Hysteria bubbled at the back of Elise's throat. Twice in one week! When had living here become so dangerous?
The arm around her waist was a muscled vise. She didn't even try to struggle. Thoughts of escape raced, but she feared falling to the ground and being crushed under the immense horse.
The moon appeared briefly but nothing looked even vaguely familiar. The village where Mandine's cottage lay was far behind them. They weren't even on the road anymore, but were weaving a seemingly drunken path through a heavily wooded area. What if the other riders found them? Their pace began to slow.
"Let me down." Stiffly, she sat up straighter. "Why would you think you can carry a woman off as if she has not say about it!"
She was tired. For a moment she even leaned back, but when she came in contact with his chest it reminded her of her earlier abduction and she jerked upright once more.
They slowed to a walk.
Immediately, Elise threw her leg over the saddle and tried to drop to the ground. He caught her, the tightness of his arm pulling her blouse up under her breasts as she slid several inches. Eyes wide, Elise looked at her bared stomach, then twisted and squirmed, attempting to get loose.
"I think not."
He must have released the reins, because both arms pulled her upwards, bringing her even closer to him than before.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere safe," the voice, barely above a whisper, rasped across her ears. "We are almost there."
"This is ludicrous. And why is your voice different?" She rejected a shiver as his breath whispered over her skin. "Have you been following me since I got here?" she demanded, rejecting the spear of attraction. She had not felt an attraction during their first meeting, and they'd spent many hours riding. Why now?
"Take me back to Mandine's." She made a rude sound. "If you think for one minute I'm an idiot to be swayed by some romantic moonlit night or --"
She thought she heard an exasperated chuckle, and she suddenly realized he had pulled off his concealing mask, but it was dark, the moon hidden, so she could see nothing. All thoughts ground to a halt as his mouth swooped down on hers, suffocating . . . then with a delicious heat. If his intent was to stun her to silence, it worked.
#
Darien became trapped in his own cleverness as he sought to silence Elise. Her lips, which had been intent on thoroughly chastising him, turned soft and pliant, creating in him the need for a deeper exploration. His actions had not been planned, and yet now he felt that this was inevitable.
How many years had this desire for Elise eaten at him? He'd wallowed in bitterness and regrets and tried to excise her from his memory. She was no longer the girl he'd loved, but a woman who had matured with time as he had. Her body pressed against him recalled that last night, her breathy cries, his own sense of wonder. Why had everything been lost?
The fire in Elise was instant, burning like a match set to dried tinder. Elise lifted her arms and encircled his neck, her fingers in his hair, feeling the band that kept it pulled back.
There was no time for thought -- all she knew was that something in her was answered by a basic need in him. The burning within raged. She was unmindful that this man who had grabbed her in the dark of night was a stranger, whom she suspected was the Hellhound. She hadn't even seen his face. The scent of him, the fresh hay and the night mist curled around her. His arms were hard but gentle in their capture, embracing her, yet allowing no escape.
Elise had gone without the searing touch of desire for so long, she felt overwhelmed by her own raging needs.
However, coming to a sense of what she was doing, she pulled back, placing her palm against his chest as the horse beneath them came to a standstill.
He dismounted, his hands settling around the slimness of her waist as he pulled her from the horse. Elise set her feet firmly on the ground and moved back from him.
How could this happen? She had risked everything to return to this time in the hope of finding Darien.
"This is not what I want," she said, angry at herself, angry at him. "You're presuming too much."
"You are correct. I have presumed too much," he whispered. "Come." He led the horse into a small barn. "It is not safe out here."
"So you say. Why would I think I'm safe with you in this barn?" she asked smartly, worried about her lack of control.
"The countryside is rife with trouble these days. I am the least of your worries."
She strained her ears to hear his low whisper in the dark. "What is this place? I could be in Mandine's cottage, warm by the fire, and you've brought me to a drafty barn."
