From: Philippa Chapman (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK.) Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1997 15:00 +0000 Subject: Looking-glass Limbo, part 6/10 LOOKING-GLASS LIMBO PART 6 So Viola and I journeyed on together as friends. Sometimes I helped her out, sometimes it was she who reached a helping hand to me. And always there at my elbow, so to speak, was Al, touching me with his words and his eyes. I saw the relationship of words between him and Beatrice blossom. Sometimes she let him get a hint of how he was affecting her, then pulled back reluctantly to concentrate on Viola. It was noticable how close they approached each other sometimes, almost as if they were willing the void between them to disappear. And I, inspite of my initial fears that I wouldn't be able to handle it, found deep happiness and satisfaction in Viola as a friend. We shared laughter, sorrow, joy and music together within comfortable boundaries. The first time we sang together was very special for both of us. We had shared half a dozen or more leaps together. We had been Hare Krishna devotees, two young ballet students, nannies, gypsies, boy scouts and gray-suited executives. We had a sort of 'holiday' leap after that as carnies on a dodgem ride in a holiday camp on the south coast of England. We banded together to stop one young idiot from accidentally electrocuting himself by showing off. The evening came, the ride closed and the holiday makers went away to other attractions. Al and Bea couldn't come up with any reason why we hadn't leaped, so we stayed around at the dodgems, eating fish and chips out of newspaper. I powered the ride back up and Viola and I climbed in for our own private drive around. I set one of the other dodgems off for Al and Beatrice. They managed to appear to be inside the dodgem quite well. Of course, they couldn't control theirs, so they ended up stuck in the middle, but we bumped their car a few times to try to liven things up. After a while, we just drifted around slowly, watching the stars come out over the sea. I started to sing softly,"Put your head on my shoulder..." Viola laughed gently,"It's already there, Sam. How about, 'There's a kind of hush all over the world tonight..'" She trailed off when she saw I didn't know it. That started things, though. I think we got through every song we could remember; pop, show tunes, even light opera. Viola had a clear and true mezzo voice with a good mastery of relative pitch. Beatrice and Al joined in when they knew the song. Since Beatrice was an alto and Al's voice was closest to a kind of gravelly bass, we had the strangest four part harmony this world has ever heard. But it was beautiful. Viola finished off with a song I hadn't heard before from a cartoon film called 'Thumbelina'. "'Somewhere there's someone, there must be someone, Who's sure to find me soon. After the rain goes, there are rainbows; I'll find my rainbow soon. Soon my broken heart will mend, soon a happy ending. Darkness behind me, you will find me Homeward bound, safe and sound and soon....'" She taught it to me and we joined in the last time chorus together; "'Soon it won't be just pretend, soon a happy ending, Darkness behind me, you will find me Homeward bound, safe and sound and soon...'" I looked up at the night sky full of stars. The sound of the waves on the shore came drifting over towards us and a couple of moths played with the carnival lights overhead. "I certainly hope that whatever else happens, we both get home safely *and* fairly soon, if possible. Thank-you for teaching me the song, Viola." "I enjoyed singing with you, Sam. This leap has been one of the best." I smiled at her, kissed her forehead and we leaped. When the world righted itself again, the first things I saw were a pair of hiking boots and thick green socks on my feet. I straightened up, taking in bare knees and a pair of khaki shorts with lots of pockets. Ohh, boy! "Sam?" I turned towards the voice. A stranger's hand touched my shoulder, but it was Viola's smile that greeted me. "Don't tell me we're in the Scouts again!" Viola shook her head. "I don't *think* so. At a guess, we're walkers; perhaps on a walking holiday. Why don't we examine our backpacks while we're waiting for Al and Beatrice to turn up?" I felt my shoulders and eased the backpack off. It wasn't very heavy. Inside I found a waterproof jacket and pants, a packed lunch, some chocolate bars, a block of something called 'Kendal Mint Cake', a compass, a map, a whistle and a thick lightweight wool sweater. Viola's backpack contents were virtually identical. She also had a long walking stick with a small fork in the wood at the top. "I don't think we're going to be out for more than a few hours with these," I commented,"There's no supper, change of clothes or bedding." Viola nodded and looked around, smelling the air. "It's early Summer, maybe May. From the feel of the temperature and something in