The Hatchling—1999
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XXXVII—Reconciliation
"And she still doesn't know who you are?" Holly was incredulous yet spoke quietly.
The dark man slowly shook his head, his voice barely audible. "No, I've not told her."
Holly's hand gently stroked Dark Star's neck. The hatchling sat next to Holly. She was intently listening to all that was being discussed. This was a facet of human behavior completely new to her. The young unicorn, now four years and three sabbats old, was fascinated by her existence. Living with Arnica and Holly in the cabin with their gardens surrounded with forest had proven to be a fulfilling manifestation. She thanked her father, Andrius, nightly as she settled into the dreaming.
During Dark Star's first year, life was quiet, although the increasing power of the Politicos and their right wing movement was threatening the forests of Merrywood. It was then that Iris, the postmarm, came into her life. Dark Star loved Iris. With her long, thick braid and willingness to stand up for her rights (Iris had organized the first march to Fern Hollow), the hatchling thought Iris one of the most remarkable women of the human species! Now, with an Earthkin school soon to open, Dark Star thought herself the most lucky of those unicorns allowed to incarnate in the world of humans. Arnica and Holly had about them the most wonderful circle of friends. The young uni-filly was daydreaming, remembering the first time she met Dolly, when his unhappiness as a Kristos minister left her wishing she were safe at the cabin. And now Dolly was active in the coven, and she would be dancing with him and the other friends at Lammas!
But what was the dark Piper saying? Dark Star realized she had missed some of the man's tale.
"So you see," the Piper looking toward Arnica, "I felt that I had no choice."
"But you see things differently, now?" gently asked Arnica, his fingers toying with the graying hairs of his short beard.
"Oh, yes." Piper looked into Arnica's eyes. The dark man's soul was visible through his dark brown eyes, shaded by his near-black hair. He still carried much pain with him. "Why hoping that I might see Iris some day was all that kept me going. I wanted to find her right after my release, but it took time to be able to find employment and to learn how to adjust to being out in the real world again. It wasn't easy."
"You did well, my friend." Holly reached over to console the man and put his hand on his shoulder, leaning across Dark Star's neck. Holly was ever kind to people and much loved in Merrydale.
Dark Star's ears were a-twitch. On such a hazy summer day, the hot sun left her wanting to trot back into the woods to play in the stone circle. The borage was in bloom and she'd love to head back with a large mouthful and sit and munch and wait for the devas to come and visit her, something which rarely happened when humans were around. But what is this about being released? Where had this man been kept? And was that a monarch butterfly over there landing on the borage? Dark Star could not control her impulse, jumping up and trotting off to check her favorite garden bed. The men left behind were laughing, grateful for a break in their otherwise serious conversation.
"Just a year ago?" Deodar Dolorum looked at the others. "How can it be possible that a year ago I was newly engaged," he turned toward Iris who, despite her strength and will, still blushed just the slightest. Dolly continued, "And I was still a Kristos minister. Now, look at me! I'm actively involved in your coven. My mother must be very pleased, Goddess bless her. And I'm the principal of Trillium School, the first Earthkin school ever. So many changes and yet, had I not studied for the ministry and come to the Church of the Martyr, I would never have reclaimed my heritage from my great-great-grandmother, who was a daughter of Silverwing, a Descendant Tribe people of the Great Plains." Not usually the most talkative, he looked about the room, then lapsed into silent wonder gazing into the small fire.
It was a cool, rainy evening. Dolly and Iris had come out to the cabin to finish their part in the coven's plans and preparations for the Lammas Eve ritual. Last year, under the late Bishop Miter's (the most prominent of the Users, the right wing faction of the politicos) urging, Parliament passed a bill banning Lammas fires. At the time, the Users were growing in strength, but that promoted great cooperation among the Renaissance Tribes and the native Descendant Tribes and many others who believed in the freedoms of religious expression. When Bishop Miter died unexpectedly, the radical right had taken a hard blow. Although no one had gotten around to changing the law, none of the Earthkin planned a large, public fire. Arnica and Holly would have a small Lammas fire for the coven on Lammas Eve, but locally everyone was far too involved in the opening of Trillium School to worry about lobbying for the repeal of a law they knew would not be enforced. Politics could wait until winter.
