One Thousand Years to Forever (6 page)

Katherine looked up. “Thank you, I
was getting a bit cold.”

Colum took her hand and led her
down Bay View Street and then down to Fresh. “We will have dessert
then I will get you home.”

He kept ahold of her hand as they
walked into the restaurant. While they waited to be seated he
rubbed her fingers. Looking closely at her. “Have you always had
such cold hands?”

Katherine shook her head. “No, just
the last year or so. I just can’t seem to stay warm. You would
think I was a vampire or something.” She laughed lightly and smiled
up at Colum as they walked to their seat.

As they sat Colum leaned in close.
“Maybe I should be on my guard then... ”

Katherine looked over at him,
puzzled, then she laughed. “God, I was joking... ”

Colum had to laugh at the look on
her face. She was being so serious. “I know.”

They each had tiramisu and another
cup of tea. Katherine finally got to the last bite but couldn’t
finish it. Colum looked over at her and smiled. “See, you could eat
a lot more than just a salad.”

Katherine groaned. “But I am going
to pay for it. I probably gained ten pounds with this supper and
desserts.”

Colum grabbed his leather bomber
jacket and put it back on her shoulders as they walked out into the
night. “You could stand to gain some weight.”

They sat in his Range Rover and
watched the lights twinkle on around the harbor. There were a few
brave souls who were living on their boats. “I don’t know how they
do it... ”

Colum looked over at Katherine. It
was all he could do to be a gentleman. He wanted to gather her up
in his arms, hold her all night, make love to her. If only she
knew...

“
Do what?”

“
Live in those tiny boats even
when it’s cold. Me, I need warmth. I guess I never thought about it
much before. Maybe it’s only with me being cold all the time. It’d
be one thing if I were used to it but right now I feel the
cold.”

Colum pushed a button. “You should
start to feel the heat in your seat. I’ll have you home in a few
minutes and if you want I can build a fire in your fire
place.”

“
That would be great but I haven’t
split any wood so I will just run up and climb in under all the
covers. Get snug as a bug in a rug, as my Grannie would say. I’m
sure I will fall asleep fast enough and the furnace will be
on.”

“
I’ll take care of it, nothing
like heat coming from a fireplace.”

Katherine looked over at her dinner
date. “How?”

“
I’ll chop some wood.” He glanced
over quickly and smiled as he drove. She watched his face as he
took the corners but kept his eyes on the road. Once they had to
stop quickly as some deer came out of nowhere. They just stood in
the road. Staring into the headlights.

As he started to drive by, Colum
opened the window and breathed in deeply, taking in their scent.
His mouth started to water.

Katherine saw him as he turned
towards them, she saw his nostrils flare, and a low sound came from
his throat. Then the strangest thing happened, a large huskie or
some kind of large, wolf-like dog came out of the trees, and gave
chase.

Katherine saw and watched the drama
unfold, watched as Colum tightened his hold on the steering wheel,
like he was trying to control himself.

“
Colum, are you OK?”

Colum could hear Katherine off in
the distance. He shook his head and came out of the red fog that
had misted over his eyes. He hadn’t realized till he saw the deer
how hungry he really was. He would have to hunt later. He took a
deep breath and smiled as he turned towards Katherine.

Katherine found her heart skipping
a beat as she looked into the eyes of the man, this giant of a man,
who sat next to her. She hardly knew him but she felt like she
knew
him. How? She hadn’t a clue but she felt like she had
known him forever. It was one of those things that couldn’t be
explained away too easily like her Grannie used to say. She had
been a woman of more than a lifetime of strange happenings and she
told her granddaughter to always believe…

“
Even if you are having a hard
time believing... it may be in your life or a certain someone may
come into your life for a reason. There may be no explanation of
why something has just happened or who that person is, but don’t
discount it. It may be there for a reason or part of your life for
a reason... ”

They both studied one
another.

Colum was the first to break the
silence. “Let me get you home and warmed up.”

They drove into her yard. He was
over to her side of the Rover in a flash. She let him take her hand
and walk her up to the door.

“
You go in and get some tea water
going and a hot water bottle. That will fix you up while I get some
wood chopped.”

Katherine was about to protest but
felt her self being propelled in the house. “Go,” was his gentle
but firm command.

She went in and turned on the
teakettle to heat up water. Then she ran up and changed into PJs
and then ran back down. She puttered around the kitchen getting her
tea mug ready. As she poured the tea water she heard the chop,
chop, chop sounds of Colum cutting firewood for her. She filled her
hot water bottle then made her tea. She turned out the light over
the counter but left the stove light on and was about to head up
the stairs when she heard her door open. Turning, she ran back to
help Colum.

She stared in disbelief at the
amount of wood he had. “How in the world?”

Colum heard Katherine but couldn’t
see her because of the wood in his arms. She was still so stubborn
when she should be in bed.

“
Get to bed.” He shifted the
weight of the wood and lightly slapped her ass.

She did a mock salute and ran up
the stairs.

She got into bed, pulling the
covers over herself, and tucking the hot water bottle in at her
feet.

“
Good to see you’re listening...
finally.”

She smiled a very sleepy
smile.

As Colum knelt down and built a
fire in her fireplace, visions of Katherine, the deer, the wolf and
a need to feed all crowded his thoughts.

“
I’ll get this fire going and you
can just go to sleep unless you want to keep it going. I will get
one going downstairs in the wood stove too so that will help get
the house up to a nice temperature.” Getting up after the fire
started to blaze, he could see Katherine was already drifting off
to sleep.

