Gypsy's Quest Page 19

  She didn’t answer, her gaze going through him. Somehow he managed to get her to stand, pulling her along with him like a child.

  “Who goes there?”

  Brandubh faltered, stumbling over a root. “It is I, Brandubh and Dancer, a priestess from the Temple.”

  “Dancer?” In the next moment a man was standing in front of him, his gaze searching. When he saw Dancer hovering in the shadows he moved to her, grabbing her hands. “What has happened to you?” When Dancer didn’t answer he turned to Brandubh. “Where did you find this woman?”

  “She was alone in the temple. I couldn’t leave her there.”

  “Where are all the others?”

  Brandubh shook his head. “Gone. The place is destroyed.”

  “The Temple of the Moon is destroyed? How did this happen?”

  “I would say my mother had something to do with it.”

  “Your mother. Ah, it is Adair you speak of. If you are searching for Gertrude she is not anywhere around here.”

  Brandubh’s telepathic abilities were still intact despite his demise and resurrection. He probed the stranger’s mind to see if he was telling the truth, but the man’s headspace was vast and confusing, a labyrinth in which he quickly got lost.

  “You won’t find what you’re looking for in there.”

  Brandubh felt shamed for a moment, his gaze going to his feet.

  “I can help you, but first you must prove to me that you are not the man you were during the uprising.”

  “The uprising? Are you referring to the battle in the Otherworld? I was involved but I have little memory of it. Who are you?”

  “I’m Gunnar, a member of the order of druids who have come and gone over the past three thousand years. My inner vision shows me that you believe in a life that is false, a memory that was implanted as punishment for your war crimes. Your life with this woman, who you call Gertrude, is not real.”

  “My mother told me about a horrible life in which I murdered many people, but the memory of Gertrude is stronger and more potent. The baby she searches for is ours. You could help me find her.”

  “Before we talk any further I must tend to Dancer.” The druid took the woman in his arms, disappearing into the trees. “Wait here,” he called out.

  It wasn’t long before he reappeared, a dog following at his heels. “Go back, Merlin,” he told the huge shaggy beast who obediently trotted away. The druid regarded Brandubh for several long moments. “I need to trust that this spell you’re under won’t dissipate, revealing the man you were. The sorceress could clear this false memory from your mind.”

  “She’s already tried that and I’ve resisted. I can’t go back to the person I was. I have a child now and a woman whom I love.”

  “Is it your intent to destroy Adair?”

  “Yes. If I don’t get Fehin away from her she will make him in her own image.”

  Gunnar nodded. “It will not be easy. I’ve had run-ins with her many times and she wields incredible power. I have magic at my fingertips but I am not a sorcerer.”

  “As long as she lives she’ll outmaneuver me. In Glantsgo I managed to elude her but in the end she discovered my hiding place and took Fehin. I feel sick whenever I think about him in her clutches.”

  “And yet this same woman raised you.”

  “I went into the priesthood to escape her. But eventually I came under her power, turning into the person who attempted to destroy an innocent world. Thank the gods that the forces for good were strong enough to defeat us.”

  “I am a friend to the man who travels with the woman you call Gertrude. He loves her, and from what I’ve observed, she loves him. Do you wish to divide them for your own selfish purpose?”

  Brandubh ran nervous fingers through his hair, pushing it back. “I don’t know how to answer that. I love Gertrude, but ultimately she must make the choice. If nothing else I want to reunite her with Fehin.”

  Gunnar nodded, smiling for the first time. “This was the right answer. I will help you find them but first Dancer must be well enough to travel. As soon as she is recovered I will tap into my connection with Kafir and his boat.”

  The Otherworld-2011

  “Gertrude has traveled into another timeline,” the goddess of prophecy told Maeve. “It is far in the future.” Corra shook out her feathery dress, beginning to turn back into a crane.

  “Wait! How can I find her?”

  “That is a question I cannot answer.”