"Gino and Pearl are in charge of the harvest part of the procession?" asked Iris.
"Have you noticed? Gino's shot up this summer and he's taller than Pearl now!" Holly was fond of the young teen. "Gino's mother is sending along the grain man. Carlos has the new ovens working in the school kitchen and Rosetta felt that this would be the best way to bless them." Gino's parents were so proud of the progress he was making. Since beginning his studies with the coven, his grades in school were straight A's and Gino's parents were thrilled that both were now working for Trillium School.
"Flying Raven will be here, won't she?" There was a slight edge in Iris' voice.
"Oh, Iris, I forgot to tell you." Dolly reached over and took her hand. "Flying Raven called me at the school office and asked if we could come over tomorrow evening. I checked our schedule and said yes and promised I'd get back to her if you'd already scheduled something. With so much going on it slipped my mind."
"Did she say why?" asked Iris with emotion beginning to shade her voice.
"She wants us to meet…What's his name? Piper," answered Dolly, "Piper, like the botanical name for pepper…."
"She's been acting so odd when she's around me," Iris said, trying to conceal the threads of hurt.
"Why," soothed Arnica with just the quickest of glances at Holly, "we spoke with her and Piper just a few days ago, and I can assure you that Raven's reticent behavior has nothing to do with you. By Lammas Eve, I trust that everything will be resolved."
Iris looked at Deodar. "Yes," she said, "we'll go. It will be an important part of my ritual sweeping for Lammas Eve." Iris bent down and scratched Dark Star's ears. "My lovely, I'll not see you until the ritual. You be a good hatchling and I'll bring you a treat."
Dark Star loved treats!
They sat around the square dining table, Iris nearest the window looking into the garden and to her right, Dolly. Across from her sat this man Piper. She didn't know quite what to think of him. Something inside of her wanted to dislike him, yet another part of her very much wanted to like him. Some of his mannerisms reminded her almost of herself, but she didn't want to think of that. Tomorrow was Lammas Eve and she was having a wonderful time. It had been a wonderful meal. A fresh strawberry cobbler and coffee brought the evening full circle.
At Iris' left sat Flying Raven, closest to the door leading into the kitchen. Certainly it seemed as if everything between the two women was normal. Iris helped in the kitchen and they laughed and giggled as they hadn't in some time. Raven looked younger than her years. Iris found herself looking at the school's new science teacher in wonder. It was difficult to believe that the older woman had children in their twenties! And yet, there was some worry about her eyes. Just as Iris was looking toward her friend, Flying Raven interrupted the casual conversation of the evening.
"I'm not comfortable doing this but…" Raven fidgeted a bit with her napkin, looking from Piper to Iris. "I invited you here," she looked at Deodar and then at Iris, "because I know you think I've been acting a bit funny. And I have. You see, I have been spending some time with Piper and…" Flying Raven stumbled for words.
"Please," Piper moved his chair back a bit and leaned forward. The other three looked toward him. His voice spoke quietly yet with strength. Obviously, this was important.
"Iris," the man said, "when I was young, younger than you are now, I met a beautiful, sweet young woman. I fell madly in love with her and when she agreed to date me, I couldn't believe my good fortune. You see, my life had not gone well. I was very immature, had trouble holding a job, was doing poorly in keeping my life together and this woman.…Why, she was like and angel and somehow she thought she saw good in me."
Iris closed her eyes. Something within her began to sense where all of this was leading.
"When this goddess of a woman told me she was pregnant, I didn't know what to do. I had no money, no prospects. I had no self-esteem and I was certain I wasn't good enough for her, much less capable of being a father. So what did I do? I ran away and enlisted in the merchant marine." His emotions were so close to the surface that Piper was visibly trembling, his eyes unable to look at anyone.
