Chapter 67

Northeastern France

Within the large kitchen of the estate house, Cassandra forced herself to sit easily and comfortably upon one of the wooden chairs. She had not expected anyone to be here. She had planned to rifle through the place... check for papers... and burn it to the ground before she left. But Ellie's and Derrick's presence here changed those plans...especially young Derrick's presence.

In New York... Derrick had seemed a preternaturally wise but small pre-immortal boy. One who both seemed to know and yet didn't know what was happening around him. He had a wisdom that seemed far older than his ten years... and an innocence that had entranced her. Without her ability to foresee the future at that time... Cassandra had simply been puzzled.

Now, she sensed a remarkable change in the boy... or was it only that her abilities were once more active. When Derrick had hugged her upon her arrival... she'd sensed a future for him as she had not done so before. Within her mind she could see Derrick a grown and charismatic speaker working to bring peace to an embattled planet. She saw immortals lined up behind him, willing to join with him in the crusade for peace. Most of the faces of his followers had been shifting... as though events still in motion might change who stood with him and who did not. But one face was always clear. Within that group Cassandra could see Ellie.

Now she stretched slightly and glanced up at the solemn face of the tiny Ellie. She seemed so much a child... much as Derrick was... how could she possibly be the same woman who'd posed for that portrait? Or had Methos simply commissioned a portrait based on her likeness? Did she even know him or who he was? Cassandra shook her head... surprised at her own foolishness. Of course Ellie knew Methos... she had to know him... or else why was she here... in his house. But she doubted the girl really knew him... who he was. Perhaps she could enlighten her... kill her trust of Methos by sharing some of that ancient history with her.

"Where is Phillip?" Cassandra finally asked lightly as she watched Derrick struggle to pour her a drink of lemonade from a pitcher.

Derrick shrugged, "On an errand."

Ellie said nothing. It was if she were waiting for some admission... some movement on Cassandra's part... some indication of why the psychic were here. Cassandra took the glass of lemonade from Derrick and, noticing his bandaged hand, remarked," What happened to you? Are you injured?"

The boy bit his lip and shrugged.

"May I?" Cassandra asked and reached for it. Even Ellie nodded her approval. Carefully Cassandra removed the gauze and examined the burns and blisters. "This looks like a burn... and a rather severe one."

"I burned it," Derrick said quietly.

"How? On what? This is very bad!"

Derrick shrugged, obviously not wishing to say anything.

"I know an old salve which is very good for burns. Perhaps the herbs I need to make it are here. May I try?" She smiled at Derrick who nodded with resignation. Cassandra glanced over at Ellie who seemed more than a little amused by the prospect. Cassandra rose and began to rummage through the kitchen's meager supplies. Other than some staples and old spices and herbs... there was little here, as though no one had been here for a long time. But she found the things she needed and began to talk soothingly to the boy as she mixed them up into a salve.

From outside, a voice called and, although a bit reluctant to leave, Ellie exited to the yard to speak with what was evidently the caretaker. Cassandra noticed she stood so that she could still keep an eye on the immortal and the boy in the kitchen. Cassandra smoothed the salve onto Derrick's hand. "It will not hurt so much... This will cool your hand. And it will heal much faster. You did not say how you burned it?"

"I stuck it into a fire," the boy finally admitted.

"And why did you do that?"

The boy's head tilted slightly to one side as he regarded her. Then he shrugged. "I wanted to see what would happen... if it would hurt... if it would heal."

"And did you get your answer?" Cassandra smiled gently... obviously the boy had been attempting to discover if he were an immortal. Many children raised by immortals would often chance it. That was one of the reasons it was so dangerous to have the children near them. If they were told the truth... or learned it... their young minds frequently wanted to know if immortality was for them. Too often if they died... they were lost... their immortality never triggered. Others were merely injured... some horribly. Derrick had gotten off rather lightly. Phillip and Ellie must be made to understand that the boy must go back to mortal authorities if it were not already too late. Even if he knew of immortals... he should not remain with immortals.

"You wondered if you were like Ellie, didn't you?" Cassandra seemed to answer his question. "You are not little one... You must never try anything like this again."

Derrick nodded, "I know... they told me. Ellie's already made me promise."

Cassandra sighed. At least the girl had the right idea.

