Soulshine (23 page)

The name uttered by Oliver Hawkings took Evan by surprise. It had been nearly a century since he had last used it. “You"re familiar with Eustace Tewksbury?”

Oliver smiled. “I have to admit that not very many people alive todayhave read Michael Westbrook"s
‘Heralds From God’.
”
“Vicar Westbrook wrote a book? And he mentioned
me
… uh, Eustace Tewksbury in it?”
“Evan,” said Oliver, “there"s no point in continuing to hide anything. You needn"t worry about
giving away
the secret of the ages. I have already trusted your two friends here with it. Besides, you seem to have found it appropriate to confide in Michael Westbrook of the Church in the Cotswolds.”
“I trusted him. Besides, the media are not like what we have today. And who would believe him if he did say anything? He obviously wrote that book long after I had left England, and he knew I would change my name.” Evan looked at Bryan and Jean. “So you two know…”
“Everything,” said Bryan. “Well, enough to know your true age… approximately, of course.”
“It took some convincing,” said Oliver. “We had never shared that information with anyone. However, in order to secure their help in rescuing you from doctors who would have no idea what would be needed to be done to help you, we thought it best to fill them in on
our
background.”
“Who is
we
?” asked Evan, “and what is
your
background, may I ask?”
“You can ask anything you like, Evan. I"ll be glad to answer.
We
are all the brothers here at the cloister. And it seems that, besides Bryan and Jean here, we do have one other common friend that we shared with you.”
Evan gave Oliver a puzzled look.
“I"m sure that out of the countless people you"ve had the pleasure to have met in all your years,
Gerasimos
ranks high on your list of memorable ones… perhaps at the top.”
“Gerasimos? Why… he was an unknown. People thought of him as a lunatic. Don"t tell me that you found
his
name in a book too?” Evan paused as Oliver watched for the light bulb to shine through his eyes. “You said he was a common
friend
. Are you telling me that you"re all…?”
“What… you always thought you were the only experimental subject of the great Gerasimos?”
“As a matter of fact… yes.”
“Well… you were perhaps the only
isolated
subject. You see… we didn"t agree that the elixir… just in case it was successful… should be wasted on youth. Gerasimos thought otherwise. We just never knew that he actually gave the elixir to a young man until we heard about you. Gerasimos obviously made certain to never share that information with us.”
“Why did you consider it a waste?”
“We figured that the older men… those of us who were in their forties at the time… benefitted the most. The young men could benefit from a few more years of spiritual growth… just to make sure that they were morally deserving of eternal agelessness. According to your two friends, Gerasimos did not err in his judgment of you. They both vouch for your morality.”
“For years, I had a hard time coming to terms with how you ended our relationship, Evan,” said Jean, “but now I understand why you left without letting me know.”
“That"s why we have elected to keep to ourselves… except for helping others,” explained Oliver. “We helped Jean understand that you probably were afraid to ever let your secret slip out. For if the authorities ever knew the truth, they could be ordered to capture you for a number of reasons… tax evasion probably at the top of their list… just so they could examine you.”
“Yes… that"s the reason… especially since I have no idea what was in that elixir… so I could tell them nothing anyway.”
“You don"t know?” asked Oliver. “Darn… we actually hoped you
did
know. It may have helped us in our crusade to help others. The reason we recognized your symptoms is because some of us have had accidents through the years, and we watched the same thing happen to our own brothers… deterioration and decomposition… to the point of death. But since we studied closely with Gerasimos, we knew some of what he formulated from natural herbs and plants to help reverse the effects of bodily injury. That"s why we knew we could help you. We have found a way to continue and improve the work of Gerasimos. But as far as the elixir for eternal agelessness itself is concerned, we have no clue as to what it was composed of.”
“Well… I
did
have some of the elixir with me at the time I lived with Bryan in New York, but…”
“You
had
some of the elixir? Gerasimos guarded it with his life. How did you get it? And more importantly, whose hands did it fall into?”
“I decided to take it for safe keeping after Gerasimos died. I knew where he stored it. It didn"t fall into the wrong hands… I can assure you.”
