page FIVE
Thanksgiving Day, the next morning. I was sitting up in bed
but not properly awake. The Professor was straddling a chair, chin on his arms,
listening intently to my 'report' as his eyebrows danced. Smiling at my
indignation, he said, 'Ah, there you are. And I wasn't flirting, I was
investigating. And it's Lemurian, not lemur. A lemur is an arboreal cat-like
primate from Madagascar. A Lemurian is a member of an extinct race that
colonised this planet billions of years ago.'
'So what happened to them? And they aren't extinct.'
'Same old story. Every solar system has one or two like it. An advanced race with amazing powers is destroyed for evil or hubris. Their continent sinks or their planet's destroyed, they all die. Legends and cautionary tales, mostly; I've never seen it happen. The Lemurians are extinct, though. Every single one. Dead as dodos. Even the two you've met.'
He grinned at my expression. 'No more questions. Plenty of time for that later. Get up and dress for dinner. And don't bother looking for your old clothes. They're in the TARDIS laundry because they were covered in mud. You still are, so stop lollygagging and hit the showers.'
The Professor stood. ' I'll leave you to your modesty. Knock when you're done, then we'll head for Sally and Peace's house. Oh! And Ace? Happy Thanksgiving!'
***
'Ace, aren't you at least curious where I attained this automobile?' He asked an hour later as he nimbly drove through town.
'What's the use of asking?'
I was sulking. The Professor had deflected, ignored or pretended not to hear my non-stop barrage of questions as we'd lugged a cooler from the hotel and drove toward the Spenser's. Now I was giving him the silent treatment.
'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.'
Oh, all right. I took the bait, knowing there was a hook. 'Well?'
'It's Sally's car. She lent it to me last night.' He stared sideways at me, 'And don't ask.'
Have I mentioned I used to have temper management problems?
'Arrgghh! How am I supposed to watch your back if you never tell me anything? "We lead dangerous lives, Ace". Well, bullocks to that! You aren't the one who almost got killed last night! I'm the one leading the dangerous life! You're the one running around three steps ahead with all the answers! Would it have killed you to tell me that Luuna was a dangerous Lemurian ghost? So I could, I don't know, maybe not die? Or would that have ruined your secret master plan?'
The Professor braked the car in the middle of the street. Suddenly, he looked very small. 'Ace...' he began, gently.
'Hmmpphh!' I stared at the rear-view mirror. A Dodge drew up and he waved it past.
'Ace, I didn't know. Honestly. And ignorance saved you. If you'd known her for what she is last night you'd have lit up psionically and gotten her curious. If she'd peered deeper in your mind...'
Wait a minute! What had Luuna said? "Little thief?" What was in my pack?
There was a honk, and he waved a Ford past. A man who looked like Father Christmas leaned out the passenger window, 'Engine trouble?'
More to the point, what had the Professor put in my pack?
'Hey, it's that little saucer! How did that get there, Doctor, I wonder? And my nitro-9! I get to keep it?' I said.
'Put that away, Ace. It's going to be important,' the Professor said. I think he meant the saucer, but you'll note I didn't ask him to clarify. Out the window, he called, 'No, thank you. We're fine!' The Ford with Saint Nick pulled away.
He turned to me. 'Well, Ace?'
'I don't know... Doctor, I was really scared. And she was after me because of something you did. I wanted you there so badly.'
'Ace, I promise you. You'll be scared again. You'll be in danger again. We might even have this conversation again, sadly. You know me. But I promise you – you are my Ace, my only Ace and I swear to you that if you trust me and do what I say the monsters will never get you.'
I dimly registered another vehicle approaching.
'Is it always going to be this weird?'
'Probably.'
'Were you like this with Mel?'
'She left me for Glitz, Ace. Glitz.'
Yeah, that made the skin crawl. Speaking of which...
'So Luuna was a Lemurian, huh?'
'Yes. Ancient legendary evil. Just like your friend Smokey.'
'But she's dead, right? Or...'
