Annaldra

Ann was in the Otherworld. It was the first time she had been back since she had physically been there a month ago, only now she had returned in a dream. Looking down at herself, she could see she had no physical body. Instead, her being was incandescent: a radiant, pearly white light in the shape of her physical self. Raising her hands for a closer look, she wiggled her fingers. The movement caused the light of her hands to shine brighter, and twinkling from within a colourful kaleidoscope of stars flashed. Swirling her arms in front of her, as though conducting an orchestra, she created patterns with the lights, pale, rainbow coloured tracers remaining after each elegant movement. It was mesmerising.

Forcing her gaze away from herself she realised she was in a great hall. Around her people were busy, making ready for a celebration. Laid in parallel rows were four banqueting tables, in front of which sat a larger, more prominent table, sitting higher than the rest. Garlands of red and gold flowers weaved down each table between huge bowls of exotic fruits and golden candelabra. Vibrant tapestries depicting celebrations and hunting scenes in an almost mediaeval style adorned the walls. Some creatures she did not recognise, but others she did: seals, lions, peacocks, horses and birds of prey from her world; mermaids, dragons, giant sea serpents, unicorns and satyrs from mythology.

‘This feast is in your honour, Annaldra,’ she heard her father whisper. ‘You have done well.’

Turning she saw both her parents. Mary looked proud; her hands clasped triumphantly in front of her chest as she smiled lovingly at her.

‘For me… really?’

‘Yes,’ her father said. ‘You will dine here as the guest of honour soon. In just a few days in your world and the gates can open, and we will be together.’

Ann was twinkling like diamonds in the sun. She was ecstatically happy and content as warmth and love nourished her soul.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! The booming thumps ripped Ann from the blissfulness of the Otherworld back into the musty, old hotel bedroom where her body lay asleep. The shock pierced her heart like a spear of ice as coldness engulfed her making the hairs on the back of her neck stand rigid.

‘Ann, Ann, wake up. Something terrible has happened,’ shouted Donald over the sound of his thumping.

Ann was shaking and her head throbbed. A steam train without tracks was trundling around inside her skull. Gone was the ecstasy she was enjoying moments before in the Otherworld. ‘Hold on, I will be there in a minute,’ she shouted as she tried to come to terms with what had just happened.

Standing up, unsure if she could walk, she somehow managed to stumble to the door and unlock it before crumpling in a heap to the floor.

‘Oh my god, Ann, what’s wrong?’ asked Donald seeing his friend lying on the floor trying to raise herself.

‘Help me to the bathroom, quick!’ Ann covered her mouth with her hand as Donald helped her up. Supporting her, he got her to the bathroom just in time for her to vomit down the toilet.

Donald looked on helplessly for the next couple of minutes as she sat on the floor and continued to retch. Though latterly little came up. At last, she managed to raise her head, though it was in a manner that suggested it weighed far more than it did. Her breathing was deep and laborious, and her eyes remained closed.

Donald knelt beside her. ‘You look awful. Are you okay?’

Turning her head, she looked at Donald with heavy eyes. ‘Yuck, that was horrendous,’ she spoke slowly, every other word intercepted by a deep breath. ‘I had no idea being sick was that disgusting, eeeow.’

Donald could see her body trembling, and she had beads of sweat on her forehead. ‘What, you’ve never been sick before?’ Norlu had told him she was never sick, and he had just witnessed her being violently sick.

‘No, never, that was my first time, and it was your fault,’ she said giving him a friendly thump on the chest. ‘It is probably because we broke the geis… God, my head is sore.’ She knew, however, it was having her soul wrenched back from the Otherworld that had caused the shock, but thought it kinder to make a joke of it.

Donald did not seem to notice her joke. ’What, you think the broken geis caused this?’He looked worried.

‘No, I’m kidding.’ She was now smiling at Donald. ‘Help me up will you, I feel weak.’

‘Here you will need this,’ he said handing her a glass of water.

