Ch: 50 Island in the Sun
Sometimes, there is an event, a party, or a function that simply flies past. The commonly held perception of time falls apart, leaving disjointed memories in their wake.
Gary had some experience with the phenomenon, primarily in the ‘getting hit in the head so hard, nothing makes sense any more’ arena.
Having the goddess Joy, looming over your home like a blazing sun of exuberant funtimes and eternal spring, felt amazing. It also made concentrating on anything very difficult, especially things that were not fun.
“Ducky, your sister is awesome, I love the energy. Can she tone it down? I’m having trouble keeping my hands off Shai when we’re awake, here it’s ridiculous.” that sensation of being trapped inside on a fine day was making Gary’s legs twitch abominably.
“Your body is under some stress at the moment. Have you considered coupling with your mate? I hear that works.” Ducky said, while Thirp clattered her fangs in the background. Spider humor was still a mystery.
“To be honest, we are using you just a little, I had hoped you would not feel any ill effects in the waking world.” The tiny god looked down and dug the toe of his silver sandal into the dirt of Gary’s garden path.
“Quit the playacting. What are you up to?” Shai and the kids were romping on the lawn, basking in Joy’s radiance without a care. That meant Gary could get some interrogation done.
“Since you… revived me, I have been slowly reaching out into the mortal world in ways we usually cannot. Your half mortal, half outsider existence is a problem… and an opportunity.” Ducky smiled and bounced on his toes, humming a happy melody.
“Particularly where we are discussing those who have soaked in your pool. Your gift, or affliction, weakens the protective aura of those who interact with you or bathe in your water.” He scratched his head and mumbled. “No, that’s not right…”
“Rather, you infect them with a hint of you, with fragments of your soul.” His smile faded. “That sounds terrible, and it could be, were you to… fall in with a bad crowd.” Marduk faltered again. “Thirp, please.”
“Certainly lord Marduk.” She scrambled over in exultant hops, running up the wall briefly for fun. “Your goddess of Joy is very distracting.”
“The issue and the opportunity are both complex. First, those who soak in your bath, carry away some tiny piece of you, this is not abnormal.” Her harp was in particularly fine form tonight, ringing out with splendid tones of joy.
“Soul fragments cross the aura barrier and take root in the souls of lovers, friends, siblings and parents regularly.”
“That is where you are unusual, you may have noticed a slight alteration in lord marduk since his first bath. He too has been infected… shall we say instead, influenced by you.” Her notes took an uncertain shift into a higher key.
“By the same mechanism you also accept and are influenced by those with whom you bathe…” Thirp paused, as if uncertain how to continue.
Marduk helped out, by cheerfully butting back in. “You have a little bit of god in you now, and some outsider spider demigod. Congratulations on the promotion Thirp!” Ducky sang happily. “That also means a little tiny Gary has burgled his way into all those souls, including mine.”
Marduk almost capered in glee.“Your gift unlocks the door, he lets me in to have a whisper with a sleepy child that might be compatible.”
His grin was insufferably smug. “I am outside the realms of man and gods at the moment, tucked neatly to Gary’s snow white bosom.”
“There is nothing wrong with stopping by to say hello to a mortal, It is quite fun. Some other members of the pantheon are unhappy with the status quo, they would also like to tiptoe through your garden at some point.” The godling grinned and did a happy spin on his toes.
“Others are less pleased at my sudden revival and our little game. They would very much like to know how we are doing this.” He smiled so innocently it hurt to look directly at him.
“You cannot accept another contract, but sweet sister Joy would please like to borrow your naughty little trick, to filch a few pretties for herself.” Marduk had a smile so bright he seemed to be getting taller.
“If you thi…” Gary opened his gob to blather some piffle, so Maduk wisely interrupted with divine grace and timing.
“Sweet Shai took Contract with Joy already, fool. Now she asks your consent to reach through that bond to simply tickle a few backsides, caress a few ears and generally make life interesting.” He intoned, his silvery voice ringing with wisdom and benevolence. “She asks your consent to offer her gifts to any of your brothers and sisters who are willing and able to accept.”