The Professor looked in the rear view and grinned.
'She'd better not be dead. That could make dinner rather awkward, don't you think?'
There behind us idled the Space Cadillac.
'Right on schedule,' the Doctor said. 'Now! Are we good?'
I had to laugh. Damn him. Did he know I'd throw a fit, right here, so he'd have an excuse to stop? Or was it just a coincidence?
'Professor, you owe me a big one, you hear? Start the car! Thanksgiving dinner, here we come!'
***
Freezing mist shrouds the Red Banks ridge, 3780 meters in the sky. This close to the summit, the sky feels larger than the mountain; even though I cannot see it, I can almost feel it lifting me from the trail, trying to give me to the wind. I feel light, like my body is fading, but in my head a bright pain blossoms. At my feet is a line of footprints. I realise I have turned around.
I marshal my thoughts. The sky's not trying to kill me. I'm dizzy, my head hurts and I'm disoriented. This is altitude sickness. I find a nook to the lee of the wind and lean on the rock face. I pull off my gloves and my hands go hot, then numb. I fumble with the catches on my pack, finally getting it open. Oxygen first. Then the very special Peruvian tea I dared to sneak through customs. Breathe, drink, breathe, drink. I grow warm, and weariness seeps into my bones.
***
'Well, there's our sleepyhead!' said Sally, 'How are you feeling this morning, dear?'
'She's fine,' said the Professor, 'Good as new.'
'Well, you were covered with cuts and bruises when I put you down last night, you poor thing.' Oh God, Sally was mothering me. Alarmed, I backed away a step. A tiny hint of hurt crossed her face.
'I'm okay, really,' I said, 'Um, thanks, okay, Miss Spenser? But we've got all this food, here...'
'What did I say? She's fine.' said the Professor, 'Come on, Ace, kitchen's this way. Sally, the others are right behind behind us.'
I followed the Professor to the kitchen, and slowly sink to
my knees on the mountain, and I wonder where Peace is. I heave the cooler on
the kitchen counter, and I curl to my side
on the mountain, and aches fade away. Far away, in another room, I hear
greetings at the door.
The Professor snapped his fingers in my face. One! Two!
'Ace! I need you! Front and centre!' he barked.
'What?' I looked around, momentarily panicked. I was in a kitchen. The Spenser's kitchen. Everything was where it was supposed to be. Despite the warmth from the oven, I shivered. The Doctor guided me to a stool and I gratefully sat.
'Doctor, what happened? I felt like I was gone for a minute.'
He studied my face, his eyes gone flinty. 'Take a deep breath, Ace. What do you smell?'
'I smell... turkey cooking. I smell potatoes, coffee, cinnamon...Oh!'
'Yes?' He smiled.
'I feel better!'
'I thought you would. There's nothing to bring you back to Earth like the smell of a Thanksgiving feast. Did I ever tell you that the first Thanksgiving wasn't in Massachusetts at all? Here, give me that phial, and keep an eye on the door.'
'Remind me not to eat the potatoes.'
'Do not eat the potatoes. No, it was in Florida, fifty-six years earlier. Some time in September, I believe. The Timucuan and the Spaniards who founded St. Augustine had a peaceful meal together, and the Catholic priests said a mass of thanks. Is the coast clear?'
'The coast is clear. So what happened then?'
'To the Spanish?'
'No, dummy, the Timucuans.'
He pocketed the phial, then peeked into the oven. He signalled me to watch the hall.
'Oh, they're extinct. Disease, war, exploitation, the usual with your species. Same thing nearly happened the next time.'
'In Massachusetts!'
'No, in Virginia. The point, Ace, is that when different societies...'
'Wait a minute! What about Frobisher?' I asked, remembering Canadian Thanksgiving.
'What?... Oh, Martin Frobisher!' said the Professor. 'Oh, Hello, Jack! Happy Thanksgiving!'