‘Thanks,’ she said with a weak smile, but Donald did not return it; instead he watched her as she sipped the water, his face serious, his stare intense.

‘So what was so urgent?’ she asked as they walked back into the bedroom. For the first time she noticed Norlu was not there and her bed had not been slept in. ‘Oh my god, is it Norlu? Where is she? Is she okay?’

‘Norlu is fine. Sit down, Ann.’

Ann sat on Norlu’s bed so she faced him. She sensed a real seriousness in his voice.

‘Where is she then?’

‘Norlu stayed with me last night.’

‘With you, really?’ a cautious grin spread across Ann’s face. ‘That’s wonderful… Wait, isn’t it?’ She was not sure; Donald did not look happy about it.

‘Aye,’ he sighed. ‘I left her sleeping, but it’s nothing to do with that. Something’s happening Ann, something really bad,’ he drew in a deep breath as he stared at her with the same worryingly intense expression he had when watching her sip the water.

It unnerved her and in that moment, she was afraid. She had a bad, bad feeling about whatever it was he was going to tell her. ‘What is it, Donald?’

Donald looked angst, his foot nervously tapping the floor as he searched for the words. ‘People all over the world are dying,’ he said, his wolf eyes scrutinising her. ‘I heard it on the radio this morning and Mr Finch told me it’s on every television station. Something is killing people Ann… millions have died already.’

Her stomach heaved, but she swallowed and managed to keep the contents down. ‘It’s because of us, isn’t it? It’s because we broke the geis,’ she said knowing, full well, Donald also thought so.

‘We don’t know that for sure, nobody knows, and…’ Donald stopped, then reconsidered what he was about to say. ‘Ann, what was the purpose of the spell?’

‘Please don’t ask… I cannot tell you, but it’s not the spell. It is the broken geis. That’s why this is happening. I know it is,’ said Ann sounding panicked.

Donald shook his head in disbelief. ‘For fuck’s sake Ann, people are dying and you can’t tell me?’

‘Please, Donald, we don’t want to make it worse. I want to tell you, I really do but I can’t.’

‘Ann, it’s here in the village. Bob Dalrimpile is dead. He died in his sleep, his wife found him dead beside her when she woke this morning.’

‘The postmaster?’ Her stomach squirmed again; the snake ball was back, their writhing forceful. ‘Seonag saw it, she saw all the deaths. She knew this would happen, but nobody believed her, nobody except Elaine.’

‘Eh, what do you mean? How did she know?’

‘She has the Sight. I should have believed it was true, but I didn’t. Scott convinced me it wasn’t real. That’s why Seonag is in the hospital, everyone thinks she’s mad and she’s not. She’s got a gift.’ Frustration clawed at her insides, and for the first time in her life, Ann found herself chewing her nails.

‘I’ll put the television on.’ Donald flicked through the channels. ‘It’s on them all, this one will do.’

The elderly news reporter looked sombre. ‘As yet, nobody knows what is causing these deaths, and the results from the post mortems carried out so far show nothing. The full toxicology results will take a few days, but the initial results have all been clear. I have with me in the studio Professor Higgins, a microbiologist specialising in infectious diseases.’ The newsreader turned to his guest.

‘What do you think is happening, Professor? Is it a new pandemic?’

The camera panned to the equally sombre looking professor.

‘At this stage it is difficult to say. What we have to do is look at the known facts, and so far, they do not add up. Fit healthy people are dropping dead, no symptoms, no illness, just dying.’

‘Well, we know these unexplained deaths have only occurred at night,’ interrupted the newsreader.

’Yes, they appear only to happen when it’s dark. We also know they are not localised. It is happening on every continent, in every country that night has passed over, and it began just after midnight last night, and whatever it is, it does not discriminate. The old, the young, black, white, all races, even isolated communities are affected—communities so remote they are usually exempt from anything new, well at least for a few years. However, there is one unusual statistic regarding the locations—’

‘Which is?’ interrupted the newsreader.

