According to Legend (13 page)

“This may take quite some time. The housing market is slow and my debt is big.”

“Moheeladeck does not like this.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“I don’t either, but I don’t have much of a choice.”

“Yes, you do. You can choose to leave it all behind and stay here with me.”

“I couldn’t do that. I have to do this right and, besides, don’t you want to find out who is behind all this back in my time?”

“With you here, I can protect you, we do not have to worry about those in your world who seek to harm you to get the stone and we do not have to worry about them finding the location of the cave in your time.”

“I know, but right now there is no other option. I must return.”

“Moheeladeck will seek the wisdom of Emanudeck. He will know the best path for us to take in this.”

“Okay, but in the meantime, I must return.”

When I was finally able to get Moheeladeck to see reason and then tear myself away from him and the People, I said my goodbyes with a promise to return later in my dreams.

A deep sadness filled me as I placed my hand upon the dream catcher over my heart, and asked the stone to bring me back to my world, a place I no longer thought of as home.

I had barely uttered the words asking the stone to return me to my time, and I was back. I looked up and found I had returned to the exact same spot I was standing in when the catcher brought us to the tribe, however, I felt that I wasn’t alone. Fear prickled up my spine as I turned around slowly. I wasn’t alone. Half-Breed was sitting on the bed staring at me.

“Half-Breed . . . where have you been, boy?”

Moheeladeck did not tell you I was required elsewhere? I have many duties, Princess. Guarding you is only one of them, though that duty is born of love.

“Aw, Half-Breed, I love you, too, and I missed you.” I threw my arms around the big wolf.

His soft muzzle was in my face.
I missed you as well,
although, I think you should know
,
your tiny device was doing much singing while you were away.

“You mean the cell phone?” I asked, glancing over at the phone laying on my nightstand and noticed the message light flashing. I picked it up to find I did have several missed calls, all from David, and there was one voice mail message.

“Hi, Pam. It’s David. I’ve been trying to call you all day and I’m getting a little worried. Where the heck are you? If I don’t hear from you soon, I’m going to head over to be sure you’re okay. Call me.”

“Oh man!” I was about to dial his number when the doorbell rang.

“Oh Half-Breed, that must be David. I have to figure out how I’m going to explain my disappearance today.”

How about we tell him to disappear?

“
Half-Breed, I think he was genuinely worried about me,” I said as I rushed down the stairs and walked toward the door.

When I opened the door I found David looking rather scruffy. A few days worth of growth darkened his jaw line. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in days, but relief showed on his face when he saw me. “Hi, David, I just got your message and was dialing you back when the door bell rang, come in.”

“Pam, where on earth have you been all day?” he asked as he stepped into the foyer.

I nearly laughed, because I don’t think I could have explained it to him if I tried.

“Pam, I was near frantic,” he added, raking his hand through his shaggy hair.

I believed him. Despite the fact that I had overheard the conversation in the park, he appeared to be really shaken.

“Oh, Pam,” he said, hugging me. “I thought something horrible had happened to you. I was so afraid I was going to find your dead body when I got here today.”

“Work gave me another week off and I took Half-Breed on a hike. I simply forgot my phone. There was nothing to be worried about.”

“After being followed and someone trying to break into your house you shouldn’t go anywhere without that phone,” he scolded as he paced back and forth in the foyer.

He was clearly upset and I nearly fell for it until it dawned on me that I never told him I had been followed. “David, how did you know I was followed? I don’t remember telling you that?”

“Oh, Aunt Agnes mentioned it and asked me to keep an eye on you. She’s a little worried about you, too.”

I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one, but I still couldn’t trust him. I was waiting for him to try to “romance the stone off me” as he put it. I wasn’t planning on giving him the opportunity, but I knew it wouldn’t stop him from trying. Though I was prepared for any trick he might try and pull, what he did next totally surprised me.

“Well, as long as you’re all right I’ll head home. You make sure you put that alarm on as soon as I leave,” he said as he turned and headed out the door.

I wondered why he was so worried about me. He knows something is about to happen, I could feel it.

“David?” I said.

He turned back to me. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for caring. It really means a lot to me.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow, Pam. Maybe, since you’re not working, we can do something together.”

