Author: M G Kizzia

Golden Door Chapter 3 Separation, part 1 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Chris felt the presence tromping along beside him, but by a great effort of will, he ignored it. He did speak once. “You divided us and now all four of us are lost and alone in this strange land. David has only just turned twelve and James is only nine. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

The invisible thing, whatever it was, did not respond, though it seemed to back off a little. Even so, with all that concentration on trying to not be frightened, it came as no surprise when Chris made a wrong turn. He did not recognize that portion of the forest. He saw a boulder and a stump which he felt sure he had never seen before, and now, since it was just about dark, he thought to sit and rest with the hope that he might catch his bearings.

“Sorry.” He heard the whisper nearby. “I’m a Pookah.”

A spooka, Chris thought, and he also thought to move on before the hair on the back of his neck, which already stood up, took the better part and started running off without him. Besides, he heard something up ahead and wondered if it might be one of the boys.

“So, what? It’s your job?” Chris mumbled as he started off. He did not hear an answer, but he felt the affirmation come from the Pookah, and he seriously had to struggle to keep his feet to a steady pace.

After a short walk, the sound of snoring assured him that whatever it might be, it was not Beth or one of his brothers. He got extra curious when he got close, and the presence of the Pookah went away. It occurred to him that if this, whatever it was, could frighten an invisible creature, he might not want to get too close. He saw it asleep against a tremendous boulder. It looked as big as the boulder, and snored, just across a small clearing where it looked like someone let a campfire get out of control. Chris saw bits of sheep and sheep bones scattered about. He might have gagged, if the smell of roast lamb did not make him feel so hungry. He took a closer look.

The creature had the body of a giant-sized goat, with a goat’s tail, and it had goat horns on a lion head. The legs and claws appeared lion-like, which suggested the creature might be very fast on the ground; but then it also had great leathery wings and a snake like neck which made Chris think of a dragon. Given what he had already seen in the world, the idea of a dragon did not seem all that strange. He decided to treat this as a sleeping dog—or goat-lion-dragon thing, best left alone, and he started to back out the way he came. But by then it had become quite dark, and he could not help cracking twigs as he walked. After one sharp crack, he considered running, even in the dark. Fortunately, a sudden breath of fire from the creature was more than enough light to show Chris exactly where to place his running feet.

~~~*~~~

“Beth.” The voice floated on the wind and moaned as it called her name. “Your days have been numbered, and it is time for you to die.” The voice sounded very certain about that.

Beth crouched down a little lower in the tall grass and shivered. She would have stopped running much earlier if that darn hoot owl had not screeched at her in the dark. She imagined a giant owl to match the rest of the landscape, and she imagined it swooping down on her, like an owl might swoop down on a mere mouse. As she thought about it, she decided that it might have been a regular sized owl. Of course, when it hooted, she had not been thinking at all, just running. Now she found herself completely separated from the others and hiding in an open field in the middle of the forest. She looked up and felt glad for the glow of the half-moon above, and the shine of the stars which seemed countless, as stars can only appear in the wilderness. It seemed as if she had never seen the stars before, and she would have found it a beautiful sight if not for the voices calling her and talking about her death.

“Be-eth.” A second voice called; a distinctly female voice, like the other voice. “Even you cannot escape the banshee call.”

“Beth. We are coming for you,” a third voice called.

Beth hardly knew what to do. She waited to see where these female creatures would emerge from the trees before she ran in the opposite direction, and she used those few precious moments to settle her heart and catch her breath. She saw them soon enough; three women with hair to their ankles and dressed in what looked like floor length nightgowns. They floated a foot or two off the ground and glowed like the moon. Beth stared for a moment, trying to decide if they looked like angels or ghosts. She finally decided neither image described these women. They had something plainly wicked, even demonic in their looks.

“Beth.” One called as she cupped one hand to her mouth.

“Beth.” A second echoed while the third turned her head all the way around without turning her body in the least. Beth got ready to run back the way she had come, when her eyes got distracted by someone who ran on to the field from the other side.

“Chris,” she cried out, but Chris took two more steps before he dove for the ground. A lion head with two great goat-horns got pushed onto the field by a long snake-like neck. The lion roared and a stream of flame shot directly over Chris’ head. “Chris!” Beth yelled again, but Chris got up as soon as the flame stopped and already swerved in Beth’s direction. Beth glanced at the shrieking banshees, a good thing because the lion head also got drawn to the sound. Beth did not have to be told to run. Chris caught her and they ran together as the three banshees began to rise-up into the night sky. The creature brought its great body on to the field, and without even glancing at the two youngsters who disappeared back into the woods, it opened its leathery wings and took to the sky in pursuit of new prey.

************************

MONDAY

So much for not getting separated. Fortunately there is a light in the darkness and they are all drawn to find out what it is. Until Monday, Happy Reading

*

Golden Door Chapter 2 The Lay of the Land, part 2 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The children did not go very far before arriving at a pool of stagnant water where they paused to breathe and listen. They heard no pursuit, but all the same, they walked around the pool on the side that took them away from the giants.

“It will be dark soon,” Beth remarked. She looked around at the trees and sky and did not appear happy about the idea of spending the night in that forest.

“That’s all right,” Chris said, from a bit further on. “I think we’ve come to the hill.”

“Yeah.” David nodded and spoke as quietly as he could. “The castle is on the hill.”

Sadly, it turned out to be only a small rise whose backside held a meadow full of flowers. The flowers were in full bloom and the aroma of so many varieties smelled overwhelming. They were well down into the meadow before they noticed the bees. One buzzed past Chris’ head, and he asked.

“What was that? A bird?”

“Bee.” David answered through gritted teeth. His eyes closed, his hands made fists he held up to his chin, his body became as tense as possible, and he stood as still as he could while a bee buzzed in front of him and tried to decide if he might be a flower.

Everyone else looked around and discovered they were in the middle of a swarm, and the bees were like none they had ever seen, being the size of Chris’ fist. “Giant bees,” Chris said softly.

“Figures.” James spoke even more softly. He stared at the hive in a tree if it was not the whole tree.

“Back up everyone, slowly. Back the way we came,” Beth said, though her words were unnecessary since James and Chris were already doing that very thing. David also moved, though he went a bit more swiftly once the bee decided that he was not a flower after all.

They came to the little rise and went back over to the other side before anyone dared exhale; but now, aware of the bees, they saw that some had wandered as far as the stagnant pool in search of nectar.

When the family got back to that water, Beth screamed. She could not help it. She saw a snake swim across the surface of the pool, and she hated snakes. Of course, chances are the snake scurried away thinking that Beth’s scream was some predatory bird out for a late day snack; but then the children had to stand still for another minute and listen again. They strained against the sound of the wind and rustling leaves to see if they attracted anything unwanted. They all twitched nervously, but David, one especially inclined to be jumpy, did not imagine he could take much more. He stood a little apart and faced the others, his body as tense as it had been in the bee field, his hands still in fists.

“Boo!” David heard that in his ear as clear as a bell. He felt the presence behind him, and he screamed. He could not help it any more than Beth; and he also could not help what his feet did as he began to run for his life.