'Hi ya, Doc,' said Jack Kraft, making a beeline to the fridge. 'Same to ya. What's cookin', girly? Good to see you up and around. You ought ta live in the woods, 'cause you sleep like a log.'
I tore up my mental enemies list and threw the bits to the wind. I summoned my sweetest smile (I do too have one!).
'Hello, Mr. Kraft! It's good to see you again.'
'Again? Did I miss something?' Oh, whoops.
'I think we both did, sir.' I said, and we both turned to the Professor, who was absentmindedly juggling three yams. He noticed our stares and chuckled nervously.
'The trick is to keep two in the air,' he said, catching them neatly. 'Ace, why don't you find Sally? I'm sure the table needs setting.'
I slid off the stool. 'All right. You two are obviously about to have a conversation I'd find very interesting, so it's imperative I go.'
Jack handed me a glass of iced tea. 'That's the spirit. On your way, give this to Gladys, will you? And send the three pilgrims back, too, if they've arrived. That's a good girl.'
Behind him, the Professor smiled apologetically, and mimed taking a deep breath.
***
The smells of turkey, potatoes, coffee and cinnamon tickle my consciousness and I struggle to a sitting position. I can still feel the symptoms ticking away, but they've abated for now.
I can't have laid there long, but the mist has been swept away and there's a ghostly trace of warmth in the bright sunlight. I flex my stiff fingers and toes, stretch my legs and struggle to my feet. I take one more pull from the thermos and set the oxy regulator. I shake the glaze from my gloves and pull them on. I challenge the sky and it withdraws.
I think of a stone on a lawn far away, and the person waiting for me there, and the blank space where someday a date would be carved.
'Not today, Ace' I think, 'There's a few miles in this old girl yet.'
I start the ascent to Misery Hill.
***
'I simply struggle to stay awake,' said Gladys, gingerly accepting the glass of cool tea, 'But you people are so interesting and so kind to me! I hate to miss a single moment.'
'It's alright, dear, we understand. You've been through quite a lot,' said Sally. 'We're just happy you're here now.'
We were in the Spenser's spacious living room; Gladys reclined on the sofa as Sally changed the bandage on her head. Gladys frowned, 'This is your home, nurse? Have you seen mine? Jack built me a mansion. It's lovely.' She blinked back tears. 'Oh, I wish I could remember living there! Such luxury!'
'Sally, can I talk to you?' I asked, eager to leave the room, ' I'm supposed to set the table?'
'I shouldn't leave her alone... I'll only be gone a moment, Gladys. Why don't you rest your eyes?' Sally said, 'It's this way, Ace.'
As we left, Gladys studied her hands, sadly puzzled, then lay back and closed her eyes. She looked tiny and lost. She'd been so terrifying last night.
'Right through this arch, Ace,' said Sally, suddenly all business as we swept into the huge dining room. 'Everything's in the cabinet there; use the orange china but not the silver flatware. Set it up for ten.' She turned and had her hands on my shoulders before I could evade her. She searched my eyes. ' I know you have a million questions, Ace. But you shouldn't be thinking of them and I'm not allowed to answer them.' I shrugged her off.
'Yeah, I know. I'm the last to know anything.'
Softly, she said, 'Actually, I think that would be poor Gladys, don't you?'
***
I now understand how Gladys felt. As I clamber over the ridge my mind is occupied by equally bright points; the memories of thirty-five years ago and the inescapable now. The intervening years have faded to vague impressions. Right now, here and then, I'm struggling to remember what fork goes where.
'Why do you even need two?' I wonder out loud.
(The short ones for salad. It is commonly placed next to the plate.)
(Hah! I knew you'd show up! Thanks, Smokey!)
(No, to the left of the plate... That's it.)
(Bugger! So how's it hanging? You in the 'don't tell Ace' brigade, too?)
(I'm afraid it has failed to perform any physical function for a considerable number of years, rude one. I thank you for reminding me. And, yes, I am afraid I cannot assuage your impatience for answers. But, Ace, answer one of mine?)