Disclaimer: See Acknowledgements page
CHAPTER THREE
Anna showered and changed quickly which, with her busy schedule, she was accustomed to doing. She emerged from the bathroom approximately 15 minutes later dressed in jeans and a light blue denim shirt. Richie was nowhere to be seen, probably had returned to the dojo downstairs. When he saw her, Duncan hastily finished his phone conversation.
"Yeah, get back to me as soon as you can, Joe. I got to go." Anna could tell he hadn't expected her to reappear so soon. She smiled. "That was quick."
"Habit," she replied. "So, was that your bartender friend on the phone?"
"Yes, it was." Duncan made it clear by the tone of his voice that he had nothing more to say about it.
"Oh," was all she said. She knew that call had something to do with either her or HIM, maybe both.
"Why don't we sit here on the couch and just talk about what's happened. We just might be able to figure out what's going on."
"Actually, I would just like to go somewhere and think things through by myself. In fact, I need to."
"I don't think that would be such a good idea. Besides, as the old saying goes, 'Two heads are better than one'."
"Relax, Duncan. I'm not going to escape. I promise. I just need to be by myself for awhile. I noticed your staircase over there. Usually, whenever I had a problem and needed to think, I headed for the mountains. But sometimes that wasn't possible, so I opted for a rooftop. So with your permission...." Duncan grudgingly approved.
And so there she sat. It had been over an hour since she had come up here. As always, it helped. She had thought everything over and came to a conclusion. She didn't particularly care for it, but it was the only logical answer. She knew Duncan wouldn't believe her nor would he allow her to face HIM. She knew what she had to do. It was then that Duncan sat down beside her.
"Come to any conclusions?" he asked.
"A few. A few." she replied.
"So...," he said as he nudged her, a grin on his face.
"Well, I figure it's one of two things. One is I never really woke up - I'm dreaming all this. Two is I'm having a massive psychological meltdown from...well, I'm just imaging all this," she responded. Then with a smile she added, "Of course, there's always the theory that I've crossed over into the Twilight Zone and Rod Serling is going to show up at any moment."
"The Twilight Zone?," Duncan asked with a laugh.
"Yeah, the Twilight Zone," she said, switching to a bad imitation of Rod Serling, "I've entered into another dimension in time and space."
Duncan chuckled. "Well, I don't think you are dreaming or imaging it. I think you're just a little confused. Come on," he said as he stood up and offered her a hand, "let's go inside."
Anna took Duncan's hand and stood up. "I'm not confused. Well, just a little. And that's only because I don't have all the facts." They walked towards the door and went inside. Half way down the stairs, Duncan stopped and looked around. There he goes again, Anna thought to herself. Gotta find out what that's all about. Doesn't look too happy either. She looked towards the kitchen where she saw Richie and Joe with yet another man. He was tall and lanky, with short brown hair and brown eyes. Appeared to be in his early thirties. They had been talking, but stopped suddenly as both Richie and the stranger turned in their direction. Joe followed suit and looked as well. Duncan continued down the stairs, followed by Anna.
"So, Adam, what are you doing here?" Duncan inquired.
"I was just in the area and thought I'd stop by," he replied. Anna knew that it was a blatant lie. Joe probably brought him along for some reason. "So, are you going to introduce us?"
"Sorry. This is Anna McGowan. Anna, I'd like you to meet Adam Pierson." Anna took Adam's hand and shook it. She knew that Duncan had lied about this man's name, but why? It was then she had caught something in his eyes, so she decided to look more closely. It was another one of her talents - the ability to look into someone's eyes and know what makes them tick. My God! she thought. How can this be? He's over 5000 years old. He's immortal. He can't die unless you.... Oh boy. He can't die unless you cut off his head. Were the others immortal too? she wondered. She decided to find out, but knew she'd have to be careful about it and not arouse suspicion.