‘Prison populations are seeing a much higher number of deaths than any other community. Some prisons I believe have lost ninety percent of their inmates, and making this fact even stranger is prison guards, on the most part, remain unaffected.’

The newsreader nodded. ‘Yes, that is unusual, and why do you think that is?’

‘We don’t know. It makes no sense.’ The professor shook his head, the hopelessness of the situation written on his face.

‘Well, what do you make of these reports that some people claim to have seen a dark shadow pass through the victims’ bodies moments before they die? Hence the reason they have been nicknamed the shadow deaths.’

‘There are more and more of these reports coming in all the time, so it is hard to dismiss them, but we know of nothing like it. If they are true, it is something new. I couldn’t explain it.’

‘Could it be a new virus?’

‘No,’ said the professor shaking his head, ‘I’ve never known a virus to behave this way.’

‘Some people are suggesting it is an alien virus?’

The professor somehow managed a mild smirk. ‘Well, I suppose it’s the only explanation we have at the moment. Until full the full toxicology results become available, we can only guess.’

‘Thank you, Professor,’ he said and turned to face the camera, his expression as solemn as a condemned man facing the gallows.

‘Turn it off,’ snapped Ann. ‘I’ve heard enough.’

Just then, the door burst open. There, standing in the doorway stood Norlu, panting, bent double with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath.

‘I know what’s happening,’ she wheezed as she flopped on her bed. ‘The radio was on when I woke up, I heard it.’

Donald sat beside her and gave her a comforting hug, but Norlu wriggled free. ‘I know how to save people,’ she said excitedly.

Both Ann and Donald stared at her. ‘How do you know?’ asked Ann.

Norlu swung her legs round and sat up, undoing her jacket, her plump face still red from running. ‘My grandmother, she knows. She told me what to do,’ said Norlu punctuating her sentences with pants.

A wave of mild relief washed over Ann. If anyone knew about this kind of stuff, it was Tunkeeta. ‘What did she say?’

‘Well, see your pendant, the one she gave you…’

Ann nodded as she reached for the pendant around her neck and twirled it between her fingers.

‘Well, she told you it would protect you.’

Again, Ann nodded.

‘Well, if it is taken to sacred ground, its power is amplified and can protect those near. If you place it in the centre, the protection will radiate out.’

‘Protect us from what exactly?’

‘The shadows of course,’ said Norlu. ‘You have heard about the shadow deaths, haven’t you?’ She looked confused as her gaze shifted between Ann and Donald as she spoke.

‘Norlu, what exactly are the shadows?’ asked Ann in a slow deliberate tone. Her unblinking gaze fixed on Norlu’s eyes.

‘Well, my grandmother told me they are the souls of evil people that have died. They were imprisoned somewhere and now they are free.’

‘I don’t understand, are they ghosts?’ asked Donald as Ann continued to stare at Norlu, her expression cold and motionless.

‘Yes, I suppose they are. My grandmother called them lost souls. They are the lost souls of the wicked. You know those who in life were so evil they were not permitted to cross over. They are ripping the souls from the living.’ Norlu paused hoping Ann would say something, but Ann continued to stare at her with a steely expression making Norlu shudder as if someone stepped on her grave.

It was Donald who broke the silence. ‘Don’t we need to hurry?’ he said glancing at the mantle clock. ‘Shouldn’t we tell everyone then?’

‘No. You don’t need to panic, at least not yet,’ said Norlu calmly. ‘They can only rip out souls at night. It must be dark. Last night the shadows took souls of evil people. Tonight they will take the souls of bad people, but it is tomorrow night we have to fear. Tomorrow night they will take everyone else…’

A look of horror descended on Donald’s face. ‘It’s as if they have an agenda. Starting with those who deserve their lives the least then working their way to those who are more worthy.’

‘Exactly!’ exclaimed Norlu in a triumphant tone.

