Chapter Sixty One
“Knock knock,” Aralyn said softly from the doorway. A half-asleep Natala was with her, carrying a tray of coffees.
Natala hadn’t been thrilled by the early phone call but willing got up and came along when her cousins asked. By the time they had a light breakfast, a lecture from Brian to Aralyn, and picked up coffee, pastries and flowers, it wasn’t so early anymore.
Honey and Luke looked up from where they were half asleep in their chairs. Tiffany was asleep in the hospital bed, machines beeping softly.
Honey smiled and got to her feet, hugging Aralyn fiercely once Aralyn set the bouquet of flowers down.
“Thank you, darling,” she whispered. “Thank you so much for bringing my little girl home. I knew once you were home, we’d get her back.”
Aralyn hugged her second mother tightly, guilty tears poking at her eyes. “You know I’d do anything for her. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here sooner, and that I wasn’t here at all.”
Luke embraced her next, crushing his second daughter in his powerful arms. “That was damn foolish, kid, but since it turned out all right, I ain't gonna lecture you. I figure Bo’s already done that and Trixie probably took the biggest piece out of you too.”
Aralyn gave him a wry smile. “So did Daisy, in her own way, and Dan. And Tim. And Nat. And Logan, Mabon, Dana and Jesse. Grandpa Peter and Moms. Oh, and Regan. And I’m pretty sure Grandpa Matt will want his turn too.”
“I’ll handle my father,” Honey promised, smoothing the wild, faded blue curls. “It’s the least I can do.”
Aralyn shook her head. “I deserve it, Honey. I owe you and Luke a huge apology. If I hadn’t taken off like I did, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Aralyn, you don’t know that,” Honey chided her gently.
“I do, Honey. I would have been with her, and there’s no way he could have taken us both out.”
Luke stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders. “Aralyn, I saw the security video footage. He came from behind and Tiffany never heard him. Now you might have faster reflexes, but you ain’t got super hearin’. He likely would have grabbed both of you, and we very well might not be standin’ here with you two safe and sound.”
The tears threatened to spill over from Aralyn’s eyes. “I just feel responsible.”
“You’re not,” Tiffany said weakly from the bed. “But if you don’t give me one of those coffees, I won’t be responsible for what I do next.”
Aralyn’s tears fell as she dashed to her cousin, hugging her as tightly as she could without disrupting the IV in her hand.
“Coffee, Blondie, give me coffee,” Tiffany murmured, wiping her own tears away with her other hand.
“We brought some for everyone,” Natala handed them out. “And pastries.”
“We’ll give you some girls some time to catch up,” Honey smiled happily. “It’s so good to have you three together again.”
She and Luke stepped out of the room, leaving the cousins alone.
“How are you, really?” Aralyn demanded, pulling a chair up next to her cousin’s bed.
“Sore. Still a little chilled but it’s probably psychological.” Tiffany sipped her drink. “This helps. The IV is just for hydration, my foot is wrapped up for the sprain, and I’m rather comfy under all the blankets.”
“You guys want me to step out?” Nat offered. “I feel like I’m intruding.”
Tiffany shook her head as Aralyn handed her a bear claw, Tiffany’s favorite. “No, Nat. You’re one of us. You belong here. I’m too worn out to chew her out, and it doesn’t look like she has much rear left to chew anyway.”
Aralyn chuckled. “I’m pretty sure they saved some for you. I’m so sorry, Tiff.” Tears threatened her eyes again.
Tiffany nodded. “What’s done is done, Ari. You found me. I can’t really be angry with you anymore after that. Besides,” she said softly, “I promised myself I’d forgive you for leaving if I could see you again.”
The tears slid from Aralyn’s eyes and down her cheeks. “I should have been here.”
“You should have been,” Tiffany agreed, nibbling on the bear claw. “But not for that reason. McQuade was hell bent on grabbing me. If you had been there, or Nat, he would have had all of us, and that was his original plan, anyway. All he cared about was getting revenge on Dad and Bo.”
