Durch Ferne Welten und Zeiten - 2. Chapter 2: Mark and Kevin on World

Chapter 2: Mark and Kevin on World

Mark and Kevin woke to find themselves in an alley. The sun was bright; the pile of garbage beside them stank.

“Where are we?” Mark asked.

Kevin looked around. “I hope we’re in a world with a sun that’s too yellow, but I don’t really know.” He looked at Mark. “You said, ‘As long as you are with me.’ What did you mean?”

“I mean, silly, that I love you,” Mark replied. “I love you because you love me, and I know that. No one who didn’t love me would put up with everything that I’ve asked you to put up with.” He brushed his lips across Kevin’s. “I love you, Kevin.”

Kevin froze. It’s been fantasy. It’s been fun. But it’s never been real. Until now. The sun really is too yellow. And Mark looks different from before we came here. No zits. He hated that he always had zits. He doesn’t realize it, yet. I’m different, too, I guess. No, I know it. I feel different. Aloud, he said, “Mark, I love you, too.”

Mark had been puzzled when Kevin had insisted he pack Aesop’s Fables. The first time he looked into his duffle bag, Mark understood. The computer wasn’t there; the book and his clothes remained, along with the mess kit, the blanket from his bed, some other stuff. Forbidden technology, Mark thought. And Kevin knew! He planned this. I guess I knew it; I just couldn’t admit it.

“What about money?” Mark asked. He reached into his pocket. Phone’s not there, either. Wonder if it’s on the ground back at the church. Wonder what people will think when they find Kevin’s brother’s car. Oh, what if my mother makes the connection with the Ley Lines? Hope she doesn’t. We don’t want her or any of her boyfriends to follow us. Holy shit, I just realized. She knew where the Ley Lines were! Maybe it wasn’t just a grown-up make-believe thing. Oh, I hope she doesn’t find the way here.

Mark pulled a dozen coins from his pocket. “It worked,” he said. “I mean, this has to be money.” He showed Kevin coins of gold, silver, and copper. Kevin opened his brother’s wallet. The credit card was gone, but where the bills would have been were coins. His own wallet held others.

Mark looked at the pile of coins. “Put these away before someone sees them,” he said. After the boys stuffed the coins into various pockets, he added, “We’re not rich, but we’re not broke, either. We’re going to need money, and we’re going to need a way to make a living.”

Mark’s attempt to earn their supper at an inn by reciting stories from Aesop was a disaster. The baseball cap that Kevin passed—it still had a large “A” on the front—was returned with one penny and four florins. Mark shrugged. “I guess we—”

He was interrupted by a teen—the person who had put the penny in the cap. “Those were good stories. It’s too bad not everyone appreciated them. Will you join me for supper?”

“Um . . .” Mark said.

“Who are you?” Kevin asked, more practically.

“My name is Andy,” the tween replied. “You’re worried, aren’t you? I can tell. I swear amity with you.”

That means something important, Mark remembered. I think we must trust him.

“Yes, thank you. Oh, and we swear amity with you, don’t we?”

Overwhelmed by what he felt, Kevin nodded. “Yes, what he said.”

“Thank you, both. I think, though, we should bathe before supper,” Andy said. “Will you join me?”

Kevin hesitated. Supper, he said supper. Now a bath. What have we gotten ourselves into? Bathing—if it’s like in the stories—leads to sharing. Kevin shuddered, remembering the times his brother had raped him. I don’t know if we . . . He swore amity, though. And I felt it. And I felt it when Mark swore, too. Oh, I hope what the stories said about Asking and Telling was right!

In the instant it took Kevin to think these things, Mark nodded and lifted his duffle bag. “Come on, Kevin. We do need a bath!”

The boys bathed with Andy, and then followed him to supper. Kevin was relieved, if not completely relaxed. The bath was all about getting clean, and not at all—well, not much—about touching. Andy washed us both, but it was clinical, almost. As if he were letting us know that touching wasn’t the most important thing.

Andy didn’t seem to notice, at least, he didn’t say anything about us not using magic to wash him. We did a pretty good job with the loofas, though. Mark giggled at the memory, and then tucked away the thought of magic. I’ll have to think about that, later.