‘Everyone, they will kill everyone. Tunkeeta told you that.’ Ann was shaking; her eyes, now filling with tears, remained fixed on Norlu. ‘Why, what the hell is happening, Norlu?’

‘No, Ann, not everyone will die. Some will be saved,’ reassured Norlu. ‘According to my grandmother those with pure souls cannot be touched. They have natural protection. The shadows will only take those with darkness on their souls… unless they have protection like us. Then after the third night the shadow’s energy will be spent, and they will die. It will be over.’

‘Over, what will be over?’ said Ann slowly. Ann knew the answer, but she wanted Norlu to say it.

‘You know… the deaths,’ said Norlu in a shaky voice.

‘Say it,’ said Ann calmly, but cold.

‘I don’t understand what you want me to say?’

’Say it!’

Norlu dropped her head. ‘The human purge,’ she said in a voice so quiet it was barely audible.

The words made Ann clench her fists; her heavy breathing sounded like an angry bear. The next human purge was something Tunkeeta often talked about—it would be the greatest of them all. The time when humanity would be all but wiped out, and deservedly so she thought. The world would be cleansed of its cancer. She had said there had been many purges of humans in the past, caused by wars, plagues and natural disasters and it would happen again, but next time it would be cataclysmic… on a global scale. Ann had listened half-heartedly when she talked of such things, believing it was future history. Not something that would happen in her lifetime, and smaller versions of these events happened all the time. They were part of a natural cycle. Never had Tunkeeta even hinted at the possibility something other than nature caused such things—something like her.

‘When exactly did she tell you this? She doesn’t have a phone,’ said Ann in a slow, deliberate tone.

Holding her head in her hands, Norlu slowly rocked it from side to side.

‘When!’ screamed Ann, her snowy complexion flushing red with anger.

‘Calm down, Ann, can’t you see she’s upset,’ said Donald.

‘You’ve known this would happen all the time you’ve been here. That is why your grandmother sent you, isn’t it? It was so I would protect you, was it not?’

Norlu nodded without meeting Ann’s gaze.

‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me, why, Norlu?’

‘Tunkeeta didn’t want me to tell you. She made me promise I wouldn’t. Anyway, what would be the point? It would only have served to terrify you. It is something that is unavoidable. You know that. I wanted you to be happy not scared,’ said Norlu, her voice breaking up.

‘But if you had told me… I could have…’ Ann stopped herself from saying it.

‘Could have what?’

Ann glared at Norlu. ‘Well, how do we stop it, Norlu?’

‘It can’t be stopped,’ she shook her head as she spoke. ’I am so sorry.’

‘It can’t, or you won’t tell me,’ said Ann calmly, even though inside her anger was rising, bubbling close to the surface like a volcano about to erupt.

Norlu shook her head. ‘It can’t.’

Did Tunkeeta know I would be the one releasing them? Was that the reason she did not want you to tell me about the purge, she wanted to ask. Instead she asked, ‘How the hell does Tunkeeta know so much about this?’

‘You know, on her vision quests, the spirits. That is where her knowledge comes from. You know that.’

‘Please leave Norlu,’ said Ann calmly, not even bothering to look at her friend as she said it. Everything she thought she knew about her friends was wrong as the realisation hit her that Norlu and Tunkeeta knew about the purge and never told her. They were like her family, she loved them like kin, but now she did not know who they were.

‘No, I want to know what’s going on. You could have what? You said “you could have” then stopped yourself saying it.’

Ann could feel her stomach heaving again. Covering her mouth, she ran to the bathroom and retched numerous, painful times, before bile came up. It was even more distressing than the first time; having nothing left to throw up she feared her stomach would make an appearance instead. It certainly felt like it might.

‘Are you alright?’ asked Norlu as she bent down and put her arm around her friend’s back.

Ann took a deep breath as she wiped her lips with the back of her hand before turning her head to look into Norlu’s eyes. ‘Get the hell out of here,’ she spoke slowly, her tone low and threatening. ‘Just get out. I don’t know who you are anymore.’

