Harvest of Dreams (The Gods' Dream Trilogy) (3 page)

“I’ll be…with my Avi.”

Sadie had to lean closer to hear her gasping words.

“I wanted to…die when…he did.”

She knew her grandmother referred to 1948. Her grandparents had safely hidden through most of World War II, until the Nazis caught them a few months before the end. Weakened by deprivation, her grandfather died. Her grandmother, with her strong spirit, survived the concentration camp, miraculously still pregnant with the baby the couple had conceived just before their capture.

Sadie gently squeezed her grandmother’s hand.

“I…I had…to live…for the baby growing…inside me.”

Sadie gave her a tender smile. “I’m glad you did.”

“I’d given up…hope that…your father…would give me a grandchild…. ’til you. You’ve been…my light, Sadie.”

Sadie’s tears spilled over. One dripped on their entwined hands. “And you’ve been the best grandmother ever.”

“I would go…through it all…again…just to have…you,
Zeesa
.”

Sadie stood and bent to kiss her grandmother’s forehead. “I love you. I always will. Go in peace,
Bubby.
”

Her grandmother’s hand tightened on hers, and her expression became anxious. “The medallion.”

What’s she talking about?

“Underwear…drawer....”

Was
Bubby
hallucinating? Or had Sadie misunderstood her? Her Yiddish wasn’t the best. “Do you have a medallion in your underwear drawer?”

“Yes.” The word was almost a sigh. “Return....” Her grandmother’s eyes fluttered close. She drifted back into sleep.

A soft knock on the doorframe made Sadie look in that direction. A short man with a prominent nose stood there. He wore a prayer shawl draped over his shoulders and, when he gave her a polite dip of his head, she saw a yarmulke attached to his short, curly hair with two bobby pins. The expression on his thin face was pleasant, but her hackles rose at the sight of him.

“I’m Rabbi Kamins,” he said in heavily accented English. “I heard about your grandmother, and I have come to offer words of comfort…to pray with you.”

“No!” Sadie held back an instinctive growl. She forced herself to soften her tone, to sound polite. “Thank you, we’re fine.”

His bushy eyebrows rose. “The nurse tells me your grandmother doesn’t have long….that you two are very close….”

“My grandmother doesn’t believe in God.” Sadie crossed her arms over her chest. “Nor do I.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I will still bid you peace.
Shalom
.”

She nodded a dismissal.

He stepped outside the room. “
Shema Yisrael
…”

Sadie strode over to the door and, for the sake of her grandmother and the other patients, didn’t slam it shut. Once she’d closed the door, she leaned back and let out a tired exhale, then walked over to resume her vigil at her grandmother’s side.

Sadie stayed with
Bubby
through the quiet hours that followed, until her grandmother slipped away to join her husband and son.

The minute her grandmother’s spirit left her body, Sadie felt the transition—an absence of the loving presence that had supported Sadie all her life. One minute her grandmother was
there
, the next she was
gone
.

“Good-bye,
Bubby
. I love…” Sadie whispered. But she couldn’t finish the words. Leaning over, she rested her forehead on her grandmother’s hand. “What am I going to do without you?”

~ ~ ~

Sadie floated over an azure sea, drawn to distant peaks rising from the ocean. Overhead, the sun brightened a lavender sky. Curious, she allowed herself to be pulled through the air, almost as if she’d caught a current.

As she drifted closer, the peaks turned out to be islands rising from the ocean, although instead of the tropical lushness she expected, a gray miasma swirled and undulated above the land. Waves thrashing against the sides of the islands parted the mist and briefly revealed clinging vegetation before the grayness swallowed any sight of the rocky sides.

The wind current pulled her until she hovered above the scene. From the overhead view, Sadie could see three mountainous islands piercing the fog, each one the point of an equilateral triangle. Harbors on all three isles faced away from the middle. Buildings made of lava rock stair-stepped up the foot of the mountains. Wooden sailing ships like the ones she’d seen in historical movies floated in the harbors. Massive walls of lava brick separated each village into two sections, reminding her somehow of the walls that had imprisoned the Jews in concentration camps in WWll.

The ocean in between the islands roiled storm-gray, so different from the translucent turquoise water she’d flown over.

They’re too perfectly aligned to be natural.

A gray light like a searchlight beamed from the top of each island, converging at a midpoint between them at the surface of the water. Here, the ocean churned.

The air current lowered her closer, and Sadie shrank away, backpedaling to avoid getting sucked into the lasers or whatever they were. But her wishes didn’t matter. Instead, she dropped within ten yards of the ocean’s surface. She braced herself for the impact with the water, but instead, her momentum stopped, and she hovered above the sea like she was cupped in an unseen hand.

Now Sadie could see into the water. Something lurked underneath the spot where the three beams met. Since it seemed important, she narrowed her eyes, trying to make out what was there.

She thought she saw a man, a giant man.
No, it couldn’t be, not under water.

Again, she peered. But it was. He sat in a high-backed chair, like a throne. The chair didn’t move with the water, but remained fixed. The man…alien…whatever he was, slumped against the back, his head lolling. Something rested on his lap; she couldn’t discern what. But a wave smoothed for an instant, and she saw a golden trident, broken in two pieces.

Neptune?

This is a very weird dream.

But it didn’t feel like a dream.

Murmuring came, not to her ears, but inside her mind. She strained to decipher the words. They repeated over and over until she finally understood.

“Help me!”

~ ~ ~

The residual impressions of the dream stayed with Sadie the next day. Already feeling heart-heavy with grief, her thoughts kept moving from images of her grandmother to a vision of the submerged man. To distract herself, she continued the sorting and packing she’d been doing with her grandmother’s possessions for the last week. She’d already given things away to friends or donated them to a charity. All the rooms were finished except the master bedroom. After choosing something for her grandmother to wear for the burial, Sadie had packed away her
Bubby’s
clothes.

