Chapter 7

The ride out of the cave was a bit harrowing, and again Erin’s vision kept swimming in and out of two worlds. In one, she was on a horse in front of a knight pounding across grassy fields, in another on a giant Harley roaring across campus. In both worlds, the people she rode with never seemed to change appearance, so that the armored knight on a Harley had to have stood out to anyone they passed, but campus was strangely deserted this late on a Saturday night. Finally, they came to a halt outside the old observatory at the north end of campus. Built in the late 1800s, the observatory was little used as it had become too old for modern Astronomical work. For some reason, the fact that Emory had a key and that the door opened onto a castle-like tower didn’t come as much of a surprise to either Erin or Megan. It was taking far more to elicit a sense of surprise now. Once they were all safely in the tower, several of the knights took up positions at the top of the observatory, and two others rode off to seek reinforcements.

“Megan,” whispered Erin when Richard had finally been put to bed in one of the towers rooms, and they were walking back downstairs to the main hall, “What the hell is going on here?”

With a sigh, Megan said, “I’ll be damned if I know. One minute we’re walking back from the movies and the next we’re in “Braveheart.” I swear I saw Mel Gibson at one point, blue face paint and all!”

“Megan, how can you be so calm? I’m ready to start screaming, and here you are as though this is natural or something? I just can’t get my mind around this at all. I feel like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” and this ain’t Kansas, that’s for sure!”

“Well, we can always go see the Wizard,” Megan offered without much humor.

The two women had entered the main hall at this point, and Emory and Arthur looked up from quiet conversation at their entrance.

“Well, I believe that I promised you answers to your questions, so if you think you are ready to begin, you may fire when ready!” and with a smile and welcoming nod, Emory indicated the grouping of comfortable chairs to the left of the fireplace.

After taking a moment to sit and get comfortable, a pregnant pause settled over the four of them while Emory patiently waited for Erin to gather her thoughts.

“Ok, let me see if I have this much straight?” Erin said with a frown, “You are King Arthur, as in of the round table?” and she indicated the king, who merely nodded. “And you are Merlin the Magician?”

“Again, I prefer Emory, but for all intent and purposes you have me in one.” His eyes sparkled in the fire light.

“And you expect me to believe this crap!” said Erin.

“My lady, belief may take longer, but in essence my answer to your last question would be yes.” said Emory, without a hint of a smile in his tone. “You see, your belief has no effect on the truth of the matter. Do you believe in God?” Emory asked in an even tone.