The Forest of Aisling: Dream of the Shapeshifter (The Willow Series Book 1) (24 page)

Our momentary experiment was cut short by Kelleigh
and Quinn.  “We have a few questions,” Quinn announced.

Aaron rejoined us and we all stood in a
circle.  “Go ahead, Quinn.”

“So then, whichever one of us agrees to this will
have the ability to shapeshift into some kind of sea creature?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“And then some sort of sensitivity will make
itself known as well?” Kelleigh added.

“Yes; like I told you, the air guardian shifts
into the eagle and then an innate sensitivity to sight becomes pronounced and
enables that guardian to keep watch out for the Fomorians. The earth guardian
shifts to wolf form and a heightened sense of hearing becomes one of their
weapons.

“You, as the water guardian, will be spending your
time in the ocean, lakes, or whatever sort of waterway is required.  Your
sense of feeling becomes pronounced.  The water guardian is able to pick
up on any out of the ordinary activities in the earth’s bodies of water with
the use of echolocation.”

Quinn was hardly able to contain himself.
“Echolocation – you mean like sonar, like bats?” he asked excitedly.

“Exactly like bats.  You’ll have the ability
to locate objects by sending off high-pitched sound waves that will literally
bounce off of an object and return to you, letting you know where the object
is.  This is an invaluable tool in keeping track of the Fomorians, since
they favor use of the sea.”  Aaron said.

Kelleigh and Quinn stood in our circle staring at
each other.  I wished I was able to read their thoughts, but this new
ability of mine required some discretion, as well as knowing how and when to
use it. 

The wind began to pick up and the skies continued
to alter, getting ready to unleash what appeared to be another tempestuous
storm.  Raindrops had begun pelting our heads when Kelleigh finally spoke
up.

“I believe that since I’m the oldest and have more
knowledge of this, that I should be the obvious choice…I’m sorry, Quinn, but
that’s how I feel,” she said, raising her eyes to the stormy heavens.  As
the rain picked up Kelleigh became visibly agitated by the soaking that was
imminent.  She quickly pulled up the hood from her coat and covered her
head.

“Stupid rain, I just got my hair done…now it’s
going to do nothing but frizz.” 

Quinn stared at her then looked at each one of us,
shaking his head.  “And you think you can be the water guardian…you can’t
even take a wee bit of rain on your head without freaking out about your
hair.  How are you going to jump into the lake when needed without being
more concerned about how you look?” he continued, motioning to the lake beside
us. “You don’t even like the water, Kelleigh!” Quinn shouted in an effort to be
heard above the thunder that was closing in.

“Quinn was on the swim team for the last three
years and won four ribbons,” Bram interjected.  Kelleigh immediately
blasted him an angry stare.

“I’m just saying…” he added, raising his eyes to
the sky.

The storm began picking up in intensity, so we all
made our way back to the vehicles.  My heart sank, thinking that we hadn’t
been able to settle this yet and feeling sorry that Kelleigh was hurt and
disappointed.  I hated that she and Quinn were angry with each other and
hoped that somehow we’d be able to resolve it.

Just as Kelleigh opened her door to get into the
car she looked back over to Aaron. “All right, Quinn’s your man,” she mumbled,
unable to hide her disappointment.

Quinn jumped out of the car and ran over to his
sister.  He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Are ya sure, sis?” he asked.

“Yes, I guess.  But you’re wrong about me not
liking the water…I love the water!  I just hate what it does to my hair,”
she answered, pulling her hood tightly over her head.

Quinn laughed and hugged her and soon Kelleigh
herself was laughing, pushing her brother aside.  

Aaron walked over to Quinn taking hold of his
hand.  “Here you go, Quinn,” he said as he laid the water pendant on his
palm.

Quinn looked down at his third of the Triquetra
and gulped.  “This was really made by Lugh himself, the god of light?” he
asked with a trembling voice.

“Sure was,” Aaron said.

Quinn stared at it with deep respect.  He
gently lifted the chain and placed it over his head.  He positioned his
hand over the Triquetra and took in a deep breath.

Kelleigh leaned over and studied the pendant now
hanging around Quinn’s neck.  “Well, now I’m really angry.   You
didn’t tell me there was jewelry involved!”

