Oddity

Sorting through boxes and papers, Cally once again
reminded herself that moving was supposed to be a
refreshing, Zen like, thing to do. Out with the old and all
that rot. A Zen like state was definitely not happening
here. "I can't believe I saved this...whatever it is...thingy
again!" she half mumbled to herself. Just how many
states had she lugged that thing through anyhow, she
was sure she had thrown it out at least three times. The
object made a hollow thud as it was tossed into the box
marked for the weekly trash pickup.
Which day that might be, Cally had no clue....another
draw-back to the moving process she mused.

With both a mental and a physical shrug, to get all the
kinks out, Cally rose up off the floor and surveyed the
room. It would take days to sort all this junk out she
thought....and days more to make this place home.
Letting out a small sigh, she shuffled over to the kitchen
to make some mint tea. After digging through several
boxes and much loud cursing from smashing a toe
against the corner of a box, she was able to locate both
the tea and a pot to heat the water.

Once the tea was taking it's long soak in her favorite blue
mug, Cally settled comfortably into an old armchair and
flicked on the TV with the remote. At this hour nothing
much was on, but it allowed her to let her mind wander
from the mess she was leaving in the other room. Once
again her thoughts drifted to the past several days and
weeks that had led up to this fiasco. A good friend of
hers had clued her in to this place to stay...all the utilities
were already in place, all she had to do was make a few
calls on Monday to change all of it over to her name. It
made moving easier, but not by much. After the blow-out
with Roger, and the loss of her grandmother, moving to a
new place hadn’t seemed like a good idea. Janet had
insisted that it was the best thing to do...."After all Cally,"
she had reasoned,”it’s not like you have anything left
here to hold you to this rat's nest you and Roger were
living in. Unless you *like* the company of tiny creatures
at night, that is." Cally had to admit that Janet had been
right. Roger was a bum who couldn’t hold down a job,
and with her grandmother's long illness finally reaching
it's sad ending, there was nothing keeping her in the hole
of an apartment she had been living in. This place was
much better, she decided. It was clean, reasonably priced
and in a fair neighborhood. Fast Jack Calloway was
flashing across the screen...trying to tell people he could
teach them how to buy real estate with no money
down...Cally flipped through the channels. This had all
the earmarks of a long night.

Cally was startled out of her musings by the phone
ringing. Only two people had the phone number, Janet
and the people who had formerly lived there...odds were,
since it was near midnight, it wouldn’t be the former
tenants friends or family calling unless they kept as odd
hours as Cally did. Picking up the receiver, Cally made a
mental note to have the number changed soon. "Hullo?"
"Hey, you settling in?" The voice was way too cheery, but
that was just one of the things that endeared Janet to
Cally. "You could call it that, I suppose." "That's great.
Whatcha doin' later?" "Sleeping, maybe? how much later
do you mean?" "No silly, tomorrow...I found this great
apartment...you simply *have* to check it out!" "I didn't
know you were looking...your place is great." "I meant for
you!" "Let me clue you in here ace...I HAVE a place...I just
moved in, remember?" "I'll be over around 5pm or so,
OK? I gotta go...ta!" "But I...." She put down the receiver.
Typical Janet...oh well, guess I'll have to explain it all
again tomorrow she thought to herself. Wouldn't be the
first time, probably won't be the last.

Taking the last gulp of her now cold tea, Cally made a
face at the taste, snapped off the TV set and went to the
bedroom. Her last thoughts were of how odd it was to be
sleeping somewhere new, but at least Roger wasn't there
to snore.

CHAPTER 2

The sunlight streamed in through the window, hitting the
bed like a bolt of lightning from Zeus himself. Cally
thought for sure the entire bed had moved in the middle
of the night, just so she would have her head directly in
the path of that bolt. Swinging her feet over the side of
the bed, she padded over to the bathroom. And promptly
came to full awareness when the cold tiles made contact
with her bare feet! Another mental note...bathroom
rugs...and soon! Cally peered into the mirror over the
sink, running a hand through her dark blonde, shoulder
length hair. Maybe a haircut next week, 'nother note she
thought with a slight smirk. Maybe a note pad was in
order.

