Healing Hands (The Queen of the Night series Book 2) (2 page)
Read Healing Hands (The Queen of the Night series Book 2) Online
Authors: Laura Emmons
Chapter One
The King and The Queen
Transcript of e-mail conversation spanning October 28
th
through December 13
th
, present day…
EMAIL
Subject: New way to stay in touch (25 messages) Me, Evan
Maggie Stewart
Oct 28 at 4:25 pm PDT
Hi Evan,
This is going to be a better way to talk to you. If we talk on the phone, someone might overhear us. The close call we had during our last conversation was frightening. I’m having a hard enough time keeping straight what secrets I’m keeping from whom. I’d hate for Corey to overhear us talking about magic, or for Mom to hear me say I have Healer and Seer gifts. Can you imagine how upset she’d be?
I’m hoping Mom can’t monitor this account. Wish me luck.
Evan Keach
Oct 28 at 8:03 pm EDT
I like this format. We can share pictures, too. Are you doing anything special for Samhain?
Maggie Stewart
Oct 28 at 5:18 pm PDT
I’m too old for Halloween, but I think Corey is going trick-or-treating. He’s dressing up like one of those superheroes. Again.
Maggie Stewart
Nov 1 at 7:53 pm PDT
Oh my Goddess, Evan. You won’t believe what happened this morning. I’m still shaking. What should I do?
Corey and I had stayed up because he wanted my help evaluating his trick-or-treat plunder, so I overslept and almost missed doing my daily scan of Mom before she left for work.
What I saw made me drop my electric toothbrush. I dry-heaved my guts all over, while it flopped uselessly on the ground like a caught fish. Instead of one tiny speck in the back of one breast, she was riddled with grayish-brown masses. These masses look like the cancerous tumors Nyad Easnadh developed last summer from the radiation poisoning of her stream. They’re everywhere: Mom’s lungs, her intestines and her pancreas. Overnight! She developed CANCER overnight!
Evan Keach
Nov 1 at 11:12 pm EDT
Calm down, Mags. It’s too early to panic yet. Let the doctors do their tests. What you’re seeing with your magical healer vision might not be cancer. It might be something else.
Maggie Stewart
Nov 1 at 8:24 pm PDT
Yeah right, Evan. Remember the part where I was cursed by an angry fairy queen into a catatonic state? Remember how you and Fiona saved me and when I woke up I was a walking combined X-Ray, Ultrasound and MRI machine? It looks just like the Ritual of Transfer. There’s only one entity in the universe that can perform this type of magic.
Evan Keach
Nov 1 at 11:26 pm EDT
You’ve only had this ability for four months. You can’t possibly interpret every condition you sense accurately. Hang in there! Tell me what happens at the doctor’s. As far as the Ritual of Transfer is concerned, don’t you think the Queen of the Night has more important things to do? Also, do you still think of your healer vision as a curse? I was under the impression you’d started to embrace your legacy.
Maggie Stewart
Nov 1 at 8:29 pm PDT
Okay, maybe you’re right. No, I don’t still think of it as a curse. It’s hard though, because only you, Fiona and I are aware I have this gift. I’ve known she had a 4mm lump in the back of her left breast since last August and I haven’t told anyone about it because I can’t explain
how
I know without revealing that I have both Healer and Seer gifts to Mom or revealing that magic exists to everyone else.
Also, the QoN probably does have better things to do, but didn’t you say her magic is the strongest on Halloween? Anyway, thanks, Evan. I’ll keep in touch.
Maggie Stewart
Nov 2 at 4:47 pm PDT
Hey Evan,
Mom’s oncologist was able to examine her today. He looked at the places I told him to with an ultrasound and ordered a few emergency biopsies. At least he’s taking this seriously. The masses are still relatively small, but I can tell Mom’s starting to feel the pain, especially in her pancreas.
Evan Keach
Nov 2 at 8:02 pm EDT
How do you even know what a pancreas is?
Maggie Stewart
Nov 2 at 5:05 pm PDT
You’re kidding right? I’ve wanted to be a doctor ever since I was five. Mom gave me a copy of Gray’s Anatomy for my twelfth birthday. Of course I know what a pancreas is.
