“You are extremely bright but that doesn’t mean you’re educated. You’ve read all the books I brought with me so at least you’ve experienced the classics. But there’s so much more.” Gertrude moved closer and put her hand on his arm. “I have no way of getting more books for you, Fehin. We don’t have electricity here, so we have no cars, no computers, no cell phones, no electronics of any kind. You haven’t studied math or science, you’ve never been in an airplane, and you haven’t even ridden in a car. There are so many things in the world you know nothing about. ”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t include all that when I set this place up. I could only conjure what I could imagine.”
“Sweetheart, I’m not complaining, I’m just saying that it would be good for you to understand more of life.”
“I like things simple.”
Gertrude scoffed. “You can’t know that unless you’ve experienced another way. Computers are a part of everyday life in Milltown. It’s like having a library at your fingertips. You’re smart, Fehin. Who knows what you could accomplish with a little education?”
“Have you actually spoken to Gunnar?”
“Yes, they have,” Gunnar said, appearing out of the ether like a resurrected ghost. “And as you know, neither your mother nor Kafir are able to travel into the past.”
“So the decision has been made without me.” Fehin turned away to hide his sudden tears. Wasn’t conjuring an island and everything on it enough? Did they want him to go away and learn about electronics so he could add those to the island? And what good would a car do here? He shook his head and wiped his face with his sleeve.
“We had lives before we came here,” his mother continued. “We traveled and had careers. For all of us Thule is a dream come true. But that’s because we have something to compare it with.” Gertrude watched him worriedly. “What is it, Fehin? You look upset.”
“What’s the real reason you’re sending me away?”
Gertrude slanted a glance at Kafir. “College will give you a broader understanding of the world, Fehin. It might even increase your magic.”
“I don’t care about any of that. Where did you get the idea that I did?”
His mother looked flustered for a moment. “I…I thought you’d be pleased.”
There was uncomfortable silence before Gunnar chimed in. “I spoke to your mother and Kafir about this several days ago. You’re sixteen now, Fehin. There are no girls, or for that matter, boys, in your age group here.”
“So this is your way of finding me a mate?”
“No, Fehin,” his mother answered. “This is about opening your eyes to a wider world. You’ll understand once you see it.”
Fehin stared from one to the other and then rose from the log and headed to the deserted part of the beach where he could think all this through. Why had college suddenly come up? It felt like Wolf’s appearance in Fell had been a bad omen all around.
4
The Otherworld, 2021
“Airy, please! This is for your own good!”
“But what if I don’t want to leave? What can I possibly get out of going to college that MacCuill can’t teach me?”
“MacCuill can’t teach you about the outside world or what it’s like to have friends.”
“I have lots of friends here, Mama.”
Maeve frowned and then looked away. Her voice when she spoke again had taken on a decidedly superior tone that Airy didn’t like at all. “You need to meet people more like yourself, Airy.”
When Harold walked into the room Airy turned to him. “What do you think, Papa? Do I need to be sent away from here?”
Her father looked dumbfounded for a moment, his confused gaze going to Maeve. “I thought we were going to discuss this issue before you mentioned it to her.”
“I’m sorry Harold, it just came out. We can’t go on pretending about Airy’s future. Today is her sixteenth birthday.”
“Thank you so much for this horrible present!” Airy yelled, trying not to cry. “Do you think the people here are beneath us or do you just want to get rid of me?”
When Maeve took a step toward her Airy backed away.
“I’m not trying to get rid of you, sweetheart, I want you to have the education you deserve. Your father and I didn’t come into the Otherworld until we were in our twenties. We had both gone to college and worked for several years before that. We decided to remain here because we loved it, not because we hadn’t seen the rest of the world. You’ve lived here all your sixteen years with only a couple of trips to visit your grandparents in Massachusetts. You need to experience another way of life.”