Right in the middle of her morning rituals, the phone
rang. Damn, she thought, can't even do the simplest
things.....her thoughts trailed off as she concentrated on
the message being left on the machine she had thankfully
remembered to hook up the night before. "Cally, it's
me....didn't mean to cut you short last night...I'll meet you
at the cafe on Main and 4th...around 9:30...change of
plans due to the simply fabulous new coffee they just got
in...wear something nice!...see you then..." Cally had to
admit, Janet did know where to get the best coffee. The
woman could be in the most backwoods town on the map
and still have the best cup of joe in her mug.

Cally finished up in the bathroom and started tossing
clothing out of boxes looking for something to wear.
Something nice, she mused.....that could mean anything
by her definition...something with frills by Janets'. Ahh,
she thought, perfect, as she found the items she was
searching for. She glanced at the clock, panic briefly
altering her features, then raced out the door wearing
jeans and a T-shirt.

Downtown traffic was light and Cally quickly found a place
to park her pickup truck across the street from the cafe.
Janet gave a small wave from her seat outside the eatery.
Janet always knew how to dress to her best advantage,
thought Cally. Her lean frame was being graced today by
an oversized white shirt with drawstring laces at the neck,
and a pair of tight leather pants with soft doeskin boots
completing the outfit. Janet radiated, no, tought Cally,
she oozed sensuality. Janet had been Cally's best friend
for years now, but over the past several months, Cally
had been wondering if their relationship was changing.
Nothing spoken outright, just a feeling Cally had when
around her lately. Janet had of course never made a
secret about her preferences, but Cally had always
considered herself to be strictly attracted to the opposite
sex. And after Roger, she could definitely see why people
called men the 'opposite' sex! She left her thoughts at
that for the time being, too much else was on her mind to
let those kind of thoughts linger long. But that outfit, just,
well, *did* things to her senses. This might prove to be a
long morning she thought as she crossed the street.

As Cally approached the table, Janet brushed her long
dark hair from her face. "Hey! Wanna go inside or stay
out here? It's a bit windy..." "No, here is fine, it's too nice
to be cooped up inside" Cally replied. "Why the 'Dread
Pirate Robert' outfit today?" Janet glanced down at her
attire. A slight blush colored her face. "Oh, um....'Princess
Bride' was on again last night. Must have influenced my
decisions this morning." Cally let out a short laugh. Her
big, karate trained, butt kicking friend was such a mush at
times! "Well, it looks great on you. If I tried to dress like
that, people would just stare, but not in a good way!" This
got a chuckle out of her friend, something Cally secretly
loved to hear. A waitress approached their table and Cally
ordered a double espresso. Janet ordered the same, and
told the waitress they wanted both drinks made with the
new blend that just came in. As the waitress left to bring
their drinks Janet said, "You simply must taste it, it is
exquisite, truly!" Cally had inquired once as to how Janet
had become such an expert in the realm of java. She
knew Janet had traveled a lot, but coffee was the only
thing that Janet was truly an expert in. When it came to
food, she was great, when it came to clothing, she was
great, but when it came to picking out coffee, Cally knew
not to question. Janet had simply replied, "Everyone
needs to excel and be remembered for at least one thing
in their lives, my forte is coffee."

When the waitress returned, both women ordered their
breakfast, the coffee wasn't the only good thing about this
cafe. Despite the moniker 'cafe' it served very hearty
meals and Janet had known that was what really got her
best friend to actually be awake at this hour...the promise
of a good meal. She simply rolled her eyes while Cally
placed her order, knowing that they would be there quite a
while. Noone could eat that much food and expect to be
in and out in a hurry. While they ate, Cally quizzed Janet
about the apartment she had spoken of the night before.

"Well," replied Janet, "you need a place to work, right?" "I
planned on doing that where I am now..." "Yeah, but this
place will be rent free." "How's that?" Cally asked, clearly
not wanting to believe that that could be possible. Also,
since her grandmother had passed away, Cally wasn’t
really concerned about the price of rent. It wasn't a
fortune she had been left with, but if she invested right, it
would last her quite some time. "I know you need a place
to do your writing, and this place is real quiet. It's up in
the woods and we can both use it, more of a cabin than
an apartment, really. My boss owns the place, but he has
to be overseas for awhile. Maybe even for several years,
but he doesn't want to sell the place. He says we can use
it anytime we want. After we finish eating, I'll take you
there. You'll see, it's real nice. But if you don't want to use
it, well....the offer will still stand." Cally digested this
information, along with her food. A place like that
sounded too good to be true. Finally she said, "Ok..we'll
take a look." Although Janet heard the skepticism in her
friends voice, she knew Cally would be swayed when she
saw the place. She had taken a quick ride up there the
day before (upon first hearing about it, she too had
thought that it just *couldn’t* be true) and was thoroughly
impressed with the place.

