"What time did he die?" Sis asked.
"At 2:02 this afternoon," Constance said. "I stopped the clock and covered his face with the blankets."
Sis placed her purse on the hallway table. Relieved at her arrival, Constance and Gabriel hugged her. Sis was average in height but had a heart to top the tallest things on earth. She was beautiful and stylish, calm and discerning.
"Uncle Billy came over," Gabriel informed her.
"That couldn't have been a pretty scene," she snickered. "How did he take the news, by popping open the bubbly?"
"We didn't tell him Dad died, but he didn't ask." Constance stated dismissing the statement with a glance out the window.
"Stance," Sis eyed her to which Constance reluctantly returned the gaze. "You should have told him. Once the coroner has determined and documented the time of death, your uncle will know Bruce was already dead when he was here. He'll be quite angry and demand an explanation."
"Who cares," Constance said grumpily. "He's a monster."
"Billy will have a conniption knowing you tried to conceal your father's death."
"He's a beast,"Constance snarled. "I don't care how mad he gets and I rather enjoy making him fume."
"We'll just tell the truth. We didn't want him around and we still don't. We don't like Billy, Sis. We don't trust him," Gabriel added.
"Who knows what Billy would have done,"Constance pointed out. "It was our option to wait for you and we waited."
"You're right about that, you are," Sis agreed. "He'd likely have taken Bruce immediately away without notifying me. He is sure to always be taking advantage of the two of you. Yes, I suppose you did the right thing."
Chapter 5
Many months had passed since the death of Bruce Cairn. Constance and Gabriel moved in with Sis and would remain there until they were old enough to move back into their home. They slowly adapted to life without their father but the pain was daily evident in their eyes. His confusing words just before his death confused them like a puzzling homework question they knew must be answered before going on tot he next question.
Billy attempted time and again to get the land and house. He'd wait for them after school and attempt tricking them into signing documents giving him the house free of cost. they were onto his foolery and Sis had warned them of Billy's shenanigans, lecturing them to beware of not only Billy, but anybody requesting anything of them regarding the land and house. she didn't put it past Billy to use any means to obtain the property. Sis guarded the land like a
German Shepherd dog. She knew Billy's intentions had nothing to do with love or concern for the children.
"Billy is trouble and what's worst is he enjoys it." she warned them.
"Why is he so obsessed with getting the house?" Constance asked as they strolled the grounds watering the plants and securing the upkeep.
"The house is lovely, but it's the land he's after," Sis confirmed as she gazed out to the sea. "Your home is only a tiny cottage, beautiful to be sure, but it's the position on these ten rolling acres overlooking the sea that has Billy so greedy."
"Will he ever take it from us?" Gabriel asked concerned.
"No, dear," She stroked his hair. "Not as long as I'm breathing. This land and house belong to the two of you now. Billy is wasting his energy, but he'll not stop. Just stay on your toes about him."
Darkness slowly settled in. Enjoying the fresh sea air on the warm summer night, Sis poured herself a glass of wine and gave lemonade to the kids. A billion star lit the night.
"What happens if you die, Sis?" Gabriel asked. "Will Billy get our land then?"
Laughing a nervous laugh Sis responded, "I hope I don't go too son yet, but no, Billy will not get your land. Ti's certain he'll try, but it's fixed that his hands will never so much as plant a flower on these grounds, even after I'm long dead in my grave."
"I miss my father," Constance sadly said staring into the deep, dark night sky.
"I know you do, sweetheart," Sis commiserated.
"It's a beautiful night, though," Constance barely whispered.
"It is," Sis softly agreed. "The sea air is a gift from God, it is."
"Look Gabriel!" Constance said excitedly. "A shooting star! Make a wish!"
Upon her words, they quickly looked at one another remembering their father's story about shooting stars.
"There's another one," Gabriel laughed pointing skyward. "It's blue!"
"Midnight or electric?" Constance broadly smiled.
"Electric," he clarified. "The reflection off a spinning sun. It stands for prayer and connection with the Geoum. I wonder what a Geoum is?" he contemplated.
"I wonder where the Virtue Star is?" Constance added.
The calm look of empathy upon Sis' face turned to shock.
"You know about the Virtue Star and Geoum? she questioned. "Who told you?"
"You know, too?" Gabriel watched her face. "Did Dad tell you?"
"I was there!" Sis exclaimed. "I was there when your mother made that awful, fateful decision."
"What awful decision?" Constance asked.
"It was all to do with emotions and little to do with reality on Nann's part. Your mother followed her out of fear for Nann's well-being," Sis stated throwing her arms across her chest.
"What are you talking about?"
Sis shook her head with a breathy sigh and plopped tiredly down in a chair that faced the climbing moon. A forlorn smile curled at the edges of her lips as her eyes filled with tears that billowed but did not fall.
"I wondered if the day would come. You've no idea how long your father and I wanted to tell you that we believe Kate and Nann are still alive."
