Chapter Thirty-two
Ever since the power had left her, Kathleen had been sensible of all that happened around her, and yet it was as though she was hearing and seeing through a thick blanket of fog. The only thing that seemed to pierce the fog were the ruby eyes of the newly-risen serpent image on the altar. How exactly had it got there? She could hear a drum beating and could tell that the Conjure Woman was channeling great power, but only those crimson yet inanimate eyes came sharply into focus. The rest was all shadow and muffled sound. She felt gentle arms moving her into a more relaxed position, but it was as though her whole body was benumbed with cold. That was it, she thought, as she heard the drumming begin. She was chilled to the very blood and she couldn't get warm. Still, by the time the Conjure Woman came to her and took her hand, she knew enough not to resist, for here, she felt certain, was warmth enough to melt the coldest frost.
"Well now," said Vangie once Stephen had gone. "Do you know me?"
"I do," she said thickly. "I know you, but what about--what about Sophie? I know it was you who killed her--me--all those years ago."
"That part of the story is true, Kat," said Vangie tenderly. "I cannot deny it, and I'm sorry you had to learn about it the way you did, but there is a part of the story that you do not know. I will help you to remember if you like, but perhaps now is not the time."
"I can do it," she said, sitting up. "The--the fog is clearing a little. I know now that what I touched just now was evil, but I thought you told me that I could direct whatever power came to me."
"So I did, but the devil has been busy this night, and before we could talk further, I felt Robert's suicide and panicked. What I would have said was that if you could learn to channel the right sort of power, you would be able to use it well. I am a priestess, a walker between the worlds. I must lay myself open to power and allow it to use me. Still, I do not allow just any power to have its will if I can help it. You, on the other hand, are another kind of sensitive. You seem to have the ability to be a conduit rather than a vessel. I don't know what this means entirely, but the danger with you is that you have never been schooled to your gifts."
"I was overconfident," she said after a pause, eyes cast down. "I felt--I felt left out of things. I can't believe I'm saying this! I sound like a child!"
"You could have stayed with us in Barrett's room, you know."
"But I couldn't. I just couldn't!" Kathleen was annoyed to hear a sob in her voice. She didn't want to cry now, but all the danger and worry was welling up inside her and she was unable to check the flood of tears.
"Ah Kathleen," said Vangie, sitting down beside her and taking her hand, "has it been so hard for you?"
"Yes," she said, feeling as though the word were being wrenched from her. "Yes! It's hard for me to see-to see you and him together. There! I said it!"
"You love Stephen?"
"I don't know, but I--well--I suppose I wanted the chance to find out if I did, but I could see the way you looked at each other over Barrett's body. He loves you at least, and I think--I think that you love him!"
"Stephen and I have a bond which is beyond naming," said Vangie. "Neither of us wanted it and neither of us asked for it, but it exists."
"I know. I know. I'm being silly and foolish, but it is how I felt when--when the visions came."
"Tell me of these visions," said Vangie, "and leave nothing out!"
So Kathleen sighed and began to relate her story. She didn't want to bring the portrait into it, but Vangie's gaze was strong and direct, and she found that she was unable to lie while those eyes bore into her.
"I see how it is now," said the Conjure Woman when she had finished. "As Stephen could doubtless tell you, the devil is a liar. He likes to mix lies with just enough truth so as to confound those over whom he wishes to have power. This time, he showed you the end of the story of the servant-girl Sophie without telling you the beginning. The incense is almost burned away. When it is gone, I will build a fire. Seeing the memory in flame will not be so hard on you as seeing it in the spirit has been, and I will be with you."
"But how will I know it is the truth?"
"You will have to judge that for yourself, Kat. Will you trust me to help you to remember?"
"I will, Vangie. I will."
"Good! Now, dry your eyes and I will build up the fire."
Kathleen watched as the Conjure Woman piled more coals into the brazier, and soon, a steady flame was burning with no smoke to darken it. The splendour of her power still glowed around her, and the fire, though bright, looked dim when contrasted with it.
"Now," said Vangie, taking a seat away from the fire, "listen to the sound of my voice and look into the flames! You are Kathleen O'Dell, but you are also the reincarnated soul of Sophie, who was called in our language Suoko. You, Suoko, were initiated into the mysteries of the Great Serpent. Remember yourself, Suoko! Remember Wanua, she who was named Evangeline in the tongue of the conquerors! Remember, and forgive, if you can!"
The flames danced before Kathleen's eyes, but at the sound of Vangie's promptings, pictures began to form. She saw the girl called Sophie or Suoko sitting in the sun on a high rock overlooking the sea. The Conjure Man's daughter was with her, and they spoke together in the ancient language. Kathleen could only see their lips moving, but her mind was able to translate what she saw, and she found herself beginning to speak the words in English.
"Wanua," she said slowly, as though half asleep, "this is madness! You cannot mean to do this thing! Do you know what it involves? The great sacrifice will have to be made!"
"I know it, Suoko," came Vangie's own voice, and a part of Kathleen's mind wondered how she knew what to say since she was not looking at the fire. "I know what must be done, but it cannot be altered. I've given my word, and besides, you know I would do anything to prevent what I spoke from coming true."
"I know, but who will you find in these days to be the victim for the ritual? The new ways are driving out our old ones. Your father and the others have found people to help them, because they are well-respected in the community. There are many who would gladly lay down their lives for him after what he did to free us from that devil Jacques Eloi Des Mondes, but you, well, you know that it must be a willing sacrifice."
"And you would say something else? Come come, out with it as you love me, Suoko!"
"Madame Raxl has been trying to convince everyone that you are touched by the gods, that you are unpredictable and mad, Wanua!"
"She may say what she likes. I know I will find someone to help me."
"But the ritual is in three days!"
"Yet I will find someone!"
