Magi Saga 1: Epic Calling (10 page)

Today would be another warm day, not as hot as yesterday but still very pleasant. Amanda had spent a fairly care free evening in the cottage last night and had slept like a baby. It had been the best night’s sleep she had had since returning to Ireland. She fell asleepthe moment her head hit the pillow and had woken up refreshed and happy this morning. Wide awake almost immediately, she quickly rose, pulled on her lycra running gear and jogged down to the shop in the village for a few essentials.

On returning to the cottage she devoured a couple of slices of toast before her thoughts had once again returned to the clearing and the curious old man she had seen there yesterday, and she wondered if he would be there again today.

With only one way to find out she pulled off her clothes and dived into the shower to wash off the sweat and grime from the run before picking out a loose red tartan mini skirt and summery top, pulled on her walking trainers and with a few things thrown in a backpack she headed out into the mid-morning sunshine. It felt a little cooler today and looking towards the village in the distance you could see the haze of moisture in the air. The shop keeper had said it would brighten up and indeed it had already started doing so right now. Feeling happier than she had in a while Amanda headed out up the track and then into the woods. In the shade of the trees, the air felt a little cooler than it had yesterday, but not at all cold. The cool air on Amanda’s legs had been quite welcome in fact and made her feel invigorated.

Before long she reached the clearing and looked out across it. A slight mist hugged the ground for the moment just above the grass where the morning due glistened in the sunlight. It leant a mystical air to the silent clearing. She’d arrived earlier than she had yesterday so she wasn’t surprised that the man wasn’t here yet. Although there was no reason to think he might come at all. She headed out a little way into the clearing, the mist curling about her ankles, and set her backpack down, before pulling out a picnic rug and laying it on the ground, waterproof side facing down. Sitting cross legged in the middle of it she pulled out a book on Tai Chi and a bottle of water.

She gazed about the clearing enjoying the view from her low vantage point, the mist looked like a grey sea, undulating in slow motion all about her, the dark trees growing up from its edges.

Amanda had always loved places like the clearing, secret places, areas hidden away from those not in the know. Back in the orphanage it had been the same, and she had found her own secret place to hide. The orphanage always seemed busy, and there were few places you could go to for some time alone, something Amanda valued. Luckily for Amanda, being intensely curious and a bit of a rebel, it had been on one of her hunts as a child that she had discovered just such a hiding place.

The top floor of the huge old mansion was off limits to the orphans, it sat unused and the Sisters considered it dangerous and unsafe up there. The Orphans thought of the area with a mixture of curiosity and fear. There were stories of nasty things up on the top floor, they thought that it might be the place the Nuns took the really naughty children too, and locked them up.

A few of the Orphans had actually been up there, some were caught, others were more careful. These children knew it to be just abandoned and unused, but the stories continued anyway.

Amanda went up there often, using the back stairs where the lock didn’t work properly and she could force it to open. It had been up here that Amanda had looked up inside one of the unused fire places, to see a light part way up, a hole in the side of the chimney through which light filtered through. Amanda also saw there were curved metal bars stuck into the back wall, clearly to be used as a ladder up the chimney.

Amanda’s curiosity had a habit of getting the best of her, especially as a child, and such a mystery begged to be explored. The first time she went up there and crawled through the hole, she ended up covered in soot, but what she found was the buildings loft, and an area that seemed separate from the main loft area. Easily a good eight or nine foot square with a window that was meant to be purely decorative on the outside, but let plenty of light into this hidden area.

Before long Amanda had been up here many more times, bringing all sorts of things up with her. She found a way through to the main attic area from her hidden section, and also a less hidden route up here, which she used when she was able to.

Over the years, Amanda brought up magazines and books; she made a nice seating area with an old mattress and bedding, and turned an empty space into a secret den that only she knew about.

She didn’t even tell Alicia through many of the years they were friends. It felt like too personal a space to her for that. That was until after the Ouija board incident, and Amanda had a bit of a rethink. She had nearly lost her friend because of her curiosity, so to make it up to Alicia, she wanted to share something very personal with her.

Alone with her friend, she asked her if she could keep a secret. ‘Alicia, I have…, something to show you,’ she had stammered out in hushed tones. ‘Don’t say anything, just follow me, but first, just promise me you’ll keep it to yourself, it’s really important you keep this secret Ali.’

‘What secret?’

‘I can’t say, I’ll have to show you, but can you promise me?’

‘Well…’

‘Please Ali, just give me your word that you won’t tell anyone!’

Alicia seemed to be thinking, she stared at Amanda, looking into her eyes trying to weigh up just what could be so important. Amanda waited, looking back at Alicia with a deadly serious look upon her face.

‘OK Mandy, OK. I’ll keep it secret, whatever it is.’

She could remember that little conversation quite clearly even now, and she remembered she kept on asking Alicia to keep it a secret all the way up into the attic. When Alicia finally did see Amanda’s den, she went silent for a long time, looking around, making Amanda more and more nervous, until she finally said, ‘its perfect.’

Amanda felt relieved that her friend would keep their bond of trust, and to Alicia’s credit, she kept the den secret throughout the rest of Amanda’s time at the Orphanage.

The den had been more than just a hiding place for Amanda though, which was why she was so secretive about it. It had been where she kept her dreams, where she dreamt of New York, of leaving Ireland and heading to the big city, where she would make a new life.

She remembered the client on the streets of New York who reminded her of her dreams as a child, the dreams of her epic calling.