  As the crane lifted into the air, Maeve turned to Harold.”If the child is here with Adair, I suggest a raiding party to get him away from her. It’s the least we can do.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Far Isle-2451

  “Where are we now?” I asked, coming to stand by Kafir on deck. Mist surrounded the boat making it difficult to see anything. I shivered, wrapping my arms around my body, watching cold fog swirl around the boat.

  “We’re very close to Nifleheim, Midgard’s most northerly isle and home of the dead. There’s a spring here that feeds Yggrasil, bringing water to all the other worlds, but mostly it’s a cold and dark place.”

  After being in Nidavellir I no longer doubted these worlds that I had at first assumed were merely myths. But how we would find the sorceress was beyond my understanding. I had tried consulting my cards numerous times but still they remained out of my reach. I wondered if it had to do with the constant fear I felt, the inability to center myself.

  “If Adair is here, do you think Brandubh is with her?”

  Kafir shrugged. “From what I know of the man I would say, yes. He and Adair are in this together.”

  “I don’t think so after what happened on Glantsgo. But he might be playing along so that he can see his child.”

  Kafir shook his head, turning away as he manuevered the boat closer to shore. We’d been traveling for four months, Gypsy taking us from one strange port to another. Some were in the same time but there were occasions when I felt the boat tremble and I could see the shimmer as we entered some other era. Either the sorceress didn’t stay in one place for very long or Gypsy was leading us on a wild goose chase. Most times Kafir would leave me on board, scouting out the sorceress. Many times he returned carrying boxes of wood and leather, which he told me were provisions. I was tired, weary of traveling, my hopes long gone.

  For the past month and a half I had been having dreams of a beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes, a necklace of amber and rubies around her pale neck. I would wake in the morning filled with longing and frustrated by my dependance on Kafir and Gypsy. I had never been one to rely so heavily on others and especially men. The one message I remembered the appartition saying was: “Follow your own destiny and let what does not serve you fall away.” When I finally asked Kafir about her he knew immediately who she was.

  “Her name is Freyja, Norse goddess of love, among other things. She is a warrior goddess, one of the Valkyrie. Maybe she’s your feel-gyah.”

  “My what?”

  “F-Y-L-G-J-E. In Norse mythology this refers to a guardian spirit.”

  “So you think she’s really talking to me?”

  “What is she telling you?”

  “She wants me to follow my destiny, but isn’t that what I’m doing?”

  “Freyja is the goddess of sexuality, fertility and war. I would suggest you listen closely because if she becomes enraged things could go badly.”

  When I stared at him he laughed. “It’s only a dream,” he continued, “but if she appears in the flesh let me know.”

  ***

  We had only made love once in the four months we’d been sailing. I had hurt him deeply with my decision but I was still conflicted about his life as a mercenary, extremely depressed about Rifak and unsure of my feelings. Because of how things had been I was surprised when he set the steering vane and held out his hand with a certain expression that I recognized. Before I could decide yes or no I had followed him down the ladder and into the statero
om, which was again spacious and filled with light. Was this the work of Freyja, I wondered, feeling aroused by Kafir’s intense stare.

  “How does the boat decide when to manifest this room?” I asked, my gaze going to the inviting bed, the books stacked so neatly on the shelves along the wall.

  Kafir smiled. “I think my emotions have something to do with it and right now…” he didn’t finish the sentence as he placed one hand on either side of my face lowering his head to kiss me gently. “I know you’ve been upset, but I also know that underneath it all you love me.”

  When his hands tugged at my sweater I raised my arms so he could pull it up and over my head. I dissolved into his turquoise eyes, aware of the familiar stirring in my belly. His fingers worked at the laces of my chemise, pushing down one shoulder and then the other and sending shivers through my body.

  “I’m sorry for how things have been between us…I…” At that moment I heard a mewling cry coming from somewhere in the bowels of the boat. “What was that?”

  Kafir pressed his warm lips to my neck. “Nothing to be concerned about.”