“Okay, we’ll talk then,” I said as he headed toward his truck.

Closing the door behind him, I set the alarm and turned to Half-Breed. “That was so weird. What did you think of that?”

I don’t know what he’s up to but I’m pretty sure it’s no good.

David spoke into the cell phone. “She’s been missing all day long . . . Yes, of course I asked her where the hell she was. She said that she was hiking with the wolf and left her cell phone home, but I don’t buy it. My guess? My guess is that she’s got both halves of the stone and she’s figured out how to use them. No. I don’t know if she knows the location of the cave but we’ll find that out soon enough. I say we just wait and watch her. Let’s see where she takes us and then we make our move. No! No, we have to wait. We have to let her lead us to the cave. I don’t care how long it takes. Oh yeah? You think you can do any better? I still think I’m your best bet. I’m the only one she lets close and I think she’s starting to trust me but you’ll do it your way anyway no matter what I say. You’ll get your way . . . You always do.” He tossed the cell phone onto the passenger seat and drove away.

He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He knew what was expected of him, what he had to do. But he was starting to have feelings for Pam.

As I watched David drive away, my hand drifted to rest over the dream catcher. Now that I had both halves of the stone, I needed to focus on learning the full extent of its powers. There had to be so much more to these stones or why would some have died to protect them and why would others kill to get them? I knew it was the path I had to follow, no matter the danger. I also knew I belonged with Moheeladeck and had to find a way to remain with him in his time. It was a bridge I felt destined to cross.

The magic in the stones held the key to enable me to slip away from my time, to clear things up and bring me where I knew I belonged, in his arms and I needed to figure out how to use them.

“Hello, Donna Grant,” Donna said as she answered the phone on her desk.

“Hello, my dear. Am I calling you at a bad time?”

“No, not at all,” Donna answered as she got up from her desk to close the door to her office. This was a personal call, and a conversation she didn’t want anyone else to hear.

“I hope you don’t mind me phoning you at work, my dear, but I need to call in a favor.”

“Yes, of course. My brother told me to expect your call. What can I do to help you, Agnes?”

“I need you to send an email to Pam, one containing that virus so that we can gain remote access to her computer. We need to find out what research she may be doing.”

“I’m her boss, so I’m sure if I ask her to look over a proposal, she would do it.”

“Are you sure, dear?”

“Certainly, I’ll do whatever you need me to do. You know where my loyalties lay. Despite changing my last name, I really am, after all, a Williamson.”

Although David had only been gone about five minutes, I still stood staring out the window beside the front door, deep in thought, when my cell phone rang. My boss, Donna.
What the heck could she be calling me about? I thought she said I could take this week off.

“Hi, Pam. How are you doing?”

“Hi, Donna. Oh, just dealing with things and hanging in there I guess,” I said.

“Gee, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. Listen, I know I told you that you could take this week off, but I really need your help. If I e-mail you a proposal, would you take a quick look at it? We’re meeting with a big client tomorrow. I hate to dump this on you when you’re going through a personal crisis, but you’re the only one that can handle this, and, Pam, this client is your baby.”

“Sure, I’ll take a look at it. Go ahead and send it.”

The conversation came to a quick end once she had gotten me to agree to look at the proposal. This was so typical of her.

“Duty calls,” I said to Half-Breed as I went over to my desk in the corner of the living room and turned on the laptop. By the time the computer booted, the email was already there waiting.

Anxious much
? I thought and I sat down at the desk to read the email. Half-Breed lay at my feet and I felt comforted by his presence. I bet Donna had this email all set and all she had to do was press send once she got me to agree. I was annoyed with her for intruding into my thoughts and interrupting me. I had just started to review the proposal when my cell phone rang again.

“Hello.”

“Hello,” said the kindly voice on the other end. “It’s Agnes Warren, dear. Am I calling you at a bad time?”

“No, Mrs. Warren, not at all. How are you?”

“I’m well, my dear. I haven’t spoken to you in a few days and I’m calling to see how you’re doing and how that dog is working out for you?”

“I’m well and Half-Breed is great. He’s smart and really good company for me. The alarm has been installed and between that and Half-Breed I’m starting to feel safe.”

