The Chardon Chronicles: Season One -- The Harvest Festival (45 page)

“Thanks! I keep tellin’ my wife that.” The
man guffawed. Demetria put her hand on his forearm.

“You’re a lucky lady.” Demetria said. She
kissed the woman’s cheek and embraced the man. “Can the boy stay
with me a while?”

“Oh yes!” the mother said.

“Marta show him to our spot.” she pointed to
the center of the row. The boy was bewildered but happy. Marta took
him by the hand, then the entire ensemble took their seats.
Demetria and Morgan sat together, and the boy was between her and
Marta.

The loudspeaker crackled. “Ladies and
gentlemen, please rise for the playing of our National Anthem.”

Everyone stood up. Demetria slowly rose to
her feet and then gestured to her girls. They sang along with the
anthem. The crowd around the group was mesmerized. When the band
concluded the anthem the girls sang a hymn to Demetria. She sent
the young boy to join them. His eyes were as big as saucers. Cell
phone cameras were popping all around. Demetria’s face was radiant
under the glow of the fields’ lights.

She took Morgan’s arm, “When is the fertility
ceremony?”

“It’s in the middle of the mock combat
ritual.”

She nodded, sensing the moment she stood up
and shouted to the crowd with her fist raised, “To our boys!
Victory!” The stands erupted in howls.

Morgan felt a visceral thrill course through
him. Demetria’s pupils were dilated and her skin was rosy as if an
inner fire burned. He could smell her, a delicious honeyed spice
scent. The crowd around her shifted uncomfortably as it reached
them, and whispered directly to their animal self. Husbands and
wives moved closer and eyed each other hungrily.

“Oh it’s starting.” she breathed. The kickoff
went to Lincoln. The return man was fast and agile and he worked
his way toward the sideline looking for a seam, but the Hilltoppers
were much better trained and disciplined and there was only a wall
of black and red.

A man yelled, “Destroy him!”

The boy absorbed a crushing hit from his
blind side and was knocked over the sideline. He fumbled the ball
out of bounds into his teammates. One of the Chardon players picked
it up and started to return the ball through the crowd. The
referees had to break up the play. Whistles were blowing and the
crowd roared wildly. Demetria goaded them on. She was radiant.

For the first time in his life, Morgan
enthused at the game, he felt the waves of energy from the crowd
and started working with them. In prior seasons, a shell of irony
and cynicism shielded his mind from the bestial energy that coursed
through the mob, but Demetria was acting like a bottle for the
lightning, and he started to understand the mechanics of it.

Lincoln went three and out and punted. Berto
received the kick and started up the field and broke free. Only the
punter was left to beat. He attempted to tackle Berto, but he
hurdled the boy and continued onto the endzone. He spiked the ball
then sprinted all the way back down the field pointing up in the
stands at Chloe.

The crowd roared. Demetria said, “That was
magnificent! He carries all the hopes of his people admirably.” She
leaned over as whispered to Marta and pointed over at Chloe and
Tracy. Marta leaned over and talked to Mike. He nodded.

“Tracy? Chloe?” he leaned over and talked to
them. The homecoming court sat together on one side of the
bleachers.

“What?” Tracy asked. She was a little
confused.

“Come with me.” he said firmly.

They shrugged and followed him. Demetria was
beaming and the entire crowd was watching them. Photographers had
gathered around the bleachers and cameras were popping. Somehow the
crowd decided the gathering of these three women was especially
important.

Demetria put her arms around the two girls
and they posed for the cameras. “You two are so
special
.
Transcendent beauty and power. You help fulfill all their hopes.”
she gestured to the crowd. Hundreds of eyes were on them.

Morgan asked Tracy, “Do you
feel
it?”

Tracy said, “I do feel something.”

Demetria asked, “Will you sit with us?”

Chloe shrugged, “Sure.”

Demetria whispered in her ear, “I think that
boy loves you.” she pointed at Berto. “He’s very spirited.”