  I pulled out of his embrace. “It sounded like an animal and it was coming from down there.” I left the cabin, searching in the storage area at the back of the boat. Underneath the extra sails and equipment was a hold and from within I could hear labored breathing. As I fit my fingers into the brass ring, Kafir grabbed my arm.

  “Don’t,” he hissed.

  “What do you have stashed down there?”

  “It’s not your business.”

  I jerked away from him, grabbing hold of the metal ring and hauling up the lid. Inside was a small cage filled with what looked like a young leopard of some kind. Its eyes were huge with terror and it bared its teeth to hiss at me, cringing back against the wire. “What the hell?” I turned to stare at Kafir. “There’s not enough room in this cage for the poor thing to even turn around. And what about food and water?”

  “It’s only been a day. I plan to deliver it tomorrow.”

  I was mute with anger, my gaze going to the matted and filthy fur, the reek of feline urine. “I thought we were searching for Rifak.” I turned to stare at him.

  “I’ve done this many times before and the animals have an uncanny way of living through it.”

  I couldn’t take my eyes off the cat, which had now hunkered down, curling up in a protective ball. “Where are you taking it?”

  “I have a client who collects the few animals that still survive. He has a zoo on an island not far from here.”

  Disgust filled my chest. “So that’s what Sargo was talking about when he mentioned beasts. How many of these have you delivered while we’ve been traveling together?”

  “Several. Look, Gertrude, I’m not the same man I was when we met in Turkey. I’ve had to eke out a living in order to survive and feed my family.”

  I thought of our recent travels, the times Kafir disappeared without explanation, turning up later with large boxes that he stowed. I assumed he was dealing arms or gold and silver or other valuable contraband, but never animals. My suspicions about wild goose chases had been confirmed—Gypsy was taking us to the places where these animals lived, not to Adair at all.

  “Do you have a bigger cage somewhere on the boat?”

  “I do but I wouldn’t recommend trying to handle this cat. It has razor sharp teeth and a bad disposition.”

  “You have to feed it and give it water.”

  He sighed, his gaze going into the cage. “For your safety I suggest you head into the cabin and close the door. I’ll transfer it and make sure it has something to eat.”

  I didn’t say another word, only doing what he asked and closing myself into the cabin. A short while later I heard snarling and an angry feline roar as well as loud curses coming from Kafir. When he opened the door into the cabin he was covered in scratches, his face beet red. “Are you satisfied?” he yelled, slamming the door behind him.

  “Nothing could satisfy me after what I just saw.”

  When he moved toward me as though we would resume our earlier activities I pushed him in the chest. “Are you crazy? I want nothing more to do with you.”

  “Because I transport animals for profit? Do you have any idea what this world has become?”

  “People like you only make it worse.”

  “The thing would have died in the wild. There aren’t enough small rodents left for it to eat. Odin save me, woman, you don’t get it, do you? We’re in the future and there’s been a disaster that destroyed life as we know it. I’ve had to find a way…don’t look at me like that!”

  He grabbed me by the shoulders and for a horrible moment I thought he would force himself on me, my breath coming out in a gasp of fear.

  Kafir let go, his eyebrows moving together. “I’m not going to hurt you. I had hoped…”

  “Yes, I know, but it’s never going to happen—not now, not ever. As soon as I find my son I’m leaving you and this godforsaken hellhole.” I tried hard not to, but tears slipped down my face. The shock and horror of what this man had become rolled through me making me almost physically sick. He left me there, heading out and closing the door quietly behind him.

  It took hours before I could even look at Kafir again, coming out of the cabin to find him in the saloon. He was examining his charts, his head down.

  “Is this another animal hunting expedition or has Gypsy deigned to take us to find my son?”

  Kafir sighed, raising his eyes to mine. “Adair is definitely here and I’m going to try and track her. This island is covered in snow. Her prints will be visible since this is the only way in.”

  “By boat—she travels by other means, Kafir.”

  “Try and trust me; I know what I’m doing.”

