Part Two
"The greatest fear is the fear of the unknown." -- Nagaraja Hamza
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jack could only stare at the place where he last saw the little girl. She was gone, of course. Disappeared. Ran off, just as she had done every time she had shown her face. "She was right there," he said, as he scanned the vicinity. There were several buildings lining the streets, warm lamplight shining through the windows of some, yet it still seemed like such a lonely town.
"Come," the woman said, as she pulled her shawl tighter over her arms. She was staring out toward the end of the porch, shivering slightly as she spoke. "You are welcome at my fire. Please come in."
"Marida?" the man named Karden said softly. He was looking at the woman, who heaved a sigh, then turned to Jack and smiled softly.
"Please come in. My inn is the best in our region." Karden nodded and moved so that they could enter. He showed no signs of leaving now, his only concern seemed to be for the woman named Marida. Carter and Teal'c walked over to the steps, as Jack and Daniel glanced at each other in confusion. Jack shrugged and they followed their teammates in. He stopped at the door and looked back at Marida, who called out to the night, "Everyone is welcome in my inn." She took one last look around and shouted, "Everyone." There was no answer, except for the keening of the wind. She slumped her shoulders, then turned to follow Jack into the building.
"You change your mind, Karden?" a man behind a counter shouted out as they walked in. Jack looked around as a few of the other patrons laughed. He was in a large room, with what looked like a bar along one wall and a wide fireplace lining another. Several tables and chairs were set up to accommodate the inn's customers while a staircase led up to a second floor, presumably for travelers to stay the night. It looked like a scene right out of a revolutionary war film. He turned to thank the woman as she passed him, but she had lost interest in her guests and was staring at the floor.
"Couldn't resist Marida's charm, could you?" The man behind the bar was grinning broadly at Karden, who apparently didn't really have to go home to his crops after all. Jack looked at Karden, surprised to see him shake his head at his friend, then sent a nod toward Marida. The man's smile dimmed, as he stared at Marida, but she had pulled herself together.
"Come sit down," she said to Daniel. "All of you. Please sit. I'll bring you something to drink."
"We're fine," Daniel muttered, while Jack and Carter sat down at the table Marida indicated. Daniel and Teal'c joined them, but even though the atmosphere was light-hearted and warm, for some reason Jack couldn't relax.
"Everything all right, Marida?" asked the man behind the bar. He threw down the towel he had in his hands and walked around the counter to come over to her. "What has happened?"
"Nothing has happened, Sylvan," Marida said with a sigh as she wiped the table vigorously. "We have guests. Bring them our best ale."
There was some good-natured grumbling among the other patrons at that announcement, which Jack tried to ignore. The smell of food cooking had his stomach rumbling right along with the crowd. He was starving. He would have given his right arm to have whatever they offered. Their "best ale" sounded too good to be true.
"We don't have much in way of trade," Daniel said, apparently wanting to make sure Marida knew that they were broke. Jack so hoped it wouldn't matter, but he was fairly sure the American dollar wouldn't go very far on an alien planet.
"You have already paid for your meal," the woman said. She finally stopped wiping the table and looked up at them, her eyes misting with unshed tears. "It's rare when she brings strangers all the way to my door."
Jack and Daniel shared a puzzled look. Apparently, the woman knew the child they had met in the woods.
"Marida?" It was plain that Sylvan was worried.
"Tis nothing," she said again, although her expression stated otherwise. She sat down next to Carter and tried to pretend that her words were true, but even Jack could see that it was a huge effort on her part.
"These people saw a little girl on their way to town," Karden said, his voice indicating a hidden meaning.
"A little girl?" Sylvan said, his expression guarded as ominous whispers filled the room. This can't be good, Jack thought. He immediately tensed up, looking around to see the other customers were now staring at Jack and his team and talking amongst themselves, while sending curious gazes their way. A shiver ran down Jack's spine as his instincts kicked into gear. This was so not good.
"A little girl," he heard whispered more than once. "Do you reckon…?"
"Who else could it be?" The whispers grew louder, but Sylvan spoke up, the suspicious glare on his face made Jack subconsciously reach up to place his hand on his gun, even more nervous than he already was.
"What did she look like?" Sylvan demanded. Jack and Daniel both started to answer, but Sylvan was apparently bursting to hear more about the kid. "Where did you see her?
"In the woods," Daniel said, while Jack kept a vigilant watch over the others in the room. He saw that Teal'c was also on guard as he too looked around anxiously. "She was playing earlier in the day, then we saw her later on, freezing and saying she couldn't go home." Marida made a sound that sounded like a sob, prompting Sylvan to go over to her to place his hand on her shoulder. She reached up and grabbed the hand, hanging on tightly as a tear slipped down her cheek. Daniel noticed this as well, and he asked the question that Jack had been burning to ask ever since he met these people. "Do you know her?"