Chloe’s ear tickled down her spine. She
pulled her hair aside and glanced at Demetria. “Love? No. Maybe
something like love, though.”

Demetria ran her fingers through Tracy’s
hair. Tracy was so used to Dana’s aggressive affection that she
merely put an arm around Demetria’s waist instead of pulling away.
Demetria said, “you are very much like Morgan. I think you two are
somehow attached?”

Tracy blushed slightly. “I’ve known him for
years
. We are very close.”

Demetria sighed, “I would like to be close to
you, also. There is a lot to you. You’re like Morgan in that way,
too.”

Tracy smiled at her. She basked in Demetria’s
warmth.

Chardon was well ahead as the second quarter
wound down, but the boys were still playing hard. Lincoln was
starting to get frustrated. The red lights on the scoreboard showed
a slaughter unfolding. They managed to kick a field goal and get on
the board.

The kickoff went to Berto. It looked like
he’d broken clear again, but the kicker was dogged and angry. Berto
tried to hurdle him again but as he planted his foot to jump the
boy dove at his leg. The knee snapped and he flipped over the
kicker and landed flat on his back and his lower leg whipped around
like it wasn’t attached to the rest of his body.

The kicker was appalled. He took his helmet
off. “Doctor! Doctor!” he screamed and waved at the Chardon
sideline.

Chloe was shocked. She stood up and started
toward the field.

“Oh no!” Demetria said. The rollicking joy of
the crowd turned to stern concern. She deflated. Morgan felt it
too. Tracy followed Chloe down but they couldn’t see anything from
their vantage point, so they climbed up higher in the
bleachers.

The PA crackled, “That’s Alberto Marquez
injured on the play.” the crowd was deathly quiet. “He’s giving a
thumbs up to the EMTs.” the energy started to return to the crowd
and light applause started. Demetria looked around, she stood up
and walked to a couple who were fixated on the field.

“He was playing magnificently!” she said and
stifled a sob.

“Thank you!” Mrs. Marquez said. Demetria
gestured down to one of her girls. She brought a huge bouquet of
roses up the stairs and bowed to the Marquez family and handed the
flowers over to Mrs. Marquez. Demetria returned to her seat.

They rolled Berto off on a stretcher and he
waved to the crowd. The energy started to return. “How noble!”
Demetria wiped away a tear. “He sacrificed himself and they
appreciate it.”

Morgan nodded, for the first time, he could
feel the ebb and flow of all the energy back and forth from the
crowd, and somehow, Demetria was at the nexus of it. He realized he
could partake in the energetic flow. It was at once intoxicating
and frightening. He took her hand and smiled at her. She smiled
back and squeezed his palm. She felt his decision click into place
before he even knew it happened. She kissed him.

Demetria beamed. She was incandescent in the
crowd. Tracy watched them together and felt a pang of loss, but
didn’t know why.

Chloe tugged her arm, “C’mon sistah. It’s our
big moment.”

Tracy refocused her energy on being positive,
“Oh I hope it’s you, or anybody else but me!” Chloe raced down the
stairs and Tracy struggled to keep up with her. They joined the
rest of the court, except Berto. Keith was at the game to stand
with both girls. As an inside joke, Tracy had signed her name as
“Tracy Marte Wells” in her biography and she wrote that Chloe was
her sister.

Mrs. Rosewater presented the entire court,
then cued the drum section. The snare drums, and bass drums started
rolling and the cymbal player got ready. She read the King and
Queen from a sealed envelope.

“The Homecoming King for 2014 is….. Berto
Marquez.”

A cheer went up from the crowd. His mother
cried on her husband’s shoulder and hugged the bouquet of roses
Demetria gave them.

“And the Queen is…. the lovely Chloe
Marte!”

Tracy exploded into a roar and threw her arms
around Chloe’s neck and hugged her hard and kissed her over and
over. Keith just hugged each of them, then stood aside and
applauded. In spite of herself, Chloe wept. She hugged Mrs. Marquez
and shook his fathers’ hand.

