The Golden Desires (2 page)

Having already eaten as much as she could,
Isabella watched him as he indulged in his food. He was always so open about
his work, and she loved hearing him talk about it. She got on with everyone but
having no trade of her own she enjoyed hearing about all the workings of the
village through everyone else.

Adrian felt her staring and turned to face her,
stopping his chewing when he saw how attentive she was being.

"Do I have food on my face?" he finally
asked her once he had swallowed, with a very distinct glint of amusement in his
eyes. "Or perhaps grown a third eye? A second nose?"

Isabella laughed at him and shook her head.

"Silly boy."

They laughed together softly as two companions
would. They were so comfortable with each other. Everyone in the village was
comfortable with each other but she knew that her friendship with Adrian was
closer than some.

"But how was your day?" he asked her.
"Did you find the perfect apple? One that was only red, but not
green?"

"I
did
find some perfect apples for
the cook…" she said and her voice tapered off slightly, making Adrian
almost anticipate what she was going to say next, since he had heard this all
so many times. "Although I did forget the oregano and Cook Joan did tell
me off for that."

He laughed out loud at her. It was the same thing,
day after day, but this was one thing he really did never tire of … hearing
which item she forgot on any given day. It amused him immensely and he had
almost come to look forward to dinner times just so he could hear the latest
episode of 'the forgotten'.

Isabella watched him as he finished up his meal
and the two of them automatically stood and took their dishes to the wash
station to wash, rinse, dry off and put away on the large table set up for the
purpose.

Walking outside again she saw and heard him speak
to her quietly, as if not wanting anyone else to hear.

"Can we go somewhere quiet, Isabella?
Alone?"

The request startled her as it was something new
from Adrian, but she had no reason to fear him or worry about his intentions,
so she nodded.

"Of … of course, Adrian. Where did you have
in mind?"

"Come. Walk with me. I want to show you
something."

They walked down the same path they had that
morning, and he led her further down the path that he took each morning to get
to the mill. But before the mill came into view he stopped and looked at her.

"I want to show you a place that I found a
few days ago. I haven't told anyone else about it because, to be honest, it is
quite nice to have somewhere that is just mine for the moment. But I do want to
share it with you."

Isabella found herself rather intrigued so nodded
at him but said nothing. She then found her hand taken in his as he started to
walk with her beside him, off the path and into an area of open ground where
only grass and a handful of low growing bushes grew.

They walked a way before he stopped and turned to
her.

"Here we are," he said, smiling as if he
were showing her a great secret, but she could see nothing different so was
only confused. "Sit down. Here."

Isabella followed his direction and the two of
them sat on the grass. It was not something that she normally did so
immediately she felt different just from doing that, but still the look on his
face confounded her. She just could not sense what had him so …
excited
.

"Do you feel it?" he asked, desperate
for her to confirm that he was not imagining things.

"What?"

"Put your hands flat on the ground … like
this," he said, demonstrating by putting both palms flat down on the
grass. He saw her do the same before he continued. "Do you feel it?"

Finally he saw a look of realization on her face.

"Adrian, the ground is warm -
very
warm…"
she said with a look of incomprehension on her face. "How … how can it be
so warm as that, Adrian? This late in the day, with the sun starting to go
down."

"I don't know," he said, now feeling
even more excited. "I don't know how or why it is happening, but it
is
happening."

"But is it always like this?"

"I don't know! That is just it - we never
come out here after the sun comes down so we always assume the ground is warm
from the sun, do we not?" he asked and saw her nod slowly. "But what
if it isn't, Isabella? What if it
isn't
the sun that makes our ground so
warm all the time?"

Isabella was stunned. She had been brought up to
believe that warmth came from the sun, and that they never went out at night
because it would be far too cold without the sun above, in the sky. There had
never been any reason to even think about the possibility that the warmth
didn't come from above.

"You think that this warmth is coming … from
below?" she asked, pointing one finger downward into the soil. She saw him
nod, maintaining the large smile of excitement on his face. "But how, Adrian?
How could that be?"

"I don't know, but I want to find out!"
He paused before speaking more. "But Isabella, I don't want other people
to know about this. I don't want to get you - or
me
- into trouble by
asking questions. I will try and figure this out, but with much discretion so
that no-one knows I am asking about it. I don't know who knows about this, so I
want to be careful."

He saw her nod her head again, slowly.

"Alright, but please be careful Adrian. If
someone knows the answer to this mystery and has not been honest with everyone
all of these years…"

"Yes, I agree. I don't know who to trust
about it. It could be that generations have been telling each next generation
the same thing, and no-one knows about whatever it is that is generating the
heat. But I don't want to risk the wrong person knowing I am asking questions.
Do you promise to keep it to yourself?"