“Well, joke’s on him, cuz,” Aralyn smiled as she wiped her eyes. “He’s going back to jail for probably the rest of his life.”
Tiffany nodded, drinking more of her coffee. “Dad told me. And Dan told me what you did. What were you thinking, Ari? He could have killed you!”
Aralyn sipped her drink. “I had to find you, Tiff. I hadn’t planned on him catching me. I didn’t have a plan at all, really. Mom was right. I just took off and rushed in.”
“Tim, Dean and Cam figured out where she went from looking at her computer,” Natala said. “Tim called Dan to tell him, and we met up with them at your house. Right as Aralyn called Bo, McQuade confronted her.”
“That’s when I was at the window, talking to you. He got me inside, and we fought for a bit. I had him pinned down, and by then, Dad and Dan and the team were there.”
“You had him pinned down?” Tiffany demanded. “Literally? Is that why your face looks like you went five rounds with a bear?”
Aralyn grinned as her cousin took a bite of her breakfast. “Yep. He put up a good fight but I got him down and threatened to kick him so hard in the nuts he’d never get an erection again. Funny how men seem to take that seriously enough to listen to a girl.”
The cousins all laughed.
“Looks like he still got in a few swings at you,” Tiffany reached out and touched her cousin’s face lightly, studying the bruises and small cuts.
“It’ll heal. The important part, is that you’re okay. He swore he didn’t hurt you. That bruise on your face says otherwise.”
“He didn’t, other than tying my hands and feet so tightly I could barely move. Well, he hit me once, when I tried to run. He never beat me up or anything like that. He really didn’t seem overly violent; he was really focused on punishing Dad and Bo more than anything. That’s all he talked about, really. But what I really want to know, is what the Hell did you do to your hair?”
Aralyn grinned ruefully, running a hand over the faded blue curls with the blonde roots. “Yeah…I uh, lost a bet.”
“You said that. I want to know what bet you took that cost you your hair.”
Aralyn suddenly crammed a large bite of jelly doughnut into her mouth while her cousins watched her expectantly. She chewed slowly.
“Not giving up,” Tiffany said dryly. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere."
Aralyn finally swallowed, then took a long drink of coffee. “I lost a bet to my friend Richie. He bet me that I could take Adam down in hand-to-hand, and frankly, I thought I could. Adam is a scholar type, not real big on the physical, and always protesting that he’s a lover, not a fighter. I got my ass handed to me, so I had to dye my hair blue.”
“And if this Richie guy lost?” Tiffany asked, without a clue who these men were.
“Body wax,” Aralyn cackled. “But I didn’t realize that Richie had told Adam beforehand if he won, I had to wear a bikini all day. So Adam was pissed when he found out that that wasn’t the bet, and he and Duncan pinned Richie down and waxed his chest and legs anyway as payback,” Aralyn was laughing at the memory.
Tiffany and Natala gaped at her.
“Who are these people?” Tiffany demanded. “Where have you been?”
Aralyn’s laughter vanished. “Mostly in North Carolina, out on the Trail. I found this dojo run by this guy, Duncan. That’s actually something I wanted to talk to you two about. I need to go back and finish some lessons,” she held up her hands before they could protest, “but I want you two to come with me.”
“Why?” Natala asked warily.
“I want you to meet Duncan. He’s…one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met, and I think you could both benefit from spending some time with him.”
Tiffany raised one eyebrow.
“Did you sleep with him?” Natala asked bluntly. “Any of them? All of them?”
“No!” Aralyn burst out laughing. “Though Duncan is incredibly hot, and Adam’s pretty hot too in a different way. Richie is cute, I suppose and he kept trying to hook up with me, but he’s kinda like…I don’t know. Kind of a brotherly feel. He makes think of Logan in about ten years. Kind of looks like the twins too.”
Natala had a look on her face that Aralyn couldn’t interpret.
“Why do you think we could benefit from meeting him?” she asked.