"Mom is alive?" Constance was shocked, and Gabriel's face showed he was, too.
Sis shook her head. "We can't be sure, but we believe."
"Where is she? Why didn't you ever tell us?"
"We thought you were too young, that you wouldn't understand, that you wouldn't know how to take it." She gave a short, pathetic laugh. "All of the things your father and I, ourselves, felt."
"Go on telling," Constance commanded.
"Oh, how do I go on without sounding like I think my youngest sister Nann was nothing but a frivolous, flirty young girl, which she absolutely was," Sis scooted her chair closer to the table.
Clouds hovered halfway hiding the moon causing eerie shadows of shallow darkness that spilled comical but scary silhouettes of their bodies hunched over the garden table as they eagerly hungered for the story of Kate Cairn.
"Your aunt Nann lived for the want of a man. She simply had to have the feeling of being in love. there was never a time that I can recall that she didn't have a man in he life. There was many a discussion between Kate and myself wondering if Nann even cared what kind of man she took in just so long as she had a man!"
"Well, Nann was beautiful," Constance reminded her.
"By the hand of God she was, "Sis agreed vehemently. "She is."
"What does Nann being a flirt have to do with my Mom," Gabriel questioned.
Sis rubbed her hands together and cleared her voice as if preparing to give a speech. "You'll think us nuts, your father and me, but your aunt Nann chose a very bad apple, indeed, with whom to fall in love. He was an astronomer named Gilden Downes. Very handsome, indeed, he was and intelligent to the embarrassment of us all. He was also egotistically proud, greedy, and exorbitantly self-serving. His soul was not shining; in fact, your mother and I both saw it right off,the gray shadow around hem. Every time we saw him then on, the shadow got darker and darker until one day, we noticed it had turned near black. It gave us the shivers. A black aura is equal to death. Kate worried so much about Nann, we both did, and with good reason. Nann was unique, to be sure, and very brilliant. She was endowed in many ways and held the greatest and most unusual gifts bestowed a human being, but common sense wasn't one of those gifts."
"What gifts?" Constance asked absorbed in the story.
"Well, physical beauty, obvious to every eye for she was hard to look away from and easy to look on. But," Sis bit her lower lip and whispered, "Nann could see the Virtue Star."
Constance and Gabriel quickly looked at one another.
"Then, there is a virtue star?" Gabriel jumped up to his feet.
"Oh, glory be, yes child," Sis nodded her head vigorously, clapped her hands and beamed a smile. "Nann could travel to and from the star, too. Those with that blessing are few and not likely to be noticeable just by looking at them."
Gabriel looked up into the sky, eyes squinted as he scanned the firmament for the golden star. "It's deep in the Stars of Wisdom," he spoke softly. "I have to be able to see into the womb."
"The womb?" Sis questioned.
"Dad said the bulge consists of the Stars of Wisdom and that its like a thick womb that protects the Virtue STar. How could Nann see into the star, Sis?
She laughed at Bruce's analogy. "That's a mystery, then. I can't give you the answer because I'm not sure I know."
"Go on telling," Constance urged impatiently.
Sis resumed her serious composure. "Gilden was well aware of Nann's ability to focus on the star. How Nann received the gift or why has been a life long puzzle to us all. Gilden, being an astronomer, ached to be recognized by his colleagues, but as intelligent as he was scholastically, he, too, lacked common sense, and also lacked a common courtesy for his peers. He would routinely claim that he discovered new constellations that simply were not there, and then berate his associates for being unable to detect the constellations he faked discovering. It was awkwardly bizarre. Sometimes, he would go deep into the centuries and dig up and planet or comet that hadn't been spoken of in ages. He would rename it a name to his liking, typically something that held his own name to it, and claim he had discovered it. Every time, his mistake was brought to the attention of the scholars and scientists, but do you think Gilden admitted his trickery? Goodness, no! It was they that were the fools, he insisted, and had no depth of the universes as he determined them. He accused them of trying to finagle a find out from under him. To think about it now, I would define his character as paranoid and perhaps even schizophrenic.
"He was an extremely pouty man, like a two-year-old ranting and raving to get his own way. Over everything else in life, he wanted to claim and name a constellation for himself and go down in history as an astronomer well above his peers. His ego was the only real thing astronomical about him. But, to go on, there was this myth about a star that held the virtues that are crucial to humanity's existence and continuance. It was said no one had ever been able to see or find the star."
"I thought you said there were a few who had the blessing to see it," Constance reminded her.
"So I did, and we found it to be true. There were, and are, and these dispelled the myth that none had. It's sad that some with the blessing have been murdered and others have mysteriously vanished. Some say they're in hiding. Others say they've been kidnapped by evil forces hiding in the black holes and were made to suffer until they told all they knew about the Virtue Star. Some say they finished their human work and quietly ascended to another life in another dimension. Some say, and your father believed, that certain of the earth governments have conveniently contained them in order to hasten their own selfish motives to harness the powers of the star. He believed there are constructed colonies within the black holes of space wherein evil forces are enlisted to unravel the mysteries of the star and procure that information to the government."
