Chapter 12: String Music and Elkaphants

Preparations can be made only by making them, not by merely wishing them to be, my great-grandfather A.J. McKesson once told me, so Cor and I got very busy. I let Cor coordinate things with Chester and get everyone set to have dinner at our apartment before the actual party started. While she was doing that, I made another trip to Beletara to see about a concert venue. Wick took me to see Maistre Orb Benek at the Grand Hall.

"What? I was getting used to having Cord around to keep me out of trouble, but today I get you?" I asked, jokingly.

"Cord has taking his sweetheart out sailing today, while the seas are still cooperative," Wick confessed. "However in this case, the old weasel I am taking you to see would give Cord barely more credence than he would you."

That proved to be obvious immediately.

"You understand, I have agreed to see you as a courtesy to Lord Shavrom only," The large, balding gentleman told me as Wick and I sat down. "There is simply no way to find an open date during the Midwinter's Eve Festival for the Grand Hall."

"I understand," I answered. "It was my original hope to have a friend perform for the Shavrom families and their employees and associates, as a thank you for their friendship and assistance. A smaller hall would suffice for that sort of an event, certainly."

"A smaller hall would be possible, though all are, of course, already booked," Maistre Benek said with some relief. "It would mean asking someone to shift their event outside of the Festival period proper. Perhaps a payment of some kind to the party in question."

"This was my thought exactly. But my friend seized on this as his opportunity to have a grand concert to showcase his new protégé and student. He insisted it be the Grand Hall, as he has played it before, and found it suitable, perhaps uniquely so, for such a debut."

I was a little melodramatic perhaps, but the Maistre was perhaps used to a little of that when being pitched, so I didn't want to disappoint him.

"Who is this friend of yours that claims to know the Grand Hall so well?"

"Thistle Kerwen," I answered.

"Thistle Kerwen is a washed up drunk!" Maistre Benek spat automatically.

"No sir. He has conquered his demons, with some help, and has been Named Bard of the North.

"Bear crap and the spirits take me!" Was what I got back from that one. Wick and I sat, exchanging looks while the Maistre digested my words.

"Wick, you will testify to this man's character? I can take his word for what he says?"

"Orb, I would not be here with him if it were otherwise. The Wizard Weaver has my absolute confidence and trust."

"The Bard will be debuting a protégé, you said, not a student or an apprentice. He used the word protégé?"

"Yes, and the two of them will be playing an entire series of new compositions, written for an entirely new instrument which they will be debuting as well."

I had dangled the bait, and with that, I set the hook. It seemed nonsense, even to me, to attempt to shift the Grand Hall's currently scheduled Midwinter's Eve performance itself, as it was a combined effort of the Beletaran royal symphony, the Royal Chorale Assembly and youth choir. Orb saw no sense in it either, but surprised me with the solution he did find. Instead of moving anything, Orb simply added two hours onto the end of the evening.

"The concert was scheduled to end two hours before midnight. Now the concert will end shortly after midnight on Midwinter's Day."

So concerned was he with the idea of it, and the need to have handbills and flyers printed and criers sent out with the news, that he rushed out the door.

"Wick, this has ballooned beyond all my expectations. Now I'm afraid many of your associates and employees will not get to see the performance as I had planned. I don't suppose you have an empty warehouse or something somewhere for a dress rehearsal performance?"

"That Midwinter's Eve performance in the Grand Hall is one of the biggest events of the year, and we already have been offering tickets as incentives everywhere we have business." Wick said. "I'll just have to grab up a bunch more tickets to add to those we already have. Don't worry about it," He laughed then. "Weaver, I don't know if you've heard, but us Shavrom's do have some connections in Beletara."

Before I left, Wick made me promise that we would be staying with them when we came for the performance. I made sure to let him know that we would be bringing Starlight's family with us, which meant four more people. He surprised me back by insisting we bring the Durmiters with us as well. I told him about my conversation with Ash, and that he would take the Winter to think it over.

"I expect that Chimer will be here come spring, and will be wide-eyed and ready for anything." I told him.

"Perhaps you should bring him and his family to the concert as well?" Wick said. "We can have someone give him and his parents a quick tour of the docks and the shipyards."

"The list of people I'm bringing is growing, Wick. How many can I bring before you run out of room and generosity?"

"Weaver, for what you have done for me and my family, you would bankrupt me before you would ever see the end of our generosity. As far as room, that's another story. We could conceivably have to start doubling up if you show up with more than 30 people or so."

"Well, I think I'd only get halfway there, even if I invite a few people I hadn't planned, so we'll see how it goes, Wick. I do not want this to become some life debt though."

"Nor do I see it as such, Weaver. But I do revel in making new friends, and I know you would be equally as generous if I was knocking on your door."