Aralyn took a deep breath. “Look, I left town because I needed space, and because I was lost. Really lost. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know who I was, or who I wanted to be. Killing that man really messed me up, and I just felt trapped. And while I knew you all loved me and were trying to be supportive, I just needed to be…alone for a while.”
“We were smothering you,” Tiffany said sadly.
Aralyn grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Not intentionally. I knew that then, but I couldn’t put it into words. I just felt like I was drifting, without any real anchor. I was surrounded by everyone who loves me but I felt more alone than I ever have.”
Natala nodded in understanding.
“So I took off. It wasn’t planned, Tiff. I just came out of the gym one day and suddenly, I knew I had to leave. I didn’t have a destination in mind, or a plan, I just hit the road and didn’t look back. Eventually I ended up at Tim’s.”
“He lied to all of us.” Tiffany wasn’t asking a question but her hazel eyes flashed in anger.
“Please don’t hold it against him, Tiff,” Aralyn found herself repeating what she had said to Dan and Daisy last night. “He did it to help me, and he risked everything he’s rebuilt with the family to do it. He was the only one who wasn’t so enmeshed in our family that I felt I could go to. He helped me disappear, under the conditions that I stay in touch with him every three days. And if I missed a call-in time, he would be on the phone to Dad and have every Fed on the East Coast looking for me. Tim risked everything, especially his relationship with Dan, to help me, Tiffany. Focus your anger on me, for dragging him into it, but please, please don’t be mad at him. If he hadn’t helped, I’d be a lot worse off, and I wouldn’t have known you were in trouble. My phone battery actually went dead the night you disappeared and I didn’t realize it. Tim hauled ass down to North Carolina to find me, and we rode back together. The guy spent twenty hours on his bike without any sleep, to find me, to bring me back, for you.”
Tiffany wiped her eyes, looking up at the ceiling. How could she stay mad at Tim? He really had risked everything, including his father’s wrath, to help Aralyn. Without his support, Aralyn would have easily disappeared for good.
“I just wish you had to come to me,” she said.
“I didn’t even know what I was doing until I was on I-95 and almost out of the state,” Aralyn said. “I had to escape, Tiffany. Not from you, but everything, from my whole life. I needed to find myself again, and I couldn’t do it in White Plains. It had nothing to do with you, Tiffany, it was something I had to do for myself. Once I left Tim, I got some camping gear and headed down the Trail.”
“Where’d you end up? North Carolina, was it?” Natala asked, helping herself to another pastry.
“North Carolina, finally. That’s where I found this dojo. I had been camping for about a week when I had this ridiculous craving for a cheeseburger. Like a fast food cheeseburger, with lots of grease. So I went to the nearest town to find one, and it had a drive up, Sonic. All the drive-in slots were full except one, which had another bike in it, so I asked the guy if I could use it too, since two bikes could fit easily. He said sure, and introduced himself as Richie. We got to talking about bikes, and he was pretty cute, but I wanted to get back to camp. So he told me where I could find him, at this dojo he managed on the edge of town. We rode that far together, and then I went on my way.
“All night, I kept thinking about this place, and Richie. Not in a sexual way, I mean, he was cute, but he wasn’t like, super-hot, but something kept pulling my thoughts that way, like I really needed to go check it out. So after a day or so of hemming and hawing and feeling kind of restless, I cleaned myself up, as well as I could with the camp shower I had rigged, and went to the dojo.”
It didn’t look impressive, she thought, parking her bike outside. Kind of run down, really, though the hedges were neatly trimmed. Nothing fancy here.
Richie’s bike was there, along with a 1964 black Thunderbird, fully restored and gleaming in the sun. She couldn’t help it; she walked around the car in admiration, studying the restoration work. It was beautiful, shiny black and the rims practically sparkled. It had been washed recently; there wasn’t a speck of dirt on it. She stood smiling at it. Her dad would love it. Thinking of Bo made her heart hurt.
“Can I help you?” a deep, male, Scottish-lilted voice asked.
