YOU'RE ALL MINE - ch 9

YOU’RE ALL MINE - ch 9

(the magic of Midnight)

^ ^

During the next several months, Mia became more at ease using the ley line. Her aunt Finola would say, “Not proficient, but at least, you’re not turning green any longer.”

Midnight also seemed to enjoy her little treks in her new papoose.

The only problem was that as of that current day, Finola had them using only one line. While from point A to point B was fun, Mia longed to learn how to cross the lines and go further.

“Are you sure about this? Your aunt said you shouldn’t cross the lines without her.” Midnight asked.

“How complicated can it be? We’ve been jumping that one line for almost six months. I know how to balance myself now and I’ve learned how to jump off when the stop is nearing. Shouldn’t be any more difficult than that. Right? Besides, where’s your sense of adventure? You’re always the one telling me to try new things. Are you turning into a scaredy cat?”

“Mia,” Midnight said indignantly, “you know better than that but jumping the lines won’t be as easy as just going in one direction. You don’t even know where they begin and end.”

“Oh, you silly cat,” Mia grinned. “Haven’t you been watching me study that ley line book Aintin gave me? You know, thanks to me being part witch, that I’m a fast learner. But, if you’re still too scared, I’ll go without you.”

Midnight rolled her feline eyes upward and said, “Oh, lordie, what am I going to? I just hope we don’t die! Mia, do you still have your original papoose? You know, the one were I sat at your back.

Mia laughed and asked her cat, “Why, are afraid I’m going to fall on my face and squash you?”

The feline familiar stood as still as stone in a sign of defiance until Mia responded, “Ok, you silly cat, I’ll get it. But you’ll see, we’ll be fine. It’s too early for anyone to be awake yet so now is the perfect time to experiment.”

With Midnight snuggled in her papoose, Mia quietly slipped out the front door. Midnight whispered, “Mia, where are we going?” She replied, “First to the farther edge of town, then if everything seems fine, we’ll hop to Dunlavin. I want to see how long it would take me to get there.”

“Mia, keep in mind when you make that trip, you’re carrying a few crates of fruits and vegetables for the orphans. You won’t be able to lug all that stuff with you on a ley line.”

“Hmm, Midnight,” Mia said thoughtfully, “you’re right. But Dunlavin has a great market. I bet I can get a few things for supper and surprise mom.”

The familiar feline murmured, “I’ll just bet she’s going to be extremely surprised – and quite angry, too.”

“Oh, don’t be such a grump. I only need to cross two lines. We’ll be fine,” she said aloud but thought, “at least I hope so.”

“Ready Midnight? Here we go,” she said as she quickly stepped on the first line. Seconds later, she hopped off and looked around but didn’t say anything. However, Midnight did and very loudly. “Mia, where the heck are we? This is not our town! Or at least not a part of it that I’ve ever seen before.”

Mia found a bench at the entrance of a nearby park and took her aunt’s lay line book from the front pocket of the papoose. Finola insisted on a pocket to keep the book, “just in case,” she said.

As she looked around, and frequently scanning the pages of her book, she said, “Midnight, we went too far. We should have hopped off long ago.”

“Long ago?” the cat asked. “We’ve only been on the line for two seconds; how fast can we jump off?”

Mia looked at the book now resting in her lap. “Well, see? That’s the thing that I forgot. I’m supposed to think of where I’m going so the line can slow as we approach the cross line. Not to worry, we can just hop back on and … “

Midnight tried to peer over Mia’s shoulder, “And what?”

“I don’t see a line from here that’ll take us to Dunlavin. We’ll have to travel back a bit.”

“Mia, I’m not liking this at all!” said the familiar feline.

“Okay, I found a stop. Let’s go. I’ll concentrate on that one and we should be back near out town in no time.”

She stepped on the spot where she thought the line sat. Nothing happened. She took a step to the left. Again, nothing.

“Uh, Mai? I know I’m a mere cat, but I’d like to make a suggestion.”

Trying to keep her fear of being hopelessly lost at bay, she said, “Ok, Midnight, suggest away. What are you thinking?”

“First, calm down. Take out the compass your dad gave you. Look at the pages in your ley book, then find the lines that match your compass. If I remember what your dad said, the leys match the L & L lines of the compass.”

“Oh, Midnight, you’re a life saver! Let’s go.”

She found the line and quickly stepped on it but in her enthusiasm not to miss her stop, hopped off so quickly, she lost her balance and fell, scarping her nose, cheek, and chin. Trying to break her fall, she also slid her hand on the hard gravel road.

“Mia,” Midnight said in horror, “I’m not going to worry about how much you’re bleeding right now because once you get home, your parents are going to kill you.”

Mia sat on the ground with Midnight now beside her and began to cry. In her desperation, she called out, “Aintin, if you can hear me. please find me.”

Sitting against a tree, her knees drawn up to her chest, Mia heard a gentle voice, “Oh, Mia, mo stor! I won’t ask what you’ve done. I already know. Let’s get you home.”