One Thousand Years to Forever (4 page)

She stared up into eyes that at
first glance looked as black as ebony. She just stood there very
still, feeling she was in the presence of an animal, a large and
very strong animal. Feral would be a better word because as she
watched his face, different emotions crossed it. Then the strangest
thing happened, his eyes that first appeared black were now a shade
of green the likes of which she’d never seen before. But stranger
still, they changed yet again and became a warm blue. His nostrils
flared as if he was sniffing the air or her...

His hair was the color of the raven
that flew behind him and now perched on a branch nearby. That too
was strange because it was cocking its head at her as if it was
studying her also.

Colum realized she that was
becoming intimidated by his size, and also by Travis, who had the
habit of following him, in one form or another.

“
Travis, beidh s’e sin ar
fad... ”
He let his thoughts flow in the Irish to
Travis.

Travis sat perched on the branch
and cocked his head towards Colum.

“
Whatever are you thinking in the
Irish for when she can’t hear us? I know that will be all. But your
father told me to watch over you... ”

Colum smiled but he knew it looked
strained. “Yes, we have met before... excuse me for a moment... ”
He bent and picked up a rock and threw it with precision of a
warrior who was used to hurling spears. It hit to the right of the
raven, making it squawk. As it flew away, it squawked some
more.

“
Ni g’a duit a bheith chomh
rude... ”
Then off he flew, fading in the distance.

Colum let out a laugh.
“Rude?”

He turned back to Katherine and saw
her still standing, perfectly still, watching him and Travis with
her mouth open.

“
You will have to forgive me.
Normally, I don’t have animals following me around like Snow
White,” he chuckled. He saw that made Katherine smile. How long had
it been since he had seen her smile? One hundred, two hundred
years?

“
Let me introduce myself, my name
is Colum O’Heachthanna.”

Katherine listened to the lilt in
his voice. She decided she liked it. His voice was deep like
thunder rolling off the hills but when he said his last name the
thunder was more like music and comforting.

He saw her digesting his name. “You
could say the modern version, Ahearn.”

It was Katherine’s turn to laugh.
“Somehow it loses something in the modern translation.”

They stood there for a moment on
the side of the road with the gathering gloom about them when they
felt the first rain drop, each turning their faces to the
sky.

Katherine turned her face to her
neighbor on the road. “Did you feel that?”

“
Yes. Which way is home for
you?”

Katherine pointed towards Rockport.
“That away.”

“
Let’s see if we can out run
it.”

They started running, the rain
continued to fall until they reached where she needed to turn onto
Mechanic Street off of Russell Avenue.

Colum knew where they were going
but tried to act convincing enough. “Is this your home? When did
you move here?”

Katherine stopped and started to
unlock her gate. “Come on in. I will make you a cup of tea or
coffee if you like.” Moving through the archway. “I moved here
September 11
^th
, just after my Grannie passed
away.”

“
Oh, Margret O’Brien... That would
make sense. My parents will be saddened to know of her
passing.”

Katherine looked up at her guest.
“You knew my Grannie?”

Colum followed her into the house
and straight into the kitchen. He watched her as she lit the stove.
“I didn’t know her like my parents did. They knew her forever… it
seems.”

He had known Margret for almost as
long as he had been alive. She was one of those rare creatures who
could get along and crossed boundaries. She had been part of the
high court of the Fae. During the Great Famine, she had come along
with many of her kind to America. He looked around and saw little
bits of her life from the old country. This place had suited her
and had been a haven for many a creature who had sought neutral
ground in the sometimes not-so-friendly other world.

“
This place suits you. You remind
me of your Grannie, what little I knew of her.”

Katherine smiled as she got mugs
down. “I hope you don’t mind having tea from a mug. I haven’t used
her china yet and somehow on a day like today, a mug of tea sounds
better.”

Colum pulled a stool out and sat
down. Wondering if it would hold him. He wasn’t the smallest of
persons, otherworldly or human.

Katherine stole a glance at the man
who sat at her counter, the very man who had saved her.

Colum chuckled. “What are you
thinking?”

Katherine bent her head like she
was busy getting out spoons. “Busted, I know... I was-was just
thinking and wondering what made you save me?”

Colum took his mug with his tea
that was offered. “Let’s just say there was a higher power at work
there that day and I guess you could say I was destined to save
you... though you didn’t want saving at that moment.”

Katherine remembered that morning
all too well and how she had kicked and screamed and called him
every name in the book. Her face turned crimson.

“
Don’t worry, I’ve been called
worse names than that on the battlefield,” he laughed a deep laugh,
smiling at her.

Katherine looked up into those
amazing eyes that had settled down to a deep blue, ultramarine she
guessed right about now.

It was her turn to laugh. “Wow,
that feels rusty... ”

Colum watched her as she sat. “I
can imagine. How have you been feeling?”

Katherine fiddled with her spoon.
“Strange you should ask. I have been feeling very tired as of late.
I push myself to get out there and run because for a while I feel
wonderful but then I feel like I have lead on my shoulders and I
can’t move. All I want to do is sleep.”

Colum had been picking up signals
and her scent smelled burned. She was lacking iron, almost like her
body was being robbed of her stores. He took a deep breath to
create a mental picture for later and analyze it when he was
alone.

“
I’m sorry to bore you. Let me ask
you again, since you never answered me on
that
day.
Why
did you save me and don’t tell me about higher powers...
”

Colum looked at her and those green
eyes that, even as tired as they were, showed flashes of
fire.