She turned, feeling guilty even though she hadn’t touched the car. “I’m sorry, is this yours?”
He nodded.
The man was as gorgeous as his car, she thought. Probably around her dad’s age, six foot two or so, dark brown eyes, square jaw, short, dark brown hair, broad shoulders and dressed nicely. Expensive shoes, she thought, expensive clothes, though he wore a long black trench coat over them, his hands in his pants pockets.
Aralyn tried to find the rest of her voice but she seemed to have swallowed her tongue. He was looking at her expectantly though.
“It’s a beautiful car. I couldn’t help but admire it. Did you restore it yourself? It’s absolutely gorgeous, I’m sure you know. Black is the perfect color too, and it suits you. I know they came in other colors but I can’t see you driving pale yellow, you know? I have an appreciation for classic cars, my dad has a ’69 Charger he still drives so when I saw this, I had to have a look. It’s bright orange with the Old Stars and Bars still on the hood. His car, I mean, not yours, obviously.” She took a breath, and realized he looked amused.
“No problem. You ride?” he looked at the helmet in her hands.
“Yeah. Actually, I was looking for Richie. I met him the other day and he told me about this place.” She was mildly annoyed that he looked even more amused when she mentioned Richie.
“Are you the girl who puts French fries in her burger?”
“I was hungry,” she replied, annoyed that he was entertained by her quirky method of eating a burger.
Duncan MacCleod,” He gave her a beautiful smile that made her heart skip a beat and held out his hand.
Strong, firm, grip and shake, she thought, wondering just how good of a body he was hiding under that coat. She couldn’t help but wonder. He was hot.
“Aralyn Duke. You’re not from around here. Scotland?”
“Indeed. You’re not from around here either. New York?”
She laughed. “Yeah, but I was born in Georgia.”
He motioned for her to walk towards the front door. “What brings you down here?”
She hesitated a moment. “I’m on a road trip,” she finally said. No need to bother strangers with the details of her misery.
“Welcome to North Carolina.”
Inside the dojo, Aralyn was impressed. The outside looked run down but the inside had been restored, with pine hardwood floors, light colored paint, and fairly new equipment. It was a full gym, it looked like, with several men working out on the equipment. But what really impressed her were all the swords on display. She recognized a few styles, Japanese katanas, broadswords.
“Nice blades,” she said in admiration.
“You a collector?” he asked.
She laughed. “Nah. I can recognize a few from renaissance festivals and my brother’s comics but that’s about it. I’d love to learn to use one though.”
“Well, let’s see how long you stick around.”
He had adorable dimples, she thought. Hello! He’s old enough to be your dad! But sexy. Very sexy.
“Richie’s a bit busy, as you can see,” Duncan said. “Wait until he’s through, then I’ll tell him you’re here.”
Richie was more than a bit busy, she thought. He was engaged in a sword duel with another man, the clashing of the blades echoing throughout the dojo. Some of the other men were watching, but many ignored them. This was a normal event, evidently.
“Do you teach sword fighting?” Aralyn asked.
“Sometimes. Only to those who are serious about it. Not to people who just want to look cool or join the SCA,” Duncan answered.
Aralyn nodded in understanding. “So who owns this place? Since you're not DeSalvo.”
Duncan chuckled. “I do. My partner was DeSalvo before he died."
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. He’s been gone a long time. So now, I run things. Richie helps out a lot.”
“I can’t believe he told you I put French fries in my burger.”
Duncan grinned. “Richie is a very enthusiastic young man. He meets a pretty girl, he tends to go on about her.”
Aralyn blushed.
“He hit on you?” Tiffany asked.
Aralyn shook her head. “Duncan just has a natural charm with women. Seriously, I saw pretty much every woman he encountered just throw themselves at him, and you can practically see their panties melt off for him. It’s kind of funny. Half the time he doesn’t even realize it. Besides, he’s totally in love with this woman, Amanda, but he’ll never admit it. She’s a bit strange though, and rather annoying, when she’s around. He completely hides his feelings though, which is probably good. She totally takes advantage of him.”
