And Eternity (36 page)

“The girl did survive,” Jolie said, and Kane relaxed slightly. “But it was some time before she could sit up, and longer before she could speak. The old woman cared for her diligently, and slowly she mended. But when she was well enough to talk, another type of injury manifested. She had lost her memory. All she recalled was her name, Lorelie, and that there was something she had to do. So it was that she was unable to complete her promise, because she no longer knew of it. This bothered her terribly, because she knew what she had to do was important, terribly important, but it would take more magic than the old woman had to restore her memory.”

“Laurie!” Kane said. “She couldn’t come back!”

“Not then,” Jolie agreed. “Not for a long time. So she stayed with the old woman, who fed her and clothed her and took care of her as she recovered. Years passed, and as Lorelie became stronger, the old woman became weaker, for she had been frail to begin with. Now it was the girl who took care of the woman. But though there might be a cure for what ailed the girl, there was none for what ailed the woman, because only very expensive magic can restore youth to a mortal person. Finally the old woman was ready to die, and she thanked Lorelie for making her declining years beautiful, for Lorelie was the nicest girl anyone could have for a granddaughter, and she urged her to sell the property, which the old woman had deeded to her name, and use the money to seek strong magic that would restore her memory. Because the old woman had no other relatives, and Lorelie knew she would not be able to abide living alone where the old woman had died, she agreed.

“The old woman did die, and Lorelie saw her soul float promptly up to Heaven, and arranged to have her body decently buried. Then she sold the property, and learned that it had increased greatly in value. The old woman had been poor, but this was one of the few deeply forested regions left in the state, and the state wanted it for a park. So Lorelie was now a reasonably wealthy woman. She could do what she had to do, if only she could remember what it was!”

I think I have it!
Ilka thought. She identified readily with Lorelie, because they were the same age at the start of the story, and Vita felt a similar affinity. She remembers, and she comes back, and he kills her!

You dummy!
Vita objected.
It’s your body he’ll kill! We don’t dare suggest that to him!

No, it may work, Orlene thought.
If her brother thinks she’s a slut, then learns she’s his sister, he won’t kill her!

Jolie had continued talking while this dialogue occurred.
Would that work? Would Kane let Ilka go if he identified her with Lorelie, with his sister Laura? Maybe it would work!

“So she finally found a sorceress who specialized in memory-restorative magic,” Jolie continued, having covered several prior contacts that hadn’t worked out. “It had taken her an unconscionably long time to do it, and this was the most expensive one of all. It would take most of her remaining money. But she did go to the woman, and the woman worked her expensive spell, and at last Lorelie’s memory was restored.”

Kane was rapt. “How long-?”

“Suddenly she knew what it was she had to do,” Jolie said. “But she was chagrined to discover that so much time had passed in the search that it now seemed pointless to do it. More than thirty years! She was now a woman of forty-five, pure and good as ever, but way too late to rescue her little brother. By this time their parents would be dead, and the little boy would be a grown man of forty. What a horrible mishap, that poisoning and fall that had taken away her memory. It was true that she had had a good life with the kind old woman, but if she had been able to remember earlier, she never would have waited. She would have returned immediately and brought her brother to the old woman’s house, and they would have lived there happily, free of all the bad things of the world. Now it was too late!”

“But was it? She thought about it, and realized that her good little brother might still be waiting for her return. Oh, he would be in a different house by now, perhaps even a different city, but she could still find him. Better late than never! What a joyful reunion they could have, even at this late date!”
But he doesn’t recognize her
. Vita thought.
He mistakes her for a whore, and is about to kill her Before he recognizes her.
Ilka concluded.
I like the way your mind works
. Vita thought.
Can we be friends?

Sure, if you like. If I live.

“She still had a little money left,” Jolie continued. She was getting nervous now, because if this ploy misfired, they would have no other chance except a desperation fight for life. Fortunately Ilka had not been bound, but that might only be because the man was quite sure of his ability to overpower her. She didn’t want it to come to that, though she had learned a thing or two about close combat in the course of her association with Satan, Gaea, and Mars. “She used it to have her brother located. Then she went to where he was, which was indeed in another city, for he had moved frequently, for what reason she didn’t know.”

