Chapter 21

Zachary dropped the garden shears and started running, he skittered into the kitchen and grabbed Bailey "take Alana and Finbar to the cottage, stay there! until I come for you, do you understand." Bailey stared at Zachary for a second then took Alana's hand "you've found it?" Zachary grinned "it's calling me Bailey, I'm going to go retrieve it right now, it's at a place called Montcliff" turning he rushed out of the kitchen. Allora stared at the two piece's then put the stick in the slot at the center of the base of the obsidian stone, she heard a little snick noise as if a lock was being set, startled she blinked as the amber stone started to glow and make a high pitched keening noise. "Give it to me you bitch, I knew you had it all along, sent me on a merry chase all over England, thought you were so smart didn't well not smart enough" Harden hissed as he came through a side window, Allora jerked the stick out of his reach as he lunged for it "no way you bastard am I going to give this to you, I don't believe it's yours!" Harden lunged for the stick again, with a shout of rage Allora grabbed the letter opener laying on the desk and stabbed at his hand as he reached for the stick. With a horrified look on her face Allora felt the amber rock start to vibrate and a bolt of some sort of energy came shooting out blowing out part of one of the library walls, "give it to me" snarled Harden grabbing the stick, Allora stabbed him in the arm and shoulder with the letter opener "let go you bastard, I'm not going to give it to you." Riley, Beth and all the other servants came running, Allora screamed at Riley as the stick blew out part of the ceiling "get everyone out of the house Riley, hurry now before the damn place blows up" seeing him hesitate she yelled "do it now Riley, that's an order, get the hell out of the house!" Harden hissing at the blood pouring down his arm, he reached in his jacket and pulled out a pistol, then suddenly started screaming as a huge black panther's claws snatched him up in the air impaling him, the gun dropped to the floor, with one flick of her wrist Nedra sent the body of Harden flying across the room to land outside next to the rubble of the crumbled wall. Appearing next to Allora, Zachary reached out and grabbed the staff, startled she tried to jerk it away "you shall pay for killing my father and stealing the Staff of Weston" the young man his eyes blazing said in an echoing solemn voice as an amber light from the staff swirled around him. "No my angry one, this she did not do, the one who is responsible is all ready dead and buried" Zachary turned to Nedra "she had the Staff to me that proves her guilt" Nedra purred soothingly "Allora, my sweet confused one you must let go of the Staff, it belongs to this ohhh sooo angry unlistening one." Allora cried "I can't Nedra" Zachary with one violent jerk ripped the Staff from her hand "you shall repent for all time that you stole the Staff of Weston and killed for it" with a scream Allora went flying backwards to slam into the wall, then there was a blinding flash and crumbling debris from the blown out wall came raining down on her, the last thing she heard was Nedra calling out "NO, NO this you must not do..."

Nedra hissed at the young man standing with a stunned look on his face "you fool, you want the power of the Staff but know not how to use it, will you now repent what you have done to an innocent woman, will you now learn that with power comes responsibility to think before you act." Riley holding Billy walked up to Nedra with a blank look on his face as he stared at empty ground where one half of Montcliff had once stood "where is Miss Allora, what happened?" Nedra snarled as she stared at Zachary "Nedra she is so tempted to end such a short angry life but she shall not, only the Staff of Weston can return Allora so you my ohhh sooooo young wizard will bring her back" then she turned to Riley "the foolish one has sent our Allora into times swirling vortex." Zachary dropped to his knee's, his head hanging, his knuckles white as he held the Staff of Weston "I don't know how to bring her back" he cringed to find a huge black panther snarling over him, her hot breath scorching him "Nedra don't!" came the calm voice of Virlane, Nedra's head snapped around her eyes blazing "it has been ooohhh soooo long since Nedra lost her temper, this is not good, yes this Nedra knows" she said taking a deep breath the woman Nedra stepped away from Zachary "you will learn quickly then my foolish one for if you do not, Nedra she shall destroy the Staff of Weston and with it all that is Weston, wiped from the face of this ohhh sooo mortal plane."

Virlane stood next to Nedra, her hand gently brushing over the painting of Connor on the wall of portraits "the lost one carries in her womb the salvation for both she and the ohhh sooo hurting Connor but can she survive this final fury, once too often she has been deprived of her family, those she loves, to be hurt by a life she has ohhh sooo stubbornly clung too. What he searches for in the lost horizon is a family of his own, a love to cherish as he has seen his papa cherish his adoring mama, a home of his own full of loving laughter that he sees with his tiny sister and her little ones." Virlane put his paw on Nedra's shoulder gently, he had never seen her cry before "Al's a tough scruffy one Nedra, she'll hang on until we get her back" Nedra smiled a sad smile, her face wet with tears "perhaps, perhaps not, there comes a time when even the most strong can no longer hang on, never has Nedra felt this helpless, this tired, this is not good, yes this Nedra knows my ohhh sooo kind and gentle one." Virlane's head dropped with a sigh as Nedra disappeared.

