to understand what was happening.
As she made her way through the forest, she remembered playing basketball her freshman year, and the coach telling her over and over that fear of your opponent made you hesitate, and all who hesitate are lost. She became a better ballplayer once she learned to listen to herself and not let her opponent dictate what she did. Hesitation, in this, wouldn"t mean the end of the game, but the end of- "My people."
Jessie stopped still and looked over at the small figure standing between two enormous oak trees. She was wearing a white robe, a smile, and she carried a contorted staff.
Jessie instantly knew who she was.
"Cate."
The little woman smiled wider as she approached, taking Jessie"s hands in her own. They were warm and soft hands, the hands of a healer.
"I am no healer," Cate said softly. "I suppose I could be, but I am a Vate, a seer. It is Maeve who is the healer. She is an incredible healer."
Jessie felt like she knew Cate already, like she was becoming reacquainted with someone who had once been very important to her. It was strange and normal all at the same time. "You knew I"d be here?"
Cate"s smile was like the sun. The air around them got brighter and warmer. "I have faith in you."
"I haven"t done anything, yet."
"That is where you are wrong, my friend. No one we know of has ever come as far as you and I, and believe me, we have sent many; and those before us sent many as well. You, alone, have enabled me to come across time and revisit the spirit I once was."
"Must be really weird," Jessie said, looking into the light green eyes studying her. She knew so little of Cate, while also knowing so much.
The whole thing was weird.
"Weird." Cate tested the word off her tongue like one would a new flavor. "As in strange or odd?"
Jessie laughed. "Yeah. Pretty strange all this, don"t you think?"
140 *141.
Cate smiled softly. "Speaking to the one who houses my very spirit is an odd thing, indeed, but seeing you, standing here with you is not at all odd. It seems you are an old friend of mine I have not seen in some time."
Jessie nodded. It did feel so real standing here with her. The smell of the gra.s.s, the softness of her hands, the warmth of the sun as it touched her face, all felt so real.
"Because it is real, Jessie," Cate said, as if knowing Jessie"s thoughts.
"Come, walk with me. There is much to discuss, yet so little time."
Jessie walked next to Cate, trying to take in every sight, every sound, every smell she possibly could. The scent of the forest was so crisp and clean, and the sounds of crickets far louder than any she had heard at home. She wanted to return with these memories, to remember this place and this time with the woman who came through history for her.
"Where, exactly, are we?"
Cate walked out to the middle of the grove where a stone temple stood. She inhaled deeply and began. "You came through the portal this time, and I felt your presence right away. You are wiser than I had thought. You are already making this easier."
"I have help."
This made Cate grin. "I understand that."
"But we"re not actually in the portal, are we?"
Cate tilted her face up to the sun and closed her eyes. "No, we are not. We are in my Dreamworld."
Jessie stared at her. Not until Cate opened her eyes and smiled, did Jessie say anything. "Dreamworld?"
"Come, sit over here and let me begin at the beginning, and perhaps we can make some sense of this for you."
Jessie nodded, wondering how time was measured in a dream.
Would her parents come in to find her near lifeless body in the numberless room, or would mere seconds tick slowly by as she sat in the core of another person"s Dreamworld?
Sitting on a square stone next to Cate, Jessie felt the sun at her back.
Her own dreams were not nearly as vivid as the one she was sitting in.
Why was that, she wondered.
140 *141.
"Some of this you may know already, depending, of course, on how much you remember from our visits together."
"Visits. I like that."
"My people are the Silures, and we live in an area of southwest Britannia. Do you know where that is?"
Jessie nodded. "Britain. But we call it England now."
"England." Again, Cate tried the word on for size. "Well, I live in the sixty-first year, and-"
"Wait." Jessie held her hand up. "You"re living in sixty-one AD?"
Cate c.o.c.ked her head. "I do not know what AD is, but from what I have culled from you, time is measured from the death of Jesus the Christ. If that is true, then yes, we live in the year sixty-one AD."
"Holy c.r.a.p." Jessie ran her hands through her hair. "You came two thousand years into the future to get me?"
Cate shook her head. "The portal allows one pa.s.sage to another time, but whether one goes forward or backward has yet to be controlled. The portal merely opens doors to the time stream. Where one ends up depends on who started the quest. I attempted to go into the future. Any future. Once I found you, that door remains ever open."
"Then you weren"t looking for me specifically?"
"I had no idea your time was so far into the future." Cate shook her head slowly. "Two thousand years is further than I imagined. It is unbelievable. No wonder your world is so foreign. I recognize nothing of your time, but I was searching for us in the future."