“Still waiting to get to why we should meet him,” Tiffany said gently. Aralyn was so easily sidetracked. That hadn’t changed.
“Right. Anyway, I spent almost four months hanging out with these guys on a regular basis. Duncan offered to help me hone my hand-to- hand skills. Talk about a drill instructor! Seriously though, I improved a lot. But there’s more to Duncan than a hot old guy. He’s probably the most spiritual man I’ve ever met.”
Tiffany raised one eyebrow, while Natala looked surprised. The Belden-Duke Clan wasn’t very religious, and the level of spirituality differed from member to member.
“He reminds me of you, Nat. He has that…ethereal quality to him. That kind of…he’s a deep feeler. And he’s a scholar too. He’s studied with Benedictine and Tibetian monks, American Indian shamans, Celtic wise women—he has the most fascinating book collection too. But he’s this really amazing person, and well…he helped me. A lot.”
“Can you be more specific?” Tiffany asked. Help like Dr. Wilman? Because despite the hours Tiffany had spent with her discussing her depression, the psychologist hadn’t been too helpful.
Aralyn bit her lip. “We did some American Indian rituals, in a sweat lodge, and it…it was like all the anger, and the doubt, and the…darkness inside of me, was released. It wasn’t easy, because it felt like I was literally facing my own demons, but afterwards…I felt good again. I felt whole, and strong, and I felt like I had me back. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
Natala’s eyes were glued to her cousin. That her cousin’s aura was back to its normal state of gold hadn’t escaped her the moment Aralyn returned. The dark cloud that had been smothering Aralyn since Texas was gone. “And you think this Duncan can…be beneficial for us?”
Aralyn nodded. “You especially, Nat. I think he carried a lot of darkness in his soul, but he’s like…the phrase Warrior Poet comes to mind. And it’s just not him. His friend Adam too. There’s a lot of similarities together. I think maybe they served in a war together, but it would have to be the first Persian Gulf War, based on their ages.”
“What happens during these rituals?” Tiffany asked.
“Duncan and I went into this sweat lodge. There was lots of chanting, and herbs burning and then it was like I was in this trance, and it all…just came out of me.”
“He didn’t touch you?”
Aralyn shook her head. “No. He’s not a perv, Tiff.”
“You do seem like old yourself,” Natala admitted. ‘Your aura is gold again, and back to its normal size. I noticed immediately yesterday that you were in control, and well…you.”
Aralyn nodded. “I feel better than I have in years. It’s like all the negativity, and the anger and the bad feelings that were clinging to me are just gone. I feel strong, and healthy, and whole.”
“Are you going whether we do or not?” Tiffany asked, her eyes serious.
Aralyn nodded slowly. “I need to finish what I started, Tiff, so yes. But I promise you, on everything and anything you want or hold sacred, it will be temporary. A few weeks at the most, and we’ll be back in time for Thanksgiving. But I really want you two to come with me. I want you to meet Duncan.”
Natala let her thoughts churn. She had heard of such rituals. Almost every culture had some version of spiritual cleansing. Even her gypsy culture did, but the true rituals were long lost, now they were a hoax of chicken blood and mumbo-jumbo used to bilk easy marks out of their money. Was it possible this man could take some of her darkness away? Was the change in Aralyn proof enough?
“I’m in,” she said abruptly.
Tiffany looked startled.
“Even if you just want to keep an eye on me,” Aralyn said softly, squeezing Tiffany’s hand, “I want you come along. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I just want you there, with me.”
Tiffany thought it over. Aralyn was offering an olive branch, and a big one. “Has Tim met him?”
Aralyn nodded, with a wry smile. “Yes,” she laughed. “He rode all night to find me when I didn’t answer my phone. Richie wasn’t the most cooperative, and the first one he encountered, so Tim uh, got a little confrontational.”
“Not Tim,” Tiffany said sarcastically.