When he did not immediately speak she wondered if her exasperation finally got through to him. Elise felt about in the dark and sat on a small mound of hay. "How could I have forgotten? Men think they can tell a woman what to do in this time. I was better off where I was."
"Have you always been this quarrelsome?" his voice was tinged with surprise.
Elise watched his shadowy movements as he removed the saddle and bridle from his horse. As he closed the horse in one of the stalls, she said, "Are you always in the habit of abducting women?" And kissing them, but she could hardly bring that up since she'd gone along with that for many mad moments. She still felt the tingle of his mouth on hers.
"It is only for tonight, and I might remind you, for your safety."
"So you say." She felt around the hay and patted it, trying to get comfortable. "It's been a long day and I am totally exhausted, otherwise I'd challenge you further for grabbing me off the road." She yawned.
Elise heard a rustling, then he lay the heaviness of his cloak beside her.
"Thank you." She curled up on the voluminous cloak and yawned again as she pulled it around her. "You can be sure we'll talk in the morning." She sat up."I want to know why your voice is so different from the first time we met."
"I was suffering a cold," he said.
"I'm not stupid," she snapped.
"Is this better?" he asked, and this time the voice was as she had heard it the first time.
"Something's not right -- more than you grabbing me in the night, that is." She settled back on the lumpy hay, trying to get comfortable.
Somewhere in the realm between waking and sleeping, Elise tried to conjure Darien's face, the young man as she knew him many years ago, but his features had faded. Did her foolish actions tonight threaten her memory of what they once had?
"Darien," she whispered, then caught her breath when she realized she'd said it aloud. What she had desired for so long, the opportunity to find Darien again, was not working out as she'd hoped.
#
Darien watched over her as was his role this night. The Hellhound took care of those in danger, it is what the nightly excursions involved. Never had he expected to see Elise again after all this time. She had disappeared that night, long ago. It had been a strange night, full of rolling mists that moved across the mountain. He'd never seen such a strange bluish light in the sky as he had that night. It had started out so well, their plans in place for the entire future before them. And then Elise had run off. No explanation, no last kiss. Mandine had come for her and that had been the last he'd seen her, until this week. The young girl he adored, whom he would have protected with his life, had vanished.
And now she was back, and already he had responded to the force of the connection between them. How could it still be so? Half a lifetime had come and gone, a lot of living, much of it he wished to forget. As the sun crept up over the trees, it began to find its way through the barn boards, slanting golden spears of light across the straw strewn floor. It was time to leave, for soon the light would reveal all and he had too much at stake to risk letting the daughter of Rogier Lancaster discover the identity of the Hellhound, the man Rogier sought.
Darien looked one last time at where she lay wrapped in his cloak. How easy it would be to go lie beside her, whisper that all was forgiven. He clenched his jaw. No. He'd paid for that night long ago with three years of hell he'd never forget.
He saddled his horse and led him from the barn. He made no sound, indeed he was versed in moving stealthily about. It's what his life had come to, keeping to the dark as the Hellhound.
#
Elise woke, stretching, feeling wonderfully rested. She turned her head, expecting to see her alarm clock, then bolted upright as she scanned the small barn. Empty.
"It wasn't a dream." Sitting up, she looked around the empty barn as memory trickled into her sluggish brain.
"I don't even know where I am."
She pummeled the lumpy straw beneath the material. His cloak. She stood and lifted the dark cloak from the straw. It was black, the material thick and some type of soft velvet. She put it to her cheek and then quickly wrapped it over her arm.
She cautiously approached the wide barn door. She pulled the latch, but nothing happened. She rattled it, then got angry when she realized the door was locked from the outside. She'd been locked in!
Elise looked around and saw a pile of fence posts in the corner of the barn. She dropped the cloak, and, more furious than she'd ever felt in her life, she picked up one of the posts and repeatedly smashed at the latch until it fell apart.
Reaching forward, Elise put her fingers in the hole. She could just barely touch the latch on the other side. She pulled a splinter from the side of the post and moved it around in the hole until the latch released. Triumphantly, Elise pushed the door outward.