“Davey!” Chris and James yelled together.

“We have to stick together,” Beth said more quietly, with a hard glance at the yellers. She began to follow in David’s direction, and she noticed the sun had nearly set at her back. “At least he ran away from the giants.”

Chris followed. James brought up the rear and shook his head.

While pushing through an area of thick underbrush, James’ shirt got caught on a thorn bush. He had to stop to get himself free and remove a few burrs he picked up along the way.

“A little lamb.” James heard the words clearly. He felt startled, but not frightened. He thought it might be a person just out of sight. There might have still been light by the sea where they first came into the world, but in among the trees, the darkness had come up fast and James could not see well in the twilight. The colors had already faded to gray.

“Who are you?” James asked. He tried not to tremble.

“Pookah,” the answer came, but it did not get followed by the person.

“Show yourself,” James demanded.

“But I’m right beside you,” Pookah said.

James felt his hair stand up and a chill run down his spine. He spun around but found nothing to see. “Go away!” he yelled, like he sometimes yelled at his brother David. “Leave me alone. Go away!”

“See if I help you!” Pookah snapped back at him, and James heard the footsteps of something big. He saw the grass crushed and the bushes pushed out of the way, but Pookah stayed invisible.

James added his own scream to the late afternoon air. He sounded and acted very much like David as he ran from the invisible monster. It hardly mattered. Chris and Beth had neither heard James nor saw him stop and had moved on. James might not have found them again in any case.

“I don’t think David went much farther than this,” Chris said at last. He attempted to halt his sister. “After his panic I would guess David doubled back to try and find us, especially now that it is getting dark. We must have missed him.”

Beth stopped walking, but she honestly did not listen. Her eyes focused on the evening shadows of the trees that darkened as the last of the light began to vanish. She did not feel thrilled with the shapes of some of those shadows and decided that she would not enjoy spending the night in the woods. “But we have to find him. We have to stick together,” she said at last.

“This way.” Chris pointed, turned, and started walking. He tried to keep a careful eye on their progress while Beth shouted for David. He believed he could find the way back, at least to the stagnant pool.

Beth paused long enough for one last look around her immediate area. She heard a voice. “Will you join me for supper?” She felt the hot breath on the back of her neck and something that wasn’t there licked her neck and ear. Beth ran. She shrieked. She said “Eew!” and wiped her ear and neck clean of the slimy lick, and while she managed not to scream, she ran all the same.

“Beth?” Chris turned back around at the sound of his sister’s distress. “Beth?” He called a little louder but heard no response. “James?” he called. He thought his little brother had been right on his heels, but James was not there. Three of the four children had run off, and poor Chris now stood there all alone in the dark, in the midst of a forest that did not exist on Earth. “Beth? James? David?” He tried once more.

“Dave’s not here.” Chris heard the words and he decided he had better start walking. He could wait for the others by the pool, and hope that they might show up soon.

Golden Door Chapter 2 The Lay of the Land, part 1 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Hey! Children!” Someone yelled from behind. Beth and Chris spun around to see a man tall enough to block the sun.

“Run!” Beth and Chris both spoke at the same time, and all four scattered for the grain. They had little hope they could get there, or hide once they arrived, but there seemed no other choice.

“Bert?” One of the giants turned, squinted, and shaded his eyes.

“Say something?” The other giant looked up, afraid he missed something important.

“Get them! Get the children!” Bert yelled, but by the time the other two figured out what he was yelling about, the children were hidden in the field, amongst the grain. After a short way, Beth fell to her knees and crawled in a zig-zag pattern as fast as she could. The boys came right behind her.

Bert continued to yell. “Get out! Get out of there, you morons! Get out of the grain, you’re stomping it to bits!” James, in the rear, caught sight of a sandaled foot nearly as big as himself being gently lifted into the sky. “Lady Ashtoreth isn’t a stupid demon. She doesn’t want the field destroyed.”

“But this is the field of the Kairos,” one of the giants spoke. “If he wakes up, he’ll be really mad.”

“All the more reason to stay out of it, you blinkin’ fool,” Bert responded.

“Sorry, Bert.”

The children heard a loud slap! “Stupid doofus!” Bert said, and one giant began to cry.

“What did you hit Rupert for? Why are you yelling at him?”

They heard a second slap. “I was yelling at you, pea brain.”

That got followed by a dull thud, which sounded like a punch. “I am not a pea brain. You take that back.”

“Why should I, pea brain?” Apparently, someone got pushed because the giant that was crying stopped crying and yelled.

“What ya pushing for?” He must have shoved back, because the cursing started up along with plenty of slapping, hitting, and kicking.

“I feel sorry for the one in the middle,” James mumbled as he came to a stop. Chris and Beth were whispering, and then Chris shared with David and James.

“We’re going to try and get to the trees at the back of the field. I think we can lose them in the forest.”

“But we have got to stick together,” Beth added, and they started to crawl in the direction they hoped would take them into the forest.

The fighting between the giants, and it sounded like an awful row, stopped as suddenly as it started when Bert shouted, “The children!”

“But the grain,” Rupert reminded them.

“Get around to the back,” Bert ordered. “If they get to the trees, they might get away. Come on, Knuckles, quit lying around.”

“Coming,” Knuckles answered, but his voice sounded rather shaky and uncertain.

The children stopped. The giants circled the field much faster than they could go through it. “The castle?” Chris whispered, but Beth shook her head. She was not moving until she saw what the giants did.

“But Bert. The field’s too big for the three of us,” Rupert complained.

“They could be anywhere in there by now,” Knuckles agreed with his friend, and the children heard a groan coupled with a rending in the earth. Bert pulled up a switch, in fact, a young sapling. The others did the same.

“Now, look careful-like,” Bert said, and the children heard the swishing back and forth, as the grain covered them for a second. They heard swishing down the way as well, until Bert exploded. “I said careful!” Then they heard a whoosh of wind and the stinging sound like a whip struck home, and a tremendous, “Ow!” This got followed by more whooshing and the cracking of whip-trees against shirts and bare skin, and Beth decided to take a chance.

Beth got to her feet but stayed bent over. The boys did the same, except James who did not need to bend over at all, and they ran for the forest. They were very close. Fortunately, Bert and Knuckles had their backs to the children. Knuckles turned away, because he just whipped Rupert in the eyes. Rupert, the only giant facing them had both eyes closed and he rubbed one. Bert did not notice, because he got busy bringing his small tree down on the back of Knuckle’s head.

“Doofus is right,” James mumbled as they ran deep into the trees. This time David heard and smiled in spite of himself.

After a while, the children stopped. They huffed and puffed, and Beth had to put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Chris seemed the best off of the four. At fifteen, soon to be sixteen, he did a lot of jogging and walking around town back home when he could not catch a ride.

“Which way?” Beth asked, but she honestly wondered, because the forest turned thick with undergrowth, so their trajectory had not exactly been in a straight line. Chris judged the position of the sun and pointed in the way he imagined led to the castle. He started to walk before the others were quite ready.

