Evil Unearthed: Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

"God help us all," said Stephen as he continued to drum and Barrett continued to speak soft words to his unconscious priestess. It had been twenty minutes or so since she had fallen down, and he recalled that this was the second trance state into which she had fallen in one day. That time, so she had said, she had lain like this for three hours. He didn't think he could wait that long. He thought the fear in his heart would get the better of him, the deep and primal fear of the cave against which he always tried so hard to struggle. Suddenly, as the candles began to gutter and the incense smoke began to get thin, Barrett's voice came from the darkness.

"By Jove! I think she's coming back, Stephen. Drum faster, man!"

Stephen realized only now that his drumming had become lackluster and sporadic, and now he turned his attention from his fears to the work that lay ahead of him. Moving his hands across the head of the drum, he beat out the primal rhythm that Barrett had taught him, and then suddenly, he found himself using a deep and intense rhythm which he had only heard in a dream some days ago: the dream of the ancient temple and the Conjure Woman. In this dream too he had been drumming, and now, he knew at the level of blood and bone that this was the right rhythm to use.

"Good," said Barrett. "Good man! But how--" His question died unasked as he gasped with hope and fear and said:

"Conjure Woman? Evangeline?" Stephen heard him pronounce her full name with such tenderness that he could not fail to hear the deep love in it.

"The journey," came Vangie's voice in response, "has been made successfully, but not without danger. The old words are the true words. The mild zephyr shall conquer the mist, and the cooling wind draw heat; bright light disperse the sirocco, quickening fire burn out the darkness, and clear water blow away the vapours. I am Conjure Woman! I am Princess of Light, and Regent of the Realm Beyond Time, and I must come to Maljardin to fulfill that prophecy!"

"And perhaps another?" Barrett was almost angry. "Would you hurl yourself to destruction for the sake of the consequences of a rich eccentric's whims?"

"Many prophecies must be fulfilled," said Vangie, "and if my death is to come on that haunted island, then it is ordained, but it is not ordained when that day will dawn which takes me from this world. Now, Robert, we must close the ritual. Come, help me up!"

Barrett did so, and together they moved around the altar and did what needed to be done to end the ritual properly. Stephen began drumming the slow heart's rhythm again, and when the candles were extinguished and the coals were smothered, Vangie came and gently took the drum from him, and handing it to Barrett to stow under the altar, she knelt before him for a moment.

"You have heard me say this before, I think," she said quietly, "but you are a true priest, Stephen Matthew Dawson! That rhythm you used as I came back was the very rhythm of life and death. It was the only rhythm that could have helped me, and you were given it when you needed it. It seems I chose rightly when I chose my drummer!"

"I'm just glad you're safe, Vangie," said Stephen.

"Yes," said Barrett, coming to take his former chair. "Here from the troubled sea hath Evangeline landed, an exile, finding among the children of Port French Leave a home and a country."

"Must you quote poetry?" Vangie stood up and drew her own low stool to where the two men sat.

"No," said Barrett, "but I insist on badly paraphrasing it. From the time you told me your story, I've thought of you as that woman in the Longfellow poem."

"Well," said Vangie, "perhaps you spoke truer than you knew, for the sea of the spirit is a troubled one, and I did not escape it tonight entirely unscathed."

"Are you alright? What about Kathleen?" Stephen was on his feet and pacing in his renewed anxiety.

"Kathleen is alright for now," said Vangie, "but Julia has been possessed. It seems that the bargain she made with Jacques Eloi des Mondes involved her being a vessel for the spirit known to all as Erica Desmond."

"Then Kathleen is really in danger!"

"For now, that spirit has fled from Julia. I don't know how long it will stay away, but I was able to drive it back for a while at least. I hope that Julia can be prevailed upon, because one way or another, we must get over to Maljardin, and soon!"

"Perhaps Stephen and I can do what is needed," said Barrett. "I don't know why you need go there yourself. I know much of our faith, and Stephen's a priest of his faith, so perhaps that is all that is needed."

"Robert," said Vangie, "I understand your concern, and I thank you for it. However, there are wheels within wheels to this situation, and with all due respect, you don't know everything about it."

"Then tell me! I won't have you risking yourself if you don't have to! Look what happened tonight!"

"I know it has frightened you, Robert, and I'm sorry, but you must know that even if you found a way to prevent me from coming with you, I would end up there eventually. It is so ordained. I know that now."

"But are you really alright?" Stephen felt it necessary to try to get back to the fundamentals of their current predicament. "You look pale."

"I'll be fine, Stephen," said Vangie. "I was attacked by both Erica and Jacques, and I was wounded in the spirit, but it will heal. I must be in seclusion for a while, however, to meditate. Will you keep the vigil with me, Stephen?"

"I will," he said.

"Thank you, old boy," said Robert. "It would be my duty to do this normally, but I must go home and rest. The ritual was taxing for me."

"Perhaps it is you who should not be with us on Maljardin," Stephen said almost without thinking.

"Again, Stephen," said Vangie, "his presence is ordained. All three of us will be involved in fighting this evil, and Robert must save his strength now. Thank you for enduring the ritual for me, Robert."

"It was the very least I could do, fair Evangeline," he said, kissing her hand in his best gentleman's fashion.

"Will you be alright to walk to your truck yourself?"

"Yes," said Robert. "Stay here and conserve your own energy!"

Ducking once more into the bedroom to change back into his usual clothes, he was soon out again, and leaning on his serpent staff, he walked slowly out of the cabin.

Vangie watched him for a long time, and when she was sure that he would be alright, she came in again and resumed her seat on the stool.

