Previously in Havens Salvation

Betty is startled at how well her family fits in to the eclectic society of haven. She is delighted to find that one of the benefits of the protectors position is that her family gets a body guard in a wolf ware named James who was the previous protectors body guard.

Betty expecting a peaceful journey into the astral dimension is surprised to be deposited in an ancient past life battle to protect her families village from Roman tax collectors who were set to kill her parents and sister. Yanked out of that situation Betty is informed by the spirits of Ann and Maggie she was being tested to find if she could remember how to do the physical job of protecting Haven. This answered Betty is taken to the Ancient tower of Oaths where her taking the responsibility as the protector of haven is rejected by the Morrigan. They believe Betty not strong enough or women enough to do the job. The Morrigan allows for a test period until All Hallowed Eve its pass or fail. Fail she must quit her new home and move on.

Presently The next morning.

Betty

“Ma, Ma are you OK”

The sweet voice filtered through to my mother reflex triggering my guilty response. I tried to say

“What the Devil is wrong? Are you kids ok?.”

It came out

“whathe Devoiong reou kidok”

I was trying to say this half asleep while my face was being licked by a large, warm, stinky, wet, dog's tongue. I sat up sputtering from the slobber assault. When I got untangled from my bed clothing I was greeted by three smiling faces, two children and a over sized wolf took great humor to my sputtering sound effects.

“ Where is the fire? why the five alarm hustle awake about “

“ It's 9 am, wake up time, mom , we need to eat” sang Anna pulling on my right arm.

“Me is starving” chirped Crystal pulling my left leg.

“We want to go to school.” the two voices chimed as the wolf made strange almost talking sounds.

That got me smiling “you want to go to school what's with that? School is something my children run from; who are you people? what have you done with my kids?”

Grabbing Anna and pulling her into my bed and ruffling her hair, my next assault involved smooching her around her neck and face.

“Tell me where my kids are or I will kiss you to death.”

There was a knock at the front door of our rooms hustling me out to the door . Thank heavens I was still dressed from yesterday. Opening the door I was greeted by Cleo, Bob’s wife, smiling at me. I blinked and squinted at the morning sun in my face.

“Hi ya, Betty would you want me to take the kids over to their play date? I am heading there now and because we will be serving breakfast, if they are ready and dressed they can go now.?“

Turning to look at my two I was really surprised to find them ready for the day. Dressed, face washed, packs ready to go. Cleo was such a sweet women with a thick Louisianian accent but her parents are Japanese and Polynesian,

“It would appear Cleo that my little's are ready to play for the day. This is a big help, Thank you; let me know when you need a favor.”

“ Bob told me that you needed a day to sleep in with all the excitement going on since you have come here. “

From behind the door jamb Cleo handed me a hidden insulated cubic bag.

“So my dearest also sent this over; a treat for you to nosh on until you are ready to face the day.”

“ The two of you are wonderful thank both of you a lot. Come on my little's ,time to hustle of to making your selves smarter.”

This was their second day being citizens of Haven. After I secured the door I turned to the wolf who had a sour look in his deep brown eyes.

“So what do you have to say for your self Sir lick-um lot.”

The transformation which unwound before me was beyond description. One moment there was huge wolf then a cloud of motion from which the fully clothed man I recognized appeared from. James was making faces like he had a bad taste in his mouth.

“My god woman, what did ye smear on your face last night, it tastes horrid. I was thinking keeping the dog imitation would be good but I never thought your face would taste so bad”

“ Sorry, James, I gasped out between giggles, It was just Oil of Old Lady as my kids called it.,I had no Idea you would be doing that.”

“ Just say I was in the moment when I did that.” James ripost.

“ Well Mr Moment let’s chow down or as you may put it Tuck in to this lovely breakfast, that should cut the taste in your mouth.

Betty

I started by talking to James about the fight with the Romans I relived last night explaining what I saw and remembered about how the officers were dressed, the colors of their banners and their standards.

“James, it is so eery in how much I remember from the conflict. The smell of blood, sweat and leather sticks in my mind. Even the look on the officer’s face when I pulled his head off with the pole Ax. “

“Bets from what ye are telling me that would be the 9th legion before its demise. It was common practice for taxes to be collected by force. If there was nay any tribute the normal manner would be to kill a high level family or three to make a point. Pay Rome one way or other. With Ye family living in that coastal region the Romans would be hot to control that area.
Ye are taking having lived before as an easy reality for ye to accept. Betty, how's that?”

“I have too much knowledge and experiences to just have lived a single life. My mother use to tell me that I would start talking in German, or Lakota in my sleep. The best was when I was six there was no kids in our development who could best me in stick sword fighting. Even kids a lot older than me would give up after the first two exchanges. I was too fast and too good. The next door neighbor was a Sensei in several martial arts.

One day he after he witnessed me destroying three Jr high kids, Master Kwan challenged me to a wooden sword fight. He was 42 I was 12; yes I lost but not by much. Master Kwan told me that he had never seen a person as natural with a blade as I was."

"Maggie told me ye be very good with a bow as well.

"Yah, scary good, it is unnatural. I only needed to build up the muscles just a bit and I became nicknamed Dead Eye. After doing something stupid as a prank where some one almost got hurt I stopped everything thinking there was no place in this world for sword and bow”

“Maggie told me that ye spoke old Gaelic as natural as a native.”

“Yah, that helped me in my study of spell work. One of the Grimoires that Maggie gifted me with, was an ancient one and well used. The opening pages were worn so much the vellum had patches worn through so the name of the writer was obscured enough to be unreadable.”

Betty

“ I have some bigger information I need to start talking about. I am a bit dull from last nights festivities but the Basic news is the Morrigan has taken interest in my involvement with this project.
From their tone they question my “claim “ to being a woman, and my ability to do this job successfully. Betty and Ann swung the deal that to pass the test between now and Souween I must live up to the job, including caring for the children; holding my values of honesty and fairness. If not I must move on and according to the Morrigan no harm no foul. But she added two other things the first I am drawing a blank on the second she refereed to me as her apprentice,? How a force of nature can have an apprentice is something I am concerned just how I am going to find out.?”

“ This will take some careful telling so I get the facts right and my mind is a bit dull from the evening’s festivities so let's us chew this bone this evening early; I need to do some moon gathering work. This energy is tricky to work with. So to stay on track for my appointment with the full of the moon, I need to mind my Ps and Qs."

James

I needed to find out more detail just what happened last night when she traveled to the Tower of Oaths . The details are important especially with some thing like the Morrigan. Appearance can be deceiving but I know many of its faces from the lovely women to the raven pecking out eyes after a battle. I heard Betty say that when the being departed she spoke of Betty being her Apprentice. I need to inquire of the Morrigan just what is the real meaning of that nuance . I have a feeling that they are not objecting to Betty assuming the protector station because of Betty's lacking but to push Betty to her highest game. This puts the stakes higher than Ann or I ever expected. For the Morrigan to have a personal investment by involving them selves in this game. It would appear our opponents are more determined to destroy what we have accomplished here, than what we predicted.

After the full moon this month I will need to get my lady Betty into training with steel in hand. She has the advantage when dealing in the world of bureaucracy , but my specialty is a little more traditional and to the point. My job at this moment is to do some foot work running down information so I bid Betty a good day and ported back to our room to get started.

Betty

I didn't have the time I needed to bring James up to speed with what happened to me physically because of last night. One of the changes I noticed was my memory was far sharper than before. I can recall most of the entire conversations with the Morrigan. That is something I can't make a mistake with that could cost me my very existence.

The second was my back no longer hurt at all, but my stomach did. No way does that hurt as much as my back did. It was more like I have been on a roller coaster ride, type of discomfort. There was something in the back of my mind that I could not remember. I could remember everything else about last night why not this?

Betty

I was doing some cleanup house work. The type I like to do when I am not sharp enough to do much brain work. I put some music on my boom box MP3 player and set to it. The first song that came up on the shuffle was a old Cat Stevens song, Morning has Broken. I just had to sing along. I can't carry a tune in a bucket but while the vacuum is running, even a love sick hound dog can sound like Caruso.

I am a little more weepy than usual but a happy weepy not morose. The beauty of this song fit like a theme song for this period of my life. It is funny that when ever a major change in my life is about to or is occurring a theme in the music that goes into heavy rotation on the radio or will show up more than odds would put it in a shuffle. When my first lover split to parts unknowable it was Hit the road Jack, Fifty ways to leave your lover, Leaving on a jet Plane you get the drift. Enough of this I had a whole lot to clean and a short time to get it done. Time for some Santana!!

I was buzzing around cleaning and straightening up and actually enjoying my freedom of movement. When something major like your back is giving you grief it cuts down your range of action making you hesitate in what you are doing. This freedom even if it is temporary is wonderful. I finished with making the beds and cleaning the bathroom. I took a nice hot shower cleaning off my work out sweat; washed my hair and now to make my self ready for the world at large.

I had shifted my play list to cool jazz to preserve my scalp and got to work trying to repair the thirty plus years of living since I in my twenties. After clearing the room the mirror and my mind of the fog I set to work on the hair and my morning go to meet the world makeup.

As I brushed out my hair I was again noticing that not only my back moved with ease but my right shoulder as well. I had injured that about ten years ago doing something stupid with the Anna. Some joint rust had settled into it and it made brushing my hair a bit tedious. That was no longer bothering me either. I was on top of the world humming and singing to my self when the mirror cleared of even the residue fog.

Any woman over thirty has become use to seeing a Dorian Gray version of their mother developing in the mirror as they get older. I was no different from my cis sisters. I was just a little less refined than my mother Mary, but you still could tell I was her girl. When I took a good look this morning I nearly fainted dead away. Gone was my jowly look was gone and most of my deep wrinkles. Gone were the odd sun spots in my hair line even. The biggest scare of all gone was my slightly heavier brow line and my squarer jaw that I was used to seeing.
Before my eyes I saw my aunt White Fawn. She had been the classic First people princess before the bottle and TB sent her to an early grave. I was shocked to see her not my plainer mother’s face but at forty not my fifty nine. WTF!!!!!!

I completed my far less strenuous morning preparations finished getting dressed and headed for the Dragon Diner to see Marge to find out had I lost my damn fool mind. First my back and shoulder healing spontaneously, now losing nearly two decades of wear and tear on my face.! Something was afoot here and it wasn't because of the water.

Marge

When Betty came in it was about ten in the morning and I was beginning to wonder if she was a bit under the weather from what ever happened last night. James was nowhere to be found, and the ripple of energy which swapped through here locally about one in the morning rocked me awake and left my stomach upset.

What stood in front of me was recognizably Betty but could really be her better looking twin sister. So many things from how she moved to how energetic she expressed her self was different. When I got to her with her cup of coffee she frantically told me “ We need to talk.” I had some people to serve and she was writing furiously in her journal so I gave her her mug of java and tended the trade's people who came in for early business lunches and contractor meetings.

Betty

When Marge could take her break when Mia came in she quietly sat down across from me and gave me a good once over.

“So Betty, is there something you would like to tell me, like what happened last night about one am.”

So I did, from the battle with the Romans, to the tower of Oaths. When I got to the diatribe with the Morrigan I just gave her my journal to read rather than risk someone over hearing.

“Betty, you sure do live an interesting life. Ann had some traffic with this one and it was tricky, very touchy, and formal. James may be able to fill you in more than I can but I see he is not here.”

“ He is off chasing something down to help decipher this situation. It was such a hoot this morning James is imitating the family wolf to ease the kids into this larger world. So to stay in the character he licked my face this morning getting a tongue full of face cream.”

“I always thought James had a playful side to him but working for Ann it just wasn't right to come out. I think You are good for him, Betty. We mortals have an advantage that we have separate lives to break up our existence, where we can forget between them what we did or what we need to forget. James can't forget, his memory of his creation is as sharp as his memory of yesterday. Ill bet that he is a real softy with your kids. It let's him have something he never had before, a childhood”

“I don't know Marge who is having more fun the kids or James, my bet is on James.”

Louise and I met at the town ship building after my coffee with Marge. She gave me a double take before she ushers me into her office. First words

Spill it, lady Are you feeling Ok? What happened to you ? did this happen last night ? Who likes you so much,? I have never seen an age regression happen so fast are you feeling Ok?.”

“Wow Louise calm down a bit, in order. Yes I feel great, what happened will take some explanation , yes it happened ,last night, I do not know who did this yet, and Yes I am feeling Ok. “

“I am trying to put things together from last night it would appear that I has put up by Ann's and Maggie's spirit forms for the job of replacement protector of Haven and some Goddess objected saying that I did not know how to physically fight, and that I was not women enough.”

“Who objected ?”

“The Morrigan”

“Oh shit.”

“Ann and Maggie are the ones choosing you for the job; what stake does that have in our fight.?”
“I hope you don't think I am out of line, Betty, but I am happy to have you on our team.
We could be stuck with far worse.”

“ You’re not stuck yet I still need to pass her test if. I don't I must clear out. There will be no court thus no mercy.. It's my make it or break it time. From now until all Hallows Eve when I get graded on my child herding, home keeping, friend making, town saving, and the odd demon banishing. “

Louise looked at me with a well duh look on her face.

“Any performance anxiety, Betty. ?” But understand, all of us will help you make this situation work. Like James told you, it's a team effort around here. You need to realize, kid, we are here to back you up, that may be the hardest lesson for you to learn. Here you have family and a team to trust with your back. The Morrigan may be a mean mother but she respects discipline and wise use of your resources. If we expect you to protect us from the things that go bump in the night by the Goddess Gaia we have your back. Your not used to that, are you ?”

“No, in my many community efforts, when I was trying to save people’s homes, or what ever. There would be someone who would always take the 40 talents of silver selling everyone else out. I always had to run my own security and find out who would do this before they could do any damage. ”

Louise looked me in the eyes “ Honey, we are not that way here, you are a rare treasure, myself, Bob, Marge, The township council all see it. You’re passing this test is all in our interests. I bet James is out doing his thing right now securing his part of the bargain.
You’re shook up right now; any sane person would be. But we are a community of healers, seers, readers, and learned of the larger world. You fit right in as the catalyst to pull all of us crazy people back together as a team. You're our quarterback, the rest of us are your linesmen. “

Please leave your comments as to how I can improve your enjoyment of this story. Misha Nova