Chapter 24

Betsy stood in front of a full body mirror, looking at her reflection. She was wearing a black robe. This was the first time she had put one on. Rather than having the full length sleeves of Druid robes, the robe she wore was sleeveless. This allowed the golden torq, her symbol of service to the Two-Sided One on her arm, to be visible.

She turned a little to catch her profile in the mirror. Then she turned the other way examining her appearance once again. She decided she liked the way the robe looked, and the way it made her look.

Kelly, dressed in her green robe, watched from across the room. She smiled at the slight exhibition of vanity on Betsy’s part. It was a very rare occasion when Betsy took much of an interest in her appearance. From what others had said, it appeared that the last time she was so concerned with her outfit was when she was getting ready for her first date with Chuck. The story was that she had been in a tizzy.

“You look pretty,” Kelly said.

“Do you really think so?” Betsy asked.

“Yes. You make a beautiful bride,” Kelly said.

Betsy wasn’t sure that she believed Kelly. After all, mothers were supposed to say things like that. She always felt that all of the years of moving and physical activity had produced a body that wasn’t very feminine looking. She had muscles in her legs that could carry her for miles at a fast run that marathoners could not hope to match, on their best day. She had muscles in her arms that would let her lift incredible weights. Her stomach had six pack abs. She was strong and she looked strong. There wasn’t any way to deny that.

Betsy asked, “You don’t think I look a little butch?”

“What?” Claire asked, surprised by the question.

“Well, you know I’m kind of muscular and physically built. I don’t think that...”

Linda interrupted, “That doesn’t make you look butch.”

“There’s no question that you’re a woman,” Kelly said.

Claire said, “You’re beautiful.”

“I guess,” Betsy said softly.

She lifted her robe and stared at her legs. She didn’t have dancer’s legs. She didn’t have the legs of a super model. She had the legs of an athlete.

Kelly said, “Don’t look one part of your body and think that defines your whole appearance. Your legs, waist, butt, breasts, and face make a total package. The overall result is beautiful.”

“Chuck is always saying that I’m exotically beautiful. I think that’s a polite way of saying something different.”

Claire laughed. “I’ve seen him looking at you. He means exactly what he’s saying.”

“You can say that again,” Kelly said.

Betsy blushed. She had caught him looking at her, too. Needless to say, the expression on his face always sent a thrill through her body.

Kelly chuckled. Smiling she said, “I used to imagine your wedding ceremony with you sitting on a stationary bike peddling like mad while you exchanged vows with the groom.”

Betsy giggled at the mental image her mother’s comment produced.

Linda said, “Back when you were supercharged, I never thought this day would come.”

Claire said, “Me, too.”

“Honestly, I grew up thinking that I’d never get married,” Betsy admitted.

“I guess a lot of people thought that.”

Betsy said, “Even after I started my service, I figured that I’d have to marry a professional wrestler.”

“A professional wrestler? Why on earth would you think that?”

“I was afraid that I’d break any normal guy,” Betsy said.

The three mothers were quiet while they considered what Betsy had said. Each of them realized that it was a legitimate concern on her part. She was extremely strong and had always had to take care to not over do it when hugging. The idea that she would lose control and hurt her lover was a fear that none of them had ever suspected she held.

Kelly said, “I never even thought of that.”

“I was really concerned about it,” Betsy said.

“I can understand why you might have felt that way,” Linda said.

“I was really happy when I discovered that wasn’t really a problem. In fact, I was overjoyed!” Betsy said.

All of the mothers smiled at that.

Kelly nudged Claire with an elbow. Getting the hint, Claire said, “I guess I should get outside and see how things are progressing.”

“Same here,” Linda said realizing that Kelly wanted a chance to talk with Betsy alone.

“I guess everyone should be here that is going to be here,” Betsy said.

The two women left the room, quietly closing the door behind them.

Now that she was alone with Betsy, Kelly said, “Do you know what makes you and William so special?”

“Our service to the Two-Sided One?” Betsy asked.

Kelly smiled at that. It was true that made them special in a way, but that wasn’t what she meant.

She said, “No. It’s that you two live less in the past than any other two people I know. Most people are tired before the present even arrives.

“Everyone is shaped by their past. The pain of growing up leaves a lot of scars on most people. Those scars are a drain on people’s emotional energy. It’s as if the past drags them down.

“William has almost always lived in the future. He seldom even thinks about the past or even the present. His energy is spent on the future before the present even arrives.

“You, on the other hand, live almost exclusively in the present. I’ve always felt that was the secret to your incredible energy. You weren’t drained by the past and didn’t reserve anything for the future. You were always in the now.

“When you are running, the last ten miles hasn’t drained your energy because you are only focused on the current step. There is always energy for the current step when the past doesn’t really exist for you. You can throw every thing into the now. A second from now, you can do it again and again. It’s really rather remarkable.

“When you started your service, I think your time horizon expanded a little to take into account the past and the future, more so the future than the past.”

Betsy said, “I never thought about it that way. I’m not sure that I see it that way.”

Kelly was quiet for the moment. She said, “You know how you can watch a movie in which the main characters are beset on all sides by difficulties that would drain a normal person. You see the characters stagger through the desert dying of thirst and baking under the sun. You watch it, but it doesn’t tire you out because it’s not real to you.

“You experience your past as if it was a film that you’re watching. It almost as if your past happened to someone else.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Kelly said, “I noticed the difference after you started your service to the Two-Sided One. It was a subtle change and one that was easy to miss.”

“I’ll have to think about it,” Betsy said.

