Forever Young The Beginning (61 page)

Later he returned and took his funds,
thanking her once again. This time she extended her hand. He took
it and bowed slightly, brushing his lips on the back of
it.

Two days later, she received
a bouquet and an invitation to dine at a fine local establishment
in Lausanne. The invitation was from Lukas Eschmann. She thought
about that for some time, and then she decided to accept. He was a
widower of good moral repute who had two young daughters. She
thought
I’m no spring chicken and he’s
quite handsome after all. And I’m still naughty, aren’t I? I’ve
been without a man for too long now. He’s quite a bit younger than
I, but since when did that ever stop me?
She laughed out loud at that thought.
What chance do I have with reconciling with Ian? Oh! The very
thought of that! Mmmm! Is it getting warmer in here or is it me?
Now I’m really being naughty! I wonder what Lukas would think if he
only knew what I’m thinking right now! Anna you are indeed a
naughty and wanton woman!
She laughed aloud
once again then at the delicious thoughts going through her
mind.
Yes, Lukas. I’ll accept your
invitation. Indeed I will!

***

Elsie’s Cloud
rode at anchor in the harbor of Barcelona. Angus
and the crew had welcomed Ian and Tom and their prospective brides
warmly. Celita and Alandra walked all about the deck of Elsie with
their prospective husbands. They would point to this place or to
that place and recount an event or experience from those days
following their rescue. Ian spoke with Angus, learning the news
from Scotland. Angus was as ramrod straight and lean as ever but
Ian’s vampire eyes could see the telltale signs of age. MacCarr had
come and given Ian a bone crushing hug as always that now seemed
little different to Ian than that of another crewman. He hugged
MacCarr applying a tiny bit of vampire strength and heard him grunt
in pain.

“
Why Mark, methinks ye are
getting a mite soft what with your advanced age and
all.”

“
Hah! I’m still champion of
this ship in arm wrestling and no peacock banker is going to change
that!”

“
Oho! A wager then! You win
and I get dunked into the harbor, I win and you go into the
drink?”

“
Done then! Bring us three
barrels. This banker man is goin’ swimmin’ lads.”

Wagers were quickly made and a crowd
of their crewmates gathered. Shortly they were at it. Ian pretended
to struggle mightily and let it go back and forth for a good while,
and then he slowly but surely bore Mark’s arm down flat on the
barrel. MacCarr sat there in wide-eyed disbelief. There was a great
cheer because no one had ever bested MacCarr at arm wrestling
including Ian.

MacGregor said “Mark, why don’t ye
bring us back some fish while ye are down there then lad?” This
brought laughter all around.

“
MacCarr, it wasn’t fair.
Ian gets to toss those heavy bags of gold all about every day. You
never had a chance laddie.” Said Armando as the crew
hooted.

“
You tell them fishes that
the banker sent you to collect on their note now, Mark!” said
another as he walked like a man going to the gallows. More laughter
erupted at that.

“
Say hello to Davey Jones
now while you’re down there, Mark” said another as the crew hooted
and guffawed.

Grumbling and red-faced, MacCarr
turned only to see Ian walking over to him. “Here grandfather. Let
me help you over the side.” He then grabbed Mark by the seat of his
pants and the scruff of his neck, stooping quickly and lifting him
over his head to toss him into the harbor. There were cheers and
raucous laughter mingled with applause. Celita and Alandra laughed
harder than anyone. They hadn’t forgotten the time MacCarr had
tossed Ian over the side after an arm-wrestling match years ago.
Alandra caught Ian’s eye and he let his eyes glow briefly as he
winked at her. She put her hand over her mouth as she doubled over
and began to laugh all over again.

My God but she is
beautiful, and what a blessed man am I
!
He saw Angus shaking his head and
laughing. Ian walked over to him and said “I’ve wanted to beat him
at that for years and I wasn’t passing up the chance
today.”

“
Aye laddie he did crow
every time he beat you all of those years. ‘Twas a sweet sight at
that.” About then both Alandra and Armando joined them, laughing as
hard as they both could. Armando said “Ian, aren’t you the devious
one now, and what a sight that was! I’ll never tell him he was arm
wrestling with a vampire if you don’t!” The four of them erupted
with laughter anew at their private joke.

***

The day came and Elsie was
decked out fit for a wedding, with flowers everywhere and the crew
dressed in their white tops and navy blue pants. All of the
children of
Barcelona House
that were well enough to come did so. Eduardo
Vasquez had once again bought all new outfits for the entire crew
as he had done years before when his daughter was safely returned.
He thought back to that time
it is only
fitting that two of the men who saved the two of them from an
unspeakable horror marry them today. God has smiled on me and my
family this day in spite of my folly.

They had sailed the ship out
of the harbor and the priest from Alandra’s family’s church
performed the ceremony at sea with the four of them standing
together. Armando had played his violin as the two brides walked
down the aisle, one on each side of Eduardo. He had paid to have
two wedding gowns made exactly alike for the two, being as Celita
was as a daughter to him anyway. Little Rosita scattered rose
petals in front of them as they walked to the aft deck where the
priest, Tom, and Ian waited. Celita and Tom said their vows first,
and then Ian and Alandra immediately after. As Ian kissed Alandra
he thought
I haven’t been this happy since
I married Cosette.
The children of
Barcelona House
cheered
and applauded along with the crew.

Armando played a lively
Gaelic tune and the newlyweds danced most of the way back to the
harbor. The celebration was at
Barcelona
House
and all were invited except the ship
watch being six men. Ian paid them handsomely for missing the
festivities.