the air, I'd hazard a guess we're in the Lake District. The Kendal Mint Cake would tend to back up my guess. It's a local product." "How do you *do* that?" "Don't you know instinctively if you're in the South or by either of the coasts back home?" I nodded slowly. "Yes, I guess I do. I hadn't thought of it like that." We shouldered our packs and started to walk along the path. We rounded a bend and, there right in front of us was an amazing view. I whistled appreciatively. Fairly high, steep hills slanted down into a lake in the valley which shone like a blue jewel in the morning air. The sun glinted off the surface of the water through a gap in the hills to the east. Early morning, then, with the soft greens in the deciduous trees confirming Viola's assertion that it was Spring. I looked to see if my host had a watch. 9.30 in the morning. I wondered how long ago breakfast had been, although I didn't feel hungry at the moment. The path soon narrowed down to a track and began to climb the hill on our left up a sharp incline. I was surprised at how nimbly Viola scaled the slope. We were both breathing more heavily by the time we reached the top. The crest fell away in front of us down another steep slope and the ridge climbed upwards towards the sky on our left. "Which way now? Up or down?" Viola grinned at me, enjoying the deep breaths of clean air. "Look at the view now, Sam. It's almost 360 degrees of mountain grandeur." Well, the Rockies were more what I'd call mountains, but I looked anyway. Viola was right, it was beautiful. Brown, green and grey lofty peaks, sheep grazing placidly on their sides. A clear blue sky with wisps of white cloud. The tops of the trees below us looked down on a cluster of little stone houses. All I could hear apart from my breathing was the wind and the silence. I turned back to Viola and there were Al and Beatrice, clashing noisily in a green suit with a red shirt and an orange jumpsuit. "Can't you two color co-ordinate before you drop in together? My eyes are beginning to water!" Al turned to Beatrice with a devilish look on his face. "You could always take that jumpsuit off..." Beatrice laughed heartily, then turned back to Al. "Haven't you heard that a *gentleman* should always lead by example? You first!" Al pretended to look shocked, then he grinned. "You just wait and see, darlin'. I've got a *lot* to hide." I cleared my throat noisily. Al turned his attention back to me with some reluctance. "Okay, *lover boy*, where are we?" Al coughed explosively and Beatrice answered for him. She smiled warmly at Viola then turned to me. "This is the Lake District. It's not as beautiful as the homeland of the Frasers or Mackays, but it's fair enough. As far as I can tell, you're just here for the walk. You go up here to the top of the wee mountain where there's a tarn....that's a kind of small lake, Sam. Apparently whatever you're here for is up there." Al was busy punching his handlink. "I've done some research on those surnames of yours; would you believe it, Sam? Fraser means 'strawberry' and Mackay means 'firebrand'. You are one *hot* woman!" Viola stepped forward instinctively to protect Beatrice. "Careful, Al. You're talking to a woman who's a fully qualified nurse with special training in treating sports injuries, reflexology and massage. If she wanted to, she could really hurt you!" Al looked at Beatrice and gaped. "*MASSAGE*?! Is she telling the truth?" Beatrice tried very hard to be angry, but just failed. "Yes, and you'd better watch it, buster. I could really rub you up the wrong way!" She punched her handlink and vanished, leaving Al completely in mid-lust. I shook my head in a mixture of humor and despair. Getting anything out of those two that didn't end in verbal fireworks was going to be impossible until they'd gone away and done something practical about the sexual tension between them. And the sooner, the better. I looked up at the sky. "Please let Viola and I get home soon. I don't know how much more of this I can take!" Viola overheard me and came and linked her arm in mine. "It'll be alright, Sam. Aren't you glad they've both found someone?" I smiled at her. "Yes, of course. I'd lost sight of that in my own exasperation. Thank- you, Viola." So we pressed on up the mountain, once Al had recovered. After three hours of walking and clambering, with a few rests to catch our breath, we made it. I flopped down on the grass, more than ready for my lunch. Al stood by, as cool as a cucumber and quietly puffing on one of his cigars as we ate and drank. "It's alright for *you*, Al. You didn't have to climb that slope!" Al shrugged expressively. "Just one of the perks of the job. I get the beautiful views for free. That tarn thing over there looks nice and cool, but I can't appreciate it. There's no-one around in......over a square mile. You could go for a dip." Viola shook her head. "I don't think it would be wise. I've heard of people drowning in