"Would you like me to leave so you can discuss me? I can always head back up onto the roof." She casually looked around at the other men in the group, grinning impishly. This way she could look at each one in the group without them knowing she was studying them. Joe was mortal, but Duncan and Richie were immortal, with Duncan being over 400 years old. Apparently, Richie was new to immortality as he was about his same age. Why didn't I notice this before? Probably because I've been thrown off-balance by all of this and haven't been concentrating properly. I'll just have to focus my mind and quit being so sloppy. If anything, this development confirmed what she had suspected -- she really had crossed into another dimension. "Personally, I would like to know just what you found out about me."
"My, what an ego," Duncan said, trying to sound amazed. "Like we would have nothing better to do than discuss you. But if you wouldn't mind, we do have some other matters to discuss."
"Yeah, right. And I'm the Jolly Green Giant," Anna retorted. "Okay, I'll just sit over on the sofa and read the paper, if that's all right with you."
"Sure, be my guest."
Anna walked over and sat down on the sofa, picking up the paper. It would be good cover in hiding the fact that she was listening in on their conversation. She couldn't wait to hear just what 'little tidbits of information' Joe had discovered about her. Can't be much as I don't exist here. Still, I probably do have a counterpart here...it will be interesting to find out about her. I'm also rather curious as to what they plan to do.
"Well, I did some checking. I couldn't find an Anna McGowan in the LA area, or any Foundation. However, I did find several other Anna McGowans -- in Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Denver, and the last one in Philadelphia. All of them are accounted for. So Methos and I sat down at the computer to see what we could come up with. I gave him a description of her and he created a sketch. We sent it out over the web and waited to see what would happen. We got a response. It seems that a missing persons report has been filed on one Margaret Grey, a hairstylist from Great Neck, NY. Anna appears to match the description. According to the report, she snuck out of the house two nights ago and disappeared. It looks as though they're very worried because she has a history of mental problems."
"Oh, great," Richie said. "We've got a nut case on our hands."
"Richie, we don't know that she's a nut case," chastised Duncan. "We aren't even certain Anna and Margaret are the same person."
Thank you Duncan, Anna thought. Nice to know someone's on my side.
"Come on, Mac, how can you say that?" the kid asked. "Especially after what she said earlier about Fitz's picture?"
Puzzled, Joe asked, "What about Fitz's picture?"
"When she saw his picture, she thought he was Roger Daltrey," Richie explained. "In fact, she insisted he was and that they were very good friends. I mean, she really believed it. If that's not crazy, then I don't know what is."
"I will admit that it was rather strange behavior," the Scot replied, "but it still doesn't mean she's Margaret Grey."
So much for my knight in shining armor. Now he thinks I'm crazy too!
"So what do you want to do about it?" Joe asked.
"I think you should do a little more digging, see what else you can find out. While you're doing that, the three of us can keep her occupied. And if it turns out she is Margaret, I'll confront her with it."
Adam disagreed. "I don't think so. If it turns out she is Margaret Grey, then she's most certainly in a delusional state. She would just deny it. It could also trigger a psychotic episode. No, I think your best bet is just to play along with her. In the meantime, we would contact her family."
"Methos, the psychiatrist. What did you do - study under Freud?" asked an amused Duncan.
"Well, you do tend to pick up a few things MacLeod when you've been around as long as I have."
Adam's name is Methos. Makes more.... Just then something in the paper caught Anna's eye. It was a picture of Eric Clapton, only the caption read 'Garrett Page - Country Western's Living Legend." He had given a concert the night before at the City Auditorium. He performed some of his biggest hits - "Achy, Breaky Heart," "Friends in Low Places," "Lookin' for Love," and his biggest hit, "On the Road Again." The critic said that Page, a fair guitar player, was the consummate showman who had who had the crowd in the palm of his hand with his very first song "All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight." Anna began to laugh. Oh my god, he's a country western singer in this world. And only a fair guitarist to boot.
