Emily's House (The Akasha Chronicles) (14 page)

By the time we got there, it was about an hour before dark. But it was only about a mile from the bus stop to the first well on our list so we decided to press on.

Our most likely candidate was this small somewhat touristy site that had a statue of St. Brigid and a walking path to a well. We walked down a newly paved road with an actual sidewalk, following the signs to ‘St. Brigid’s Well’. Before long a sign pointed down a long paved lane lined with towering old trees. When we got to the end of the lane, there were some cars parked there and about a half dozen people milling about the site.

We walked over a small wooden bridge onto a manicured lawn of intensely green grass. A statue of St. Brigid stood by a small stream, and there was a path with grey upright prayer stones leading to a small ring of stones.

There it was. A small hole in the ground surrounded by stones. Not much to look at! And it wasn’t a deep hole – only going down about two feet into the ground. It was hard to believe that this little hole in the ground was a portal to another world. I had a lot of doubt at that point and felt silly about the whole thing.

“Well, let’s get this over with,” I said as I began to reach in my bag for the box with the torc in it.

“Wait Em, you can’t do that now,” screeched Jake. “Not with these people around.”

“Why not Jake? Nothing’s going to happen anyway, and these tourists will just think I’m some weird American kid.”

“What do you mean nothing’s going to happen? When you pull that thing out of its box, the portal will open up,” said Fanny.

I just laughed out loud at that. They really believed this stuff!

“Look at this,” I said. “It’s a pathetic hole in the ground you guys! Admit it, this doesn’t look like a portal to another dimension, does it?”

Both just looked at the hole in the ground and at each other, then back to me. They couldn’t say anything. They knew I was right.

“Okay, Em, maybe nothing will happen. But we stole that artifact, remember? I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring it out and wave it around in broad daylight with all these people around,” Jake said.

“Okay, not right now. We’ll wait ‘til night when these people are gone,” I relented.

“So what do we do now?” asked Fanny.

“Let’s go back up to the town and have some supper. We’ll come back at night.”

We stopped in at a small restaurant and had some Guinness stew, brown bread and Coca Cola. After a satisfying supper, we staggered back to the well. We were tired, and our bellies were full for the first time in days. We were ready to get the torc out and get this whole thing over with.

It was full dark when we got back to the well. Instead of all the tourists leaving, an even larger crowd had gathered.

“What’s up with this crowd?” I wondered aloud.

“I don’t know, but it looks like they’ve got a big bonfire that they’re getting ready to light over there in that field,” said Fanny.

She was right. It was a pile of wood and kindling large enough to set a house on fire. There was a real festival atmosphere going on as more and more people gathered.

Jake walked up to a small round lady and asked, “What’s going on here tonight?”

“Well, it’s Samhein – All Hallow’s Eve, don’t you know? We’re honoring the spirits of our ancestors. Join in the festivities, lad,” she merrily answered.

“Oh, okay, thank you then,” he replied as she shuffled off with her friends.

“Not looking like a good night to try to open the portal, does it,” Jake said as he returned to where we were standing.

“Ah, this bites,” I said. “I’m so tired. I just want to get this over with!”

“What do we do now?” Fanny asked.

We stood there in silence for a few minutes. We were all tired beyond belief and cold. As miserable as my home had been for me, at that moment I would have gladly taken another crack in the face from Muriel if it was followed by sleep in my own bed.

We were just standing there, half asleep standing up, when a large bird swooped down and almost took my head off.

“What the. . .” was all I could get out before it came back and swooped down again, this time actually grabbing at my jacket with its beak.

“What kind of bird is that?” Fanny asked.

“Looks like a small hawk,” Jake answered.

“A hawk?”

All of us just looked at each other, jaws open, remembering what Hindergog had said. ‘Follow the hawk.’

Just as we were thinking that, the bird came at me again, this time flying right at me. I wasn’t sure she was going to pull up, but at the last minute, she did and flew across the grassy field just to the west of the well.

“Follow the hawk,” said Fanny.

“Yeah, I know what Hindergog said,” I replied.

“No, I mean do it. Follow the hawk.”

