Together Forever: A Druid’s Curse
Written & Published By
Leslie M. Joyner
Published by
Leslie M. Joyner
Copyright © 2002 Leslie M. Joyner
Formatted for E-Book Version February 16, 2012
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and events are products of the author’s imagination, or used as reference to enhance the story line.
Original Copyright July 25, 2002
Under the Title
Together Forever
Revised Edition 2010
Under the Title
Together Forever: A Druid’s Curse
Edited By
Cheryle L. Goodsell and Kym M. Goodell
Contact:
[email protected] To my husband Ed,
Thanks for choosing me.
Special Thanks
to my editors and best friends:
Cheryle L. Goodsell
and
Kym M. Goodell
Prologue
Journal September 1971
It was a breezy spring day in the rolling hills outside a small Irish village. The morning was clear and the clouds pushed themselves along the sky. I was in the fields helping a young shepherd, whom I had met a few days ago; tend his father’s sheep…
As the day dragged slowly on, a light misty haze began to settle over the rolling land, but there appeared to be no chance of an actual downpour. We sat on a high point above the herd, so that we could see if any began to wander off. The young shepherd turned to me and momentarily gazed into my eyes. He began stroking my long dark tresses and they began to fall leisurely from the pin that held them in a loose bun on top of my head. I leaned to him, wary of what was to come… I placed my hand upon his clean-shaven face…
Our eyes locked for what seemed an eternity. He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine as he held my neck and I began to recline backwards… Wanting him to take me… Perhaps even more than he wanted me. When his lips touched mine, I knew that I loved him. His hands caressed me as we lay down on the soft green grass, his golden hair sparkling with beads of water that had accumulated from the misty haze.
Journal THREE MONTHS LATER…
Her father heard a retching sound coming from the bathroom down the hall. For the past two weeks she had awakened him with the horrible noises she made. He thought that it was just a bug or something. Several times he pleaded with her to go to a doctor. He was beginning to fear that she had contracted some sort of disease while on her tour of Europe and Asia. He had no idea what was wrong with her and she thought to herself as she stared in the bathroom mirror… “I can’t keep this up much longer. I’ll start showing soon, than all hell will break loose. I’ll tell him soon, perhaps even tomorrow. There are really only three things that he can do… Be happy about becoming a grandfather (which I seriously doubt), send me away, or kill me (which he will probably do).”
The morning passed gradually and she felt better, especially after her father left for work. Throughout the day she did everything in her power to keep from eating everything in sight. Night came and she began undressing for bed. After taking off her blouse she looked down… “Much longer and none of my clothes will fit. I guess that should tell ‘Daddy Dear’ that ‘Baby Girl’ had an accident a few months ago…” and with that thought in mind she slipped into a large T-shirt and went to bed.
The next morning went great for her and her father. She wasn’t sick therefore she didn’t wake him up. She decided, as she got dressed, that it was now or never… As she descended the staircase and headed for the breakfast nook she thought to herself… “Here goes everything…”
“Hello Daddy! How are you this morning?” she beamed with delight and bent down to kiss him good morning.
“Fine, I see that you’re feeling better this morning.”
“Much, thank you. So what are your plans for the day?”
“I’m going over to the country club to play golf with Danny Smithson.”
“Well I’ve got some good news for you before you go…”
“And what’s that darling?” He asked as he read the morning stock report, not really listening.”
“In about six months you will be a grandfather.”
“Do what?!” He yelled, not knowing how he should react to this type of news. She repeated again her precious news.
“How… How did this happen?” He asked trying to remain calm.
“Daddy you should know that by now. You’re old enough to have found out I’m sure. Do I really have to explain?” She was trying to be calm and lighthearted about the whole thing.
“That’s not what I mean and you know that young lady!” His voice rose and trembled with anger as he threw the paper on the table and began to stand up. “Tell me who? I’ll kill him! So help me God I will! I bet it’s that James boy from the high school isn’t it?” As the facts began to sink in he became more and more angry.
“No Daddy, it wasn’t James. Three months ago I was in Ireland. James was no where around.” She began to cry, knowing that she should have stayed in Ireland.
“What’s his name? I demand to know his name!” his voice thundered though the halls of the large and lonely house, that had suddenly ceased to be a home.
“I won’t tell you!” Rose screamed at him and ran up the stairs to her room. She cried for hours in her room. When she finally came out of her room she overheard her father making arrangements with someone on the telephone…
“I’m sending my daughter to a villa in France. There is a small hospital nearby. I have hired a private doctor to care for her and a couple for her to stay with. You are to stay in the villa and keep an eye on her. When she goes into labor, you will follow her to the hospital, but you are not to confront her under any circumstances. I’ve left instructions with the doctor that you are to take the child. He will give her some medical reason why the child did not survive. You will then take the child back to the States to the couple that I have arranged to adopt the child. You will then be paid in full for your services.”