“No tricks?” Gary asked, that feral look in his eye again.
Ducky giggled and took another twirl. “Only the fun kind, I promise, she is Joy after all. She desperately wants to take you, and is slightly cross with me for getting you first. This would really help me out.”
“First, things have been getting frisky in the ‘waking world’ as you say, is that her, looking over my shoulder?” Gary asked, grinning and bouncing on his toes.
“Yes, your magical… emanations carry the essence of her gaze rather well, because you resonate so well with her. I am jealous frankly, you were mine alone for such a short time.” Marduk assumed a woebegone pose, fit for a tableau, before giggling. “It is entirely your fault Joy is having this effect on me, mortal. I am very put out with you for that.” More giggles ruined the effect.
“You will always be my first, wait… how does that work? I’m still Contracted to Secret, but he’s gone. I keep forgetting to ask!” Gary took Thirp in a warm hug, ‘cause she seemed jittery.
Ducky giggled childishly. “Secret is still there, inside me, like your NotGarys are inside you, expressing themselves at need. Secret is analogous to your box of guilty pleasures and dj NotGary.”
“Secret is the part of me that enjoys hidden truths and naughty information, truths that are thought to be lies and lies commonly held as fact. More importantly, that is the part of me you carry around.”
He reached out and rubbed Gary’s tummy in an unusual way, before scurrying off to chase after Gary's wife and children with childish glee.
“What was all that Thirp?” Gary asked, while his god ran after his family, giggling and whooping.
“As you journey farther down this path Gary, please remember that we all influence those around us, and are influenced in return, the mechanism may differ but the result is no different.” She replied.
A minor key shift sent shivers of warning through her chords. “For you… take care whom you allow into your life. You will become more like those with whom you bond.” Her music filled the house and flooded into the garden.
“So far you have done very well for yourself I think.” She said, hugging closer with all eight legs, letting her voice fall silent.
#
Esperanza’s crew pulled up the gangplank and pushed off, taking to the current like a living thing.
The river bent and disappeared around a bluff, while the shore party, including Gary and Otho on the cart pulled by Flora, cantered up the incline and paused to overlook the marshy expanse.
The gray green water looked a little less murky, even from a half mile off. Reeds and lotus flowers were starting to spread out from the island, thriving despite winter's firm grip on the region.
The Island looked inviting from a distance, carpeted with an even layer of deep green. The reeking flotsam was nearly gone and waterbirds paddled about, including a number of stately swans…
“Those are big birds. Really big.” Gary whispered in amazement and wonder.
“Hmm? Yes, they do grow large, not monstrous though they can be dangerous if threatened. Hunt waterfowl with care, they might hunt back.”
Otho had his instrument out tapping out a jolly beat while making his higher strings mumble happily.
“Lady Joy is very near you Gary, very near all of you, I can almost feel her breath on my collar. It’s intoxicating!”
They rode down to the causeway, Khan and Luna out at the flanks while the cart bounced over hidden rocks and holes.
“Otho the dog is much better at this…” Gary said, while his kidneys and tailbone took a battering.
When they hit the smooth causeway it was a blessed relief, Shai’s elbow had left a knot in his right butcheek that had him sitting awkwardly and stiff.
“Mmm, well at least you have lost that slouch and limp you came in with. Though you still dance like you have a rock in your left shoe.” Otho clapped him on the back and cheered. “Shai will work that out of you or you will die in the process.”
“Dude, people keep telling me that but I don’t see it.” He complained, still trying to sit comfortably.
“Look how I am sitting boy, you should be three fingers taller than me. Yet I loom over you by a finger's width… why? Is it my well padded rump?”
His smile was warm and caring, but still filled with sass. “Or are you twisted to the left protecting an injury that is no longer there?”
The party came to a halt a few yards from the water, while Esperanza came sliding over, propelled by Falco. Her crew set about securing their vessel with practiced and quick movements.