Cassandra's train of thought was interrupted when Ellie bounced back in. "Monsieur Bouchet says there are kittens in the barn. Would you like to go see them?"

Derrick nodded with a grin and as soon as Cassandra finished with the bandage raced off... telling Ellie she did need to follow him all the time. Cassandra watched Ellie stand at the kitchen door and nervously stare after the boy, while biting her nails.

"If it is his time... you cannot prevent it," Cassandra finally said. "but I do not think it is his time. I see a great future for him... and I see you in it."

Ellie turned to regard Cassandra but did not seem to be surprised at the psychic's words. She shrugged as if in understanding and removed her oversized jakcet. Cassandra noted the large cable-knit sweater the girl wore as well as the harness of long knives on her back. Her eyes widened. That sweater... or one like it... Cassandra had seen its like before. It was too big for the girl... it was his... it had to be his. Something twisted in Cassandra suddenly.

"He is not what you think he is," she snapped.

Ellie, pushing up the sleeves of the sweater and shifting her shoulders in what might have been small stretches and preparations of battle merely looked flatly at Cassandra without comprehension.

"Methos." Cassandra waited for either confusion or denial on the girl's part. There was nothing. She continued to regard Cassandra without emotion... as if she were walled off somehow.

Finally Ellie curled up in another of the kitchen chairs and wrapped her arms about her legs. "Nothing you say changes anything Cassandra. The past is the past. He is not the man you remember. He will never be that man again. That man no longer exists... not really." Cassandra suddenly saw a profound sadness in the girl's eyes. How old was she?

"You have no idea what he was... what he did... how could you... He raped me! He murdered me! He tortured me! He used me! And he killed all I cared about!"

Ellie pushed at her sleeves and looked out the door at the sounds of Derrick's return. "I know that Cassandra."

"You have no idea how horrible and how demeaning that can be!" Cassandra lowered her voice but her words dripped poison. She had to make Ellie understand.

Instead Cassandra's breath caught in her throat as she saw real pain in Ellie's eyes. Tears brimmed there and the girl was visibly trembling. Ellie swallowed hard. "But I do."

Cassandra drew in a sharp breath. "He did these things to you as well? Then you should not remain here. You can be free of him. Take the boy and go!"

Ellie smiled thinly as she shook her head. "Oh... he didn't do those things to me. Others did. But he killed them all. I awoke to immortality to find that he'd killed my tormentors... he'd unleashed a fury I think you might have recognized and slaughtered them... so that they were no longer even recognizable as human. And I hated him... because he did not leave me one to kill." Her voice took on a dark, edgy tone. Then her face softened. "It took me a long time to forgive him for that." She turned to Derrick whose entrance with a kitten in his arms effectively ended their conversation.

Cassandra stared at them both. Somehow her view of this immortal needed to be reworked. Could she be as blood-thirsty as Methos himself? Look at those knives she wore! And yet she seemed so gentle... so concerned for the boy. As for the boy himself and his future... Cassandra shook her head and excused herself for a moment. She wandered into the main hall and glanced around at its sparseness. Sitting on the wide stairs she pulled the crystal from her pocket and willed it to show her the paths and which one she should take... but it remained only a crystal... she saw nothing in its depths... merely her own reflection repeated on the many facets.

Cassandra looked up sharply realizing the boy stood before her. His eyes were focused on the crystal and his tongue licked dryly over his lips. His breath came in short gulps. His hands reached out to touch it. Cassandra let him.

In Derrick's hands... the crystal glowed palely... but his eyes widened at whatever it was he saw. Cassandra could see nothing.

'What do you see boy?" she asked and reached to shake him slightly from his trance.

Derrick looked up at her. The glow within the crystal died. Terror was reflected in his eyes. "You can't... please Cassandra... don't kill her." Derrick's eyes rolled in his head and he wavered. Cassandra yelled for Ellie as she caught the boy... swiftly grabbing the crystal from his limp hands before it fell and replacing it in her pocket.

"Ellie!" she yelled once more even as the girl appeared. By this time Cassandra had scooped the boy into her arms. "Where should I put him?"

Ellie examined Derrick's eyes and listened to his breathing, "Upstairs!" she instructed. "Follow me."

With the boy in her arms, Cassandra carried the unconscious Derrick up the stairs after the suddenly efficient and not so young seeming Ellie.