"Yes! Of course. I would not do anything that
could result in you getting into trouble, Adrian. You know that."

"Thank you. But Isabella there is something
else I wish to talk to you about…"

She saw his face take on a serious unease all of a
sudden, making him seem more morose than she had ever seen him before.

"Yes?" she asked him, nudging him to
keep speaking even though he did seem extremely awkward in that moment.

"I…" he started but had a moment of
panic, wondering if he should say something or if there was a chance that he
would spoil things for them. It was such a long term friendship, did he really
want to risk upsetting her and ruining it?

He continued to hesitate but Isabella knew him
well so sat patiently, watching him in his struggle to find the right words he
needed for whatever he needed to say in that moment in time.

"Isabella, have you …
wondered
…
thought
about … finding someone to …" He was stumbling, he knew, but kept going
regardless. "Finding someone to … pair with?"

Isabella was stunned. He had never brought up this
topic - it was one thing that they had never covered in their conversations as
friends. As a result she found herself as tongue tied as he had just been, but she
could see that he was eager and waiting for an answer.

"No."

"Just like that? You answer so easily…"

"Adrian, you asked if I had thought about it,
and I have not. How were you hoping I would answer?"

"I wished you would answer yes, and that you
would consider
me
… you and
I
… to be suitable for it."

She should have been surprised but she wasn't.
Nothing physical had ever happened between her and Adrian but hearing such a
declaration … such a
question
… somehow did not surprise her. And now
she realized she was in a position where she could really hurt her close friend
if she did not find the right answer to give him.

"I esteem you greatly, Adrian - you know
that. And if I were thinking about that yet, I do believe that you
would
be someone I would be considering. But I'm
not
thinking about that
yet."

"But Isabella, we are 21 years of age! Do you
not think it is time?"

"Yes. And I do know that my mother and father
wish for me to pair soon, and provide them with another generation of our
family."

"Well then!"

"But it is still not something I yet feel
that I am
ready
for. I'm sorry, Adrian. I can see that you wanted me to
say yes, and perhaps you wanted me to choose you … and perhaps when the time is
right - if you are still free to pair then…"

He looked at her sharply.

"
I'm
not going anywhere! I want to set
up a life with
you
. I'm not going to pair with anyone else!"

"But how do you know?" she asked and he
looked confused by the question. "How do you know that I am who you want
to pair with? We are such good friends…"

"Yes! We are good long term friends. We know
so much about each other. We know what each other likes and what each other
dislikes. What could be a better grounding for a pairing than that, if we are
to share the rest of our lives as partners?"

She listened to his justification and could not
find any fault with it. There really was not any real reason that she could see
why the two of them could not go through the pairing and share their lives so
closely entwined. And yet, knowing that justification did not instil in her a
desire to do it. But she found she was greatly concerned regarding how she
could talk to him about this, without hurting him or making him feel neglected
or rejected in some way.

Suddenly he was shaking his head and standing up.                              

"Don't answer. Your lack of … enthusiasm …
shows me how you feel. You don't need to say anything more, Isabella."

She stood up and faced him, before doing something
she had not done before. She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around
him, desperate to not let him be upset by her words. And when she was holding
him close, she found that it was not at all an uncomfortable thing to do.

Adrian was surprised … shocked … stunned … but
welcomed her arms around him, and in return wrapped his around her. With their
heads resting on each other's shoulders, he closed his eyes and breathed in the
scent of her, and wished desperately that she could look at him the same way
that he looked at her.

Suddenly he felt his body slightly twitch in
reaction and it confused him but not enough for him to know that he had to pull
away from her.

Withdrawing backwards, he watched her face as she
focused on his.

"We should get back to our families. I will
walk you to your home."

Silently they walked beside each other, not
touching in any way, until they stood outside the house where Isabella lived
with her parents.

Before he could move away and leave her, she moved
closer to him.

"I love having you as my friend, Adrian. I
know that is not what you want to hear, but it is all that I can offer you for
now," she said and he nodded at her, resigned to wait for however long he
would have to, in the hope that she would change her mind.

3 ~ THE JOURNEY

Trent Solace stood on the summit of
the mountain and stared out in all directions that he could see. From where he
stood he was amazed at the feeling of intoxication that came from the freshness
of the air, and the views from this height above sea level. There were things
he had wanted to escape from in his home city. He had not meant to fall in love
with a married woman but
had
done so, regardless. At 30 years old, he
knew it was a stupid thing to have done but how could he help it? She had made
herself available so easily. She had appeared wherever he was located for his
work. She had followed him to wherever he was for his pleasure. She had gone
out of her way to lure him after that first time she had seen him, and he had too
easily and desperately succumbed to her advances.

