Chapter 3
Odin was standing about two hundred yards from the beach, just inside the tree line. He was listening to Brannaugh as he spoke, giving ideas of options they could use to make a permanent resting place for Marie.
“It will be circular, domed, like a rounded hill, a stone wall framing it all around. The back of it will have a higher wall, with the walls sloping toward the ground the closer they get to the front, curving around finally to completely enclose it. In the front they will only be about knee high, but stand taller in the back.”
“A passage tomb, like back in your homeland,” Odin said.
“Yes, but we won’t make it so high. We’ll leave it raised above the ground, but flatter on top so that the kids can play on it. We can plant grass on it as well.”
“Within the trees?” Odin asked.
“I can manipulate it, and if it’s particularly stubborn, we’ll have Terrus help us,” Brannaugh said.
Odin looked at the area they’d chosen and finally nodded. “I think it would be right. I think she’d have liked that.”
“We’ll need to move some wall stones here,” Brannaugh said.
“Which is why I’m here,” Lucitari said, her voice preceding her actual arrival as her mists began swirling.
Odin was surprised as he quickly looked toward Brannaugh.
“She was at Destroy’s home, and on hearing that we wanted to create a final resting place for your friend, she insisted on helping,” Brannaugh explained.
Lucitari, her mists having dissipated, smiled gently at Odin. “I’d like to help if you’ll allow it.”
“Why?” Odin asked.
“Because that’s what friends do for one another.”
“We’re friends?” he asked.
“Of course, we are. You’re one of us. You’ve experienced a loss, I’d like to help,” Lucitari said patiently.
Odin thought about it for a few moments, before he looked over at Brannaugh, who nodded.
“Alright. Thank you,” Odin said.
“What is it that we’ve decided to create?” Luci asked.
“I want to build it. It matters that I create it by hand,” Odin was quick to explain.
“Of course. But I can help you gather materials to do so,” Luci said.
“We wish to build a structure like a passage tomb, but without the passage. Same design, but no passage, and it will be smaller than the originals. A wall around it, like in the ancient ones in Ireland, but flatter on top so that kids can play and climb upon it, with the wall in the front the right height for sitting,” Brannaugh said.
Lucitari smiled. “It sounds wonderful. Everyone will enjoy it.”
“I like the idea,” Odin said.
“What was her name?” Lucitari asked.
“Marie,” he answered, his voice going raspy.
“We can call it Marie’s Hill,” Lucitari said. She realized she’d taken for granted what Odin might want it called and looked at him quickly. “If you think it would be suitable.”
Odin nodded. “I think that she will be happy with the people gathering here and children playing nearby.” He looked at the space they’d chosen and didn’t even realize his next words were spoken aloud. “She won’t be lonely.”
Lucitari and Brannaugh shared a knowing look. Marie was gone, but her spirit would know what Odin was doing for her and rest easy knowing she wasn’t forgotten. But that wasn’t the only reason Odin was doing this. He was doing it for himself as well because he was feeling guilty about waiting so long to find her and lay their differences to rest.
“What kinds of stone do we want?” Lucitari asked.
“Large stones, natural, not shaped, I think,” Odin said. “She loved the nature of things, so not too perfect or tooled.”
“Oodinnnn,” a deep guttural voice said from behind them.
Both Odin and Brannaugh turned to see who’d arrived.
Carnage was walking toward them, his arms outstretched. He grabbed Odin and hugged him, lifting him off his feet as he hugged him for far too long not to be considered awkward.
“Carnage…” Odin started, but Carnage interrupted whatever he was going to say.
“My halp,” Carnage said, setting Odin on his feet while patting his back furiously in what he thought was a comforting manner.
“You don’t have to, Carnage,” Odin said.
“My halp!” Carnage insisted loudly.
“Okay,” Odin answered, knowing the stubborn Goyle wouldn’t go away until he knew he’d helped.
“Whaat?” he asked, holding his hands out to his sides, palms up.
“We’re deciding now,” Lucitari answered.
“I think it’s best if we clear a space first, then, then…” Odin said, trying to say they’d lay Marie within it, but just couldn’t get it out.
“After we place Marie where you want her, Lucitari will bring in the soil, then the stones. We’ll build the wall last,” Brannaugh said.
“Grass,” Odin said.
“And put some grass on top,” Brannaugh said.
“Show me, Odin. Where do you want it?” Lucitari said.