CHAPTER 3

Three helpings later (on Cally's part), and several miles
later (on Janet's Harley), the two were on their way to the
cabin. Cally's eyes were clenched tight, and her stomach
was beginning to question the last helping she had eaten.
Motorcycles were not her favorite mode of transportation,
but with Janet driving, she knew she had nothing to fear.
And she really only clenched her eyes around the big
turns, the ones with the sharp drop-off on one side,
especially, like the one they were going through now.
Mentally she was grumbling at Janet. She had never
mentioned that this place was so far off in the boonies
that even the wildlife would have a hard time finding it!
After about twenty minutes on the "main" road (if you
could call it that) Janet turned the cycle onto a dirt road.
As they purred along, Cally took a moment to look
around. Not too bad she thought...at least it's pretty out
here. It was early spring, warm but not too much so.
Cool, but again, not so that it was a problem. Again Janet
took another road. This one was barely more than a wide
dirt path, barely big enough for a car. They traveled along
this path, which wound around with no apparent direction
for about a mile, and Janet slowed the cycle down and
stopped.

"Why are we stopping here?" Cally inquired. "'Cause
we're here." "Where?" "Here." Upon seeing the
confusion on her friends face, Janet took her by the hand
and led her to an even smaller path. This was actually the
beginning of a series of steps which led up the side of a
very small mountain. Some steps were wooden, others
were stone and there were patches of rock that were
simply bare until the next set of steps appeared. Finally
arriving at the top, Cally's breath was taken away. She
stood there speechless. All along the top of the small
ridge was the cabin. It had been incorporated into the
mountain as if it had grown out of it. A gentle slope led
down to a shimmering lake and the faint sound of moving
water could be heard not far away, coming, Cally
supposed, from the stream which fed the small, but
beautiful lake. The late morning sunlight drifted through
the trees and a gentle breeze lifted the women’s' hair off
their shoulders. "Really somethin', hunh?" Janet softly
asked. Cally was suddenly aware that this was probably a
lover's retreat, and that she still held Janet's hand. But
she didn't let go. She instead gave the hand a small
squeeze, a silent thank you. She felt that words would
somehow break the spell that seemed to wrap them both
up and hold them in it's gentle embrace.

Janet gave Cally a gentle tug, leading her to the entrance
of the cabin. She pulled out a key and they stepped
inside. This seemed to break the spell for Cally, as she
took in the interior of the cabin. While Cally looked
around, Janet plopped down in one of the oversized
chairs by the fireplace. "I can chop some wood later,
there's a lot of deadfall out there. I figured you could get
some great writing done here, and I can get in some
practice with my weapons." Cally answered with some
murmurs of acknowledgment. At the mention of the
weapons, though, she had to give an inward smile. She
clearly remembered the time that Janet was almost
arrested when trying to practice with her sword in the
apartment she had in college. The neighbors thought
someone was being attacked, and when the police came,
she had to prove that she was a karate student, and that
she had just gotten a little over excited in her practice.
Since that time, Janet had become an instructor, but was
still very careful about where she practiced with certain
weapons. Cally also figured she could get a little practice
in herself. Janet had practically dragged her to karate
class, citing her need to know how to defend herself.She
had found that the katas served to relax her, and
although Cally wasn't into the more 'violent' forms of
karate, she had become quite adept with the Bo. It was,
indeed, difficult to find places to practice with that
particular weapon, freedom of movement being key to a
good workout.

It didn't take long for Cally to decide that she very much
liked this little cabin. There wasn't much to it, just a main
room with a kitchen off in one corner and a fireplace
located at one end. A small set of steps led up to the
sleeping loft and two small doors, one leading out to the
other end of the porch and the other leading down to a
root cellar. It was in the cellar that a small generator was
located which ran the lights, a small fridge, and the stove.
It could also be used to run small heaters in case of a lack
of fuel for the fireplace. There was no indoor plumbing,
but it seemed like a small price to pay for the luxury of
being so far away from civilization.