On my return to the Tower I found Cor had gotten back ahead of me.

"Welcome back and how did it go?"

"Well, Thistle will be the judge in the end, but I think we've gotten an amazingly good deal. The Midwinter's Eve performance in the Grand Hall is actually being started an hour earlier, and extended two hours to allow Thistle and Starlight's concert to happen as an end to the evening."

That sounds like quite the coup. Thistle will love it, I'm sure."

"How was your trip?" I asked.

We're all set, everyone is coming to the apartment for dinner at 7. I'm conferring with Grandma McKesson on the menu, and she may even pop in to help, at least she's hinted at it. That means I'm going to have to be there Thursday night, and skip the guitar shopping trip." She said. "I got in touch with Con about the Halloween costumes, that's a go. We'll actually be testing the prototypes."

"Why do I think there's more to that story than I'm hearing?"

"Con says that if they work, we'll become equal partners in 'Holo-ween', the latest Obsidian Research subsidiary."

"You're embarrassed about that for some reason?"

"Well, the insignificance of it I guess, compared to the other things Obsidian does."

"Did you know that there is an Obsidian subsidiary that manufactures night lights and keyring flashlights?" I said.

"No. Really?"

"Not every useful and marketable idea is an earth shattering, life changing deal. When you and Con get to building the next generation of environment suits, you'll have your chance to make that kind of mark."

"Thanks, you are such a sweet knight," Cor said, following it with a kiss. "You get your stuff done now, okay? Oh! and I wasn't able to make contact with Ren, but I left messages with your Mom, Dad and Grandma. I even left word with Con."

"Okay. I need to check with Grandma McKesson about music stores, and I'll try and contact Ren while I'm there too. I have a couple methods to try that Mom and Dad don't. I had an idea about that escort for Starlight too."

"Oooh! What did you come up with?"

"Do you remember Greg Warren?" I asked.

"The name rings a bell, wait a minute ... Ah! Was he the boy who took us sailing on Lake Champlain?"

"Yes, he's a couple of years older than Starlight, but given her maturity, and his trustworthiness, I think he would be ideal, if he's free."

"And he's tall and handsome, so Starlight would perhaps be willing to overlook his true task of protecting her from rowdy college boys."

"Exactly," I answered. "Oh! While I'm gone, perhaps you will want to break the news to Plank and Opal. Wick has invited them all to come down for the concert. Opal will worry about having Biter out so late, so reassure her that there are dozens of Shavrom matrons who will be happy to watch him, safely inside the Shavrom Estate."

Getting in touch with Greg Warren was my first priority, so I grabbed my cellphone as soon as I was back in the apartment. I still had his parent's number in my directory. The phone rang a couple times before a woman answered.

"Hello. Warren residence." Came a smooth, silky voice.

"Hello. Greg Warren please."

"I'm sorry. Greg isn't home. Can I take a message?"

"Yes. Please tell him Andy McKesson called, and was hoping to find out if he was free on Halloween," I said.

"Oh, Andy!" Came the suddenly less business-like voice. "This is Greg's mother. We didn't get to meet when you were here the last time. Are you hoping to go sailing again?"

"Spending time on the lake with Greg and The Eleanor would be wonderful, but I'm sure that fine boat is safely stored for the winter," I answered. "How are you Mrs. Warren?"

"Please, call me Eleanor, if its not too confusing," her laugh was low and throaty. "I'm fine. Can I give you Greg's cell number?"

"Thank you Eleanor, I'd appreciate it."

I called Grandma McKesson next, wanting Greg's mom to have time to give him a heads up if she were of a mind to. She asked me if I was talking about East coast, West coast or Europe.

"East coast would work best for me, I think."

"Okay dear. Hold on." She actually put me on hold for a moment, and then came back on.

"Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, Tennessee. Its at 400 Broadway."

I thanked Grandma, locking the name and address in my memory.

I dialed Greg's cell number and got an immediate answer.

"Greg Warren."

"Greg, Hi! This is Andy McKesson."

"Andy! Hi what's up?"

I could tell that Greg was at a complete loss at my calling him out of the blue like this. Obviously Mom hadn't tried a heads up call.

"Well, this is going to sound slightly insane, but what are you doing for Halloween?"

Well ... nothing I think. You do know I'm in Dearborn, Michigan though, don't you?"

"No! I'm sorry, I guess you got that internship after all then?"

"Yes I did. You didn't arrange it?" He asked.

"No, of course not. I'd have certainly recommended you if I'd been asked, but I"m guessing it never went that far. You seemed just the kind of guy the Obsidian Motors folks were looking for, to be honest."

"Wow! Well I guess that's better still, if someone like you thought that. Thanks for the thoughts then anyway."

