Soul Dancing with the Brass Band (The Brass Band Series) (36 page)

“Not my dog,” an agonized voice cried as he lunged
toward me out of his dark hiding place. “Witch!” he yelled and I watched with amazement as the face of the indigent man changed to that of a Roman foot soldier. “Mystic Warrior, my ass! You’re a fraction of who you once were,” and then the face was only that of a disheveled madman.

It took a precious moment to gather my thoughts, not exactly sure what I was fighting. I felt the small hands that were still tightly wrapped around my leg and my only impulse was to insure his safety.

Making myself ready, I squared my shoulders and gave the order, “Run Jimmy.” I felt his little fists release my jeans and heard his footsteps fade away behind me. I kept my eyes locked on my enemy who burned with hatred for me.

“You’ll pay for what you did to my dog!” and I saw a flash of metal slice through the air.

Lunging to my right to avoid being cut, I saw his eyes change to the
ancient
one’s once more. “They may call you a warrior, but you’re nothing but a murdering bitch. I hope you rot in hell for what you did to me.” I felt my hand on the edge of a window where the glass had been washed away with the passage of time. The terrain between the building and water’s edge was extremely wet, but as the madman charged, I had no choice but to try to leap through it to escape his vicious attack.

Trying to run was impossible. My feet sunk deeper into the mud with every step I took. I scanned along the length of the building and found the path had been totally devoured by the lake. I needed to get away from here and my only choice was to swim. I turned toward the lake and felt my muscles strain as the suction of the mud tried to hold me in place
. With one fleeting look toward the volleyball game, I dove into the dirty brown water as the dazed dog cleared the window, along with its owner.

I swam as far as I could under water to hide myself, but my forward motion was slow. The mud stuck to my shoes was weighing me down. As I was forced to break the waters surface for a breath, I saw both man and dog had entered the water after me.

I took one last breath and began sinking toward the bottom of the lake in a struggle to pry off the shoes as my sodden clothes pulled me down. The double-knot I always tied only proved to get tighter as I desperately pulled at them. My chest hurt from lack of oxygen and I prayed I hadn’t misjudged how long I could hold my breath. Sinking ever deeper, I grasped the futility of my situation; beginning to become confused about which way was up.

I moved my consciousness to my third eye as my lungs began to burn and I gave one last frantic pull at my shoes and I felt them release. There was an explosion of color behind my eyelids as I pleaded for a miracle. “Will, please hear me
, I need your help!”

Finding myself in total darkness, my hand brushed the silt-covered bottom of the lake. I forced my fractured mind to think as I rotated my body so that my feet were beneath me and prayed to whatever Gods could hear me, that I had enough air to make it to the surface. I bent my knees and pushed upward with every morsel of strength left in my body.

I felt the rush of air into my lungs as I broke the surface and shook the water violently from my face. Resisting the urge to look behind me, knowing that the madman was close by the volume of his profanities, I swam with all the fight left in me to the nearest shore.

As I felt the bottom rising underneath me, I pulled myself from the water and ran barefoot along the road back
toward camp. Adrenalin was all I had left to fuel my muscles.

I would have run past the car if Will hadn’t jumped out of it to catch me, his arms wrapping around me.

“Shhhhh,” he said, holding me tight against his body, “I’ve got you. You’re safe now.

“Where’s Jimmy, where’s Jimmy.” I wildly scanned the area.

“He’s safe with McCollum. We found him running along the road and picked him up.”

As my body gave up the struggle and my mind calmed, I finally understood what Will had said to me. Jimmy hadn’t made it back to camp to get help …Will had come because he
heard
me call him, and without restraint, I began to cry.

DAD HAD called the police and I could already hear the sirens in the distance. Gilbert, Dr. Edwards, Dad and Father John had followed Will on foot and now stood like sentinels around Will and me. It wasn’t until the police pulled up that I realized no one actually knew what had happened to me. My friends had all responded to protect me no matter what the danger was.

When the patrol car door opened, I could tell by the expression on Officer Hall’s face that he recognized me, too.

“Ms. Rubner,” he said checking out my bodyguards. “What’s happened here?” He noticed Gilbert and reached out to shake his hand.