Janet watched as Cally made her brief tour around the
cabin's interior. She thought she could watch her friend
for hours, the small, compact, yet well proportioned body
moving with a grace that belied her years. Janet often let
her thoughts of her friend wander in this direction, but
never told Cally about her feelings. Janet just chalked it
up to one of those things that was just meant to be the
way it was, and nothing more. But one can always dream,
she thought with a sigh. It was at this small, almost
imperceptible sigh, that Cally turned to face her friend,
who was now standing and leaning on the fieldstone
fireplace. Impulsively, she gave her a huge hug. "When
can we move in?" The grin that lit up her face was
infectious, and Janet soon found herself doing the same,
grabbing up her friend in the embrace and whirling her
about in a circle. "Anytime you're ready my friend, anytime
you're ready."

Section 2
CHAPTER 4

So, what had started out as an apartment she had no
use for, to an idyllic cabin in the woods, quickly turned
into home. Cally was in sheer heaven. Not only did she
have a quiet place to do her writing, but it was rent
free.....no nagging worries about when the rent was due.
She supposed writers needed times like these so that
their writings reflected cool composure.

It only took a few days for both women to move their
belongings into the cabin. For Janet it was a snap, she
was never one to carry on about materialistic belongings.
Cally came to the realization very young in life that she
herself was an extreme pack rat. Fortunately, she was
struck with severe bouts of ‘gotta toss out junk’ and was
not too overloaded with stuff to move. The only moment
of awkwardness came in reference to the sleeping
arrangements. The cabin only had one bed, up in the loft.
Janet presented the predicament in as diplomatic a way
as possible. Which for Janet, was basically her saying to
Cally, “Do you mind?”. Cally’s answer was a swift “No.”
‘A little too swift’ Janet thought to herself, ‘but in a good
way!’.

The two women soon fell into an easy routine. Janet
would wake up early (and a bit frustrated....sleeping next
to the woman she fantasized about was not an easy thing
to do!) and began her morning workout. A quick cup of
coffee and she was out running through the woods. Her
sleek muscles carrying her swiftly along the deer path she
had discovered the first week at the cabin. The ground
was still damp with dew, and the lake carried it’s morning
blanket of fog like a sleeper awakening from a restful
sleep, only to shrug it’s mantle off as the sun rose higher
in the sky. This morning, as every one, Janet circled the
lake, taking note of where the deer would come up to the
waters edge, avoiding that area so as not to disturb the
animals feelings of security. Not that they would notice
her. She was silent, barely the whisper of something not
quite seen.

She veered off the path, up a steep climb, towards the
source of the stream which fed into the lake. She took in
the vista of the cabin nestled in the small dale, a small
smile briefly flashing across her face as she thought of
the woman in the cabin who would just now be rising.

Cally had long since wiped the sleep out of her eyes on
this morning. What Janet did’nt know, and what Cally
would not tell her, was that she would awake in bed as
soon as Janet left. Some inner sense that she could not
quite put her finger on, would wake her to the loss of her
sleep partner and sleep would not return.

This morning, and every morning, Cally would lie in bed
and listen to her friend shuffle around. The soft
grumbling with the return from the chilly outhouse, the pot
being set to boil, little noises that sounded like home.
Cally thought that she had never felt so secure. At first,
that kind of thought had startled her, for she had never
found that type of peace with Roger. Now she was
beginning to think that she never wanted to return to the
uncertainties that her past had been plagued with.

When the point came that she was fully awake, Cally
slipped quietly out of bed and moved to the small window
in the loft. From this vantage point, she could see the
slope leading down to the lake, as well as Janet starting
her morning run. Cally knew she was sinking deeper and
deeper with Janet. Each and every morning, it took her
breath away to see the woman limber up and begin her
exercises. She would follow the path Janet took with her
eyes, loose her briefly in some brush, the see her
reappear at the top of the dale. On this morning, Cally
could swear Janet was looking right at her. Janet had a
similar thought.