tarns. Anyway, it's only May. The water will be *freezing*!" I went over to the tarn anyway and dipped my hand in experimentally. Viola was right, it was cold. I looked up across the water and saw a strange movement in the surface of the lake. "Al, Viola, come and take a look at this. Do you know what it is?" Viola came over, carrying our packs and squatted down beside me. "Well, it's too far south to be Nessie...and the tarn's too small. Probably a fish or something." "Yes, but there's that rippling *above* the surface too. It can't be heat-haze, not like that. What do you think, Al?" I looked up and gasped. There, standing right next to me was an old shepherd with his sheepdog at his feet. "Thee'll be going a long journey yet, lad and lassie. Yon's the Gateway." "What do you mean? And who *are* you?" The old man turned to us and smiled. "Don't you know me? I think your lass does." I looked back into his face, which seemed to melt for a moment and grow a long white beard. His clothes changed into a great gray cloak, held at the neck with a circular red dragon brooch. I felt Viola's hand grip my shoulder. "*Merlin*!" she cried, then everything swirled around us. It was like a leap, but not quite. The spinning and tumbling went on much longer than normal. I held on to Viola for dear life. I got the distinct impression that we were travelling as *us*. How would Al and Beatrice find us now? Ohhh, boy! We landed up sitting on a worn stone bench inside a roofless tower. An archway at each end of the tower looked out onto the top of a green hillside. Viola looked at me, still slightly stunned. "Are you alright, Sam?" I nodded gingerly, letting the strong breeze that was blowing in through the right hand arch refresh me. Viola looked around and smiled. "I know where we are! I've been here before! This is Glastonbury Tor. The view from here is worth seeing, too." She took my hand and we went out into the sunshine. Square green fields, tiny houses and trees stretched away across the almost flat valley to the distant blue hills on the skyline. It seemed that almost every field was divided from it's neighbor by a stream. "It's like Alice through the Looking-glass!" I exclaimed. Viola smiled at me. "Yes, I can see what you mean. Those hills are the Brendons, which is the beginning of Exmoor to the South. The Bristol Channel is dead ahead about twenty miles away and that faint line of hills on the horizon is Wales. Then, to the North is the Mendip range, which is full of limestone caves. You've heard of Cheddar cheese?" I nodded,"Well, it's made just over there, less than fifteen miles away. Most of the trees on the moorland beneath us are willows. If it wasn't for the pumping stations, most of that land down there would be under the sea." Viola might have gone on giving me a guided tour of the view, if we hadn't heard the bump on the grass behind us. It was Al, sitting in a confused heap. He was wearing pyjamas and his black and white dressing-gown and looked like he'd just got out of bed. He groaned and ran his hand through his hair. "My goodness, that was strange. I could have *sworn* I was just about to have breakfast in my quarters. Ziggy, did I fall asleep in the Imaging Chamber again?" He patted his pockets, found a cigar and a lighter, but no handlink,"Ziggy, what the hell is going on?" I came closer. "Al, are you okay? You look a little pale." His brown eyes met mine and he rose slowly to his feet, brushing himself down automatically as he did so. It was then that Viola spoke. "Al, you've got *grass stains* on your dressing gown!" Al and I both looked. Viola was right, there were grass stains.....but that would be impossible...unless.....I stepped right up to him and put my hand out to touch his shoulder. I could hardly believe it when I contacted real, solid, warm flesh and bone. Al reached out in disbelief and clutched my other arm with his free hand. We stood for a moment, just gaping at each other, then we hugged each other for dear life. We finally broke apart in order to breathe, but kept an arm around each other, grinning like idiots. Viola came over, smiling broadly. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm very glad to meet you properly, Al." She held out a hand, which Al took, then pulled her closer to kiss her cheek. "Good to meet you too, kid." His eyes shone with pleasure at both of us. "I wonder what Beatrice is going to make of *this*?" Viola chuckled. There came a soft bump and a yell from the tower. Al's eyes lit up. "*Beatrice*!" he exclaimed, and we all made for the tower. It *was* Beatrice, also sitting on the ground, inside the tower and looking as befuddled as Al. She was wearing a bright yellow adult all- in-one sleep suit and pumps. Al stepped forward, quivering in anticipation, but trying hard not to let it show. "Here, let me help you up. That was quite a bump you gave yourself." Beatrice put her hand in Al's automatically without thinking and got up. Then