Mandine stood just outside the door, a toothless grin on her face.
Mandine said simply, "I see you are ready to leave." She turned and walked toward the cart with her cow harnessed in front. "Come along, I have many visits to the sick before the day is over."
Openmouthed, Elise didn't at once move. Then her brain clicked and she retrieved the cloak to run after Mandine. She climbed into the cart as Mandine clucked to the cow. The cart lumbered forward.
"How did you find me?"
Mandine just looked at her, the barely discernible line of her brows upraised.
"Mandine!"
"There was a note," the old woman admitted reluctantly.
"A note -- when?"
"Early this morning I found a note under my door. It said you would be here this morning, and that you were unharmed."
"That's a matter of opinion," muttered Elise, slumping onto the hard wooden seat. She looked at Mandine. "Who was it from?"
"Think you if they bothered to leave a note under the door they would sign their name?"
"All right, all right." She stared hard at the weathered face of the older woman. "Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything?"
The old woman shrugged. "You know what you need to know, Elise."
"All right then, tell me what you know." Disgruntled, Elise set her feet as the cart jarred her sideways. "I suppose you already know what's happened?"
"The elements of your encounter last night were known to me before you left. I knew you would be unharmed."
"You knew and didn't bother to tell me?" Elise folded her arms.
"I cannot interfere, as long as no harm is directed to you."
"You interfered once." Elise fixed her with a stare.
Mandine was unperturbed. "It saved your life, Darien's, your child's."
"So you say." She bit out the words, then wished them unsaid. She bowed her head. "I'm sorry, I -- it seems my situation is getting worse instead of better."
"Perhaps you are looking at these events in the wrong manner. There are many different views which can be seen from the mountain, it all depends upon where you stand. Each view has a mirror-perfect opposite."
"Mandine, can't you speak plainly? I've got a headache already. I think it was the Hellhound, the same as the one who helped me escape that band of outlaws." She shook her head. "But something was different. I can't explain it."
"He is the night rider hereabout."
"He kissed me."
Mandine nodded complacently.
"Dammit, how can you think that's okay! I came back to be with Darien, not create trouble for myself."
"Perhaps what you wished for so hard is not what you really desire. Your destiny is twisted in places. You must put your emotions aside so that you may have a clear head. It will be of vital importance to think clearly in the weeks ahead."
"Easier said than done." They neared the village fairly quickly, which made her think the Hellhound had deliberately taken a circuitous route last night to confuse her. Or to evade the other riders.
"He said I would be in danger if I remained at the cottage last night."
Mandine nodded wisely. "There was mischief brewing."
"Did you see the riders outside?"
Mandine smiled slyly. "That I did. I watched them from up in the tree."
Elise couldn't help it, she laughed. Trust Mandine to get the upper hand before mischief could catch her off guard. "I thought I was long past being surprised by what you can do."
The twinkle in Mandine's black eyes reminded Elise of when she was a child.
Gently, Mandine touched the curve of her cheek. Elise closed her eyes a moment, memory flashing before her eyes of all Mandine had done for her while growing up. She caught her breath, and then opened her eyes. "Mandine, I wish it could have been different. You raised me for fifteen years, and I don't think I ever told you how much I love you."
"Oh, shush, Elise. We both know the love we each held in our hearts. Like your Mama before you, I cherished you and held you safe with the meager powers I possessed, but that one, that one on the mountain, he is dark and has evil intents. You must always be on your guard."
"Why does my father want to ruin my life -- Darien's life?"
"He has a dark heart," Mandine said, clucking to the cow. "Even in his finest moments with my dear Aleanna, I still caught glimpses of the darkness."
"But why did Mama marry him? That is part of the story you would never explain."
Mandine suddenly looked tormented and Elise tensed, afraid of the answer she might hear after all this time.
"Aleanna did what she felt was best to protect you, Elise." Mandine looked forward. "Just as you did what you knew was best to protect Darien and your child so many years ago, so too did Aleanna. I will speak no more of it."