Gary hopped out of the Mystery Machine, still mulling over Otho’s words.
“Wait… Am I standing crooked now?” He asked the humans and equines.
After a long moment, Annie came forward, rested her head on his shoulder and chuffed a huge consoling breath down his collar. “Ok, noted. Let’s get to work.”
#
Shai, Esperanza and Becky were huddled together around a tea kettle, while the tale was told.
“Tis true, at first touch o bare skin the magic did go wild and I dinnae see more. This I kin say, they did wake entangled together in a manner most improper, deliciously so. I dinnae ken I hae a hunger fer such gossip!”
“So all that planning, that wild outfit, all the schemes… Really she just had to touch him once? I feel like there is a lesson about men there…” Becky considered that for a good long while.
“Nope, no lesson there. You had an elaborate plan to snag Gary, right Shai?”
She laughed short and hard. “Nae, he were foisted on me as marriage bait, one of so many o’er the years.” She sighed fondly. “Harken Esperanza, that ye might know what a jackdaw I did hitch meself tae.”
“Papa Harlan did agree tae rotate him through the forge an would hae me teach him…”
#
Gary stood by the water’s edge, playing his flute with Entrainment and Familiar Stranger thrown wide open. He stretched his gifts as far as they would go and got nothing.
He stood tall and straight, focusing on that last part, then started walking up a narrow game trail that roughly paralleled the shore.
The music of his flute rose as he walked, drawing the interest and attention of every creature around that could heed its call.
#
Back at the foot of the causeway, in Esperanza’s hold, the shore team was warming up.
“I got nothing, walked a quarter mile in either direction up the shore and everything was just how it should be.” He complained. “Water birds and all the usual forest critters, nothing unusual, Falco says everything is normal too.”
“Then we do stay on the island tonight, try in evening an by moonlight, then at dawn, an there be no need, we go home an take our ease till festival night.” No one had anything better to offer, so Shai won the day.
As the meeting broke up, Otho caught Gary’s sleeve. “My own divinations have revealed no threats or unusual magical emanations… save those in this band. Let us yet remain vigilant.”
Gary hugged the old man, ‘cause it just felt right.
“I’m getting a lot of noise from Joy right now, is this how you live your life, just bubbling over like this?” He asked while embracing the scrawny goof.
Otho smiled happily. “Yes, I would like to say you get used to it… but no, my lady Joy is relentless in her bounty. Though once you seal a Contract her voice will be much more clear.”
#
Esperanza once more set out, towed by Falco to the Island. The Wards and the shore party walked the causeway, enjoying warm winter sun and a stroll. Most of them anyway.
Khan had a hand on Annie’s neck, idly stroking the placid horse. Falco drifted lazy circles in the water, barely twitching his fluke to stay in motion.
“I swear I saw something large moving in the water.” Becky whispered softly. “Annie saw nothing, Falco is uninterested.” She pointed with her chin to indicate the merged waters beyond the causeway.
Khan looked long and hard where she indicated and saw nothing. His head remained in constant motion, alert and mildly concerned. If the look in his eye and his twitching mustache were to be trusted.
Gary fretted and fussed, trying to stay between his kids and the water… on a bridge. He nearly panicked when Luna joked about the culverts under the roadbed.
“Control your pet Khan, does he think we will chop him up for bait once we get to that island?”
The woman barked and snapped her words constantly, yet Gary found himself unable to dislike her. Shai had fewer reservations.
“Ye kin stifle that, t’were a close run thing last we were here, I’ll nae suffer foolish prattle at Gary. Scold yer own, fer he do seem unsettled as well.”
Low hills surrounded the wide, slow moving wetland. The river, whose name Gary had yet to learn, joined a much wider river here. Together they filled the small valley, leaving only a narrow band of muddy shore against the hillsides.
In the middle of the causeway lay Gary’s island. It jutted out into the river, with dark, muddy water flowing under the road and past on both sides. A short stone bridge connected the road to the island.