Mrs. Rosewater put a tiara on her head and
gave her a sash, then handed her the microphone. Chloe said, “Thank
you all!” she waved at the sea of faces. “I wish Berto could be out
here. Let’s give him all a hand.” The crowd clapped and Mrs.
Marquez wept. Chloe concluded simply, “I’ll see you all at the
dance.” and handed the microphone back.

The court filed off the field, except the few
football players who trotted back to the locker room.

Demetria wiped tears away. “I feel we should
go get ready for the dance, but first, I want to congratulate the
people from the other town for putting on a good display.” As the
crowd murmured and shuffled around she cued the girls to sing
again. They started another hymn, and the entourage departed.

With Demetria gone, there was a gaping hole
in the bleachers where her people sat. The crowd’s energy level
deflated, and they felt sorry she wasn’t there. The empty seats
slowly filled as other spectators returned from the concession
stands.

The small group of friends and family of the
visiting team watched Demetria’s procession make their way around
the field. She climbed the bleachers and walked through the crowd
and thanked them and reassured them about their future prospects.
When she departed, they were all beaming. The line of cars pulled
up to the main gate and swallowed her entourage.

She and Morgan and Marta climbed into the
Audi. Morgan drove. Demetria sat in the back seat next to
Marta.

She said, “What a brilliant show. I’m
exhausted!” She cuddled up next to Marta. ”Do you see it, yet?” she
asked Morgan.

“Yes. I did, very clearly.” Morgan said.

“Good, I know.” she smiled. “You might not
know the whole story. For years, the Brotherhood has used me as a
whore, but I feel a change is coming.”

He looked in the rearview. “What? I didn’t
follow the whore part.”

She patted his shoulders. “You saw that
emotion, that feeling, that energy, all genuine, human, and tied to
me
, and actually to you. At least a little bit. I’m tied to
them, too.”

“Yes. I did, it was incredible. I’ve never
felt that before. It’s like a living energy.”

“The Brotherhood uses that, not for the
people, but to feed a beast.”

“A beast?”

“Yes, but we are going to kill it, or die
trying.” She said calmly. She hugged Marta.

Morgan nodded, and the gears in his mind were
almost audible. “You said it’s a gilded cage? Like this car.”

“Yes, endless grubby deals. I am supposed to
steal books from your friend, Tracy, to earn my keep.”

“Whoa! No way.” Morgan said. He stopped the
car in a driveway. “Grrr.. A freaking trick. A scam.” He got out
and started walking down the sidewalk. She trotted after him and
grabbed his arm.

“I am telling you now!” She said.

“For
money
… Bah!” he threw up his arms
and backed away from her and wiped his face with his hands.

She hugged his waist. “Yes, and because they
took over my cult and I need them to bring me over. It’s pathetic.
I’ve failed my people. But I feel a change coming. I need you!” She
kissed him.

He sighed. “OK. I understand this consort
thing much better, now.”

She looked at him and he wiped a tear from
her eye. “You do?”

“It’s you and me against the world, even the
fucking gods.”

Her strength returned and she pressed herself
against his side. “It is that. You are my consort, now.”

Marta clapped and hugged them both.

“It’s time to dance!” Morgan shouted.

For the first time in years, the Hilltoppers
held their homecoming away from the school. It was in the ballroom
of the lodge at Punderson. Morgan dropped Demetria and Marta at the
lodge then parked the car far away. He jogged back. The ladies took
his arms and they entered the hall. Music was already thumping
away.

Saul was sitting in one of the parked cars,
“They are here.” he said into an earpiece. “She’s with a boy and
the maid.”

Ralph was monitoring their conversation,
“Yuri? Got eyes.”

Yuri said, “10-4 good buddy.” in a mocking
tone. “She’s dancing with them. Now she’s pulling the Wells girl
into the dance. It’s very provocative. She’s really turned the
energy of the room up. She’s like a force of nature.”