Urgently, Elise gripped her arm. "There is one thing more you must tell me. Was my mother also threatened by my father?"
Mandine nodded, that was all.
#
People moved about in the village, men on horseback, women in carriages, children playing. Elise no longer felt a part of this life as she knew it. Her thinking had progressed beyond this time. Caught between two worlds the lines were beginning to blur. She didn't know where she belonged.
"Who is this Hellhound?" She dropped her voice. "What is his real purpose?"
"He has protected many people and farms from the outlaw bands that burn and steal at night. Since he has been riding, fewer lives have been lost."
"A modern day Zorro," muttered Elise, remembering the tale of Zorro from a book her daughter had read as a child.
"I do not know this Zorro."
A small smile curved Elise's lips. "I wouldn't expect you to -- never mind. No one knows his identity?" she asked carefully.
Mandine shrugged carelessly. "It matters not. It is important that he stops the murdering and rapes. Some say he took on the cloak of vengeance because of something that happened to his own family. No one knows for sure."
"Except the Hellhound," Elise murmured, absently smoothing the material of the cloak. Why had she reacted in such a way to his kiss?
"You have always been ruled by emotion, Elise. Even as a little girl you could not be turned from a purpose if you felt strongly." Mandine smiled. "So many days you trusted your own judgment, certain in what you felt was right."
Several women walking alongside the road in a group waved to Mandine, their stares openly curious as they rested on Elise.
"How long have you lived here in this village?" Elise asked.
Mandine shrugged, stopping the cart beside her cottage. "However long Darien has lived here. I do not count days or years."
"You came here the same time as Darien?"
"When he came back from the sea I too returned to this area."
"You mean you followed him?"
She nodded, a small cackle escaping her. "In a way. I was here first. I knew you would return one day. I could not follow you, so I came to be with him."
"Does he know?"
"He suspects it, but what can he do?" She laughed again. "What can he do about it? Some call me a witch."
"A witch who should have died a long time ago," uttered a harsh voice behind them.
Every bit of her body turning to ice, Elise slowly turned and looked down at Rogier Lancaster.
"Hello, Father." Her greeting was flat, dispassionate. He looked well, surely, very well for his fifty nine years. His deep black hair was just as immaculate as she recalled, his upright figure as trim. His face was leaner, more weather-beaten, more dissipated. He wore a leather strap across his chest and shoulder. Elise looked away, her hands clenched behind her back. She had known, of course, that she would see him eventually.
"I cannot credit this lack of emotion in your greeting, Daughter," he reproved her. Then he smiled, a slight twist of the lips. "I returned only this morn and heard a tale that you had appeared here and I thought it a lie. But it is true. My daughter has returned home." Elise sat stiffly, then noticed Darien and Rufus as they rode up the road toward them on their horses. Her father held out an imperious hand for her to alight, but she ignored it.
"By God, that's a cold reception from a daughter I haven't seen in all these years," he complained, his voice raised. There were several people on the street and to Elise it seemed as though they moved across the street to avoid her father altogether.
"Well, Sir," Elise replied coolly, her emotions anything but, "England is a cold, damp place. Perhaps some of that climate rubbed off on me."
His face showed surprise and then his eyes narrowed. "You have become sharp of tongue."
Darien and Rufus rode up to hear her father's remark.
Darien raised his brows.
Rufus moved his horse closer, bowing to her. You look well this morning, he signed to her.
Darien threw his brother a dark glance.
Suspiciously, Elise looked at Rufus. "Shouldn't I?"
Undeterred by her sudden hostility, Rufus signed I am sure you always look well, no matter the time of day.
Elise smiled and signed back. Thank you.
Rogier watched the interchange with suspicion narrowing his eyes. "Here, excuse us, Sir, but even in your mute silence you interrupt my homecoming with my daughter."
Elise turned from her father's rudeness.
"It would please Mandine and I if you gentlemen," she looked pointedly at Rufus and Darien, "have time to stop and have some early morning tea."