“Wait a minute,” Beth said, sharply. She kept herself from yelling. “Who put you in charge? Don’t we even get a vote?”

Chris did not answer her directly. “The castle has to be this way.”

“But don’t you think that is where the Ashtoreth demon is, and the sleeping Kairos, whoever she is?” Beth spoke, even as she began to follow. David got ahead of her at that point, and he turned to walk backwards.

“But maybe Mom and Dad are there, too.” David held on to that thought as his source of comfort. He tripped over a root and fell. James laughed but tried to cover up. “Not funny!” David yelled, way too loud, and he only realized that maybe yelling was not a smart thing to do after it was too late. They heard the noise of crashing trees back the way they came, and they all hurried to catch up with Chris.

Golden Door Chapter 1 Monsters in the House, part 2 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Green grass stretched out before them in a world that looked bright with late afternoon sunshine. They heard the faint roll of the sea somewhere, but they could not see it through the door. They smelled the fresh air and the aroma of growing grain which they could barely make out off to their right. They felt a touch of the cool breeze that wafted through the meadow on a lazy afternoon in late May. The grass looked freshly cut or grazed. Beth judged grazed, from the medieval dress of the two people who stood some hundred yards off down by the grain. It seemed hard to tell, exactly, because those people had their backs to the door; but they looked medieval, and the grain looked like early grain, barely up to their knees after a March planting.

“Creepy,” Chris breathed.

“Cool!” David yelled. To be sure, yelling was David’s normal volume. “Look at the castle.” It sat up on a hill, well beyond the people. There were more towers and spires than any of them could count, including some that reached right up into the clouds. The castle walls looked formidable enough to withstand any army foolish enough to assault them. A clear stream came from somewhere inside the castle grounds and wound lazily down the hillside, around the occasional clump of trees, until it reached the meadow. By then it became a very small river which found the sea somewhere behind them. Beth looked behind, but all she could see was the kitchen.

The scratching came again, and this time it sounded definite and pronounced.

“Did you guys leave Seabass trapped in Mom and Dad’s closet all afternoon?”  Some scorn entered Beth’s voice, but before the boys could answer, she stepped around the corner. Chris shook his head. David pointed, but Seabass had gone from the couch.

They found the cat under the couch, shivering and afraid. With James’ help, David got the cat out and then held the beast securely in his arms as overweight, gregarious, love everyone Catbird, the golden retriever, began to growl. Beth screamed and the boys heard a tremendous crash in their parent’s room. Beth made it to the bedroom door, slammed it shut. She held the doorknob and poked her head around the corner to the living room.

“Run!”

The boys just stood there.

Catbird began to dance and bark his head off at whatever was behind the door. Seabass tried to wriggle free to follow Beth’s instructions, but David held the cat tight. Chris stared with his mouth open. James had the good sense to step through the door and on to the green meadow. That movement broke the spell; that and the sudden crash against the bedroom door from the inside which almost made Beth lose her grip, and which came punctuated by a loud crack. The wood door looked ready to give way.

Chris grabbed David to keep him from running down the front hall and out the front door. He shoved David after James. Then he grabbed Catbird by the collar, and carefully, because the dog had become agitated beyond belief. Chris nodded to Beth as he dragged the dog toward the golden door, and only paused when he got to the place where the door and rug met.

“Come on!” Chris screamed at his sister and went through, even as a second crash came against the bedroom door.

“There’s more than one!” Beth screamed back.

“Hurry!” The golden door started to close of its’ own volition. A third crash, and the bedroom door came to pieces, but it held together in sharp and ragged edges long enough to keep back whatever growling, snarling, roaring beasts were trying to get at Beth. Beth managed a good scream as she ran and dove through the doorway. They heard the roar of the beast echo in the house before the golden door slammed shut and they were no longer in the world.

Beth chalked up her spinning head and queasy stomach to having just escaped with her life, but as she turned from the door to look at the boys, she noticed they all looked as pale as she felt. Chris started looking around, but it seemed hard to tell if he could focus on anything. David, fallen to his knees, looked sick to his stomach. James just sat, his head in his hands, until he looked up at her.

“I feel like I died.”

“That’s all right.” Beth comforted her littlest brother. “We made it. We’re safe.”

“That’s not it.” James pointed into the west.

Beth turned to look. She shaded her eyes as well as she could against a sun which sat low in the sky, ready to set in a couple of hours. She saw the sea, closer than she imagined. A wide, sandy beach started some twenty yards off; but at the moment, it got hard to gaze in that direction because the sun glistened off the water with such intensity it made her eyes tear. She got ready to turn back to her brother when she realized what he pointed at. The golden door had vanished.

“Chris?” Beth called to get her brother’s attention.

“Catbird and Seabass disappeared when we came through, just like the door,” Chris said.

“They ran off?” Beth wondered, but James shook his head, so she knew they vanished and were not going to be found, just like their dad, and now maybe their mom, too.

David touched her shoulder. Beth reached out and hugged him, which was what he needed at that moment, and then she included James in her hug, and Chris bent down to add his arms.

“What was that thing?” James tried to ask.

“What will happen when Mom comes home?” David’s voice drowned out his brother’s natural whisper. “It will eat her.”

“No,” Beth spoke quickly. “I think the reason Mom was not home when we all got there is because she is already here.” She looked around and wondered where “here” might be. She looked up at Chris, in need of his support.

“Mom is probably here already, and Dad too, I think.” Chris did not sound sure about what he thought, but he tried to speak with conviction to not frighten the younger two.

“But where are we?” James tried again.

“Maybe Mom and Dad are in the castle,” David suggested.

“Maybe.” Beth stood, so the others stood as well. The feeling of having died faded. “Maybe those people can help.” Without another word, they began to walk toward the distant field of grain.

The men beside the field looked away from the sun. They appeared to be studying the grain, like they were watching it grow. But there was no way they would have ever seen the children through that glaring sun, even if they turned around. Thus, the children got close before the mind trick Beth played with herself suddenly let go and things came into perspective. She had imagined two men by a new-May field full of short stalks just sprouted from the ground. As she approached, she came to see the field as fully ripe and tall, despite it being May. That meant it likely stood taller than Chris, the tallest of the four children, and that meant the men had to be fifteen or twenty feet tall.

“Giants,” James whispered.

“Creepy,” Chris agreed, and he clamped his hand over David’s mouth before David could say anything too loud.

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MONDAY

Four young people escape the monsters by going to another world, only this other world appears to be full of giants. That might not be an improvement. Until Next Time, Happy Reading.

*

Golden Door Chapter 1 Monsters in the House, part 1 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

David and James got off the school bus for the last time that year. Summer vacation arrived, but it would be a long one with their dad unaccountably missing. The boys figured their older brother Chris got home, since the high school bus came before their own. Their older sister Beth’s car also sat in the driveway, parked a little crooked. It blocked dad’s car, but that hardly mattered. Dad had been missing for a week, and no one knew where he had gone. Chris said he asked everyone he knew. Beth said she checked the hospitals. Mom had no ideas. She just cried, a lot.

