is good to see you too. Yes, I am awake. By the same magic that is waking up the sleeping powers of your people. Changes are coming, Your Highness. The door is open. The breeze that blows through it brings more than a scent of home. It is stirring the old ways. Your people need you, Your Highness. It was time you remembered who you are.”
Her anger was slowly subsiding. She didn’t much like the Giant, but she knew that he was right. Her forgetfulness of the great river that flowed forever around and through her was a blessing and a relief, but now she needed to remember.
“Leena!”
She turned and saw her mother forcing her way to the front of the stunned crowd. Aileen Wallace was not her usual composed self. Her hair was disarranged, as if she had been running her hands through it, and her blouse was partially untucked from her skirt. She rushed to Leena and hugged her tightly before stepping back to look her over from head to toe.
“Are you all right, Leena? I called an ambulance and it’s on the way. Your father, too. He’ll be on the first flight home.”
Leena looked at her mother and wondered how she was ever going to explain. “I’m fine, mother. Really. I don’t need an ambulance, but I know someone who does.”
Pushing her mother away, Leena looked for her sister. “Caitlin? Did anyone stay with Barry?”
Caitlin was there. She came forward, glancing nervously at the face of the Giant behind Leena. She nodded. “Yes. Jasmine and Doug are still with him.”
“Good,” Leena said. “There’s an ambulance on the way. I want you to wait outside for it and when it gets here, tell them I’m okay and send them up to the school to get Barry.”
She turned away before Caitlin had a chance to respond and found herself staring into her mother’s shocked expression.
“Leena? What’s going on? I really think you had better sit down and let the EMTs look at you when they get here. I’m sure you’re suffering from shock or something. What do you mean about sending the ambulance to the school? What have you kids been doing?” Mrs. Wallace said, trying to regain her composure.
“Not now, mother,” Leena said brusquely. “I’ll explain later. I need to talk to Shanachie right now.”
“Leena!” her mother gasped, but Leena was already pushing past her toward Mr. Shanachie.
“Shanachie, he tried to go through the door. He’s in a Sleep now, I think. I don’t know what they’ll be able to do for them, but I think he’d better stay at the hospital until we can figure out how to wake him.”
Mr. Shanachie grunted and began to say, “I’ll see to—”
“Leena!” Mrs. Wallace interrupted. Her usually calm and authoritative manner was beginning to slip as she pleaded with her daughter. “Sweetheart, you have to tell me what’s happening. Are you girls all right? Why does your boyfriend need an ambulance?”
It was the first time Mrs. Wallace had ever referred to Barry as Leena’s boyfriend. It may have been that more than anything that caused Leena to pause, take a deep breath, and turn her full attention on her mother. Mrs. Wallace was, by her own standards, a mess. She was wringing her hands and her expression was almost fearful as she stared at her suddenly altered daughter.
Leena reached out and captured her mother’s hands, steadying them in her own. Forcing herself to calm down, she said, “I’m sorry, Mother. I can’t explain everything right now. Barry tried to go through the door. He’s...he’s unconscious. Caitlin and I are fine. I have things I need to do right now, though. I promise I’ll explain later.” Squeezing her mother’s hands gently, Leena gave her a small smile and then looked at Mr. Shanachie.
“What about the barrier?” the old man asked. “Did the boy breech it?”
“I don’t know,” Leena said. “I just ran here. I...I wasn’t myself yet.” She dropped her mother’s hands and turned to face the pub keeper again. “We need to get the others here right away.”
“We’re here, Your Highness,” a woman’s voice said. Leena turned around and saw Mrs. Berne, who was guidance counselor up at the high school as well as her doctor’s wife, pushing her way to the front of the crowd.
“Sionann!” Leena rushed forward and threw her arms around the older woman, who hugged her warmly in return.
“It is good to hear you speak my true name once more, Your Highness,” Mrs. Berne said.
A man pushed his way forward to stand next to them and Leena turned and saw Dr. Berne standing there. “And Culhwch!” Leena said with a grin, as Dr. Berne gave her a deep bow.
“We have missed you, my dear,” he said as he straightened.
Leena hugged him as well. “Oh, it feels so good to see you all again!”