"What's so funny?" Duncan asked.
"Nothing really. Just one of the comic strips struck me as amusing" which seemed to satisfy them. This didn't surprise her as they thought she was mentally unbalanced. Oh boy, this is going to be fun, she thought sarcastically.
The rest of the day went just as she had expected. Joe said he had to get back as he had a bar to run, although Anna knew it was also to continue his research of her...well, not her, but Margaret....and to contact Margaret's family. Duncan fixed a light lunch for everyone, then suggested they check out the Greek exhibit at the museum. Richie declined saying he had a dojo to manage. Not a bad excuse kid, Anna thought as she understood his reluctance to accompany them. She could tell it was a combination of avoiding someone he believed was a nut case and what he considered a boring outing. So that just left Duncan and Methos. Sorry...Adam. She expected Adam to come up with an excuse, but he surprised her by agreeing to go. She figured his curiosity must have gotten the best of him. Or maybe he just wants to take a trip down memory lane, she thought to herself with a grin.
When they arrived at the museum, it wasn't very crowded which wasn't surprising since it was a weekday afternoon. The exhibit was very interesting and Anna was enjoying herself immensely. It was the first time in years she had attended something that didn't involve fundraising or entertaining a child. Not that she minded those outings. She loved being with the children and raising money for them was a necessity as well as a pleasure. It was nice just to be able to relax and relish this undemanding interval.
Of course, Adam/Methos was the perfect guide, injecting a little unknown fact or story about different pieces. At one point, Anna walked slightly ahead of them to a black figured lip-cup with an ancient Greek inscription on it. She began to translate it, "Hermogenes Made me." Methos was astounded. "How did you know what it said?"
Anna said with an impish grin, "Just lucky, I guess." She then turned and continued on to the next piece, clearly indicating that she had nothing more to say on the matter.
Methos whispered to Duncan, "Tell me MacLeod, if she is this hairstylist from New York, how in the hell is she able to translate ancient Greek?" Anna smiled when she heard that.
CHAPTER THREE
Anna showered and changed quickly which, with her busy schedule, she was accustomed to doing. She emerged from the bathroom approximately 15 minutes later dressed in jeans and a light blue denim shirt. Richie was nowhere to be seen, probably had returned to the dojo downstairs. When he saw her, Duncan hastily finished his phone conversation.
"Yeah, get back to me as soon as you can, Joe. I got to go." Anna could tell he hadn't expected her to reappear so soon. She smiled. "That was quick."
"Habit," she replied. "So, was that your bartender friend on the phone?"
"Yes, it was." Duncan made it clear by the tone of his voice that he had nothing more to say about it.
"Oh," was all she said. She knew that call had something to do with either her or HIM, maybe both.
"Why don't we sit here on the couch and just talk about what's happened. We just might be able to figure out what's going on."
"Actually, I would just like to go somewhere and think things through by myself. In fact, I need to."
"I don't think that would be such a good idea. Besides, as the old saying goes, 'Two heads are better than one'."
"Relax, Duncan. I'm not going to escape. I promise. I just need to be by myself for awhile. I noticed your staircase over there. Usually, whenever I had a problem and needed to think, I headed for the mountains. But sometimes that wasn't possible, so I opted for a rooftop. So with your permission...." Duncan grudgingly approved.
And so there she sat. It had been over an hour since she had come up here. As always, it helped. She had thought everything over and came to a conclusion. She didn't particularly care for it, but it was the only logical answer. She knew Duncan wouldn't believe her nor would he allow her to face HIM. She knew what she had to do. It was then that Duncan sat down beside her.
"Come to any conclusions?" he asked.
"A few. A few." she replied.
"So...," he said as he nudged her, a grin on his face.
"Well, I figure it's one of two things. One is I never really woke up - I'm dreaming all this. Two is I'm having a massive psychological meltdown from...well, I'm just imaging all this," she responded. Then with a smile she added, "Of course, there's always the theory that I've crossed over into the Twilight Zone and Rod Serling is going to show up at any moment."