she looked at Al, looked at their joined hands and looked up again. Al took her other hand while she was still recovering from the shock, then he ran his hands up her arms to her shoulders. "Beatrice, I feel I'm going to wake up in a moment and this will be a dream," he touched her cheek tenderly with his left hand,"*Please*," he whispered. Beatrice blushed, then smiled softly and came into his arms willingly. Their lips met and they kissed like it was going out of fashion. I don't think I'd ever seen Al so tender and passionate at the same time. I knew I shouldn't really be watching, but I couldn't stop myself and they were so obviously wrapped up in a world of their own. I felt Viola beside me and she slipped her hand back in mine. Somehow I knew that she was smiling. "I have a feeling this has been deliberately engineered by somebody to reward Beatrice and Al. Maybe, if it really *was* Merlin in the Lake District...." "Hmmm, but how and why? I'm a scientist; I want to know how this all works out." "With Merlin, you're talking real old-fashioned magic. I don't think any powers he might have would stand scrutiny by physics....unless it's some harnessing of Chaos that we don't understand yet." While we had been talking to each other, we had both been keeping our eyes on Al and Beatrice. They finally broke out of their kiss, but kept holding each other. "Alma del core!" Al murmured hoarsely,"You taste of coffee and cream and I'm *seriously* addicted!" Beatrice colored again, then pulled out her Ace. "Io sono si tremante!" Al froze, then a slow grin spread across his face. "All this time, you've been able to understand me and you never let on!" "Every word, darling Al. My step-mother was Italian." Al's grin widened considerably, then *he* actually blushed. "My goodness, I've said some things to you that were *incredibly* hot. And detailed! It's a wonder you haven't slapped my face." Beatrice chuckled. "My dad and step-mother used to say similar things to each other, thinking I couldn't understand. I'm deeply flattered and I expect you to make good on all your fine words.....later!" Al snatched another quick kiss before Viola and I interrupted him. Beatrice saw Viola properly for the first time and a beautiful smile broke out on both their faces. Beatrice broke away from Al with lingering reluctance, then she and Viola danced round and round with each other, hugging and kissing. Their faces were both wet with tears of joy by the time they'd finished and so was mine. I looked at Al. He hadn't actually shed tears, but his eyes were misting up. He looked up at me. "I have a nasty suspicion that the four of us are stuck here until Gushi figures out what's going on, but I don't care. It was worth leaping just to have the last five minutes or so with you, Viola and Beatrice. If it's going to be as good as this, I reckon I could *almost* stay here indefinitely." I put my arm back around him as Beatrice came up to greet me. I took her hand and bent to kiss her cheek. Al growled warningly, but with humor. "Hands off, Sam. This lady's card is fully booked to me!" I grinned at him and reached for Viola's hand. "It's okay, Al. I've already got a dance partner!" My tone was light, but I felt such a profound and sudden rush of joy and excitement within me as our hands met that it nearly took my breath away. I decided to ignore it and worry about it later. We exited through the far archway, where the hill sloped away on three sides around a kind of marker. On the marker sat a young woman with long brown hair tied in dozens of plaits. She was wearing jeans and a green sweater and on her lap sat a Siamese cat. The woman turned her head towards us and smiled. She had a small, almost pointed face and eyes that hovered in color between green and brown. "Have you been to the waters?" she asked us. "Waters? What waters?" Viola answered my question. "There are two springs of water at the base of the Tor; the White Spring and the Red. They're supposed to be very good for you." Well, it seemed a good enough plan until the cavalry arrived to help us. We started down the path. Viola and I got to the bottom first and sat on the gate waiting for Al and Beatrice to catch up. "Can you translate what Al and Beatrice said to each other?" Viola nodded. "Yes; Al called Beatrice his 'fairest adored', at least that's how it's translated in my Italian song-book. Beatrice told him that she was trembling. It's pretty tame compared to *some* of the things I've understood him to say. You know how much he's been muttering fluently at her during the last leaps; well I *know* I've only caught the merest hint of it - he goes so fast and uses words I don't know. I *do* know that he loves her, though. He just hasn't quite had the courage to say it in plain English." I smiled. "That figures. Desire he can handle with fluent ease; love, he's scared of. I guess that comes from losing Beth; in *my* memory twice over. He's afraid of loving and