Gratuitous Epilogue : Touchstone Extras (21 page)
Mum – in a way it feels
like Mum's been here all along.
I'm so glad that the
kids and Kaoren have at least a basic command of English. When we
all trooped into our lounge/dining room around midday, Siame and
the kids had lunch set out ready for us, and were waiting in a line
(looking rather like Siame was drilling them on how to stand up
straight). Tyrian was asleep, tucked in his portable cot, and I saw
Mum's eyes go briefly to the cot, but then she was guessing their
names, and telling them they could call her Grandmother or Nan or
Laura, and introducing Aunt Sue and Jules, and Nick and Alyssa. And
then I showed her Tyrian, and she was very quiet for a moment, and
said she wouldn't wake him up. We've had quite a few discussions
about him since, of course, and she says she can see a hint of her
father in the shape of his face, but that he really is extremely
like Kaoren. Thankfully Tyrian would mean, at most, 'from Tyre' in
English, so she didn't laugh.
Mum had brought
presents for each of the kids (other than Tyrian) – she had the
hugest backpack, but only one change of clothes (and no-one had
brought coats). Aunt Sue had brought a year's supply of coffee and
chocolate (OMG TIM TAMS!). Jules' backpack had two laptops and a
dozen portable hard drives, with every movie and book and game he
and Mum could collect in a year.
After lunch, after
settling everyone in their rooms (Alyssa had slept even less than
me), Mum emptied out her backpack. Sen of course loves presents,
and tore hers hastily open. It was a collection of fairytales, worn
from frequent use, the cover beautifully illustrated with a coiling
dragon. Sen touched the edges almost reverently, then turned and
held it out to Kaoren eagerly. He took it, then smiled. "It's full
of you, Cassandra," he said, then added the same thing in English.
We've been doing a lot of saying the same thing twice, with
distinct vagaries in the translation. All our newcomers opted for
the language injection, after the medics decided it was probably my
touchstoneness causing issues with it, but it's still an entire new
language.
"That's was Cassandra's
first book," Mum said. "I would read her a story from it every
night."
"And when I could read
I must have read them a million times more," I added. No wonder
they could feel it with Place. "I'll read you one tonight,
Sen."
"Two!" Sen insisted.
She always bargains for treats. And then she hugged Mum, which was
an excellent sign, and I saw Ys relax at it, and carefully pick
open the tape on her own gift, which was an ereader in a black
leather cover patterned with Celtic knot work.
"That, on the other
hand," said Mum, "contains many books Cass has never even read. And
many that she has. All my favourites." She pulled another present
out of her backpack and handed it to Lira. "And this is something
quite different."
Dolls. She'd made one
of each of us. Kaoren in his uniform. Me wearing a lab rat t-shirt.
Ys and Rye holding Sen's hands – along with a book and a little
furry animal. Lira, busy creating a statue of a cat. Mum's dolls
aren't the cuddle-at-night variety, but fit in the palm of your
hand, incredibly detailed, with a stylised realism which is very
precise and exact. They're utterly cool. Lira adored them. So did
Sen, which nearly brought on a temper tantrum of epic proportions,
but fortunately Mum distracted her by pointing out that she hadn't
known to make one of Tyrian, and would have to get Sen's help with
that. Sen and Lira have both been having doll-making lessons ever
since. Lira's infinitely better at it than I ever hoped to
be.
Once Sen and Lira had
stepped back from all-out war, Mum hauled out Rye's present, which
was taking up most of the rest of her enormous backpack. He
nervously picked at the tape until Sen impatiently "helped" him,
tearing the whole huge package open and spilling out hundreds of
little packets and bundles out onto the floor. I recognised them
immediately, but it wasn't till Rye picked one up and saw the
picture on the front that he understood.
Seeds. Seeds, bulbs,
grains, even a couple of Mum's favourite roses. Hundreds and
hundreds of flowers, but also fruit and vegetables, herbs and
spices.
"Only scratched the
surface, really," Mum said, shaking her head at it all, then
smiling at Rye. "But I think we can guarantee a pretty spectacular
garden out of all this, if you'll help me plant it. I'm not used to
gardens which are snowed on."
Rye has become my Mum's
biggest fan. So has the botany department, since Rye rather
sensibly presented most of the hoard to them. And I had to give her
extra hugs because she'd managed to get her hands on seeds for
cinnamon trees and cocoa beans. It'll be years before they'll
produce anything harvestable, but still!
I'm so glad she's
here.
Though I almost took it
all back when I noticed how often Tsur Selkie was visiting Arcadia.
I was really quite upset when I realised what was going on, and I
think that surprised Kaoren, but Tsur Selkie is just so humourless
and grim, and didn't seem like a good fit for Mum at
all.
Kaoren listened to the
little storm of angst which came flooding out of me, then hugged me
and said: "I am almost certain that Sight told him that they were a
match the very first time he saw her, in the log of your retrieval
from Earth near-space. At that juncture he would have thought it
impossible, and I wondered at the time what had hurt him so. I
doubt you would have believed the ferment he was in, waiting to see
if the gates would align as anticipated. He is someone who has
carried a harsh load, and–" He paused. "And I think your mother
equal to almost everything. Certainly to knowing her own mind, and
heart."
Aunt Sue thinks it's
hilarious, and says it took a while for Mum to even realise that
Tsur Selkie was being more than politely helpful. Of course, he
doesn't speak any English, but Mum's a lot better at languages than
I am, and soon was having long talks with him. Which is pretty
amazing given that he makes Kaoren look wordy.
She calls him
Gidds
.
I am so not ever going
to be able to process that, or the idea of him being my step-Dad,
let alone that Mum's seriously thinking about the idea of having a
baby with him. But Kaoren was right – she's perfectly capable of
deciding whether Tsur Selkie works for her. And I guess he does,
because I've never seen her smile the way she does now. So I can't
be upset about her doing something I didn't expect.
Mum brought me a gift
too. The book that I'd left half-finished on my bed, so many years
ago. Because there's nothing better than finding out how things
end. And starting a new story.
THE END
--ooOoo--
Thank you for reading
Gratuitous Epilogue
For information about
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Andrea K Höst
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