"You're welcome. Listen, how would you like to spend the weekend at home and start it off by escorting a beautiful young girl to a Halloween party at MIT?"

"What's the catch?" Greg said with a laugh. "There has to be a catch with a deal like this."

"The catch is that the young lady is only sixteen, though she'll definitely look more mature than that, and she'll speak English, but won't be all that familiar with American customs. I want her to enjoy the evening, but not get harassed by drunken college boys. Think of her as a visiting dignitary."

"Okay, I'm game," Greg said with a laugh. "What if she plies me with liquor and takes advantage of me?"

"That's not going to happen, trust me," I laughed in return. "She probably could drink you under the table though, so be careful there. You're eighteen, and this is a college campus, so not too many people are going to care if you have a cup of beer or two, but remember, this is a favor to me, not a night on the town. Trust me, when you see her, you wont mind in the least."

"Do I need to make my own travel arrangements, or do you have that covered as well?" Greg said.

"That depends. We're going to spend the morning making a side trip to Nashville. Would you like to go with us?"

"Sure! Dearborn to Nashville to Boston? Sounds like quite a trip!"

"Alright. I didn't get you in there, but I've got enough pull to spring you for a day I think. We'll pick you up at the demo field at 8 am. Sharp."

"Sounds great. Should I be shopping for a costume?" Greg asked.

"Not to worry, I'll provide the finery. See you then."

I Called Dearborn and talked to Owen Osbakken, the VP in charge of the plant. He not only freed up young Mr. Warren for me, but I arranged a high speed transit and pilot for the weekend. Owen was Awakened, and would have no problem with me and the rest of the crew arriving in his office out of nowhere. He told me that he would make sure the pilot was Awakened also, to minimize the need for secrecy.

The number of Awakened humans on Earth had been slowly climbing over the years, particularly among the Obsidian staff, so it wasn't surprising that Owen could arrange one as our pilot on such short notice. The licensed high speed aircar pilot field in particular was heavy with them. The skill set was a natural for anyone with the Gifts.

Finally it was time to see if I could find Ren.

"Ren?" I sent out a thought. I waited, but there was no answer.

Ren? I sent out on the special channel us kids had developed for working across the Light World-Dream World barrier.

I felt a whiff of something for just a second, then nothing for a while.

"Andy?" Came her reply finally, via normal thought.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No, just far away, somewhere hard to reach, like Arbor is. I'm back for the moment. What's up?"

I explained about the Halloween party, and the concert in Beletara, and Ren was aboard immediately.

"Yes! I could use the break anyway. Life's been a bit rough and tumble in ... where I've been lately. I'll check in at the tower in about a week, okay?"

"Very Good. Oh, I almost forgot. Thistle and Starlight are going to be spending the winter in the Tower. Don't be surprised if he is there when you arrive."

Back on Arbor, I found everyone in the common room, and the entire Tower abuzz, as Cor had given the Durmiters the word on our invitation.

"We will obviously have to go shopping." Cor said to me. "Opal doesn't have a dress fine enough for such an evening, and certainly Thistle will want to find something appropriate for Starlight to wear for her debut. The question is, where do we go?"

"Firetree?" I sent out.

"Weaver? Do you call?"

"Yes. Do you have a moment? Would you be missed for a few moments?"

"No, actually I just got changed and was heading out for midday meal. Am I going to miss it?"

"Have you all eaten the midday meal yet?" I asked Cor.

"No, in all the excitement, I think we forgot all about it."

"We've got one more for the meal then." I said, and jumped Firetree into the room beside us.

"Welcome to the Tower of the Wind, my friend." I said as he appeared.

"Weaver, you are better at these tranport tricks than any other Wizard I've known. It never ceases to amaze me!"

While Cor and Opal, with Ketch assisting, got the midday meal preparation under way, I gave Firetree the guided tour of the Tower.

It was standing atop her, looking over the edge that Firetree finally had to comment.

"You say you raised this Tower in an hour?"

"The four of us did. Wind, Midnight, myself and Thistle. Thistle's Music gave us the underlying foundation on which the Magic was built, and not all the Magic was mine."

"No, but you are The Weaver. Your Naming was not so happenstance as your telling of it would have others believe."

"Perhaps not. Arbor surprises me at every turn, so I do not think my Naming was an accident, or that Trough being my Namer was so haphazard a thing as I first believed."

"Meal time!" I heard from Cor.

"Ah! Our meal is ready." I said, and escorted Firetree back down into the Tower.

Our meal was a barley soup with black beans and a salad of slivered carrots and radishes with raisins and pine nuts and a spicy pepper dressing. There was fresh Cholla bread, still piping hot from the oven, to go with it to help soak up the last little bits of the soup. Over the meal, we gave Firetree some idea of what was going on.