As David and James came into the run-down ranch house, David yelled.

“Mom.”

No one answered. Mom appeared to be the one person who was not home.

Backpacks went on the living room floor, and James pulled out pencil and paper. He turned to his brother. “I’m going to try and write something before I start actual vacation,” he said. “Be good and try not to disturb me. I won’t be long.”

David nodded. He wanted to see what damage he could do in the kitchen first. He watched James go down the hall to the room they shared before he stuffed his face. That did not take long, and then he feared he might get bored before his vacation even started. He paused to listen to the silence in the house.

Beth, his nineteen-year-old sister, was most likely on the phone, locked in her room, though dad said they were not supposed to lock the doors. Chris, who would be sixteen in a month, in his own locked room, probably got on the computer or started playing some videogame. Little brother James had their room where he worked on some secret thing with his pencil and paper. Mom probably went shopping. David felt like the only one left to worry. He very much wanted his dad to come home and be safe and well.

David paused at the door of his parent’s room. The bed sat empty and made. Mama said it was the strangest thing when Dad disappeared. One-minute Dad lay there, and the next he vanished, like into thin air. “Like he went invisible?” David had asked. Mama could not answer because she had been in the kitchen at the time. She did not actually see him disappear. She heard scampering, like little feet, but then he was gone and all she could do was cry. In fact, crying seemed about all she could do for the first few days—that and stare at the golden door in the living room which showed up at about the same time.

David peeked around the corner at the living room—just a step away. He looked at the door, solid gold in a silver frame. It reached to the ceiling and stood in the middle of the room with no visible support of any kind. Mom did not know what to make of it, but she said don’t tell anyone until she had a chance to think about what to do. Chris said it was only a gold painted slab of junk metal with a handle and ignored it. Beth said Dad was probably behind the door. David wondered how it stayed upright. He imagined a good knock would send it falling flat-side to the floor, and what a terrific crash that would be!

A scratching sound came from the closet in his parent’s room. David imagined Mama went out and accidentally shut Seabass the cat into the windowless, walk-in closet. “Mama would never allow the clothes to be hung in a way where they might scratch the paint,” David assured himself, out loud, to calm his nerves. He hesitated at the handle. David was not the bravest soul in the world, but he thought that maybe this once he might look. Besides, Seabass the cat was nowhere to be seen, though how the cat might have shut himself in the closet was beyond his ability to imagine.

He opened the door quickly. The late afternoon sun shot into the space. He called the cat, but nothing happened. He did not look any further. He felt afraid to look too closely, so he shut the closet door again and returned to the living room where he sat on the couch and stared at the golden door for a long time.

Seabass, the cat came to sit beside him. Catbird, the big golden retriever, yawned and got up from where he slept against the sliding doors to the back yard. That spot no longer appeared attractive once the sun dipped behind the trees and cast the whole back side of the house in shadow.

David petted Catbird’s contented golden head with one hand while his other hand stroked Seabass’ soft fur. They stayed that way for a time, until David abruptly stood. Both animals looked up, startled by the sudden movement and loss of attention. David clenched his teeth.  The fact that the door had been locked all week did not matter, except in the back of David’s mind where he hoped the door might still be locked.

“Ga!” It was unlocked. David peeked and closed the door again with another “Ga,” significantly louder than the first.

James heard. He had finished writing his letter and decided he better find out what Davey got all stirred up about. He went next door and tapped Chris on the shoulder. Chris took a couple of taps before he looked up and lowered his headphones. A piece of sandwich dangled from his mouth. He honestly wasn’t listening.

“Come on,” James said. “Come on.” He had to say it twice before Chris got up. Perhaps Chris was still not paying attention, but at least his feet started moving.

Halfway to the living room, they heard it again. “Gaaa!” It got deliberately shouted down the hallway.

“The call of the excited Davey.” James spoke under his breath as they arrived, and David shouted something at his brothers they could all understand.

“It’s unlocked!”

Chris immediately turned to get Beth and almost bumped into her as she came barreling out of her room.

“I heard,” Beth said. “What’s in there?”

Chris shrugged.

“I looked,” David grinned, and his eyes were as wide open as they could be.

“What did you see?” Beth sounded miffed that she had to ask twice.

“Gaa!” James answered for his brother. He shrugged, as if to say, “What else?”

Beth looked perturbed, but David giggled. “Gaa!” He nodded in agreement with James. He kept grinning as he pointed at the door.

Beth shoved Chris forward. Chris put on the brakes. While they stared each other down, James stepped up to look for himself. He opened the door a mere crack.

“He’s right. It’s Gaa,”

Beth frowned, swung the door wide open and almost said “Gaa!” herself.

Golden Door Prologue: The Letter

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Dear Nancy Ann,

My father got very sick, so he was not able to write to you. No one will tell me what it is. They say they don’t know. I think he may be dying.

 

He quit his job and Mama said that was stupid. But then he got sick and now he has disappeared. He is not in the hospital. Chris and Beth both checked. Even Mama says she doesn’t know where he is.

 

Then a funny thing happened. A door just appeared one day in the middle of the living room. I think it is made of gold. I can walk all the way around it. The back side is just flat and gold, but the front is a door except it doesn’t go anywhere. It is locked. Davey thought it was cool until Chris said monsters were going to come out of it in the middle of the night. Davey likes to sleep with the light on. I don’t care. Beth and I think that maybe my Dad is behind the door. I wish it wasn’t locked.

 

I am glad it is the beginning of summer vacation. I don’t know if I am going to like the fourth grade and the intermediate school. I wish we could visit you like Dad wanted, but it doesn’t look like things will work out for this summer. I wish my Dad was here.

 

Your Best Friend

James

 

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If you have read the Avalon stories that have appeared regularly on this blog, seasons one to nine, you might recall that much of the trouble the travelers faced was the result of a demon-goddess who once invaded Avalon and used the Heart of Time to try and change history. The Golden Door is that story.

The Kairos is deathly ill. Avalon is slowly falling apart. History and time itself is threatened, and the four children of the Kairos, Beth, Christopher, David, and James are the only hope of overcoming the demonized goddess and saving the Heart of Time.

If you have not read the Avalon stories, they are all available at your favorite online retailer.

You might begin with the prequel Invasion of Memories. The Pilot Episode is now included in one version of Season One, Travelers. Both are available in ebook or trade paperback as you may prefer.

Seasons 1, 2, and 3, with 13 episodes in each book, brings the Travelers from Avalon through the days of legend. This romp through time, history, and myth begins at the fabled Tower of Babel and moves from one time zone to the next where the travelers have to deal with all sorts of spiritual and supernatural beings, creatures, monsters, and demons as well as ancient aliens.

Seasons 4, 5, and 6 brings the travelers into the days of ancient empires. Some travelers are lost in the struggle. Some new people lost in time are added to the group as the only chance to get back home alive. The spiritual beings and ancient aliens never go away and the travelers discover that some can follow them from time zone to time zone, and are now hunting them.

