TUS NUA - ch 40

TUS NUA – ch 40

New Beginnings – Mia and Midnight

(*)(*)(*)

Seth Stillman left Finola’s cottage confused but with a happy heart that he didn’t understand. He kept thinking back through his life and couldn’t remember ever feeling this happy. But why? he wondered.

He walked, almost skipped down the road, then stopped suddenly and looked around. He had no idea where he was, or, for that matter, how to get back home.

Alistar laughed and commented to Neil, “I supposed we ought to take him back. What do you think, old friend?”

They approached him and asked, “Can we help you, sir? You seem lost.”

He replied, “I was at a local pub and guess I had more to drink that planned. Yes, I’m lost.”

Neil asked, “And what pub might that be? I’m sure we can help you.” “O’Toole’s,” he answered.

Alistar and Neil were suppressing their grins. The man in their midst thought he was at the pub for supper while he had been there enjoying his breakfast. They were not about to correct him.

As Alistar placed his left hand on Seth’s shoulder, the man’s mind slipped into a bit of a fog. It was then that Alistar opened his portal and took them back to Seth’s familiar pub. As soon as Alistar snapped his fingers, the fog lifted and Seth looked around. “Ah, now this I know. How can I thank you? I’m sure I’d be wandering around for hours before I’d found my way.”

“No thanks needed, my friend. Enjoy the rest of the evening. Just one word? Watch the pints you drink. Wouldn’t want you stumbling in the path of a car.” Seth smiled and reassured them. “I doubt I’ll ever drink like that again. Wasn’t happy with the foggy brain. Guess my age isn’t allowing me to drink so heavily. Again, thanks for bringing me home.”

He looked around as he spoke and wondered how he’d even gotten home. He remembered nothing.

Alistar and Neil walked across the street and began to walk towards the corner but rarely taking their eyes off Seth.

“Alistar, my boy, should we follow him?”

“I’ve a much better idea. We’ll head home and use Finola’s scrying mirror.”

Back at Finola’s cottage, Alistar helped himself to her bottle of Hennessey and handed Neil a small tumbler with the warm amber liquid. “I think we both deserve this, don’t you, my friend?”

“Ah, thanks for this…” He was about to say more but hesitated.

“Neil, no need to ask. I know where my cousin keeps her mirror. Let’s go upstairs to her, uh, well, what she calls her office.”

Once inside her special room where she kept her jarred herbs, amulets in the making, and other items she uses for her craft, Alistar approached the side wall, pressed a button that would go unseen to the normal human eye, and out slid a full-length dressing mirror.

As Neil looked on mesmerized, Alistar rubbed the mirror with a small strand of gray hair that he removed from his pocket, which made Neil ask, “What’s that you’re doing and what are you doing it with?”

“In order to get a clear image of the person we went to see, it helps to have something personal the person in question, and gently rub the mirror with it. It then knows who we want and where to find him. When he brought Seth here, as I placed my hand on his shoulder, I quickly reached up and snagged a piece of his hair. Now, we’ll find him quicker and much more clearly.”

He began:

“Mirror, our friend, reveal to me

The man who once was our enemy.

Share his thoughts with mine but not mine with him.

Make his image clear but keep ours dim.

Mirror, our friend, this we need to see.

So, this I desire. So, more it be.”

Alistar stepped back a bit, and they both watched and the mirror began swirling with what appeared to be smoke. Neil took a step back. He knew Finola was a witch and he’d seen her many powers before but, although he knew of it, this was the first time he’d ever seen a scrying mirror or how it worked.

His friend chuckled, “Neil, it’s not afire. The mirror is finding him, ah, look, and there he is!”

They watched as he walked towards the old wooden shack where two boys lay on the dirt floor wondering if they’d been forgotten.

Seth walked inside and went straight to the table where he pulled from the drawer two pieces of paper and an old worn pencil. After writing on it, as the boys quietly watched him, he removed the chain from the small and very old refrigerator and pulled out meat, fruit, and a small pitcher of juice.

One of the boys pushed his fist into his stomach to keep it from gurgling and bringing attention to himself.

Seth smiled but hadn’t yet turned to face them. After he’d placed the food and juice on the table, he turned and said, “Okay lads, I know you’re awake and probably starving. Come, eat! Drink some juice. I’ve something to say that you need to know.”

Still skeptical, the boys stood and looking at each other, slowly walked to the table. “Sit! Sit!” he encouraged them. “Eat! There’s a piece of paper near your plates. Once your bellies are filled, take the paper and find your way to the address I’ve written down. When you get there, ask for, uh,” he looked bewildered. “Crappers! I don’t know who she is, but I can tell you, you’ll be well cared for there. Now, I’ve an errand to run but oh, when you’re ready to leave, at the back of the shack, you’ll find an axe and a mallet. Please knock this hideous thing down. I won’t be back!”

He stood, patted the head of each boy and without closing it, walked out the door.