Evan Keach
Nov 15 at 6:02 am EDT
Happy Sweet Sixteen, Mags. How’re doing?
Maggie Stewart
Nov 15 at 5:05 pm PDT
Thank you, Evan. I’m not doing that great. Every day I can sense the masses growing but I can’t tell anyone what I see. Mom wanted to throw me a party. I talked her out of it. She’s really starting to act sick. She has trouble breathing. She won’t eat. There’s nothing I can do to help her. I just didn’t feel like celebrating.
Fiona and Rose are helping Mom make plans to move to Cacapon permanently, so the only good news is that I might see you a lot sooner than next summer.
Maggie Stewart
Nov 24 at 7:19 pm PDT
Hey Evan,
It’s official. All the tests have been analyzed and the diagnosis is confirmed. There’s no way to fight this much cancer. You should have heard the oncologist. He kept muttering things to himself.
“I don’t understand it.”
“She was cancer-free.”
“The post-operative radiation treatments worked.”
“I’ve never seen anything this invasive.”
My personal favorite is his new mantra. “How did this happen?” The masses are growing at an astronomical rate. All we can do now is help Mom put her affairs in order before she can’t even get out of bed. Corey’s distraught. How am I supposed to help him through this? It’s like Dad all over again.
Evan Keach
Nov 24 at 10:30 pm EDT
I’m so sorry, Maggie. What can I do to help?
Maggie Stewart
Nov 24 at 7:35 pm PDT
I have no idea. Now that everyone else knows what I’ve known for weeks, I just feel wiped out. I should probably go to bed early.
Evan Keach
Nov 24 at 10:38 pm EDT
I could tell you a bedtime story.
Maggie Stewart
Nov 24 at 7:42 pm PDT
Why not? You’re the one who is part Poet. Tell me a story, Evan.
Evan Keach
Nov 24 at 10:56 pm EDT
Let me tell you the story of Arianrhod and Llew.
The Creator made the suns, moons, planets, and stars but loved Earth the most. So Mother Earth and Father Sky were created to help our planet. She covered the planet with soil and he created air, wind and clouds. The clouds spilled rain and formed oceans, lakes and rivers. It pleased the Creator, so one sun and one moon were provided to shine down on Earth. Bathed in light, our planet was beautiful but barren. They created the first nyad, an ocean nymph, to stir the sea to life. Father Sky gave her the power to harness the pull of the Moon on the water so she could form waves. The push and pull of the waves brought life to the oceans. The land was still bare, so he ordered the nymph to step out of the water onto dry land.
As soon as she took her first step onto the sand, she gave birth to a golden-haired son. Shocked and terrified, she ran away from the child. She had never seen a baby and knew nothing of childbirth or child rearing, but the golden-haired boy grew instantly and gave chase to his mother. As she ran away, she crossed from land to sea.
When she stepped into the water, the moon disappeared from the sky. Her power to control the moon tethered it to her person. The boy cried, so Father Sky gave him the Sun to comfort him. The boy ran after his mother, carrying the sun behind him. As he crossed from land to sea, the sun disappeared from the sky.
The nymph, realizing that she was a mother, chased him to give him her love. As she stepped onto dry land, the moon rose in the sky. The two endlessly chase each other around the Earth. When the nymph crosses land, the moon lights the night-time sky. When the son crosses the land, the Sun brightens our days. Father Sky was pleased because the balance of night and day allowed things to grow and prosper. The endless chase of mother and son for each other’s love brought life to the land. The sadness of loss fueled the birth of life. He named the nymph the Queen of the Night and her son the King of the Sun.
Good Night, Mags. Sleep tight.
Maggie Stewart
Nov 24 at 8:10 pm PDT
That’s a beautiful story. Goodnight, Evan.
Maggie Stewart
Dec 7 at 5:22 pm PDT
Mom quit her job and broke the lease today. She faxed papers transferring guardianship of Corey and me to Aunt Rose’s lawyer.
I’ve been on the phone checking out moving companies all afternoon.
Mom says she wants us to be in Cacapon by Yule. What’s Yule?