“It better not!” admonished Oliver. “Can you imagine an evil tyrant reigning forever with it? Still, it begs the question… who has it and did whoever getit drink it?”
Evan did not want to complicate Michelle"s life any further. He held out hope of finding her once he is cured by the brothers. “I guess I"m not really sure where it went. It went missing a long time ago. Whoever took my duffel bag probably has no idea what was in the bottle and would not have chanced drinking an unknown liquid anyway.”
“
I
do have another question,” said Jean, “if you"re up to it, Eric.”
“I changed my mind. Please… call me Evan. It just confuses things, and I did promise Michelle that I would keep that name. Sure… I"m up to your questions. I owe you some answers, I know.”
“My question concerns Michelle. You obviously avoided relationships… though at one time it seemed like you tried to see if I was interested in having one with you. So why would you lead on a young teenager like her?And don"t tell me that she"s not a minor. She seemed mature when I talked to her… but she has to be a child.”
Evan let out a deep sigh. “I was truly interested in you, Jean. I loved your charm and ability to want to help people… and now it looks like you ended up helping me get the medical attention I need. Had you been the one soul mate for me… I would have confided my story to you and asked if you wanted to drink the rest of the elixir in order to join me… and never grow old.”
“But I was already much older than you… looked.”
“What is age, Jean? Anything more than a number? You were in your thirties. I stopped aging… or so I thought… at nineteen. With a little hair coloring, I was able to convince others that I wasolder… knowing that most people seem to care about those things.”
“You didn"t answer my question about Michelle. She is so in love with you. And I saw how you two kissed each other. Sooner or later, you would have crushed that little girl"s dreams. That seems so heartless… especially for you, Eric… I mean Evan.”
“I won"t hurt her… ever. I promise. Please… can you help to find her and let her know where I am? Please?”
Jean shook her head. “To tell you the truth… I was glad to be the one to separate the two of you. She will never have to know about you. You were probably going to string her along until she was nineteen… and then disappear… wasting years of her young life.”
“Jean… no. That"s not the way it is. Please help find her. Please.”
“I"m afraid that is unwise,” interrupted Oliver. “Jean is correct. However, regardless of the young girl getting hurt over you, we still cannot afford to let too many people in on our operation. If she were to be brought here, she may overhear something… something she could use against us someday if… and when… she
does
get hurt by you.”
“She"s
not
going to get hurt. I…” Two men rushed into the room, disruptingEvan"s thought.
“Ah… brothers Christopher and Timothy,” said Oliver. “We were getting concerned about you. How did everything go?”
“It wasn"t easy,” said Timothy. “It was going smooth until somebody started shooting at us.”
“Shooting at you? Why would anyone do that? I figured that the operation would be tricky… but not dangerous!”
“It seems as though the patient had an enemy… the girl"s father.”
“
He
shot at you?”
“He shot at the gurney that he thought the patient would be on. Then we took cover and the girl went hysterical, yelling at her father for
killing
her husband. Then the police arrested him.”
“Her
husband
?” asked Jean.
“Well…
she
sure considered him to be her husband.”
Jean looked at Evan, who said, “My God! You"re talking about Michelle? Her father went to Ottawa to kill me?”
“Just concentrate on getting well,” said Christopher. “I"m sure she"ll be alright. Sheprobably has settled down by now.”
“And who
are
you guys… the ones who drove the diversionary ambulance?”
“Timothy was the driver and Christopher the paramedic,” explained Oliver. “So what else happened?”
“Luckily for us, we were able to drive away during the commotion with the old man getting arrested while everyone was making sure the girl was alright,” said Timothy.
“My God!” said Evan. “You said that she accused her father of
killing
me. She thinks I"m dead. Do you know what she planned to do next? Oh, my God! She probably won"t even be looking for me if she thinks I"m dead. You
did
tell her that I am alive, right?” There was no response from anyone. “Where is she?” yelled Evan.
“We… don"t know where she is now. Our orders were to drive the vehicle with the ashes in it to the hospital so everyone would think you"re dead and nobody would try to go looking for you. It had the desired effect on the girl, but the father was something we did not plan for,” said Christopher.
“And you did not tell her that I was alive. Your mission was to deliberately deceive her.”