The potboy brought bread and cheese, and then a tureen of stew. Supper was excellent, Kevin thought. I wonder if it’s always like this?

Just like in the book, Mark thought. A vegetable stew, redolent with allium and sweet with turnips; bread, hot and yeasty; and apples, crisp and sprinkled with cinnamon. That’s what I missed! Where was the smell of cinnamon? Mark wondered. Must have been the smell of the garbage.

A boy rushed in the door, skipped over to their table, kissed Andy, and then said, “Save some for me. I’ve got to bathe. I stink of mules.” In a flash, he was gone.

“That,” Andy said into the stunned silence, “was Billy. He’s very good with animals, and has been looking for a mule to replace one we lost on the way here.

“Billy’s my partner. We’re merchant-traders. We’ve come to Carter to buy cedar.”

“Carter,” Mark said. “Is that where we are?”

“You don’t know where you are?” Andy asked.

“Uh, just didn’t realize we’d come that far,” Kevin filled in when Mark stumbled over his words.

“Oh,” Andy said. “Where are you from?”

“Um, Georgia,” Mark said, recovering his wits. “It’s not likely you’ve heard of it. It’s very small.”

Andy leaned back in his chair. “Boys, I think you’re hiding something important.

“We swore amity. That means we won’t harm one another. It doesn’t mean we have to trust one another with all our secrets. It doesn’t mean we have to tell one another the whole truth.

“Boys, especially boys who are struck early with wanderlust, often fall prey to Evil people, people who are neither honorable or good. I think you are two innocents, lost in World.”

Andy’s demeanor changed when he said, “I swear in the Light that I am both honorable and Good. I swear in the Light that I will ask nothing froward of you. I swear in the Light that I will keep your secrets.”

Andy paused, and then said, “I hope you will offer me your trust. I hope that you will let me help you. You seem vulnerable, as if you were strangers in a strange land.”

“How did you know?” Mark whispered before Kevin could shush him.

“Please do not be alarmed, Kevin. Do you not believe I am sincere?”

Kevin thought about what he’d felt, and then nodded. “I do.”

Andy nodded. “So you know I am bound by my promise. It’s hard to explain, but I think I should help you. Will you trust me?”

Kevin and Mark agreed, without words and without knowing how they’d agreed, to trust Andy.

Before they could say more, Billy bounced into the room, kissed Andy once more, and then grabbed the last of the bread. Andy beckoned to the potboy for more.

Andy gave Billy a chance to eat before he said, “Billy, we have guests, and, new friends. These are Mark and Kevin. We have sworn amity with them, and to keep their secrets.”

Billy nodded. “I hope they are fun secrets. It would be nice to know some fun secrets.”

Kevin, who had been looking at Andy, felt something pass across his mind. A memory, perhaps, or a fear. It was gone before Kevin could understand it. He has secrets, too. Kevin thought.

After supper, Andy urged the boys upstairs to a bedroom. “We will talk more, tomorrow. You are, I think, too tired, now.”

Mark and Kevin, exhausted not so much by exertion as by overwhelming emotions, agreed. They were much too tired to do more than brush their teeth, cuddle, and then fall asleep.

Andy woke the boys. “Breakfast is being served. After breakfast, Billy has to buy a mule and I have to buy more cedar. First thing after breakfast, though, we have some important things to talk about,” he said. The boys dressed quickly, and followed him.

After breakfast, the four boys returned to the room. Andy, Mark, and Kevin sat at the table; Billy flopped onto a bed.

Mark looked at Kevin. Kevin nodded, and Mark began. “Kevin and I, we were born on a different world than this one. It’s a world that probably doesn’t even exist in this universe. We’ve been here less than a day.” Mark paused. Across the room, Billy’s eyes widened. His mouth moved like a guppy in a fish bowl.

Andy nodded. He didn’t seem as surprised as Billy. “I’ve heard about people coming to World from other worlds. I had a friend who knew stories about that. I never thought I’d meet someone, though. So, you really are strangers in a strange land.”