Seasons 7, 8, and 9 brings the travelers into the common era and face to face with the worst monsters of all — the human monsters. This last of the three trilogies of the series are being formatted and covers are being finalized even as this brief promo is being written. Coming to an online retailer near you soon. Look for them.

Please support this author and remember, reviews are always appreciated.

Happy Reading.

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Medieval 6: Giovanni 12 Lost and Found, part 2 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The circus people got up early Monday morning. They normally got up just before dawn. It came from living in camps where they became attuned to the natural rhythm of the sun. People who normally lived inside spent much more time in torchlight and tended to wake for breakfast, but not before. The two Venetians thought they were being extra early and would not be seen as they arrived at the circus site when the sun still touched the horizon. They were seen by plenty of workers in the growing light, not the least being the roustabouts who were preparing to set up the big tent with Mombo’s wonderful help.

The Venetians scooted carefully through the shadows, from tent to tent, trying to hide though they were seen all the way. By the time they reached the tent where Leonora went in to do her face for the day, Giovanni got the word and he ran. The two Venetians slipped into the tent there, though Giovanni saw them from a distance. He had no doubt who they were and found himself trading places with Kirstie as he, or rather she ran. Kirstie found a sword in her hand.

Leonora screamed as the big one grabbed her. The short one placed the gold crown of Germany on the table before the mirror. “The watch will find the crown in the circus, accuse them of being the thieves, and shut everything down. It should be easy then to see the Kairos condemned.”

“No,” Leonora started to scream, but the big one clamped his hand over her mouth so she could hardly breathe.

“Stop playing with your tart. Let’s go before we are found with the goods.”

“Why does this one look familiar?” The big one asked.

The short one stared for a second before his eyes got wide. “Lady Leonora,” he gasped. “Bring her.” The man turned to the tent door and found a scimitar slice across his throat, nearly taking his head off.

Kirstie said, “Three,” and added the man’s name. “Lind… and Gruden,” she said, looking at the big man. That man tightened his grip around Leonora. Kirstie found her scimitar gone so she pulled her battleax and shield. Gruden had his sword out, but he was not about to let go of Leonora who he used as his own shield. Leonora, however, was not one to be so easily used. When she came to herself, she stomped on Gruden’s toe, wiggled out from his grip, and rolled away from the man.

Gruden tried to rush out from the tent, but Kirstie caught him with her axe in his shoulder. He howled as the axe fell out. He waved his sword generally at the people coming in response to Leonora’s scream, and he ran off in the only way open to him, his arm hanging limp by his side.

Kirstie did not give chase. Instead, she traded places with Giovanni and he hugged Leonora. They were kissing when the others arrived, but quickly Leonora began to cry and pushed Giovanni away. “It’s too late,” she said. “If Gubio gets back to the palace, they will know.”

“They will know?” Rosa asked as she pushed forward to take Leonora’s hand.

“Luigi and Gubio recognized me. They will tell the emperor and they will come looking for me.”

“Lind and Gruden,” Giovanni said, pointing to the man at his feet who was almost decapitated. “Luigi and Gubio? I thought it was Luigi and Mario.” He smiled at himself, but this was no smiling matter.

“I’m serious,” Leonora yelled and slapped him softly in his upper arm.

“Quite right,” Giovanni agreed. “The only thing we can do is take the crown back to Otto and explain how they were trying to plant the stolen goods in order to accuse us of the crime, but we caught them in the act.”

“I’m going.” Oberon said, and many voices echoed that, but Giovanni shook his head to the crowd. “Constantine, Madigan, Oberon and myself…”

“I’m going,” Rosa insisted and Leonora hung on to Rosa’s hand.

“And Rosa. That is enough people to be thrown in jail in one day.”

“Optimism,” Constantine teased. “That is what I like about the circus.”

Sibelius had to come. With Madigan and Constantine they carried the stretcher with Luigi’s body on it. Giovanni wanted to hold on to Leonora’s hand, but Leonora would not let go of Rosa’s hand and Rosa walked between them. When they arrived at the palace, the guards appeared to be waiting for them, and one suggested guards were sent to the circus to fetch them. They got escorted to a big room, an audience chamber, where Otto, some king, possibly from Poland, and the Venetians waited. It turned out Leonora’s father, Lord Stephano headed the Venetian delegation.

“Father…”

“Leonora…”

“Quiet! Quiet for a minute,” Giovanni interrupted and held out the crown to Otto who was grinning before he saw and looked quickly around the room at all his advisors and such. “I believe this is yours. We caught Luigi and Gubio in the act of trying to plant this at the circus in order to blame us for the theft. The question is who hates the circus enough to want to blame us for the crime?” He looked hard at Lord Stephano.

Leonora’s father pleaded innocence. “No secret that I don’t like you, and all the more now that I see you held my daughter prisoner, but I would never do such a thing. You are guilty in my book of too many things to mention. And now that you have despoiled my innocent child…”

“I despoiled no one,” Giovanni objected. “Leonora is in the same virgin state she was when she came to us. I haven’t touched her.”

“I’ll say you haven’t touched me,” Leonora harumphed and turned on her father. She pointed to the young girl that stood to the side. “What were you thinking bringing my little sister Honoria on the road? The road can be dangerous.” They all noticed Rosa who slid over to the girl closer to her age and they were whispering.

“Untouched?” both Otto and Lord Stephano wondered about that one.

“I have reformed,” Giovanni said with his hand up like he was taking a sacred pledge.

Otto frowned but kept to the subject. He asked, “Well, If Lord Stephano did not set you up, who did?”

A woman’s voice came from the back of the room. “It was the bishop. He heard lies about the circus and lies about Don Giovanni and he believed them.” She stepped forward and pointed at the man, much to Giovanni’s surprise because he did not know Madam Figiori came with them.

The bishop proved to have no spine whatsoever, even less than spineless Umberto the saboteur. He did not even imagine denial. He immediately fell to his knees and wept. “Lord, forgive me. I heard the circus was a pagan shrine full of witches and demons trying to entice people away from the faith. Forgive me.”

“So you had the crown stolen, planned to plant it to accuse innocent people of the crime and then planned to lie about it,” Giovanni said quickly. “I think tears are not enough for lying, stealing, and cheating. I think some penance is in order. What do you think?”

“Penance,” Otto agreed. “But I will leave that up to the church if you don’t mind.”

“One thing I like about my friend. You are not only smart you are also wise.” He grinned for his friend and turned to the weeping bishop. “You should come and see the show for yourself. We have some tricks up our sleeves, but it is all human. No witchery. No evil things allowed, and Leonora drags me to church every chance she gets. Anyway, come see for yourself. You don’t want to miss the Don Giovanni Circus…

…The Greatest Show on Earth.” Otto and Leonora joined him on the tag line.

“So, people. We have to get back and get ready for the show,” Giovanni said before the repentant bishop began to confess all the evil things he heard.

“I can’t go back,” Leonora said, and when Giovanni gave her his questioning look she explained. “Now that I am caught, I’m afraid there is no going back for me.”