“Their mission,” interrupted Oliver, “was to deliberately deceive the staffs at both hospitals… as well as the girl. Everyone needed to believe that your condition had played itself out to its final conclusion… complete decomposition… and let it remain a mystery with them.”
“You must let me go,” insisted Evan. “I need to find Michelle. She needs to know the truth.”
“Evan,” said Jean, “it"s better this way. Now she can go on with her life and not be hurt whenever you would have decided to leave her.”
“Jean, I wish you could get it through your head that I was never planning to leave her… unless I died.”
“I think we all need to settle down,” said Oliver. “We need to get back on the subject of the elixir. Evan, earlier you said to Jean that you stopped aging at nineteen… or so you
thought
. What did you mean by that?”
“We"re aging slowly, Oliver. By my calculations… based on information that only Michelle and I are privy to… we may have physically aged seven to eight years since we took that elixir. We just never noticed it because the changes are happening so slowly.”
“And how do you know this?”
“Because… Michelle is pregnant with my child. She has been for some time… though to the hospital doctors she appears to be two weeks along.”
“You… impregnated her?” questioned Jean.
“That was extremely unwise,” said Oliver sternly. “Why do you think we pose as monks, Evan? We all know how unwise it is to mingle with the outside world… and we never consider finding
soul mates
. Join us, Evan. Once you"re well, you can help heal our fellow human beings. We have infinite resources that we have gathered through the centuries. Interest alone on our bank accounts is staggering, and the best part of it is that it is tax free… given our charitable status. But tell me… since your agelessness is not genetic, how is it that the child is also slow in aging? And what will happen to the fetus if the mother dies before giving birth? Now we need to find this poor girl and think of some way to help her.”
“I want you to find her,” said Evan, “but you don"t need to help her medically.”
“We"ll let her decide… but why do you not want her getting help from people who at least understand the condition of the fetus?”
“Because… it was Michelle who drank the rest of the elixir. We were to be together forever. By the time the baby is born, Michelle will only have physically aged nine months. The baby is probably in no danger at all.”
Oliver sighed. “So the elixir wasn"t stolen. You gave it to someone else… not in the interest of science, but in the interest of Evan Troy.”
“She"s so young, Evan,” said Jean.
“I fell in love with her when she was thirteen,” admitted Evan. “The sexual aspect of our relationship was not important. I wasn"t even sure what would happen if she ever conceived, so I never suggested a sexual encounter with her… until the one day she asked me to make love to her. She was eighteen… and it was wonderful.”
Oliver sat beside Evan and smiled knowingly. “Do you have any idea where she may go… now that she thinks you"re dead?”
Evan shook his head. “Home to her mother… maybe?”

Michelle bought some makeup so she would look somewhat older when she arrived in her home town. She had a few hours to spend so she applied itin the ladies" lounge at the airport. When her flight to Boston arrived, she took a seat and soon afterwards a businessman in his late twenties stood beside her.

“Hello there. It looks like we"ll have each other for company all the way to Boston. My name"s Daniel.”
“Hi, Daniel.”
“May I ask your name?”
“Michelle.”
“What a pretty name.”
Michelle was not in the mood for any other man to give her a compliment on her name. That was reserved for Evan. “Thanks,” she said as politely as she could.
“Are you going home… or are you leaving home?”
“Going home.”
“Really? So am I. I live just outside the city. Maybe we can grab a bite to eat in Boston once the plane lands. That would be better than airline food. What do you say?”
“I really need to catch a bus when I get to Boston. I… live in Rhode Island.”
“Oh,” said Daniel, enthralled by Michelle. She looked so young, yet was obviously mature enough to be traveling alone. The makeup was well applied and made her look like she could be in her late teens to early twenties. “I had to travel to Canada on business. How about you?”
“Um… I was visiting some friends.”
“What do you do for work?” asked Daniel, hoping to get a feel for her age.
“I"m… not working right now.”
“Are you in school?”
“No… I graduated.”
“Well, if you"d like someone to spend a little money on you and have some fun with sometime, you can give me a call. Better yet… let me have your phone number and I"ll call
you
.”
“Please, Daniel. I… have someone waiting for me back home.”