Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:43:53 EDT From: BertMcK@aol.com Subject: Crystal Throne/Riders of Tuatha 5 CHAPTER V Jennifer left for work earlier than usual. It had been a sleepless night, at least what was left of it. She finally got up, took a long, hot shower, and fixed some breakfast. Old World Curios opened at nine in the morning, but since she didn't have anything else to do, she headed off to the shop at seven-thirty. She planned to catch up on some of the bookkeeping. Parking in the back, she crossed the small lot and pulled out her key to open the rear door of the store. She new something was wrong the minute she pulled it open. A large, metal shelving unit was lying on the floor blocking the doorway. Pieces of broken glass, crockery and so forth were scattered where they had fallen from the shelves when the unit went over. Looking into the storage room she saw a jumbled mess everywhere. It was as if a tornado had struck inside the room, ripping and tearing, and upsetting everything. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed as she viewed the wreckage. Just then the beaded curtain separating the front of the shop from the back room moved and a figure came through. Jennifer screamed, her heart leaping in her chest. "Jeez, you scared the crap out of me," Troy said as he stood in the doorway looking across the room at her. "What do you think you did to me?" she replied and climbed over the bent metal of the storage shelves. "What happened here?" "We were vandalized," he told her as he reached down to pick up a spilled box of antique costume jewelry. "I can see that," came the reply. "Did they take anything? How about the safe?" She dropped her purse and began picking up the debris. "No, they didn't get anything, just did a lot of damage. They smashed the glass case out front." "Why are you here so early?" Jennifer asked him. "The police called me at home at three o'clock. A patrolman found the front door open. Did you remember to lock up when you left last night?" "Of course I did!" she snapped. "They said there wasn't any evidence of a break in. It looked like it was just unlocked." "Just like my house!" Jennifer said. She then related the story of her early morning burglar. "Do you think there's a connection?" she asked as they continued to clean up. "Why would there be?" Troy asked. "Hey, they did take something!" he exclaimed as he pushed his glasses up on his nose in a characteristic gesture. "I didn't notice it before because of all the mess, but my box of magic stuff is gone." "What magic stuff? What are you talking about?" she asked. "That box of stuff from the auction," he answered. "It was right here. I wonder . . ." Troy went back into the front of the shop. He came back in a moment carrying the crystal ball. "At least they didn't take this. But they must have stuck it behind those African statues. I can't imagine why." "I put it there last night," Jennifer admitted. "And they didn't get that neat old book either." "What book?" she asked as she bent over to pick up some letters which had been knocked from her desk where she did the accounting. "I found this neat book in with all that stuff. It was bound in some odd kind of leather and looked homemade. The inside was written by hand, so I took it home to read it, but I haven't had a chance yet," Troy said. "Here's the connection, Troy," Jennifer interrupted him. "What connection?" he asked. She held out an envelope for him to see. It was addressed to her at home. She had evidently brought it in to work. Her address was circled in red felt tip. "This wasn't circled yesterday," she said. * * * The small party rode across the drawbridge and out into the canyon beyond. Dark shadows hid everything from Scott's eyes as the sun sank below the western horizon. Rood, Melcot and Akuta led the party, followed by Scott and Robin with Elnar, his daughter Caseldra, and Rowana bringing up the rear. The sounds of their hoof beats echoed from the stone walls as the horses wound their way through the maze of canyons cut into the foothills. In a short time they were leaving the stone walls behind and riding out onto the flatland beyond. "This is a good spot," Elnar called as they came to a fork in the path. One trail led to the east and one to the west. Another, smaller path led into the tall grass of the Plains of Morinar stretching off to the south. "A good crossroad," he said as the group dismounted. The old man walked to the middle of the divergent routes and began drawing symbols in the dust with a long stick. His daughter followed him around displaying various charts from which he copied the designs he drew. Meanwhile, the rest of the party moved off to sit on some low boulders nearby. "How long will you be away?" Rood asked Scott. "I don't know. I hope not very long." "You have the homing crystal?" Rowana asked. Scott reached under his tunic and pulled out the small, pink quartz stone wrapped in gold wire and dangling from a silver chain around his neck. "And remember you how to use it?" Rowana persisted. "I just tap it gently with my fingertips and it will begin vibrating which is supposed to pull me back here," Scott answered. "The moon is moving rapidly," Rood observed, looking up at the round white ball climbing toward the zenith from the east. "It will not be long now." Robin took Scott's hand and pulled him up. They walked down the road, away from the others. "This is not how I imagined our binding night to be," he said gently. "Me either," Scott replied, feeling empty and helpless. "There are so many things I want to say to you." Robin reached up and put his finger on Scott's lips. "They will keep. I shall store up every thought for you and when you return we shall have a full lifetime together, never to be parted again." Scott hugged Robin tightly. "I'll miss you!" he said. "But I won't be long." "I miss you already, my 'idiot,'" Robin replied. Scott smiled and made a mental note to explain this word when he returned. They held