Airy hated the expression on her mother’s face, the look that said she knew best. “I hate you both right now!” she screamed before turning to run through the open door. She ran down the hill toward the copse of beech and oak trees on the far side of the meadow. Once she reached the comforting shadows beneath the trees she stopped to catch her breath. She wiped her tears away and then sat down next to an ancient beech. “What should I do?” she wailed, looking up into the wide branches.
“Do about what?” a boy’s voice answered, eclipsing the tree’s response.
Airy turned to see Evan, a friend of hers, walking toward her from under the canopy. He had a smile on his open face, freckles standing out against his pale skin.
“Oh, Evan, they want to send me away. They think I’m too good for the likes of you or any of my other friends. I hate them right now, especially my mother.”
Evan crouched down next her. “You
are
too good for us, Airy. Your Ma saved this place. She’s a legend in her own time. Everyone here whispers her name. And your Da…well, he’s the reincarnated first king of Scotland! You’re lucky to have such fine parents.”
“But I’m not her, Evan. I’m just a girl with no powers.”
Evan put his hand on her shoulder. “Not for long.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’ll miss you, Airy, but I think you should do what your Ma thinks best. You should respect her and your Da like the rest of us do.”
Airy shook her head and wiped at the tears that refused to stop. A voice called and for a moment Airy thought it was her mother but then Evan stood up.
“I have to go. Hope to see you before you leave but if I don’t, know that I’ll be wishin’ you all the best.”
“Thanks, Ev,” Airy mumbled, feeling suddenly bereft. “Bye!” she called as he disappeared from view.
Maybe it would do her good to get out of here for a while. Following in her mother’s footsteps was an impossible task and she was sick of feeling like she couldn’t live up to Maeve’s accomplishments. She was tired of everyone talking about her mother as though she was some kind of goddess.
Maybe this was part of the destiny Corra had mentioned. Maybe she and this boy would meet in another place. She walked out from under the trees, her gaze going toward the horizon. The island was still there and when she focused on it she felt like a magnet in the middle of her body was pulling her toward it. She placed her hands there trying to center her thoughts on the future but the feeling didn’t go away.
When she came up the path toward the house she heard her parents raised voices and paused to listen.
“MacCuill thinks Airy has a destiny that’s already been written.”
“Where does he get these ideas?” Harold answered, chuckling.
“Don’t make fun, Harold. Think about what happened to the two of us. And besides, he’s a druid. He knows things that we aren’t privy to. And did you hear what Corra said about the island?”
“No, I missed that.”
“The goddess of prophecy said that Airy’s future is mixed up with someone who lives there.”
Harold laughed again. “Mixed up? That doesn’t sound very goddess-like.”
“Stop it, Harold! Those weren’t her exact words. If you don’t believe me you should talk with MacCuill before we go. And there was something else—something about Airy and this other person being a bridge…do you realize what that could mean? MacCuill told me just the other day about…”
“Aren’t you making more of this than you should? Are you really serious?” Harold interrupted.
“Yes, I’m serious. What did you think? School starts in a little over a month and she needs to be prepped. She’s never even seen a computer.”
Airy heard her father sigh. “I didn’t want to lose her so soon.”
“We’re not losing her. We can visit whenever we want. This is what she’s meant to do and where she’s meant to be. ”
“You know what I mean.” A long silence followed this statement and when Airy walked through the door her parents were holding each other tightly.
“So when do I go?”
***
Airy tried to listen to what her mother was saying but her mind kept wandering. She couldn’t believe she would be leaving here in less than a week. So far she’d had a crash course on what her mother referred to as ‘electronic gadgets’, none of which made much sense, and warnings about the many cars and buses, trains and planes, not to mention a ton of other things she couldn’t remember. Her few short trips to her grandparent’s house had not prepared her for the culture of this modern world.
“I can’t take in any more information,” she finally said, holding her hands over her ears. “I don’t get anything you’re telling me.”
Her mother glanced over at her father who was sitting in the chair across from them reading a book. “Can’t you help, Harold?”
“What do you want me to do? She won’t understand until she sees what you’re talking about. She’s a fast learner and if we get there early we can try and give her the computer basics. I’m sure they’ve had other kids who were computer illiterate.”