Karden nodded sadly, while Sylvan said with a mournful sigh, "Yes."
"She is my daughter," Marida told them. More tears sparkled in the candlelight, making her eyes seem huge. "She was my daughter." The last was said in a low, sorrowful tone that nearly broke Jack's heart. But the words didn't ring true for him.
"Was?" he asked, wondering if the woman had maybe lost her mind along the way. He wouldn't accept any other explanation, especially the one that caused a sense of dread to fill him as the hairs on the back of his neck bristled. The others in the room nodded sadly, but Jack was in full-blown denial. "What? Did you disown her?"
"No," Marida said simply. She looked him full in the eye. "She was my baby. I could never willingly turn her away."
"Daria went out one day," Sylvan butt in, his eyes taking a far away gaze. "She loved to play in the woods near the edge of town. We have tried to stop her many times, but she always came running to us when we called, so we didn't make too much of a fuss." Marida was now staring at her hands as Sylvan told his story, but the man didn't notice. He was intent on relating what exactly happened to keep a little girl out in the cold. The room had gone quiet; the other customers were just as intent on hearing what he had to say as the members of SG-1 were.
"Then one day she did not come when we called."
Marida buried her face in her hands, but no one came to comfort her. They were all focused in on Sylvan. "We set out to look for her, many of our neighbors came out to help, but Daria was nowhere to be found." He turned his attention to Jack and his team, his voice now serious. "She was found six months later by a hunter who went looking for food."
A chill went down Jack's spine, just before Carter said, "Oh my God." Her eyes were wide, almost frightened, a feeling that Jack was trying hard not to share. This was impossible. There was no way he had been talking to a ghost just a little while ago.
"She said she was cold," Daniel said, obviously having a hard time in believing the tale as well. "She took Sam's blanket when it was offered to her." No one responded, but Daniel went on, as if he was trying to work it all out. "She spoke to us. How could she not be there?"
"It was a different child," Teal'c said with conviction. "There is no evidence that the young girl we encountered in the woods was indeed your daughter." Jack found himself nodding as he looked toward Sylvan. There really was no other explanation and he was glad Teal'c thought of this.
"There is a drawing," Karden said. He had been standing silently alongside the table as the drama unfolded, but his eyes were on Marida. He turned to look at Sylvan, who nodded at his friend. The silent communication unnerved Jack somewhat. He didn't really want them to prove Teal'c wrong.
Karden went over to a door that was next to the staircase and walked through it. Marida finally looked up, the sorrow in her face making her seem older. She rose and walked over to the window, her back toward them as she stared out into the darkness of the night. Jack knew her pain. Knew how hard it was to grieve over a dead child, but he couldn't go to her, nor think of a way to help her. He had his own demons to deal with. He would probably screw things up even if he tried. Instead he sat with his team, hoping that the proof they promised was nothing more than a false lead.
A woman came up to the table while they waited, bringing plates of food. Although everything smelled delicious, Jack wasn't really hungry anymore. Carter and Daniel, however, had gotten over their initial shock, and were looking at their food with interest. Even Teal'c picked up a spoon, so Jack decided to join in.
"Teal'c's right you know," Carter said, as she reached for the mug the woman set down next to her plate. "Ghosts don't exist, right?" She was looking at Daniel, who gave a reluctant nod as he shrugged his shoulders.
"There have been countless sightings throughout the ages," he told her in a matter-of-fact tone, although his expression seemed to go against his manner. "There have been reports all the way back to ancient civilizations. The Egyptians believed-"
"No matter," Teal'c interrupted, his tone somber. "The child we met in the forest was not a ghost."
"I agree with Teal'c," Jack said to add his two cents in. "There's no such thing."
"You are not the first strangers who have come here to tell us this," one of the other customers said. Jack looked over to see an old man sitting sideways in his chair to better watch the ongoing drama. "Daria has been seen by many others."
"This is true," Marida said from the window. She had turned back to face them, walking back over to the table to sit down again. "They described her to us and one man drew a picture of the child he had seen. There is no denying that the little girl in the woods is my daughter."
"Here is the proof," Karden said, as he waved something at them. He brought it over to the table and laid it down reverently. There was a picture of a child in what looked like a leather book, and another chill ran down Jack's spine when he looked closer at it. The resemblance was remarkable. The artist was extremely talented, as even the small scar on her chin was depicted in the drawing. Jack tried to cling to his denial, but it was hard when everyone else was telling him the same thing. The child he had talked to earlier in the day had been dead for God knows how long.
"That's the little girl we saw," Daniel said quietly.
"She won't come in," Marida said in the silence that followed Daniel's statement. "I have called to her, begged her to come in, but she never does." Fresh tears sprang up in her eyes as she looked up at Sylvan. "No matter what I say, she never comes in."