CHAPTER 5

After a quick shower (runoff from the stream was piped
into a stall out on the side of the cabin and heated by the
generator) Janet grabbed her keys and headed out the
door. Cally was sitting on the porch leaning on a post
with her legs propped up to support her writing tablet.
“Where ya headed to?” she asked. “Gotta go into town
for some supplies. Need anything?” As Cally pondered
the question, Janets eyes roamed over the body of her
friend. ‘Don’t go there!’ she mentally chastised herself.
‘Bad, bad’. Her friend was oblivious to the whole thing.
“Can’t think of anything off hand, but I’ll probably think of
a dozen after you go!” “Ok...wanna come along for the
ride?” All she got in return was a cool gaze. “Just
askin’.....heh.....”. With a smirk Janet disappeared down
the hidden path. A few moments later Cally could hear
the engine flare to life on the Harley, and then the sound
faded away into the distance.

The entire trip to town was uncomfortable for Janet.
Her mind kept drifting back to thoughts of her friend. How
she looked in the morning, all rumpled still from sleep, her
bright smile when she would return from her run.....and it
was all so damned hopeless. Janet had promised herself
not to let this happen again. Chasing after someone you
can never have is like breaking some grand and for a
good reason rule. Did she imagine that Cally was feeling
the same way? Her friend was into guys, nasty good for
nothing guys that ultimately hurt her, but guys none the
less. Janet snuffed thoughts of her friend out of her head
and took a deep breath. As the Harley roared along her
silent mantra was ‘Not gonna get hurt again’. And the
walls went up.

Cally was getting a bit cramped out on the porch, so
she decided to drag a chair out onto the porch. Looking
around the small cabin, she didn’t really see a chair that
was suitable. She suddenly remembered that there was a
small door under the porch. Sure enough, there was a
similar, but smaller set of furniture tucked away down
there. She was able to haul out one of the chairs and a
cushion, confidant that when her friend returned she
would help move the matching loveseat out to the porch.

As she returned to close the small hatch leading under
the porch, her eyes fell upon what appeared to be a stone
that had worked it’s way loose from the foundation.
Knowing that she hadn’t seen that stone there earlier, she
scanned up along the wall trying to see where it would fit.
It didn’t take her long to find a small hole about as wide as
a hand span. She was about to put the stone back in it’s
place when she realized that there was something in the
hole. Carefully reaching in, her hand fell upon what felt
like a rolled up piece of paper. She drew it out and began
reading:

Now I must leave behind my cares
and worries. Fear not
for me, my love....
We shall be together in death, as we
were in life....til the other side..........

That was all there was to the note, yet it shook something
inside Cally right to the bone. The feeling was that which,
had she been asked to describe it, she could not. But
one thing was certain. One thing was clear to her mind.
That one thing, was that she somehow knew who had
penned this note. It was unsigned, it was not addressed
to anyone, yet she knew the author. She knew who wrote
it and why. The only thing she didn’t know, was why she
found it now, and not then.

A STRANGE THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE END

Jan slowed her motorcycle down as she came to the
wide dirt path about a mile away from the cabin. Since
she was in no rush to return to the sweet torment that had
become her life, she decided to stop here and take a
break before going back. She cut the engine on her bike,
gave the stand a kick and toed over a flat rock to place
under it. Jan knew she was tense...the past few weeks
had been harder than she thought. While she knew Cally
would always remain her friend, she didn’t want to do
anything to jeopardize the relationship. Thinking back
over the past few weeks, however, Jan was not so certain
that Cally would turn away from Jans’ advances. A small
smile spread across her face as she remembered one
morning waking up to the small woman having draped
herself across her body sometime during the night. Jan
had deftly eased out from under her friend and never
mentioned it, in fact, was thankful that Cally hadn’t woken
up.

Jan leaned on the motorcycle, half in the seat with one
foot up on the footrest. She closed her eyes, focusing on
relaxing, bringing herself to an almost meditative state. It
was a few moments later that she heard a noise off to her
left. The barest trace of a whisper. Perhaps a boot
dislodging a branch. Slowly, casually, she straightened
up, opening her eyes just enough to cast a look around.
All she saw were trees, but then, again, a small noise.
One might almost mistake it for a forest creature, but Jan
somehow sensed that this was no furry, cuddly creature
looking for a handout.