Evan Keach
Dec 7 at 8:43 pm EDT
Yule is the German term for the Winter Solstice. In Scottish Gaelic we call it Mean Geimhridh. Yule is easier to say. That’s only two weeks away.
Maggie Stewart
Dec 13 at 6:48 pm PDT
Okay, the plans are set. Corey and I will have our last day of school on the 18
th
. On the 19
th
the movers come to get all our stuff. Aunt Rose enrolled us in Morgan County schools today. We start right after the New Year. Mom was able to arrange emergency medical transport to get us from LAX to Dulles International on the 20
th
, but they won’t transport Corey and me in the ambulance taking Mom from the airport to Fiona’s cabin. Can you come and get us?
Evan Keach
Dec 13 at 9:51 pm EDT
Dumb question for such a smart girl…just text me the flight info. I can hardly wait to see you.
Maggie Stewart
Dec 13 at 6:54 pm PDT
Me too. I need a hug. Now I just have to pack everything we own in five days.
Chapter Two
Night of the Mothers
The longest night of the year was also the longest night of my life.
“Tell me about the holiday, Mommy.” My eleven-year old brother, Corey, lay down on the queen-sized bed next to my mother and looked up at her earnestly.
“Well,” she began softly, “Yule starts at sunset with the Night of the Mothers and continues after sunrise with Children’s Day.” I could see how weak she was but she still made the effort to stroke the dark blond tendrils from his face. The image was pure Madonna and Child, even though she was racked with pain; she gazed at him with all the love in the world.
Through the cathedral windows in my Great-Aunt Fiona’s living room I could see the last glow of the year’s shortest day disappear behind the densely forested mountains. The Night of the Mothers had begun.
She struggled to continue.
“Right now, about two miles from here, the Cacapon clan is gathered outside an ancient cave. It’s about as large as this cabin and has only one entrance. It’s formed in the side of the tallest mountain on Aunt Fiona’s property and it’s so old no one knows if it’s a natural cave or a man-made cave built by an ancient people who have long since disappeared from history. Above the entrance is a hole. When the last rays of the shortest day of the year shine through the hole, they illuminate drawings painted on the back wall of the cave. The light lasts for about an hour so parents take their children into the cave in groups, the Poets recite the story depicted by the cave drawings, and then they rotate another group in until everyone in the clan has seen the pictures and heard the story.”
The hospice nurse came over and silently adjusted the settings on the IV drip connected to Mom’s frail arm. As she checked vital signs and made notations in the medical chart, I took a moment to look around the room. My Aunt Rose and great-aunt had completely transformed it. All of the living room furniture was gone. I had no idea where they’d stashed it. Instead they had set up the bed, with a stately oak headboard in front of the massive fireplace which dominated my great-aunt’s cabin.
On either side of the bed, pedestal tables acted as nightstands. My Aunt Rose sat in her comfy wingback reading chair on one side of Mom. Fiona sat in her old leather chair on the other side. Corey and I were expected to flank Mom on the bed, but I had gotten up to speak with the visiting nurse in the foyer.
“I’ve increased her pain medication. She should rest easier now.” Rose joined us. The nurse gave us both the necessary instructions for managing Mom’s care through the night. She told us what to do if Mom didn’t last that long, and left. Rose and I returned to our vigil.
It amazed me how normal she looked from this distance. You couldn’t tell she was riddled with cancerous tumors. She hadn’t endured chemotherapy or surgery so there were no signs. The hair she’d lost six months earlier from the chemo treatments had grown back long and lustrous and as vibrantly red as always.
Aunt Rose’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Why don’t I take over telling the story from here?”
Corey nodded and I gratefully sighed in relief. The pain meds made it so Mom could barely keep her beautiful green eyes open and she had trouble stringing two words together.
“The cave drawings tell the story of Arianrhod and Llew,” she started. “The Creator made the suns, moons, planets, and stars, but loved Earth most of all, so Mother Earth and Father Sky were created to help our planet.”
Corey interrupted, “Is the Creator God?”
“You can call the Creator God if you like.”