losing again." "And I don't know if Beatrice has *ever* been in love. She seemed to get close to deep feelings with my dad, but since then - well, a few affairs - but nothing that was long-lasting. She's scared, too. She's got this track record of picking men who can't handle a fiery and passionate woman." I chuckled inspite of myself. "Don't let Al hear you say that! He'd be uncontrollable!" Viola joined in my laughter, but we managed to pull ourselves together by the time Al and Beatrice rejoined us. It was almost like watching a pair of love-struck teenagers. They walked towards us across the field, arm in arm. From time to time, almost as if by pre-arrangement, they would turn to each other as they moved and steal a kiss. Viola and I jumped off the gate together. We all began to walk down the narrow country road. I let Al and Beatrice go in front, which was perhaps not a safe thing for my state of mind. Every time they cuddled close or snatched a kiss, the longing in me rose by another notch. Viola had linked her arm through mine naturally, but she seemed merely pleased on behalf of Al and Beatrice. Before we'd gone very far, I just couldn't bear it any longer. There was a gateway of a house ahead, flanked by high hedges. Al and Beatrice were far enough ahead not to notice we weren't with them, and there were other people walking up and down the road. I stopped deliberately, pulling Viola behind the shielding hedge with me. "What is it, Sam?" I apologised to anyone relevant in my mind as I drew her towards me. "This," I murmured, closing the gap between her lips and mine. It was just as overwhelming as it had ever been between us. Her mouth moved in perfect union with mine until I almost lost trace of where I ended and she began. By the time I reluctantly pulled away, it felt as though we'd been kissing for hours, not minutes. I leaned my forehead gently on hers to get my breath back and her dark blue eyes gazed into mine. "Please be honest, Viola. Is it 'us' or has kissing always been like that for you?" Viola's gaze dropped for a second and she blushed, then she raised her eyes back to mine. "It's 'us', Sam. You just seem to know exactly how I like to be kissed." I snatched another quick kiss before asking the next question, almost afraid of the answer I might get. "But what do we *do* about it? You must have realised that one or both of us could have someone back home waiting for our return. And I've been trying very hard to remember that. Up until now, I've grown a lot in my friendship with you and we've become very close. But sometimes I find myself wanting more; much more than I can give you with an open heart and an easy conscience." Viola gently cupped my face in her hands. "I know all that, my dear Sam. I think that anybody I might have at home will understand a few kisses. If there comes a time when we're both free......perhaps we had better leave anything else until that happens, Sam." I smiled gratefully at her. I was overjoyed to be given permission to kiss her when I could. I took full advantage of that permission right away. We were right in mid-kiss when I realised that someone had been tapping me on the shoulder for some time. I pulled away reluctantly and came face to face with Al, who was grinning broadly. "I did begin to wonder how long you'd last out, Sam. Congratulations on joining the rest of us kiss-a-holics!" "Al, you were the one who advised me to hold back, remember?" "Yes, I know I did, but not *that* much. You both could use a little romance in your lives - but just a little, mind. I know your conscience only too well, Sam. Now as for me and beautiful Beatrice here; well we've agreed it's not a case of 'if' but 'when'. We think we've been brought here for a Reason, and you don't need me to tell you what that is! I'm just grateful to God, Fate, Time or whatever that's got me and Beatrice together sooner than I'd ever dreamed." "Well, if Viola identified him correctly, it's Merlin; and no, I don't understand either." We carried on down the road, but this time there were four of us stealing kisses and cuddling close together. We came to a strange, square grey-stoned building set into the left-hand side of the path. A woman was collecting water in an earthenware jug from a pipe in the opposite wall. She looked up as we approached. She had long black hair and was dressed in a greenish-brown dress. Her skin was sunburnt and she had gold rings in her hair. "Welcome. You've come a long way today." "Yes, we have." I answered automatically before I realised her words had been a statement, not a question. The woman smiled. "You can call me Eva. I'm a Romany gypsy traveller. Come into the cafe and drink the waters." So we went in with her. Inside she had a second painted jug which she placed under the spring that gushed from the back wall of the cafe and ran down the middle of the floor in a special gully. We went with her into a kind of booth in the left-hand wall of