Odin walked forward, taking his time, walking in a large circle, about thirty feet in diameter, before he looked up at Lucitari. “Here?” he asked.
Lucitari waved him back toward herself, Brannaugh and Carnage. Once he was out of the way, she sent her mists into the area and removed the trees, it was as though they’d never been there. Next, she brought in a large mound of soil.
She turned and looked at Odin. She knew what needed to happen next, but left it to Odin to decide when to bring Marie forward.
“I thought that perhaps you could wrap her with this,” Brannaugh said, holding out a beautiful linen shroud detailed with ivory colored lace on its edges, that seemed to just appear in his hands.
Odin slowly reached for it, feeling its softness and the delicate weave of the cloth between his fingers. “I hadn’t thought of it,” he said absently.
“Do you need me to help?” Brannaugh asked.
Odin shook his head then moved into the shadows, disappearing for several minutes before coming back with Marie’s body in his arms. Her body was fully wrapped in the shroud Brannaugh had given him, and he held her close. He walked to almost the middle of the circle and stopped, not sure where to place her.
Lucitari only slightly lifted her hand and her mists could be seen in the middle of the circle. As they dissipated, they left behind a simple stone platform rising just a few feet from the ground.
Odin approached it and gently lay Marie’s body on it.
“Do you want her covered?” Lucitari asked.
Odin nodded.
As he watched the platform seemed to extend, creating a top for itself that sealed Marie inside, then an engraved script appeared on its side. “Marie,” he said, his fingers tracing the letters.
“I thought it fitting,” Lucitari said.
“Can you make it say, never forgotten?” Odin asked.
Lucitari added the words without hesitation.
Odin stood beside the stone coffin encasing Marie. His fingers traced the letters that spelled her name and the promise that she never had been, nor ever would be forgotten.
Everyone waited quietly until he turned and walked back to them.
“Are you ready?” Lucitari asked.
Odin nodded.
With one simple movement Lucitari had the soil moving into place as though it was a living thing. Higher in the back, lower in the front, in a circular formation, all neatly compacted and waiting for the next step. “I can move the stones into place…”
“I want to move them,” Odin said.
“We will all move them,” Brannaugh said.
“’Es,” Carnage agreed.
Lucitari lifted her hand and stacks of stone appeared at the edges of the clearing on three sides of the circle.
Odin led the way toward the large mound of stones meant for him to finish Marie’s gravesite. He looked them over for a few moments before he turned to Luci. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling. The stones she’d provided varied in size from five to several hundred pounds. Many of them displayed veins of quartz running through them. She knew after seeing how careful he’d been with Marie that he’d appreciate the natural beauty of the veins of quartz running through some of the stones.
He chose a stone and started trying to wedge it free from the others around it.
“My halp!” Carnage exclaimed and rushed to the other side of the stone Odin had chosen. Between the two of them, they managed to get it to the back of the tomb they were creating and got it in place on the ground dead center of the back of the circle.
Odin stood back and looked at it, nodding to himself. Then he picked another. Carnage helped him move it as well.
“If you don’t need me anymore, I’ll be heading back to Destroy’s home to check on my daughter,” Lucitari said.
Odin immediately stopped what he was doing and moved closer to her. “I will always owe you a debt.”
“No, you will not. You do not.”
“I will.”
“Then this is what I want. I want you to stop standing apart from us. You’re one of us, Odin. Not a single one of us belongs anywhere but here. And because of that, we are all alike. I’m honored to have been able to help you lay your friend to rest.”
Odin nodded, but he didn’t seem fully convinced. “I’ll try.”
“If you need me, call me. I’ll be listening.”
“I want to lay the stones,” he said again. “But thank you for everything else.”
Lucitari reached out and placed a delicate hand on Odin’s cheek, then her mists gathered and she faded from view.
Odin turned back to the stones, hundreds of them lying about and chose the next one.
Carnage and Brannaugh took turns helping Odin move the larger stones into place, while the other moved the smaller stones away from the largest that were waiting to be chosen so that it would be easier for the larger ones to be moved when it was their turn. They’d worked only for ten or fifteen minutes before Murder and Destroy showed up with Dima in tow. They worked in teams of two, using their preternatural strength to move the stones into place, pausing between layers of stones for Brannaugh to use his connection with nature to place grooves into the tops of the larger stones that would line up with grooves in the next layer of smaller stones that would go on top.
“This is how the original pathway tombs were built. This will stand forever just as they have,” Brannaugh said.