Colum took a chance and reached for
her hand. “I am not being flippant when I say there were higher
powers at work.”

Katherine shrugged but let her hand
stay in his for a moment longer before pulling away. “Fair enough.
I guess I am glad you did. It would have been very hard for my
children to lose both of us in one day, that way. It’s been a very
long, hard road. I think they are healing and being up here in
Maine helps.”

Colum patted her hand. “So you
write?”

Katherine studied him. “How do you
know?”

“
Saw the post it notes on the
fridge... call editor today, check on cover... that tells me you
write. What kind of books?”

Katherine got up. “Hold on, I will
show you.”

She went into the dinning room and
when she returned she had a book in her hand. She handed it
over.

Colum held her book, a child’s
picture book about the life of a fairy. Looking up at her he saw
tears.

“
It’s beautiful. Who did the
illustrations?”

“
I did the sketches and a friend
of mine did the water colors, though I’ve been giving painting a
try so maybe with my next book I can do everything and then it will
be all mine. I found it so healing, writing that story. It was
inside of me somehow. I used to have dreams of fairies and Granny
told the most wonderful stories.”

Colum put the book down. “The Irish
are born story tellers. I am sure you have a great collection of
them and memories of your Grannie.”

He took the last sip of his tea and
saw it had stopped raining. “The sky actually looks as if it will
clear. I should be going. Thank you so much for the
tea.”

Katherine stood. “It was my
pleasure. Are you sure you wouldn’t want me to give you a ride
home?”

Colum smiled. “Only if you will go
out to dinner with me on Friday night.”

Katherine looked at the man who had
saved her life...
“I don’t even know him... ”

“
Yes.”

“
Then Friday at seven...
”

Katherine could have sworn his eyes
turned a violet color as he smiled.

* * * * * * **

Katherine woke up to the alarm
going off at 5 am. She shut it off and lay on her back. Her arm hit
a body. It was her Sally. Sally had woken sometime during the night
and had come in and crawled into bed with her. It was less and less
often, but her daughter still had nightmares and she felt better if
she slept with her mama.

Sitting up, she saw Sally was
sleeping on her stomach, no covers. The house was chilly first
thing in the morning and since there was no heat upstairs she had
lots of quilts from her Grannie and down comforters. She pulled a
couple over onto her sleeping daughter and got up.

Moving through the sleeping house
she walked to the stairs and down. Coming to the bottom of the
stairs she could see the moon reflecting on the harbor below. It
must have risen late in the night.
“Good, maybe it will be a
nice day for a change. I could use some sunshine.”

As she was making her tea she
thought about the day and night that lay ahead. Tonight she was
going to dinner with Colum... her rescuer.
“God, why did I say
yes?”
She thought about the mere act of going to dinner and a
date.
“Maybe I can fake being sick... God, I sound worse than
the kids. Suck it up and go out this one time, and then you don’t
have to again.”

She made her mug of tea, then went
and sat down on the couch that faced the water. Boats bobbed gently
on the water below. There was that one red lobster boat that was
always anchored right below her house.

She sat and thought about how her
life had shifted to utterly simplistic. No more fighting traffic in
the morning to go to her office space that she had rented so she
could avoid working at home. She had found that early on in her
writing career, writing at home just didn’t work. Her mom had
watched the younger ones before
tha
t day happened. Then, she
would get up and get to her office and put in a solid morning of
writing. Now she worked at home. It was a perfect fit.
Now...

Back then, when she lived in the
city, she would go to work for the morning, just to get some solid
work done. Then she would come home for the afternoon to be there
for the family. It had all worked. Now, she had an office next to
the living room, though really after the kids went to school her
whole house was an office. She could sit anywhere in the house with
her laptop and write. That was the perk of freelancing. She wrote
her children’s books on the side.

Today she had nothing pressing to
do but figure out what she was going to wear on this dinner
date.

* * * * * * *

Katherine walked into her closet as
she listened to her mother and sister-in-law talking on the other
end.
“Thank goodness for Blue Tooth... ”

“
Yeah, I know this is a date...
that’s what I am afraid of.”

She could hear her mother talking
but muffled.

“
Mom, I’m still here, talk to me,
what are you whispering to Issy... God, you two are relentless...
”

She listened to them giving her
pointers. “Listen, I’m only doing this as a favor, nothing more. I
don’t think he has anything in mind past taking me out this one
time. Besides, I am not wearing something to give him any reasons
to think otherwise... ”

She looked at her clothes. She
really had a nice wardrobe but nothing really for dating. She
hadn’t even given dating a thought and really didn’t think of this
as a date either, but here were her mother and Issy, blowing it out
of proportion and making it more of a big deal than it
was.

Katherine about had a stroke when
she heard the next bit from the two of them.

“
Isobella, I’m not wearing
something low cut... ”
“Did she even have anything that was low
cut?”
She looked. She found that white poet’s shirt that she’d
always loved. Cleavage was midway. She found a nice pair of jeans
and held them together. “I think I found something... if not, my
turtleneck will do.”

She had to laugh when she said
that. Her mother was having a fit.

“
Mom, I don’t want to attract him.
We ran together, had tea, that’s it... yes, I know he’s handsome.
Yes, I know it’s been nine years... maybe it will be another nine
years before I go out again. Just because he asked me doesn’t mean
he likes me, or me him. He’s nice, a gentleman, that’s it and I
don’t even know anything about him...