Quinn pushed her away.  “It’s not just
jewelry, you twit, it’s the Triquetra.”

“I know, I know,” Kelleigh smirked.  “But it
is a lovely necklace. It’d definitely look better on me than on you.”

The down pillow was such a welcome cushion for my
tired head.  I relaxed my neck against its softness, letting myself sink
into the billowy comforter that lay on top of my hotel room bed.

Bram and Aaron dropped me off so I could reconnect
with Dad and try to relax a little.  We were all showing signs of exhaustion
and fully aware that we had a ton of work to do.  Starting with Quinn
getting back to the lake and hoping, praying, that he would be able to
shapeshift.  Aaron himself was unsure exactly how to go about the whole
process and said he needed a few more hours to try and exact an answer from the
documents lying in wait in his basement safe.   Hopefully with Bram’s
help an answer would show up quickly.

I appreciated the quiet hotel room and felt myself
grow sleepy the more relaxed I became.  Soon I was dreaming.  Images
of Balor’s face haunted me, along with passing glimpses of Quinn, Kelleigh, and
Bram.  We all were being swept away in a tornado; below stood my dad and
Aaron, their arms, stretching out, trying to pull us away from the grasp of the
squall.

I awoke with a start and was surprised to see I
had actually been asleep for two hours.  It felt like ten minutes.  I
heard Dad in the bathroom and called out to him.

“I’ll be right there, Willow,” he answered.

 I stepped out onto the balcony and was
surprised at the drop in temperature.  It had to have been at least thirty
degrees cooler than when I arrived back at the hotel.  The rain had
subsided but the air was damp and threatened more moisture.

The sky had an ashen feel to it, not only in
color, but it felt as though there were small particles floating in the
atmosphere, like the ash that drifts after a volcano erupts.  I held my
hand up and caught hold of a miniscule piece of dust that disintegrated almost
as soon as it touched my skin.  Looking out into the distance I could make
out trace amounts of the stuff floating in the air, reminding me of early
snowfalls. 

“Holy cow, it must be twenty degrees out here!”
Dad observed as he stepped out onto the balcony.  He began buttoning his
cardigan sweater.  “I got back just ten minutes ago and it was nowhere
near this cold.  The weather is doing some crazy stuff, isn’t it?” he
asked, putting his arm over my shoulder. 

We stepped back inside and sat at the small table
and chairs in the corner of the room.  I was anxious to hear how Grandpa
was doing –and less anxious to hear about the forensic pathologist. 

Dad pulled out a pipe and began loading it with
sweet-smelling tobacco.  I could only stare, since I’d never seen my
father smoke anything other than a bubblegum cigarette, and wondered where this
newfound penchant for tobacco was coming from.  I looked at the pouch of
tobacco lying on the table and recognized the label as the brand that Uncle
Eagan was fond of.  As Dad lit the aromatic leaves in the bowl of the pipe
I had to admit, it smelled nice.  The sweet scent of cherries along with a
citrusy undertone wafted up into my nose and immediately made me think of
Eagan.

“Really, Dad?” was all I could say.

He smiled and inhaled deeply sending swirls of
billowy smoke around the room.  He opened his mouth and made a feeble
attempt to create a smoke ring, like the ones Eagan skillfully crafted. 
Only Dad’s looked more like smoke blobs. 

He shook his head and with a snicker put out the
tobacco with his thumb.  “It’s just not me,” he chortled, laying the pipe
on top of a coaster.  “Eagan thought it may help me relax.”

“Not so much?”

“No.” He sealed the pouch, tossed it aside and
took a sip of water.   “I’ll relax when we get home.”

There it was again, that word…home.  Weird,
how my whole world had completely changed in such a short amount of time and
how the one place that had always been home to me now seemed so distant and
obscure.

“So how’s Grandpa doing?” I asked, hoping for good
news.

“Pretty well.  They want to keep him for at
least a week.  It appears as though he’s had a few small strokes. 
They’re not sure when, though, if they happened before or during his time in
the hospital.”  Dad leaned back into his chair and stretched his arms
overhead.

“He asked for you again.” A smile outlined my
father’s lips.  “You made quite an impression on him, Wil.”