Her suggestion for her to leave her husband for
him had been what had tipped him over the edge, realizing that it was not love
he felt for her at all. Spending time with her like they had been was one thing
but marriage had never been on his agenda. No, he had watched his mother and
father endure hating each other for too many years when he was a child, and he
would never consider marriage a true path for him. It was something that others
were meant to do … but not him. He was a bachelor, through and through, and he
would happily stay that way.

He could still remember the conversation so
clearly.

"I am going to leave him, Trent. I will get
the lawyer to draw up the divorce papers tomorrow and then it won't be long before
you and I can finally get married," she had said, as if he was not
required for any part of the decision making process. "We will have a
large wedding, with so many guests. And you don't need to worry about the cost.
I will have enough money from the divorce to be able to pay for it all. It will
be so big that society page journalists will want to pay us for the exclusive
coverage of it…"

He had listened to her go on and on, completely
oblivious to the fact that he had not asked her to marry him. That he had not
even said anything to her about her declaration that she was going to get divorced.

"Stop!" he had said loudly when he knew
he could not bear to hear anymore. "For God's sake, please just
stop
!"

She had looked at him as if he were speaking
another language.

"Stop … what?"

"Just stop …
talking
," he said,
trying to get his breathing, thoughts and speaking under control. "And
don't get a divorce because I'm not going to marry you."

"What?" she asked, her head shaking from
side to side as if to her he was speaking an entirely different language.

"You heard me. I'm not going to marry you.
I'm not going to marry anyone …
ever
. So don't worry yourself about
getting a divorce because there is absolutely no need for it. Stay with your
husband. We are done," he had said and just walked way from her. Whatever
he had felt for her, it had in that moment instantaneously evaporated, and he
knew that was a final judgment on his feelings. The feeling or consideration of
being in love with her was gone and he knew it would not come back to him.

As he had expected, she had then increased her
efforts to be close to him, no matter where he went or who he was with. So he
had done something he had always dreamed of but never gotten around to - packed
up an extensive list of small essentials into a tramping pack and left, with
full intention of getting as far away as possible from her … and from society
in general.

He was tired of crowds, he was tired of
technology, and he was tired of screens everywhere. Big or small, sometimes he
felt like they had taken over the world, and he wanted to be away from it all
and touch base with fresh air and nature again.

So he had taken off, driving as close to the
mountain he was presently on as he could, before getting out, laden with
supplies and essentials, and just walking away.

He had tramped over that first mountain, only to
find that once he reached a decent height, on the other side of it - hidden
from his initial public view - he could then see another mountain. And so he
had tramped down the far side of the initial one, passed through a valley that
provided him with the enjoyment of water for bathing, washing his clothes and
replenishing his immediate hydration and drinking water supply.

Then he had started to walk up another mountain.

~~~~~

Three mountains over, it now seemed like many
months he had been away but he had been tallying the night times in the small
notebook he carried with him, and knew it wasn't as long as it appeared.

When he had set out he had wanted solitude and for
the duration of time until now he certainly had found it. Even animals seemed
to be in short supply where he walked, so sometimes it felt like he was not
only the only person on the planet, but indeed the living
thing
.
Initially it had been invigorating. Then it had been lonely.

Now it was just … peaceful. He felt inside of him
a beautiful calm - something he had never had in the populated world. Once away
from the stresses of daily life, it had been easy for him to realize just how
many stresses there had been. Things that shouldn't contribute to stress -
sourcing food, keeping warm, keeping sheltered, talking to people - so many
things that should be so easy but always had other conditions attached to them.
To eat he had to have money - stress. To have money he had to earn - stress. To
earn money he had to have a job - stress. To have a job he had to deal with so
many people - stress. It went on and on and on. Day after day. And no matter
how many things he found to distract him - the many women, including finding a
married woman to share pleasure with - the core stresses never went away.

While in the concrete and steel jungle, it was
impossible to be away from it. So leave the concrete and steel jungle, he had.
And in no way did it compare with how he was feeling right now, enjoying the
fresh air that he could lay claim to all by himself.

~~~~~

As always when he reached the heights of each
mountain, he looked through the binoculars again, up here on another summit. So
much could be seen from this high up, he was thinking to himself, when in the
distance he saw something … different.

At first his eyes, through the binoculars, passed
over it, but then he found his sight returning to the lie of the line of
horizon meeting the mountain line, and he had to look again a third time.

It wasn't a mountain range at all - not at the
very top.