For the most part, the sun had dried me and while I wasn’t cold, I was reluctant to leave Will’s embrace. A second patrol car pulled up across the lake and I saw the madman trying to hold back his vicious dog as the police attempted to figure out what to do.

Eventually, I joined Officer Hall in his patrol car and gave him my statement. I remembered everything vividly, but was reluctant to give all of the details as I heard the echo of words from across the lake...black magic, witch, witch, witch.

Returning to Will’s embrace, I breathed in the scent of his skin and closed my eyes.

Will and I took our time driving back to the campground. Everyone else had already walked back, leaving us alone, knowing that I needed to tell Will everything that had happened. He smiled when I told him about the dog’s reaction to me putting my hands up to block his attack.

“You did great, Hillary! Whether it happened purely as an instinct to protect Jimmy or as divine providence, it happened and you’ve felt the power of your chi, your life force. Now, you need to spend time refining your control.”

“Is Jimmy
really
okay?”

“Besides being overly excited about his dangerous excursion and telling the story to anyone who will listen, he’s fine
but, Hillary…”

“Don’t say it, Will. I already know. A voice told me the building wasn’t safe, but I didn’t listen. I had a chance to avoid all of this misery and I chose to walk right into it. I won’t do it again.”

“Good! But that wasn’t what I was going to say. I was going to thank you for turning to me when you were in trouble, for having confidence in me. Your light body came to me…asking me to follow. You are lovely as light.”

Letting the terror of the day fall
away from me, I asked, “and I’m not lovely soaking wet and streaked with mud?”

“You’re alive and nothing is more beautiful than that.”

I could tell when we arrived at camp that the kids were totally unaffected by what had just taken place and I was relieved to see them playing. The only worried ones were gathered in the parking lot, waiting for our return. Dad and Mom’s faces were both drawn, Ruth and George stood hand in hand next to Father John, Gilbert and Dr. Edwards. Then there was McCollum with Jimmy in his arms. I got out of the car and everyone hugged me to reassure themselves that I was okay. Then with head hung, it was time for me to face McCollum and before I knew what was happening, Jimmy leaped out of his arms into mine. All of the tension drained from my body as I held him tight.

“Are you alright, Hillary? I ran as fast as I could to get help.”

“I know you did, sweetie. You’re a very brave young man.” I nuzzled his neck and he giggled that intoxicating laugh. Hopping from my arms, he raced off to play with the other boys.

McCollum motioned us toward our lawn chairs and I delved back into my nightmare and told the story one last time.

When the full moon was at its most powerful position in the night sky, McCollum woke me from where I had fallen asleep in Will’s arms, wanting me to sit in the chair next to him. Standing, to walk across the circle, I pulled myself to my full height and for that moment with the moonlight full on my face, I became the person everyone perceived me to be, the one I knew I was becoming.

“Hillary,” McCollum began.

I turned to meet his gaze. “May I call you Hilsbeth? It’s been an eternity since I’ve had that name on my lips.” Looking at him, I noticed that there were more threads of grey in his hair than a month ago and hoped he was better at controlling stress than me.

McCollum waved for the other eight to pull their chairs closer to listen to his confession. “I would have spoken sooner, but I thought we had more time… a few more days to enjoy each other’s company and play in the sunlight with the boys, but it is now apparent that I have misjudged. You see Hilsbeth,” McCollum said as he took my hand, “Those who prefer the darkness never like the light to be turned on, for it sends them scurrying into the corners to hide in the shadows. Only the maddest amongst them stays to fight in the light and we saw that today. Now, there is no doubt left in my mind that the dark forces have detected our arrival.” McCollum looked at me and smiled. “Our advantage is that they were not expecting
us
to return at all. I have often wondered myself if we would all be together again,” McCollum sighed inwardly and continued the story.

“There are many beings who have come to witness, well… let’s call it
‘
the uplifting of the planet
’. They came as ditch diggers and doctors, Guru’s and pastors, mothers and fathers. They are souls that turned in every karmic point and every bargaining chip they had, to be on this planet at this particular time.”