"The Twilight Zone?," Duncan asked with a laugh.
"Yeah, the Twilight Zone," she said, switching to a bad imitation of Rod Serling, "I've entered into another dimension in time and space."
Duncan chuckled. "Well, I don't think you are dreaming or imaging it. I think you're just a little confused. Come on," he said as he stood up and offered her a hand, "let's go inside."
Anna took Duncan's hand and stood up. "I'm not confused. Well, just a little. And that's only because I don't have all the facts." They walked towards the door and went inside. Half way down the stairs, Duncan stopped and looked around. There he goes again, Anna thought to herself. Gotta find out what that's all about. Doesn't look too happy either. She looked towards the kitchen where she saw Richie and Joe with yet another man. He was tall and lanky, with short brown hair and brown eyes. Appeared to be in his early thirties. They had been talking, but stopped suddenly as both Richie and the stranger turned in their direction. Joe followed suit and looked as well. Duncan continued down the stairs, followed by Anna.
"So, Adam, what are you doing here?" Duncan inquired.
"I was just in the area and thought I'd stop by," he replied. Anna knew that it was a blatant lie. Joe probably brought him along for some reason. "So, are you going to introduce us?"
"Sorry. This is Anna McGowan. Anna, I'd like you to meet Adam Pierson." Anna took Adam's hand and shook it. She knew that Duncan had lied about this man's name, but why? It was then she had caught something in his eyes, so she decided to look more closely. It was another one of her talents - the ability to look into someone's eyes and know what makes them tick. My God! she thought. How can this be? He's over 5000 years old. He's immortal. He can't die unless you.... Oh boy. He can't die unless you cut off his head. Were the others immortal too? she wondered. She decided to find out, but knew she'd have to be careful about it and not arouse suspicion.
"Would you like me to leave so you can discuss me? I can always head back up onto the roof." She casually looked around at the other men in the group, grinning impishly. This way she could look at each one in the group without them knowing she was studying them. Joe was mortal, but Duncan and Richie were immortal, with Duncan being over 400 years old. Apparently, Richie was new to immortality as he was about his same age. Why didn't I notice this before? Probably because I've been thrown off-balance by all of this and haven't been concentrating properly. I'll just have to focus my mind and quit being so sloppy. If anything, this development confirmed what she had suspected -- she really had crossed into another dimension. "Personally, I would like to know just what you found out about me."
"My, what an ego," Duncan said, trying to sound amazed. "Like we would have nothing better to do than discuss you. But if you wouldn't mind, we do have some other matters to discuss."
"Yeah, right. And I'm the Jolly Green Giant," Anna retorted. "Okay, I'll just sit over on the sofa and read the paper, if that's all right with you."
"Sure, be my guest."
Anna walked over and sat down on the sofa, picking up the paper. It would be good cover in hiding the fact that she was listening in on their conversation. She couldn't wait to hear just what 'little tidbits of information' Joe had discovered about her. Can't be much as I don't exist here. Still, I probably do have a counterpart here...it will be interesting to find out about her. I'm also rather curious as to what they plan to do.
"Well, I did some checking. I couldn't find an Anna McGowan in the LA area, or any Foundation. However, I did find several other Anna McGowans -- in Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Denver, and the last one in Philadelphia. All of them are accounted for. So Methos and I sat down at the computer to see what we could come up with. I gave him a description of her and he created a sketch. We sent it out over the web and waited to see what would happen. We got a response. It seems that a missing persons report has been filed on one Margaret Grey, a hairstylist from Great Neck, NY. Anna appears to match the description. According to the report, she snuck out of the house two nights ago and disappeared. It looks as though they're very worried because she has a history of mental problems."
"Oh, great," Richie said. "We've got a nut case on our hands."
