Soul Dancing with the Brass Band (The Brass Band Series) (34 page)

I stopped flirting knowing this must be important.

“Everything you know about it is true, but for me and you the bowl is so much more.” He took my hand again and we walked over to sit on the curb. “McCollum and I need to see more from you,” he said as he pulled me closer. “When you send your energy into the bowl, we also need your
energetic body to move forward
, that part of you that doesn’t exist physically in this world. It will be like your soul talking to me on your cell phone while your body is left behind in another location.” He raised his hand before I could interrupt. “Okay, not a very good analogy, but McCollum believes your soul will come to me and the brass bowl will become a mode of communication between us.”

He saw the uneasy look in my eyes. “Don’t worry so much, Hillary. We’ve done this
before. All you’re going to do is learn to do it again. That’s why McCollum always has me keep the bowl in my possession, so you can find me. The bowl is a beacon and holds an energy that will draw you to me.” Will reached up to rub the lines from my forehead. “Don’t worry. It will happen easily. You’ll just need to change your focus a little. You’re already halfway there.”

“If you’re willing, so am I,” I said hiding my fear of failure. “Could you feel me in the bowl while you were away camping?”

“I can always feel you with me. Not only because of the bowl, but also because you’re a part of me. We are two halves of the original flame and yes, I can feel you when your life force is projected into the bowl. It is like music to my ears,” he said and raised my chin to lightly kiss me. “Now I need you to take another step toward me.”

“I know it’s possible Will, because my soul wants to jump out of me and into you right here and now. The pull is amazingly strong.”

Will lifted me to my feet and as we walked, hand in hand, he explained the second part of that
McCollum and I need to see more of you
statement.

“What do you remember about the first night we met?” Will asked.

“Are you fishing for compliments again because I’ve told you a million times how glad I was that you were the one standing across from me when the big door opened and…”

“No,” Will said amused, “not that. I want you to explain how you felt when I touched you and I need you to be serious.”

“That hum! At first I thought I would vomit. Is that what you mean?”

“Yes, the hum…my chi
, the life force that circulates within my body.” Will took my hands between his, placing my palms together. “Close your eyes and tell me what you feel.”

I did as he said and discovered that I could actually feel the energy circulating in my body. He repositioned my hands back-to-back. “What do you feel now?”

“The energy has reversed its flow,” I said, surprised. When I opened my eyes, he seemed satisfied. “What?”

“The energy you are feeling is your own chi, not mine,” he said, putting his hands behind his back so I understood. “This is to be the second lesson McCollum wants you to master…the control of your life force. Eventually, with practice you will be able to extend it beyond your physical body.”

I just smiled and figured in time I’d either learn or not learn, but for right now, I wouldn’t worry about it. If Will and McCollum had confidence in me, I wouldn’t doubt myself before I had given it a serious try.

We smelled something wonderful as we approached Will’s front steps. Ruth and George had delivered the boys safely back into McCollum’s care and cooked dinner for us. Seeing Ruth’s smiling face, I said a silent prayer of thanks that she was also in my life.

George stood to give me a big bear hug, lifting me off my feet. “Ruth gave me the details about your weekend. Great stuff, that memory you had. I remember that lifetime myself, some parts fondly and some parts not so much.”

Will leaned against the doorframe, still as miffed as he was the first time the subject came up. This made George howl with laughter. “You were the one that didn’t see the arrow coming. I expected you to be faster than that!” George teased.

“I was a little preoccupied by the Roman army’s impending advance and the almost certain massacre of all that was dear to me!” Will defended.

“Don’t give me that bull. You know as well as I do that you were preoccupied with the general who was in love with your woman.” Looking at me, George continued, “He comes by his attitude
toward your friend Bennett honestly. The rivalry has been going on for a very long time,” and George just couldn’t manage to stop laughing.

“You’re the one who lost your head!” Will rebuked with anger I’d never seen before.

“Okay, let’s cool down,” Ruth said. She began to ask a question, but stopped short before the whole headless conversation ruined her appetite.

OUR MEDITATION group had eagerly been waiting for the Labor Day weekend because we’d be together again. Our sleeping arrangements were the usual; Mom and Dad in my room, Dr. Edwards in Ruth’s and poor Gilbert took the couch without a complaint. I stayed with Will, Ruth with George, Buddy in his box and the brass bowl’s place was on the mantel.

