Soul Dancing with the Brass Band (The Brass Band Series) (37 page)

A golden aura began to glow around him.

He patted my hand kindly and released it. “Up until recently, my group has gone undetected because
they
have never considered my boys a threat, but now that you’re here they feel our power growing like a thunderstorm gathering on the horizon and fear the balance might be turning. We are each powerful individuals, but as ‘One’ we are remarkable!”

McCollum rose to walk among us. “For quite sometime now, beings of light have been incarnating
, one-by-one, under the radar, so to speak. And because of all of the wonderful work they have done, our platform has already been built for us; we have only to complete our plan!”

“I also believe the original 2012 date has been altered and the window for planetary change has already opened. Another thing has happened in our favor, the Universe has dealt us a wild card and your father had the wisdom to recognize him.” Turning to Father John, McCollum said, “He may look like a tattered book cover, but the pages he holds within will prove to be magical.” Bending to touch Father John’s third eye, McCollum continued in a voice, so soft it felt like eavesdropping. “Don’t worry that you do not know, Father John. You will know when it is time and you will shine like a brilliant star.”

McCollum stretched, gazing up at the stars and then at us. “As it has been since the beginning of time, dawn will come and we will be given another chance to bring forth the light. We have within us the ability to manifest the destiny we desire. It is the reason we exist, the reason we have come.”

“Now, my Druid warriors disguised as mere humans, you still need your sleep. I’ll see you as day breaks.”

I found myself thinking of all the small things people did in life that give away their power to the dark side unknowingly: negative thinking, white lies, discrimination, lack of self love, holding grudges, guilt, the feeling of lack, when Gilbert interrupted my thoughts.

“Maybe
he can sleep. He’s got all of those magical powers,” Gilbert said as he watched McCollum walk away. “But I think it’s time for a name. What did everyone come up with? I mean, if we are going to fight together, I think we deserve a handle.”

Gilbert fully expected to hear grumbling, but instead received only enthusiasm as an exuberate exchange of ideas ensued.

“What do you think, Father John? We haven’t heard from you yet,” Will asked, finishing up his laugh about George’s suggestion of “
The Lightheaded
”.

Placing his hands on his knees to support his weight, Father John took a deep breath. “I first met Terry when I replied to his newspaper ad and when Terry and Kate finally let the cat out of the bag about the brass bowl, I literally sat for hours
trying to visualize and meditating into that mystical brass object. I imagined what it must look like, feel like and sound like. I also envisioned what each of you looked like by the descriptions given by Hillary’s parents and just for your information they were spot on. I could feel all of us together with that bowl sitting in the center.” Father John rocked back in his chair, legs stretched out long in front of him. “In my mind we have always had a name. Come on guys,” he said with questioning in his eyes. “We meditate with a mystical
brass
bowl that was forged high in the Himalayas and have traveled through time as a
band
of inseparable brethren. We’ve always been the ‘Brass Band’ to my way of thinking.

The group erupted into laughter! But as the laughter subsided into smiles and heads began to nod, yes, we all knew we had found our name.

“I’m on board with that!” Lee said. “I can take a tuba to work and store it in an obvious location in my office. When I need time off work, I’ll explain I’m doing a part time gig with a brass band. It’s easier than explaining I’m a shape shifter sent to save the planet!”

George added. “I can see it now, we’ll start carrying instrument cases rather than backpacks.”

After the final joke was told, Will looked at me, “You know, eventually you’ll be the conductor!”

“Not me, I’m a groupie. You know, the girl that is always standing in the front row, drooling over the good-looking lead singer with the dynamite blue eyes
, that’s you Will,” I said with a wink. “You know, I’ll sway slowly back and forth letting my soul dance to the sweet music of the Brass Band.”

JULY 17, 2011

In my dream,
the sun rises without its usual cloud cover, so I use it as an excuse to shake my cabin fever. I put my tennis shoes on and walk outside to meet the sunny day. I take the long way to the Student Union, wanting to soak in as much of the sun’s warmth as possible. The winter was particularly cold and I’m not sure I’ll ever be completely warm again. As usual, I’m daydreaming about Will. He’s been spending most nights at McCollum’s house and I miss him.

I’
m brought back to reality by the motion of a bike riding past and look up to see none other than Jackson Black pulling up to the curb next to me.

He smiles as he lifts his bike onto the sidewalk to walk with me. My heart sinks.

“It works!” he says, as I calculate the shortest route to the Union. “I can close my eyes and wish that we are together…and like magic…here you are!”

