Chapter 185: The Gift

Sunday, June 27, 1971

It was Kip who saved her from injuring herself on the marble stairs. When Aida fainted, she had simply crumbled where she stood. Once again, I was witness to my security man’s lightning-fast reflexes as he caught her before her head could make contact with the marble steps. Lifting the unconscious girl in his arms, he simply looked his question at me.

I turned to open the front door for him, but it was Catherine who led him into the parlor and had him deposit the unconscious teen on a lavishly upholstered piece of furniture called, oddly enough, a Recamier, or fainting couch.

The fainting couch is a couch that slopes to one end, with a back that traditionally only wraps the higher end. They first became popular in the 19th century, particularly with women. In fact, some women would go so far as to have separate fainting rooms, where fainting couches were the featured furniture.

A not uncommon disease called female hysteria was the reason for both its existence and popularity. Back then, the professional treatment for a woman diagnosed with the disease, was a manual pelvic massage, usually administered at the patient’s home, by home-visiting doctors or midwives.

Since the disease was known to be incurable, it was determined that only regular, recurring (usually weekly), in-home treatments, could provide the afflicted women with any sort of relief from the ‘pain’ of the incurable disease.

And since the procedure could sometimes take hours, a special piece of furniture, allowing for uninhibited access by the visiting doctor or midwife, was created to maximize the patient’s comfort during the often-lengthy procedure. This naturally led to the later creation of fainting rooms for privacy during the intimate treatment.

Excitement travels fast in a house full of women and soon the parlor was filled with females. “How did they know?” I wondered as both Anna and Hanna and Allie’s mom, Cindy, came in and headed for the girl on the fainting couch.

“Why, Vickie, of course,” little Abby replied. She was positively glowing as she hugged me. “Good morning, my Prince.”

“Good morning,” I replied. Abby was glowing because she was pregnant, and she had adopted the ‘my Prince’ salutation from my wife-mate, Ileana.

Abby was also a morning person, so I wasn’t that surprised to see her downstairs this early. However, I was amazed that my sister Nicky was there. Nicky didn’t normally do mornings.

“Michael? What’s going on?” Nicky asked. “Vickie said to get down here because you had just gotten another one!”

Before I could answer her, she added, “Is that her?”

I just groaned.

“There was this land registration in his grandfather’s will, and it had Michael’s and Aida’s names on it. It had her listed as Aida Wagner!” Adriana supplied. Of course, this opened the floodgates as they all began talking at once.

Moments later, I felt a tugging on the leg of my jeans and reaching down, I scooped a smiling Sunny into my arms.

“Am I getting a new mommy?” was the first thing she asked me after she hugged my neck.

“Whoa, tiger. Where did you get that?” I asked her.

“Vickie said you had a new girlfriend and that she was going to be your wife. Does that mean she’ll be my mommy too?” Sunny explained as if I were the four-year-old in this relationship.

“Uh ... are you hungry?” I asked, not knowing what else to say.

“Uh-huh. My tummy is empty,” she replied. I simply headed back to the dining room with the precocious four-year-old. Prissy had heard the disturbance and was dying of curiosity to know what was going on, but when I informed her of Sunny’s hunger, she disappeared into the kitchen without asking. In this house full of girls, she knew it would only be a matter of time before they told her everything, and in much greater detail than she could get from me. That was fine with me. I needed time to sort it out for myself.

Prissy had just set a bowl of oatmeal, complete with a smiley face made of raisins, in front of us when Kip and Mr. Graham came into the dining room.

“Michael, Mr. Graham says we really should get going,” Kip said.

“Help,” I thought meekly to the assemblage of females in the parlor. “I have to leave. Can someone help Sunny with her breakfast?”

It was Sandy who came to my rescue. Sunny’s mom, Kathy Lynn, was another one who didn’t do mornings either, which is why she was stumbling sleepily behind Sandy as they entered the dining room. I handed Sunny off with a hug and the promise to play later.

