Chapter 67
As the dawn was breaking across the sky, Harper found Lady Bell sitting at the kitchen table.
She had a cup of coffee in her hands as she stared out at the devastated garden.
Harper poured a mug and joined her in her silence.
The manor was filled to capacity; every spare room had been put to use.
Hedy and Sven slept in Harper’s bed, Einar in a sleeping bag on the floor in front of the fireplace.
Polly proved herself to be a disloyal bed companion, and was happily curled up between the old couple.
The cats had found their humans quickly, and Harper suspected as soon as the devastation left by the tsunami was made to heel, they would disappear as mysteriously as they appeared.
Harper shivered at the thought, swallowing the weight of what had occurred. Lady Bell broke her reverie and gazed at Harper.
“You did good,” she said softly.
Harper was overcome with a wave of conflicting emotions. She swallowed hard and let the steam of the coffee rise up and over her face. “What happens next?” she asked in a choked voice.
“We do what we do best. We start again,” Lady Bell answered gently.
Harper cleared her throat, knowing that they had precious few minutes before the day began en force. “Last night you were asking me something. I think I have your answer.”
Lady Bell put her coffee mug down and breathed in and out before she spoke in a carefully metered tone. “Do you understand what I am asking of you?”
Harper nodded.
“And you understand the weight of my ask?” Lady Bell’s eyes were a constellation; in this moment, she stood at the gate to a world Harper had been searching for in the fog of her grief.
Harper nodded again.
“The Lady of Bell Island is the Empress, the Earth Mother, the Guardian of the Mist. It is as much burden as it is blessing. Do you understand?” Lady Bell’s voice traveled on the air and circled Harper’s ears, her eyes, her heart.
She nodded once more.
You are cordially invited to say farewell
To our friend and colleague
The Lady Harper Hafdóttir
Recently elected Mayor of Bell Island
Recipient of her long-beleaguered PhD in microbiology
Resident of Bell Island.
Please join us at Bell Manor
For a celebration as Mayor Doctor Lady Hafdóttir
Leaves behind the earthly plane of Boston
And begins anew beyond The Graves.
We will be cutting the ribbon on the Blódughadda Marine Biology
Research Station
Located on the East Dock of Bell Island.
Dedicated to the study and preservation of the Thalassic calide
Out-of-town guests will enjoy the hospitality of the historic Bell Manor.
You are instructed to dress in a manner that best celebrates your true self.