“What do you mean?” Giovanni asked. “Where else will you go?”

Leonora shrugged. “Back to my father’s house where I will be miserable for the rest of my life.” she shrugged again. “Maybe I’ll marry your best friend, Otto, so we can both be miserable together.”

Otto did not like that idea. “Can’t,” he said. “I am re-engaged to a girl from the Eastern Romans, Zoe something.”

“Porphyrogentia.” The voice came from the back of the room. “Her name is Zoe Porphyrogentia.”

“You see?” Otto said. “Zoe something-or-other.”

‘So, I guess it is home for me,” Leonora said sadly. “Maybe I can make everyone around me miserable too.” She gave her father that mean look. “As I always say, share the misery.”

“But, you always say share the happiness,” Constantine found his voice.

“Makes me want to cry already,” Madigan whispered.

“But what about the circus? What about your family?” Giovanni prodded her.

“Father and Honoria are my family,” Leonora said with a big sigh.

Giovanni reached out for her hand and suggested that he would drag her back if necessary. She got loud as she extracted her hand from his. “Forget the circus. I quit your circus.”

“You can’t quit your family.”

“I don’t care. I quit. Do you hear me? I quit.”

Giovanni growled at her. “Is that your final answer?”

“Yes,” she shouted.

“In that case, will you marry me?” he shouted back.

“Yes,” she growled and threw her arms around his neck and they kissed like they intended to be there still kissing when the sun went down.

Everyone smiled except Leonora’s sister and Rosa who gushed at true love, and Leonora’s father who frowned and put his face in his hand before he seemed to shrug like his daughter. That caused the foreign king who did not quite follow everything to let out a good belly laugh.

“Well, you are not getting my other daughter,” Lord Stephano groused.

Otto got the man’s attention. “Both Giovanni and I have agreed to support your nephew as the new Doge at whatever time your brother passes away. Be content that he is not against you.”

“Father,” Honoria spoke into the silence that followed. “Can I go with my friend Rosa. She has promised to show me the elephant.”

“What a wonderful idea,” Otto said. “Let’s all go see the elephant.” They trooped out of the room. As Otto went by he taped Giovanni on the shoulder and said, “Take a breath.”

Lord Stephano’s comment was more pointed. “Just wait until you have a daughter.”

Giovanni pulled his head back an inch though his eyes and Leonora’s eyes never left each other. He said, “I’m looking forward to it.”

She whispered, “So am I,” and turned red thinking about it before they went right back for kissing round two. That got another belly laugh.

END

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Beginning Monday

If you have read the Avalon stories that have appeared regularly on this blog, seasons one to nine, you might recall that much of the trouble the travelers faced was the result of a demon-goddess who once invaded Avalon and used the Heart of Time to try and change history. The Golden Door is that story.

The Kairos is deathly ill. Avalon is slowly falling apart. History and time itself is threatened, and the four children of the Kairos, Beth, Christopher, David, and James are the only hope of overcoming the demonized goddess and saving the Heart of Time. Don’t miss it.

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Medieval 6: Giovanni 12 Lost and Found, part 1 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After Heidelberg, they stuck with the river and went through Mannheim, Worms, Mainz, and all the way up to Cologne. From Cologne, they crossed the river and made for Aachen where they arrived on Sunday, July ninth. They were taken to a field where they could set up, but they did nothing except go to church and rest on that day.

Leonora got nervous in Cologne. From there it took five days on good roads to reach Aachen and every step of the way she became more nervous and got grumpy and cranky about everything. She spent that Sunday, the day of rest, hiding in Giovanni’s wagon. She locked herself in at one point and Giovanni had to get Mankin to turn insubstantial, the way goblins can and come up through the floorboards to the inside of the cabin to unlock the door from the inside.

Leonora did not scream or make any indication that she was scared in any way. She just huffed and called Giovanni a cheater. “Cheat,” she said. “Cheater.” Giovanni and Mankin got the papers and ledger they needed and left her alone.

Gabriella could not entice her out with food. Titania and Baklovani could not get her to come out and play a game with them. They were going to play a card game with Madam Figiori’s fortune telling cards. Rosa said that she and the boys were going to practice and they needed her to help and critique their work, but she would not budge.

Finally, Giovanni, Oberon, and Edwina, the knife thrower’s wife with the sheers to trim Harley’s hair came to the door and more or less forced their way in.

“I’m afraid,” she confessed. “I have this awful premonition that after all this time I am going to be found out. It feels like what Madam Figiori must go through all the time. It feels terrible, but I can feel it. People are sneaking around. Your friend Otto is going to find out and I am going to be trapped and forced into a marriage I don’t want.”

“Do you even know what you want?” Edwina asked while she snipped. “I thought I wanted Vader. He seemed so handsome and dashing. Now, he throws daggers at me every night.” She sighed without explaining anymore.

“Yes,” Leonora said. “I know exactly what I want, but someone is too stupid and stubborn for words.” She gave Giovanni her meanest stare.

Oberon looked at Giovanni, who looked distressed. Oberon said, “She must have heard you use the phrase stupid and stubborn, though they do go together like bacon and eggs. Okay, now I’m hungry.”

“There is nothing more stubborn than a man who is wrong but thinks he is right,” Edwina said while she brushed away the cut hair.

“Not just men,” Giovanni said. “It means ignorant people think they know everything whereas intelligent people understand how little they know.”

“No,” Leonora grumped and again gave Giovanni her meanest stare. “It is just men.”

“You know the rule,” he raised his voice a little and gave her mean stare right back at her.

“It’s a stupid rule,” she shouted at him.

“I’m not going there,” he shouted.

Her face turned red with anger. She looked ready to explode, but at the last second it all poured out of her and in a small voice she said, “Maybe you really don’t want to go there.”

“That is not true. You know exactly what I want.” Giovanni growled and stomped out of the wagon.

Sibelius sat on the wagon steps whittling something. Rosa tumbled into the wagon as soon as the door opened. She arrived in time to see Leonora’s tears and hear Leonora say, “Maybe I should go to the palace and turn myself in.”

“No,” Rosa spouted. “You can’t do that.” And Rosa, Edwina, and Oberon spent the next half hour talking Leonora out of that idea.

On that Sunday of rest, they found out that Otto was out of town, but he would be coming in that evening, so that was good. A delegation from Venice was also in town to finalize and sign some trade agreements. Giovanni hoped the Venetians had seen the circus and might encourage the people to go and see for themselves. They also heard that some bishop from the east was visiting the bishop in Aachen and he presumably heard all about the circus. Of course, what he heard was distorted in his mind.

The bishop imagined the circus was full of magic, that is, witches, demons, and pagan practices that would lead people away from the true faith. The circus and circus master had already enticed Otto, and that was a danger to all the people. From the Venetians, he heard all about the immoral adulterer that ran the circus, this Don Giovanni.

The bishop went to the Venetian delegation since he heard the circus was from Venice. He found two Venetians in particular who agreed with him and supported all of his misconceptions. He thought they should know since they came from the same place.