Hurriedly, she climbed down from the wagon on the opposite side of her father. She didn't think she could bear to have him touch her again.
Elise walked into the cottage, fully expecting Darien at any moment to dismiss her invitation and ride off.
#
Rogier followed his daughter to the cottage, stopping outside the door. Rufus turned from watching the man to lean toward Darien, snapping his fingers in front of the other's face. He motioned toward the cottage.
"Why would you wish to stay?" Darien asked.
Curiosity, Rufus signed. The same as you.
"Ruf," warned Darien, keeping his voice low so Rogier Lancaster would not overhear, "Do not play with that devil. He'll send you straight to hell."
Rufus smiled, then dismounted. Rufus spelled out in sign E-L-I-S-E. He tossed his brother the reins to his horse and sauntered toward the small cottage.
Darien groaned inwardly, knowing full well what his brother was telling him. If he, Darien, was not interested in pursuing Elise, then Rufus surely would. Rufus was bored being away from the sea and sought adventure. Looking at Rogier Lancaster, Darien knew this was not the place to find it.
#
Elise had no idea if there were even the makings of tea in the cottage, much less anything else. But she should have known better. Whether they were magic or luck, she didn't question the loose tea and a new loaf of bread she Mandine place on the small wood counter. Elise prepared a tray.
As a child she had come to accept the fact that Mandine was different and special. Mandine was the one who had comforted her when she fell, or cared when disappointment rode her. In her father's household, growing up had been very difficult. Her father had never been one for demonstrations of affection, and since Elise's mother had died shortly after her birth, Mandine had been the only one to show her any type of love.
Rogier had no liking for Mandine. He'd tolerated her presence but had kept her at a distance. Mandine had entered his household when Aleanna, her mother, had arrived to be his wife. He had tried, unsuccessfully, to oust the old witch.
"Mandine," Elise said now. "I've often wondered if my father was afraid of the power you possessed."
Mandine lifted a brow. "Elise, it is not my magic which frightens him. It is what I know."
She gripped Mandine's hand. "Please be careful. You know he has no humor."
Mandine pattern her arm. "All will be as it was meant to be. Do not worry. Come, take the tray."
Elise was surprised when she brought the tea tray outside to find all three men were still there. She placed the tray on a small table in the apple orchard behind the cottage. Elise poured tea into the cups.
She handed Rufus the first cup. He stared at her, some emotion in his eyes deepening. She shook her head, then looked around. Darien and her father were both watching her and Rufus. Her father's expression showed displeasure, and Darien . . . Darien looked furious and ready to explode.
Perhaps she could obtain some information while they were here. It was at least worth a try.
"Mandine told me of a phantom who rides at night." Suddenly, the silence was absolute. Looking up in surprise, Elise wondered if the subject was taboo.
Her father scowled, downing his cup of hot tea in one gulp. Harshly he said, "Polite ladies don't mention the Hellhound in company."
Face red, Elise felt like she'd been slapped.
"He's a murdering thief --" he continued.
"Mandine said he helps people --"
"How can you listen to that old crone? She's ready for death anyway, and her mind is as foggy as early mist."
Furious, Elise stared at the man who had fathered her, hating his crudeness. Suddenly her father stood up and took several steps back. Elise turned to find Mandine behind her. Her father might talk harshly of Mandine, but he knew to keep his distance.
"There's a different story about, Lancaster," Darien murmured. The older man looked at him and then at Rufus, the brace of pistols he wore. "He's helped the people hereabouts when the murdering thieves run at night. I doubt the murders of which you speak are the result of the Hellhound. I would wager they belong to the thieves."
Rogier spat on the ground. "No doubt the Hellhound fosters that kind of attitude among common folk."
Breathing deeply, Elise listened to them argue. She couldn't trust her father, she had learned that long ago, even before Mandine's revelation. She also knew it would do no good to confront him.