"You're trying to tell me that you're my father, aren't you?" Iris was visibly shaken. Her face had paled and her hands tensed around themselves.
Piper looked down. "Yes." The word slipped out like a wisp of candle smoke. Then he looked up and at Iris. "I got out just a year ago and I worked very hard to find you. And I looked for your mother as well. Actually, it was she I first tried to find. I had saved over half of every paycheck and had intended to give your mother all the financial support which she should have had. But…" Piper began crying. Flying Raven reached over and took his hand.
"She died, not knowing." Iris finished the sentence. A multitude of thoughts, of memories of her mother working long hours, remembering how her mother went back to school and made something of herself and was a proud, single mother. Iris had been raised to harbor no ill feelings toward the handsome man who won her mother's heart briefly and who, as Iris' mother put it, 'gave her the gift of sunshine.' Iris had been her mother's pride and joy.
The room was so quiet Iris thought they could hear her breathing. Everyone waited for her to say something. "Piper, my mother was my joy. I hold no ill feelings toward you. I'm not ready to have a father. I've lived my life well without knowing if one even existed. Sometimes when I was a child, I imagined that my mother had slipped into the Realm of the Faerie and that my father might be of another world. That was a good belief then and may even be the best now. I'm happy that you have brought some joy to Flying Raven." Despite the seriousness of the moment, Raven even blushed. "But I must be honest. At this point in time, you're not my father. You are the handsome man in my dear coven sister's life."
Iris took Dolly's hand. "We must leave. I'll need some space and some time."
Everyone understood. The men shook hands. Iris and Flying Raven embraced. Iris did not move toward Piper. Instead, she looked about the room just before the newly-married couple departed. "Oh, my, tomorrow we celebrate the harvest. I did not expect it to include a father."
No one said a work, but everyone was aware that Iris had acknowledged the dark stranger as her father.
Later that night, Iris slept peacefully, yet in the morning, she was taken aback at remembering a vivid dream. In the dream, she was lounging upon the grass, leaning against Dark Star. A tiny baby was held in her arms, nursing, and nearby sat Piper, the dark stranger, singing them all a lullaby. This dream was not for telling. She kept it as a quiet secret to take to Lammas Eve. Let the Goddess interpret it, Iris though to herself.
XXXVIII—Of School and The Equinox
It was a beautiful, near-Autumn day. The sun was shining bright and warm and the students, although they were thrilled with their new school, had difficulty paying attention in their classes. The Equinox was this weekend, the first Sabbat for the Earthkin school. Trillium School had begun classes on the first Monday in September, the new Virgo Moon. The third week was coming to a close and the school was filled with energy. Deodar, the new principal, sat in the teachers' lounge talking to Pearl, the art and music teacher. Even though the new ethics class had only three students, the young folk were very adept and Dolly (as he was called among his friends) was finding this class a greater challenge than his seminary years. Pearl was capable of great insight which Dolly found reassuring. And yet, Pearl thought, there was something which was troubling the former Kristos clergyman. Since his embracing of his Renaissance Tribe beliefs and joining the coven, the dark man could not easily hide his feelings from his friends.
Arnica was meeting with a small group of students in Flying Raven's science room. Six students would be making a field trip to the herb gardens as part of their studies in natural sciences. Arnica and Holly loved sharing their gardens at the cabin. He had not planned on joining the faculty but as he worked with Raven he was drawn more and more into the botanical and herbal aspects of her science curriculum. Arnica was pleased to be involved. He liked walking to Merrydale with Holly. It was good having Flying Raven here in Merrydale. With her living in the Mothervalley it seemed there was never enough time together for the distance was so great. Now they would have the school year. Flying Raven would head east to her home for the holidays and summers. She had rented it out but kept the small studio behind the house so she could tend to her gardens and keep her hands in the Mothervalley's soil.