The two Venetians talked about people they called Flesh Eaters. They sounded like cannibals, or demons that consumed the souls of the faithful. They talked about a whole village of witches. The bishop could only imagine witches cursing the ground, making slaves of the people, or worse, making the dead rise up to serve them like the Witch of Endor.

They told how the circus master fit right in there. He was a man who despoiled poor innocent virgins everywhere he went. He made the evil ones, the cannibals and witches, work together for some unknown foul reason and purpose. He used his black arts to travel halfway around the world and brought back a monster, eight feet tall at the shoulder, eighteen feet long and measured in the tons. And the beast obeys him to destroy his enemies.

They also talked about Wolvs in the Black Forest. He heard about the big bad wolves that hid in the darkness of the woods. This circus master bent the Wolvs to his will, so the Wolvs attacked a town on the Rhine and ate many of the people before they were sent back into the woods to wait. Wait for what?

They say this circus master is thousands of years old. He can change his appearance, clothes, and everything so he can hide in a crowd. He can speak every language and is responsible for the rising up and tearing down of all the great civilizations. His power is great to the ends of the Earth, and the numberless spirits of the air, fire, water, and earth worship him and do his bidding.

The bishop spoke to his priests and to the two Venetians. “And now he is here to do who knows what wicked mischief and maybe even sway the emperor against the faith.”

The bishop decided he needed to find a way to shut down the circus before this circus master, this Don Giovanni could begin whatever malicious plan he had in mind for Aachen and maybe for the whole empire. The problem was the circus people had yet to do anything he could honestly accuse them of. He liked to think of himself as a true to godly, upright, and righteous man. He never wanted to be accused of undue prejudice. He wanted real evidence. It was one of the Venetians that came up with the plan, and he endorsed it even if it involved lying and stealing. He figured he could repent later.

Medieval 6: Giovanni 11 And the Wolv, part 2 of 2

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As they moved up the Rhine through the Black Forest, Titania became scared because of the stories Giovanni told. She feared the wicked witches and their ovens. She feared the trickster spirits that might require her to spin straw into gold. She especially feared the big bad wolf, and no amount of reassurance from Leonora, Baklovani, Sibelius, Needles, and the others made any difference. In fact, she believed so strongly, some of the people were inclined to blame her for their bad luck, though they did not hold it against her. Most said they understood.

At that time, Leonora found out there were more space aliens than she imagined. What happened was the Gott-Druk, that is the Neanderthals who left Earth between twenty and forty thousand years ago and had all that time to work on space technology brought a whole brigade of Wolv to the area to see how long it would take the wild ones to clean out an area from human habitation. The Gott-Druk wanted to repopulate their ancient homeland, which was essentially Europe, but they had to first get rid of the humans living there.

The Wolv looked much like their name but with snub noses like a bear. On their home world, they lived in tribes in a kind of neolithic existence of hunter-gatherers, though they did not gather much. They were carnivores and always hungry. When they stood on their hind feet, they were also seven feet tall and with fangs and front claws that could shred a man in armor. Most important, they could be trained to work together as first-rate soldiers. They had their own language and could communicate with each other. They were not just dumb beasts.

The circus and the people in Baden-Baden locked the gates of the town. They had a wall, but it was made of wood and not anything that would keep out six hundred hungry Wolv. The local priest came up angry and ready to accuse the circus of bringing this evil on them, but he got surprised when Giovanni asked him to say a special mass and lead a time of prayer for the safety of all the people. He got doubly surprised when the circus people sat in the front row and prayed fervently for the Lord to deliver them from the Wolv. The priest still though the circus might be an evil thing in its own way, but at least he realized that against the Wolv, they were all in the same predicament.

Fortunately, the Elenar, that is, the Denisovan people who were cousins and rivals of the Gott-Druk had been watching and followed the Gott-Druk to Earth. They were able to chase away the Gott-Druk and stop the Wolv from doing too much damage. Though no circus people died, many of the men in the town did not survive the attack. Two days later, the circus left town and headed north.

“Do you think the Elenar got them all?” Oberon asked while the circus made for Karlsruhe.

“Quiet,” Giovanni scolded Oberon and his mouth. “Don’t even suggest that they didn’t.”

Of course, the Elenar did not get them all, being mostly concerned with the Gott-Druk. Soon enough, the circus ran into a three-Wolv scout team that was terrorizing the whole area around Heidelberg. It was nearly June by then and Giovanni started pushing the group, though not so fast that they ran into the jaws of the Wolv.

The circus camped south of the city so they could go in at first light and set up for the day of festivities. Leonora and Needles, were the first to hear the howls in the distance. Madam Figiori began to shout and gather the people around the elephant tent. Titania, Baklovani, and Constantine hid where Ravi and Surti desperately tried to keep the elephants calm. Vader brought his knives. Leonardo the horseman and Rugello the fire eater both brought their swords. Others had something like weapons, and Severas had Sir Brutus the bear on his leash. That was probably not a good idea as the bear became very agitated and threatened to break loose at any minute. Pinky the monkey screeched every now and then and that did not help anyone’s nerves.

The Wolv came out of the dark. The first came directly toward them, and the other two held back a minute before they approached the sides more carefully. When the Wolv got close enough, just before it charged, Vader threw a well-aimed knife, followed quickly by more until he ran out of knives. The Wolv did not appeared terribly bothered by having knives sticking out of its hide here and there, until it tried to stand on its hind legs. The legs collapsed. Vader must have cut through to a major muscle group.

“I was right,” Giovanni mumbled as he knew the other two Wolv would come from the sides. Only a loud trumpet like a war cry from Mombo made them hesitate. “If the Wolv broke through the gate in Baden-Baden where the circus was deployed, this circus would not have lasted a minute. He traded places with Nameless and everything froze except he let Leonora and his little ones still move.

Oberon came up holding his bow, though dwarfs were notoriously bad shots. Sibelius came holding his big hammer that only he could lift. Madam Figiori came from the other side with Needles as Leonora grabbed on to Nameless and tried not to look.

Nameless merely waved his hand and the two Wolv on the sides turned to dust. Then he moved out to the wounded one. It is not normally wise to approach any wounded animal. To approach a wounded Wolv might be considered a form of suicide. But in this case, the Wolv did not even growl. It stuck its neck out for the headsman’s axe and plainly said the Greek word, “Kairos.” It was crippled and in Wolv thinking, the crippled were a drag on the tribe and needed to be done away with. This Wolv wanted to die.

“This is not the first time Wolv have come to Earth,” Nameless told Leonora. “In fact, they have over a thousand years of history of being brought by their masters to fight on earth. They once tried to invade, back in the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Despite the conquests of Trajan before him, Hadrian, you might know, gave back much of the land, and made peace. He lost too many men—whole legions fighting off the Wolv. He did not have much choice but to be a peacemaker.”

Nameless turned to the Wolv and asked. “Are there any more Wolv around?” He took a breath and took a look in the Wolv’s chaotic mind. As far as this one knew, they were the last. Just to be sure, Nameless let his senses stretch out through that whole section of the lands of Aesgard. He found no more Wolv so he let it go.