"Dad talked about a black hole," Constance softly remembered.
"Nobody and nothing can escape from a black hole," Gabriel smugly pointed out. "It isn't possible. Everybody knows that."
"So we all think it to be," Sis raised an eyebrow.
"Will the trapped ones tell by giving up the secret?" Gabriel asked stimulated by the mysteriousness of it all.
"How can we know?" Sis replied.
"Do you think Mom and Nann are in the black hole?" Constance asked wide-eyed.
"Oh, Stance, I don't know."
"In the black hole?" Gabriel was astounded. "How would they even make it to the Milky Way? They'd have to go beyond the Troposphere and humans can't survive out there. there's no oxygen."
"Actually, from what I'd gathered from Nann, they would have to have access to the Milky Way through the Virtue Star and there begins the journey," Sis propped herself back in her chair. There are only a few, as I'd mentioned, withe the ability to penetrate all outer thoughts and focus uninterruptedly on the Virtue Star. It can't be an easy thing to do, but apparently, the real thing that becomes an obstacle is the lack of focus and determination."
"And believing," Constance added.
"Yes, that, too," agreed Sis. "From what Nann said, it isn't a lengthy process once your mind is attuned, but it is a process of total faith and truth. That's the hard part. Once the focus in uninterrupted and the virtue is obvious, the individual is transported directly to the Virtue Star where he or she is shown a personal design for progression, progression being a key word in its positive light. Upon that, the person is catapulted back to the outer limits of the Milky Way, in our case, Earth, within the Troposphere. Then comes the time to overcome obstacles and face and conquer the challenges on the journey back to the Virtue Star. When the person reaches the star the second time, that is where success is a bit more secure, yet the challenges could become harder from then on, too. Only one virtue at a time can be accomplished and Nann said it's crucial to go right onto the next virtue."
"I don't understand what this has to do with Mom?" Constance said frustrated.
"As I told you, Nann was in love with Gilden Downes. She followed him."
"Followed him where?"
"To the Virtue Star."
"I thought you said Gilden was an evil man."
"It's true," Sis nodded.
"How could he go to the Virtue Star, then?" Gabriel asked.
"Virtues are like two-sided coins," Sis began. "Gilden's concentration was intense in everything he did. He was an enormously penetrating man though not always in a pleasant manner. Apparently, the star will not turn away concentrated energy. Once within the realm of the star, an individual is given access to the virtue most needed for growth and progress and then are revealed the two sides of the sought after virtue. One side promotes growth while the other side fosters destruction. Once shown the two sides, it is up to the individual to determine the path it chooses to travel. We always opt for the better but somehow many end up on the down side.
"For instance, the virtue temperance in its better light calls for a soul to take on the attributes of the valuable qualities modesty, abstinence, and chastity, to name a few. The darker side of temperance, the flip side, succumbs to gluttony, drunkenness, and a lack of respect for life, no matter the life form.
"Once an individual has seen the dual sides of the virtue, it is cast back out to carryon with the second travel back to the star. Mind you, the Geoum is an intrinsic energy constant at all time and delineates a plan best structured for healthy body, soul, and mind development. This plan is discussed between the Geoum and the soul; however, once the person is bac at the beginning to work the way onward again, free will and decision are the tools, or weapons, to that individual's use. That's where the growth or downfall comes into play. Human beings forget there is a higher force for guidance. The greed and selfishness, most unfortunately, quite often take over.
"To go on, once a soul has its plan and returns for the go-again, it is impossible for that person's evil to ever enter the star. The hope is that when the person enters at the onset and is then cast out to make its choices for the return, the soul will decide for positive growth and not return to its former evil ways. Mind you, this isn't done overnight. It takes several lifetimes to accomplish."
"What if a mean person kills the Virtue Star when he first sees it?" Gabriel asked with concern.
"Sweetheart, did you ever get a novocain shot for a toothache when at the dentist?"
"I hate the dentist!" Gabriel scowled.
Laughing, Sis carried on. "Yes, I can only imagine, however, your mouth is immovable and it's impossible to form a hearty sentence or eat or drink or even feel. That's kind of what happens when one meets the Virtue Star for the first time. We're disarmed. We're shot full of spiritual novocain and are able only to understand the value of love and its importance to set goals for the travels through life."
"Sis?"
"Yes."
"What if the second time back the person decides to be evil again?"
"Then," Sis shook her head, "it has no recollection but a distant voice that seems sometimes familiar. When the person decides to listen to the voice, which only leads with the way of love, then he or she must begin again. As I said, it takes many lifetimes."
"You said temperance is a virtue, but I don't know what a virtue is," Gabriel stated.
"Me neither," Constance added.
"Oh," Sis responded thoughtfully. "Well, we really do need to start at the beginning, don't we. Let's get some sleep and tomorrow over tea and raisin bread, I'll explain."
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