Andy looked at Billy. “Billy, I think we need to help these boys.”

Billy nodded. “But first, I’ve got to buy a mule.” He jumped from the bed. “You guys want to come with me? It’s a lot more fun than going with Andy to buy wood.”

“Just be careful,” Andy said. “Watch what they say and do. They’re not wearing daggers, so they should not be challenged. If they are, claim they’re Valarians. Don’t do anything we’d have to explain to a reeve, okay? Be back by lunchtime; we’ll talk more, this afternoon.”

Billy nodded. “Come on. Brush your teeth and let’s go.”

The boys followed Billy. As they walked through the streets, Kevin and Mark saw what they had not seen the day before: people, dressed in clothes that would have passed muster in medieval Europe or their own time, for that matter; streets lined with shops, with homes above them; and—“Mark! That’s an elf!” Kevin whispered.

Just outside the city walls, a corral held a dozen mules. “Let me do all the talking, okay?” Billy said. The boys nodded.

Kevin felt Billy’s excitement at the bargaining, and felt the response from the man who owned the mules. Billy feels it, too, I think. He’s an empath, and . . . Kevin brought his mind to an abrupt stop. If he’s an empath, then so am I. Oh, I’ve got to tell Mark!

After lunch, Andy led the boys to their room. “Now, please start at the beginning. Tell Billy and me the story of how you got here, why you came here, and, if you know already, what you want to do now that you are here?”

Mark began. “Kevin and I were in the coffee house, reading—”

“What’s a coffee house?” Billy interrupted.

“It’s like downstairs, except they serve only coffee and tea, and not ale,” Kevin said.

“Don’t interrupt, please,” Andy said to Billy.

“We were reading, and talking about some stories. A boy who had been listening—we didn’t know he could hear us—walked up and claimed he wrote the stories. He said he came from another world—this world—and that his name was Rudy. He—”

Now, Andy interrupted. “Rudy? Red-headed boy, cute—really cute—, who talked like he was a lot older?”

“Uh, yeah,” Mark said. “Do you know him?”

“Yeah,” Billy said. “You never told me about him.”

“I don’t know him, now” Andy said. “But I knew a boy named Rudy in two past lives—we were friends in one, best friends in the other. He was also a story-teller. He was always a story-teller, and a mage. And, he was always a cute red-head.”

“Do you think it’s the same boy? This guy was a mage,” Kevin said. He had felt the emotion, the yearning that Andy had experienced when he talked about Rudy.

“Could be. Don’t know. Sorry for interrupting. Please, continue,” Andy said.

Now, Kevin felt Andy’s sense of loss, as if something precious had been in his hand, and then slipped away. I hope it’s the same boy, Kevin thought. And I hope we find him.

Mark picked up the narrative. “Rudy said he’d been pushed into our world by an evil mage. He was afraid he’d be stuck there, because there’s no magic in our world. We found a place where there was magic. Rudy opened a gate, and stepped into it. As soon as he disappeared, we ran into the gate. We came out in an alley behind this inn. We met you.”

“You really are strangers in a strange land,” Andy mused. “Billy, this is secret. I need time to think about this, and about the best way to help you.” Mark and Kevin, and Billy nodded their understanding.

All the boys went with Andy that afternoon to help load cedar planks onto a wagon pulled by four mules. Afterwards, in the bath, Billy tried to isolate Kevin, but Mark intervened, and scrubbed Kevin. Billy and Andy were clean and in the hot soak when Mark whispered to Kevin, “We’ve got to have sex tonight so we can get some magic.”

“Do you think it will work?”

“It worked with Rudy,” Mark said. “He gave me some, and I could use it!”

“I thought that you two . . .” Kevin began, before two other boys came in and began to undress.

“Is that okay?” Mark asked.

Kevin kissed him. “Of course it’s okay. And so is tonight. Come on, we’re clean.”

Kevin was reluctant to have sex while Andy and Billy were in the bed only a few feet away. Andy and Billy had no such inhibitions, however. The other boys had scarcely begun when Kevin found himself erect. He wrapped his arms around Mark and whispered into his ear, “You wanna?”

