Chapter 3

Chapter 3





Colin took the private plane back to Heartland, Kentucky. He called and emergency meeting with his brothers. The fact that he called one was unusual; he normally did things without permission. Today they were all seated in Jareth’s office at Mariah’s Hope Hospital.

“Look Colin you can’t help everyone. Look how many Jaka Charles has in his compound and who knows how many employee’s he has round the world. He sends out his army of minions to round up any and all people that exhibit paranormal activities.” Jareth tapped his pen on his desk to emphasize his point. As Director the Hospital and the Chieftain of the Kindred, his word was law except for Moira, the matriarch of the Kindred.

“I don’t care what you think of my mental and physical state, this girl is different. When she turned and looked at me and spoke, there was something about her that connected with me.” Colin stood in front of the big glass window looking out at the mountains that had become a refuge to his people. His voice softened and the other three men in the room looked at each other in surprise. “She is different. Her connection with me was deeper than even with you. If she hadn’t raised the shield so that I couldn’t find her, none of this would be an issue. I need your help. One more thing, the woman with her called her Chandra.” There was a small gasp. “You agree then there must be something special when a child is named for the Chosen and she exhibits strong Zihra.”

Devlin stood beside him, “Okay, I will search through the database for you but I don’t hold out much hope. As it is I don’t have any of our known Kindred living in that area. There is some of Charles Jaka there and I have them recorded.”

“I don’t think she is one them."

“I don’t know brother; maybe you should just come home and work here for a while.” Gil another member of the room offered. "We can send one of the others to look for her and bring her here."

There was a brief light that flashed in the room and a figure appeared in the soft chair facing the window.

“Moira, as always, it is good to see you. What brings you here in this manner?” Jareth spoke.

“I know of Colin’s concern. I will only say that he is needed in Minnesota, and he should return there to continue the search.”

“What do you know of this girl?” Colin squatted before her.

She laid her hand on his shoulder, “She is of great importance to all of us. When you find her, take care and bring her to me safely.” She nodded to the others and in the same manner, as she appeared she was gone.

Colin looked at Jareth, “What was all that about?”

“I’m not sure but you had better get on with it and watch your back. If this girl is as valuable as Moira intimates, we had all better be looking for her.”

Gil and Devlin headed out the door. Colin sank into the chair Moira vacated. “Now I really am worried. It will take all my Zihira to do this.”

“Anything we have that you need is yours, as always just ask.”

“Thank you Bro. I guess I had better head back to Minnesota.”

He didn’t leave but just sat there staring out the window. Jareth left him to his thoughts, and went back to his paperwork.

Colin leaned his head against the back of the chair, he was tired, but there was an excitement, or anticipation was more the feeling. For the last nine years, he had a mission, to exact revenge on Charles. The only way to do that was to snatch as many Kindred from his clutches as he could. Using Gil’s computer sense and the help of people like Beth, and others of the Gathering, he was able to locate and extract Kindred from Charles’grasp. Then he had a breakdown of sorts, and Jereth had stepped in ordering him to stop and rest. He felt this was a turning point in his life.

Colin stood moving to Jereth’s desk. “I’m going.”

“Good luck. You know how to reach me if you need me.” As his brother, there was a link between the two, similar to twins.

Jareth did not even watch as the light flashed and Colin was gone. There were very few Kindred that could teleport; Colin, Moira, Gil and himself. That alone put them in the Inner Clan. He felt the strong buzz that announced he would be getting a telepathed message from Moira.

‘Jareth, I want you to know that Colin has met with his greatest challenge. He will need all your support and help.’ Moira’s voice spoke to his mind.

‘You know I will. What exactly is this all about? I feel as if there is something you aren’t telling me.’

There was a pause before she answered. ‘The girl will be my apprentice.’

Shocked, Jareth didn’t answer right away. The memory of Colin telling him the girl was called Chandra came to him. ‘Colin doesn’t know. Why didn’t you tell him?’