Her thoughts returned to the night before. Had she spent the night with a murderer in that barn? She put her hand to her head. She couldn't believe it could be so. He had helped her escape those other outlaws who had kidnapped her.
"What if the Hellhound is forced to ride to keep people safe?" she asked. "If there are outlaws riding at night who do what they want, who will protect the town?"
"That is nonsense," Rogier shot back. "You are not back a week and already you involve yourself in issues about which you know nothing. There is local law enforcement. They keep the townspeople safe. Outlaws will answer to them, as the Hellhound will answer. He will be brought to justice."
"The local law is too busy running errands for you," Darien said in a low voice.
Rufus came up behind Darien and Elise saw the covert jab he gave his brother. Darien ignored him. "Can you deny that?" Darien asked.
"If there are any errands, it is of a state nature. I issue town reports to the State once a month." Rogier sat back in his chair as if he enjoyed toying with the younger man.
"Yes, I am sure there are reports made," was all Darien said.
He turned to Elise but she had a faraway look on her face. He wished he could read what lay behind the beauty of her face. Was there something beyond her control that occurred that night twenty-four years ago -- he stopped his wayward thoughts. Damnation! She'd have him defending her after all this time! Was he as weak in the head as his brother Rufus seemed to be about her? How could someone disappear for twenty or more years unless they wanted to? He should just walk away now and move to Virginia with Adeline, start a new life.
Rufus slapped him on the back, indicating it was time to leave.
"It grows late, and we've many miles to travel," Darien said.
"You are going away?" Elise asked pleasantly.
"We have business in Catskill and Albany. We expect to return by week's end."
"You may as well get your farewells out of the way," injected her father, his voice cold. A pleased smile played about his mouth.
Elise turned to him, brows raised. His words made Darien pause also.
"Why do you mean?" For a moment, Elise thought it was his less-than-subtle manipulation technique, a threat that she would never see Darien or Rufus again. Fearful of the things her father could do, she said carefully, "I'll see them when they return."
"You shall not. You are coming home with me." Rogier sliced a thick wedge of bread from the loaf on the tray.
Elise looked at him coldly. "No."
"You shall come with me. How do you expect to live?"
"I've been in rougher spots than this. Don't let it worry you."
"You are my daughter. Of course you will do as I say."
"A daughter no longer in your household," Mandine said softly, placing a hand on Elise's shoulder. Elise half-turned toward Mandine, but she looked at her father.
"I make my own decisions. I will not be returning with you."
She picked up the tea tray.
"Elise!" He bellowed, his face reddening as she continued to ignore him. He came after her, grabbing her arm and swinging her around. The tray slipped from one hand, the cups shattering as they hit the hard ground. Elise stared at the shards at her feet.
"Look what you have done!"
Rogier kicked at the broken crockery.
"You will do as I command," he said imperiously. "Your place is with me, not here in this dirty cottage."
Elise stepped around him, barely holding onto her control. They all stared at her, she could feel it.
She stopped on the cottage threshold, not surprised that her father followed on her heels, his face red as he pulled at the belt swinging from his shoulder.
Darien intercepted him, his hand flashing out to clamp around the wrist of the older man. With a grimace of pain, Rogier looked up at him, then his free hand pulled a pistol from inside his waistcoat.
"I thought I was rid of you twenty years ago," snarled Rogier.
Rufus came from behind and deftly twisted the pistol until it popped from the other man's hand.
"Stop this!" Elise said angrily.
Rogier swung his fist toward Darien. "How do you dare to interfere -- I'll have you both --"
"Listen closely," Darien rasped, stepping back with a cold smile. "He is about to threaten our worthless lives."
With a quick snap of his wrist, Rufus sent the pistol soaring toward the apple orchard.
"You will have to fetch your weapon to carry out your threat," mused Darien, lips curled derisively. "We can't wait, old man. Business matters press."
Darien pushed the man away from him and they moved back toward the road and their horses.
#
Rogier shook his fist at Darien and Rufus. "I'll make you pay, Remington. Hear me well, you shall pay. You and that mute brother of yours."