Dark Star, their Unicorn hatchling, was even happier. She loved going to school. The walks with Arnica and Holly were great fun. Some mornings she wished Arnica would teach every day. She missed Holly when he was gone. Yet going to school meant having to have Arnica's invisibility formula rubbed into her horn and she didn't always like that. Unicorns are proud of their horns and Dark Star was no exception. Granted, her horn was little more than four turns long and she thought lolling about in the courtyard with the young folk was great fun. But she understood that the life she shared with Arnica and Holly and the members of the coven would be forever changed—and not for the better—were the general public to realize that she was actually a unicorn and not a young, pretty pony. As the thought moved through her head she snorted at it, and rolled over in the sun.
All of the students were in classes. Amber was teaching an eleventh grade social studies class, relating the events of the past few years so that the students better understood how life in Merrydale was affected by the Changing Times and how social classes reacted and affected the balance of power in Parliament between the Conservers, the more liberal political group who found great support among the Earthkin and the 'other' faction, the Politicos, who favored business and economic growth even when it meant cutting down forests. Holly was sitting in the faculty office, grading the first tests he had given in the language skills classes. The school was a hive of learning.
Carlos was helping his wife Rosetta clean the school's kitchen. Carlos had never been so happy. Their son, Gino, was growing into a fine student since he had begun studying with Arnica and Holly's coven. The ninth grade curriculum suited him well and Gino's freckled face seemed always blessed with a smile.
"Carlos!" Rosetta acted startled and a bit horrified when he snuck up behind her to put his arms around her and hold her seductively. "We're in the school!" But she was pleased, and Carlos could tell. Rosetta had always been a bit shy and the many months he worked in the flour mills on the other side of the mountains in Mill City had been difficult for her.
"They're all in their classes," he whispered into her ear.
"Are you well?" Arnica was expressing concerns to Iris. "Dolly sent Shadow Tail over this morning to get some stamps for the school but when he came back, Shadow said that the post office had the 'temporarily closed' sign in the window. He's been a little troubled all day."
"Oh," Iris said, coloring slightly, "I didn't think anyone would notice. I should have known."
"Are you feeling alright?" asked Holly.
Iris looked away, gazing out the window. She was not quite comfortable with their questions. "Well, to be honest," she said, her fingers reaching up to fidget with her braid, "I made a quick dash for the back porch and tossed up my breakfast."
"Dear sister," both men said simultaneously…
"That's right," Iris joined in…"morning sickness."
They laughed as all three had chimed the last two words in perfect unison.
"Does Dolly know?" asked Holly.
"Not yet. I didn't even know until this morning," answered Iris. "I had a dream last Lammas about a baby but I thought it had to do with meeting my father. It wasn't until this morning's near disaster that I realized that I had not cycled in the past two months. You know me, I've always been physically strong, enjoyed hiking and never had much patience with pregnant women and their complaints."
In spite of himself, Arnica laughed.
"Now I am one," Iris jokingly wailed until the laughter took over. "Will Dolly be home soon? I had wanted him to be the first to know but my priests and brothers…Well, we've been friends for so long I guess it's fitting that you're here."
"He was in the school office talking to Shadow. I think Shadow Tail is going to become the school secretary." Shadow had begun studying herbal magick from Arnica.
"Dolly could use the help. There's a lot of paperwork involved in just the administrative aspects. It's how we spend most of our evenings." But not all, she thought to herself, thinking of the growing fetus in her belly. Iris blushed.
"Shadow's a good worker," Holly added. Holly had begun to think of Shadow Tail as a brother-in-spirit.
The men left to head back to the school and get the hatchling. The herbal potion on Dark Star's horn would soon be fading. Still warm from the circle of hugs the three had shared, Holly and Arnica agreed to avoid the school office. It would be best if there were no chance at all for Dolly's intuition to extend itself toward their secret.