Tears ran down Norlu’s face like raindrops snaking down a window. ‘Please Ann. Please. I am so sorry—’

Ann’s eyes glared wildly, ’Get out now!’ she screamed as fury ousted the cold calmness.

With that, Norlu turned and fled the room.

‘Was that not a bit harsh?’ asked Donald as he followed Ann back into the bedroom. ‘I mean, even if she had told you, you couldn’t have stopped this from happening.’

She paused before answering. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, if you are right, and it is the broken geis, that is my doing, not yours. You did not know I would follow you. Did you?’

‘No, I suppose I didn’t,’ said Ann with a sigh. ‘But breaking the geis released the shadows and Tunkeeta knew something like this would happen over a week ago. She told Norlu about it before she came and she told Norlu not to tell me. I think Tunkeeta knew it would be me. That’s why she didn’t want Norlu telling me about the purge. If I knew what Norlu knew before I performed the spell, I would never have done it. I would have realised the two things were connected, and I would have believed Seonag.’

‘I doubt Tunkeeta would know you would be involved in releasing the shadows.’

Ann grasped her pendant and thrust it towards Donald. ’She did, I am sure of it. She gave this pendant to me after I fell through ice when I was younger. It is a ancient ancestral heirloom, and as far as I know, one of a kind. When she gave it to me, she told me it was of the upmost importance that I remained safe, that I should always wear it. Why would she give it to me and not Norlu?’

Donald shrugged.

‘She once said I had a great destiny. She knew, about this, I know she did. My great destiny was to trigger the purge of the human race, and she wanted me to stay safe to fulfil it. If anything had happened to me, it would not have come to pass.’

‘Perhaps you’re right.’

‘I know I am,’ sighed Ann as she looked out the hotel widow at the goings on in the square. Considering the global disaster that was unfolding, the square looked remarkably normal. A group of young teenage boys and girls were hanging around the bus stop waiting for the bus into town, all trying desperately to impress one another while still keeping their cool. Two women chatted outside the village shop, one with a toddler on her hip, while a young girl, no more than ten, bounced a ball against a wall, her cheek round and fat, the white stick of her lollypop protruding from her mouth. An elderly man with a newspaper under his arm exited the shop, tipped his cap to the women, untied his dog from the railing and wandered off. Then there were the hotel regulars. The same men who laughed and joked at the tables outside the hotel as they did every day—only at the weekends they started as soon the bar opened. No, it seemed a perfectly normal Saturday, nothing untoward happening at all.

‘Look, Ann, the geis is obviously broken. Can’t you tell me what’s going on now?’

Ann shook her head.

‘Why not? I probably know more than you realise. Norlu’s told me things.’

Ann raised her head, her eyes narrowed as she scrutinised his face. ‘What do you mean?’

‘She told me you have never been ill.’

‘What do you call this then, food regurgitation?’ Ann rolled her eyes, but it did not deter Donald.

‘Well, until now that is. She also said you had a photographic memory…’

Ann’s eyes remained narrow as she continued to stare at him, but made no comment.

Donald let out a moan before he continued. ‘She said you can talk to animals and I believe her. I saw it myself the day of the show when the owl came back. I saw you go into the woods. I know you did something.’

Shit. Shit. Shit. He really did know way more than he should. How was she going to get out of this one?

‘And there’s something else...’ He was staring at her intensely. ‘Please don’t be angry.’

Ann flashed him a puzzled look.

‘Well, the day you hurt yourself, I found your stuff on the beach.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘Like you would have told me the truth if I had?’

‘No,’ she sighed, her face buried in her hands.

‘Look, I wanted to, but I knew you wouldn’t tell me the truth… that story about cutting your arm on some barbed wire. I knew that was a lie… I am sorry, Ann, but nothing was making any sense. And that weird string, what’s that all about? I showed it to Norlu, and even she hadn’t seen anything like it before.’

