FICTION

A Man of Many Names — 2

A project from The All-Mother is revealed.

For the next hour and a half, Grif and Sophie discussed the project. Part of the plan was to have Griffin be known as both an author and an economist. He listened while Sophie told him what she knew. Watching them at a discreet distance was a red-haired woman.

Unknown to either Sophie or Griffin, the woman was well aware of the project that was more important than either Sophie or Griffin could begin to expect. The woman was just supposed to watch and report back to Freya.

Her assignment would take her to Canada and the city of Golden in due course. Once things had been put into play, then she would make her own appearance on the scene and insert herself into the new lives of the two diners.

Griffin left his sister at the restaurant, with a promise to meet her in Golden in three weeks’ time. He would cobble together a book that would meet the project’s needs by the end of the next week. He would send it to her and she would take care of getting it published and printed for an event to be scheduled in Golden.

Somehow between then and now, Griffin had to close up his small acreage house and leave his position at the high school. The truth was, he really didn’t like teaching anymore, especially in Alberta.

Over the last few centuries, he had been a teacher quite a number of times. Often, the work had been rewarding, as well as frustrating. But now, teaching was more about politics than it was about cultivating the inquiring minds of young people.

Making his way to the Basilque Sacre Coeur where the portal was hidden, Griffin’s mood began to improve. Golden had double the population of Deer Crossing. And as a university city, Golden was a bit more modern and liberal in its world view. Griffin didn’t delude himself with the idea that there weren’t any rednecks in the city of Golden. Still, it was an improvement.

Sophie was to find out more about the project from The All-Mother in the mean time. Sometime between now and the next meeting Sophie in Golden, he would have to bring Talan on board with the project which would have him relocate to Golden as well.

Inside the Basilica, Griffin walked to one of the side chapels, which was currently not being used by anyone. Checking to make sure that no one was approaching, he slipped behind the draped cloth to the side of the small altar, silently reciting the words that would bridge the distance to his destination.

The next moment he found himself in his basement. He walked out of what looked like a closet should anyone have been in the basement of his house, into a somewhat empty home. He still hadn’t changed anything about the place that would stamp his signature on the place.

Since he lived alone, he didn’t have to worry about his sudden appearance there. Then, looking at his watch, he saw that he still had enough time to call his brother in Austin to arrange a meeting.

“Yeah, the sooner the better, Talan. Can you find time later today or tomorrow at the latest?”

It had been mid-afternoon in Paris when Griffin left Paris, but it was still morning in western Canada.

Talan’s intuition had already alerted him about something life-changing being in the works, so he wasted little time in confirming a time and a place for their meeting.

“I have the evening off from duty. Say six-thirty at the Eighth Wonder of the World Brewery so we can catch the last part of Happy Hour.”

Griffin grinned to himself. His brother was always the same, always ready to turn any meeting into a party of sorts. “I’ll be there, bro. And remember, you’re paying. Besides, you make more than I do, little brother.”

As promised, Griffin met Talan at the brewery which wasn’t far from the Catholic Church where the portal had been set up by Talan. Talan had placed the portal there when he was assigned to working in Austin. Typically churches were used as portal sites because of the fact that they were rarely used. That said, not all portal sites were in churches.

The walk from the church to the brewery took Griffin less than fifteen minutes. Griffin was wearing blue jeans, a jacket, and a Texas Rangers ball cap, which would allow him to be less conspicuous in the brewery.

“Long time no see,” hailed Talan as he clapped his older brother on his shoulder. “How about I buy you a beer?”

Not waiting for an answer, he held up two fingers while showing his glass of house draft. He caught the attention of a smiling young woman who was serving a boisterous group at the next table. It wasn’t long before she returned with two mugs of draft beer. Talan made sure to give her a generous tip so that she would continue to appear when the mugs needed refilling.

“Thanks,” Griffin said after taking a good moment to savour the brew. “Now, we have to talk.”

Rather than retreat to a quiet corner, which in truth didn’t exist, the two stood along a counter that was crowded and noisy. Despite the noisy conditions, they didn’t have to shout to hear each other as they both could read lips and had the ability to home in on certain voices. Griffin wasted little time in telling his brother about the new assignment from The All-Mother.

“Yeah, I knew something was up. So, when do we take on this new gig?”

“We have three weeks before we have to meet Sophie in Golden. I’m sure you’ll find a way to wrap things up here in plenty of time. Next weekend I’ll go there and find us a place, as well as setting up a portal for us to use. The one at the Wanuskewin site is too far out of the way. I’ll let you know the coordinates so that you don’t have to fly commercial.”

None of The All-Mother’s children liked travelling by plane. If time was of the essence, then using portals to move from point A to point B was the favoured option. Otherwise, trains, cars, and even travel by ship was better than being on a plane.

Griffin spent the next hour explaining as best he could what Sophie had passed on to him earlier in the day. Then, with parting promise to talk soon, he left. There was work to do back in Red Deer.

Previously

Now, a shout out to some of my writing friends [smile]:

Anne Bonfert, JoAnn Ryan, Robert, Adrienne Beaumont, Afroditi Filippidi, Alexis James, Christopher Grant, Jenine "Jeni" Baines, Diana Meresc, Keeley Schroder, NancyO, Denise Larkin, and Michele Maize