“I really want to see him, Dad.  Any idea
when that can be?”

“Sure, we can go this evening if you’d like.”

The thought of seeing my grandfather again gave me
joy.  So much had transpired since I last saw him and I was looking
forward to doing something somewhat normal, if you can call a trip to the
hospital normal.  “I’d like that.”

I knew tomorrow would be a difficult day since we
had planned to take Quinn back to the lake and see if he might be able to
shift.  I wasn’t sure how much time I’d have with Dad.  That, along
with the weather disturbances, left me with the feeling that I needed to tie up
these loose ends with Dad and Grandpa.   After seeing the family portrait
in Grandma’s locket I was convinced that part of the problem must have
something to do with whoever that other little boy was.  I wanted answers,
and now seemed like the perfect time.

“Dad,” I began, “I wish you’d tell me what it was
that caused you and Grandpa to stop talking to each other.”  I bit my
lower lip, hoping to finally be a party to whatever the problem was that drove
my father out of Ireland at the age of eighteen.

Dad narrowed his eyes and stared deeply into
mine.  He blinked slowly, then rubbed the back of his neck.  I prayed
that my timing wasn’t way off.  He took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

“I don’t know, Willow; this has been holed up
inside of me for so long, I’m not even sure how to begin.”

An image floated across my mind, the small locket
that Shannah wore with the picture of my Grandparents and two children. “Did
you have a brother?” The words escaped from my mouth before I even had a chance
to think about what I was saying.

My father wrinkled his brow and squinted once
again studying me intently.  He didn’t seem surprised by my question. He
pursed his lips and scratched the bearded shadow that was taking over his chin.

“How did you know about that?” he wondered aloud.

I inched further to the edge of my chair. “When I
was in the morgue, Grandma had a locket on.  I couldn’t help but look
inside.  There was a picture of Shannah, Conor, and two little boys. 
Who was the other little boy?”

He took another deep breath and dropped his head,
looking to the floor.  I’d hoped I hadn’t upset him.

“I didn’t even see that she had a locket on,” he
mumbled, speaking more to himself than me.  “Looking back on it all now,
it seems so stupid, so very stupid.  Too much time lost, too many missed
opportunities.  For you and your mother to never have known Shannah, and
all because of…”  He paused, looking once more to the floor.

“Please, Dad, what happened?” I reached my hand
over and gently touched his arm.  It felt as though a change in our
relationship was occurring with this moment.  I was no longer his little
girl whom he had to protect, but a confidant who might be able to help him deal
with his pain from so many years ago.

“You know, Willow, I’m not even certain what
happened myself anymore.
The
more time that passes, the less clear the reasons become.”  He shook his
head as if trying to jar the memories loose, and then looked at me with tired
eyes.

“In answer to your question, yes, I did have a
brother… a twin brother.  His name was Joseph.   He was only
five when he died and the memories I have of him are vague.  I know from
what Shannah told me that Joseph and I were very close. ‘Two peas in a pod,’ she
would say, ‘where one would go the other had to follow
.
’ Sometimes I can
remember things…like Christmas, most probably the last one we had together. 
I remember both of us getting bikes.  Joseph had the blue one and I had
the red.  He wanted the red so we traded even though I’m pretty sure I
didn’t want to.” Dad smiled fondly at his memory.

“There are other things that at times pop up, like
birthdays, parties, stuff like that.  I do remember one time when we were
outside playing with some neighbor kids, one of them got angry because we lost
his rugby ball.  It was new and he was proud of it.  Joseph had
kicked it across a field that was overgrown and rocky.  The ball
disappeared from our view and we all ran to the direction Joseph kicked it,
but, lo and behold, the ball was gone.  We must have spent an hour looking
for that thing but couldn’t find it.  The boy got mad and ran home. 
His dad came over to our house and yelled at Dad and the two almost came to
blows. Dad finally threw the man some money and told him to leave.  Days
later Joseph and I were out in that same field and sure enough, there hidden in
some underbrush lay the boy’s brand-spanking-new rugby ball.  Joseph
grabbed it, tucked it under his shirt, and hid it the minute we got home. 
I still remember his answer when I told him we needed to give it back, ‘Da paid
for this fair and square, it’s ours now
.
’ I remember that clearly.”