‘You showed it to Norlu?’ Her eyebrows shot up.

‘Yes, but she doesn’t know it’s yours. I just said I found it on the beach. It’s something to do with magik isn’t it?’

Was there any point continuing to hide it?

Donald sat on the bed beside his friend and put an arm around her. ‘Please tell me. The geis is broken. How can things get any worse?’

Rubbing her face, Ann took a deep breath. This was futile. He was right; it had been broken and it would be a relief to tell someone. ‘I suppose,’ she said softly.

‘Well, I think you should start at the beginning. There’s lots of gaps need filled in.’

Donald listened attentively as Ann told him about the first night she went to the Otherworld and met her parents, the spell they tasked her with, and her power to shapeshift. She divulged everything, in every detail, apart from her life as Eleanora.

Springing from his seat Donald pointed at her. ‘You were the wolf. The thought had crossed my mind. It was the only thing, that made any sense, but my logical side prevented me from considering it. Wow, Ann, this is bloody amazing.’ Then Donald’s tone turned serious. ‘Ann,’ he said. ‘You do realise there is a chance the Tuatha Dé Danann are doing this. That may have been the purpose of the spell. They could have lied to you.’

For a moment, Ann thought she was going to be sick again. ‘I know,’ she whispered turning away unable to look at him. The thought had also crossed her mind.

‘You must go back to the Otherworld to find out. If it’s nothing to do with them, they might be able to help.’

‘I know,’ agreed Ann with a long drawn-out sigh, ‘but it’s not that simple. I can only go in my dreams, and I don’t know how it works. It just happens. I sometimes go there, but mostly I don’t.’ Ann paused and gave a wry smile. ‘Where do you think I was when you woke me up?’

‘You were there, wow! Did they say anything?’

‘No silly, I had just arrived, literally just arrived, but I never sensed they were aware of any of this. It just felt… you know… like Heaven,’ she said with a half chortle.

Donald was pacing the room like a caged animal, his head lowered and eyes fixed on the floor. The constant creak, creak, creak, of the loose floorboards under the carpet sounding like the squeals of a tortured animal. ‘Well, until you are tired and ready to sleep, we must do something. We can at least try to save people, like Norlu said…’

‘I suppose,’ agreed Ann flopping back on her bed.

‘Even if we can’t save everyone, we have the means to save the village if what Norlu’s grandmother said is true.’

‘It’s true. I don’t doubt her for a minute. She would not have sent Norlu if it wouldn’t work. Norlu is here so I can protect her.’

‘Well, we need to get everyone to the church. Then we can use your pendant.’

‘How, who will listen to us, let alone believe us.’

‘It’s tomorrow night everyone will die, and tomorrow is Sunday so hopefully most people will go to church. Maybe more than usual will go with everything that’s going on. You just have to make Finley believe you. He will persuade the villagers, they trust him. He is our best bet.’

Ann sighed as sadness washed over her. ‘He won’t listen to me.’

‘Why? I thought you two were close.’

She shook her head remembering his vicious words. ‘We were, but…’

‘Is it because of us?’

Ann’s brow furrowed. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Last night when I went back to the party, Norlu was upset. She thought there was something going on between us because that’s what Finley told her.’

Ann tutted as she rolled her eyes. ‘That’s just the village gossip. Remember, I told you Murdo and Malcolm saw us in your caravan after they shot me. They thought we were ...you know ...’

‘Aye, I know, but she said he was drunk and was being nasty.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s not like him. He really upset her.’

That is a perfect excuse, thought Ann. ‘It’s probably because he’s a minister. He’ll be old school and probably doesn’t approve of such things.’

‘Didn’t you tell him it wasn’t true?’

‘No, but I told Elaine. She has obviously not said to him. Anyway, what about you, Donald, can’t you try speaking to him?’

‘No, think about it, if I tell him what’s going on, it’s so way out, he will think I’m back on drugs. You have to speak to him. You know about this stuff, and if anyone can make him believe, it is you.’ There was a shadow of a smile as he spoke.