All three of us ran then to try to catch up with the bird.

“Why are we following this bird exactly?” asked Jake.

“Because the little dude with the pointy ears told us to,” said Fanny.

“Good point,” Jake said.

The bird led us away from the crowds at the Well of St. Brigid and over some small hills. After about a quarter of a mile, we were well away from the bonfires and revelry and came to a small clump of old trees by a small brook.

As we went down a little dip, we began to enter a thick grove of trees. My body went into overdrive. I got chills up and down my spine. The hairs on the back of my neck and on my arms were standing up. Even the hairs on my legs were on end. My heart was racing.
What was this place?

“Does anyone else feel that?” Fanny asked.

“What, you feel it too?” I asked.

“Yeah, all my hairs are standing up,” said Jake.

And he was right. I looked over at him, and the hair on his head was standing straight up, like someone had rubbed a balloon on it and made static electricity.

“Holy crap, look at Jake’s hair!” said Fan. “Not a good look for you man”

We couldn’t help but laugh at his ridiculous hair.

“Come on guys, this isn’t time for jokes. There must be something near here causing this,” Jake said.

We wandered around in the light of a full moon. The trees and vines were thick here, and it was a bit hard to pick our way through the wood. We couldn’t see the hawk anymore, and I wasn’t sure we were going the right way, but then we heard the hawk cry out and we turned to go in the direction of its voice.

A few minutes later we came to a small clearing. And there, perched atop a rock, was the hawk. She was beautiful in the full moon, her brown feathers flecked with white and her chest nearly all white. Even though it was entirely dark now, in the full moon, her black eyes shone like two rounds of onyx.

For some reason, even now I don’t know why, I felt like I should talk to the hawk.

“Are you the hawk that Hindergog said to follow?” I asked it.

The bird didn’t move but let out a short squawk.

“And is this the well – the Sacred Well?”

Again, a short squawk.

“Amazing,” said Jake. “Hey wait Emily, take out the torc.”

I did and handed it to him.

“Look, the bird on the torc. It’s a hawk. It’s the same bird!”

Fanny took the torc and inspected the bird finial and then looked at the hawk and finally nodded her head in agreement.

“Yep, it’s a hawk alright.”

Jake took out his flashlight and shone it around the ground.

“There’s a ring of stones here. This is it. This is the real well.”

The hawk squawked again, only this time a bit louder. It was as if she was saying “That’s what I said, stupid!”

This well was smaller and less noticeable than the first, just a small, broken ring of stones. We all stood in complete silence. I’m sure they had the same chills going up and down their spine that I had going up and down mine.

“This is it,” is all I could say. Fanny and Jake just nodded their heads.

“Emily, put the torc on now,” said Fanny.

“Yeah,” chimed in Jake.

I knew they were right. This was it. This was the place. But I didn’t want to put it on. Now, here at this well, it no longer seemed like it wouldn’t work. Now I felt like it was going to do something and I was scared. I didn’t want to go into this little hole.
What if I can’t breathe? What if I get ripped apart? What if I can’t come back?

“Come on Em,” Fanny said. “What are you waiting for?”

“Well,” I stammered, “what if someone sees?”

“There isn’t anyone around here. They’re all over at the bonfire. They can’t see us,” said Jake. Fanny nodded her agreement.

Fanny held the torc out to me. I reached for the arm bracelet, half expecting it to crawl itself up onto my arm or for the small hole in the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

But as I grabbed the torc, nothing happened. It didn’t feel strange or magical at all. The well was still just a small hole in the ground surrounded by ordinary stones. The torc was still just an old arm bracelet made of twisted metal. Nothing.

“What now?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” said Jake ‘cause he knew I was talking to him. “Hindergog said you’d know what to do.”

“Yeah, well I don’t! How am I supposed to know what to do with this thing?” I yelled. The hawk let out a large yell then.

“And I can’t understand what the hell you’re saying,” I grumped.

We all stood there for a while, none of us knowing what to do next. Then Jake said, “Look in the box Em. Maybe there are instructions in there or a spell or something.”

