Part Four: Truth and Consequences
You are the sunshine/ I am the rain that falls in line
You are a candle/ and I am your darkness
You are the moonlight/ I am the cloud that passes by
You are a vision/ and I am blindness
And so it goes/ the story is far too old to know it all
~~from On & On by Kevin Max
Chapter 59
Eastern France
Duncan was focused on the road he had so recently traveled. He floored the accelerator and wished that somehow he were there now! Even ninety miles an hour was too slow and was taking too long! He cornered a sharp bend in the road and had to slow to accommodate it... but as soon as the road straightened once more... he was off like a shot.
Amanda in the seat beside him gripped the upholstery and her seat belt... and stared at him with wide eyes. She loved driving fast... but being strapped helplessly into the passenger seat was not her idea of fun! "Duncan! Slow down. We won't help anybody if we die on the way!"
Duncan eased up slowly on the gas... but moments later had re-applied the pressure.
From the back seat he heard Phillip's curse. "Damn!"
"Still no answer?"
"No and there should be! It's been more than twenty-four hours since we last talked. I've left five messages! He's the one that told me to check in... to stay in touch!"
"Now you know how I felt after leaving Paris the last time!" Duncan spat between gritted teeth and turned sharply to avoid a slow-moving produce truck.
"So what is going on with Methos these days," Amanda jested, "I mean I know he likes to keep a low profile... but what could be so interesting that he'd drop out of sight completely. I mean if he knew about this guy... why vanish?"
Duncan glanced at Phillip's head-shake and said nothing.
Finally Phillip broached the subject. "He's protecting someone else... someone I was watching. He thought I could be a better help to MacLeod than he could. I am the better swordsman."
"But he's five thousand years old... Surely his knowledge in this would be of help?" Amanda was not going to let this go.
"I was there, too, Amanda... as was Rebecca... I knew Nestor... Methos did not. Not before."
"Rebecca?" Amanda turned to regard him. "Is that when you became friends?"
"No... we knew each other long before that. We were both in Athens during the time of Pericles. Of course... she wasn't Rebecca... then." Phillip smiled warmly recalling the banquets and gatherings the immortal that Amanda knew as Rebecca Horne had once hosted in Athens. Her home had been a gathering place for scholars, thinkers, men of distinction, mortals whose minds and spirits had opened Phillip's to the possibilities of art and philosophy.
Amanda nodded. "She always mentioned you with a smile. Where you lovers?"
"No..." Phillip chuckled, "We were just friends. Among our kind... friendship is a rare and wondrous thing. I always made it a habit never to choose an immortal lover..." his smile thinned, becoming a bit wispy. "Although there have been a few I might have considered if things were otherwise for our kind."
"Only mortals?"
Phillip nodded.
"However do you bear it when they die?"
"The same as I bear the loss of immortal friends when they die... I mourn them."
"Why don't you tell us about how you and Methos and the others defeated Nestor... I gathered you didn't want to say too much in front of the others... especially about Methos."
"His identity is one of the things I am sworn to protect. I can not speak of him among others who do not know him."
"Like Ellie?"
Phillip said nothing.
Amanda turned her head thoughtfully, "Ellie? Who is..." her voice trailed away and her eyes closed. A moment later they opened and she went on as if there had been no interruption, "Duncan you really should slow down. If we crash we'll survive but I have serious doubts about the car!"
Duncan met Phillip's gaze in the mirror. The Greek winked. Ellie had mentioned knowing Amanda... but obviously... not under that name. There also appeared to be some sort of suggestion at work on Amanda that made her keep the girl's existence a secret... a magic that evidently had not been applied to MacLeod.
Phillip tried the cell phone again... he was about to hang up when he finally got an answer. Phillip tore off a torrent of phrases.
Vaguely Duncan was aware that Phillip's speech was like it had been between Ellie and Methos in London when Duncan had first seen them together... It was a patois of different languages... so mixed up together that by the time he had translated one word, Phillip had already moved on through at least two other languages... some Duncan did not know.
Phillip shut the phone off and leaned solemnly back in the seat. "At least he knows now."
"Will he be joining us?" Amanda wanted to know.
Phillip nodded. "He's on his way. Let's hope he makes it in time. Let's hope we all make it in time."
Accordingly, Duncan pushed on the accelerator and sped up once more. The Citroen seemed to leap forward.
In the backseat, Phillip considered just what to explain to the pair about what he and the others had done to Nestor... and what Nestor had done to them.
***
Nick Wolfe had returned to the church... nervous about Marie-France and Val alone with Kenny. But Val was no easy mark... and Marie-France had size if not cunning working for her. The three were as he had left them... calmly discussing mundane matters.
"Let's go," Nick said.
Kenny sneered at him. "Why should I trust you? You might just want my head!"
"Then stay behind," snapped Nick as he ushered the women from the church and into his waiting SUV. "Suits me fine!"
As if stung by the snub... Kenny... obviously opting not to be in Paris by himself... hurriedly climbed in next to Val in the back. "Just you remember... I'm not a kid."
"Kenny... we are all aware of that," the soft-spoken voice of Marie-France sounded. "Now sit back and enjoy the ride."
Kenny sat back. But he glared at all of them. "I still don't see why I couldn't ride with Amanda!"
"Because there wasn't room for you!" Nick's voice betrayed his tiredness of the boy's attitude.
"They coulda come back for me!"
"No time... I came for you. Now either sit back and be quiet or I let you out!"
Kenny said nothing further.
In the back seat, he and Valeraine stared hatefully at one another. Finally Val spoke up. "Did you kill Rosalie?"
"Why would I do that?"
"Because she was in Paris to help me."
Kenny looked over at her, if looks could kill... he'd gladly have taken her head right then. Instead he shook his head. "I didn't even know you were in Paris until I saw you meet MacLeod and the Swordmaster outside the church."
Val crossed her arms and looked down sadly. "Then who killed her?"
"Perhaps it was this Nestor... killing slowly... trying to gather information about all of us in Paris," Marie-France offered.
"Makes sense. Her body was in bad shape... and not all of it was because of decomposition... You only saw her face Val... I saw what he did to her."
Val's shoulders shook with her silent sobs. Bad enough to lose a child... but to lose one in such a manner... Nick had hoped to spare her part of that... but the truth needed to be told. He let her cry. Thankfully, Kenny ceased teasing her and remained quietly thoughtful.
The road to Alsace-Lorraine opened up before him... and Nick reveled in the feel of the open road. He just wished his reasons for this trip were other than they were. And he still didn't trust the boy.
