The Lyric Wheel-Spring 2005
There comes a Time… to Leave Holy Ground The plane was flying low enough that I could see the
logo on the tail. A sudden urge to be up there, on my way to… anywhere… I
sighed and looked around for the first time in many weeks. The great
trees around the cabin never seemed to change. From the porch, I could
see the sun setting through the hills and trees at the other end of
the lake. Leaves were beginning to turn.
How long had I been here? I’d buried Connor shortly after Christmas. The hillside had been so cold. I thought I’d never be warm again. Perhaps some of that cold had been inside. There was no real memory of the trip to the island. I’d run, like a child with a skinned knee… No mother to run to. Nothing but the cabin I’d built with his own hands. My hands and a little help from my friend, my brother, had set the ridgepole in place and raised the heavy rafters. Connor left, a warm hug and a last wave of that disreputable hat. He showed up, from time to time, but never stayed long. Connor wasn’t above knocking me on my ass just to prove a point. Then he’d vanish again with that silly laugh… I took a long deep breath. The sky was darker, now. Sirius was shining against the blackness. In ancient times, that rising star was the signal for the rising of the Nile. Methos had told me that. I remembered, there’d been an exhibit of recent finds from Egypt and Zahi Hawass, Director of Antiquities for the Egyptian government was the speaker at the Opera House in Seattle, with a huge crowd attending. Methos looked thoughtful as we went back to the bar, “Hawass is good. He has the passion and he’s already discovered things I thought were safely buried. The papyrus he was showing is an instruction for an early method of birth control using crocodile dung.” “What? You’re kidding.” “No, I’m not.” I had to walk faster to keep up with him. He looked a little shaken. “Are you sure?” “Mac, I wrote it.” I remember suddenly seeing him as he must have been, standing in the hot sun of Memphis in the pleated linen of a pries-healer. “When was that?” “Eighteenth Dynasty. I need a drink.” Methos was quiet the rest of the way to the bar. He slumped into one of the booths and I brought over a bottle of scotch to share. He looked pale and didn’t say a word. Finally, he seemed to realize where he was, finished the drink and I poured him another. “So what did you do, back then?” Methos sighed, “Usually I stayed in the background. Being a scribe or healer priest, was generally safe since most of us left the temple only when necessary. Every time people started commenting on how young I looked I made a pilgrimage to another temple to learn their ways.” “The annual rising of the Nile was always a good time. The farmers often needed a doctor during the planting. It was hard, sweaty work and I didn’t mind waiting for patients in the shade of a nice date palm and sipping good beer.” Joe laughed, “Didn’t some German brewer recreate one of the beers? I remember thinking is would be kinda fun to bring in a case of it.” “Wasn’t that good. Brewing techniques are more sanitary now. You don’t often find a rat drowned in the jar.” He was looking better now, “Sometimes I got “lost” and didn’t come back. Travel is broadening, and safer than waiting for a special occasion requiring the death of servants to accompany someone important.” “And you didn’t want to be one of the important someones?” said
Joe. We’d talked the sun up then wandered out to breakfast. Methos was quiet after we ate. There were a few early risers and an occasional jogger out. “Thanks for coming with me, Duncan. Sometimes it’s good to see the past through someone else’s eyes.” Days later I’d asked Joe where Adam was. “He left. The usual, no note. He’ll be back when he gets back.” Damn. I wanted to talk to him again. Joe was sure he was OK, and he probably was, but that wasn’t the same thing as having a drink with him. The cabin is clean. There isn’t anything I need to do here. Egypt... It doesn’t take long to find out where Dr. Hawass’ latest dig was located. New places, to me at least but there was something in the way Methos had looked that night. He’d watched Hawass so closely. Getting off the plane, I stepped into a new world. Methos was waiting there. I was not alone, I think it was the first time I’d seen him living in one of the places that were part of his early past.. We walked to the rental car. “I was thinking about the talk we went to, Adam. You… you looked as though you recognized Dr. Hawass He shook his head. “He did look familiar, but I think it was more in his way of speaking. More… I told you a little bit about the priest who taught me. They have a lot in common.” We drove out to the area where the latest artifacts were being catalogued. There was a slight tingle as we left the car. “Holy ground?” Methos laughed. “Safe, at least from other immortals. The scorpions as still a damn nuisance, though.” Later we went into Luxor. The apartment Methos had rented was of one of the side streets on one of the older sections of the city. I was seeing a side of Methos I hadn’t seen before. He was happy, but a little nervous about sharing the findings with me. “We’re unlocking these thoughts no book and no picture could ever convey, here. The secrets of ages.” “You were happy here then, weren’t you?” He stopped shuffling papers, “I’m not sure that I was ever happy. I didn’t have to go out and forage for food. Other than an occasional annoying priest, life was fairly quiet here. The level of medicine was quite remarkable. Even Galin and Hipocrates agreed on that. We went out on the balcony to watch the sunset. Methos, the scholar was quieter, less caustic and I found myself understanding more about him as a person. This man had been so many more things than I’d known. There was so much I wanted to know. Maybe the impulse that put me on a plane was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. -30- ________________________________________________________ I pressed my face against the glass, I couldn't yet see you. Still obscured by the city I was not alone, I think it was the first time I'm leaving ground stepping into a new world. I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world Leaving everything, leaving everything. ***** |