He walked over her and pulled her
covers up. “Get some sleep. Don’t worry about tomorrow morning, you
need sleep more than breakfast with me.”

Katherine’s eyes popped open. “I’ll
be fine, I’m just so tired now.”

Colum reached and brushed hair out
of her eyes. Her eyes had closed again. He stayed there for a
moment until he heard her breathing even out and knew she had
fallen sound asleep.

“
Sweet dreams, my dear
Katherine.”

* * * * * * *

Cormac came striding into his son’s
study. Seeing him stretched out in front of the fire he closed the
door quietly.

“
I’m not asleep, Sir.”

Cormac came and sat down next to
his son. “I didn’t think you would be, not after that chase you
gave the deer tonight. Have you had your fill?”

Colum stretched and turned so he
looked at his father from upside down.

“
No, but better than I was. I
hadn’t realized I was that hungry till I saw you chase those deer
out in front of me.”

Cormac stretched his long legs and
enjoyed the warmth that the fire gave off. “Well, it’s not too
often we get a herd that size in this area. To have four young
bucks... ”

Colum smiled. “It was satisfying,
though I can tell you, it was very hard not to jump out of the
Rover as you drove them past me. Katherine was a bit shocked by my
behavior and it was all I could do to control myself.” He groaned.
“I’ll have to watch myself more closely and keep myself fed,
especially with her being so needy. I could have easily dragged one
back to her and in my frame of mind, with the red haze glazed over
my eyes, I would have said ‘drink’ and not even known...
”

Cormac pondered his son. “Yes,
there is no sense taking chances. If you get to change her this
time then she will understand. Until then you are to keep yourself
fed.”

Colum sat up. “Did Travis find out
about that tobacco scent by Katherine’s home?”

Cormac gave his son the read out.
“We found the butt and analyzed it. It’s a brand that is a mixture
of Sumatra and Cuban blend. Not readily made. He probably rolled it
himself about fifteen minutes before smoking. Trace amounts a
saliva and the DNA was Middle Eastern.”

Colum sat and looked at the readout
then balled the paper up and threw it into the flames. “I want
guards set up around the clock at her home and the children, when
they are at school.”

Cormac nodded. “I think her little
speech from nine years ago has finally brought some rats out of the
gutters. It will be our job to put them back.”

“
I’ll need your help, father, as
she isn’t feeling well... ”

“
Yes, your mother told me what you
said, and I was looking at her levels. Something is robbing her of
her store of iron.”

Colum stood and stretched. “I think
it’s from whatever she breathed in at the site on that day. There
have been more and more cases of cancer and sickness from first
responders and people who were trapped in the buildings who made it
out.”

“
Maybe you should mention
something to her, have her go to the doctor and then we can take it
from there.”

“
I’ll try. For now, I have that
shadow to watch and keep away from her.”

“
Well, a team will be set up so
don’t worry about that. Also a Council meeting for my abdication is
being set up. They want you there in two weeks time.”

Colum threw another log onto the
fire. “The High Council will just have to be patient, I may have my
hands full.”

“
Son, the High Council is there to
call upon, if you need help. Even as strong as we are, we can’t do
everything on our own. You must realize that.”

Colum faced his father. “I will not
lose her again and if the High Council doesn’t like it, they can
look for another King.”

Cormac knew there would be no
talking to Colum right now, not when he was in this frame of
mind.

“
Do what you have to do and I will
take care of the Council, but they won’t be put off forever. We
will need our King.”

“
Father, you are our King until
such time... ”

“
Till such time that I decide to
step down from the throne. You are my heir and she is your Queen,
whether she is changed or not.”

“
Well, let’s find out who is
watching her home and make sure the children are safe.”

“
I have that covered as we
speak.”

* * * * * * *

Four men sat at an airport in
Europe.

“
We have our orders, we are not to
come back until she is taken care of.”

The youngest of the group, a nephew
of the cell leader, looked up from his iPod when his ear buds were
ripped out of his ears.

“
Why my sister thinks I need to
show you the ropes... you are better suited to sit in a café all
day long. You do nothing, your heart is not in our
cause.”

The young man grabbed his ear buds
back and stowed his iPod in his backpack. “I was fine until you and
mother pulled me out of school. What do I want to do with your
cause? You and all of your cohorts fault that woman. The way I look
at it, she had every right to speak her mind… after all if
something happens to us or our family, we raise our voice, we
protest… I, for one, am sick of the hate and violence…”

The older uncle caught himself
before he let his hand hit his nephew. They were, after all, in an
airport. He was amazed they weren’t on a no-fly list. It was his
3
^rd
cousin who had been one of the hijackers on that
fateful day in September. He, more than anyone, knew the pain of
losing someone. He felt it was a personal insult from that woman,
that infidel woman. She and her outspokenness represented all of
America and their ideals, their openness. If he succeeded with this
job, their group would look upon him for larger jobs. He would make
sure this woman was dispatched with speed. He had news from his
uncle, who was there in that state of Maine. He was watching the
woman’s house at this very moment. All would be well. They would
take care of her and get home, just in time for his daughter’s
wedding to the young man who sat next to him. Yes, all would work
out just as planned...

* * * * * * *

The man sat in the rented car, just
up from the driveway of the home he was watching. It was 5:30 on a
Saturday morning. The sky was clear which made it easier to watch
rather then trying to see through rain or snow.