“That was an Asking?” Mark said, and then giggled. “This is a Telling,” he added, and pressed his lips hard against Kevin’s.

The sensation when Kevin came was just as Mark had experienced with Rudy: a feeling of something uniquely Kevin plus something of power filled his mouth and his body. I can’t wait for Kevin to feel this, Mark thought, and once more brought his lips to Kevin’s.

Mark cried out Kevin’s name, softly, when he came. It’s infinitely better than ever before, he thought. It’s better even than with Rudy. I guess because it’s with Kevin, and I love him.

Over pottage the next morning, Andy told the boys what he had planned. “I slept very little last night, thinking about you two. I reached a conclusion that my heart and my mind tell me is right. Please, come with Billy and me. Please allow us to help you understand where you are and, perhaps, even why you are here. I will swear with you an oath of fealty, from which you may be released at any time you want, if you will likewise swear.

“I have six wagons loaded with cedar. They are part of a caravan that will leave tomorrow morning for the City of Arcadia. If you will swear, you will accompany us there. I will provide for you and protect you—”

“And cherish us?” Kevin interrupted.

Andy did not hesitate. “If that is what you wish, yes, I will cherish you. That’s not often part of an oath except between best friends, but I would be happy to make it. As long as you, too, are willing?”

Kevin and Mark exchanged glances. Mark spoke, first. “Say what you will, I have love and trust for you.”

Neither boy saw Andy’s eyebrows rise at that remark. A powerful oath. And they seem to understand what it means. These are strange boys.

“We swear fealty to you, and to cherish you, and ask you to swear the same to us,” Kevin said. Below the table, he had taken Mark’s hand. He squeezed it, hard, knowing what he had just said.

“I swear to cherish you, provide for you, and teach you until you ask to be released from this oath,” Andy said. “You already know that my oath binds Billy, as well. Now, will you go with Billy to feed the mules? It’s something you can do to help us.”

Mark and Kevin understood. It’s something we can do to fulfill our side of this bargain. “Sure,” they answered, in unison.

That afternoon, Billy managed to get between Kevin and Mark, and offered to scrub Mark. Mark looked at Kevin, who grinned and nodded. “Hey, Andy, need a scrub?” Kevin asked, confirming his okay to Mark.

Andy nodded, and then asked, “Would you share with me, tonight?”

Kevin looked at Mark, who was scrubbing Billy with magic. Both boys were erect.

“Billy wants to share with Mark, for sure,” Andy said. “He’s always had a thing for blue eyes . . .”

“Yeah,” Kevin agreed. “And Mark wants to share with Billy. I can feel it.”

Billy and Mark’s exuberant passion had spurred Kevin and Andy. All four boys were breathing heavily. After a few minutes had passed, and he could again breathe normally, Andy spoke. “Kevin, you said that you felt that Mark wanted to share with Billy. What did you mean by that?”

“Um, I feel what people near me are feeling, if it’s a strong feeling. I think I’m what’s called an empath. Mark and I have talked about it, but, well, I wasn’t sure it was real.

“Um, I think Billy’s an empath, too. I sort of felt it when he was buying the mule.”

It was Billy, who had been listening, who answered. “Sharing with an empath is so intense. Being an empath, you know what your partner is feeling, and what he wants, and that can make it so much better. With two empaths, it can be even better!

“It can also make it a little confusing,” Billy said, and then giggled.

“More practically,” Andy asked, “Billy, do you remember what you learned at the Temple? Can you teach it to Kevin? He’ll need to learn how to block, both ways, and how to sort the truth from what people think is the truth.”

Billy nodded. “You’ll like the training,” he told Kevin. “Most of it is mind-to-mind, and ends with sharing.”

Kevin’s eyes widened and he sucked in his stomach. “Mind-to-mind? You’ll see . . .” He flushed, and could not continue.

Mark knew what Kevin was afraid of: someone would learn what Kevin’s brother had done to him, things of which Kevin was ashamed. He put his arm around Kevin and whispered into his ear. “They swore to cherish us. It’s not your fault your brother did those things to you. Billy will know that. He will share your feelings, and know that you are a good person. Please, I believe this. You can tell that, can’t you? Please trust him.”