I looked in the box, but there wasn’t anything. No inscription or ancient writing. No pictures. Just an empty box.

Jake inspected the torc itself. Nothing there. Just a bunch of twisted coils of gold.

“Oh, this is useless,” I said. “I don’t know what to do.”

Then Fanny chimed in, “Put it on.”

“What?” I said.

“You know. Put it on. Around your arm like Hindergog said that Saorla wore it.”

“Well I’ve been holding it and nothing happened. I don’t see how putting it on is going to make a difference,” I said.

“I don’t know,” Fanny replied. “But try it anyway – it can’t hurt.”

The hawk let out another excited squawk.

“Apparently she agrees with you Fanny,” I said.

I took my jacket off. The torc was pretty large and it slid easily onto my upper arm. Then something truly strange happened.

The torc tightened itself. All on its own, it tightened on my arm until it fit me perfectly. Fanny and Jake both saw it, and they looked stupefied.

“Holy crap, did you see that?” Jake asked.

I couldn’t answer because at that moment, my head began swirling. In a matter of seconds, I was no longer there with Jake and Fanny. The ground around me moved and morphed. I stood in front of the same well, only now in a long purple robe and white tunic. I don’t know if it was a vision or real, but I was Saorla then and I heard myself say something.

I concentrated on what was being said, and I realized I was saying it. I spoke these words:

“Ring of stones,

Circle of Moon.

Goddess of Fire,

And of the Light.

Lift the veil of illusion,

Open the door to truth,

For the good of all mankind.”

Then something began to happen. I couldn’t tell if it was just in my vision or in the real world with Jake and Fanny. But the earth trembled, and that little hole in the ground got bigger. It grew larger and larger, and I could see a strange silvery mist coming out of it. It looked like fog in a way, but it was thicker – like a liquid blanket made out of silver.

My vision was interrupted by Jake’s voice saying, “You did it Em! That’s the portal.”

I blinked my eyes, and I was back in the real world. Fanny and Jake were there looking at the portal that was now clearly visible. They could see it too. I wasn’t just seeing things. It was really happening.

“Are you going to go in?” asked Fanny.

“I guess,” was all I could say.

I started to take a few steps forward when Jake said, “Wait Em. Don’t go yet.”

“Why?”

“Well, I just. . . I don’t know how long you’ll be there,” he said. “Or when you’ll come back.”

“Or if I’ll come back,” I said. I could feel tears coming into my eyes. Jake looked like he might cry too.

“You’ll come back, Em,” Fanny said. “I know you will.”

“I hope so. I’ll miss you guys.”

“We’ll wait for you,” said Jake. “As long as it takes, we’ll wait for you.”

“Look, it may be like I’m in and out in a second, or it may be years. Time may be weird there. Anyway, if I’m not back in a few hours, go to town and get a room. Take care of yourselves. Promise me that, okay. That you’ll take care of yourselves.”

“We promise,” they both said.

“Okay, then wish me luck,” I said as we all hugged a last goodbye.

“Good luck Em,” they both said.

It was like I was on a conveyor belt. Somehow I was moving, but I don’t remember telling my legs to go forward. I was drawn to the silvery mist billowing out of that little cave. Step by step I drew closer. I heard the hawk call out. I felt like every hair on my body was standing on end. My heart beat so fast, it felt like it would explode in my chest.

The breeze picked up as clouds started to block out the moon’s rays. The wind began to blow my long hair all around, and the chilly air only increased the already copious goose bumps on my body.

As I crossed the threshold between our world and this new world, I could hear the same low humming noise that I had heard when Hindergog first appeared to me.
Was that just three days ago?
It seemed like a million years since I’d first seen the little guy.

Then the humming began to sound more like a buzzing.
What was that sound?
It seemed familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. Then it came to me. It was the sound that electricity makes, like when you’re near power lines.
Was I going to be electrocuted?

You have to understand that even though it seemed like I was walking in slow motion and a jillion things were going on at once, this all happened quite fast. It was just like a minute, two at most. And while I felt like my heart would explode, and my hairs were going to leap off my body, and that I might be electrocuted, I began to have a thought.