“Your instructions will be followed completely.”
“Good-bye then.”
“Good-bye, Senor.”
SIX MONTHS LATER
“Push… Come on push!” The doctor screamed at Rose, but she no longer wanted to move. She had been in labor for thirteen hours and she was ready to die. If only it was that simple! But it wasn’t. As she pushed again and again her mind drifted, thanks to the drugs, and she began remembering that day…
That day in Ireland that she would never forget. She could feel his hands caressing her…But now in France, only a channel away from him she was paying the price for that one moment of pleasure, passion, and a love that could never be.
Seventeen hours later a healthy daughter was born, but it was never held by it’s mother. The pain increased and Rose could handle no more, she passed out. Thirty minutes later the doctors had taken a second child be C-section, and three minutes later another girl was born. Making the American the unhappy and unknowing mother of three beautiful girls that she was never allowed to hold or even see…
The Hispanic took the first child from the doctor and knew exactly where this child’s future lay. Two nurses came out of the emergency room, each holding a child. The mysterious man was not aware that there were any other pregnant women in the vicinity, so he wondered…The doctor began to explain that Rose had triplets. With this information an idea struck the employee of the black market…
“There’s no reason to tell Van Hime of the other two… I can make more money another way, and I am sure that the doctor won’t mind receiving a little extr
a incentive to keep quiet…”
Part One
Chapter One
An ocean away Transatlantic Flight 302 landed in New York. The Hispanic and his girlfriend waited patiently for the next flight to Chicago, where they were to meet a man who would be delivering money in exchange for two of the babies. As soon as the transaction was completed, in the Chicago Airport, they boarded a Delta Flight to Memphis. The last baby one was taken to a couple at the Memphis Airport, as arranged. The Hispanic now had more money than he had ever dreamed of… He and his girlfriend returned to Peru and retired permanently…
The oldest girl was given to the couple in Tennessee… Tess and Jonathan Smith. She was named Victoria after the novelist Victoria Holt. The other children were separated and taken across the country. The loving couple Scott and Ashley McCallaugh who lived in Maine adopted one. They named her Katherine after Ashley’s grandmother. Ian and Madeline Douglas of California took the other child. She was named Annabelle after her mother’s best friend in high school who had passed away in a car wreck on the night of their graduation.
The couples in Maine and California paid for their daughters. Neither had been able to conceive a child for one reason or another, and adoption through the state often took years, and that was after they passed the home study by a social worker. On the other hand, the couple in Tennessee was paid to take a child they did not want and they did not care about…
Chapter Two
The girls were almost a year old and like other babies they grew and learned… One night Victoria’s father came home drunk, as usual, but this night was different… Victoria was cutting teeth and had been very cranky and Tess had become ill from the babies crying, so she took some sleeping pills. Then Jonathan came home and Victoria was still crying. He yelled at her to shut up, but this only intensified her crying… Around 1 o’clock that morning Jonathan went over the edge, but remembered nothing when he woke up the next day. After thirty minutes of hearing the baby crying he had yanked her out of the playpen where Tess had left her. The arm broke cleanly in two and Victoria screamed at the sharp pain…
Victoria did not see a doctor until morning light when Tess awoke…
At the same time that Victoria’s arm was broken Annabelle began to wail, as if she were in pain. When her father arrived to check on her, he found that her arm was broken. He rushed her and her hysterical mother to the hospital… Annabelle’s doctor could not determine why the arm had broken. The only explanation that he could offer was that the baby had put her arm through the crib bars and gotten stuck, and then she began to twist and turn until it broke.
Meanwhile in Maine, Katherine awoke screaming with pain. Her mother didn’t know what could cause her baby to scream so. She ran to the nursery and found Katherine with a broken arm and yelled for her husband to call an ambulance. Agan the only explanation for this child’s broken arm was the same one that Annabelle’s doctor had guessed at…
Chapter Three
The years passed quickly and each developed her own personality, yet each being a part of the other. Many times bruises would appear on Katherine and Annabelle… Like those that Victoria would receive from a beating, but no one ever touched them. It was from Victoria that the marks originated… Another problem that the girls had were terrible nightmares in which they saw everything that happened to Victoria… For Katherine and Annabelle it was utter terror… But for Victoria it was life… Often they glimpsed into each other’s lives and not just Victoria’s… Only at this time did Victoria feel safe and unafraid… The special events for Annabelle and Katherine such as birthdays and holidays like Christmas were unbearable for Victoria. Only in her dreams could she feel good. Only by seeing through the eyes of the others, feeling what they felt, and growing to love the strangers that were called mom and dad in the dreams could she, for a short time, forget about her life that was a true nightmare.
Katherine and Annabelle also dreamed of each other and wondered why their minds would create another place just as good as their real lives in their dreams. They also dreamed of the mountains, of more people that they did not know even existed… Growing to hate these people as Victoria hated them for everything that they had done to her and in essence to them. For the most part they believed that these people were truly evil and that the other people that they saw from each others lives were just a part of their over active imaginations, most of the time.