“So are Mother Earth and Father Sky angels?”
“They are very much like angels; they’re high-ranking angels.”
“You mean they’re like archangels?”
“Okay, they’re like archangels. Mother Earth covered the planet with soil and Father Sky created air, wind and clouds…”
I had heard this story before so my mind drifted elsewhere. Accepting the inevitable came easily. I just didn’t know how to live without her.
Rose stopped talking and Fiona took up the telling of the story. I took the pause as an opportunity to stretch out on the bed next to Mom, gently taking her hand in mine.
“So right about now, outside the ancient mysterious cave, darkness has fallen in the forest. The parents of the clan lead their children through the pitch black back down the trail and into a sacred meadow.” As Fiona spoke, she traveled around the cabin extinguishing all of the lights.
“While they walk, the children are encouraged to embrace the darkness without fear. They are told that even when they cannot see their mothers, they know their love is still there. They are reminded how without the balance of night and day, plants, animals and even children would not grow. Equally as important as the balance of night and day, is the importance of death and rebirth. The children think about these lessons, guided only by their parents’ firm grip. Soon they walk out of the forest and into the meadow, where a great bonfire burns, and everything is bright once more.”
Fiona dramatically lit the wood and kindling in the fireplace and it whooshed to life. Corey audibly gasped. “Wow…cool…”
Rose picked up where Fiona stopped. “In olden days the families in the clan would build temporary shelters all around the clearing. They would hang wreaths of holly and ivy on poles outside their makeshift houses to welcome visitors. They would set cauldrons filled with clove-spiked apples and oranges right inside the doorways. Sometimes they would hang bunches of mistletoe overhead and people who stepped inside the shelters would be obligated to kiss.”
“Ewww…” interjected my brother.
“Oh, it gets worse,” I warned him.
“But tonight, most of the families will use camping tents to represent the houses. Several of them are pretty fancy and they’re definitely sturdier and dryer than the lean-tos my parents used to build when I was a kid,” added Fiona. She continued, “They’ll take all of the children around from tent to tent, giving gifts, singing carols, and eating sweets.”
I saw something move from the kitchen into the living room. At first it looked like a piece of the wall had broken off and started to float toward us, but then I realized Grog, the house Brownie, had just handed a tray to Rose.
“Yay!” yelled Corey. Rose produced the tray of candy and caramel apples. She left and returned with hot, spiced cider. Medium sized cauldrons of clove-spiked apples and oranges had suddenly appeared on the hearth on either side of the fireplace. Fiona’s house Brownies must be working in the background, camouflaging themselves to look like their surroundings and being careful not to alert Corey to their presence, but still dutifully performing the chores that made our lives easier.
“After going door-to-door…”
“It sounds like trick-or-treat,” said Corey.
“It’s more like tent-or-treat,” Aunt Rose responded.
“Why does the clan hide in a meadow?”
Rose answered. “Because most people don’t celebrate Yule anymore and wouldn’t understand our traditions.”
“Especially the next part,” I muttered.
Fiona took up the dialog and it occurred to me that she and Rose imitated the Yule celebration more for my mom’s benefit than for me or Corey. Had Mom missed her family’s unique traditions all those years she survived in self-imposed exile? I would bet she did…terribly so.
“Next, the single young men in the clan put on their antlers,” Rose snuck up behind my brother and placed a headdress made from a buck’s rack on his head. He looked eager to hear the next part.
“And they dance the Horned Men Dance. During which the men are encouraged to seek one young woman from the clan and ask her to be his girlfriend.”
“What? Yuk!” Corey stripped off the antlers and tossed them under the bed.
“After the dance, the families return to their respective tents and hand out the presents,” Fiona finished.
“Presents! Why didn’t you say so? Let’s do presents first!”
Fiona, Rose and I had all agreed we would exchange our Christmas presents on this night, since the hospice nurse had made it clear Mom would probably not survive three more days. She had been dozing on and off as her sister and aunt shared the traditions of Mothers Night but when Corey exclaimed ‘Presents!’ she roused herself enough to participate. I helped hand out the presents from under the huge, albeit artificial, Christmas tree. Fiona had explained that the dryads, aka wood nymphs, would flay her alive if she ever snuffed the life of a perfectly healthy tree for such a frivolous reason.
