Written by Veluan, Sun Aug 16 11:40:53 US/Pacific 1998
Part 10
New Orleans
The city woke up. The sun coloured the city and the early sounds grew louder. People went to work. People walked around. There were drums. There always were drums. The Rada drum players were always there and even at the arrival of a new day the players were already drumming. Stranges sounds, it sounded like a random bunch of notes, but a lot of people knew that that wasn't the case. The sounds had a message, litteraly. It was an extremely large message and it shook a lot of people up. That night all would be explained. Helena listened at the message, she nodded, it was send correctly.
St-francis in the woods, Firebrow's cottage
"This is what I call home."
Mack looked, it was a small cottage, it stood between the trees.
"Small, but home nevertheless."
"It's great!" Mack said.
"Do you really think so? Ha, you haven't seen the interior, it's not very tidy." Firebrow opened the door.
"Well you haven't seen my room either." Mack smiled.
"Better a messy room and a tidy mind then the other way around." Firebrow said.
"It's best to have a tidy room and a tidy mind." Mack answered.
"Some guys have all the luck." said Firebrow,
Mack laughed. They stood in a very small hallway. It had a door leading to the toilet and a door leading to a cupboard. A staircase went up to two bedrooms. A doorway in the hallway revealed a part of the living room. They went in. On the leftside there was a tiny kitchen and the rest of the room was filled with a couple of chairs and a table. Mack looked at a wall, it turned out it wasn't. It was a bookcase, crammed with books.
"You read a lot?", Mack pointed at the books.
"Profession material."
"Ah, well where can I leave the suitcases?"
"Up the stairs and the door on your left."
Mack left the room and Firebrow sat down in one of his chairs. He sighed and looked out of a small window. He was among the trees again. He had forgotten how they made you feel.
Mack walked into the living room with a couple of flat sandwiches.
"Lunch my mother made for me, bit flat now, but stil eatable."
"Good, never waste a sandwiches just because it's flat."
Firebrow was preparing soup, "Want some soup?"
"No, thanks."
"Suit yourself." Firebrow said while he investigated the bubbles that arose in the soup. There was a silence, Mack had his lunch and Firebrow enjoyed his soup. After the eatingintermission Firebrow suggested to hit the town that evening, so Mack could get familiar with the surroundings. Mack agreed.
New Orleans, swamp
New Orleans was a day older, but the day wasn't over yet, there was the evening and night. On those hours other stuff happened than in the daytime. For instance the swamp had a dark nightlife. The entire sect stood in the swamp, they looked at their feet. A tall, black man came towards Helena, she knew him by the name of brother eagle.
"Here is the powder."
"I don't need the powder, brother Eagle." said Tetelo. The man looked surprised.
"I have much more possibilities in this new host." she added. She turned her head to the coffin of her former host. She turned her head further and faced her sect.
"For those who don't know yet, I'm holding this body now. This woman is your new leader now, you listen to her."
"But she's just a girl," a member with a lion's mask said.
"Do you doubt my choice?" yelled Tetelo.
The lion shook his head. "Good, now show your respects to your former leader."
The members walked past the coffin and laid a lock of their hair in the coffin as a token of their eternal availability. Tetelo stood still beside the coffin.
"Oh Dumballah take care of this soul, may she find her peace." Tetelo kissed the forehead of Celeste Gedde and closed the coffin. "A new leader doesn't mean a new course or a new plan. Everybody here knows the plans, including Helena Gedde. Now, we have to go on with the conclave. Where are the sacrifices?"
Something inside Tetelo jerked, it still wasn't used to the sacrifice.
St-Francis in the woods, st-Francis Pub
George Olderwood looked out of the repared window, suddenly he looked surprised and smiled. The door opened and an old guy in a cape stood in the doorway.
"Good evening, George." Firebrow smiled, George shook his hand enthusiastic.
"Good evening Firebrow, good to see you're back!"
George saw a boy behind Firebrow, almost a adult only a few lessons in life away.
"Who's this fellow then?"
"My name's Mack Johnson."
"Well, good evening Mack, I'm George Olderwood and this is my pub called the St-Francis pub, the woman behind the bar is my wife Annie."
The woman smiled at Mack and he smiled back. "What would you guys like to drink?" she said.
"What a bad bartender I am," George laughed "keeping my customers away from the drinks!"
Firebrow smiled "I'll have a beer and you?"
Mack thought "I'll have a beer too." Annie filled the glasses and handed them over. The door opened again a young woman walked in.
"One carrotjuice, please." she said. Mack turned around a saw Miss Angelica Frost. She walked towards the bar and sat down. Annie prepared a carrotjuice.
"Who's she?" Mack whispered to Firebrow.
"Angelica Frost, a very nice woman." he whispered back.
I can see that. Mack thought.
"Hello Firebrow, how was New Orleans, did you find what you were looking for?" Angelica said.
"Hello Angelica and yes I did, he sits next to me." She looked at Mack.
"Hi, it's good to see someone young around here. What's your name?"
Mack looked at her face and blushed. "Mack Johnson, miss."
Angelica smiled "You don't have to call me miss. My name's Angelica Frost, welcome to St-Francis in the Woods."
Mack felt that his face became red. "Er...thanks." he mumbled.
Firebrow grinned.
If you have any comments, you can email Veluan at gjvdmeer@tref.nl.
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