The Curse Conduit

By the time Uriah had showered, changed Angus had arrived. They all looked at him as he walked in. Simian made a sarcastic comment. “Well if working out makes you look like that remind me not to visit the gym any time soon.”

Casta patted Uriah on the shoulder. “Are you okay? You look paler than you did when you left.”

Uriah looked from one to the other and his eyes fell on Derek. “Fell asleep.”

His three friends understood immediately but as they had not told Angus the real reason for wanting his help no one commented.

Derek introduced Angus to Uriah and the men shook hands. Angus gave him a genuine smile. “Glad to meet you. I must say your little project has been quite interesting. The others have been telling me how you all met and I am surprised at your history with each other. I come across a lot of strange things in my line of work but this has been the strangest in a while.” Angus looked at Derek and continued. “Derek tells me you want an explanation.” Angus moved over to the large bag he had brought with him. “These days a lot of my work and research is done electronically but I did print off a time line of your families so you can get an understanding of your lineage.”

He unfolded what to the others looked like very large maps and stuck them on the wall after taking down several pictures.

The other four men got closer to inspect the new wall hangings as Angus stepped back and let them take it all in.

Angus began a commentary as they all inspected his work. “If you have a look you will see little boxes with some explanation of how I think you have been connected. As I had information on Urian I worked from there. Thankfully the defence records were in good order; I even found a private diary he kept. That is where I found Danny.” The others all looked at Angus but said nothing. “It took some doing but I back tracked both families. Without boring you with the details we ended up with Uri. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I found out that Danny’s line ran all the way back to Declan. As you can imagine there is not always a lot of information going back that far unless it’s about conflicts or government. But someone thought Declan’s betrothal to the King’s niece was worth writing about. That’s where I found mention of Uri. I found some other small snippets of information and as far as I can tell your families have been bumping into each other for a very long time.”

Uriah traced his fingers along the lines of names and information amazed at how much Angus had found out about his family. Angus smiled as he watched. “Your Italian heritage threw a spanner in the works Mr Burner. I thought I had the wrong family for a while.

Uriah remained silent just taking in all that he saw.

However Derek pipped up. “This says I have relatives in South Africa. I never knew that. This is cool.” He turned and gave Angus a big smile. “We can’t thank you enough for this Angus.”

Derek and Angus shook hands and Angus began to gather up his things. “Oh I did find another family that has been entwined with yours Derek a few times but I did not do a full scale search.” Angus pulled a smaller document out of his bag. “Could be fun to have a look at.”

Derek discarded the new document on the coffee table. “Thanks again Angus.” With that Angus left and Derek went back to his family tree. The others had remained silent as they study the trees.

Casta went to sit down. “ If we hadn’t ended up in a band together you two would have met anyway, somehow?” Everyone turned to look at Casta. “Well, it could have happened.” His eyes fell on Uriah. “So Uriah, care to tell us what was in your dream that made you look so very pale?”

It was Uriah’s turn to be the centre of attention as he told of what had happened.

When he finished it was Derek that was pale. “You mean we have to save someone who is already dead or I die?”

Uriah was getting angry; he knew he shouldn’t have told them. “No Derek that doesn’t make sense!!! Dead is dead. They were talking in riddles. You are not going to die.”

The room fell silent again, no one knowing what to say.

Derek got up and headed for the door. “I need a drink, a big one. Anyone else coming?”

The other three followed him.

Elizabeth and Kimberly had spent hours going over everything and although Kimberly was overwhelmed by it all she had a better understanding of what her friend had been going through. She hugged her and at the same time her stomach rumbled making both of them laugh.

“Sounds like my stomach wants to be fed.”

Elizabeth scrunched up her nose as she walked to the kitchen and the fridge. “I haven’t done much shopping. Not sure if there is anything to eat in here.”

Kimberly peered over her shoulder. “Mmm, you could be right. What do you think we could make with milk, mouldy cheese, and what’s this?”

Elizabeth picked up what her friend was pointing to. “I think it used to be an orange.”

They shut the fridge and Kimberly smiled. “Well how about we head to the hotel, my treat. We can shop in the morning.”

“Sounds good to me. Just let me freshen up a bit.”

Elizabeth and Kimberly were walking past the lift in the hotel lobby heading for the restaurant as the door opened and yet again Derek managed to bump into her. Thankfully this time he did not knock her off her feet but hit her hard enough to get off balance. He was at her side in an instant. “I am so sorry miss. Totally my fault.”

It was Kimberly that spoke up not Elizabeth. “Sheesh why in such a rush? You’re a danger.”

It was then that Kimberly saw the rest of the group as they got out of the lift. Uriah looking to Derek as he helped Elizabeth steady herself. Derek had not as yet recognised who it was but Uriah was appalled at how she looked. “Elizabeth?” It was a question more than a statement but it had the desired effect. Both Elizabeth and Derek looked to Uriah and then back at each other. Elizabeth smiled weakly at Derek. “You are intent on trying to knock me off my feet.”

Derek stared into her face. “Bethie? It is you. My god.”

Elizabeth gave a big sigh and dropped her shoulders and Derek realised what he had said. “Gosh I am sorry. I mean Elizabeth. What are you doing here?”

Again it was Kimberly that spoke up. “Going for dinner if you must know.” She had not meant to sound rude but after spending the afternoon with Elizabeth and listening to her stories she had been a little rattled to see the four men.

The men looked at her a little shocked and so did Elizabeth, rebuking her friend. “Kimber that was uncalled for.”

Derek smiled at them both and Kimberly felt a little exposed dropping her head as she apologised. “Sorry.”

Derek took her hand so she would look at him. “That’s okay. I am sorry to have upset you.” Derek looked back at Elizabeth. “Elizabeth, would you and your friend like to join us for dinner?”

Uriah had not taken his eyes off Elizabeth and Casta nudged Simian slightly realising who she was.

Elizabeth smiled. In her heart she knew she wanted to talk to Derek about her dreams, in a way needed to be close to him. In a strange way she was thinking that dinner could be the first step. “That would be lovely if your friends don’t mind.”

Casta stepped forward with a big smile on his face, took her hand and kissed it. “I for one would be happy to have the company of two beautiful ladies. You are certainly much nicer to look at than these three.”

His statement brought laughs from the two woman and shoves of playful disapproval from his friends.

Simian stepped forward and took Kimberly’s hand and as Casta had done he kissed it.

“It would be an honour to escort you to dinner.”

If Kimberly had been upset with Derek, all those thoughts were forgotten. She felt her knees go a little weak at Simian’s touch. Weeks earlier she had just been happy to get his autograph and now she was being asked to dinner. She hoped that Elizabeth would not change her mind.

Uriah who had not taken his eyes off Elizabeth as he spoke. “If you would rather have dinner alone with your friend Elizabeth we will understand. Being accosted by four men can be a bit daunting.”

Derek gave his friend a sideways glance and was about to protest but Elizabeth smiled sweetly. “If you promise not to try and knock me off my feet we would love to join you for dinner.”

They all laughed and began to walk towards the restaurant. Derek took Elizabeth by the arm and Simian did the same for Kimberly.

Casta made a few jokes but Uriah walked behind them in silence. Had his fellow band members had forgotten why they had come down from their rooms. In a way he was happy for Derek but he knew it would not last long.