At the celebration, Ian was asked by
the children to do the Cossack Hopak dance. It seemed that it was
their favorite. Sometime after he had performed the dance for the
children, Ian and Alandra slipped away while some of the seamen
were trying to learn the dance.

Angus had told him that they
could have the ship to themselves that evening. Ian had made
provisions and preparations for the entire crew to stay at
Barcelona House
overnight, and the ship’s officers were to stay at the Vasquez
estate. Ian rowed the two of them out to Elsie in the longboat at
vampire speed. He let the six men on duty leave for the night, and
they weren’t due back until noon the next day. Angus had given over
his own cabin for them.

Ian was sensitive to Alandra
possibly being nervous, so he simply held her hand and walked the
deck with her. They gazed at the stars and the big Barcelona moon
overhead. He kissed her neck and nuzzled her gently as he stood
behind her at the bow. “Lassie, we first kissed at the bow
of
Tico
and I
thought my heart might stop that day. Now here we are man and wife.
I didn’t believe it could happen this way.”

“
I always hoped but that
hope gradually died and my happiness with it, until you returned.
I’ve never been as happy as now. Take me to our bed, and let me
show you.” He kissed her deeply then, each of their tongues gently
caressing the other. The fire of desire rose in both of them then.
Ian scooped her up as she kissed him all about the face and neck as
he carried her to the cabin. Ian could scarcely believe her
fervor.

He was quite tender and slow and after
her discomfort passed a night of unrivaled splendor unfolded for
them both. She wept freely after they had finished, and he held her
even as his own eyes brimmed with tears of joy.

After only two hours she awoke and
they again made love. This time it was even more enjoyable for her
and she was markedly more aggressive.

The next morning Alandra stretched
languorously and then cuddled close to Ian. She murmured “Shall we
live the rest of our lives here aboard this ship, Ian?”

“
If so, I’ll live it happily
as long as you’re here too.”

“
Mmmm; you do know how to
say the right thing, love”

“
On the subject of where to
live, I have a surprise for you, Senora McCloud.”

“
Mmmm; I like that title. If
you say it one more time, I’ll show you how much I like
it.”

“
Why Senora McCloud,
whatever do you mean?” Very shortly she showed him exactly what she
meant.

Later he arose and kindled a small
fire beneath the special copper tub he had bought and had delivered
to the ship. He brought four buckets of water at vampire speed and
poured it in. After preparing Alandra a breakfast of eggs and a
small filet of beef with fresh squeezed orange juice, he went on
deck and lowered the cargo net into the harbor. He stripped and
dove in to have a bath. When he was through he came back on deck
and dressed, having decided to give Alandra privacy for the sake of
her becoming accustomed to being married.

She emerged on deck some time later,
dressed in black riding pantaloons and a loose fitting white
blouse, her hair in a simple ponytail. “I have a complaint to
register with the manager of this establishment, sir.”

Smiling, he drew her to him and
wrapped his arms about her “And what would that be, Senora
McCloud?”

“
Mmmm; sir, don’t try to
take advantage of me by using those magical words. I’ve learned
just this morning of your trickery in that regard. I was bathing
this morning and there was no one to scrub my back.”

“
I can assure you that will
never happen again, Senora McCloud.”

“
Well, it had better not”
she said as she tipped her head back and drew him down for a long
kiss. When they separated she said “You mentioned a
surprise?”

“
Aye; let’s go ashore and
see what it is, shall we?”

“
Mmmm; I was ready to take
another bath, but not alone.”

“
I almost wish I’d not
arranged this surprise, but I’ll let you judge that.”

Ian had arranged and paid for a stable
boy to bring two horses to the dock and to wait. Soon they were
riding toward the north and up into the hills. They came to a villa
sitting on a rise that gave it a commanding view of the city and
harbor. It had a driveway of some four hundred feet length. They
rode up to the front portico and tied their mounts to the hitching
post. Ian took a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. He
turned to Alandra and swept her up and stepped over the threshold
into the foyer. There he stood her and then kissed her. “Welcome
home, Alandra.”

“
Ian, what…what is
this?”

“
It’s our home, at least for
the next month. I put money on it as a lease for one month and then
I can buy it or return it to the owner. Do you like it?”

“
Oh Ian, I love it! I love
the view! Oh, let’s look out in the back. Does it have a back
yard?”

“
Why yes, it has a four
hundred acre back yard.”

Her hands flew up to her mouth “Oh! So
big!”

“
The place where I lived
most often in France is eight times this big and so is the house.”
She turned to him wide-eyed “Why so big?”

“
The owners are vampires.
They like their privacy. They’re the ones who helped me so much
after I was infected.”

“
That would be Marie
and…Henri?”

“
Yes. Let me show you the
rest of the house first though.” Ian did so and then told her to
change anything about it that she didn’t like.

“
I want to take you to Marie
and Henri’s home.”

“
So we’ll go to
France?”

“
Yes. I want you to meet
them both. You’ll love them, Alandra. They’re such fine people. Oh,
I forgot to tell you but Li Hong has crossed over. He’s a vampire
too and is married. They live there too.”

“
Li is the one who was
teaching you to fight?”

“
Yes. Mustafa and Cosette’s
brother live there too.”

“
Mustafa lives there now?
Are they…..?

“
No. They’re human, but may
cross over when they’re grown. Children aren’t allowed to cross
over.”

“
Why?”

“
They’re too uninhibited.
While we’re talking about this, I need to tell you that Rosita must
never be allowed to eat after me. She must never take a bite from
an apple after I have or any other thing. She must never drink from
the same cup either.”

“
Why? You mean that
she…could…”

“
Maybe. She
might
possibly be
infected and then she would cross over, to become a child vampire.
She’s going soon to live with her grandfather?”