Disclaimer: I do not own 'An Invite, To Eternity'. All rights and profits go to John Clare. I do own the characters mentioned in the story.
Summary: Sequel to 'The Highwayman's Legacy'. Tina had thought she was done with possessing spirits and ghost-related-fiasco headaches, but the discovery that she is not quite as alone in her abilities as she thought, sweeps her up in an all new adventure, whose instigator is far from benign…
Chapter One
Wilt thou go with me, sweet maid,
Say, maiden, wilt thou go with me
Through the valley-depths of shade,
Of night and dark obscurity;
Where the path has lost its way,
Where the sun forgets the day,
Where there's nor life nor light to see,
Sweet maiden, wilt thou go with me!
Where stones will turn to flooding streams,
Where plains will rise like ocean waves,
Where life will fade like visioned dreams
And mountains darken into caves,
Say, maiden, wilt thou go with me.
Through this sad non-identity,
Where parents live and are forgot,
And sisters live and know us not!
Say, maiden; wilt thou go with me
In this strange death of life to be,
To live in death and be the same,
Without this life or home or name,
At once to be and not to be -
That was and is not -yet to see
Things pass like shadows, and the sky
Above, below, around us lie?
An Invite, To Eternty, by John Clare
Tina had sworn that she would never come back to England, especially this part of it.
Even if the United Kingdom as a whole hadn't been the site of so many battles and violent deaths that Tina could barely go five feet without running into a ghost, the village she was travelling to held far too many memories.
A little over three years ago, she had departed the small tourist town, and particularly the Inn that was the main attraction, with great relief, insisting that it would take a near-miracle to get her to return.
Some of the more unkind people of Tina's aquaintance might have suggested that Lizzy, who Tina considered a sister in all but blood, managing to keep up a serious long distance relationship for over two years should count as a near miracle. Tina might have suggested that those people could shut up or get a punch in the face.
Nevertheless, Lizzy's 'we-survived-a-possession' date with James Dawson, grandson of the local innkeeper, once both of them had recovered from their possession-resulting injuries and been released from the hospital, had turned into genuine attraction. Genuine attraction had been followed by three years of setting alarms for odd hours in order to make Skype dates (and dealing with grumpy housemates the next morning), saving up to either visit each other or meet somewhere in the middle, engagement and finally, on a very sunny Australian autumn day, a Civil ceremony uniting them in marriage.
It was probably a good thing that there were two months between the ceremony in Australia and the one being held tomorrow, because both bride and groom had the fair Anglo skin that had left them gloriously sunburned.
Well, Tina called it glorious, since it let her make all manner of bad puns at her friend's expense. Lizzy complained that there were types of kindling that didn't burn as fast as she did.
The happy couple had spent thirteen days on a European Road Trip before hopping the Channel to England, and the Inn that had been in the Dawson family for centuries, for a reaffirmation of vows, since most of the Dawsons hadn't been able to make it down to the former Colony.
Likewise, Tina was the only one of Lizzy's extended family who was able to make it over to England, for various reasons ranging from bosses who don't mind a day off for weddings but do mind taking an entire week, to throwing a tantrum that they (or their children) hadn't been included in the ceremony and refusing to attend out of some kind of bizarre moral objection, even though the sheer number of cousins and second cousins Lizzy had to choose from would have made that impossible.
Still, Tina had every intention of treasuring what time she and Lizzy had left.
It was going to be strange, living by herself and not tripping over Lizzy's latest project, and remembering to actually do the washing up before the dishes developed intelligent life. Tina would need to start actually setting an alarm, rather than rely on Lizzy stampeding through the apartment as she tried to get out of the door in time to beat the traffic, and find someone else willing to join her in throwing over-ripe produce over the fence at people who thought 4:00 a.m. was a good time to mow the lawn. Ms Upstairs, who had just had a baby, might be open to the idea.
On the bright side, at least this time there would be no ghosts of star-crossed lovers possessing random strangers - and inadvertently getting them killed - in a morbid attempt to create a happier ending.
Other than being forced to listen to the old biddies of the family complaining that only Tina could go to a wedding and come home without even a phone number, what was the worst that could happen?
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.
.
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A/N: So, this is a continuation of The Highwayman's Legacy, which can be found on amazon dot com in kindle or paperback form. I'm heading overseas to visit my Dad for Christmas, and I'll try to work on the next chapter while I'm there.
For those reading my other work, A Friend In Need, Striking Back, Snow White Learns Stranger Danger and A SCA Girl in Middle Earth have also been updated, as well as another new story, The Many Deaths of Christian Grey
Thanks,
Nat