each other and looked up, watching the moon rapidly approaching midnight. "There is one thing I must tell you before you leave," Robin said. He drew Scott to him and quietly whispered a name in his ear. "I don't understand," Scott answered. "It is my true, hidden name. Only my mate may know this. When we give each other our true names, we are truly bound. This is usually the gift that is given on the binding night coupling. Only you know this of me, which gives you power over me. Tell no one else as it is your gift alone, my love." "I have no such name to give you," Scott said sadly. "You have," Robin contradicted him. "Concentrate on your spirit and it will come to you. You have just never used it before." Scott closed his eyes and dropped into a light, meditative trance. For a time all was silent, then in a whisper as soft as a summer breeze, a word, a sound, a name floated to his consciousness. Scott opened his eyes and looked into Robin's deep green ones. He silently told his lover the name he had just received. The two leaned toward each other and kissed, sealing their sharing of names and completing their final unification. "It is nearly time. Come here, you two," Elnar called from his position in the crossroad. The two men walked back to where he stood. The rest of the party gathered around to see as well. Elnar knelt in the dust and lit a small fire in a metal thurible. He mumbled some words and tossed in a handful of dust. The fire flashed and sparked as if he had tossed in raw gunpowder. Caseldra handed him a book which he opened and he began reading a chant. He paused without looking up. "Stand in the center point of the divergent paths." Elnar immediately resumed the chant. Scott gave Robin a hug and they briefly kissed, then Scott walked out to the center of the area indicated and stood, waiting to see what would happen. A stiff breeze whipped up from nowhere, blowing his hair into his eyes and tugging at the hem of his tunic. "Look, the door is opening," Rowana said. The circular area drawn in the dust around Scott had begun to glow with a bright blue light. To Scott it seemed like everything was speeding up. The small movements of the people watching became jerky like a film projected at the wrong speed. Elnar snapped his head up and then jerked it around to face the onlookers. He said something, but Scott couldn't hear any sounds except the roar of the wind now buffeting him with what seemed like hurricane forces. The ground began to dissolve below his feet and he felt as if he were falling into a dark hole. "Look, the door is opening," Rowana said. The circular area drawn in the dust around Scott had begun to glow with a bright blue light. The breeze that had sprung up from nowhere seemed to concentrate its energy on the center of the circle, whipping Scott's brown hair and moving the fabric of his tunic. As the group watched, the movements of their friend seemed to slow down; even the wind pulling at his garments seemed to be doing so in slow motion. Elnar looked up from his book to see the results of his magic. He looked toward Robin who was standing with the rest of his friends. "I thought it was understood that both of you would go," he said as the breeze seemed to pick up and began to tug at them. "No, only him," Robin answered uncomfortably. "But the spell was balanced for two!" the old man cried. "If only one goes it will pull our world apart!" He had to raise his voice to be heard over the wind that grew rapidly stronger. Scott seemed to melt into the earth before their eyes as the force of the wind began tossing the books and magic implements about. "I must go then," Robin said and tried to step forward into the center of the crossroad. The gale force pushed firmly against his efforts as he struggled forward, moving only inches. Caseldra reached for one of her father's books as the tornadic fury of the wind blew it past her. The hurricane force felt like a giant hand grabbing her outstretched arms and yanking her forward. The thin girl was jerked off balance and plunged head first into the center of the violent activity. Robin fell on his face in the dust of the road. As Caseldra was pulled through the opening in the barrier the balance of the spell was achieved and the magic stopped, causing the wind disturbance to immediately cease, like someone closing a giant window against a storm. Robin picked himself up and looked about. Everyone else was doing much the same thing. Rood went after the frightened horses. Only old Elnar knelt in the dust, staring at the center of the crossroad. "My daughter, my daughter," he cried over and over as he rocked back and forth. * * * Most of the morning was taken up with inventory and cleaning up the mess. Then Jennifer had to place calls to the insurance company and begin the tedious process of making a claim on the broken display case and the destroyed items of stock. It looked like the safe had not even been touched; the only actual theft evident was the missing box of items that Troy had purchased at the auction. "Whoever they were, they weren't just thieves," Jennifer concluded. "They took that box of junk, and were probably looking for something else. My guess is they were looking for the missing items from the box, namely the crystal ball and the book. They got my address off of this envelope and then broke into my place looking for those missing things." "That sounds pretty flimsy to me," Troy said. "You got a better explanation?" she asked him. "I don't suppose you would accept pure coincidence?" "Troy, in both cases the doors appeared to be left unlocked when I know they weren't. The store was broken into before my house was. At my place they were checking out all the books on my bookcases. I bet they were looking for the book you said you took." "So what?" Troy asked. "They didn't get it." "That's right," she said. "They may try again." A funny look crossed Troy's face. "Rosebud," he said, and turned and headed out the back door. "Where are you going?" she