“Do you need anything?” Grace asked as I followed Kip and Mr. Graham towards the helicopter.

“I’m good. Is she going to be alright?” I asked.

“She’ll be fine,” Grace laughed. “Anna and Cindy are treating her for shock. They’re probably going to have their hands full, though. Mikeya arrived late last night and your cousins are coming in later this morning, so Miss Chatterbox is going to have a lot to absorb.”

I couldn’t understand how they thought this was so funny. I didn’t want or need any more females in my already complicated life.

“Don’t be like that, Michael. Besides, maybe this one won’t be able to hear your thoughts!” Grace thought to me as the noise of the helicopter made speech impossible.

“I hadn’t thought of that. What if she really can’t hear his thoughts?” Vickie added. Quickly, the others joined the thread.

Out-manned, out-maneuvered, and out-classed, I knew when to retreat, which I did, boarding the helicopter behind Izzy and Mr. Graham. Kip followed, securing the hatch as I found a seat. The interior was plush, with half a dozen beige leather chairs mounted on swivels. I quickly buckled myself in as we lifted off. The noise of the engines made conversation extremely difficult, so I settled for gazing out the window as we rounded and headed north towards New England.

As the four remaining large oak trees grew small beneath me, I made a mental note to have the girls check into getting Catherine three more oak trees to replace the three that had been destroyed over the last hundred years.

“Got it!” Adriana thought back. “I assume you want to keep it as a surprise?”

If possible,” I replied. “Thanks.” I probably should have spent the time scanning the chatterbox, but I rationalized that she was in the hands of my other women.

I should have known better.

And I also should have spent time considering where I was going, and why. But truthfully, I found my mind was occupied almost exclusively with last night’s dream.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, the big helicopter began making low-level passes over the area the coordinates had designated. It was a mountainous region, with few clearings, and even fewer level spots. I began to wonder if we would even be able to land.

When we circled around the second time, the farmstead was now on my side and I could see it better. There was a large clearing and I could see a small house with a wisp of smoke coming from the chimney, a barn, and two or three small out-buildings. There was also a large vegetable patch and a pen for some animals. Goats, maybe? I couldn’t tell from this high up. The whole area seemed to be surrounded by dense forests, all the way to the top of the ridge. There was not another house for miles.

I got an odd feeling as I scanned. It reminded me of my dream. However, I could not make any more sense of it now than I could in my dream. I shoved it to the back of my mind.

“I can’t sense anyone,” I thought to Kip.

The pilots finally chose an empty field, below and to the right of the farmhouse. Kip jumped up to undo the hatch and lower the steps as the helicopter touched down. Motioning me to stay, he ducked down under the rotor arch and made a complete circuit around the helicopter. Then, using hand signals, he motioned to the pilot, who began their shut down procedure. We waited inside the helicopter as they shut down engine two, followed by engine one, waiting for the droop stops to engage. When they did, Kip re-entered the helicopter with the whine of the auxiliary power unit in the background, telling us it was safe to disembark the aircraft.

Looking at Mr. Graham, Kip asked him, “Okay, now what?”

“I have no idea. You saw the instructions Greg left for me,” he replied as they both turned to me.

“Why don’t we check out the place?” I suggested. “Maybe we’ll find some sort of clue as to why my grandfather wanted me to be here.”

Stepping to the hatch, I once more scanned the area, paying particular attention to the farmhouse and the barn. Those were the two most likely places anyone would be hiding. Still unable to sense anyone, I made my way to the farmhouse.

As I mounted the solitary step to the rickety porch, I suddenly realized that Kip wasn’t with me. Quickly scanning again, I discovered that Izzy, Kip, Mr. Graham, and the two pilots were all sound asleep, still onboard the helicopter. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, just as they had in my dream and my hand immediately went to the hilt of my sword as I erected my shield. If there was anyone there, I knew that they could no longer see me.