Like quicksilver, Jan threw her self to the right, rolling
into a ball and coming up in a defensive stance. She
glanced at her forearm, there was blood. A quick scan of
the area showed a crossbow quarrel buried in a nearby
tree. “Show yourself and fight you coward!” she yelled
out. Slowly three people emerged from the surrounding
woods. Two men and one woman. It was the woman who
spoke. “Been a long time. Your a hard woman to track
down Jan.” “Hasn’t been long enough. Didn’t you take
enough of a beating the last time?” Jan answered in
return. She was referring to a karate competition several
years ago when the young inexperienced woman had
been soundly beaten by Jan. It had been a simple
competition, and Jan had never understood the hate that
had developed from it. The fact was, Jan had dismissed
the woman from her thoughts soon after, but it appeared
that she had not done the same.

The woman directed the two men to circle around Jan,
one to each side. They came at her and Jan realized right
away that they were both very high level blackbelts.
Briefly, she wondered how such disciplined warriors could
follow this woman, but the only explanation she could
think of was that they were renegades. The odd fighters
out who were too violent for their own good. Those who
were rejected by the various dojos due to their desire to
use their knowledge and talent only to hurt others and
further their own twisted gains. Although these thoughts
took only moments, Jan quickly focused on the fight at
hand. They might be good, but Jan was an expert as well.
It would be a good fight.

It was. Within minutes, Jan had the two men running.
One cradled a broken arm, and she was sure she had
dislocated his elbow as well. The other was running not
so quickly, due to the fact that his face was a mess and
was having difficulty seeing where he was going. Jan
turned to face the woman and walked slowly towards her.
The woman stood her ground, anger at the buffoons
running away turning her face a crimson red. “Nice
choice of thugs,” Jan commented quietly “too bad they
were a waste of time, Keefer.” “Good of you to remember
my name, now it’s my turn.” And with this said, Keefer
rushed Jan and the combat began in earnest.

Roundhouse kicks and blocks and strikes. A flurry of
movement, brief pauses to regain composure and then
more flurries. Jan did a quick roll and landed next to her
bike. Without turning around, she stuffed her hand in the
saddlebag and pulled out her weapon of choice. It had
served her many times when bar fights turned nasty, or
when things like this happened. And Jan was reflecting
that it had happened more often than she would like to
admit! Two short wooden staffs about an arms-length
each. Keefer did not seem fazed by the sudden
appearance of the weapon. She lunged in again for Jan
and in a series of quick movements, all too fast for Keefer
to keep track of, and in a matter of moments, Keefer was
on the ground nursing a possibly broken jaw. “Leave and
don’t come back.” Jan practically growled at the woman.
“Leave and make sure that the next time you try a stunt
like this you come more prepared.” Keefer shot her a
look of pure evil. “This isn’t over yet,” she mumbled
through her sore jaw. “I’ll not forget the shame you have
marked me with.”

Jan shrugged and hauled the woman up by her arm.
She remained silent as she gave her a shove in the
general direction that the men had taken. Turning toward
the bike she cranked up the engine, revved up a bit and
sped off towards home. She had a sinking sensation that
perhaps those three weren’t the only ones around. Jans’
only thought was the safety of her friend and too much
time had been wasted there on the dirt road.


Taking the steps two at a time, Jans’ long legs quickly
moved her up the incline towards the entrance to the
cabin. When she opened the front door her heart sank.
The cabin was a mess. Chairs overturned, dishes strewn
about, Cally’s belongings were all over the floor of the
main room. “Cally!” she called out, “Cally, where are you?”. Looking all around and not
seeing her friend, Jan moved towards the ladder to the
loft. “What’s all the shouting about?” a familiar voice
called from above. “You’d think we were being attacked
or something!!” Cally poked her head into the opening in
time to see Jans’ face light up in a relieved smile. “Come
on up here, there’s something you should know about.”