"Firetree, what is Midwinter's Eve like in Esterton?" I asked. "Plank says it is not much celebrated in Midhal."

"That is true. It is much more of a private family celebration in the north. We don't have the big family ingatherings like they do in the southern kingdoms, probably because the traveling is harder during the winter here than it is there."

"We have been given a bit of leeway in the number of people we bring with us. Would King Esterton mind your being gone for a couple of days?"

"I wouldn't think he would mind. He knows I don't have family to gather with, so he's always been careful to include me in his own observances in the past. Now I've got Plover in my life, so he may have assumed we would be observing it together."

"We would like you and Plover to go with us to Beletara. It will be quite a crowd, fifteen of us altogether, including you two."

"I will ask her. I think she would like it, really. She was born in the south, before her transformation, and mentions it now and then. Nowhere near Beletara as I recall, but the Midwinter's Eve traditions might seem very familiar."

"Great! In the meantime We need to find some finery for the women to wear to the concert. We were thinking of descending on Esterton in a few days. Who should we see about finding the best dress shops in the city?"

"I will ask Shard and Queen Esterhal when I get back. They will know for sure. Queen Esterhal might even insist you use the royal seamstresses if they aren't busy. The King has taken quite a liking to you, Weaver."

We finished our meal and we let Speck take Firetree for a quick look around the valley itself. Firetree was very much impressed to see Titan, Moonlight and the other Yaru. Titan remembered Firetree, and I heard the two of them joking with one another as they rode off.

We had hardly finished with the dishes and the straightening up – the 'de-Bitering' of the the common area, as Opal put it, when Speck and Firetree were back.

With a promise to see him in Esterton the next day, I jumped him back to where I'd found him.

Cor and I headed in to the Red Flag next. Our first stop was to find Thistle and Starlight, and check on their progress at preparing for the move to the Tower. Of course we had some invitations to extend as well.

Thistle's room looked like it had been struck by a gust of Wind Wives. Papers and pouches were scattered everywhere, long leather parchment cases were spread out strategically across the room, and in only a few places, we saw the beginnings of neat, organized piles.

"This is the best chance I'll ever have to get a lifetime's worth of writing and composing and learning organized," Thistle said, defensively.

"Believe it or not, it is also something of a learning opportunity for me as well." Starlight said. "I cannot help Thistle if I don't understand what's what, so I'm learning his notation system, amongst other things."

"Very well." Cor said. "But you mustn't put off your own packing too long. While I'm asking questions, how would you feel about becoming a redhead for our trip to the guitar store?"

"I suppose it would be fine. I've never considered coloring my hair. Why do you ask?"

"It will be part of the costume you'll be wearing for the party we are going to. We'll change it with Magic, we can change it back as soon as we return, if you don't like it." Cor said. "Now get to packing!"

"Oh, I"m already packed," Starlight said, pointing to a chest stuck in a corner behind the door. "It took me only an hour to pack. I"m ready to go."

"You will both be taking a break from packing Thistle's life tomorrow," I announced. "We are making a trip into Esterton to shop for dresses for the concert. If nothing else, we will have some fitting sessions for the ladies, to get the dressmaking process started."

"Ah! Excellent!" Thistle said. "I can check that item off my list of things needed for Starlight's debut."

With their assurances that they would be ready to go immediately after morning meal, we headed downstairs to find Trough. We met Bug, one of the inn's runners coming up the stairs as we were going down. He broke into a big grin.

"Trough sent me to fetch Thistle, hoping to get a message to you. You suppose I'll earn high marks for efficiency if I bring you directly, instead?"

Bug was all of eight years old. We all grinned at his youthful impudence.

Trough grinned as well when Bug presented us in that fashion, as if it was barely an inconvenience to him to have fetched us instead of Thistle.

"Bright boy, but a bit of a schemer," Trough said. "He'll probably be nothing but trouble when puberty hits him a few years down the road."

"Trough, I know your a widower, and I know that Midwinter's Eve is not a big deal around here. Do you do anything for it?"

"I usually have dinner with Sunshine and Spider, and they invite Rose as well, though she seldom accepts."

"Would Sunshine and Spider mind if you missed it this year?" I asked.

"I don't think so. Why what's going on?"

So we explained the situation with the concert in Beletara, and Wick Shavrom's invitation. Trough thought about it only briefly before agreeing.

"I've never been to Beletara, or anywhere in the Southern kingdoms. It'll be an interesting experience."

Starlight and Speck's parents were next. We stopped at the house, finding Comet home, doing laundry. I suspect laundry was a frequent task for the wife of a blacksmith.

Ten seconds into our spiel Comet was with us. To see her daughter's new life start so grandly was, in good part, an achievement in and of itself for her.