so that her hands touched
the wood.

“
If this were my first
fairy rodeo . . .” Jill whispered. She closed her
eyes and focused her healing ability into the wood and into the
crowd.

“
Witch!” the crowd
screamed. “She’s doing witchcraft!”

The louder they became, the more she focused
on transferring their energy into healing. She could feel the crowd
jostle in front of her, smell the subtle mix of filth and fear on
their bodies, and hear the disdain in their words. When she opened
her eyes, she was alone.

She snorted a laugh.

Her hands were still tied behind her back.
She pulled on the twine and her hands broke free. She laughed.

“
Dreams,” Jill
said.

The boy was standing in front of her.

“
You weren’t supposed to
do that,” the boy said.

“
Why not?” Jill asked. “It
wasn’t real.”

“
Everything is real,” the
boy said a booming voice. “Nothing is real.”

“
I am going to help you,”
Jill said. “Whether you like it or not.”

“
They all say that,” the
boy said.

“
Who all?” Jill asked.
“There’s no one here.”

“
All the mothers of all
the boys, but they all die.”

“
I guess I’m not like all
the other mothers.” Jill shrugged.

The boy scowled, and they slipped through
the fabric of time again.

~~~~~~~~

Rodney looked over at Honey. They were
filthy, exhausted, but also excited. Together with their tiny
fairies, they had helped rescued six men and four women from the
water, mud, and methane. The military team across the pit had
sealed off the water leak and were on their way out of the pit. MJ
and Colin had taken the last of their rescued patients to the
medical bay.

“
You’re filthy,” Honey
laughed.

“
Takes one to know one,”
Rodney said. “Any ideas why we got picked for this
detail?”

He was asking Honey, but he’d kind of hoped
his fairy, Abi, would respond. She gave him a sly look, but didn’t
say anything. Nor did Honey’s tiny fairy, Mari.

“
No idea,” Honey said.
Always direct, Honey looked at Mari and asked, “Why were we
picked?”

“
Because you can see us.”
Mari nodded.

“
You know great loss,” Abi
said. “Great pain. You can help others with the same experience of
loss and pain.”

“
Gee,” Rodney said.
“That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t really answer the
question, does it?”

“
Rodney!” Jerry yelled
from above. “We’re ready to pull you out. They’re closing up here.
We’re going home!”

“
Home?” Rodney looked at
Abi. “Is that true?”

“
Military’s taking over,”
Abi said. “All the people are rescued, so the civilians can go
home.”

Rodney looked over at Honey. Her eyes were
on MJ’s rising form. When she looked at him, Rodney knew the
truth.

None of this was real.

They weren’t down here to save people. They
were down here, tucked away, because Jake or Sam or someone they
knew and loved needed them. Rage flushed through Rodney.

“
Take me to them,” Rodney
said between his gritted teeth.

“
You don’t know what
you’re asking,” Abi said. “Really. You need to stay
here.”

“
Why?” Honey
asked.

“
Because . . .” Abi looked at Mari.

“
For your own safety,”
Mari said.

Honey scowled.

“
I demand that you tell
the truth,” Honey said.

“
Yes,” Mari
said.

“
Who benefits if I’m down
here?” Honey asked.

“
Everything stays the
same,” Mari said. “Everyone benefits.”

“
And if we join whatever
is going on?” Honey asked.

“
Everything will change,”
Mari said.

“
Who
else . . .” Honey started.

“
Blane.” Rodney’s voice
came out as a whisper. “Have you noticed? He and Aden are the
senior Lipson people at the site. Have you seen him?”

Honey shook her head.

“
Take me to Blane,” Rodney
said to Abi.

“
NO!” Honey yelled. “Take
us to where we are most needed.”

“
You are where you are
most needed,” Mari said.

“
No,” Rodney said. “We are
where
you
need us
most. Take us, and Blane, to where we are needed most.”

“
You will be in danger,”
Abi said. “I promised my master that you would never be in
danger.”

“
Your master?” Rodney
asked.

Abi’s tiny cheeks blushed.

“
Yvie,” Rodney said. “Yvie
told you to come here and take care of me. And Honey?”

“
Honey is much loved,” Abi
said.

“
Take us to those who need
us most,” Rodney said. “And keep us safe.”

“
How hard is that?” Honey
asked. “You’re fairies, for God’s sake!”

“
Yes, we are,” Abi said in
a low tone.

As if it were in the center of a tornado,
the mud pit began to spin.

“
Hold on to my chair!”
Honey yelled to Rodney.

Rodney grabbed the arm of Honey’s chair.
They spun in a circle for what seemed to be an entire life time.
When the spinning stopped, they were underground in a long, dark
tunnel cut from stone. Bodies lined either side of the walkway.
Somewhere up ahead they heard voices.

“
Where’s Blane?” Honey
asked.

“
Where he is most needed,”
Mari said. “As you requested.”

“
Hello!” Rodney
yelled.

“
Rodney?” Sam yelled from
somewhere up ahead.

“
Dad?” Tanesha
yelled.

“
Sam!” Honey said, and
took off down the hall. Rodney ran behind her.

They met Sam and Tanesha in the hallway.
Tanesha hugged her father.

“
Tell us everything that’s
going on,” Sam said. “We’re making bombs.”

“
Can I help?” Honey
asked.

“
Perfect.” Sam smiled. “I
was just saying that you know a lot about this kind of
thing.”

“
We sure we need bombs?”
Rodney scowled.

“
There’re two
spirit-armies above us who’ve been fighting each other forever,
Dad,” Tanesha said. “Jake and Val are fighting with them. They are
the only ones who can die.”

“
You can die,” Rodney
said.

Sam, Tanesha, Heather, and Sandy turned to
look at him.

“
If you use this for a
bomb, you sure will,” Honey said.

A smash and a cheer filtered down from above
them.

“
How long have these
armies been fighting?” Rodney asked.

“
Since the dawn of time,”
Sam said. “But Jake . . .”

“
Where’s your fairy?”
Rodney asked.

“
We sent the lying maggot
to her masters,” Tanesha said with a sneer.

“
Lying
maggot . . .” Rodney scowled. “No, Miss T. They
don’t lie. They’re just very loyal, and not necessarily loyal to
us. Abi?”

The tiny pink fairy came out from behind
Rodney’s ear.

“
Mari?” Honey
demanded.

Mari, the tiny blue fairy, came out from
under Honey’s collar.

“
Get big,” Tanesha
ordered.

“
Big?” Rodney looked
confused.

“
They are only this size
when they’re on duty,” James explained. “Please grow to your usual
size.”