Cautiously, I stepped onto the porch. A loose board creaked under my weight. “Oh, well. So much for being invisible,” I thought to myself.

I looked through the curtained glass of the upper half of the door, but could see no one. Still, my senses, while not being able to detect anyone, left me with the feeling that something was inside. I eased open the unlocked door but didn’t cross the threshold.

To my right was a comfortable looking sitting area, complete with a couch and two stuffed chairs. In the center of the back wall was a closed door. To my left was the fireplace, with a fire going in it. Next to the fireplace was a long wooden table with two benches on each side, the same length as the long table. On the table were place settings for five people on each side, and one at the end, but there was no food or drink. It was as if someone was preparing to serve a meal for eleven.

I stepped slowly into the room, my senses heightened to their limit. There was something...

Slowly, the door on the other wall opened. In the midst of everything else that was happening, I remember noting the end of a bed in the other room. But the thought was quickly forgotten as the large bobcat of my dreams padded silently into the room, stopping to stare at me.

I immediately drew my sword, realizing that it could see me, despite my shield and sword. The room was large, but still too confined for me to fight off the bobcat. I stepped backwards a step, making my way for the open front door. Suddenly, a second bobcat appeared beside the first.

I was beginning to panic now when I suddenly felt a presence filling the doorway behind me. I froze, unsure which way to move as the oversized cats stared at me. I focused all my energy on my shield and was just about to connect with the girls for more energy when I sensed human thoughts from the first cat.

“He has them,” it said. It had a feminine lilt to it. “He has the sword and both of the rings.”

“Does he possess the armor?” came a decidedly male response.

“I cannot know. If he does, it is hidden,” came another thought.

I was actually more fascinated than scared at this point. Although my empathic senses appeared to have failed me, something inside told me that, while these were dangerous beings, if for no other reason than their power to avoid my senses, they were not there to harm me.

I relaxed as I sheathed my sword, never taking my eyes from the first bobcat. As the hilt slid home in the scabbard, the large bobcat stood up on its rear legs and began to shimmer. Suddenly, there was a woman standing in the doorway where the bobcat had stood. A very beautiful woman, dressed in shimmering veils, the colors matching the colors her fur had been only moments ago. The veils were all strategically placed, yet tantalizingly arranged. I knew my mouth was hanging open and I quickly willed myself not to slobber drool down my chin.

One at a time, the other eight bobcats stood up, duplicating the first one’s transformation. I was gawking now. I could see them, and they were all stunningly beautiful, but I still could not sense them.

“I’m thirsty,” came a male voice. I whirled to my left, towards the fireplace as my hand automatically drew my sword.

“You were correct, Celeste. He does possess Thesan’s sword,” said the man in the flowing white robe as he sat on what appeared to be a throne at the end of the long table. “Damn my grandmother’s heart!”

All nine of the bobcat/females immediately sprang into action. One brought him a large stein of frothy beverage while several began loading the table with platters and bowls of food. I had no idea where it all came from, but I realized that my mouth was watering from the sudden onslaught of delicious smells.

It was obvious they knew a teenaged boy’s weaknesses ... scantily dressed girls and a table loaded down with food.

The entity at the end of the table lifted his mug to me in salute, then drank down the foamy concoction. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he smiled as he asked, “Won’t you join me?”

Even though the male and nine females defied my empathic senses, compliance with his invitation seemed like my best course of action. Sheathing my sword once again, I stepped around the table towards the seat he had indicated, on his right.

As another of the women placed a stein in front of me, along with a second one for my host, he said, “Thank you, my daughter.” Then, lifting his stein to me, gestured a toast. “To your new powers. May you wear them well,” he said, then once again, emptied the stein.

“What powers?” I thought as I touched the frothy mixture to my lips. It reminded me of good Scottish ale. But I needed all my wits about me, so I continued to sip my ale as his daughter placed another full stein before him.