The Bridge (6 page)

Chapter 14

Meva stood looking up at the eye carved in the gable at the end of the bridge.

“I’ve been looking at the eyes carved in the ends of this bridge my whole life and I still don’t understand their meaning.”

“They represent the third eye,” said Feona.“The mind’s eye. It’s really what the people of Alfheim are all about. It’s the connection between the spirit and the body. You’ve grown up in Alfheim so you’ve known about it your whole life. It’s natural to you, but to the outsiders, it was strange, black magic. It will become more real to you as you do the Aeosta.”

“So is it safe for us to cross the bridge now? I know there are still people out there.
If they find us, won’t they kill us?”

“There are no outsiders anymore. It was the great war. The outsiders went to war against each other and it spread like a contagious disease. Our country’s military was spread so thin it couldn’t protect its own people. Mother said that when it started, the government should have made a decision to protect its own, but the government didn’t. In the world of the outsiders, sometimes you have to be willing to kill in order to survive. The world economy collapsed and the people started fighting each other just for food. Religion didn’t matter anymore. The people of Alfheim had nothing to do with it. Even the bats were killed for food, and then one day, the local people came running to the mist on the river looking for the bridge and the way across. They knew we were here somewhere, they just didn’t know where. They didn’t want to kill us. They wanted us to save them from themselves. Your grandmother stood at the end of the bridge and held it open with her power of thought. We took in as many of the outsiders as our village could hold. Even the animals rushed across the bridge, somehow sensing it was safe there. Outside, the people continued to fight until they were all gone.

“We taught our ways to those who came across the bridge, ready to listen. Even those who had once hunted us were cleaned and are now part of us and still alive. We cleaned them all and when the fighting was over, they returned to what was left of their homes. They’re all out there somewhere. We taught them all that we could and now, they’re like us, or at least more like us, aware of the dark shadows and the harm they can do.”

“There’s only one step left for them and that’s the Aeosta,
the last step in the cleansing process, but it’s something no one else can help you with. You have to do it all by yourself. Today, there’s no more gunfire and no more animals are killed. If they had just read my grandmother’s books, there would have never been a war in the first place. They fought until they had destroyed everything they considered valuable and then came to the insane conclusion that there was nothing left worth living for. We are all safe now. There is peace on earth for the first time. The outsiders are all gone. It’s only us now.”

“What happened to Dór and his family?”

“Connor went into the forest and brought them back to the bridge. They were cleaned and, after the fighting was over, went back to their home.” Tears ran down Feona’s face as she talked.

“We have to go back now. You need to study so you’ll be ready for the Aeosta. You remember this and tell it to your children. Only those who were cleansed survived. After the war, there was no one else left.”

“So Axil became Shannon and my grandmother gave birth to herself. Is there such a thing as spiritual incest?”Meva laughed. “What ever happened to Agnar? After he was killed, did he ever come back as someone else?”

“No one knows.”

“It’s no wonder people can’t remember living other lifetimes,” said Meva.“It’s all so confusing.”

****

Agnar felt at home in his new body. He closed his eyes and nodded off, seeing the pictures of Butterfly the same as Shannon had. His lifetime as Agnar seemed to drift away. The smell of her perfume seemed stronger somehow today. A gust of wind blew and he could hear the papers flutter as they were blown out of his lap. He looked up as the papers were flying through the air away from the mist hovering over the water.
I must have been dreaming
. He remembered reading his father’s notes.
The mist started at the river’s edge and went for miles up the river.
He looked at the spot where he found the baskets of vegetables, another basket had appeared while he was sleeping, always at the same place.
The bridge
. He walked over to the basket and knelt down, looking around to see if anyone was watching.
This was my father’s favorite place to write. If I’m right, the bridge must be here. If I’m not, I have nothing to lose.
He looked around once more, then put his hand on the basket and leaned in toward the mist.
No matter what it takes, I’ll find you again.
“I know you’re there, Butterfly,” he whispered. “I can smell your perfume.”

Suddenly, a hand darted out through the mist, grabbing him and pulling him inside.

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