Each layer was connected this way, ensuring its longevity. They worked long into the night, but eventually, they finished. All the males stood back, sweaty and dirty, tired, but satisfied from a day of helping one of their own bury someone who’d been very important to him. They watched as Odin placed his hand on the surface of the soil nearest the front, and closed his eerie translucent eyes while he said his own silent goodbyes to Marie. When he was done, he slowly walked around Marie’s gravesite, his hand touching either the wall or the soil, all the way around. It was a beautiful, yet simple monument they’d created. Yes, it was the resting place of someone that had been very special to Odin, but it was also a peaceful, restful place. The stone walls had veins of minerals through them, sparkling in the moonlight, the mound of earth in the middle of the circular wall was slanted, lower toward the front, higher in the back, and its surface was flat to provide a place for anyone to relax or even play in the case of the children. And it faced the beach. One could rest on its walls or its soil and gaze out at the sands and the waves as they kissed the beach. He could not have imagined a better place of rest for Marie. It took him quite a while to emerge from behind it and move back toward the front. Only then did he realize that there were more than the five males who’d helped him bury Marie standing in wait for him. Lucitari was back, and she’d brought not only her own family, but the families of the males who’d insisted on helping him build a place for Marie. Along with them Esma, Maura and Terrus stood silently, waiting for Odin to finish his private goodbye.
This was a new experience for those of Whispers. Most had not experienced burying a loved one since arriving in Whispers, and to the children it was practically unheard of.
Odin stood facing them, the surprise clear on his face.
“We’ve come to say goodbye with you,” Lucitari said.
Odin opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He didn’t know what to say.
Terrus stepped forward. “May I?” he asked, pointing toward the tomb they’d created.
Odin nodded, not quite sure what Terrus was going to do. But sure that whatever it was would be acceptable since Lucitari had a gentle smile on her face and she’d done so much personally to make sure it was to Odin’s liking.
Terrus placed his hand in the packed soil and his mists, green and silver, began to swirl across its surface. Seconds later thick, green grass was quickly spreading across the soil framed by the circular walls of stone. As soon as there was no trace of soil visible beneath the grass, Terrus touched the stone nearest him, and his mists traveled in a circle around the walls of the tomb, returning to him from the other side. “It’s protected. My magics have encased it.”
“I don’t know how to repay you, Terrus.”
“You owe me nothing, Odin. I wish you peace, and pray that she knows how well she was loved.”
Odin nodded and turned to face the monument.
“Tell us of your friend, Odin,” Kamilah urged.
He looked over his shoulder at her.
“So that we can all think of her and tell any who don’t know yet about this special place,” Kamilah added.
Odin turned back to the monument and somehow found the words. “Marie was her name. I knew her many years ago when we were both children. I was alone and frightened and needed a friend so badly. And she was my friend. We laughed. We shared secrets. We played games. I loved her. And she loved me. We spent a long time apart, and we were both lonely. But I found her again in time to heal our hearts. She died here in my arms while the sun came up and the waves touched her toes. And it made her happy. That’s why she’s buried here. Where she can greet the sunrise each day, and hear the waves nearby. And she will never be forgotten.”
“It’s a beautiful monument,” Rowan said.
Odin nodded, still facing the monument. “It’s called, Marie’s Hill. It’s for all of us to visit, and rest on its walls, and lie in its grasses.”
“It’s a lovely gesture, Odin,” Kamilah said. “I think that Marie knows what you’ve created in her memory. And because of it, we can all remember her, too. I hope it brings you peace as well.”
Odin turned back to the group of people, taking time to meet the gaze of all those who’d helped him lay Marie to rest. “I do not know how to thank you. Despite everything, when I was in need, you all stepped forward without hesitation. I will never forget.” He stood quietly for a moment, then seeming to have accepted everything, stepped back and looked at each of the kids that were standing with their respective families. “Who’ll be the first to climb on it?”
The kids all shouted excitedly, the little girls squealing as they ran for the lower portion of the wall and climbed up.
Odin stood silently watching, pressing his lips together as he forced away the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. Marie was finally at rest, and she’d never be forgotten or alone again. Neither would the promise he made her just before she died. He’d find the children of her children, and after he made it clear that forgetting her in her twilight years was not acceptable, he’d also make sure whatever life they were living was one of their choice, not forced on them. Not that he gave a damn… they’d simply disappeared from her life, so he felt their own happiness was of very little importance. But Marie had cared, so he’d see it through.