Elise watched them, a deep fear snaking through her at the hate on her father's face. He was not one to forgive a slight, no matter how trivial. Her father's behavior had not changed, and she feared he might be even more vicious. Darien and Rufus shrugged off his threats and rode away, but she remained unsettled. Finally, Rogier mounted his own horse and galloped off in the opposite direction without a word.
"He came here last night, you know."
Elise looked up at Mandine, clutching the chain at her neck. Mandine retrieved the tea tray while Elise bent to the broken crockery. With a sigh, she dropped the pieces onto the tray, pushing the broken cups to the side. Her hands shook. "Who came?"
Mandine jerked her head. "Him, the one who proclaims to be happy you are home. It was he and another who came in the dark of night bent on mischief."
"Father?"
"Who else?"
"Earlier, he acted as if he'd just arrived."
"It is what he wanted you to think," Mandine said, her voice ripe with disgust. "The deviousness works within him, around him. Be careful, I warn you, he is not done with his evil work."
"Don't worry," Elise told her, shuddering, "There's no way I could go back with him."
"You will go."
"How can you say that? You told me what he planned."
"Calm yourself." Mandine's voice was soothing, almost a croon. "There will come a time when you return to the home of Rogier Lancaster. It will be a time to summon every bit of courage you possess."
"Mandine, tell me what you know. I have to be prepared so I can protect myself."
"All the strength you need is already inside you. If you draw upon what you know of life, you will find your way through this maze." She motioned Elise inside. "Come, we need to talk. I need to hear about your daughter, your life."
They settled before the small fire burning in the grate. "This feels like old times, Mandine, how we used to sit by the fire and you would sew a new dress for me while I shelled peas."
"Tell me."
Elise smiled. "Isabeau looks like Darien. Not a time goes by where I look into her eyes that I don't see her father. She is a photographer and records history in pictures. She does very well. She is kind hearted and honest, but she has a temper that sometimes reminds me of my own." Elise smiled. "As for me, I write stories about this time in history. They are well received."
"You are a woman making your own history, as is your daughter."
"Yes, but it didn't come easily. Tell me Mandine, were you ever in love? Was there a time that your heart yearned for a special man?" Elise had never thought to ask Mandine such a question in the fifteen years she had known her, but now as an adult, she wondered about the barren life of the woman who had so lovingly raised her.
Mandine gave the barest hint of a smile and reached out to touch Elise's hair. "You always think with your heart, my Elise. I too had a young girl's dream." Her eyes had a faraway look, as if she could see the memories. "I loved a man, a soldier, a very long time ago."
"You had a life together?"
"Yes Elise. We had forty years together." She smiled and there was no sadness. "I was very beautiful at that time and he was very handsome. He died of old age, while I -- I went on. My line has a long lifespan."
"Mandine, I never asked these questions."
"You were always full of questions," Mandine said fondly.
"But never these questions. How old are you?"
"Elise, surely the years are not as important as how the time was spent? You have always known I am from a mystical line. I carry with me the powers of other worlds, but I chose to come here to raise little girls to women, the women who are destined to make a change to the order of the world."
"Besides my mother and myself, there have been others?"
"Many. But you are the last, Elise."
Elise experienced a sense of sadness. "Why is that?"
"I have accomplished that for which I was needed."
Elise grabbed Mandine's hand, feeling the corded muscle, the skin dark and almost leathery. "Mandine, you must tell me, are you well?"
"I am as well as I should be, but the time has almost arrived for you to exert your own strength. You have learned much in these years away. You would not have come into your inner self in this time."
"But Elise, how can you know that? It could have been different. I could have had a wonderful life with Darien."
"But I do know, Elise, because you are not of this time, just as your mother was not of this time."
Shock reverberated through Elise. "But -- but you never told me."
"Were you ready to hear it at fifteen?"
"No, all I wanted was Darien." Elise sighed. "Alexandra -- Aleanna died five years ago."
"And the man she loved?"