Because it wasn’t safe for him to stay close to where he had killed
. Vita thought, having picked up most of the man’s background from Jolie’s thoughts.
Lorelie won’t much like that!

“At last she came to him, at night on a deserted street. ‘O my brother, where are you?’ she thought, her pure heart beating with anticipation and excitement.” Now came the crucial part; she didn’t know whether it would work, but it was all she had. “She walked along the street, looking, somehow aware that he was near, and a man jumped out and grabbed her.”

Kane jumped. “No, I wouldn’t do that!” he exclaimed.

“He hauled her into the building, his hand over her mouth so that she couldn’t scream, but it also prevented her from identifying herself,” Jolie said, nervousness putting a shake in her voice. This seemed so obvious, so stupid, now that she was in it; how could it possibly work? “He thought she was one of the bad girls-”

“It’s a lie!” he cried. “It’s just a dumb story to fool me! You aren’t my sister! You’re just a black teenage slut!” He lifted the knife threateningly.

Jolie realized that she should have engineered the story to account for the color and youth. The sister could have been gravely injured, so had to use magic to animate a younger body. But it was too late for that now. “Lorelie tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t listen-”

“You aren’t her!” he screamed, throwing himself on her, the knife held up. “You have to be used and killed!”

Jolie, still in control of the body, tried to squirm aside, but he was too fast and strong for her. He held her down with his left arm across her throat, choking her, while his groin pressed against hers. But he could not make headway, because she still wore the panty hose.

He cursed and used his free hand, the one holding the knife, to reach down, to wrench the hose out of the way. He reversed the knife without letting go of it, so that it pointed up, while with two fingers he caught the waistband and yanked down. The material tore-and Jolie, in desperation, bucked her hips, trying to throw him off in this moment of his partial distraction. “Kane!” she cried. “No!”

Her left hip slammed into the butt end of the knife. She felt dull pain as it bruised her. But Kane cried out at the same time, in pain and horror, his body stiffening.

Then something liquid coursed down on her hip. Unable to think what it might be, she looked-and saw bright redness spreading out across her thigh and the bed below. He had stabbed himself! Or rather, her effort to buck him off had caused the point of the knife he held to ram upward into his body, right at the crotch. He had castrated himself.

Then he relaxed, his weight becoming heavy on her. He had passed out. She struggled to pull herself out from under, lubricated by the blood. It was messy, but possible, now that he was not trying to hold her. Soon she stood beside the bed, her left leg swathed in blood, staring down at him.

He’s bleeding to death
! Orlene thought, horrified.

He deserves it!
Vita retorted.
He’s a rapist and murderer!

Jolie, more experienced and practical about this sort of horror, wasted no more time. She hurried to the apartment’s little bathroom and hastily peeled off the panty hose. That left her leg almost clean, but she found a sponge and washed it anyway. Then she scrambled back into the dress, having no trouble with the fastenings. As she did this, she explained to the others: “He may be dying, or he may be less gravely wounded, and he could recover at any moment. We need to be out of here before he wakes. Then it will be in God’s hands whether he lives or dies, not ours.” She found the two slippers, and put one on. The second was blood-spattered, so she quickly rinsed it under the rushing tap and put it on wet. Details didn’t matter!

She rinsed the soiled panty hose in the sink, then wrung it dry, wadded it up, and held it in a ball in her hand. She ran more water to clean the sink, so it would not be apparent that it had been used. She used the wadded hose to wipe her fingerprints off the handles.

The door wasn’t locked. Had she realized, she might have distracted the man, led him a chase around the bed and made a break for the door and out! She went out now, running down the short hall and the stairs, and outside.

Then she slowed, deliberately, and walked on down the street in the direction she had been going. “I will return your body to you in a moment. Ilka,” she murmured. “Are you able to proceed?”

