The Gathering (5 page)

Sean remembered the feeling of isolation.
 
The way he had begun to remove himself from everyone around him.
 
One night, shortly before the winter solstice, Paul had confronted him, and he told Paul everything.
 
When Sean had finished, Paul merely looked at him and smiled.

"How could it be your fault, Sean?"

Sean had looked at his friend, shaking his head in disbelief.
 
Hadn't he heard what he had said?
 
He had let her drown.
 
He hadn't loved her.
 
He hadn't even tried to go after her.

Again, Paul smiled.

"Sean, you did try to save her, but the second wave took her before you could get to her.
 
If you had gone after her, the next wave would've killed you, too.
 
What, you're supposed to sacrifice yourself when you know she's gone?
 
What purpose would that have served?"

Sean could hear the words that Paul was saying, but couldn't let go of the guilt.
 
He looked at the ground trying to find a way to explain it to Paul.

Paul put his hand on Sean's shoulder.

"Sean…we all go when it's our time to go.
 
It doesn’t matter if it’s by means of an accident or someone else’s hand or by God's plan, we all go when we are called to go.
 
You weren't meant to save that girl.
 
You were meant to save my girls.
 
You were meant to save Kaley and Alisha, Sean.
 
If you had died, my girls would be dead now… get it?"

Sean looked over at his friend.

Sean had been with Paul and Alia for three weeks when they almost lost the girls.
 
They and the others were busily building the foundation of the

main
hall.
 
The children had been gathered together to continue their education.

During their recess, the children had run to the edge of what was once the Lake Hollywood reservoir; but the dam had broken during the War.
 
The earthquakes had caused ravines and land changes that created a continuous flow of water down both sides of the mountain from underground springs, with rapids, ponds and pools every few hundred yards.
 
Not far from their class was one of these ponds.
 
The land around this pond was still unstable with rapids only a hundred yards further down.
 
Although the adults had warned them to stay back, children by their nature often forget what they have been told, and this day was no different.

They had chased a squirrel to a tree by the edge of the pond.
 
Kaley was seven and Alisha six and even though several of the other children had tried to warn them to come back, the girls were determined to catch the squirrel.
 
They would later report that they had stood on the side of the tree closest to the water.
 
Kaley had put out her hand for Alisha to step into, and then hoisted her up to the hole where the squirrel had gone.
 
They had been there only a moment when the earth gave way and they both fell into the water.
 
The current swept them out of the pond and into the rapids.

The screaming of the children had brought several nearby adults, who barely saw the heads of the girls as they bobbed towards the falls.
 

Without hesitation, Sean had run towards the banks, pulled off his shoes and dove into the water.
 
He felt his heart beating wildly and could hear the screams echoing in his head as the cold water enveloped him.
 
He kept the girls in his sights every time he lifted his head for air, his arms pulling him ever closer to them.
 
Kaley and Alisha were good swimmers, as Alia had insisted that all of her children be as water safe as possible, but they were too small to fight the current.
 
Kaley was trying to kick and paddle her way back, while Alisha clung to her sister's skirt, all the time kicking her little legs as hard as she could, as both of them tried to keep their heads above water.

Sean had almost reached them.

"Sean!" Kaley yelled, and then disappeared.

He saw them vanish under the water and quickly dove under as well.

The water was murky and brown.
 
Sean could barely see a foot in front of him.
 
He swam frantically towards the area where he had last seen them.
 
His head darted around as he pushed himself forward.

He heard the screams in his head.
 
He could feel his lungs beg for fresh air.
 
He felt his body attempt to rise to the surface, but he forced himself to stay down.
 
He knew they were there.
 
He continued moving forward and just when he thought he couldn't stand anymore, he saw the hand, that tiny hand.
 
He pulled himself down to see Kaley holding on to a rotted log with one hand and to Alisha with the other.
 
Just beyond them was the whirlpool that had pulled them down.

As Kaley's tiny fingers were giving way and slipping from the wood, Sean's hand grabbed hers and he pulled the girls towards him.

With both girls in his arms, he kicked off the bottom towards the surface, the current pulling them closer to the edge of the falls.
 
The girls' bodies felt weightless in his arms as he kicked and kicked.
 
