The Chardon Chronicles: Season One -- The Harvest Festival (34 page)

She called out, “Hello!”

A young man propped himself on his elbow and
waved. “Hello! This breeze is amazing. I can actually smell
things.” He smiled and wafted the air to his face.

The woman who’d been sitting next to him
stood up. She moved with lithe grace. She walked next to Telia.
“You are most extraordinary!” She said. She brushed a hand over
Telia’s face. Her touch felt like hundreds of butterfly wings. “You
are glowing. There’s a white light that permeates you.” The woman
was fascinated. She had red hair and green eyes. “How have you done
this?”

“We have a machine, a reflector, that makes
the connection stronger.” Telia said.

The man stood up and stretched. “A machine?!”
He asked with a look of amazement animating his face.

“Yes and we will build more of them, too.”
Telia said. “I want to bring more people over.”

The man nodded and smiled. “Yes!” he clasped
her shoulders and hugged her. She felt a warm presence flow through
her. The woman hugged her and held her hand and stood very close to
her.

“What are your names?” Telia asked.

“Oh, of course, how rude of us.” the man
said, “I am Louis, and she’s Samantha.”

“I am Telia.”

Samantha tipped her head slightly and probed,
“Telia, what is your goal in bringing others over?” She locked her
arm with Telia. They began strolling together. In the distance,
Telia saw some small white stone buildings. Crows flew past and
called.

“Well…” Telia started to explain.

“Wait. Try something.” Louis stopped them.
“See the crow. Reach out to him with your mind and look down on
us.”

Telia paused, then felt for the crow.
Suddenly, she was looking down from high in the air. She saw the
top of her head and saw Louis and Samantha looking up. “Wow!” she
said.

Samantha gripped her hand, “Telia, you just
did what other people spend a
lifetime
, no the culmination
of thousands of years of cultural practice attempting to do!”

A tear welled up in Telia’s eye and rolled
down her cheek. It fell to the ground and the moisture sank into
the soil. Samantha wiped her cheek with a thumb. She was amazed to
feel the moisture. She tasted the salty fluid. She was
astounded.

Telia continued, “All this,” she gestured
around, “is why I want to bring others over. This experience is
profound
. It’s like Columbus discovering a whole new
world.”

Samantha’s expression subtly shifted, she’d
spent millennia talking to new arrivals. The conversations were
almost always the same and she stifled an urge to mock Telia. She
wanted to get her on track quickly. She said resolutely, “Yes, it
is
important. This machine you have is incredibly important.
We can help you understand this place, what it means.”

“Thank you.” Telia said. “I feel like I’m
fading here.”

“Before you go…” Samantha said. Telia felt
Samantha’s presence, a very powerful presence surge through her
body, like an injection of adrenaline. As Telia returned to normal
consciousness, Samantha stayed with her like the memory of a
flavor.

That evening, Matt’s cell phone rang. He
didn’t recognize the caller ID number, but he answered anyway.

“Hello?” he said.

He heard a feeble scratchy voice through the
earpiece. “Hi, um, you probably don’t know me, but this nice guy
gave me your number in case I ever needed it…. and I need it,
now.”

“Oh, is this Amy?” Matt asked.

“Yeah, this is Amy.”

He met her when hunting for antiques in
southern Ohio. She’d been on a steady glide path to a heroin fueled
crash.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“I’m still at my parents place. There’s
absolutely nothing here. The water’s even not working now. No
power, either. Getting bad.”

“You know what… I’ll just come pick you up.
Are you ready for something different?”

“Yeah, I really am this time.” she said
absentmindedly.

He ended the call, then grabbed his car keys
put on a jacket and went to find Telia. She was laying on top of
the bed covers, just looking up at the ceiling.

“Hey, Tee…” he sat on the bed and grabbed her
hand.

“Are you going somewhere?” she asked.

“Remember that addict I bought the lion
sculptures from?”

“Yeah, I remember you talking about
that.”

“Well, I sort of promised to help her out and
she just called.” He half expected Telia to jump down his throat
about being such a pushover. She just nodded and patted his
hand.

“You’re so kind to people. Such a good man.”
she said. She teared up.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” he held her.

“Nothing, nothing at all.” she sobbed. “It’s
just the emotions feel so
strong
. I think it’s from being
over there.”

He patted her hair. “I can understand. I’m
completely wrung out from it… That’s really why I’m heading down
there, now. I think a long drive will do me some good.”

“OK. You go. I’m still just trying to get my
head around this whole thing.” she wiped her eyes and sighed.

Matt arrived at Amy’s house in the wee hours
of the morning. The house was a dark hulking thing against a
shimmering backdrop of the Ohio River. He pointed the headlights at
the front door, and left the car running. He grabbed a flashlight
and a bag from the trunk, then went and knocked on the front door.
He waited a minute, then knocked again. He tried the knob and the
door was open. He went back to the car and grabbed a gun from under
the seat, then went inside the house.

The smell of rot and stale air hit him. He
left the door wide open and light from his headlights illuminated
the interior with a white glow. “Hello?!” he called out.

“I’m in here. Just a second.” he heard from
down the hall.

Amy padded out of a side room. The clothes
she was wearing were stained and worn thin. Her arms were thinner
than the joints and her face was chalky. She had an afghan wrapped
around her shoulders.

“Hey, I brought you a change of clothes if
you want. They might be a little big, but they’re warm… and clean,”
he handed her the bag.

“Oh thanks. I’ll go put them on.” She changed
into the clothes. It was a pair of Tracy’s sweats and a chunky
hooded sweater. They fit his 14 year old daughter, but Amy was
swimming in them. “These are nice, thanks, mister. I forgot your
name already. I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine. I’m Matt. At least you
remembered my phone number.”