Section 3

CHAPTER 6

Jan climbed up the ladder to the loft and swooped her
friend up in a tight embrace, very much relieved to see
her friend in one piece. “What’s wrong Janet? I don’t
normally get hugs for asking you to join me up here.”
‘Although maybe that’s not such a bad thing’ Cally was
tired of wrestling with these thoughts and feelings. They
weren’t new feelings, and the hug she was on the
recieving end of was not helping her thought processes.
She pulled back a bit without losing contact with Jan, and
looked into her eyes. ‘Wow,’ she thought ‘I could dive
into those eyes and never come up for air!’ What she
saw reflected in Janets’ eyes could only be described as
panic. While this look may not be condusive to romance,
Cally was quick enough to see that Janet was thinking at
least several things. One was that she was probably
afraid that she had offended Cally (she was thinking that,
but Cally was definitely not offended) and the other was
that she should release the hug and try to act as if
nothing was out of the ordinary (Cally wouldn’t release her
hold, and something was definitely up!) Before the panic
she saw in her friends eyes could cause her further
embarassment, Cally did something that she hoped she
wouldn’t regret later. Ever so slowly, she brought Janet
back into the hug, her hands soothing her friends sudden
distress by gently kneading the tense muscles of her
back. She pulled away a bit again and places soft kisses
on Janet’s now closed eyelids. A soft moan escaped
from Janet’s lips, encourageing Cally onward.

Janet was inwardly freaked. Here she was with a bear
hug on her best friend and she was readily giving in to
her friends advances. “Cally...” “Hmm?” “You know I
didn’t mean to.....” “Yeah, I understand, but I didn’t know
what else to do with these feelings I’ve been having. You
don’t feel the same way, do you?” Cally bent her head
down and began fidgeting, now trying to pull away from
the embrace, completely embarrassed. ‘Why would she
want me?’ Cally thought. ‘Probably thinks I’m just
curious, how can I explain what’s in my heart?’ “Yes, I
do.” Cally’s head snapped up. “You do?” “Yeah, I have
for a while now. I had no idea you felt this way about me, I
thought I was just doing a lot of fantasizing.” “What are
you saying, that I didn’t just make a complete fool out of
myself?” Instead of answering, Janet cupped Cally’s face
in her hands and gently kissed her lips. Tentative at first,
the kiss soon deepened.

Soft, tender touches, hands memorizing places only
their eyes had been able to explore. A sense of
rightness, completeness and security surrounded them.
An aura that each thought they could almost see, yet
hovered just beyond conciousness. Tiny electrical
surges followed each place their hands touched. As one,
they both felt a shift (for lack of a better word) in the
room. They broke off the kiss and looked around. Just
out of their field of vision, they caught a glimpse of a
small glade and what looked like a waterfall off to the side.
A faint scent of moss and water teased their senses.
“Wow.” Cally softly said. “Did you feel that as well?”
Janet simply nodded. “I really think we need to talk.”

“Let’s talk about why you were so desperately calling
my name before? Maybe if we start at the beginning, we’ll
have a better understanding of what just happened.”
Janet agreed with Cally, but thought about how much to
tell her, she didn’t want to worry her. She took Cally’s
hand and led her over to sit on the edge of the bed.
Besides, how exactly do you bring up the fact that on and
off for the past several years, some maniac was out for
your blood over some stupid incident. Janet decided to
opt for the truth, there was no sense in not telling her,
since Keefer and her thugs had come so close to the
cabin... they might show up again and Cally deserved to
be prepared in such an event. Quickly Janet gave her the
basics of the encounter. “You say this woman, Keefer, is
a little nuts, do you think she’ll come back?” Cally was
wondering if there was more to this than Janet was telling
her, something about her posture and her nervousness
just didn’t sit right. “Anything is possible with Keefer, she
didn’t like being beat then, and she didn’t like it today any
better.” “What is it that you’re not telling me?” Janet
looked long and hard at her friend. “Know me pretty well,
huh?” A small quirky smile pulled at the corner of her
mouth.

“Well, at about the same time as that competition,
strange things started happening. I can’t put a finger on
all of them, but I do remember some strange dreams. I
don’t usually remember my dreams, but this was wierd. A
woman who looked a lot like Keefer would fight with me in
the dream. At first it was replays of the competition, and I
shrugged them off as meaningless. Then this person in
the dream started screaming at me about her village, how
I burned it. A maniac type laughter would just go on and
on til I would wake up in a cold sweat.” Throughout all
this, Cally held Janets’ hand. She knew her friend would
wake up at night, but had always feigned sleep so as not
to embarrass her. Sometimes if she noticed the dream
happening to her friend before she would wake from it,
Cally would comfort her friend in a close hug and murmur
soft, nonsensical encouragement until Janet fell back into
a deep sleep. “Is there more?” Janet took a deep
shuddering breath, glad in a way to finally be able to tell
someone about this. She looked Cally in the eyes and
saw the trust there, and believed in it. “Yes.”