called after him. "My place," he called back as he climbed into his car and took off. Jennifer ran back inside and phoned the police. She then locked the shop and ran to her own vehicle. Two squad cars pulled up in front of Troy's apartment building almost the same time as Jennifer got there. She told the cops to follow her and they all dashed up the stairs, down the hall, and into Troy's open door. The apartment was a shambles, everything had been torn apart, overturned or broken. The police shoved Jennifer back out the door and began looking about. Troy came out of the bedroom and the police covered him with guns drawn. "It's okay, he's the one who lives here," Jennifer called from the doorway. "I can't find Rosebud!" Troy cried, looking about frantically. "Who's Rosebud?" one of the officers asked in concern. "My cat," Troy answered in obvious agitation. "At least it's not his sled," the other cop quipped. Just then a thin seal-point Siamese walked in the door from the hall, announcing his presence with a plaintive yowl. "Rosebud, baby," Troy cried and scooped the animal up in his arms. Jennifer waited in the hall while the two cops finished their examinations. Two other police joined them, having looked around the rest of the building. The few people they talked with neither saw nor heard anything, which was highly unlikely due to the amount of noise that had to have been produced. Jennifer held the cat while Troy and the police went through the apartment and carefully checked everything out. He couldn't find anything missing, just a lot of vandalistic destruction. "What about the book?" Jennifer finally questioned as the police were leaving. "What book?" a voice asked. A tall man in a rumpled looking suit stood in the door. "Detective Smithers," he said flashing his ID at them. "Troy had a book and that's what we think they were looking for," Jennifer told him. He had been called in on the case because of the obvious similarities between the three break-ins. This book might indeed prove to be the connection. "So what about the book?" the detective asked. "They didn't get it," Troy answered. "Do you mind if I take a look at it?" the man asked. "It's in my car. I'll go get it." He got up and headed out for the parking lot downstairs as Jennifer began to pick up some of the mess and disarray. Troy returned momentarily and handed a small, leather covered volume to the detective. The man glanced through it, flipping the pages carefully. "This looks like it's written in a foreign language or something," the man said. "Yeah, that's what I thought. It looks like Latin," Troy remarked. "Do you mind if I take this down to the station to have some of our specialists look it over?" "Well," Troy hesitated. He really didn't want to lose the only item he had saved from his recent purchase other than the glass ball. "Sure, let him take it," Jennifer volunteered. "We'll return it to you just as soon as we can," Smithers said, and turned to leave. "Well, I guess I better start cleaning up this mess," Troy said falling heavily onto the couch. * * * "Whoa, look at that dude in the dress!" Scott opened his eyes to find himself still standing. He looked around and realized he was in the commons area, just outside of the student union building of Elmont College. It was a small, liberal arts school in his home town. He had actually made it back! "Where's your purse, honey?" There was a small group of jocks sitting on the union steps not far from him. They had definitely noticed his unusual clothing. Thinking quickly, Scott smiled at them. "Just going to a toga party," he said. His toga was actually a short tunic of white linen with golden trim, hitting just above the knees. "Where's the party, at the fag fraternity?" one of the guys asked and they all broke into hysterical laughter. Scott had almost forgotten about such obvious prejudice. "As a matter of fact it is," he replied to the jock who had been their spokesman. "Isn't that where you're meeting me?" The other guys began laughing and slapping their comrade on the back, chanting, "Boomer's got a date! Boomer's got a date!" Boomer's face turned bright red and he jumped up, heading right for Scott. He swung a huge fist at Scott's face, but life in Tuatha had taught the man a few things. Just as the big student expected to connect his punch, no one was there. His follow through took him off balance and as he tried to recover, he felt a sharp blow to his side and a stabbing pain at the back of his right leg. He collapsed on the concrete and turned to look up at the man in the tunic standing over him. "Let's get him!" a yell went up and the other three college kids jumped off the steps heading toward Scott. He turned in time to see the boys all sprawl to the ground as a figure fell from above and landed on top of them. Scott was astonished to see Caseldra sitting on top of the jocks. He rushed over and quickly helped her up as the guys recovered. "What are you doing here?" he asked in Tuathan. "I fell in," she replied, seeming a little disoriented. "I think we better go," Scott said as he saw the four men regrouping and looking like they wanted further violence. "Hey, pansy!" the one they called Boomer shouted. "You let your kid sister fight for you?" They all rushed at the two. Despite her small stature, Caseldra had been practicing to be a warrior all her life. She was a formidable foe, turning into a whirling blur of arms and legs as she encountered each of the would-be attackers. While Scott stood by watching, the four men were quickly reduced to groaning bodies lying on the ground. Boomer looked up at him. "I guess I do let my kid sister fight for me," Scott smiled. A burst of applause caught his attention. A small group of students had gathered around, witnessing the event. They were evidently delighted to see a five foot tall little girl single handedly take care of four oversized bullies. "Let's get out of here," Scott said, grabbing her hand and pulling her off down the sidewalk.