It was a structure … something man made. And to
have been able to be seen from as far away as he was, it must be extremely
immense in size.

~~~~~

He stood for a long time, trying to focus better
on it but the focus of the binoculars was already at its maximum point and he
couldn't see any clearer from here.

Instead he looked at the distance between where he
was currently standing, and where it appeared to be. He would have to climb
down this mountain, and then over another two. Then he would be at the base of
what he was certain would be the mountain that the structure was sitting on top
of.

Suddenly he felt his heart racing and a sense of
excitement come over him. He looked up at the sky and hoped for good weather.
He knew he had been lucky so far in that regard. With the exception of three
nights when it had lightly rained, generally there had not been a drop in sight
so he had been able to keep dry, which in turn meant he had been able to easily
keep warm in his cold weather gear.

So far his body seemed to be holding up remarkably
well considering he was not a 'tramper' as such. He guessed it was his lifelong
dedication to physical fitness that helped him - certainly it helped him to be
able to walk extremely long distances without feeling like he was too exerted.
Not that he was in any hurry - he had left his job and let a friend move into
his apartment so could take as long as he wanted to. He didn't need money and
he didn't need any material things from the city. With the exception of a good
meal, which he definitely thought about fairly regularly when walking, there
was nothing else he desired or needed other than what he readily had access to.
He wasn't a hunter - and even if he was, he never seemed to see any animals at
all on this trek - but he had learned enough to be able to locate and
sufficiently prepare the right flora to see him through. And the extensive bundles
of dried goods in his pack, of course, but he rationed them out and only had
small amounts on days where he absolutely could not find anything else to eat.
It probably wasn't a wise plan - it probably wasn't a
right
plan - but
it was a plan that so far was working for him anyway.

~~~~~

After sitting down on the summit and basking in the
warmth of the sunlight up there, he stood up and prepared to leave. In the
middle of the day with the sun out there was warmth to be had - with as many
layers that he had on - but it was still a freezing climate on the upper half
of each of the mountains he had made his way over and around since he had begun
on his journey. He was no expert but he had learned through trial and error
that it was best to enjoy the top views in the heat of the middle of the day,
and then edge down the other side of the mountain before late afternoon, and
set himself up with a small camp for the night in the protection of the
mountainside.

This night as he lay in his sleeping blanket and tiny
pup tent he thought about the structure he had seen. Being the realist he was,
he had to allow for the fact that he had been seeing things. It was a mirage.
At those altitudes he expected the mind could play extreme tricks on anyone. And
yet, even thinking to himself that it could have been a trick of his mind or
his eyes, he still felt excitement at the prospect of something being out
there.

~~~~~

That night he dreamed of a woman. A young woman
with vibrant red hair. She was absolutely beautiful. She approached him,
walking toward him with a smile on her face, and her hands outstretched to him.
He was mesmerised as he walked toward her and looked down to see what she was
holding. He was surprised to see that in her hands was an entire handful of …
gold. At first he thought it was normal gold - the same metal that his ring
would have been made of if he had given in and let himself be taken away on the
recent offer of matrimony. But when the girl in his dream reached out and
indicated with her facial expressions that she wanted him to cup his hands for
her to put the gold into, he realized it wasn't normal gold at all. It looked
like gold. But when it was placed in his hand … it was …
hot
. He was
surprised that it could have so much heat, and he looked around to see what was
heating it. The girl in his dream laughed at him, seeing his disbelief that it
could just be hot in its natural state. Not requiring anything to heat it at
all.

He looked back at her face and was in awe of the
feeling in his hand - the warmth of it - combined with the natural beauty of
her. In the world he had come from, women hardly ever showed their true selves,
hiding behind makeup and accessories, and to see this woman before him, natural
and not seeming to desire to look different, he felt like she was someone of
incredible confidence … and
power
.

~~~~~

The next morning Trent ate and then packed up his
gear once again, with only a shadow of the dream remaining in his head as he filed
it away in his mind as just another dream that did not associate in any way
with reality.

~~~~~

That day he made even faster progress but at the
same time had to keep stopping himself from rushing too much. He knew that if
he had an accident out here he would never be found by anyone. Even without an
accident he knew there was an increasing chance that he would not survive out
here and get back to civilisation safely, but he still wanted to take care and
do the best - go the furthest - that he could.

His daydreaming helped him to pass time now.
Seeing the structure - or
thinking
he had seen it, as the case would
probably turn out to be - had caused his mind to wander, wondering what could
possibly have been built so far away from the rest of the world. It must be in
the middle of nowhere, as far as he could tell. So who built it? How long had
it been there? And what was its purpose?

But the question that his mind kept taking him
back to was, was it even real? And if not, did it really matter?