“At first I thought I had just been reading too many
fantasy novels!” she gave a short laugh and then
continued. “While doing my exercises, especially since
we’ve been here at the cabin, I’ve felt a presence.
Someone running along beside me, but not really there.
Sometimes there are flashes of deja vu. As though I am
remembering being somewhere that I know I have never
been, or when I create a new flip or technique, that I’ve
somehow done it all before.” “That’s not so odd,” Cally
said “I’ve been having the same thing happen to me,
minus the dreams.” “And then what just happened with
the kiss, it’s almost as if everything was magnified.
Maybe we’ve just been out in the woods too long!” Janet
replied, trying to ease the tension that had built up. They
both laughed a bit, feeling some of the tension truly ease
away.

CHAPTER 7

“Well, now you know what I was up to.” Janet said
after the laughter died down. “Yeah, I can see why you
panicked when you came into the cabin.” “Yeah, I did
freak out a bit. What’s with the mess down there anyway?
Doesn’t look much better up here either.” “Oh!” Cally
smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. “I
almost forgot! You can be very distracting.” She leaned
in for a kiss that was given back. Janet placed her hand
behind Cally’s neck and gently rubbed, causing Cally to
emit a soft moan. “See,” she said as she broke the kiss,
“that’s what I was talking about!” “Just returning the
kiss!” Janet said with a small smile. “How am I supposed
to hold back now that we’ve broken through those
walls?”

Janet rested back on the bed, propped up on her
arms. A small pout graced her face for a moment, but
she relented. “Actually, I am really curious to know
what’s been going on in here. I promise to be still if you
can.” “Agreed. It started out with this note.” Cally
handed Janet the note she had found in the stone wall
earlier that day. Janet read it and Cally could tell by the
look on Jan’s face that something was up. “Do you know
who wrote this Jan?” All Janet could do was nod. “Well,
at least I found probably the one thing in the world that
could render you speechless!” Cally let out a little laugh.
She took hold of Janet’s hand and rubbed the back of it
with her thumb. “Are you ok?” “Yeah, fine, I guess...”
she finally managed to say. “The handwriting looks like
mine, but we both know that isn’t true, huh?” “Actually,
when I first read it, I had a very vivid image in my mind of
someone who looked a lot like you. This woman,
however, if possible, was wearing more leather than you
usually do! That’s who I believe wrote the note. Then
there is this oddity....” She handed Janet a small piece of
metal that was about the size of her hand.

Janet turned the piece over and around studying it.
“Where did you get this?” “My grandmother, about six
years ago, gave it to me. It was at about the same time
she started getting ill. I remember her telling me that it
was very important, but with the onset of her senility, well,
I figured she was losing it, and didn’t take her seriously.
I’ve even tossed it away many times, only to have it,
somehow, not actually get thrown away. Now it seems as
though I’m meant to have it. The cabin is a mess
because I was searching for it.” Cally blushed slightly
and looked up at Janet. “I guess I went a little
overboard!” “We can clean up later.” Janet managed to
keep herself from smiling, it really was kind of funny,
looking back on it now.

“What do you think it is? Gramma said it was
important, and she rambled on a bit about it being the
‘key’, but she didn’t say what for.” Jan was still turning
the object over in her hands. It was round, had some
type of carving on it, and looked as though it was meant
to be attached to something. “I think this would fit on the
end of your Bo. But I don’t think it’s meant to be
practical, only ornamental, otherwise we would have seen
something like this before. I’ve never seen anything
attached to a staff in any of the books I’ve read or
competitions I’ve been too. Maybe it’s a symbol of rank,
or something.” “Hang on...I’ll get my staff and we can see
if it fits.” Both women went downstairs, with Cally
dodging boxes and debris on the floor to retrieve her Bo
from where it was kept beside the fireplace.