“Before you began your service, you often seemed rather impulsive. Now, you are much more measured in how you act. However, when you need to, you can focus entirely on the now and your energy kicks into overdrive. That’s a very rare gift.”

“I suppose.”

“Now, you are getting married and your horizons will have to expand a bit more,” Kelly said.

“You mean I need to think about how my actions will affect Chuck?”

“Yes.”

Betsy said, “I already learned that lesson.”

“You did?”

“I discovered how much he worries about me when I’m out doing my thing.”

“How did that happen?”

Betsy said, “You know about it. He was kidnapped and I was worried when he didn’t show up.”

“Ah!” Kelly exclaimed.

That episode had endeared Chuck to her more than anything. His determination and willingness to suffer while protecting Betsy had convinced Kelly that her daughter had found a great man to marry. In fact, she had been surprised that Betsy hadn’t moved up the wedding after that had happened.

“He’s got a lot of strength in him.”

“He loves you a lot,” Kelly said.

“I love him a lot,” Betsy said with a private little smile. She chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just remembering that stupid poetry class where my professor kept spouting all of this nonsense about love. He never considered getting beaten to an inch from death to be a demonstration of love,” Betsy said.

“Of course not,” Kelly said.

“It used to really bug him when I’d start shadow boxing in the middle of class.”

“I can imagine,” Kelly said with a short laugh.

Betsy said, “You know, I’m really lucky to have Chuck. He complements me. He’s strong where I’m weak.”

“You are lucky indeed,” Kelly said.

The door opened and Ling, wearing one of her Victorian dresses, stepped into the room. She balanced a silver tray in one hand while closing the door. The tray held a small tea set.

Kelly said, “I’ll leave you two alone.”

“Thank you,” Ling said.

“You brought tea,” Betsy said.

“It’s been a long time since you and I have shared tea,” Ling said.

“I’ve really missed that.”

With calm measured movements, Ling went about setting up the tea set. Betsy sat down at one of the chairs by the small table on which Ling was working. Ling poured a cup of tea and offered it to Betsy. Betsy took the cup and saucer. Ling poured a cup of tea for herself.

Ling and Betsy both took a sip of the tea.

Betsy said, “That’s very good tea.”

“It’s some of yours. I’m not sure what kind it is,” Ling said.

“It’s probably the one grown here on the island.”

Ling nodded her head and took another sip of tea. She put the cup down and said, “I wanted a chance to talk to you alone before you got married.”

“I wanted that too. It’s been a little crazy around here,” Betsy said.

Ling said, “My mother and father died when I was pretty young. My mother was a beautiful woman with a proper English accent. My father was pretty liberal for a Chinese man. After all, he married an English woman.”

“I’m sure that was pretty tough thing back then,” Betsy said.

“When my parents died, I was in a rather precarious position. Orphans don’t do well in some parts of the world. Orphan girls can have it particularly rough. I was fortunate that my uncle took me in. Unlike my father, he was very traditional and conservative. As far as he was concerned, I had two strikes against me. I wasn’t Chinese enough and I was a girl.

“He told me that on the very first day I arrived at his house. He told me that he would not tolerate any failure to excel. That if I gave him any trouble that he would kick me out of the house to fend for myself.”

Betsy said, “I didn’t know that.”

“My uncle ran a martial arts school. He figured that since I was not likely to ever marry that I should have the skills and training that would allow me to make a living. He was afraid that I would be a constant drain on him. He believed that if I were adequately trained in the martial arts that some rich man would pay me to serve as a bodyguard to his wife.”

“That’s not very nice.”

Ling said, “For years, he forced me to go to school to get a proper education. After school, I would learn the martial arts from him.”

“At least you liked the martial arts,” Betsy said.

Ling said, “I hated it. He demanded perfection. He had this stick that he would use to correct my positioning. It wasn’t a little lift here with it, but rather, he’d hit the incorrectly positioned part of my body with that stick so hard that it hurt. I was almost always covered with bruises. For hours and hours every day without exception, I had to practice. He’d correct every little mistake with a painful reminder that I was not doing it correctly.

“I hated him. I don’t know how many times I fell asleep thinking about how I would kill him one day.”

“I always thought that you loved your uncle,” Betsy said.

Ling said, “One day some men came to the dojo. They got into an argument with my uncle. I don’t know what they argued about, but it was pretty heated. They left and then returned an hour later. I watched them kill my uncle in cold blood. He was murdered.

“When the men turned their attention to me, every lesson my uncle had taught me just jelled. My form was perfect. There wasn’t a wasted motion. I killed those men. I killed all of them.

“When it was over, I was left in the dojo staring at the body of my uncle. It was only at that moment that I realized that he wasn’t actually that bad of a man. He had taken care of me in his own way as misguided as it was. I think he had actually loved me. He had given me the ability to take care of myself.”

“You really had it rough.”

Ling said, “John and Ed always criticized me for going overboard in defending my family. Twice, I’d already lost all of the family I knew. I was never going to allow anyone to take my family from me again.”

“I don’t blame you,” Betsy said.

Ling wiped her eyes. She said, “There were two memories of my childhood that I truly treasured. The first was having tea with my mother. We’d dress up in clothes out of the Victorian era and have a formal tea. She’d tell me about growing up in London and what it was like living there as a young woman.

“I know it was kind of silly to be dressing up in Victorian outfits, but they were ... I don’t know. They were big and frilly. They weren’t really even sexy, since they hid a whole lot more than they exposed. They just created a special atmosphere that was very English.