  On deck wind whistled through the rigging, the lonely sound echoing the feelings in my heart. The entire place was a sheet of ice, mountains of dark rock rising up all around us. I was freezing despite wearing one of Kafir’s thermal undershirts, my heaviest sweater as well as the monk’s robe. Kafir headed away from me almost immediately, his tracker eyes following some prints that I couldn’t discern. I followed at a distance hoping that we could leave this place very soon. I couldn’t imagine my baby here, the thought of it too horrible to contemplate.

  “Look at this,” he called, motioning me over.

  There were many prints in the snow here, as though a group had passed by. I saw flattened out places in the snow that looked as though someone had fallen, as well as a woman’s shoe. “She’s barefoot now,” I told Kafir, trying to imagine walking here without shoes. Even with heavy socks and boots my feet were numb with cold.

  Kafir grimaced, his eyes moving forward to where the trail of footprints led. We went along a ridge of ice, following the tracks down a narrow path into a valley. It was moderately warmer here, the wind calmer. When the trail ended Kafir stopped, his hands running over his stubbly chin. “This is strange,” he said, getting down on his knees. “The prints vanished.”

  Ahead of us was a wall of dark rock. I ran my fingers along the smooth cold stone, searching for something to indicate an opening. I heard a sound that at first I thought was the wind but when it came again I was sure was a child’s voice. “I hear something.”

  “I heard it too,” Kafir whispered, moving to stand next to me. “It’s coming from below.”

  “Below? You mean on the other side of this rock?”

  Kafir nodded, his hands moving across the surface. I heard a click and then a door swung open, revealing a dark tunnel and stairs cut into the stone. “I’m not going down there,” I said, looking over his shoulder.

  “Not even for Rifak?”

  I headed by him, my hand on my chest where my heart was doing somersaults. At the top of the stairs I could hear women’s voices punctuated every so often by a high-pitched child’s scream. He didn’t sound afraid, only excited.

  “What now?” I whispered.

  “We have to figure out what’s going on. I�
�ll check it out.” Kafir moved by me into the dark stairwell. I watched him head down, fear lodging in my throat. If he was caught…when someone grabbed my shoulder I jumped, my scream stopped by the hand that clamped over my mouth. “Shh, Gertrude.”

  I twisted around to see Brandubh standing behind me, Gunnar and Dancer next to him. “What…how?”

  Brandubh held his finger to his lips, his gaze intent on the stairs. “Where is the man you travel with?”

  “Kafir went down to see what’s happening.”

  “Adair has Fehin and all the priestesses. If he isn’t careful she’ll have him too.”

  “Fehin? Is that what you call him?”

  Brandubh nodded, a small smile curving the corners of his mouth. “It means little raven.”

  “How long since you’ve seen him?”

  “Not long—a couple of weeks. Adair is keeping me away but I have some help now.” He turned his gaze to the druid behind him.

  “I won’t ask how this came about,” I whispered. “But I’m very glad you’re here.”

  “I must save my priestesses,” Dancer told me, her troubled golden eyes going to mine. She looked thin and drained, her skin pale.

  The look of utter shock on Kafir’s face when he reappeared a few moments later would have made me laugh if circumstances had been different. “Did you see him?”

  “He’s grown so much I hardly recognized him.”

  When I rushed by him, heading toward the stairs Kafir grabbed me from behind. “Don’t be stupid,” he hissed.

  Tears pressed against my eyelids. I could barely stand knowing that Rifak was down there in the arms of that witch.

  Once we retreated to a safe place the druid filled us in. His healing had returned Dancer’s mind but she was not the same person who had ruled the temple with an iron hand. This woman was diminished and sad, a shell of her former self. Gunnar had used our energy signature to find us, he said, one hand protectively on Dancer’s shoulder. As he spoke, the druid’s eyes were on Kafir, willing him to accept the situation. “I wouldn’t have brought Brandubh here if I didn’t trust him,” he told Kafir, who looked skeptical to say the least.