“He will have enough on his plate just trying to get the mother to trust him enough to get her here. I will help all I can but this is Colin’s journey.”

“I take it the mother is an integral part in Colin’s journey?” He could almost see Moira’s head nod before she answered in the affirmative.

“I don’t mean to be negative, but what if he can’t save them?”

“Colin needs to save them and in doing so he will overcome his fear and lack of confidence that he is feeling. I won’t interfere, but as always there is help available. He needs to be able to count on himself and learn to call on others to help. We are all in this together, and together we build our strength.” The connection between them was broken.







Even the intense need to be on the road heading to Minnesota, did not stop Colin from riding Raja, his favorite stallion.

He gave Raja his head and laid his own head on Raja’s neck. He was in tune with the great horse. Although there was no conscious thought in the animals brain, the will to serve and the intense feeling of freedom that flowed from animal to man was like a shot of potent adrenalin to Colin.

At the top of the bluff, Colin looked at the peaceful valley. His house and ranch dominated this end with its fine grass and well tended paddocks. Breeding and breaking horses was something he did for relaxation. There were men better at it than he and he made sure they were on his payroll. He could see Quinlan walking a horse through it paces.

The small river that started from a spring high in the mountains fed the farms of the people in the valley and made its way through the edge of his ranch. The Atkinson’s and Stuart’s farms filled out the south side of the valley and above them was Moira’s house. Her front porch wrapped around the house allowing her full view of the entire valley.

Now the thoughts about what he was going to have to do intruded on the moment. Turning Raja around, he rode back to the ranch at a more leisurely pace.

Colin quickly packed a duffle bag, pausing to pick up the soft bag that held his ‘Ronin’ stones. He touched the flat smooth surface of the stones from Kierake. They held a connection to his heritage that also could connect him to other Kierakians when necessary. Through them power could be channeled. He wished he had them nine years earlier. They were something Moira had given him before he went on his sabbatical. He had learned how valuable they were to changing physics. He was very careful how, when and where he used them.

He was ready to leave but something bothered him. He bowed his head in prayer. He needed more help than what he had in his arsenal. The room took on a glow for just a moment and then disappeared. He smiled.

Walking down the hall to the stairway, he passed one of the four rooms that occupied the upper floor. This room was suddenly a soft pink, with a white four-poster bed set. There was a white and pink eyelet bedspread and matching curtains. He shook his head, this was definitely not the way he had he had left it. There had been a single bed, small wooden dresser, matching nightstand and a plain lamp. Now it was decorated for a girl.

Something was going on. He quickly went to the next room and pushed the door open. This room, which previously had no furniture; was now decorated for a baby with toys, crib and even a large wooden rocking chair resting in the middle of a braided rug. He shook his head and closed his eyes as if he were seeing things. He was right, because when he opened them the room was just as it was, an empty room. The same was for the other room. They were back to the former arrangement.

He had built this house with the idea that he would marry and raise a family. It was as if he was seeing the future. That couldn’t be, no one could do that, not even Moira, at least not that he knew.

Now was no the time to figure this out. He had a mission and if there was anything to the weird things going on in his house, they would be there when he came back.

He walked out the front door and drove away. No one locked their doors in Heartland. It was the safest village in the world, because only Kierakians knew about the valley and its inhabitants. Kierakians were the only visitors to the valley. Extended family lived outside the valley. Even those who worked for Mt. Mariah’s Hope Hospital lived in Ashton, a city just nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.









A month had gone by since Colin has seen the little girl. He had driven his SUV back to Minnesota, because he needed the vehicle to get around. Roger and his parents drove back to Heartland with Beth. From his contact with Beth, his guess was Roger’s parents were making plans to move to Heartland. He could tell that something was brewing between the two. A sense of yearning pricked for a moment, he too wished for a soul mate, someone to share his hopes and dreams. Shaking his head, he got to the business at hand.

He had not seen any of Charles’ Jaka snooping around. There was always that possibility that he would run into one of Charles’ followers who might be on the look out for him; just as he was for them. He was still concerned about the little girl and how she knew Charles.