“I’ve got to go,” I say, changing directions to try and get around his bike.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to meet that boyfriend of yours because you’re not. I know he spends his nights with little boys,” he says snidely.

The look on his face is frightening. He matches every move I make with the front tire of his bike and I find it impossible to escape. “Come on Hillary, be my friend.”

“We’re NOT friends and we never will be.”

“Come on, Hillary. Take a closer look
at me!” His hands reach for me and I feel myself falling back through time, toward a place I dread ...the road to Coritani. There in the mud beside the road, Rutiah lies in Georog’s arms, battered and used beyond recognition by the Roman soldiers. George is unable to stand because his Achilles tendons have been severed and he is slowly bleeding to death as he holds Ruth’s lifeless body.

I hear the ax fall, and nauseated
, I turn to find the answer to a question that has haunted me for two thousand years. The Roman butcher drops his ax and picks up another severed head, sticking it on the end of a spike. I watch as he slowly turns his gaze toward me, he smiles... and I’m looking into the bloody face of Jackson Black
.

July 18, 2011

I jolted straight up in bed, waking from my dream and trying to gather my scattered thoughts. I was soaked with sweat and my heart was beating at a dangerously fast pace. “What the hell?” I said as I tried to get past my panic to remember the dream before it once again retreated into the void from which it came. I felt a warm arm reach up and wrap around me. The room was filled with Will’s sleepy scent, as he pulled me back
toward my pillows. “What’s wrong, Hillary? Did you have a bad dream?”

The End.

Look for

Soul Searching with the Brass Band

Fall of 2013.

Visit
www.vickirenfro.com
for more information
.

Soul Searching with the Brass Band

Chapter1

38 A.D.

I am the final rider to leave the battlefield as my meager army is in retreat through the dense forest. Gillian, the last survivor of the original Druid bloodline sits atop the rump of my mare, mounted backwards to face the Roman soldiers who are in pursuit as we enter the thick undergrowth. Our escape depends totally on his ability to use his ancient magic to weave a fog bank that will hide us.

I can hear my mare’s hooves hit the rocks as we slide down the hill towards the creek and wonder if the soldiers can hear it over the racket of their own armor. We make our way through the water and her hooves land upon the sodden leaves of the forest.
We became invisible as we descend into the haze.

Sept 21, 2011

I wo
ke in the dead of night with perspiration running down my forehead and knew without opening my eyes that the light of the full moon would be streaming through my bedroom window. I rolled on my side to look at the pillow next to me for reassurance that Will was still laying beside me, alive and unharmed.

For the first year I fought to remember the details of my dreams.
Now I would give almost anything to not relive the deaths of my Druid friends in vivid Technicolor at each full moon when the pull of the lunar tide takes my soul back to the time of the standing stones.

I slipped out of bed quietly and into the living room to make a call to my best friend, Ruth, who was downstairs with George and had learned to anticipate my call.

“We’re still here, Hillary. Everything is okay,” Ruth answered calmly, predicting my question. “Go back to sleep now, sweetie.”

Hanging up, I hit speed dial and waited for Gilbert to answer. Frantically, I spun the new gold wedding band on my finger. “Can you make fog?”

“Well, yes! The physics department has a machine and….”

“No, I mean can
YOU
make fog?”

“What was
our
dream about tonight, Hils? If McCollum wants me to begin trying…”

“You were riding on the rump of my mare weaving a fog bank with the old Druid magic.”

“No Hils, I’m here in my bed and my toes are still not webbed, although I’m sure my hair will soon have a white streak if I don’t get my beauty rest. Go back to bed. Write everything down, if you need to. We’ll talk when the moon sets and the sun comes up, but for now go back to bed.”

It was unlike me to stay caught between two worlds like I was tonight, not knowing for sure which was the one I now lived in. But it was the Equinox and at the moment the night and day were exactly equal, my soul released to once again roam the past in search of that moment my soul ripped into two distinct parts.
I had decided that if
that moment in time
could be changed, then my powers would move forward into this lifetime and I could be whole once more.

I felt Will’s arms wrap around me and I relaxed into him. “Come back to me, Hillary,” he whispered. “It’s 2011, you’re a college student and we’re together again.”

When I looked into those amazing blue eyes, I had no doubt as to which life I preferred. He picked me up and we returned to bed.

Books referenced:

Keep a True Lint by
Charles Fillmore 1936

Prosperity by Charles Fillmore 1936

God Will Work with You but Not For You by Lao Russell 1955

The Secret of Light by Walter
Russell 1947

Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels