Previously in Havens Salvation

Having learned just what the Morrigan plans are for Betty James takes time to sup with his patron Goddess rekindling there relationship.

Betty runs where angels fear to tread. She starts to successfully repair the barrier protecting Haven while discovering that it is an intelligence in and of its self. The effort leaves Betty spent and unable to work until Thursday when sh got on with her Job as the new township manager. Searching for the papers necessary to save Havens incorporation Betty finds another mystery from Havens past. Two boxes from the American war department from WW2 and the Cold war respectively. These boxes as interesting as they are need to wait until the charter is safe.

James

Ye can be sure that after me meeting with the Morrigan I had a lot to ponder. When your patron has three distinct personalities, things can become a mite bit confusing.
Melissa contacted me at my Keep to inform me of what was happening with Betty and the township. All that news was good and after my parley with Morrigan I understood better what her tactic was attempting to do. I will not tell Betty the details of my privileged conversation with me benefactress. But Betty is nay slow in any sense. So she has already concluded that the challenge was more motivator as a to put a fire under her. Mel informed me that she was fine with me taking some time off to see to me Keeps construction. Me time in the service of Rome taught me a lot about how things should be built for them to last. And having Morgan’s help moved plans along smartly.

One of my remodeling decisions was to rebuild the Curtain wall surrounding the main tower that comprised my home. I was reconstructing the wall in the French round manner rather than the rectangular old manner. The second one proved easily demolished by siege machinery. Why am I doing all this work in building a stone strong hold in this modern day.?
Modern military methods nay work in this part of Scotland. That is one of the reasons the government leaves me and mine alone. They are nay any longer equipped to fight me kind of war. The area me keep is in is physically and magically imbued with protection rendering it hard to find and even harder to attack. And with the chambers below I was able to gain some favors in additional wardings. So with out the use of modern machines of war all that's left is the old way on foot and by breaching me walls. And that be a skill few if any one besides my order knows how to do. This location is governed by the Phantom Queen and nay amount of yelling and screaming is gonna buy the fare it would take to reach here. Morrigan cares not for wealth.

We also needed a real Castle to shoot our movies around and in. It is that which helps pay the honest brass we be needing to function in the realm. of the norms. Our physical needs must be provided for,our buildings maintained and our employes paid. That's how things work.
I be satisfied with me keeps progress time to be heading back to the Norms world in Haven. I be missing the kids and Betty never thought I would be a family wolf.

We survive by being invisibly woven into this world fabric. We survive by being the unseen.

Betty

It has been a week since my work out. I have recovered physically so tonight I am using the last quarter of the moon to thank the goddess for her aid and blessings. Showing gratitude, and being thankful is as powerful as the act its self. It is the return blessings keeping the energy paths open. When a first people hunter is successful in the hunt they leave a small offering and a prayer to both the animal who gave there life, and one in gratitude to Grandfather Great Spirit blessing an arrow to fly true allowing those who eat to live. We are not separate from our world

I am thankful for the help saving my efforts and the town’s safety, and my prayer was answered . It was a humbling experience those three nights to be on the firing line doing my work yet going unnoticed. Yes I payed for it for a couple of days but that's chump change for what I was able to do. The next two cycles will be harder in some ways but easier in others. If I can get past the next moon cycle in September without the opposition knowing There is someone holding things together, I stand a chance of accomplishing the repair on Suwanee.

All and all today, we are OK, James got back last night looking refreshed and the kids were happy there doggie came home. Seeing the kids cuddle with there wolf made me grateful for everything that has happened during the last two weeks I was able to find the best place for me to house my family. A place where I can make a real difference, and we as a family, are welcomed and wanted here. I was able to stop two direct attacks on this township and pull the barrier out of its nose dive. Not bad for a nearly 50 + year old Hedge witch community organizer. a Rosy the handy woman I think we are going to make the goal the Morrigan set for us. Yes I am happy now, and tonight I need to share this with the goddess who helped make it possible.

Betty

The moon was in its last quarter but shown very brightly shedding more than enough silvery light to see my way. I was taking James for an off leash run. It was so funny and silly of James running around furry and on all four fleeting feet kicking up the early fall leaves. I picked up a clean stick and winged it out into the forest as far as I could get it to go. James that goof took off chasing it. He noisily crashed through the underbrush totally playing at chasing a stick.

The kids still haven't found out that James , is more than the family friendly wolf. That will happen when it happens. I am determined to allow them, as much of a chance, at there childhood while they are children. I hold there innocence precious for that reason. I will try to protect that innocence until it is there time.
That is the way of maturing, it is an orchestrated process. You must take each step when you are suppose to. First there is being a baby, then the toddler, then the child, at last step you become an adult.

Childhood is not an inconvenience, it is an essential part of the process of maturity You can not skip it or you will remain emotionally immature when you are physically an adult. You still must learn the steps you skipped as a child. But being an Adult it becomes much harder, it takes more time and the cost is nearly unfordable, sometimes fatally so.

Betty

The world around me was in a state of flux with the warm weather giving way to the cooler air of autumnal season as the earth got ready for winter, The thick smell of broken leaves becoming one with the heady mustiness of a living soil feasting on the newly set banquet. You could see by the waning moonlight the pale heads of the larger mushrooms silhouetted against the dark moist compost of the forest floor.

It was just warm enough today that the last of the insects rattled out a musical background which was soon to be calmed, becoming the sleepy silence of winter.. I gasped in the total inundation of my senses from what I was experiencing all at once. Every sense was being stimulated allowing me, the vision of beauty, the hearing of the fall music, the perfume of all, life was having one last blowout party. The caress of the mild moon and winds dancing through the pines, even the air had a flavor to it.

A shiver ran up my legs through my core, up and out my arms, hands, and my head. My sight shifted and I could see the inner glow of life shining in and around everything that surrounded me. All at once I was no longer limited to my skins boundaries, there became no separation between the world and myself, I no longer existed separately, as just me I had melded with the communal experience we of, life.

Moments later I padded bare footed and sky clad. Daintily and sure footed picking my way through the forest, my feet only finding the islands of soft moss under all of the forest debris. This immersion was exquisite like swimming through a familiar landscape that I only could walked through before.

Betty

I flowed into a clearing where the tall grasses shimmered with the evening dew appearing like small diamonds decorating any thing the dew could embrace. A mist rose from the warmer soil below and the surface of the pond of water to shift and shimmer in the glow of the moon.
A knotted cloud of very small flying bugs wove and banked together as if one intent moved them.. The fantasy image before me filled my soul with its dreaminess, as if this image was created by some cosmic illustrator just for me. Its ephemeral beauty struck me mute as I had no words that could do this vision justice, so remained silent with my mouth agape in awe.

Within a moment the bugs’ flight became a merry chase of one another in much smaller groups, they played tag weaving back and forward tracing intricate patterns in the mist like microscopic paint brushes sweeping the fog into corralled spaces all within their paths of flight.
The mists random divisions slowly started to gather into first an abstract form , that captured an ever increasing realistic image what appearing to be a woman's form. She was garbed in a gracefully flowing dress. Condensing and coalescence the garb was composed of many fine particles of broken leaves, sands and soils of many hues. The rest of her was formed from other bits and pieces contributions from nature.. Her skin was mushroom tan, her hair moss green, Not scary so but natural blended together in humanly familiarity like my friends and family.
There was an amused smile playing across her shimmering features.

“Having trouble believing your eyes child, is my form not pleasing. to your eyes? “

All I could do is numbly nod at the beautiful image before me.

“Yet you nod like a mute bobble head toy, your mind so adrift that Betty 'you of all people' can nay yet find words to speak to your true Mother.”

“My apologies I am dazed by your vision and the sound of your lovely voice. I can't think why you would choose plain me to show your self to.?”

“Betty your modesty is a virtue, but presently it's over done, making you appear a bit thick. I would say even as we chat I sense the ripeness swelling in your bosom. It is revealing your buried internal beauty for all to see .

“Rhiannon sends her blessings as is well pleased with your work of all of those I work with she is one of the hardest to please. rejoice in her favor and know you have done well.

The purpose for our visit is to convey, my husband’s and my gratefulness for the chances you took, and the labors you have accepted in our service, for that I bestow my thanks and my blessings. I hold this location in special appreciation as it is an Altar to returning bounty from being barren. The spirit within this land will serve those who live in harmony with the land.

So lavish it with love, my care taker, and it will care for you, and yours. You were the third to acknowledge the spirits special willingness to protect this land from harmful inundation, but as you noticed my spiritual allies require help to perform this duty, so they are thankful as well. The first people here were the first to form this bond, Ann was the second who refined this relationship, You are the third to retain it and heal it after neglect and assault, and bring it back to health.

Because the time rapidly closes upon your first epic test as the guardian of my garden. Your 'Act Now Time' is very finite . Leisure is a luxury, you need to ration, thus my council to you is tarry not.

This knowledge is my gift to you. Use it as you see fit. The pebbles on the hill have refusal to act or vote, so now they can be swept away. They have outlived my need of them. “.

With that she caressed my cheek and kissed me upon my forehead. I awoke the next morning in my bed still with leaf fragments and moss on my feet. This initiation is becoming really embarrassingly redundant, with others having to put me to bed.

The goddess’s last words played billiards in my mind as I laid snuggled under my covers. It rolled around until I was in the shower washing off when the water going down the drain sparked a cascade of thoughts resulting in some loud unladylike like laughter. I glimpsed a part of what the lady was hinting. My take on it will require some help from the kids. As Anna would say
“Ferb I know what we are going to do today.”

Betty

Sunday I was hiding in my office annex looking for the the township renewal paper work. Doing this I had stacked and re stacked the boxes hoping to find something in the shuffling of things around. I vacuumed then moved, sorted vacuumed, then stacked, vacuumed and searched. Then And I vacuumed some more.

The kids were with me to help but were distracted by the enormous space of the lower level. This gave them a place to run and play hide and go seek. After a while Crystal started to pick up things in the other offices cleaning them up then Anna started to run the vacuum cleaner.
Louise came in looking surprised.

“You know you do get the weekends off”

“Not until I find those papers, I don't That is my number one priority right now”.

A giggling sound behind us caused the two of us to look up to see Crystal wearing the coat of the animal control officer holding Anna under a long handled net. In a very authoritarian voice Crystal spoke out while Anna did a cat imitation.

“Ms. Township manager Ms Mayor I found that noise you were worried about.”

Louise and I busted down laughing,

“Do all kids do this My two were always stealing Jacks net and doing that.”

Betty

Crystal pulled one of the rolling office chairs out from under a desk I was using then carefully sat on a couple of document boxes to bring her up to the desk height. She was drawing on the back of some 11 X 14 used paper drawing a picture of her perfect home including the slide into the bathtub from her bedroom, the whole wall TV screen, her rubber room for when she was in the mood to bounce around and her walk in refrigerator for her snacks.

When she was finished she proudly was showing Louise her perfect house when I happened to look up and noticed what was on the front of the paper. It was the work sheet Mike had devised, to help him fill out the town ship charter renewal. I turned to look where Crystal was sitting and there on top of the pile she was using to boost herself up was a dusty box which I could make out through the freshly thinned dust wiped off by Crystal’s jeans

“Crystal my doll you have a intelligent butt.”

“What mama, I didn't say anything.”

“I know honey It's just your butt found the papers we were looking for sweet heart.”

Louise turned and when her eyes fell on the desk she whispered

“That was Mike's old desk how did it get in here, that was in his living room yesterday. ? “

“I guess Mike wanted to lend a hand because I do not remember seeing this desk in here on Friday.”

Opening the box I found the contents slightly ruffled from Crystal searching for big paper. Near the top was a note be sure to ask Louise what the current residence count was. The hand writing was a little shaky. Louise looked at the date on the note and softly gasped

“This is the day Mike died at his desk in his living room. I was so shocked finding him I forgot I came to pick up these papers.”

“Looks like Mike is still on the Job, Louise, he must have been a good man.”

“ Yes yes he was. “

Looking up to the ceiling talking to no one in particular Louise gave a mouthed only prayer,

“Thank You Mike where ever you are.”

Betty

After we composed our selves a bit Louise treated every one to a Ginger Ale from her private stock. We were joking about Crystals house when Louise got a wry smile on her face. Looking at Crystal and Anna who also produced a house of her own, Louise told them

"In fact my fair ladies, you two just reminded me of something I wanted to show all of you. Come with me I think you will like this.”

Louise

I explained as I took Betty and the kids through a second unlocked hidden door down from her office then down a set of steps to the same level that connects to the Emergency Center. Along the way I told them what My husband does for a living.

“Clifford does hotel renovations from simple spruce ups to, full tear outs and rebuilds. He is also payed to dispose of the debris of construction. This includes the old furniture and fixtures. He sells some and uses some in fixing up other hotels. He especially has an eye out for things he likes for use at our other locations . My brother runs one in Bellingham , his two son's run the first in Leavenworth the other in Wenachie both of them on the other side of Stevens Pass so the east dry side of the mountains. But he saves the very best for here, “

I had brought Betty and family to a group of rooms meant to be a home away from home, in case of us needed to use the command center.

“This one is meant to be for the town ship big wig manager.”

Tapping a code on an key pad next to the door it opened. and the lights came on in the entry way and the living room. Betty gasped.

“ OMG this place looks like something from the life styles of the rich and famous. how come so nice the Feds didn't build it like this .”

“ No not hardly Betty, the space was meant for the mayor of Seattle so it was fair for a government install. But a couple of years ago a Hilton rehabbed several of their penthouse suites and paid my Cliff to take this used stuff away. He installed it here just in case someone like our new township manager needs a place to call there own. This is one of his pet projects and he has been scarfing up stuff for years. Bits of tile from here, a stone counter top from there, a free scratched restaurant stove from a friend to pay for towing his car home; things like that.

He works all spring and summer having most of the fall and all of the winter off from that work. He is right now doing some work on our fourth property that my sister will manage in Skyhomish just up from Index. It’s a B and B and with all the summer and winter traffic on highway 2 going to Stevens pass it should be a real hit”

Betty

If I hadn't seen our suite first but was showed this place I would have died from the shock. I am by nature am a frugal person but when I can buy quality I do so. This place was over the top beautiful like right off of a House Beautiful cover story. But things looked sturdy and solid. There were solid glass bomb shelter skylights in the ceiling six feet or more thick with indirect lighting rimming the edges. Betty showed me the rest of the house and I followed her like a zombie. The master bedroom was totally everything I loved but never could afford. From the canopied bed to the vermilion red dresser. I had my own master bath, with built in spa
And there were two rooms for the kids that needed a little finishing work. The girls went gaga over as they could do some personalizing. They shared a large bathroom with two sinks. There was even a guest room, sewing, craft center. The kitchen looked like a set from a PBS cooking show. Still it was practically laid out for real work not show. There was a huge pantry and a restaurant size freezer, and refrigerator. There was a much smaller refrigerator for produce under the kitchen prep counter.

“ Have I died and gone to heaven? I can't afford this palace. I still Love it but How much does it cost”

“For you Betty the home and groceries are a part of your compensation package. We don't pay squat because there is a limited source of income for the township but I will not have you living hungry, naked and smelly in this house because you can't afford to buy necessities.”

“Then Louise you can call me Betty Rubble and charge admission.”

Sam

This day has been longer than I thought and I found myself drifting off at the wheel. Lake Stevens was ahead and I needed to rest. It was Labor day weekend, and the last of the tourist season so the campgrounds were nearly filled with some of the local color, that being red neck. I know a lot about this unique minority of American hell my father and grandfather are, and so was all of the family. There are some things we share common ground on, but they are way too reckless and cocky for my taste. They tend to over use liquid courage, which leads to under use of common sense, inhibiting their self preservation.

So I have learned to steer clear so I didn't get into trouble. But every so often I do break my own rules. My first mistake was when getting some more ice I picked up two six packs of Molson Beer. My second was having a couple, three beers then not keeping to my self but wandering around stopping at the Sandwich shop across the street from the camp grounds. I was enjoying my sub and fries out on the deck when I was joined by some loud construction workers looking over a drawing with pictures on it. They were talking about a prank they wanted to pull by removing a big rock out of a friends back yard.

There Idea was to use a big block of the military explosive C4 to do this in the middle of the night. When the figure of four pounds was bandied about I just shivered. The alpha Red Neck saw me, not knowing who I was, he made a snarky comment to me.,

“What’s wrong with a little joke man?”

“Nothing but if you kill the family it is no longer a joke now is it.?”

“So what do you know about explosives?”

“A lot I was in demo for 6 years in Iraq and Afghanistan. That much C4 will shatter that rock and blast the house right off its foundation with the shrapnel from the crusted stone. You will have a kill zone of about 60 to 70 feet in diameter depending how the rock shatters.”

“How would you move the rock gently my fine expert.”

“Let me see your drawing.”

Looking it over I saw a simple answer

“Place about 6 to 7 ounces of Tovex here on the lower side of the slope. By where you place it the stone will roll to the right or left just make sure there is nothing in the way below the rock.”

“Sounds like you have done this before”

“Yep. We used Tovex and rolled a rock a little bigger than this down onto the entrance of a war lords armory to keep him from using it. We didn't want to set the vol ital stuff off , we just had sealed the mouth of the cave. It was like bowling with a two hundred ton bowling ball.

“Ok tell me smart ass whats the difference between C4 and Tovex,”

“10 to 20 years in Leavenworth versus probable going Scott free. C4 has a lot of yield and it is tightly Federally controlled and tracked. It is easy to trace and it is tagged for ID, but Tovex is a common construction explosive and you can get it in a number of places cheep. It has a lot of concussion force to just push, or shatter in place a rock. If used properly it will not throw a deadly cone around it.

I did the C4 rout once my self when I took out a Taliban unit of about 65 camping in a depression among some rocks. I did not want to hurt the innocent village just 20 yards away. No body left that crater alive,. No one in the village was hurt, except a few broken windows.”

“What the hell did they do to you to piss you off.”

“They hit my Cheetah with an IED killing my squad but not me. That's the last mistake they ever made, they didn't get me.”

“Well what’s your name”

“My Field handle is Sand mam. Oh by the way I used only 1 lb of C4 for that job, it's not how much you use, it's how you use what you have”.

Oh.!!!