"He loves you, you know," Stephen said to break the ensuing silence.

"I've known that for some time now, Stephen," said Vangie with a deep sigh. "I feel great affection for him, it is true, but not that kind of love. Still, I think that you and I are his greatest friends in the world."

"So it would seem. He told me his dying wish tonight before we came here."

"I am glad of that," said Vangie. "What's more, I would be glad to have you by my side when it finally does happen. Your strength will no doubt be needed."

"I was thinking that I would be able to rely on you when the time comes," said Stephen with a laugh.

"We'll rely on each other," said Vangie, and again he thought he saw tears in her eyes.

"Vangie," he said with concern, "what is it?"

"It's just that you look so much like your uncle! He was a very special man, Stephen, a rare spirit. I wish you could have known him."

"Thanks to you," he said, "I almost feel that I do. I know I was angry before, but I was failing to practice my own professed values. I have no right to judge you for doing something that I myself have wanted to do these past days. That is for another power higher than me or you to do. Now, how do we keep this vigil?"

"We pray," said Vangie. "You with your rosary if you wish, and I with my meditations."

"Fair enough," said Stephen, retrieving his beads from his pocket, and he watched for a moment as she composed herself and stared into the fire. Then he began to pray.

The night passed in a dream of silent reflection until, at the darkest hour before the dawn, Stephen happened to look up from his prayers. He saw that the fire had sunk to ashes and the room had become pitch black. It was as though the night had stolen in and had made the little cabin its dwelling. Yet, as his eyes got used to the lack of light, he was surprised to find a soft glow illuminating the features of the Conjure Woman as she sat peacefully, a beatific smile on her fair face. He looked at her in complete awe, and he was surprised to hear her voice coming from that glowing form just as it normally sounded.

"Come, Stephen," she said quietly. "Come here for a moment."

He had no choice but to obey, spellbound as he was by her beauty.

"Kneel!" she said, and he did so without protest.

"Take my hands!" she said now, and when he did, he felt a thrill move through his entire being. "You must be strengthened for the ordeal ahead," was all her explanation.

"Shouldn't this be for Robert?"

"It is for you," she said sternly. "Accept it for what it is and let it be."

Stephen realized that she was putting herself through great physical pain to do this for him, and knowing that it could not now be stopped, he endured it in silence, and suddenly, the light was gone from her and she would have fallen from her stool if he had not caught her.

"Can I do anything for you?" He was alarmed.

"You have done everything," she said, and as he supported her for a moment while she found her feet, he suddenly found himself drawn into a passionate embrace. Unsure of what to do next, he looked into her eyes, and though they were tired, he could not mistake the longing in them.

"Now you know," she said with a catch in her voice, "why I cannot love Barrett. I know that I can never be yours, Stephen, and I do not want emotion to cloud our purpose, but from the moment I first met you, I loved you."

He could say nothing, only hold her tenderly to him and let her drink him in.

"You have much before you," she said now, "and I wanted you to be prepared."

"But you were supposed to be strengthening yourself!"

"I have been," she said, "or I wouldn't have been able to do what I just did."

She was about to let him go when he looked at her again and suddenly took her more tightly in his arms and kissed her full on the mouth. They held the kiss for a long time before mutually pulling back, and as she resumed her seat again, he stood shyly facing her, speechless and unable to move.

"If I have caused you trouble," she said, "I am sorry."

"That's just it," he finally said. "I don't feel that what we did was wrong. I should, but I don't!"

"Well, try not to think about it too much if you can," she said. "I just needed to be honest with you. Truth between us is absolutely necessary if we are to work together. The devil will try to divide us in any way that he can, and that includes using our vulnerabilities against us."

"Don't worry, Vangie," said Stephen. "I'm not going anywhere. In fact, I have an idea. It will at least keep me occupied until whatever we figure out to get us to Maljardin can be set in motion."

"Yes?" She seemed genuinely interested.

"You talk of exorcism," he said. "Well, I am going to try to get permission to perform one. I pray that the local bishop is as open to these kinds of things as so many people are around here."

"And what if he isn't?"

"Vangie," he said, drawing himself up to his full height, "if he isn't, I really don't care! They can drum me out of the priesthood if they like, but I'm not leaving Kathleen over there without doing something, and I'm not leaving you and Barrett to face this by yourselves either!"

"Stephen," Vangie said, clasping his hand, "we'll do it this time! We'll do what should have been done forty years ago! I know it now!"

"And what of the kiss?" He wanted to be sure that she would not be hurt by it.

"The kiss was beautiful," she said, "and I will keep it as a wonderful memory. If you must confess it as a sin, that is between you and your God, but I for one will cherish it always. It was a moment of bliss in a time of terror. Let's leave it at that for now."

In that moment, if not in any other, Stephen realized that Vangie really was older than her looks made her seem. She took a reflective view of their situation that not many women would have been able to take. He knew her passion and respected it, but he was relieved to find her philosophizing in much the same way that he was doing now.

"Now you know my heart, Stephen," Vangie said, resuming her seat by the fireplace. "See you keep its secrets!"

"I will," said Stephen. "Goodnight, Conjure Woman!"

"Goodnight," she said, and the last thing he saw as he exited the cabin was her seated figure again staring intently as though the fire still danced before her. He suspected, however, that though the earthly fire was dead, there were other flames somewhere on which her eyes were fixed. He walked musingly away as the first gray streaks of dawn licked at the sky, the warmth of her embrace still in him and the taste of her lips still lingering on his tongue.