Aednat and the Wolf

Chapter 5 Fata Morgana

David and Aednat walked hand in hand on the tarmac. Walking with a group of scientists, the huge wolf and the snowy owl following overhead they were the focus of attention of anyone they passed. They boarded a helicopter flying as the lead helicopter in a group of three Piasecki H-1 flying bananas.

"I'm afraid to fly!" Aednat whispered.

"It's not your first time."

"True enough, but Ulfy and I weren't conscious for that."

"It is a little scary I admit. How will your wolf manage?"

"I will hold her, she told me she was OK."

"Can you really talk to your wolf?"

"You can to Davie," He smiled at her and shook his head.

"Why did you agree to return to the ice cave?"

"I knew those men. They deserve to be remembered and have their history recorded. They deserve a Christian burial."

"Did you love any of them?"

"No, I was a slave. I liked them and I feared them too. They can't hurt me or force me to do anything now. They were good men and had families."

"Do you think they have any modern descendants?"

"I really don't know...David...LOOK AT THAT!" she was excited pointing to the distant horizon.

"It's a mirage, a Fata Morgana."

"It's so beautiful, a city in white with golden towers and golden roofs. Look even mountains and lakes and just so close."

"It isn't real. A lot or Arctic explorers have reported seeing the Fata Morgana. The poet Longfellow wrote about it, he called it Avalon."

"I know it's real, I remember Avalon."

"Anything else sweetheart?"

"Not really...a name, I remember a name, it's gone now."

"Perhaps in time you will recall more."

"You are from Avalon," the wolf whispered so only Aednat could here, "You will remember all."

Once they landed they entered the cave. They had two cameramen recording everything on 16mm movie film. Aednat knelt reverently at the body of each man and gave his name, as much of his ancestry that she could recall and described his character and family. It took most of the day but the end every man was known and his body recovered. They also obtained numerous tools and other artifacts of the period.

The day ended and Aednat was feeling too overwhelmed to make an appearance in the cafeteria so David was carrying a box with their diner. He entered the apartment and saw Aednat sitting on the bed. She was dressed only in her shirt and had her legs drawn up to her chest with her forehead resting on her knees. Her legs and feet were bare and her pants, boots and socks scattered on the floor. David realized she had been crying. He put the box down on the small table and sat next to her on the bed and put an arm around her. They sat quietly for some time.

"They've been dead almost six hundred years," she whispered.

"It's hard to grasp."

"To me it was three days ago." She began to sob so David pulled her onto his lap. She lay her head on his shoulder and continued to cry. "Everything and everyone I knew has been torn away." David kissed her forehead and let her continue. "This wasn't the first time either...I remember feeling alone and lost before, when I was very young."