They broke through the surface and once again he felt the cool air rush into his lungs.
 
They were all choking as the air fought its way into their bodies.
 
He felt their tiny hands and arms around his neck.
 

He felt the strength leaving him as he struggled against the current, concentrating only on keeping them all above the water.
 
Sean hadn't felt the rope being thrown around him or the drag against the current as the villagers pulled him and the girls back to shore.

He held tightly to both of the girls, who clung to him in terror until Alia broke through the crowd and grabbed her daughters.
 

She held them to her and checked them to make sure they were all right.
 
Then she turned her gaze to the dripping, panting Sean.
 
Alia could see that he was crying.
 
She reached forward and grabbed his head, pulling him into their embrace.
 
In that moment, they knew they had a bond that would never be broken.
 

Alia had held all three of them until Paul joined them and the relief had begun to set in.

The memory faded as the sun rose higher and Sean turned and stared at the castle.
 
At the north end was a turret where red and gold draperies blew from the inside, Alia's room.

He took a deep breath and turned, walking towards the barracks.

"Guilt is an ugly emotion,"
he thought.
 

5

The rustle of the breeze made the skin on Sam Hearst's skin prickle.
 
He looked up at the sky and the surrounding ruins of old Pasadena, the atheist village.
 
He felt uneasy and so did his horse and his dog, Madison.
 
He shook his head and smiled to himself.

"Nerves," he said under his breath.

He had been looking forward to the Gathering.
 
Although Pasadena was only twenty miles from Lia Fail, Sam didn't get to go as often as he would have liked.
 
While the nineteen-year-old was capable of traveling by himself, he was often obligated to help his father, the president of Pasadena, which left little time to travel.

"What are you looking at?"

Sam jumped as his brother's voice filled the air.
 
Corey laughed.

"Sorry."

"Help me with this, would ya?"

Corey wandered over to help his brother pack the horses.
 
He looked at Sam.

"Are you okay?"

Sam looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess.
 
I just thought I felt something."

"What?"

"I don't know…something in the air, I guess."

The breeze kicked up again and blew Sam and Corey's long ginger hair into their faces.
 

A large man with the same red hair stepped outside onto the porch of the old home.

"You boys almost ready?
 
I want to get to the Gathering before nightfall."

"It'll only take us a few hours, Dad," Corey yelled back.

Larry Hearst looked out at his sons.

"Not if it takes you all day to load the wagon and pack the horses.
 
There are about three or four hundred of us traveling up the hill, Corey.
 
Maybe you should leave the packing to your brother and see if the others will be ready to go soon."

A small smile began to cross Sam's face as he tried not to look at his younger brother.
 
Corey sighed and turned to his father.

"How come I always have to run around and see if everyone is ready?"

"Because I said so," Larry responded.

He then went inside and closed the door.

Corey threw up his arms.

"Do you think things are any different in the other colonies?"

Sam looked at Corey.
 
They were only two years apart but sometimes Corey seemed a lot younger to Sam.

"You mean besides the obvious?"

"Naw, just this kind of thing."

"No, I don't think it's any different."

Sam finished putting food in a bag and placed it in the back of the wagon as two young men came towards the brothers.
 
They were Scott and Henry Forrester.
 
Scott had been Sam's best friend since kindergarten.
 
Scott was a strapping boy of nineteen, who intimidated even the biggest of men.
 
He was quiet, thoughtful and patient.
 
Henry, although also tall, was thin as a rail and prone to the grand gesturing of a diplomat, his most prized ambition.

"Aren't you finished packing yet?" Henry quipped.

"Not yet."

"Is everyone else packed?" Corey asked.

"Yeah," Henry answered.
 
"Almost."

Corey turned to go tell his father that the others in their colony were ready to leave.

"I didn't tell you to ask someone else.
 
I told you to go and see."

Larry Hearst was again standing on the porch, an imposing figure.
 
He was fair-minded and understanding, but he took no time to indulge the frivolous.
 
Corey's shoulders slumped and he walked off.

Scott moved to help Sam pack and Henry smiled and walked towards Larry, who, seeing Henry coming, began to move back into the house.
 
Unfortunately for him, Henry caught up to him before he could enter the house, forcing Larry to take him inside.