Jacob's Mother—36

Good Angels

Photo by Kevin Charit on Unsplash

Jacob’s Mother is a serialized novel. Start with Chapter One.

Chapter 36: Good Angels

Ireland—Old Gaelic World

Moya was alone. She waited in the liquid darkness for her death. The water was now lapping at her breasts. She could feel the vines growing around her, twisting and tightening. She held on to her husband’s walking stick, even though the vines tied her hands to it. The the smooth dips from his fingers on the handle brought her comfort.

She closed her eyes. It was the last thing she could control since it was pitch black with her eyes open.

She heard water all around her. It dripped and sloshed. It hissed as it poured into the cave. Moya heard a strange chattering sound. It took her a few minutes to realize that the clicking sound she heard, were her own teeth chattering. She shivered uncontrollably.

Get a hold of yourself, she thought, knowing that this was for the best. A mother must protect her daughter. She took comfort in the fact that soon she would join her husband. Maybe in the afterlife, she would be able to love him fully and without the threat of the Gancanagh.

Suddenly, she saw a pale blue light. Had the Bean Nighe returned to enjoy her suffering? Moya would be glad of her company, even if she only came to mock her. To die alone seemed a terrible thing. But it couldn’t be the Bean Nighe, since she had lost sight of the faery world. As the light got closer, she heard voices, a woman and a small child.

“Gramma, look!” the child’s voice cried.

Moya strained her eyes in the darkness towards the light. Two glowing figures were approaching. They held no lanterns. The light emanated out of them as if they were made of fireflies. For a moment, she thought the sight had returned to her, but these creatures were different from the misty folk of the faery world. They shimmered, but they were definitely alive.

“I’m bright!” the child cried, and splashed the water gleefully. “I’m bright!” She jumped around in the water. She wore a tight suit, almost a second skin that was covered in heart shapes. The other figure was an old woman, a crone. She wore some sort of shawl with arms that tied around her waist. Moya had never seen anyone like them.

The two of them came closer, and Moya saw serious expression on the little girl’s face. She looked towards the crone and said, “Lil is lost.”

The old woman nodded. “Yes, my dear.”

How did these creatures know, Elizabeth? Moya wondered. What did they mean she was lost? She called to them. “Please! What are you saying about my daughter?”

They came closer still, glowing and sparkling in the darkness. The crone knelt down in the water, and tried to pull the vines off of Moya. They just grew faster and tried to wrap around the crone’s fingers.

“Gramma, is she stuck?” The little girl in the strange suit came closer to investigate, glowing and shining more light on the mess of vines. Moya looked down at the illuminated water. She could no longer see her legs through the tangle. It was all a mess of writhing vines, growing so quickly, she could see it happen.

“Stand back, Addie,” the crone warned, tugging at the vines that were now reaching towards the girl.

The strange child took a step back. She looked vaguely familiar to Moya. She was so vibrant and alive. The girl tilted her curly red head, staring at her. Moya couldn’t help thinking that this child looked just like Aideen. She had never known Aideen as a small child, but surely she was just like this girl. The cold must be muddling my mind, she thought, shaking her head to stay awake. The vines were now attacking the old woman.

“It’s no use,” Moya said. “Be careful not to get tangled, yourself. This is my destiny. I must save my daughter. What do you know of her?”

The old woman knelt beside her in the water. Miraculously, she was completely dry, even the parts of her robe that were underwater. She kindly touched Moya’s face with dry papery hands and smiled. “Lil is lost, but Aideen will help her. Lil and her baby will be fine.” She placed arm around Moya’s shoulders and the vines grew up around her arm. “My name is Julia, and I’m going to help you.”

“Don’t touch me,” Moya cautioned. “You’ll get trapped as well.”

“The mother helps the daughter and the crone helps the mother,” the old woman said.

Moya could feel the vines sliding around her neck, tightening tendrils giving her a last caress. She flinched as a fiddlehead investigated the inside of her ear. She didn’t know who this woman was, but was glad to have company in her last moments. There was something comforting about this kindly old woman. Moya wondered if she was real. She couldn’t really move her head anymore, and the woman leaned her glowing head on her shoulder.

“It’s all right,” the woman said. “I will stay with you.” She stroked the top of Moya’s head with her glowing hand. “It will be over soon, and we will both chase the sun.” The woman stared into her eyes with a confidence and steadiness that lightened Moya’s heart. The vines wrapped and tightened, locking them in a permanent embrace. The woman did not stop staring into Moya’s eyes. They were deep pools of love, sadness, and pain. She could see the night sky in them, golden sunsets, flowers blooming, babies crying, but also the deep pits of hell, with dark creatures tending the embers. The woman’s eyes showed everything at once.

The glowing child approached. “Gramma, Lil is lost.”

“Yes dear,” the old woman said. “You find her. Help her.”

Even though this strange child seemed to be a ghostly apparition, or perhaps a changeling of some sort, Moya could see life in her. She placed her tiny hands on her hips and her tiny face was the most alive thing Moya had ever seen. Her little eyes shined with courage and myrth, and Moya was reminded again of her dear friend Aideen.

“What is your name, little one?” she asked.

“I’m Addie”, she said. “It’s short for Aideen.”

Moya smiled through the vines. Of course her name was Aideen. Aideen the helper, Aideen the life giver, the friend.

“She is named after her great grandmother, and her great grandmother before that, and before that,” the old woman said from her permanent embrace. The vines were starting to spread all over her glowing body as well. “Now, go Aideen! Be a good girl and find Lil!”

“Ok, Gramma!” With that, little Aideen sloshed back through the water, to a tunnel in the cave. She turned around once, waved, and disappeared around the corner.

The old woman sighed. The vines tightened their grip around both of them. She seemed to glow a little brighter, and Moya could see the water pouring down the walls of the cave. The water was now to her shoulders.

“You are going to die!” Moya exclaimed through the cage of vines that now covered her face.

“It’s ok,” Julia looked at her with steady eyes. Moya peered into them and saw a young boy climbing out a window. She saw a smiling man with sandy blond hair, and a pub that glowed strangely. She saw monsters inside those eyes, crawling out of the irises—bulbous beings with extra eyes, some with no eyes at all, all with open terrible mouths. She peered deeper and saw angels as well. They glowed with light light and beat fiery wings. She saw the shadow of a man. She recognized the smoke of the Gancanagh, the triskele, and she understood.

Julia’s eyes held her steady. Julia’s eyes held all worlds at once.

“We are going to die.” Moya repeated this steadily. She felt solid. The vines providing support.

“For they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons and daughters of God, being children of the resurrection”, Julia said. “That’s the gospel of Luke, Chapter 20, verse 36.”

Then the water went over their mouths.

Continue to Chapter 37 .

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Jacob’s Mother is an original publication by Laura Ellis. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law and fair use.