Nameless traded places with another man who appeared in the armor of the Kairos, the great sword Wyrd across his back. The new man immediately shouted, “No. Why d-do I have to d-do it?” But he did not hesitate as the Wolv sat patiently waiting for judgment. He pulled that sword and said, “God forgive me.” In one swift move he cleanly cut the head off the beast and fell to his knees in prayer, asking for forgiveness. Leonora wanted to run to him but she did not dare until he changed back to Giovanni. Then she cried on his back until he stood and wrapped her up in his arms.

Later, Oberon said, “Three strikes, you’re out.”

“I know,” Giovanni responded. The Masters would soon know if they did not already know that he was the Kairos. That would put a target on his back. He chose not to think about that. He stayed busy reassuring the circus that the Wolv were now gone for good.

Titania said it was her worst nightmare. She decided that maybe she was spending too much time with Madam Figiori and maybe that was rubbing off on her. For sure, tales of the big bad wolf would ring through that part of Germany for many years to come.

Medieval 6: Giovanni 11 And the Wolv, part 1 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

They filled the big tent twice in Ulm and might have stayed for a third show, but Giovanni made them move on. It was the first place they said they would try and come again. It was also the first place where the local bishop showed some hostility. Fortunately, they did nothing to accuse them of, and his spies actually enjoyed the show, so he did nothing to prevent them moving on. Most of the circus did not know this. They left happy and optimistic about the journey. Leonora asked if maybe Nameless or Junior did something on their behalf to fill the tent. Giovanni said absolutely not.

“My other lives are not allowed to interfere in that way. This is my life to live it well or screw it up all on my own. There are strict rules on how any life in the past or future might interfere with the present, but even stricter rules as far as the gods are concerned.”

“We have an elephant,” she said, and neither of them could think of any good reason why Junior would do that.

‘I guess when I was a kid I promised Otto I would show him an elephant. I think Junior did it mostly for me because I should know better than to make those kinds of promises.”

“What kind of promises?” she asked, sounding as innocent as possible.

“The kind where I have to depend on others to deliver.”

“Oh…” She tried not to sound disappointed, but she nodded that she understood. Then she had another thought. “I can’t believe you are friends with the Holy Roman Emperor.”

“Worse than that,” he said. “I may be his only real friend and everyone needs at least one real friend.”

“You are my one real friend. I don’t have any others.”

Giovanni laughed. “You have no friends in the circus?”

“Like friends,” she said. “More like family, like you told me. Oh, honestly, I love them all, well just about, and that is certainly like family, but it is different. You know what I mean…”

He hugged her and laughed again.

Giovanni and Leonora were soft and tender with each other in those days. They often touched and sometimes even kissed. When they got to Breisach on the Rhine, Giovanni said he had a surprise for her. He took her into the village. It was not what Leonora expected and hardly what she hoped for. Giovanni traded places with Genevieve who took Leonora all around the town, pointing out many things that had changed since her day, but many things that were the same. She talked to Leonora as woman to woman. Genevieve liked to talk and, after getting over her initial shock, Leonora got to where she opened up in a way she would never open up to a man.

In the end, it came down to one thing. “I want to be with him and no one else for the rest of my life. Why won’t he marry me? I dream about our children.” Leonora cried a little because he was not there to see her cry.

Genevieve thought about it before she answered, a habit she only picked up later in life, though she appeared to be around eighteen, maybe Leonora’s age. “One of his oldest and most sacred rules is he will never be with one of his little ones in that way, or even half and half’s down to the tenth generation. No matter how tempting that might be, he never will and I never did. I never even thought about that. You see, more than four thousand years ago, he, or rather she became a fairy for a period of time for reasons I won’t go into. She accomplished what she wanted, but during that time she fell in love with a fairy prince and they had a son. When she returned to herself, she spent the next four thousand years kicking herself because, while her son was ninety-nine percent fairy, he had just enough of the goddess in him to be immortal. And I don’t think he ever grew out of being a teenager, if you can imagine four thousand years of that.”

“Goddess?”

“No need to go into that. The point is, he made a rule and he has kept to it. The rule about circus people is like a reflection of that rule, I think. Others may violate the rule. That has to be judged on a case to case basis, but he will not violate his own rule. You are circus now and so he just won’t go there.”

She cried some more and Genevieve just had to say something. “You know, whatever you share with me he will also hear and see. This is his time and place. I’m just a guest. I was born in the year of our Lord 755. Want to know when I died?”

“What?”

“It is funny that I remember it now. I think it is because it happened in the past. It was around 820 because that is when I was born in Wessex as Elgar the Saxon. Would you like to meet Elgar? Wait, I know.” Genevieve vanished at that point and another woman took her place. She still had blond hair, like Giovanni had blond hair, but Giovanni’s hazel eyes that turned medium brown in Genevieve now turned striking blue. This woman’s blond hair was also much lighter, almost like a platinum blond. She said. “My name is Kirstie. I was born after Elgar and I’m not going to talk your ear off like Genevieve. Let me just say Giovanni’s a fool if he loses you, and that is all I am going to say.”

Leonora hugged her and they walked slowly back to the circus. After a while, Leonora did have a question.

“What makes you think he might lose me?”

Kirstie always thought before she spoke, or almost always. “Girls talk about forever all the time, but that is not realistic. Maybe he will get killed. The Kairos is not guaranteed to live a long life. I died young. Maybe your father will find you out. Maybe you will find someone else who will give you those children, not on purpose, but it happens.”

“No, never happen,” she said, and Kirstie was not going to argue with her.

Kirstie stopped their forward progress before they got back into the crowd. Leonora had another question. “Where are you from?” She heard all about how Genevieve was the Countess of Breisach before she married and became the Margravine of Provence. Kirstie said nothing so Leonora asked.

“Norway,” Kirstie said. “I’m one of those terrible Norsemen you heard about.” She smiled and vanished as Giovanni came home and added, “A real Viking who sadly died young.” he held his arm out for her to take. “Lind and Gruden were the assassins. Lind was a short one and Gruden a great big man with a sword. I killed them twice now.”

“Twice?”

“Kirstie killed them, though it cost her life to do it. Actually, she had a busted side and many broken bones and still managed. Then Yasmina after Kirstie killed them again when they were trying to mess up history.”

Leonora nodded. “You said keeping history on track was the main thing. but how could they have been in both places?”

“The Masters, whoever they are, have learned how to give their servants another life. Through them they can really mess things up if I am not careful.”

“The Masters?”

“Demons from the pit of Hell is what I think.”

“And they want to change history?”

“Well, let’s just say they certainly don’t want a good outcome. Don’t worry about it. Look, it is after noon. We have a performance to get to.”

“Oh!” Leonora jumped. “I have to get in costume. I have to get my face on.” She ran off.

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Monday

The circus heads to the capital of the Hoy Roman Empire and Leonora fears she will be caught. Until Monday, Happy Reading

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