The small, irregular slice of muddy and generally unpleasant soil was completely changed since their last visit. A lush carpet of wild herbs and grasses covered the soil. The tangled and intertwined roots made the surface almost perfectly level and marvelously bouncy.
The small Island was an expanse of dense, springy foliage, that almost threw their footsteps back at them with every movement.
Esperanza moored on the far end, where the river channel was deepest. Securing their home with stakes driven into the shore took only a few minutes, Dante and Markus made short work of the task.
They met with the slightly nervous walkers on the shore.
“Falco says there is no danger to be had here.” Esperanza said, a mild hint of annoyance in her voice.
“Specifically, he says that ‘nothing that could harm us here would, while nothing that would, could’.” She shot her familiar a charged look. “He is not usually so mealy mouthed.”
Khan and Annie were having a similar discussion, while he and Luna watched the waters carefully.
“Annie says much the same. She has never been anything but true.” Khan said. “She will not elaborate further.”
Otho strolled by, wrapped in a scarf of wool in every shade of green and gold and a shearling coat painted with an explosion of wildflowers. The utter image of a man at ease in winter.
“Lady Joy says this place has been touched by her grace on many occasions, though not for an unimaginable span of time. I feel the echoes of that, so will you if you relax.” The withered old coot seemed happy to meander around all day, just smiling and breathing deeply.
With a shrug, Shai began summoning the house, tapping deeply into Gary’s magic to pull it off.
“Sing me a song Gary, ye know what I like!”
Shai had her instrument out, tuning up and running a few exercises. Her bow sent tendrils of her unique gift tugging at his coat tails like a naughty child.
The smile that crawled across Gary’s face made Becky shiver with dread.
“Gary, Shai…” The poor girl went unheard, lost in the noise as Otho started tuning as well.
Gary’s twelve string guitar appeared, rumbling and grumbling its bass notes into the afternoon sky.
He began a simple, rollicking folk tune, the kind played by locals at every festival and fair. Otho and Shai found a home in his sound and started jamming along on instinct.
The music went on, just cheerful and easy to dance along to. Becky sighed as she danced with Amy.
Khan took a sprightly step around the lawn with Luna and Wilford in his arms.
Becky relaxed, swaying and stepping in time. Before long, Gary started to sing in a sweet, lilting tone of childlike innocence.
Bring me some whiskey, mother
I'm feeling frisky, mother
Bring me a sheep, for I am lonely tonight!
Becky kept on dancing, lifting heels and knees, while twirling along with Shai and the others. ‘Wait whaat?’ She thought, but the music carried on again for a span, without lyrics. For a while…
Sheep never talk about it,
They never ever doubt it,
Always so placid, affectionate and nice!
Bring me that lanolin,
Better than flannel-in,
I need a sheep to keep me warm through the night!
Gary had the bit in his teeth, he was running away with this one. In desperation Becky looked to Khan and Luna, but they were lost to the music.
Luna and Khan had a smiling and giggling Wilford pressed between them, the pair of almost newlyweds seemed to be everywhere, while lost in their own world.
Owls, bats and other critters,
Just seem to give me jitters,
I need a sheep to keep me warm through the night!
“Gary, Shai!...” Becky shouted, while covering Amy’s ears with her palms. They were locked in, this thing was going nowhere good.
She intercepted Khan and Luna, plucking Wilford away, before scampering below decks on Esperanza.
They started another verse of increasingly distressing filth before she could get the hatch closed.
Gerbils don't make it, mother,
They just can't take it, mother,
I need a sheep to keep me warm through the night!
Bring me a beast, dear mother,
Nay, not the priest, dear mother,
I need a sheep to keep me warm through the night!
Bring me a sheep, dear mother,
Slip it beneath the covers,
England may rule the seas, but Scotland's depraved!
As always, no matter how carefully they watched, despite any and all preparations, no one saw the house appear.
Certainly not Becky, or the two children, who remained unclear on exactly what had Becky so upset.
#
Outside, gasping and giggling adults were in complete control of themselves and their emotions. Obviously.