“Yeah, that stuck with me all this time.
How’d you do that?” she remembered his singing trick.

“Oh, it’s a trick I read about in a book.
Hey, do you want to go?”

She nodded. “I’ll die here if I stay. I’m so
thirsty. Do you have any water?”

They went out to the car. He pulled a bottle
out of the trunk and gave it to her. She washed her mouth out and
spit on the concrete drive. Then she drank a sip. “Matt, can I tell
you something?”

He nodded and shrugged, “Sure, of
course.”

“I’m a junkie. I’m a total mess. Nothing
really works right anymore…” she gestured at her body. “Just so you
know, cuz I don’t want to mess up your car, but I might not be able
to help it.”

He laughed, “I actually brought a bunch of
towels.”

She managed an awkward smile.

He said, “Do you own this house?”

She nodded, “Yeah, I guess so. I inherited
it.”

“You have keys?”

“I don’t know where they are anymore.”

“That’s OK. I’ll go lock it up anyway. I’ll
be back.”

He went inside the house and she dozed off in
the passenger seat. She was asleep when he got back and he actually
checked to see if she was breathing. His network of contacts didn’t
really have anyone that had experience with drug addicts. He texted
Robbie, but he was probably asleep, so Matt just started heading
back toward the farm.

It was still dark when he rumbled down the
driveway, but the color of the eastern sky had shifted from dark
blue to hazy gray.

He nudged her shoulder. There was barely any
muscle there. She opened an eye and looked around.

“I actually slept.” she said. “Where am
I?”

“This is my family’s farm. We’re in Geauga
County, on the north side of the state. It’s about a four hour
drive.”

“I haven’t been
anywhere
for so such a
long time.” she said. “Went to Florida when I was a kid, but
otherwise, just up and down along the River.”

He showed her to a small guest room on the
second floor. The stone chimney made up part of one of the walls.
There was a twin bed and a short dresser. He showed her the
bathroom across the hall and gave her a toothbrush and
toiletries.

She gave him a weak hug. “Matt?” she said.
“I’m going to go back to bed. I’ll probably sleep a long time. When
I wake up, I’m going to start having, um, a problem.”

He said, “You can quit cold turkey, or maybe
try methadone?”

She put up a hand, “I can’t deal with that
right now. I’m going to bed! ‘Night!”

He went down to the library and tried to find
a way to help her, but fell asleep on the table.

Telia woke up to the bright morning sun. The
master bedroom had a row of windows that faced East. Over the
years, she’d grown to really love the bedroom’s view of the eastern
sky in the morning. The procession of the sun from south to north
and back again marked the year. She spent a few minutes stretching
and greeting the daylight.

She found Matt asleep on the library table.
She gently shook his shoulder and he woke up slowly and sat up.

He grimaced. “Owwww. Man, my neck. That’s
gonna hurt a while.” He awkwardly got to his feet and stooped over
and followed her into the kitchen. He downed a couple of ibuprofen
while she got breakfast going.

“So, did you go save the junkie?” She asked
with a tinge of sarcasm in her voice. He was glad she was back to
her normal self.

“Yeah, well, I went down there and got her
anyway. Her name’s Amy. She’s upstairs in the small guest room.” he
said.

“You brought her here?” she snorted and
smiled. “Dude…” She shook her head, “you realize her whole world
revolves around getting high. She emptied her parents’ house into
her veins already. She sees you as another means to that end.”

He took a cup of coffee and cradled it in his
hands. He nodded very slightly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. But I
think there’s got to be some way to help her.”

Telia rolled her eyes. She patted him on the
head and kissed his cheek. “Silly boy. Just remember, she’s not a
puzzle to solve, she’s a human with a nasty habit.” She made a
washing motion with her hands. “She is your problem. I’m just going
to watch this one.”

Dana and Johnny came into the house for
breakfast. Dana had her hair up through a scrunchy and was wearing
a tank top and no bra. She and Johnny sat at the kitchen counter on
bar stools and started putting eggs and toast on their plates.
Telia put her hand on Dana’s shoulder and looked her up and
down.

Dana eyed her, “What’s up, Tee?”

“I never noticed how lovely you are, Dana.”
she said. Telia was staring at her.

“Well, thanks.” Dana smiled. “You seem
different… wait....” Dana looked Telia up and down and put a hand
on her belly. “No?”

Telia shook her head and leaned over and
nibbled on Dana’s ear, then said “No!” and laughed
hysterically.

Dana raised an eyebrow. “What’s gotten into
you?” She asked.

Telia leaned back again and walked over to
Matt. “I’m in a weird mood.” she said. She hugged Matt and kissed
him on the head. “This guy brought us a junkie last night. Is this
your mid life crisis, Matt?”

Dana said, “It’s never dull here!”

Matt drank a big gulp of coffee. “Mid life
crisis? Shouldn’t I get a sports car and
another
girlfriend?” he laughed. Johnny high fived him.

Telia held up her hand and shushed them,
“Quiet!” she whispered. The others listened. “Hear that?”

They heard Amy retching. Matt got up. “I
guess that’s my mid life crisis calling me. Hey Dana, do you know
anything about addiction? I thought you might be able to get a read
on this girl.”

She stood up and followed Matt up the
stairs.

Telia walked around behind Johnny. She put
her hand on the back of his neck and stood very close. “Do you want
to go work on the reflector today?”

Johnny was used to Dana getting into his
personal space and being sexually provocative at random times, but
Telia was throwing him severely off balance. His brain zeroed in on
all the spots her body was bumping into him. He tried to remain
casual, but his voice cracked a little, “yeah, sure. There’s always
more to do.”