Allora crawled out of the debris that was her library "bastards" she snarled climbing over a fallen wall, she stepped out onto the lawn and stood next to a fruit tree, "Noooooooo, what have you done to me you son of a bitch" she screamed staring around her. The sky was black but there was more then enough light to see, half daylight, half night seemed to swirl around her, past the short expanse of lawn and fruit tree's it looked like another strange land of oddly bent palm tree's, strangely colored birds that didn't fly in the sky but scuttled from tree to tree. On the other side of the palm tree's the whole landscape changed to hills covered in a mist, the ground green and lush like she had seen once in Ireland, small streams flowed down the mist covered hills, there were sheep wandering around, they made no sound as one seemed to die of old age then suddenly reappear. Allora ran and ran then grabbed the branch of a tree as she teetered on the edge of nothingness, with a scream she threw herself backwards, getting up she ran only to stop and stare at what looked like half of her house, climbing back through the wall she pulled open the door of the library and found herself on a wide windswept bluff, walking to the edge of the cliff she saw there was a short rock path and below that an angry roaring sea, the waves crashing against the rocks below. Carefully moving with her back pressed against the wall she found another door and opened it, laughing hysterically she found herself in the front parlor of Montcliff, outside the windows the strange land shimmered and swirled. Still laughing she went to the door past the library to the study, past that was the bathing room "you bastard" she yelled "at least you left me half the house to repent in, son of a bitch I have nothing to repent" sitting down her laughter turned to harsh racking sobs. Allora cried for a long time then took a deep breath and looked around "ok, so I'm stuck here until I can figure out how to get back" going into the library she took the long ladder that went along the ceiling high shelves of books, pulling, dragging and carrying it she got it up and leaning against the wall, looking up at the hole in the ceiling she started to climb the ladder, crawling through the hole she found herself in her bedchamber, opening the bedroom door she stepped out into the hallway, a hallway that had no beginning and no end just blackness at each end, going into the two other bedrooms she pulled out blankets, sheets, pillows and carried them to her room, muttering to herself "just incase" she tossed several blankets, pillows and sheets down the hole into the library, she also tossed down some clothes. Allora went back to the other rooms and got out the wash basins, the pitchers, the fireplace tools, the small coal buckets and firewood, time and time again she went up and down the ladder carrying things down into the library. Exhausted she curled up on the sofa pulling a blanket over herself she fell asleep determined not to cry again.

Kat picked up Billy and snuggled her gently "come to The Keep Riley, you can't stay here, it's been three weeks, everyone is doing everything they can to get Allora back" Riley looked at the empty expanse of ground "I shall stay thank you Ma'am, I'm still on duty until Miss Allora relieves me of my watch" Kat sighed sadly then glanced over her shoulder "how long has he been sitting there?" Riley glanced over at Connor who sat on a small bench in the garden just staring out at the empty place where the other half of Montcliff used to stand "Captain Connor has been there since the day Miss Allora disappeared, his parent's and sister have come and tried to get him to leave but he refuses, when he sleeps he goes into the portrait room, I hear him pacing into the small hours of the night" Kat felt a tear slip down her cheek, she rubbed her face in Billy's soft fur. "I would be pleased Lady Kat if you would take Billy with you, she is lonely and mewls for Miss Allora, perhaps she would feel better with you" Kat nodded, she knew she should say something to Connor but just couldn't knowing all she would do is cry and she didn't want to make things worse, she left taking Billy with her.

Allora woke up with a start, bolting off the couch she ran to the opening in the wall, on her hands and knee's she vomited over and over again, curling up on her side she took deep breathes, trying to control her shaking hands and body "I haven't eaten in a long time" she muttered. When she woke up again she lay on the ground trying to get her bearings, slowly she stood up waiting to see if her stomach was going to revolt again, going over to a small stream at the base of the misty hills she took a drink of water and washed out her mouth, then washed her face with the cold water. With a chuckle she looked down into the water, as fast as she could she reached into the stream and grabbed a fish, then another until she had four, holding them in her skirt she carried them back to the library and tossed them into a basin, then went to the fireplace, with a frown she looked at the pile of wood she had put there earlier, the wood had been green, fresh wood now it was dried out and broke easily as she snapped a small branch over her knee, glancing at the coal in the bucket she saw a fine film of dust that also had not been there earlier. Running over to the desk she ran her finger over it's surface making a line in the dust, blinking she looked around wildly "how long did I sleep? I only closed my eyes for a moment" she said out loud, Allora looked at the clock on the mantle frowning as she watched the hands moving much faster then they should. Telling herself not to lose control she took a deep breath and went over to the basin and took out a fish, she used the letter opener and gutted and cleaned the fish then using the poker from the fireplace skewered the fish and put it over the small fire she had started, while the one fish cooked she cleaned the other and carried the basin over to the fireplace, sitting down on the floor she ate ravenously, she had to tell herself to slow down as she bolted her food. Allora looked her grandfathers pocket watch pinned to her blouse, opening the cover she saw it was ticking faster, the hands moving around the face of the watch rapidly, trying to think clearly Allora got up and cleaned up the fish bones, burying them outside, she carried the basin and other things she had used to the stream and washed them, Allora sat watching the sheep for a long time, then gasped "they die of old age then come back young again, only to die of old age over and over again" Allora stood up screaming "No, No, don't do this to me, I didn't steal your damned Staff" dropping to her knee's she sobbed "I didn't steal your magic staff" she whimpered with another sob. Allora went to the bathing room and took a long bath, thinking carefully as she floated in the water, why couldn't she make her own staff, she had the sketches of the runes, there was wood to carve the markings in, she had the amethyst stone on her pearl choker, she could go kill one of the birds out by the palm tree's and use it's claws and knock off a block of marble from the fireplace for the obsidian part, nodding to herself she felt better now that she had a plan of action. Getting out of the pool she gasped catching a glance of her profile in the mirror on the wall, her hand went to her fuller breasts then down to her stomach that was bulging out from her body "ohh sweet jesus" she moaned.