No!
the girl thought.
He almost killed me!

“But you are alive,” Jolie said. “When something similar happened to me, long ago, I died. This time I helped you avoid that, but I think in future you must stay closer to home, even though it may be dull.”

Yes! Yes! I’ll never go out alone again!

Jolie suspected that would be the case. The girl had had about as bad a fright as it was possible to survive. “I think you should say nothing about what happened. I have tried to eradicate the traces of your presence in his chamber. Go home, sneak back into your room, and pretend you were always there. Wash and dry your panty hose when you can. There will be a big splash of news when the man’s body is discovered, or none, if he survives and flees the city. Stay out of it; there would be only mischief if they knew about you. Just make sure that you are never caught by such a man again. Are you ready to take over now?”
I think so.

Jolie returned control to her.
Now we must leave
, she thought.
We have corrected our error, and we have other business.

“No!” Ilka cried. “I need you!”

No you don’t
. Vita thought.
We got you into trouble, so we had to get you out of it, but now you can get along okay yourself. But I’ll try to visit you, when I’m back in my own body. Remember my name: Vita. Don’t forget and try to kill me!

Ilka began to laugh, hysterically, but managed to stifle it. “Then ‘bye, for now,” she said. “You sure did help me!”

They pulled out and floated beside her. Jolie shaped herself into visible ghost form. “Maybe you helped us too,” she said, projecting her thought carefully so that the girl could receive it despite the separation.

Then they floated up into the night sky, fading from the girl’s view. They saw her walking on toward her home, briskly, as if nothing had happened. It would take Ilka some time to recover equilibrium, but it seemed she would make it.

“Gaea!” Jolie called. She could have returned directly,of course, but neither Orlene nor Vita knew how, so it was better to have Gaea do it.

The window opened immediately before them. They floated through and were back inside Gaea’s Treehouse. They went to Vita’s body and entered it, and Orlene animated it. It was her responsibility to report.

Orlene got up, paused for a moment to acclimatize, then walked out to the main chamber. Gaea was waiting for her.

“What is your conclusion?”

Orlene sat down. “The girl was confused and dissatisfied with her life, I think with reason. She would have gotten pregnant without meaning to, but the notion didn’t really bother her, because she thought she wanted a baby. She thought it would improve her life. So the root of it was deeper than mere accident or carelessness; she wanted someone to love, who would love her.”

“It is in my power to abolish love, with the aid of some of my supporting Incarnations, such as Eros,” Gaea said. “Should I do that?”

“Abolish love?” Orlene asked with horror. “Oh, no, that would be a horrible overreaction! It is love that makes life worthwhile when all else is ugly. There must be some other way!”

“What way do you suppose that would be?”

“Well, maybe, maybe if there was love, but not the ability to conceive unless all the considerations were in order. If a woman is healthy, and well-balanced, and economically secure, so that the baby would have a good home. If she couldn’t have a baby until then, there would be far fewer babies, and perhaps no further overpopulation problem.”

Gaea nodded. “I think your opinion is worthy of consideration. But such a course would require a judgment of female fitness that goes beyond the strictly natural. The social factor would have to be right. That sort of larger judgment is the prerequisite of another Incarnation, whose active cooperation I would need to make the policy effective.”

“Who is that?” Orlene asked, excited by the prospect of such a significant step in the welfare of mankind.

“God.”

Orlene stared at her a moment. She realized that this answer was obvious; she just hadn’t been thinking in that context. “God must decide what is good, of course,” she agreed. “But couldn’t you approach Him about the matter?”

“I think not at this time,” Gaea replied, with a strange expression.

“But in my quest to, I must approach Him!” Orlene said. “Would you mind if I mentioned this matter too?”

“Not at all, my daughter. I think that would be appropriate. If you gain the acquiescence of the final two Incarnations, I will grant you the tear you seek. You have, I think, more than earned it.” Evidently Gaea knew about their siege with the murderer.