For some reason, when she had been growing up, she knew she would do more with her life, she felt there was part of her calling her to a higher goal, and part of that same internal pulling seemed to draw her to New York. She had covered her den in cuttings of Manhattan, pinned them to the beams, and any free space. She had magazines with articles on New York, and she would sit there for hours reading them and looking at the pictures.

She could feel that calling within her even now, but it didn’t draw her to New York anymore, even though she loved the city, she knew she needed to be here in Ireland for now.

She didn’t know why she had been drawn to New York, and as her mind went through the possibilities, she remembered the attack in the alleyway, and Stewart’s death.

The memory sent a shiver down her spine and snapped her back into the clearing once more as the memory faded, bottle of water in her hand and the Tai Chi book in her lap. She had found the book last night, read a few pages, and had brought it with her today. With the dark memories of the attack fading, she started to read the next page in the book, picking up where she had left off.

She’d read several chapters into the book when she heard the sounds of movement and looking up saw the familiar sight of the kind looking old man in same cream coloured clothing enter the clearing. Amanda marked the spot in her book and settled in to watch the lone small figure as he began his Tai Chi routine once more.

Once again the movements were as fascinating and captivating as before and Amanda found herself feeling untroubled and care free, just as she had done yesterday.

The full routine lasted an hour and seemed to be quite the work out for the old gentleman, who, once he had finished, gathered up his towel and wiped his forehead before walking out of the clearing. Amanda moved to her knees, thinking she might follow him and talk to him, but faltered, unsure if he might think of her as rude. She wanted to find out who he was, but didn’t know if she might be breaking some unwritten rules of eastern etiquette or not, and before she could make up her mind he had gone.

Amanda sank to a kneeling position and thought over the sudden impulse to speak to him. It seemed like a good thing to do to her, she was interested and figured she wouldn’t offend him if she was polite and kind to him. She resolved to come here again each day until she saw him again, and then make sure she went and spoke to him. She couldn’t see how asking a few simple questions could offend him, and even if they did, she would just apologise to him and be on her way.

Amanda stayed in the clearing a few hours more reading her book before she headed back to the cottage and watched the sun sink below the horizon from one of the garden chairs outside the cottage.

After her morning run Amanda stopped by the village and asked the shop keeper she bought milk off if he knew of any old Chinese gentlemen in the area, but he said he didn’t and Amanda headed back to the cottage having learnt nothing new.

Pulling on another short skirt and light summery top after a soothing shower Amanda gathered her things together to head up to the clearing once more. She planned to arrive there later then yesterday but before the time the man had arrived so as not to miss the beginning of the routine.

So later that morning Amanda sat in the clearing on her rug, this time a little closer to where the man did his Tai Chi and waited while reading her book, and, sure enough, the man arrived once more to practice his Art.

Amanda watched his graceful movements once more, all the more enhanced from a closer viewpoint, with rapt attention. The hour passed just as quickly as it had the past two days and seeing him nearing the end of the session, Amanda readied to approach him.

The man stopped his routine and picked up his towel to wipe his face, Amanda jumped to her feet and started walking, her hair loose and dancing to her movements. As she neared the old man she saw that he really was quite small, easily a good foot or so shorter then herself.

He noticed her approach, and as he wiped his hands he didn’t walk off, staying stood in one place, which was a good sign. He looked up towards her as she approached with an open and pleasant expression upon his face and waited for Amanda to say something first.

Amanda walked up to him, hesitantly making sure he had finished cleaning himself up a little bit before she raised a hand in a slight wave to say hi.

‘Hi there. Erm, sorry to disturb you, I hope you don’t think I’m being rude, but, well, I’ve seen you these past few days and have wanted to introduce myself so I have?’

The man waited a moment, before nodding his head slightly to say that he didn’t mind.

‘Oh good. Well, I’m Amanda, Amanda-Jane Page actually. I err, live about twenty minutes that way and kind of found this clearing a few weeks ago,’ she said hesitantly. ‘Heh, anyway, I’m awful interested in the Martial Arts myself and have been watching the routine that you have been doing here. It’s very good mister erm… I’m sorry, I don’t know your name?’

‘Gentle Water,’ the man said, in Chinese accented English.

Amanda raised her eyebrows at the name, but continued on anyway. ‘Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you.’ The man nodded with a smile. ‘Gentle Water you say. That’s an unusual name. But a nice name, I like it, it's grand,’ Amanda said, she was feeling a little nervous, but he seemed like a nice person.

‘It is my pleasure to meet you. Why are you nervous?’

‘Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be nervous. Um, I’d like to know, is it Tai Chi that you’re practicing?’

‘It is a ancient art, very rare, not many know it.’

‘I have to say, that it’s beautiful to watch. I have been terribly fascinated these past three days, you must be a master of the Art.’

‘Ah, I no master, forever student. Do you know a martial art?’ He asked.

‘I do yes, I learnt some over the past two years, I only know a few moves from a few different Art Forms that I learnt in self-defence class. I’d love to learn more.’

‘I teach you, you learn art from me.’

‘What? Teach me? No, no, I didn’t mean it that way. You must be awful busy. I wasn’t asking you to teach me, I just meant that I hope to learn some more in the future. I couldn’t possibly accept,’ she said, flustered by his sudden offer.

‘I understand, but, I need student. You would be good student. I would be honoured,’ he answered calmly, seriously.

‘But, you don’t even know me, I could be anyone.’ Amanda was incredulous.

‘I trust my heart,’ he said as he indicated his heart. ‘You are good choice.’

Amanda Blushed. ‘Thank you.’

‘So, you say yes?’

‘Yes, that would be amazing. Are you sure? Do you really wish to take me on as your student?’

‘It be great honour.’