Dad cleared his throat and went to the bathroom to
get another glass of water.  He sat back down in his chair and stared at
the floor, lost in his thoughts.

“So what happened to him?” I asked as he raised
his focus back to me.  Sadness came over his face, the gray in his eyes
taking on a stormy feel, almost like the insidious storms making their way
across Ireland.

“My memories are vague and somewhat
disjointed.  I’m not sure what’s a real memory or if it’s something
Shannah told me about.  Anyway, I know the day it happened – the accident
that is. Joseph and I were excited about our sixth birthday which was coming
up.  Shannah had planned a party and Da had an early birthday present he
wanted to give us.  I remember Ma being put off with him because she
wanted to wait and surprise us at the party, but Da wouldn’t hear of it. ‘All
those little rugamuppets will want to get on their gift,’ he said to Ma. 
Finally she agreed. Da said we needed to go somewhere special to open the gift,
so he took us to one of the lakes at Killarney Park.  Once we got there he
had us stand in front of the car, facing away from the lake and told us not to
look back at him.  We could hear him open the trunk and shuffle something
around.

“Joseph kept trying to sneak a peek and Da
threatened to take us home and not give us any presents if he didn’t
stop.  He stopped.”  Dad smiled at the thought of his
brother.   “We were jumping up and down and going crazy waiting for
him to give us the word to look.  When he finally did, we both turned around
and saw the most beautiful little red and white schooner boat that you can
imagine, sitting at the water’s edge.” Dad’s eyes were flashing now with a kind
of joy as he recalled that moment.

“Da would take Joseph and me out on his old canoe
to go fishing and to check out the islands off the lake.  One time when we
were out we saw a kid in a schooner boat and begged Ma and Da for one like
it.  We never expected in a million years that we would actually get one,
but there it sat, freshly painted, red and white, with four shiny oak oars
resting inside.  On the back of the boat, in bright blue letters was, J
& J.

“Joseph immediately ran up to the boat and hugged
it, then hugged Da.  He jumped into the little schooner and grabbed an
oar, raising it over his head, shouting to the world
,
‘Happy birthday to
me!’Da laughed then looked over, motioning for me to come join him. 

“Joseph was the one who had no problem speaking
up, good or bad.  He could start a conversation with a total
stranger.  He always asked questions, had ideas, and knew what to do. He
got us into trouble on more than one occasion.” Dad grinned plaintively, losing
himself as he spoke about his brother. 

“I remember Ma saying that he got all the
confidence and I got all the heart,” Dad continued, as he stared at his glass
of water.

“We sat down in the boat and begged Da to take us
out farther into the lake.  After a lot of begging and pleading he finally
agreed and went to the car to get our life jackets.  Joseph and I sat in
the boat, laughing and planning all the places we were going to take it. 
Suddenly a wave washed up and the boat began drifting into the lake, almost
like it was being towed out.  I remember seeing Da pull the life jackets
from the trunk, turn around, and panic when he saw the boat moving away from
the shore.  He wasn’t that far from us but as he started to run our way,
something weird happened.  It was like he’d been hit,” he said, his face
reliving the confusion.

“Hit? What do you mean hit?” I leaned forward
anxiously.

“Something stopped him.  It was as though he
ran into a wall.  I remember seeing dust flying around him, from the dirt
road I guess, and then he dropped down and lay there dazed for a minute. 
There was nothing there and it didn’t look like he tripped.  It was like
he ran into something, the way he stopped then dropped.  Joseph saw what
happened too because he stood up in the boat and yelled. He was screaming like
he saw what it was that hit Da.  He started crying and jumping up and
down, and when he did, the boat began rocking.

“Da yelled at him to sit down but Joseph just kept
crying and calling to him.  I don’t know what had him so upset.  It
was like he’d seen something I hadn’t.”  Dad rubbed his eyes.

I held onto to my father’s arm.

“And all the while, the boat was drifting further
out into the lake.  I grabbed an oar and tried to paddle us back in
but…and I know this is going to sound crazy, Wils, but…I swear, something
grabbed that oar out of my hands. ” Dads eyes were glassy with tears.  He
shook his head and went on, emotion threatening to choke off his words.