I knew Mom would never dip into our college trust funds for something like Christmas presents, so I suspected Fiona had contributed the funds needed to acquire the bounty in front of us. By the time all the presents were opened, several hours had passed and the room was a sea of red and green wrapping paper and ribbon. Fiona had served ham, since it was Mom’s favorite.
Corey had received every video game and DVD he’d requested. Even I was flabbergasted when Rose opened the door to the screened-in back porch and returned with a BMX bike for him. While he squealed and Mom smiled sweetly, the pocket of my sweatpants vibrated. I’d received a text from Evan. He said he’d successfully escaped participation in the Horned Men dance and did I want him to join us. I texted back,
Not yet
.
I’d been given a lot of awesome presents as well. Mom gave me a textbook on human physiology I’d wanted for months. Fiona gave me a new notebook computer she said I would need for school. Rose gave me gift cards for downloading music, movies and e-books. Finally, they pulled the big present out from behind the tree. It was a pamphlet.
Huh?
I looked at the title which said, ‘Eastern Panhandle Driving School’. My heart leapt into my throat.
“Driving?” I asked, completely caught off guard. In California it was legal to get a provisional license, or learner’s permit, at the age of fifteen-and-a-half, but since car insurance was so outrageously expensive for teenage drivers, and because the Blue bus went everywhere I needed to go, I’d never considered taking driving lessons.
Rose answered my unspoken question. “If you’re gonna live here, you’ll need to know how to drive.”
“Driving…” I said again, this time with awe in my voice. Then, as the idea captured me, and I pictured myself with that much freedom, I squealed. I jumped up and hugged both Rose and Fiona. Mom just smiled.
Our gifts to Mom were all home-made and hand-crafted. I’d sent Fiona a bunch of family photos which she’d turned into a fluffy picture quilt. Rose had made a bunch of candles scented in Mom’s favorite types of flowers. We placed them in a perimeter all around the bed so the room was filled with fragrance. Corey and I had made food: fudge, gingerbread cookies and brownies, although we knew she’d never eat it all. She’d had practically no appetite for weeks.
Eventually the celebration was over and we all ended up dozing by the fire together. Corey was tucked in under the new quilt snoring softly, his arms wrapped around Mom. I snuggled into her other side. Rose and Fiona dozed in their chairs. At one point, I felt movement above me. Fi was using her magical healing hands technique to check on Mom’s condition. I used my healer vision to look also. Then I looked at Fi, she nodded her head and increased the pain medicine on the IV drip as high as the governor would allow it to go.
Just as the first rays of Alban Arthan, the Winter’s Light, came streaming through the stained glass inset on the front door of the cabin, making a rainbow pattern throughout the foyer, the colors in my mother’s aura started to fade. As the jewel-toned light spilled into the kitchen, her light dissipated into a translucent whisper, and disappeared.
She was smiling, and I fervently wished that it meant she had found my father, and they’d left together.
I texted Evan.
Now
.
Corey must have sensed my movement because it woke him. He took one look at Mom and started bawling.
I had barely skirted around the bed to envelop Corey in my arms before Evan burst through the front door. The sacred meadow wasn’t far away but still, there was no way Evan had been waiting there. He must have been hiding in Fiona’s driveway. Both of us held my brother, talked to him, rubbed his back.
Nearly forty minutes passed before he stopped crying. I envied his ability to let it all out. I had no tears. Behind us Rose and Fiona followed the nurse’s instructions. They made phone calls. Eventually, people arrived. She was examined and given an official time of death. All the arrangements had been made in advance, so now the plans were executed. People took my mother’s body away, still draped in her new quilt.
There was nothing more to do than sleep. I tucked Corey into the camp bed in Fiona’s home office. Rose had set herself up on an air mattress in the sitting room of Fiona’s master suite. That left me in her bedroom. Evan tucked me in then lay on top of the covers holding me. Finally, when it was just the two of us and Corey was sound asleep, I buried my face in his chest, and wept.