Chapter Four
It was their thirteenth birthday. Each was celebrating differently. Katherine was shopping with her mom in the mall. Annabelle was having a party with all of her friends in the game room of her house. Victoria though was not celebrating much of anything. Her father loved any occasion that gave him an excuse to drink and her mother could care less about what either one of them did. Victoria was content to stay at home alone. Unfortunately, her father remembered that it was her birthday and came home early from work…
“Let’s go over to George’s.” He said with anticipation as Victoria came down the stairs. Immediately and reluctantly Victoria agreed to go. She knew that Jonathan only wanted a reason to snort some coke. Another reason that she didn’t want to go was George’s brother, Dave. Dave gave her the creeps. As she went upstairs to get her things she prayed that Virginia would be home… Thirty minutes later they arrived at George’s. As luck would have it Virginia had went to North Carolina to visit her sister for the weekend. Victoria wanted to leave but she knew what would happen if she even asked… The day was hot and they had moved to the poolside. Victoria sat leisurely, yet apprehensively in a deck chair reading a book. All the time watching every move that Dave and George made. After a few hours her father, Dave and George were all stoned and drunk. Around 2:00 Dave started coming over to her side of the pool. Though he was only 25 he looked more like 40. He approached her as quickly as he could in his staggering state, his eyes glazed over with a drunken madness… Dave sat on the ground next to Victoria’s chair and whispered up to her. Adamantly she refused to do what he had suggested. Her father came over yelling at her, and he joined Dave in telling her what she would do for them. Victoria continued to refuse…
“You’ll do it or I’ll…” Jonathan stammered unable to complete a full sentence because of the drugs.
“NO!” Victoria screamed as she stood up to make her refusal. Jonathan slapped her once then told her the truth… that she was no kin to him… That she was adopted… That some rich guy’s daughter was a whore and a slut and that they were paid to take her… And that she would do what ever they told her to do whenever they told her to do it…
Victoria’s mouth gaped in astonishment and relief. It was not a complete shock to her that these people were not her parents. He told her again what she would do for Dave, but again she refused. He hit her again, harder this time knocking her into the deep end of the pool. Jonathan hit her so hard that her feet hit the bottom of the 16-foot pool. While trying to surface she inhaled water. When she finally reached the water’s surface her father pushed her back into the water. She struggled to come up, but in the struggle she hit her head on the side of the pool and everything went blank.
Katherine froze… Her mother continued to walk not noticing that her daughter had stopped. When her mother realized that Katherine was not beside her she turned around. Ashley went immediately to Katherine thinking that she had stopped to look at something in a window that had caught her fancy. As Ashley approached Katherine she realized that Katherine was not breathing and had turned extremely pale…
“Katherine, What’s wrong?” By this time Ashley had dropped all of her packages and was shaking Katherine vigorously, all the while becoming hysterical. Finally a bystander shouted for someone to call an ambulance. Before the paramedics could arrive Katherine had fallen to the ceramic floor of the mall and was beginning to choke up water as if she had been in a pool and was drowning.
Annabelle became a statue as she and Luke were dancing. Rapidly her breathing dropped to almost nonexistent. Luke qui
ckly picked her up and screamed to the people on the couch to get up. Straight away she became unconscious and her pulse was erratic. Macon called 911. As the ambulance arrived Annabelle began to spit up water…
JOURNAL ENTRY JUNE 14
I found out yesterday the truth. As I have always suspected, I am adopted. I have no idea of my real parents except that my grandfather was rich and that could be anyone in the world as far as I am concerned. I want to know why my grandfather felt that he had to get rid of me, and why didn’t my mother fight him? Did she not care? Perhaps she did fight but lost the battle, as I lose every day with these people. Did my grandfather know what terror these people would inflict upon me? I wish that I knew the reasons that he had for placing me here with these strangers that I at one time called my parents, but who were never really my family.
After Jonathan told me the truth he tried to force me to do things that Dave wanted. Things that I could resisted for as long as possible. I remember Jonathan hitting me into the pool and hitting the side of the pool as I tried to surface. Then it was like floating. Soon I was emerged in a bright light that I can only describe as fluorescent. At first I was scared, I did not know what was happening… I wondered (hoped) perhaps that I was dying. The light was so warm and inviting. I’m not sure what happened after that. I only know that feeling of the light and its warmth was something that I shall forever search for…
Dear DEE Diary,
Today is June 14. Yesterday something very unusual happened. I was shopping with mother when I lost sight of everything. I felt surrounded by warmth and saw a bright light and felt as if I were floating. I saw what looked like someone drowning in a pool, but I couldn’t do anything to help her. Then I saw people in the mall from the ceiling (don’t ask me how I got there). It was all so strange, and I don’t understand any of it…