It had become his morning routine to stop at the coffee shop near the hotel he was staying. With the morning paper under his arm he took his latte from the Barista and looked for a place to sit. The coffee shop was crowded but he managed to find an empty table along the back wall. It was dirty and littered with cups and sugar wrappers. He looked around for someone with a rag to wipe up the spilled mess the previous owners left.

“Here you are,” a girl with a plastic tub of dirty cups and saucers, handed him a wet towel, “They leave a mess on our tables, I wonder what they do at home.” She shook her head and moved on, squeezing her way through the crowed room.

Colin unfolded his paper, but looked around the room. His eyes settled on a very attractive woman across the room. He had seen her here before, but she usually had her coffee to go. Today she was at a table along the front of the room, busily scribbling on a tablet. Whatever it was she was doing was very important. He watched her bite the edge of her lip then brush her lower lip with the tip of her tongue. Colin shifted uncomfortably, the woman had no idea how sexy that little action was and she repeated it a couple of times as he watched her. Her dark hair was twisted at the back of her head with one of those big teeth clips. The ends bounced around the top of her crown when she moved her head back and forth as she studied what she was doing. He resisted the urge to sort her as long as he could, but gave in. She was sketching a room. The window had curtains and through the curtian was a large round orb with two smaller ones circling. She had even drawn the track lines of their patn. The land mass on the orb was not the moon above earth. It wasn't earth, it was Kierake, he recognized the markings from pictures he had seen. He wondered how she would know about the planet or was it some coincidence.

She rubbed her temple absently. The action at the table next to her caught his attention. A group of women, were having a lively discussion. Another woman carrying a tray of full coffee cups was making her way through the crowded room. One of the lively women backed up and stood knocking the tray causing the cups of hot coffee to tip and spill on to a woman seated at a different table. She screamed as the scalding liquid poured over her.

Everyone jumped; but he saw the dark haired woman go immediately to the wounded woman. She spoke to her quietly and pulled her steaming shirt away from the skin. Colin slipped through the crowd to kneel across from her. He sensed she was empathetic and by touching the woman she was transferring the pain to herself. Colin saw she was having trouble controling the pain she was receiving; as if she hadn’t done this in a long time or never. The burned woman started to turn to her but; Colin sensing what was going to happen touched the woman and made her unconscience. His eyes locked with the dark haired woman, across frim hin. Her surprise turned to fear as she felt him invade her thoughts. Immediately the pain she had absorbed affected her.

‘Put it away. Put the pain away. Don’t let it take over.’ He felt her gain control of the pain and concentrate. She was scared, the fear threatened to overcome her and he felt her put up a weak protection barrier. ‘Don’t, I won’t hurt you.’ His words seemed to cause her greater fear. Colin turned his attention back to the burned woman. ‘Take the blistering burn away but you will have to leave the redness and some of the discomfort or it will cause questions.’ The woman did as he told her and let the skin cool, healing it but leaving the redness and a burning sensation the woman would feel when she woke. With all the reaction of the people around them, no one noticed what had taken place between the woman and the Colin in the short amount of time.

“Move over, I’m a doctor,” a man pushed Colin aside and took his place. As the people pushed closer to see; the woman melted back into the crowd. Colin saw her head quickly for the door. Since he was on the other side, he had to fight the crush of people to reach the door. ‘Wait, don’t leave, I want to talk to you.’ He tried to reach through her fear and he couldn’t transport in this crush. When he finally made it to the door she was pulling out into the traffic. Her protection circle was crude and he sent a tracker to her car so he could find her later. He just hoped she didn’t know how to detect it since he didn’t have time to disguise it.

He went to his SUV and slowly followed the tracker trail from the coffee shop to the street where she lived. He saw her almost take the garbage can out as she squealed into the driveway. She barely missed hitting the garage door when it was making its way slowly up. He drove on by and circled the block. This time he shadowed his vehicle from public view and parked across the street.