Once our group reunited we were inseparable, spending every waking moment together. McCollum had given Will and George new mantras for each of us, which was an auspicious occasion because it meant we had outgrown our old ones.

We gathered in Will and George’s apartment for our first meditation. We sat on our pillows around the bowl and began using our new mantra to send light into the world. The room was totally silent except for the ticking clock. I positioned myself across from Will, so I could look into his face after I returned from my travels. I always came out of meditation before him, so I had lots of time to just stare and wonder a thousand things about him.

I was trying my new technique and despite my personal training with McCollum via computer, I wasn’t finding it any easier to accomplish. My hope had been that the power of the group might give me a boost.

Beginning calmly, I cleared my mind and focused on my third eye. Breathing, I pulled my soul upward and focused on moving to a point just a few inches outside of my body.

Soon the chatter in my mind won and I moved from McCollum’s technique to my own. Silently, I spoke to Will. Then in frustration I began to yell at him, “Please, help me!” Then I moved on to focusing on my insecurities and started telling the universe that they had the wrong person. I was definitely not who they thought I was. If they were truly serious about saving the planet, they needed to locate the correct person, pronto!

When I opened my eyes, it felt like I had run a marathon. I did my re-integration, I am so happy, I am so happy, but in reality… I was so pissed and disappointed in myself. I just wanted to cry, but as I looked across the circle at Will, there was no doubt how very happy I was. I looked into that beautiful serene face, so peaceful that he looked like an angel and knew he hadn’t heard one word of what I’d been yelling at him. “Oh well, there was always next time and if he believed in me, I could, too.”

We talked non-stop during dinner. It turned out that Mom and Dad had started a meditation group of their own. They had placed an ad in the local paper and an ex-priest they fondly called Father John had answered and they’d been having a ball.

Gilbert had been practicing living consciously, but found he forgot more often than he remembered. We howled with laughter as he told his stories. “I wake each morning intending to live my life totally in the moment. I usually make it until the first good looking chick walks by. Then my mind takes off to places I can’t talk about in mixed company, but definitely not in the moment.”

Dr. Edwards had been reuniting with Yogi Shanti through CD’s and had found it just as relevant today as he had in the
‘80s.

Ruth and I told our story about the past life experience in K.C., catching everyone by surprise and when we’d finished, everyone looked at Will for confirmation.

“Hillary’s story is accurate, but I was powerless to help her. I had been dead for years!” Will said in his own defense. “I learned my lesson and will never leave her unprotected again,” and I knew his proclamation was true.

Our long weekend was over far too soon and we all were teary-eyed as we said good-bye. It had become painful to leave one another.

“We need a name for our group,” Ruth blurted to lighten the mood. “We can’t use
The Order of the Phoenix
, although cool, Harry Potter’s already taken it, but maybe something like that. What do ya think?”

With all in agreement, we made a solemn promise to each other that at our next reunion we would each have at least one potential name.

“I got a call from McCollum last night,” Will announced. “He’d like us to join him and the boys at their Summer Solstice Celebration on the 21st of June. How about it? Can everyone make it back in June?”

JUNE 21, 38 A.D.

I’m the last Druid and on the run to save a life I no longer care about
, mine. The tribe’s Chieftains willingly feed me and give me companionship, but never long enough for the rumor of my location to spread. There are stories of Romans setting villagers on fire to gain information and I will not let myself be responsible for that. My last respite was a small encampment not far from the river that now lies before me. My mare is still my constant friend, nuzzling me when I feel I can’t go on and standing guard when I rest my weary bones.

I swear I only dro
pped my guard for a moment to let my mind drift back to better days, but even that is too long. My mare whinnies and when I open my tired eyes, there he stands, one lone foot soldier looking at me as if I am the prize that will make him a legend.

He licks his lips as he shifts his position and I know he has made a fatal mistake. Once his mind moves from capture to rape and he sheaths his heavy sword, I have the time I need to mount my mare and forge the river. I feel the water on my back as she kicks up a wall of mud and water and I hear our determined hunter enter behind us. My prayers are answered as my horse leaps into the deeper current of the river and begins to swim because I know the weight a Roman horses carries. I lean forward to help her lift herself out of the water when we reach the far bank for she is getting old and I dare not think of my life without her.