the cafe. Eva rummaged in a large pack and pulled out four earthenware cups. "First, the white spring water from this place." She poured out from the painted jug into each cup,"White for clarity and purity of purpose." Eva turned to Al. "You first, angel." Al raised an eyebrow in surprise, but pulled the cup into his hands. I saw it blur and warp between his fingers into a miniature American naval helmet. We all gasped, and Al nearly dropped it in shock. "What the hell is going on here?" Eva steadied his hands. "Just drink. The part of you that you left behind in the jungle needs it." Al looked decidedly spooked, but there was a kind of crazy unreality going on that somehow seemed right and safe. He lifted the transformed cup and drank very nervously. It was obviously good, because he quickly finished off the contents with enthusiasm, then lay back in his chair with his eyes closed. "Now you, silkie." Beatrice also showed surprise at her name. When she took the cup, it changed into a two-handled china mug. "Ohh, my....a loving cup. My granny had one just like this in her front room." Beatrice lifted it gently and drank the contents. "And now for you, Odysseus." I also looked up in surprise at Eva, but took the cup and waited for the change. I cried out when I saw my father's favorite coffee mug take shape beneath my hands, but managed to hold it steady while I drank. "And, lastly, but not least. The female Orpheus." "How did you know that's my favourite role?" Viola asked, but took the cup. It became a silver trophy. She gasped in recognition, but again drank the contents. There was silence for quite a while as we all sat silently with our eyes closed. When I opened my eyes again, Eva had refilled our cups with water from the Red Spring and a small bread roll on a plate had appeared on the table. Eva took the bread in her hands and broke it. "Here's food for Travellers. It may not look much between the four of you, but it will satisfy." "My goodness.....it's like lembas, the bread of the elves in Tolkein!" Viola exclaimed. Eva smiled at her. "That and more, daughter. Eat." My questions finally came to the surface. "Who *are* you and what are you doing with us?" Eva turned her smile on me. "Don't you know me, Sam? I've been beside you all along, you know. All of you." I started to try and put two and two together. "Are you God? Or Al the Bartender with a different face?" Eva gave a short, warm laugh. "I am what I am, no more, no less. You are all beginning to know who you are, especially you, Sam and Viola. Eat, everyone. I only mean your highest good." So we ate in companionable silence. The bread tasted delicious and was just enough, as Eva had said. "Now the Red Spring water. Red for lifeblood, the healing of wounds and celebration. The cup may change again, but do not fear it. The forms will speak for you." Al went first, still watching Eva intently from under his brows. The cup changed very little, but a crack appeared in the rim. "You are not yet whole enough to share yourself, Al. Be patient and wait a little longer for love. What you feel must first be tested by great sorrow, but when it is over, you will find that which you have been searching for these many years." Al almost glared at Eva. "Are you trying to tell me that Beatrice and I can't....." Eva laid her hands gently over Al's and spoke softly. "Not *can't*, Al. Shouldn't. I cannot stop you making your own choice, I can only advise that the time is not quite right for either of you. If you go ahead, I've no doubt that you'll find pleasure together, but there's something greater waiting if you can be patient. Drink, and let the water strengthen you for the times ahead." Al frowned deeply, but he drank. Beatrice's cup turned into the same loving cup again. Eva commented for her. "You need a double dose in learning just how to love, Beatrice. If you wait, the sorrow I spoke of will clean out a deep wound within you and become the wellspring of your strength to love freely and unreservedly." There were unshed tears in Beatrice's eyes as she drank. I took the cup nervously, fearing that I'd be told I could never get closer to Viola. The cup changed into a gold chalice in my hands. Eva's smile was radiant. "Well done, Parsifal. You are close to the grail you seek. There will be a time of deep refreshment for you. But remember Parsifal did not obtain all he wished for on his first sojourn in the Grail Castle. You will lose what you have gained, but if you are strong, there may be a way to find it again." I drank the water, bemused at her words. Beatrice turned to Viola. "White Rose, take your cup." Viola did, and it changed into an old- fashioned drinking horn,"Ah, another symbol of the Cup of Plenty. The road may be hardest for you. Look for an old acquaintance in the place you least expect it. If you win through, the days that were taken from you will be restored a hundredfold." Viola looked as confused as I felt, but she drank.