"She said she couldn't come home," Carter said with a great deal of sadness in her voice.
"You are afraid of her," Sylvan told her. "I know this is the reason why. She would come to you if you would just let go of your fear."
Marida shook her head in denial. "No. I love her. She is my daughter. I hate that she is out there cold and alone." She looked over at Jack, tears streaming down her face. "A few of those who saw her say that she huddles on our doorstep, almost as if she wanted to come in. I call out to her, but…" She shook her head and fell silent.
Jack didn't know what to tell her. He could see that her heart was breaking; yet there was nothing he could do. God, if he could only bring his own son back. He stopped that thought, knowing it didn't do any good to dwell, and turned his attention to the situation at hand. "I am so sorry for your loss," he told her, his heart aching with what she was going through. "But maybe if you just let go. Let her go on to a better place." His words sounded empty, even to his own ears, but he never really knew what to say in situations such as this.
She nodded, although he could tell that she wasn't going to take his advice. He dropped it then, knowing it wouldn't do any good. He turned to the food on his plate, which didn't seem to be all that appetizing any more, and he took a bite as he looked toward the window. Sadness filled his heart as he stared at the little girl standing outside and peering in. She gave him a sad smile before stepping back and disappearing into the night, leaving an imprint that he knew would last a lifetime.
She was a lost soul, a feeling Jack knew all too well.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The strangers had entered the inn, although she could tell they were hesitant. Daria watched them through the window, the warm glow of the fire making it easier to see through the veil that blocked her view. She squinted her eyes in hopes of seeing clearly, just this once, but as always, the demons of fear did everything they could to keep her out. She was not welcome there, no matter that her mother bid her to come in.
She knew that the veil wasn't really there, that those among the living couldn't see it. It was there only for her, and she mourned the loss of warmth and family as she watched the people in the inn. But the Traveler had told her why this was, that those who lived feared the unknown, and how they used their fear as a shield, protecting them from that which they cannot control. The same fear that made it difficult to see inside her mother's house kept her out in the cold and forever lost.
She missed the Traveler. He had found her in the woods as she relived the same day for what seemed an eternity. She was surprised when he told her that he too was among the dead, but she listened to everything he told her, hanging on to his every word as he explained why she was destined to go through the same death over and over again - playing in the morning, cold and lost in the afternoon, then tripping and hitting her head when she jumped over a fallen tree. She was free to do whatever she wanted after that, except go near those who feared her, which included her mother's house. But the Traveler also told her many other things to help her understand the ways of her new world, and she wished he were here now. He didn't know how to make the living understand that they were not in danger from her, but he did keep her company until he left to see the rest of the world, which was, as he told her, the same as he did when alive. He never settled down in life, nor would he in death.
Her attention was drawn to the strangers inside the inn. They knew of her fate. She could see it in their faces. The oldest man looked shocked, while the woman who had offered her a blanket sat in wide-eyed horror. She hoped that their shock would not turn to fear. Fear would keep her from getting near them again and she didn't want that. She liked them very much.
She thought about how the Traveler couldn't explain why some people could see her, and others could not. She supposed that it really didn't matter. The strangers inside the inn had treated her kindly, not like some of the others, and for that she was grateful.
Her mother got up and walked toward the window where Daria was peeking into. Daria watched as the veil turned a darker gray, almost completely blocking her view. She knew that her mother loved her and ached to have her near, but she also knew that her mother was too scared to let it happen. And the fear turned into darkness whenever Daria came near. Demons danced around her mother, demons that growled in deep and scary voices whenever she pressed her ear to her mother's door. The Traveler told her they weren't really demons, just images of fear, but Daria could not think of another name for them, so she continued to think of them that way.
The wind howled as she strained to see through the darkness of the veil. She hated that she couldn't ever go inside. She missed the warmth and the smells of her home. She wanted to go in and sit by the fire, like she used to do, smiling with happy thoughts as her father joked with the customers.
Her father was inside, standing next to her mother. He did not fear her as much as her mother did. She remembered that evening so long ago when she was able to get close enough to try to communicate with him. He did not see her, but she was determined to at least try to tell him what the Traveler had told her about her mother's fear. She didn't think her father heard her, as the demons of fear still kept her out. But sometimes, when he was out at night, he would call out to her as her mother did, begging her to come into the warmth.
Her mother walked away from the window to go sit back down next to the strangers. Daria knew that this time was no different than all the other nights she was kept from the warmth. She would not be welcomed this night either. She stared into the eyes of the stranger when he looked up at her, knowing deep down that he shared her loneliness. This thought cheered her a little, but she stepped back to find her way back to the woods - her second home in death as it was in life.
The End
