And Eternity Read Free

mother. She was a friend of your mother, before I was. Your mother conceived you out of wedlock, and your father was unexpectedly prevented from marrying her, and she had other business, so had to give you up. The Gypsy would have kept you, but fate denied her; it was her charge to give you to a suitable American family, and that she did. Your mother could have followed you, but elected not to interfere; by her own design, she let you go so that you could be a complete part of your new family. Except that-”
    “She sent you!” Orlene exclaimed.
    “Not exactly,” Jolie said. “It was another who did that. He told her nothing except that you were well and happy. I came to you in your dreams and helped you to learn things you could not otherwise have learned, so that some day you might better understand the situation of your mother. In the course of that I soon came to love you myself, and now I regard you as mine too.”
    “But you are no older than I am!”
    “My dear, physically I am not. But I died in the year 1208. I have been a ghost ever since.”
    Orlene stared at her. “But that’s almost eight hundred years ago!”
    “Almost,” Jolie agreed. “I was seventeen, divinely married, and learning sorcery in southern France. But there was a crusade against the Albigensians, because they were resisting taxation, and the first thing the Church went after was opposing sorcerers. I died, and my husband fled, but he prevailed on Thanatos to let him carry me with him in a drop of my blood on his wrist. I could not quite depart the mortal realm, you see, because of an abiding evil in my situation, so I remained. When my husband was confined in Hell, Gaea took my drop of blood, and I became her companion instead of his. I am omitting considerable detail, but that is the essence. I remain in appearance as I was when I died: younger than you.”
    “So you are seventeen-and eight hundred years old!” Orlene exclaimed. “And you knew my genetic mother!”
    “And know her still. I can introduce you to her, if you wish.”
    Orlene considered. “No, I think I would rather not know. I would not see her as my mother, and it could be awkward, especially since I am a ghost.”
    “Perhaps that is best. She knows that I have been in touch with you, but does not know your identity or that you have died, and I will not tell her if you prefer.”
    “Do not tell her,” Orlene agreed. “I have sown enough pain already! But do tell me, if you are the companion of the Incarnation of Nature, how is it that you had occasion to interact with others, such as my mother or myself?”
    “I am bound to Gaea by my drop of blood, the sole remaining vestige of my mortal body. But she is busy with many things which are hardly my concern, and gives me leave to go where I wish and do what I wish. I always return to her when she needs me, but most of the time I am on my own, and so I meet many folk, living and dead. At the moment I am engaged in a project to locate suitable candidates to become Incarnations, and this is a most challenging enterprise.”
    “Incarnations! They are looking for replacements?”
    “Not precisely. They merely want to have a pool of excellent candidates to draw from when the need arises. The candidates in the pool are not notified, they are merely observed, and then when the occasion should come, one of them may be tapped. It is better than allowing it to continue at random. I was observing a man in France, not far from my mortal residence, when I felt your dying. The observation is long-term and can wait, while your death was immediate, so I came right away.”
    “I would not want to keep you from your job! Once I am reunited with my baby, I have little care for what happens to me. I would rather be in Hell with him than in Heaven without him.” She was evidently sincere.
    “I will help you find him; my time is not pressed.” Jolie looked at the ghost. “But, if I may, let me get you into better