He was right. It needed to be her. ‘Okay, but I will call him first,’ she agreed with a hint of reluctance in her tone.

Dialling his number, Ann’s stomach writhed with snakes making her feel sick again. She listened to the ringing; it seemed to take an age before someone answered.

‘Hello,’ said a solemn voice. It was Finley.

‘Hi, Finley, it is Annaldra. I have information on the shadows. Can I come roun—’

Click! Oooooooo…

Ann shook her head helplessly. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said replacing the receiver. ‘He hung up on me.’

‘What the hell is wrong with that man, Christ?’ Donald punched the wall with such force, it must have hurt, but he did not flinch.

Ann shrugged as if it was unimportant. ‘He’s probably just frightened like everyone else,’ she lied. She knew though, he would never be that rude to anyone. Even under these circumstances. He had hung up because it was her.

‘Well, we can’t just leave it at that we need to go round. We will tell him together.’

No, there has to be another way. Think! Then it hit her. ‘Wait, I have an idea, but I will need the string!’

‘Okay.’ Donald sprang to his feet. ‘Come on, let’s get it.’

Back at Donald’s caravan, Ann waited in the living room as Donald fetched the bag from his bedroom.

‘Don’t you think shapeshifting will freak Finley out?’ shouted Donald through the thin walls before he emerged with the bag.

Ann laughed at the thought. ‘Yes totally, that’s why he won’t see me do it. But one of my lives was human. He won’t recognise me if I change to that one,’ lied Ann, who was actually hoping he would recognise her. If he remembered Eleanora, she had no doubt he would believe her as they never lied to each other. Even if he did not remember her, maybe something inside him would feel enough of a connection to her he would listen, and with any luck, believe her.

Donald inclined his head slightly. ‘What are you going to tell him? Be careful what you say. Christ, whatever you say, you cannot let him find out that we have caused this. Just tell him you know how to save people.’

‘Don’t worry, that’s all I’m planning on telling him. Just the message from Tunkeeta,’ said Ann nervously. ‘I hope Norlu was right about tonight, and only bad people will be taken.’

‘I hope so too,’ agreed Donald with a sigh.

Ann untied the locks of Eleanora’s and Swain’s hair. ‘Prepare to be amazed,’ she said grinning. Taking a deep breath and feeling the essence, she visualised herself as Eleanora. Something was wrong. There was no rushing, not even a slight tug. Why am I not changing? Taking another deep breath, again she focused on Eleanor, but again nothing. Ann could feel her panic rising. What’s wrong? Why won’t I change? Before, it had been so easy.

’Well, that was bloody awesome, Ann—Not!’

‘Wait one minute, I am going to try something else,’ she said to Donald who had raised his arms expectantly, waiting for something to happen. Moving to the owl’s feather, she untied it. Taking a deep breath, she tried again, and again nothing. Ann flung the string on the couch. Was it a onetime only deal?

‘I don’t understand. It worked before,’ she whimpered as she flopped helplessly on the couch beside Donald.

Donald reached over and hugged his friend. ‘Don’t worry about it, we will go round together,’ he said rubbing her back.

Ann shook her head, knowing full well, he would not give her the time of day, and seeing them together would probably infuriate him more. ‘It won’t work. I know he won’t listen to us.’

’Christ, Ann, we must try!’

‘Wait!’ Ann pulled away. She had an idea. She could try using her ability to communicate with animals on Finley. It was possible it might also work on people, and she could still feel their essence from their locks of hair even if she could not shapeshift. Perhaps he could feel it too as one of the locks was his. Maybe everyone had the ability to recall their past lives. However, nobody would know, well, not unless they came across some part of themselves from another life, and what were the chances of that happening? Combined, the telepathy and the link to his past life might just work. Even if one of them worked, it might be enough. She would have to try. There was no other way. ‘I will go on my own. I think I know how I might make him listen… and hopefully make him believe me.’