ECHOES IN ETERNITY

RISING DUST Part 10

Alexander Aurelius Pella

"Oh, Alex! The view is simply spectacular! I thought your ranch was on the desert," Elissa gushes when she looks at the valley below.

"This is still the desert, but the water can be transformative. The house is situated on a unique geological location; there's subterranean water, the surrounding mountains create a different climate and it is secluded. It's cooler than the surrounding desert."

"Breathtaking!"

"Come on, since we've had a late lunch, we can do some horseback riding. I want to show you something," I say to her a little nervously.

"Okay," she says and I take her hand to get downstairs from the second floor terrace. Turk and Desertwalker are waiting outside in the SUV. Turk left another Conquest Knight running for me. I open the passenger door for Elissa, and let her climb in. Then I take the driver's seat as she curiously looks on.

"We don't have far to go," I say smiling. I drive on the paved road for a time, and then I make a detour and turn onto the dirt road.

"Does your ranch have a name?" she asks tentatively.

I swallow. "Yes," I mutter. She looks at me expectant when I don't continue.

"It's Anemoi," I say softly and hesitantly, not knowing whether the name would awaken a reaction in her.

"Anemoi?" she asks in a trembling voice. Her demeanor changes to apprehensive. She shakes her head to clear the disbelief that's going through her face, to give me what? A chance to explain? She takes a shaky breath as her hands hold the door handle. Is she going to bolt out of a moving vehicle? Although I know the doors lock automatically and will not open while the vehicle is in motion, my eyes still drift to the locks to make sure.

"After the gods or the winds?" she whispers in a barely audible tone.

"What do you mean?" I reply to her question with a question of my own, though I know exactly what she means. I want to hear it from her.

"Anemoi," she says in a barely steady voice, "...is the name of the four cardinal winds, and the collective names of the gods of those four directional winds. Boreas... Zephyros... Notos... Eurus..." she says softly. Her words are staccato.

"How do you know that? That's not commonly known information... well, not in English anyway," I respond trying to calm her down. She shrugs; her gaze doesn't meet mine, but is focused on her boots.

"My uncle made sure I studied Greek Mythology throughout my entire life and well... I've majored in Linguistics." Huh... Her revelation that Gabriel encouraging her to learn the Ancient Greek myths takes me by surprise and my stoic mask slips away for a moment. I'd not have thought Gabriel would encourage that information knowing it would bring her closer to me and understanding our past had he really intended to keep us apart. Why would he do that?

"So," she continues her questioning trying to hold her voice steady, "your ranch... is it named after the gods or the winds?"

"Generally it would be one and the same. But in this case, it's the winds," I reply, my gaze fixed on the dirt road ahead. Winds of Time. But she doesn't need to know that. As I drive forward, I can see the SUV occupied by Turk and Desertwalker in the rising dust behind us.

She clears her throat. "Just out of curiosity, what made you choose that name?" she asks. I can feel her intense gaze on me this time. Hopeful, scared, curious, disappointed and determined. Why would she look disappointed?