Sadie rolled her shoulder, trying to stretch the ever-present ache from her injury, and eyed the maple chest of drawers placed under the window overlooking the back courtyard. The bureau contained the last items she needed to sort through and give away. Once she’d finished….

Sadie shied away from the thoughts of the emptiness of her future. As she reached for the top drawer, the memory of
Bubby’s
request to return the medallion came to her.

How could I have forgotten?

Sadie eased open the drawer to see
Bubby’s
old-lady undies neatly folded on one side, her serviceable bras on the other. A lace sachet in the middle emitted
Bubby’s
familiar scent, making tears prick Sadie’s eyes. Resolutely she blinked them away.

Beneath the underwear lay a white cardboard jewelry box. When Sadie lifted the lid, a brass medallion that looked almost like a large coin with a “Y” stamped on the front gleamed on a bed of cotton. The top held a loop for a chain.

Carefully, with thumb and forefinger, she picked up the medallion, turning it over to see if anything was on the back. But the other side was smooth, although obvious signs of wear showed that the piece wasn’t new.

Where did this come from and why didn’t Bubby tell me about it?

Laid against her palm, the coin warmed, tingling her hand. With a gasp, Sadie studied the surface but couldn’t see what caused the sensation.

Uneasy, she put the medallion back in the box, leaving the top off so she could still see the coin, then set it on the surface of the dresser while she finished emptying the drawers. Once she’d packed everything, Sadie picked up the box again to look at the medallion. Then she carried it into the living room and set it on top of her backpack.

A knock sounded. Sadie opened the front door to find Devorah Cohen, the neighbor across the hall who’d always looked out for her grandmother. Sadie invited her in.

Plump Devorah, dressed in a navy blouse and skirt with matching blue canvas shoes, stepped inside and looked around the empty room, sadness on her good-natured face. “Are you ready to go?” she asked in Hebrew.

“I just finished,” Sadie replied in the same language. “I was going to knock on your door in a few minutes to say good-bye.”

Devorah wiped tears from her round, wrinkled cheeks. “We’ve been friends for twenty years, your grandmother and I.” She shook her head, causing her frizzy white curls to bounce around her face. “It won’t be the same here without her.”

Sadie’s heart crimped with grief. “I know.”

Devorah gave a reminiscing smile. “Summers were Irina’s favorite time of year because you were here.”

“They were special for me, too.”

“Irina looked forward to your visit all year around.”

“Bubby was too stubborn to move to America and live with Dad and me. But I knew that she was in good hands with you and her other friends. Everyone here loved her, which eased my mind.”

“I wish she’d have allowed a funeral and for us to sit
shiva
.”

“You know my grandmother left her faith back in Dachau.”

Devorah sniffed, obviously stopping herself from more crying. “So you’re returning to America?”

“Yes. Time to get back to training.”

“Ach, you and that sword.”

“I’ve been told that before,” Sadie joked.

“Irina was always so proud of you.”

A lump squeezed into Sadie’s throat. One of her victory visions during the long years of sabre training for the Olympics had been of her grandmother watching her on television…of afterwards flying to Israel and laying a gold medal in Bubby’s hand.

“I know.” Sadie straightened her shoulders. “I’ve been giving everything away but the bed and bedding, a few dishes, and her clothes. They’re boxed up in the bedroom. You’ll see that they’re given to people who need them?”

“Of course.”

Devorah looked down at Sadie’s backpack and saw the little box sitting on top. She pointed. “Is that the medallion?”

Sadie nodded, hoping the neighbor would have some information.

Devorah’s hand fluttered. “I remember when your grandmother found that. I’d just moved in. We had tea, and she showed it to me. Excited about it, your grandmother was.”

Sadie’s interest quickened, “Do you know where she found it?”

Devorah paused, obviously trying to remember, then shrugged. “In the desert.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. “There’s a lot of desert out there.”

“That there is.” She shrugged. “Near some ruins that weren’t on the map.” Devorah glanced around at the empty apartment, and her mouth quivered. “I hate to see you go, Sadie. What time’s your flight?”

“No flight yet. I’m giving myself a week or so of driving around in Dad’s old Jeep. Sightseeing. As much as I’ve visited Israel, I’ve seen very little of the Middle East. I want to explore—”
mourn
“—before heading back to Massachusetts.”

Devorah’s face scrunched in concern. “That’s not a good idea.”

“I have my sabres with me,” Sadie said, grinning. “You know I have to keep practicing.”

“Sadie, I’m serious!”

“I’ll be careful.”

“I’m not going to sleep a wink worrying about you until I know you’re safe in America. You will let me know, won’t you?”

Sadie gave the woman a hug. “Of course. I can’t have you losing your beauty sleep.”

Devorah choked back a sob.

Sadie couldn’t help feeling her own tears well up.
Enough!

One more hug, and Sadie picked up the backpack she’d left just inside the doorway, slinging the straps over her shoulders. Her suitcase and travel case for her sabre gear were already in the Jeep. She handed the keys to the apartment to Devorah, gave her a last smile, and headed out the door.

CHAPTER THREE

KIMTAIR, ZACATLAN

EIGHT MONTHS AFTER THE SACK OF SEAGEM

Thaddis stopped yelling, but only because his voice gave out. He lay paralyzed and blind in a wagon, escorted by his former soldiers. As if wakening up from the worst nightmare, the memory of his last clear minutes returned—capturing Daria only to have her and a dark stranger combine their othersense with an unknown Goddess to overpower him.