Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
What a Merry Old Soul!
With the departure of Miss Bingley, the next weeks fell into a daily routine.
Four beings, with two guards, met early every morning so Lizzy could practice using the power.
Lizzy led them to a glade surrounded by trees.
In the center of the glade was a tall ancient English oak tree.
She was thankful the weather remained mild for that time of year.
Lizzy knew she needed to find a way to use the power to help her defeat the evil she knew was coming.
Darcy and both brownies became her targets to practice upon, but Lizzy remained extremely cautious to never hurt any of them.
Darcy, for his part, unsure exactly what Elizabeth wanted to achieve, continued acting as one of her targets.
Even though he saw nothing, Darcy still sensed her use of the power.
Moreover, at times, he felt as if a bubble surrounded him, but if he put forth a little power he drew from nature, the bubble seemed to pop.
In fact, a few times he actually heard a popping sound.
During the second week of practice, Darcy finally asked.
“Miss Elizabeth,” — currently she was using Rowan as her target, — “what are you trying to achieve?”
Lizzy stopped concentrating on Rowan and laughed. “Did I not explain my hopes to you?” She turned her smile upon him, and Darcy felt a small jolt in his heart.
Simply, Darcy replied, “No.”
“Oh!” Lizzy, weary from practicing and frustrated from not achieving her goal, sat down on the grass.
Darcy came over and sat beside her, thinking little of getting grass or grass stains on his cloths. Rowan and Butterbell also sat beside the couple, large grins obviously apparent on their faces. Ben and Joseph continued their duty of guarding the perimeter of the glade.
“Butterbell, you know what I am trying to accomplish?” Lizzy asked.
“Not rightly so, Miss. I know about the ward. You want a ward to cover a human. But why? I knows not.”
Lizzy chuckled and took a deep breath. “Here is my thinking,” she began.
“I can create wards to keep evil power out. I have, after much practice, been able to create wards for individual brownies. I can also temporarily bind a person’s ability to use the power, but it is limited.
So, I thought I might be able to stop a person from releasing power for evil by creating a ward around them.
Unfortunately, anytime the three of you use your power, it breaks the ward. ”
Darcy sat in thought from some minutes before finally saying, “Maybe that is the problem. The ward is only meant to keep one from using the power for evil not good. To make this work on the brownies and me, you would have to create a ward to keep all power in no matter how it is used.”
Lizzy smiled at him. In fact, she felt as if she could kiss him, but knew such an action was improper. Still, wanting to celebrate, she hugged Butterbell.
Darcy felt slightly hurt watching Elizabeth hug Butterbell when he really wanted her to hug him. ‘It was my idea,’ he thought.
Standing up, Lizzy proclaimed, “We should get started.” Her three practice targets also stood.
For the rest of the day, Lizzy focused on creating a ward to keep all power inside of the barrier, but to little avail.
As the sun began to set, Butterbell offered, “Miss be tired. Time to stop. Must eat. Tomorrow, we practice again.”
With a weary smile, Lizzy agreed and the four walked toward Longbourn trailed by the two guards who had remained in the area looking for possible intruders.
As they walked, Darcy turned to Butterbell and out of curiosity asked, “Butterbell, are you happy with your life?” He once asked that of Rowan, but the brownie offered no answer.
“Yes, Master Darcy, Butterbell be very happy. Miss is always kind to me, but that not the only reason. Brownies, we be old souls, but we also have merry souls.”
Darcy looked at Rowan who only nodded in agreement.
The comment puzzled Darcy, so he asked, “If you have a soul, then how is this eliminator able to make you completely vanish? I have a soul, as does Miss Elizabeth, but he cannot eliminate us?”
“How you know this?” Butterbell asked.
With no answer, Darcy directed his question at Miss Elizabeth. “Can the eliminator make people vanish?”
Turning toward him, Lizzy replied, “My grandmother believed the eliminators could, but people were not the ones he wanted gone from the earth.”
“Only brownies,” Rowan added.
“If the brownies are old souls, what happens to their souls when they are eliminated? Do they not return to the creator like our souls do?” Darcy questioned.
“You are not only souls, Mr. Darcy. You also have spirits.”
Looking at Rowan and Butterbell, Darcy asked, “Do not brownies have spirits?”
“No,” Rowan and Butterbell answered in unison.
“I do not understand,” Darcy replied with confusion.
“Creator made brownies,” Butterbell said.
“But Creator, when make man, breathed His spirit into man,” Rowan continued.
“When brownie die, we know not where the soul go,” Butterbell added.
“But when man die,” Rowan explained, “His spirit goes back to Creator, but his soul goes good place or bad place.”
Darcy chuckled. He found the explanation simple yet complex at the same.
“We just be merry old souls.” Butterbell then laughed.
“It is brownie philosophy, Mr. Darcy. I have learned to accept it without question.”
Noticing they were near Longbourn, Lizzy asked, “Would you care to join my family for dinner, Mr. Darcy?”
Darcy looked down at this clothing which showed signs of grass, dirt, and other debris. “No, I think it best I return to Netherfield and freshen up. Maybe you can invite me for tomorrow evening. I am sure Bingley would be happy to accompany me.”
“It is a good plan,” Lizzy said as she stopped walking and looked at him. “Mr. Darcy, would you, Mr. Bingley, and possibly the Hursts care to join my family for an evening meal tomorrow?”
Darcy too had stopped walking, and at her invitation, he broke out in laughter.
Sobering, he then replied with a slight bow, “Why, Miss Elizabeth, we would be pleased to join your family tomorrow evening. I will pass on the invitation to Mrs. Hurst. I believe she would like to become better acquainted with your family.”
Lizzy then gave a small curtsey before replying. “I will let my family know to expect all of you tomorrow evening.” Just before she turned, she asked, “Will Rowan and you join us tomorrow after luncheon in the meadow?”
“Not early in the morning?” Darcy responded.
Lizzy gave a light tinkling giggle, reminding Darcy of a small silver bell his mother had. “No, tomorrow is Longbourn morning for visitors.”
Darcy smiled, “I see.”
“Yes,” Lizzy replied, “Life goes on even if I have work to do.”
“Tomorrow afternoon then.” Darcy bowed and watched as Elizabeth turned away and walked toward her home.
“Come, Rowan,” Darcy said as he turned. “Maybe you and I can put in a little time developing my powers to perform something new.
Rowan trotted after Darcy laughing.