Kevin shivered. He recognized the truth in what Mark had said. He nodded.

“When we told you about Rudy, I felt a great sadness. Billy probably felt it, too,” Kevin said. Billy and Mark had taken the new mule to be shod. Kevin and Andy were in the shower.

“Yes, he probably did. But, he won’t say anything. He knows that he and I are bound in this life, and he knows that whatever I feel for Rudy won’t interfere with that. Besides, we may meet Rudy in this life. You said you followed Rudy through the gate. He should be somewhere, maybe near us.”

How much do gates drift, and how fast, Kevin wondered, and should I tell him about that? Is it better for him to have hope, or to know that there may be no hope? I don’t know. I just don’t know.

The caravan was large and long. Andy gestured toward his wagons. “You may each ride on a wagon with a drover.” Andy and Billy were both on horseback. Kevin and Mark were only a little surprised that both were wearing swords. Andy added, “The route from Carter to Arcadia is well-traveled, and there are inns and farms along the way where we’ll stay.”

Andy grinned. “That is, where we will stay. The drovers who are hired for the trip will sleep under the wagons. That way, they make more money.”

“Um, we have little money, ourselves,” Kevin said. “Maybe we should—”

“No!” Billy said. “You are friends, companions, and cherished, like Andy swore. We share all we have with you.”

Andy nodded. Mark and Kevin stood mute. Wow, Mark thought. I never knew it meant so much!

Mark wasn’t sure, but he suspected that Andy choreographed the bathing and sleeping arrangements. In any case, it seemed that the partnerships in the bath and bed rotated randomly but evened out every few days. At first, Mark was upset, and felt he was being manipulated; then, he realized that what Andy was doing was making sure there was no jealousy and that strong bonds were being created among them all. When he said he would cherish us, he meant a lot more than just ‘have sex’ with us.

Andy’s choreography put Mark and Billy together on a night when their bed was a loft in a barn. Supper had been in the kitchen; the drovers had slung hammocks under the wagons; the mules were dozing in the courtyard. Billy took Mark’s hand, and led him into the courtyard. Billy pointed to the sky.

“You said your home probably didn’t exist in this universe. Why couldn’t it be a world around one of the stars?” Billy gestured to the sky, filled with myriad stars, none of which were familiar to Mark.

“Because science is different,” Mark said. “And so is magic.”

Mark thought for a moment, and then said. “Actually, magic may be the same, but science is definitely different. One of the rules of science is that the natural laws are the same everywhere in our universe and have been the same since the beginning of the universe.

“I’m pretty sure some of those natural laws are different, here.”

“Natural laws?” Billy asked.

“Well, like gravity. Two objects attract each other with a force directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. There’s a constant in that equation that’s the same everywhere in my universe. I suspect it’s the same, here, or, at least, close.”

“Square? Equation?”

“Oh, um, I’ll explain that when it’s light and I can draw something,” Mark said. “For now, trust me when I say that the natural law of gravity is probably the same here as in my world. But there are some things that aren’t right.”

“So, what is different?”

“Well, like fire. Those lucifers Kevin brought? They’re supposed to strike anywhere, but here they don’t unless you add a little magic. There’s something different in chemistry.”

“You’re an alchemist?” Billy asked.

“I studied some,” Mark said.

“You can see magic, too, can’t you?” Billy asked. “I can tell the way you touch me when we have sex. They taught me in the Temple about nodes and connectors. That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it?”

“Um, yeah,” Mark answered. “I see glowing spots and lines, and when I touch them, I see them get brighter, and you and Kevin and Andy shiver and get harder. You seem to like it, a lot.”

“You can see magic, and you’re an alchemist. Someday, you’re going to be a very powerful mage,” Billy said. He yawned. “Um, before I fall asleep, would you touch some of those spots, please?”

Mark touched Billy in the center of his chest, where the brightest of the spots was. Billy gasped and his penis surged. “That’s the funniest Asking I’ve ever heard,” Mark said.

“That was the best Telling I’ve ever felt,” Billy said, and then giggled.