"Richie, we don't know that she's a nut case," chastised Duncan. "We aren't even certain Anna and Margaret are the same person."
Thank you Duncan, Anna thought. Nice to know someone's on my side.
"Come on, Mac, how can you say that?" the kid asked. "Especially after what she said earlier about Fitz's picture?"
Puzzled, Joe asked, "What about Fitz's picture?"
"When she saw his picture, she thought he was Roger Daltrey," Richie explained. "In fact, she insisted he was and that they were very good friends. I mean, she really believed it. If that's not crazy, then I don't know what is."
"I will admit that it was rather strange behavior," the Scot replied, "but it still doesn't mean she's Margaret Grey."
So much for my knight in shining armor. Now he thinks I'm crazy too!
"So what do you want to do about it?" Joe asked.
"I think you should do a little more digging, see what else you can find out. While you're doing that, the three of us can keep her occupied. And if it turns out she is Margaret, I'll confront her with it."
Adam disagreed. "I don't think so. If it turns out she is Margaret Grey, then she's most certainly in a delusional state. She would just deny it. It could also trigger a psychotic episode. No, I think your best bet is just to play along with her. In the meantime, we would contact her family."
"Methos, the psychiatrist. What did you do - study under Freud?" asked an amused Duncan.
"Well, you do tend to pick up a few things MacLeod when you've been around as long as I have."
Adam's name is Methos. Makes more.... Just then something in the paper caught Anna's eye. It was a picture of Eric Clapton, only the caption read 'Garrett Page - Country Western's Living Legend." He had given a concert the night before at the City Auditorium. He performed some of his biggest hits - "Achy, Breaky Heart," "Friends in Low Places," "Lookin' for Love," and his biggest hit, "On the Road Again." The critic said that Page, a fair guitar player, was the consummate showman who had who had the crowd in the palm of his hand with his very first song "All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight." Anna began to laugh. Oh my god, he's a country western singer in this world. And only a fair guitarist to boot.
"What's so funny?" Duncan asked.
"Nothing really. Just one of the comic strips struck me as amusing" which seemed to satisfy them. This didn't surprise her as they thought she was mentally unbalanced. Oh boy, this is going to be fun, she thought sarcastically.
The rest of the day went just as she had expected. Joe said he had to get back as he had a bar to run, although Anna knew it was also to continue his research of her...well, not her, but Margaret....and to contact Margaret's family. Duncan fixed a light lunch for everyone, then suggested they check out the Greek exhibit at the museum. Richie declined saying he had a dojo to manage. Not a bad excuse kid, Anna thought as she understood his reluctance to accompany them. She could tell it was a combination of avoiding someone he believed was a nut case and what he considered a boring outing. So that just left Duncan and Methos. Sorry...Adam. She expected Adam to come up with an excuse, but he surprised her by agreeing to go. She figured his curiosity must have gotten the best of him. Or maybe he just wants to take a trip down memory lane, she thought to herself with a grin.
When they arrived at the museum, it wasn't very crowded which wasn't surprising since it was a weekday afternoon. The exhibit was very interesting and Anna was enjoying herself immensely. It was the first time in years she had attended something that didn't involve fundraising or entertaining a child. Not that she minded those outings. She loved being with the children and raising money for them was a necessity as well as a pleasure. It was nice just to be able to relax and relish this undemanding interval.
Of course, Adam/Methos was the perfect guide, injecting a little unknown fact or story about different pieces. At one point, Anna walked slightly ahead of them to a black figured lip-cup with an ancient Greek inscription on it. She began to translate it, "Hermogenes Made me." Methos was astounded. "How did you know what it said?"
Anna said with an impish grin, "Just lucky, I guess." She then turned and continued on to the next piece, clearly indicating that she had nothing more to say on the matter.
Methos whispered to Duncan, "Tell me MacLeod, if she is this hairstylist from New York, how in the hell is she able to translate ancient Greek?" Anna smiled when she heard that.