“That’s good news! Have you returned to work, dear?”

“Umm, no, my boss gave me this week off to tie up loose ends, but actually she just sent me an email and I’m working on an important presentation for a meeting she has tomorrow with one of my clients,” I answered, laughing nervously.
Why am I feeling so uneasy?

“Oh, wasn’t that nice of them to give you more time off. What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?”
Wasn’t she listening to a word I said? Didn’t I just say I was working?

“Well, today I took Half-Breed for a long hike. Actually David was pretty upset with me.”

“David?”

“Yeah, apparently he had been trying to reach me all day but I left my cell phone home,” I answered with that nervous little laugh again.
Why was I so nervous?

“With all that has happened to you recently, do you think it’s wise to be out and about without your phone?”

Here we go again with the cell phone
, I thought. I was getting suspicious and then I remembered the conversation I’d overheard between David and Williamson about the GPS chip. I wonder if David had slipped one into my cell phone. He might have put his aunt up to making this call to verify my story.

I wouldn’t put it past him, either,
Half-Breed agreed.

“I was with Half-Breed and besides, I probably wouldn’t get cell service out in the woods,” I replied to Mrs. Warren.

“You’re probably right about that, but you should still be careful. You know, there are things out in the woods that can be very dangerous. What if you had fallen and needed assistance?”

“Good point, Mrs. Warren. I promise to be more careful.”

“What are your plans for the remainder of the week, my dear?”

“I hadn’t really given it much thought. I’ll probably take Half-Breed out for another hike while the weather is still nice. Once the snow and cold set in we won’t be getting out much.” I tried to keep my mind on the conversation rather than wondering what Mrs. Warren was really up to.

“That’s true. Anyway, dear, the reason I phoned was to ask if you would like to come to dinner one evening this week. I have some exciting news that I think may be of interest to you.”

Finally, getting to the bottom of why she really had called
, I thought. I wasn’t usually this impatient.
Why am I now?
What’s this all about and what’s going on with me
?

“Really, and what would that be?” I asked.

“There is a lot to tell, but the long and short of it is that the museum has just received a grant from the federal government. The government would like us to do more excavation at the site of the original Aloscotay village and to open a new exhibit featuring the finds that will hopefully be discovered at the dig. As soon as I got the news of the grant, I immediately thought of you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, dear. In light of the interesting artifact you have just acquired, I thought it might be interesting for you, and, well, I really wanted to wait until dinner with the committee to ask you this, but I was wondering if you would be interested in participating in the actual dig.”

“That’s great news for the museum,” I said with excitement in my voice, but my thoughts were running in another direction.
I bet she wants me to donate the “interesting artifact” to the exhibit
.
Why would she want me, an advertising agent, to go on an archeological dig? Is this all an odd coincidence?
The hair on the back of my neck rose and goose bumps ran up my arms.

“I really don’t know if I would be much help. I’m more likely to get in the way on an archeological dig,” I said.
I wonder what more she expects to find at the village? The stone perhaps?

My thoughts were scrambling. I don’t know why I felt the sudden urgency to get this news to Moheeladeck.

Half-Breed’s thoughts rushed in,
Already taken care of
.

I don’t know what I would do without you, Half-Breed
.

“So, can I expect you at the committee dinner, dear?” Mrs. Warren’s voice sounded in my ear and brought my attention back to the conversation.

Although I had no reason to be wary of Mrs. Warren, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that the circle of enemies was tightening around me, and the catcher vibrating over my heart reinforced my uneasiness. There was no way I was going to get out of this gracefully.

“Would it be all right if I brought Half-Breed with me?” I said.

“Oh yes, certainly, dear. It’s not as if he hasn’t been here before.” She chuckled.

“Is Mr. Harvey on the committee?”

“No. Oh no, dear,” she said with a laugh, “his expertise lies in . . . other areas.”

“Well, in that case, if I am available, I would love to come.” I lied, hoping that would pacify Mrs. Warren and still leave me an out.

“Wonderful, I’ll set it up for later this week and get back to you with the details. I am really looking forward to this,” she replied.

“I look forward to it as well. I’ll see you then,” I said, and with that we hung up.