"Well, you found me. I hope I am not too disappointing."
"Of course not. I was looking for the Silurians, hoping someone had made it through time. I had no idea the portal extended so far into the future."
"Or so far into the past," Jessie added.
Cate reached out and touched Jessie"s thigh. "Though I was not looking for you, Jessie, I am certainly very happy it was you I found.
You possess the strength of spirit to do the very things we Druids believe in. You have the heart and soul of one, you know?"
Inhaling slowly, Jessie nodded. "Let"s hope. So you live in sixty- *
142 *143.
one AD, which is Latin. Anno Domini means in the year of our Lord.
Whoa." Jessie shook her head. " I guess I paid more attention in school than I thought."
"Indeed. Do you know what a Druid is?"
Jessie started to nod, then shook her head. "I know it"s what you are, and I"ve been meaning to study up on it, but my life back in the twenty-first century is a b.i.t.c.h, and I don"t have the time. I"m sorry I don"t know more."
Cate nodded. "Druids believe that what you and I are experiencing right now is more than possible. It simply is. Soul migration is a vital aspect of my people"s beliefs. We are who you are trying to save. You are one of who we were. You and I have been around a long time as a soul." She paused and bowed her head to hide a slight grin. "It is why we are so wise."
Jessie suppressed a chuckle. "Wise would not be a word I would use to describe me."
"Perhaps not at this particular point in your life, but you have a very old, very wise soul. You just have not listened to it. You have only now discovered you have one. Trust me, the wisdom will come. It always does."
"I wish it would get here soon, because I could sure use some."
"It is not coming, Jessie. It is here." Cate touched her own temple.
"Your world is so fast, it is no wonder you have not the time to stop and listen. But if you did, you would discover aspects of yourself that would astound you. I know not who were we in between my time and yours, but I am confident we were someone special."
"What makes you say that?"
Cate leaned over and took Jessie"s hand. "You. You are very special.
There lies within you such greatness if only you would believe."
"I wish I could see it."
"You will. I did. I do still."
Jessie looked down at the pet.i.te hand holding hers and marveled at how all of this could be. She realized then that she wasn"t really holding Cate"s hand and that they really weren"t two separate beings. Here, they were, of course, but in reality, they were one; one soul, two ages *
142 *143.
thousands of years apart. It was mind-boggling.
"So here we are, in your Dreamworld as two separate beings. Just how did all of this come about?"
Cate released Jessie"s hand and folded both of hers in her lap.
"Dreams are where we come to free ourselves from the constraints of life. We come here to see and feel all that we"ve been and shall become.
It is a sacred place that enables those from the past to visit us and impart their wisdom. Has that not ever happened to you?"
Jessie shook her head. "In my world, I mean, in my time, dreams hold no significance except to those society believes to be cuckoo."
"Cuckoo?"
"Insane. Crazy. Mad. People who believe in dreams or visions, that sort of thing are disregarded as looney tunes by the rest of the population. They hold no water anymore."
"How terribly sad. Why would a society choose to deprive its citizens of the wonderful wisdom and peace of the dream world?"
"I don"t have a clue."
"Dreams are powerful, Jessie. No matter what the people think in your time, you must believe in their power. You must know without any doubt, that this is a special place where souls meet and reflect on the wisdom of the ages. This Dreamworld gives us the means to communicate with each other."
Jessie nodded. "In my time, dreams are nothing. We don"t even talk about them."
"Unless you are-looney tooney?"
Jessie laughed. "Looney tunes, yeah. It"s hard enough just trying to keep up with real life."
"Your time, Jessie, feels very scary to me."
"It is. It is a very scary place with too many decisions and too many choices, and so few of them are the right ones. It"s easy to make mistakes in my time." Jessie looked around and sighed loudly. "I like it here, though. It"s very peaceful."
"It is peaceful because I created it this way. Druid magic is powerful magic, Jessie. We are capable of doing a great many fantastic acts with it. Creating our special Dreamworld is just one of those acts." Cate"s *
144 *145.
eyes seemed to change from green to blue.
"Is your real world peaceful like this as well?"
"Not for long. The Romans are going to destroy every Druid they can find. This is the main cause for which I came."
Jessie stared at her. "The Romans, as in Julius Caesar?"
Cate shook her head. "He was killed a hundred years ago."
"I suck at history. Sorry."
Cate managed a small smile. "Well, it is time for you to become good at it, because without your help, thousands of us will be destroyed.
Perhaps more."
Jessie ran her hand through her hair once more. "How can I help you from two thousand years away?"
"It will be simpler than you think. We merely need information."