Gary and Shai dragged the whole lot through something called; ‘The Lusty Young Smith’, before sinking to the springy, pleasantly scented lawn in exhaustion.
“What was Becky saying? Did she go aboard the boat?” Gary asked, bleary eyed and sleepy, the stamina and spiritual mana bars in his eye, blinking slowly in warning.
“Esperanza, please find mine children whilst I soak this ragged wastrel in the bath, he hae wrung himself dry again.”
She tisked softly, before hoisting him on her shoulder, and half dragging him into the house.
“This one would swear she saw something move in the water.” Esperanza remarked, as she brought Becky and the little ones inside.
“Yeah, probably my breakfast floating by. I can’t believe you let me hear that song, never mind Amy and Wilf!”
“There’s nothing wrong with that song! It’s traditional and fun, that makes it Ok.” Gary protested, though feebly, and from the bath. “And quit trying to make ‘Wilf’ a thing, it’s not happening.” He wheezed, barely clinging to the edge of the tub.
“Gross.” Becky closed the bathroom door, isolating the pair. “Those two are on time out, Ranza, what did you see?” She asked, all business and undistracted.
“Something big, dark colored and slow moving, that is why it is hard to spot.” She bounced on her heels in irritation, distracting everyone. “It passed right under a pair of swans, they paid no mind. Falco saw nothing as well.”
Khan shrugged eloquently. “If something is out there, it is not causing any trouble. Let’s post a watch anyway.” He clapped his hands to his knees and stood. “I’ll take first, decide who takes over from me in two hours.”
Shai and Gary stumbled out an hour later, looking much revived, but still exhausted. “Spend a couple weeks floating around and suddenly I can’t hang.” Gary wheezed. “Joy has me bouncing off the inside of my skull since last night. It just keeps getting worse.”
Shai dropped into his lap as soon as he sank to a plush rug on the floor, dragging a blanket out of his storage gift to cover them both. “I kinnae believe ye did sing that song where the wee ones could hear…” She sighed.
“So who was playing that violin solo between verses? Annie?” Gary complained right back.
“I dinnae ken the depths of yer unseemly and wicked nature. Now I do question keeping thee at all. Best ye move out tae the stables…” One eye popped open, glaring up at him from his lap.
“an I kin trust ye out there…” She whispered, caressing his face while smiling in bliss.
While they argued good naturedly, flinging jibes and cutting remarks with warm smiles and gentle touches, Luna watched in amazement as she peeled onions for Otho.
“They are quite the pair.” Otho whispered, while she and he worked in the kitchen.
All three children were sprawled on the rug with the pair. The family formed a loose mound, with pillows jutting out at odd angles and covered with blankets.
Gary had his back to the sofa and the rest piled on top, judging by the lumpy, giggling pile. Esperanza slipped into the mess without even making a ripple.
“This pleasant scene is a symptom of lady Joy’s attention and gaze, never have I seen her linger so long in one place.” He smiled at the scarred woman, speaking softly.
“Fortunately, their unusual condition inures them to such stress… you may want to take a run, or drag that young man of yours off to the stable.”
“At least that was how we did it when I was that age.” He said with a saucy wink. “I will take the next watch, once we finish making lunch!”
#
Otho took a big wooden bowl of rice, topped with stir fried groundworm and vegetables outside, with a huge mug of tea to ‘keep watch’ while the others ate.
The old man settled onto one of Gary’s camp chairs with a blanket to eat, think and watch the water.
Before long, he had his shamisen out; empty bowl and mug at his feet, playing along with the waterfowl.
Those colossal swans drifted placidly, reaching down on occasion to seize one of those pinchy nightmares up and devour it.
Ducks and geese of normal proportions kept to the deeper channel where it was safer. Like mighty warships, the swans escorted their smaller kin, eagerly preying on the dumb crawdaddies.
Otho wandered the scales, searching for a composition that would speak to the moment…
Until Becky’s ear shattering scream shook his world.