"I will do it."
"Never could I ask that of you, Suoko! We are spirit-sisters! We were initiated on the same day! To ask you to do it would bring a curse on us all! Put it out of your mind!"
"But I don't want to see you haunted by that prophesy! I've made up my mind, Wanua! I am full willing to do this thing!"
"Then," said Vangie, speaking aloud what Kathleen saw Wanua saying, "that is the last time that anyone will call me by my true name. Yours will be the last voice to utter it in my hearing. I shall be known as Evangeline only from now on, for if Suoko must die at my hands, then it is only right that Wanua should die with her."
"There," said Kathleen, and she saw a sardonic smile on the face of her former self in the fire. "Perhaps that will appease the gods who sent you that horrible prophesy!"
"Let us hope it will," said Vangie, and now she came close to Kathleen, and as the fire resumed its normal appearance, the Conjure Woman knelt and embraced her, and Kathleen saw through the light still radiating from her that there were tears in her eyes.
"Did you think, Kat, that I looked at you with pitiless brutality when you--when Suoko lay on the altar?"
"Yes," she said, sobbing as well, "but now I know! I know you were trying to master your emotions! Oh Vangie! I'm so sorry about everything!"
"I knew the darkness wanted you. I knew it, but I didn't know why. Now, let us hope that you're beyond its grip!"
Kathleen was unable to speak for several minutes. Vangie simply held her while she sobbed, and when her vision had cleared, she saw that the ethereal light was now gone from the Conjure Woman's face, and looking into Vangie's eyes, she saw how unbelievably tired she was.
"None of us can go on like this much longer, Vangie," she said, getting slowly to her feet.
"No, Kat. No we can't. Do you think you can walk now?"
"I can if you can," she said, offering a hand to the still-kneeling Vangie who took it gratefully and stood up.
She found the cover of the brazier and placed it over the still-glowing coals, and Kathleen went and blew out the candles. Then, using Kathleen's flashlight for guidance, they found their way down the tunnel and, straining together at the secret door, soon found themselves in the crypt once again. Once there, Kathleen was concerned at seeing how heavily Vangie leaned on the staff that had belonged to Professor Barrett.
"Are you really alright, Wan--"
"No! Don't call me that! You may have been Suoko once, but you're not her now, and the same is true of me. I told Suoko that Wanua would die with her, and I meant it. I am Vangie now, Kat." But was she? Already she seemed to be something more than merely human. Kathleen had seen her reconstruct the serpent idol with only a thought. She had seen her covered in the glory of some unnamed power, and yet, here she was, a woman who was weak and tired, and leaning on a staff for support.
"I'll be alright," she said now. "I just need something to eat and some rest."
"We all need rest, I think," Kathleen agreed, and the two of them climbed the stairs together and went in search of sustenance.
In the kitchen, they found Stephen, now dressed in jeans and a golf-shirt, cooking over the hot-plate which Kathleen had brought with her.
"Thank God you're here!" he said. "I've got grilled cheese going if you're hungry."
"I am," said Kathleen, "and even if you're not," she continued with what she hoped was a stern look of authority at the Conjure Woman, "you should eat something as well, Vangie!"
"Don't worry, Kat," said Vangie, sitting heavily in a chair. "I have no intention of fasting today! You and I have both been in contact with great power, and we are both flesh and blood, despite what you may have seen to the contrary, Stephen," she added after a pause, and indeed, Kathleen could see the priest looking at the woman sitting before him with an expression on his face of mingled fear and awe.
"So," said Stephen as they sat munching some minutes later, "what--what exactly happened down there?"
"It isn't something to be discussed openly," said Vangie, "but I think we will be free from disturbance for a while now."
"Is that because of what--what you did?" Kathleen was happy to let Stephen do all the talking. She herself was too ashamed to say much, though she knew she would have to say something soon about her part in all of this.
"Perhaps," said Vangie, "but all I really did was let the powers I serve have their way with me. Is that not what you do every time you offer a mass?"
"I've--I've never thought of it like that," said Stephen, "but I think I understand what you mean. You allowed yourself to be ridden by--by--"
"By the Great Serpent, Yes," and Kathleen was taken aback at Vangie's matter-of-fact tone as she said this.
"But how did you--did the Great Serpent--how was the image remade?"
"That I cannot entirely account for. I wished for it to be done, but until it happened, I was not certain it could be done. All I can say is that Plato had it right when he said that the ideal forms of things exist beyond our shadowy world, and some among us can tap into that--that other plain. I didn't know I could until today, and I will likely never be able to do it again. At least, I hope I will never have to try. It was very difficult!"
"And Kathleen," said Stephen. "Are you--are you alright now?" She noticed distrust in his eyes and knew that they would have to hash things out later, but she decided to postpone this confrontation for as long as she could.
"I'm alright, Stephen, yes. I know--" She bit back a sob. "I know who I am again."
"And that, I think," put in Vangie, as though she too had taken note of Stephen's suspicions, "is all that matters. Now, before all this began, I told Stephen that I felt the need for a council. Do you both feel up to having one?"
"The real question is," said Stephen, "do you?"
"If we don't have it now," said Vangie, "there may be no time to lay our plans."
"Really? Why?" Kathleen felt suddenly alarmed. What could possibly happen next?
"We have forestalled the darkness for now, Kat, but it will not go without a fight, I fear."
"Well, that food has refreshed me, actually. Shall we go to my office? That was to be our original council-chamber, I believe."
"Yes," said Stephen, "and I think that your blueprints of the house could be useful to us."
"Why?"
"I've been thinking about things," he said, "and rereading Uncle Matt's journal. I think it's time to get serious about what we've got to do and what we might potentially have to deal with. I'll explain more later."
"Very well then," said Vangie. "Let's get these dishes cleaned up and get underway!"
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