“In this day and age? I highly doubt it.”
“We’ll just have to tell them she was raised by wolves.”
“God, Harold, you’re no help at all!”
“Maeve, you’re taking this too seriously. And you’re scaring her,” he added, glancing at Airy.
Airy realized that she must have looked like a frightened rabbit because that’s exactly how she felt. How she could fit into this alien world they described was beyond her. “Is MacCuill coming with us?”
“Absolutely! He’s going to work the magic to get you in. People going to college have transcripts and they’ve been accepted. You, on the other hand, have neither.”
“This is sounding worse and worse,” Airy muttered.
“If it’s anything like my college days you’re going to love it!” her mother said in a false cheery voice. “And you’ll get to spend time with your grandparents. They’re very excited.”
When Airy glanced toward her father he grimaced and went back to his book.
Why was this suddenly happening? What had she done to deserve being separated from everything she loved? She thought of her herb garden, the tinctures and potions she’d learned how to produce. Would she be able to continue what she’d begun at this college? The potions were her calling; she’d hoped to become a healer, not like her mother but in her own way.
5
Fell, 2468
Early the next morning Gunnar came to Fehin while he was feeding the chickens and the sheep. “By my calculations this is the right time to leave,” the druid announced solemnly.
Fehin turned and tried to probe his mind but Gunnar had locked him out. He was definitely hiding something. “I thought I’d have more time to say good-bye.”
“You can come back right after you left if you want. No one will even miss you.”
Fehin tried to smile but failed miserably. “I’ll feel the distance even if they don’t. And how will I get back?”
“We’ll stay in touch through the ether. You can call on me anytime.”
“I still don’t get what calculations you’re making,” Fehin muttered before heading away to gather his things and say goodbye to his menagerie. He might not see them for a very long time.
He found Aki huddled under the trees half asleep, his shoulders hunched. The dragon knew what was coming and there was nothing Fehin could say to console him. Aki had been with him since Fehin was seven years old and they’d formed a very strong bond. They could communicate telepathically which was not something he could do with his other animals. Kafir might take him out occasionally but mostly the dragon would be stuck here on the island. “You should think about your mate,” Fehin told him, nodding to the female dragon twenty feet away. “You could raise babies while I’m gone.” The mournful look Aki gave him tore at Fehin’s heart.
On his way back to gather his things he overheard Gertrude and Kafir talking with Gunnar and hid behind a tree to listen.
“He doesn’t suspect any of it,” Gunnar said.
“And what if you get the timelines mixed up?” Kafir asked.
“What do you take me for?” the druid answered in an irritated tone. “This has all been pre-ordained.”
“But my baby! He’s been through so much!”
“He’s not a baby, Gertrude. He’s nearly a grown man. This is his destiny and we can’t ignore it.”
“But…”
“None of us know what’s in his future. We only know that he is to be enrolled in the college in Milltown in the year 2021.”
“Will he come back here when he graduates?”
“We don’t even know if he
will
graduate, Gertrude. The only information I’ve received is to make sure he’s where he’s supposed to be on a certain date.”
Fehin could hear muffled sobs and realized that his mother was crying. His first thought was to comfort her but then anger rose inside him. He was merely a pawn in a game he knew nothing about.
Gunnar was already on board
Skidbladnir
when Fehin climbed on deck. He’d said a cursory goodbye to his mother and Kafir, ignoring the pained looks on their faces as he turned his back to head to the dock. He hated to leave so coldly but he couldn’t get over what they’d done. He should have confronted them but he knew if he opened his mouth he’d end up shouting.
“I’ll navigate since I know where we’re going,” Gunnar said after stowing his things. “And while we travel I can give you more information about the world you’ll be living in.”
Fehin helped the druid ready the boat and lift the sails and then came to stand next to him at the helm. He felt rigid with anger but he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.
“What questions do you have?” Gunnar asked as they began to sail away from the only real home Fehin had ever known.