"A Beltane baby." Iris had, by far, the best news to share for a personal harvest. The coven was sitting in the garden Circle, giving thanks to the Harvest Mother. This year the Harvest Mother was a maiden, in a manner of speaking. Dark Star took her role very seriously. She had shared long conversations with Holly in preparation for her first major role in a ritual, communicating thoughts with Holly through his crystal orb. "In just the past two days I have come to realize that I've wanted to bring a baby into the world more than I had told myself. And now I have the man in my life who planted the seed." Iris tossed a handful of borage blossoms into the silver bowl and looked to her left. Dark Star, as was her right as the Goddess, scooped them up with her tongue and ate them as quietly as she could.
Deodar was speechless. He'd been attending the coven's Circles for just two and a half years at this very Sabbat but sometimes the candor of the Earthkin caught him off guard. Dolly took a slow, deep breath, feeling the earth beneath him. He drew up strength and calm into his being and let his spirit speak for him. "Last year at Autumn I was a single man, struggling to maintain balance in my life as a Kristos minister. I resigned my position, no longer able to believe that I could accomplish the work before me in the Church of the Martyr. Since then I have been blessed as the principal of the new Earthkin Trillium School. And I live with joy now that Iris and I have been Handfast. And…" Dolly blushed, visible even in the twilight, "I'm to be a father." Dolly tossed a handful of deep red snapdragon blooms into the bowl. They didn't last long.
Gino was sitting deosil to his favorite teacher. School teacher that is. Pearl was Gino's favorite teacher of the coven's magick. "Well," the lad began, "last year I didn't have a school to go to." When the Users pushed through legislation requiring an oath of allegiance to the Kristos god in every school, Rosetta transformed from a quiet, shy mother into a strong-willed woman. She withdrew Gino and he was home-tutored by Pearl. "This Autumn harvest has brought me a school where I can go and be proud of the magick I'm learning. I can be myself. My mom is the cook and my dad works there too. All of you, all of my friends are involved. I'm just really happy. And Dark Star, you're my best friend!" And rather than flower blossoms like the adults, Gino slipped two borage-mint cookies into the bowl. Dark Star whinnied gently in pleasure and the adults acted as if they hadn't noticed, allowing Dark Star and Gino to share their moment.
Pearl's harvest blessing was simple. "Teaching art and music at Trillium School is like a dream come true," and she tossed a whole handful of borage blooms into the basin. The hatchling turned her head and looked toward the Pictish woman. How did she hide so many fresh blossoms in the pocket of her ritual robe? Dark Star was sometimes quite amazed at the creative minds of her human friends.
"Well, I guess my blessing is living here, now," offered Shadow Tail. Shadow didn't like speaking in public, even in a group like this. "I'm a little new, but I'm pleased to do the office work at the school and happy to be studying with Arnica." Shadow's offering to the 'Harvest Mother' was more borage but also a couple of late rose buds and one strawberry, perhaps the last of the season!
"I'm happy to be here." Flying Raven had been a solitary back in the Mothervalley. "I miss my home and my gardens. And yet, although we are taught that astral connections are such a blessing in life, being here with you and having 'real hugs' is the greatest. I love my students. It's good, here." Flying Raven brought forth a small paper packet. "Look," she said holding it up to the hatchling as she opened it…"Candied borage buds." Dark Star's eyes opened so wide. This dear woman surely knew the way to a uni-filly's heart!
Jewel and Lotus expressed their harvest blessings at having found a house to buy and having an occasional baby-sitter. Dagon was four and, despite his magickal heritage and trip into the Realm of the Faery with Dark Star when little more than a year old, he was growing into a child and ritual left him restless. Arnica and Holly both mentioned Trillium School as their blessing. They were pleased that their Circle had grown. It seemed full and complete.
As the ritual things were gathered from the garden Circle and hugs exchanged, when Holly embraced Jewel, something felt just a bit amiss. He couldn't put his finger on it. Lotus, one of the best wood carvers in the region, was fine. Later that night Holly intended to ask Arnica if he had noticed anything, but a long day's work dropped them both quickly asleep. Dark Star slept at the foot of the bed on Autumn Eve and as they slept, the Wheel turned again.
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