Elise was no longer surprised by Mandine's knowledge of what went on in other times. "Declan died the same year. They loved me and my daughter as their own."
Mandine nodded. "As it should be." She suddenly gave a grimace of pain.
Alarmed, Elise leaned toward her. "Mandine, what is it? Are you ill?" Elise had never known Mandine to be sick. Mandine rose, hunched over, and allowed Elise to help her to the narrow straw bed.
"Sit beside me, Elise." Mandine's smile was weary. "Do not be frightened. I am fortunate to have been able to wait until you came back. I knew. . ." her voice faded, became hoarse. Elise got up to draw her a cup of cool water from the bucket in the corner. "I knew I would not be long for this world once you returned."
Elise put her arms around the frail shoulders, held the cup while she drank. "Mandine, you must rest." She helped her lay down, then covered her with a coarse wool comforter.
Mandine's claw like hand grasped her fingers tightly. "Listen carefully, Elise, your life depends upon it." She drew a quivering breath, the sound rattling in her chest. Elise's fear escalated, but she bit her lips. "You have to fulfill your destiny, make the circle complete. You come from a line of women who save their soul mates."
"My mother --"
Mandine smiled, an unusual softness in her face. Gently, she cupped Elise's chin, then let her fingers fall to her chest. "Aleanna saved her soul mate, but he was lost to her later, allowing Rogier to take advantage of her momentary weakness. That must not happen to you. I made Aleanna a promise."
"Mandine, rest and we can speak of this later."
"There is no time," Mandine replied simply. "Did not the daughter of Darien save her soul mate?"
Confused, Elise looked at her. "My daughter -- Isabeau -- but --" she remembered her last discussion with her daughter Isabeau about her own journey back in time.
"Elise, all manner of time is irrelevant. You are here now, you are also in that other place where you built a new life. You are a time traveler from a gifted line. You must not surrender to fear or uncertainty. In your heart, you know the reason you have been allowed to return. Do not turn from that purpose." Mandine seemed painfully out of breath. Elise had to lean close so she could hear.
Mandine touched a swathe of Elise's hair as it hung over her shoulder, her fingers twining lovingly around its brightness. "Bring me the runes, Elise. You will find them on the shelf, by the door."
Elise found the stones and carefully placed them on the bed within reach.
"Cast them."
"It's been a while," murmured Elise. Closing her eyes, she let her fingers slip with easy familiarity over the smooth stones. As a child she and Mandine had played games with the rune stones, until her father discovered their pastime. It had come to an abrupt end. He had thrown the stones Mandine had fashioned for her in the fire.
Two small stones inserted themselves between her fingers, while a third was in her palm. She placed them on the bed cover, carefully turning them over, looking at the symbols scratched into the surfaces.
"Inguz, Nauthiz, Dagaz," Mandine whispered, laying back. "There is a chance for the new beginning, but only through the path strewn with pain and upheaval can your life be transformed to that which you want."
"How can I know the path to take?" Elise did not question the power of the Oracle.
"When the circle is closed, you must go back."
"Go back?" Elise shook her head, sitting upright. "But I've come too far to go back --"
"When the circle closes, you must seize the opportunity, for it will not present itself again in your lifetime. You must remember, the Self is the self's only friend, and the self is the Self's only foe." Mandine twisted on her side, her gnarled fingers reaching toward the table at the side of the bed.
"What do you need?" Elise was worried about her continued pallor, the shortness of her breath.
"The pouch." Mandine whispered hoarsely.
Elise picked up a small black bag on the table. Mandine lay back, eyes closed in exhaustion. Her face was a sickly hue. Her lips held a frightening bluish tinge.
"Open it."
Elise turned the pouch upside down, let the contents fall into the old woman's palm. She saw the small bottle-like cylinder at the end of a length of finely spun silk cord. Mandine held it out to her.
Elise stared at it, the liquid in the small vial, its tiny flecks and sparkles catching the light.
"What is it?"
"It is the way back."