“Leena,” her mother said. She seemed to have composed herself somewhat and was sounding stern again. “Whatever are you talking about? Dr. and Mrs. Berne were at our house for dinner only last week. You are behaving very strangely and will someone please explain why that thing on the wall is moving? If it is some kind of joke, it is in very poor taste!”
Everyone turned to find that the Giant was contorting his face in some very strange ways. When he realized everyone was looking at him, he stopped, winked, and said, “Excuse me. Just stretching. You can’t imagine how stiff one feels after being frozen with the same expression for a century.”
“Well, if you hadn’t been so rude,” Leena found herself snapping irritably, “you wouldn’t have been frozen, now would you?”
The Giant laughed heartily.
Someone in crowd screamed and when Leena turned to look, she found that almost everyone in the pub was backing away from the Giant’s head. Several people had actually turned and run, their fear of the talking head overwhelming their desire to find out what was going on.
Sighing, Leena turned back to the Giant and muttered, “You are always causing problems. Couldn’t you have at least waited until there wasn’t such a crowd around? You’ve frightened them and now we’ll have to explain and it’s going to be an awful mess.”
“Don’t you think you would have had to explain anyways, Your Highness?” the Giant boomed. “With the door open, your people will need to know who you are. Now more than ever.”
“Is the door well and truly open?” Mrs. Berne asked.
Leena shrugged. “I just don’t know. Will you and Culhwch please go and have a look? You’d better stay with it until I can come myself, in any case. Why wasn’t one of you guarding it tonight?”
The elderly couple exchanged a worried glance. “I don’t know,” Mrs. Berne said quietly. “Gwydion and Arianrhod should have been there. Perhaps I should go and look for them while Culhwch goes up to the school?”
Leena was about to agree when the door opened and a girl burst into the pub. It was Annie Jacobs, who had been one of Leena’s few good friends at school until the end of last year when she had gotten pregnant and had stopped coming. Leena hadn’t seen much of her since then, although she had been to Annie’s baby shower over the summer.
Even though Leena knew it was still a couple of months until her due date, Annie looked huge and uncomfortable—not to mention short of breath—as she pushed past the watching crowd, her eyes frantically searching faces. When she saw Leena, she stopped and let out a long breath.
“Leena! I mean, Your Highness,” she corrected herself as she came toward Leena. She started to curtsy, but Leena grabbed her hand to stop her.
“Don’t be silly, Arianrhod. If you fall down we’ll never get you up again,” she teased as the other girl gave her a grateful look. Leena put a hand on the girl’s swollen stomach and a smile of pure joy spread across her face. “I can’t believe it! A baby!”
Annie beamed. “We couldn’t believe it either, Your Highness. We had given up hope.”
Leena’s mother sniffed. “I can’t imagine what you two are talking about. I hope you don’t mean to say that you and that boyfriend of yours were trying to get pregnant, Annie Jacobs. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You’re not even seventeen yet.”
“Oh, Mother
...” Leena said with a slight smile. “They’ve been trying for this baby for longer than you can possibly imagine.” To Annie, she said, “I’m so happy for you both! And the babe is strong. I can hear him. But where is your husband and why weren’t you guarding the door tonight?” Leena’s voice grew crisp as her warm smile deepened into a frown.
“Oh, Leena! I am so sorry,” Annie said, her face crumbling. “It’s my fault...I was having pains...I thought the baby was coming and it isn’t time yet. Gideon insisted on taking me to the hospital. We felt something was wrong, though, and then I felt you waken, so we came back as soon as we could. Gideon went straight to check on the door. I’m so sorry, Your Highness,” she repeated. “I was so scared, though. We didn’t know what to do.”
Leena’s frown disappeared as the girl spoke. “Are you all right now? Here, you’d better sit. Someone get her a chair,” Leena said.
Dr. Berne had been hovering nearby and quickly brought over a chair. “Here, sit down. You should have come straight to me,” he scolded as Annie sank gratefully into the chair.
“Yes,” Leena said, flooding with relief. “Yes, you take care of her, Culhwch. And Sionann, please go and see if you can help Gwydion up at the school.”
“Of course I will,” Mrs. Berne said and hurried from the pub.
Before the pub’s door could close behind her, Caitlin slipped back inside and said, “Leena, the ambulance has gone up to the school to get