The banging slowed and then ceased.
There was a last big wind gust and then just a twirling breeze in the middle of the yard, lifting dirt and dust toward the sky. I stalked across the yard and as I approached, said, “Torin? Torin, are you okay?”
He groaned and his fingers shifted.
I knelt beside him. “Do you need a hospital? I can call the ambulance.”
He weakly said, “Nae, I daena.”
He rolled over onto this back with a moan. “Och nae, Mistress Lexi, how did it come that I am here again?”
I sat down crosslegged beside him. “I have no idea, I don’t understand how it works.”
“Och, tis so bright.” He put his good arm over his eyes. “I am payin’ a price for m’hubris, tis a tool of God, and I hae tried tae use it tae my own ends. I am being cursed for it, the eagle is eatin’ m’liver, Mistress Lexi, I hae become like Prometheus.”
“But you haven’t used it for your own ends, you’re here accidentally.”
He lowered the arm and looked up at me intently. “Accident or nae, tis against His will, I am trying tae return home, yet I amfoiled from every direction. And I daena ken how tae do what must be done.”
“We just have to figure it out. What is the purpose of it, what is it… why did your friend want it?”
“He was worried about his family, he needed it tae rescue them.”
“So he’s stuck too, without it, and you’re stuck with it, and his family is… what is happening with his family?”
“They are royal, there is a usurper stealin’ their throne.”
“Damn, I thought you were going to say something normal like, they got lost on a hike.”
“Nae, tis about bloodlines and kings. Tis dire. Max must be verra concerned and I hae sworn?—”
“To protect him, yeah, but hemightthink you have deserted him.”
“Och nae, he might believe it, but I think I hae proven my loyalty through the years. It would be difficult though tae understand how I left and haena returned.”
“I just wish there was an instruction manual for it. Did you ever think there were directions? Maybe you can find them?”
He pulled the vessel close, sat up, and stuffed it in the round leather bag hanging at the front of his kilt. “I daena ken if anyone on earth kens how tae work it.”
“Except you and you can’t do it well. But you learned the other night that there are at least two.”
“Aye, I suppose there is a chance someone else kens how tae use them.”
“You just have to find them and ask.”
He nodded, rubbing his forehead. “Aye, until then I must accept havin’ m’liver pecked by the eagle.”
I exhaled. “When was the last time you had a big meal, Torin? I’m planning a nice dinner tonight. Cooper… my, um… boyfriend is coming home, so I’m making his favorite meal.”
“I wouldna want tae interfere with y?—”
“Nope, that’s unnecessary, Jen will be there, and I invited a couple of other people too. It’s a dinner party. And you can stay in the back-shack as long as you need while you figure this all out. I’ll explain it to Cooper, he’ll understand.”
“Ye are certain? I wouldna want tae cause ye trouble.”
“No trouble at all, first, I need to go to the store for a bit more pasta, maybe a pound more of hamburger, you look like you get hungry.”
“I am verra hungry.”
