A few months later
It was the middle of the night when there came a furious pounding on the door. After a few minutes Gupta entered the hall and opened it to see a strange man standing there.
"I'm looking for Peter Scott," said the man.
"Who is it Gupta?" asked Maya coming down the stairs.
"I do not know," said Gupta.
Maya came down the last curve of the stairs as Gupta finished speaking and gasped and then said. "Let him in Gupta. I recognize him. Peter introduced me to him some time ago. Ian isn't it?"
"Yes ma'am," answered the man coming in the door after Gupta had stood aside, and in his wake leaving wet footprints filled with bits of seaweed in the hallway and foyer.
"What are you doing in London? I thought "your kind" never left the sea."
"Normally we don't, but a great crisis has come upon the Selkie and I fear without your aid and the aid of your husband the Selkie will be no more."
"Ian is that you?" asked Peter coming down the stairs still buttoning his pants.
"Aye as I was just telling your wife we need your help."
"Of course, come into the observatory and tell us the whole story," said Peter.
~~~Beyond Revenge~~~
"It all started when my youngest son was playing in an isolated cove. Suddenly he complained he didn't feel good and since that time it had only grown worse. Now half the Selkie are sick and will soon die if you cannot help. As it is there isn't as many of us as there once was. If something isn't done and soon the Selkie population will be decimated and they may die out altogether."
"Not if I can help it," said Peter fiercely.
"Gupta," said Maya.
"Yes memsahib?"
"We're going to be gone for at least a few days maybe a week. You're in charge until we return."
"Yes memsahib," said Gupta.
"Oh and take a note to Lord Almsley. I will write it for you. Don't let the servants give you a hard time."
"Yes Sahib."
Ian watched amazed as Gupta took orders without even blinking.
"Peter I think we should ask the Pikes for help. Andrew is an Earth Master and a doctor. I don't think I can handle a hundred or more; sick Selkie alone and there is no other Earth Master I would trust for this kind of thing."
"We'll send them a message by magical means with directions for we cannot wait on them," Peter agreed.
"What do I tell Doctor Clayton-Smith at St. Mary's?" asked Gupta.
"You can tell him it was a family emergency—quite sudden," said Maya with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Maya lying to your employer," Peter teased. "You should be ashamed."
"I should be, but I'm not," Maya agreed. "Clayton-Smith is a pompous windbag and you know it. But I will say this for him his hospital is one of the best and from me that is high praise indeed."
~~~Beyond Revenge~~~
Within hours they were on their way towards the sea shore. They had told all three children goodbye and that they would be home in a few days. Rylie was really too young to understand, but Timmy had promised to look after him so both Peter and Maya left feeling much relieved. They had taken the first train that was headed in that direction. Peter Almsley had met them just before the train had pulled out of the station. Peter had slapped him on the back and introduced him to Ian.
"It's a pleasure old chap," said Almsley. "I just wish the circumstances weren't so dire."
"Me too," said Ian shaking his head sadly.
"How'd you get here so fast anyway?" asked Peter. "I expected you to be at least a couple of hours behind us."
"And I might have been if I had gone to bed yet. Luckily for you I was still awake. Now if you don't mind I think I'll catch a nap. Wake me when we get there." Almsley closed his eyes and was immediately asleep.
~~~Beyond Revenge~~~
Hours later Peter shook Almsley's shoulder. "Twin we're here."
Almsley immediately came to full alertness and opened his eyes. He didn't look the least bit tired now. "So what's the plan of action?"
"My kin are expecting us," said Ian, "but we still have many miles to go before we reach where we've set up camp. "When I left no one had died, but I've been gone for nearly two days."
"Don't worry," Peter reassured his friend. "We'll be there soon."
~~~Beyond Revenge~~~
They arrived at an isolated cove to see fires burning and hundreds of sick Selkie lying around with other Selkie tending them.
"Ian you're back," called a Selkie who spotted them first coming over a dune.
"Thank goodness. No one has died yet, but a few are awfully close," said another. "If they don't get help in the next few hours they will be dead."
"Lead me to the sickest first," said Maya.
"Yes ma'am," said the selkie not bothering to argue for too much was at stake.
"What do you plan to do?" asked Peter.
"It really depends on what's wrong with them," said Maya. "I wouldn't think much could make half mythical creatures sick."
"And normally lass you would be right," answered Ian. "And this is why it caught us all by surprise when the Selkie started falling ill one by one. If I hadn't remembered that Peter had not only married a doctor, but an Earth Master I don't know what we would have done."
"Well, we're here now," said Maya, trying to sound reassuring. "Try not to worry."
"Here we are," said the other Selkie,
Maya knelt down on the sand and began to examine the one who seemed to be the sickest not only with her normal sight, but with her "Oversight."
"Well?" asked Peter when Maya finally finished her examination.
"It's bad, but not hopeless," said Maya. "Here Peter I need your help."
Peter nodded and used his "Oversight" to see what Maya had seen. What he saw made him fell hopelessness, but he fought that feeling with every ounce of willpower that he possessed, and forced himself to send out a little thread of power to push the sludge in the Selkie blood along and out the gills where it was caught in a container that Maya had placed there for the purpose.
He kept it up for what seemed forever, but eventually the sludge thinned to no more than a color and then was gone.
Both Peter and Maya came out of it to find themselves surrounded by an audience. The audience cheered when the Selkie in question opened his eyes and blinked groggily.
Peter and Maya both weren't even that tired for they had been taking there energy from the earth and the sea respectively.
~~~Beyond Revenge~~~
They went to one patient to another as rapidly as possible.
At times it seemed as if time slowed and nearly stopped and at others it seemed to speed up and pass as quickly as the wind.
When Maya and Peter finally came up for air it was hours later and to see a strange man standing behind them as if on guard.
The man relaxed when he saw them both blink against the light. "Let me introduce myself. Sebastian Tarrant at your service."
Maya made the connection immediately. "You're one of the people who helped raise Marina."
"That's right. We just happened to be visiting when the message came and we came along to help."
"We're grateful to you," said Peter. "There are very few Selkie left and they might have died out entirely at least in this part of the world if it wasn't for people who cared."
"It was a pleasure. I think we've got most of the Selkie up on their feet—uh fins; now."
"I wonder what caused them to get sick?" said Maya thoughtfully. "There's bound to be a source."
"Not much can make a Selkie ill," Peter added. "This had to be something totally foreign to their system in order to get past their defenses. Something their system has never encountered before so they couldn't fight it."
"I think we need to see if we can find the source of the sickness," said Maya.
"Where's Ian?" asked Peter. "He can lead us to the source. It was one of his son's who first fell ill."
"Here I am Peter Scott," said Ian appearing as if by magic with another young man at his side. "This is my oldest boy Shawn. He'll show you where everyone started to fall ill."
"It's a pleasure Peter Scott," said Shawn. "From what I know I wouldn't exist if not for you. This way." Shawn led them west along the seashore.
Peter examined the water with his oversight as they walked. Gradually the water turned from a healthy blue/green to something more dark and sinister.
"This is the source," said Peter pointing to a pipe coming out of the sandy hillside. "The water here is contaminated. From what is something we must discover. This is what made the Selkie sick."
"Can you fix it?" asked Shawn.
"I could," Peter said. "But it wouldn't do any good if we don't find the source of the contamination and put a stop to it. It would just get contaminated again."
"The ground over this whole area is contaminated," said Maya using her Magesight. "But it gets more so that way," she said pointing up over the sand dune.
They started off again and trekked across the hot sands in the direction Maya had pointed.
~~~Beyond Revenge~~~