“I made them kiss and make up,” Aralyn laughed. “But I think they redeemed themselves to Tim when he realized that they were protecting me. Some guy suddenly shows up demanding to see me, they weren’t going to just tell him where I was.”
“All right,” Tiffany said finally. “I’m in too.”
“Great,” Aralyn beamed. “Now you get to help me convince Mom and Dad I haven’t lost my mind. But I think I had better give them a few days to adjust before we go.”
“Good idea,” Natala said dryly.
“Did you talk to Cam?” Tiffany asked her.
Aralyn’s face instantly went expressionless.
“We spoke,” she said shortly.
Natala shook her at Tiffany, but Tiffany ignored it.
“Dan said he was key to helping me.”
Aralyn nodded and took a swig of her coffee. “That’s the word.”
“Did—”
“Tiff, as long as he’s banging that shrew, he’s not part of my life, and I don’t want to talk about him,” Aralyn said abruptly. “Please.” I made a total ass out of myself last night and I don’t want to relive it.
Tiffany nodded.
“In the meantime,” Aralyn said slowly, “what do you two think about the three of us getting a place?”
Her cousins stared at her.
“Like, an apartment together?” Tiffany asked.
Aralyn nodded. “Or, maybe a house, for more room. I just turned twenty, Tiffany you’re almost there. Nat, you’ll be twenty-two this Christmas. I feel like it’s the next logical step, getting my own place, but I’d really like to have you guys as roommies.”
Natala closed her eyes for a moment.
“We always figured we would eventually,” Tiffany said. “Remember? We figured we’d room together at college.”
Aralyn nodded. “I’m going to start classes in January, hopefully. We’re all working in some capacity—well, I’m not at the moment, but hopefully Daisy will take me back. She might stick me in the mail room, but I think it would be nice if we got a place together. We’ve got to leave the nest sometime.”
“It feels right,” Natala said, opening her eyes. “It really does.”
“Do you even have money left?” Tiffany asked.
Aralyn nodded. “I did some work for Duncan.”
“How’d he pay you? Bo monitored your bank account and your social security number. If you cashed a check or tried to open a new bank account, he’d know within minutes.”
“I figured,” Aralyn said dryly. “So Duncan paid me in cash.”
Tiffany’s mouth fell open as Natala’s head came up. Aralyn burst out laughing at their horrified expressions.
“Not for that! Jeez! Give me some credit. I hit on him once and he made it very clear he saw me as a sweet kid, nothing else. I did not whore myself out, sheesh! Duncan also owns an antique store. He let me work there a few days a week. Paid me cash under the table. He said he knew what it was like to need to disappear for a while and not be found.”
Tiffany exhaled in relief.
“If you’re on board for getting a place together, why don’t we put some feelers out then,” Aralyn suggested. “We can even use an agent. The trip to Duncan’s will take a few weeks; we can start looking when we get back. That brings us to the beginning of December. It might take a while to find something affordable, maybe even to the new year. We’ll need to work out a price range that we can all work within, and go from there. It needs to be fairly accessible to the bus lines, because Nat still doesn’t have a license., unless you got one while I was away.” Natala shook her head. “We should start making up lists of things that are most important. What?”
Aralyn realized her cousins were starting at her.
“You sound so…organized,” Tiffany said.
“This is bad?” Aralyn asked.
“No. Just…unusual,” Natala snickered. “You sure you’re feeling all right?”
Aralyn stuck her tongue out at her cousins and they started laughing.
Meet the cast in full & see the family tree!
***
Author’s Notes
- A huge yeee-haa to Ronda, my lovely editor who helps keep me on track!
- Yes, Duncan and Richie will be back later in the year for a new story arc featuring the girls. Highlander the Series took place in Seacouver, Washington, not Franklin, North Carolina. But I needed Aralyn closer to home than that, and this storyline takes place a few years after the series so Duncan relocated and opened a new dojo. I waved the magic Writer’s Wand to erase the end of Season 5 and all of Season 6. Fans of the show will know why.
- Word Count, 4,710
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