Chapter 26

Posted: May 30, 2006 - 01:17:52 pm

A number of people have told me that I'm mature for my age. I like that and I like it when they mistakenly think I'm older than I am. I personally don't think I'm all that mature. I like to think that I'm just more responsible than the average sixteen-year-old guy. To me, maturity comes with life experience and I was woefully short in that area. I think people mistook me being a responsible, big and quiet person to mean I was mature. Being responsible I'll cop to. Because for a Pulaski male, being responsible was a family trait just as much as our stature and the size of our hands.

I'll give you an example: I have never seen my father or grandfather put a single piece of food on their plate until all the women and children at the table have been served. I always thought that little act said a lot about their character. I asked my father about it once. He told me that Papa's father had done it because there wasn't always enough food for everyone so my great-grandfather always ate last. That he and Papa did it was mostly symbolic, a subtle reminder that family comes first. You know what else? When I have a family I am going to do the same thing.

Ellen and Elaine filled Cindi and me in about their visit to Ireland after we had worn ourselves out in bed. It was a strange and fascinating story they spun; if anyone else had tried to tell me the things they said, I'd have thought them crazy or a liar. Coming from Ellen and Elaine, though, made it the truth; the girls just didn't lie. Here's the adventure they related.

Keelmira, the ancient ancestral home of the Buckley Clan, was an isolated sleepy little village hard on the shore of Clew Bay, on the West side of the island. The start of the O'Buckley's land holdings was the end of any decent roadway; only a rutted dirt track led into the small valley in which Keelmira stood. Electric, telephone and other cables were all underground so as not to mar the pristine landscape. Most if not all of the residents of Keelmira were Buckley kin lured back from across Europe and America. They were lured back to the Keelmira Valley because of the money Jacob and Melissa Turner had invested there. Now, in addition to bucolic farms and quaint fishing boats, Keelmira was home to the world's most sophisticated, technically advanced and secure electronic banking facility.

The twins met a slew of their relatives, including another Nina Murphy. This Nina was older and married to the novelist Sean Murphy. Sean and Nina had eight children and fourteen grandchildren, the majority of whom live in Keelmira. They also met their great aunt Colleen Buckley, the family historian. Being the intellectual marvels they were, the twins read all of the records and accounts of the Clan Buckley that Colleen had amassed.

"Johnny," Ellen said, "Colleen has even seen the original leather deed to the Clan's property issued by King Cormac almost two thousand years ago. The history of our family is amazing but even more astounding is the fact that we still exist as a distinct clan. Colleen says that it's genetic, passed down through the centuries by the females.

"Our family's history goes back three thousand years. We are descendants of the De Danann, one of the races that peopled Ireland before the Milesians from Spain invaded a thousand years before Christ. The De Danann were an advanced race, skilled in the arts and crafts and attuned to the land on which they lived. The Milesians were awed by the De Danann and considered them wizards and sorcerers. Our oral history and legends say that the Buckleys are descended from Brigit, the daughter of the De Danann's greatest king. In the religion of our people before Christianity, Brigit became the Goddess of Poetry. By the time the Celts arrived five hundred years later, the De Danann had been assimilated into the Milesians, except for the tribe in the Keelmira Valley. Neither the Milesians nor the Celts that followed them could eke out much of a life in the valley so they left it alone.

"Isolated and ignored, the tribe flourished and spread south to greener vistas. Those that left quickly became scholars, artists, craftsmen, healers and musicians for the Irish nobility. Those that chose to stay formed the Clan of the Meadow of the Deer, Clan Buckley, in the native tongue. The clan's chieftain was the 'O'Buckley', the son of the Buckley.

"The O'Buckleys throughout Irish history are legendary figures. Fierce warriors as well as wise rulers, they were said to be so attuned to their land that they possessed supernatural powers. In the third century after the birth of Christ, the Buckleys became the stuff of legend as members of the Fain. The Fain was a standing army called for by King Cormac to defend Ireland against invaders and uphold the law of the land. A succession of Buckleys commanded one of the three Fain cathas, what we now call battalions, for the century the Fain existed. King Cormac decreed that all the land, in every direction, that could be seen from the tallest mountain in the area would forever belong to the O'Buckley as reward for their service. That mountain is Croagh Patrick; that deed is still in possession of our uncle, Patrick Elliott Buckley.

"The land was quiet and prospered even after the year 1171 when Henry the Second of England invaded the Emerald Isle with the help of the traitorous MacMurrough of Leinster. Clew Bay and this part of Mayo were still not considered worth a fight with the fabled Buckleys. The Buckleys fought against England's domination for the next eight hundred years. There was a Buckley at the side of Shane the Proud against the crown, and with Red Hugh O'Neill. In the eighteen hundreds, Buckleys stood shoulder to shoulder with Robert Emmet, Wolfe Tone and Daniel O'Connell. Our ancestors fought with the true Sinn Fein and participated in the Easter Rising.

"All this took a terrible toll on the Buckleys; true, the land and the women flourished, but the men died in droves. Buckley women began to stay young and live longer as the men died earlier. Young widowhood and a long life was the bittersweet lot of the Buckley women. And get this, Johnny, when we told Aunt Colleen about you, she said that in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries a number of Buckleys traveled to Poland to participate in the Crusades against the Lithuanians, some of the last Europeans to accept Christianity. During the reign of Kazimierz The Great, a Buckley commanded the Army that defended Krakow against the turncoat Teutonic Knights. Just think, we may be very distantly related and that might help explain our connection."

Yes, the twins did meet the mysterious O'Buckley, their cousin and the clan leader. Yes, he was as charismatic as everyone says. No, he didn't notch his bedpost with either one of them; he respected their commitment to me and left them alone, that too was a Buckley female's prerogative. He did say that he'd heard from his Uncle Jacob Turner about me and he approved of our relationship. He told the twins that the original De Danann were from Central Europe and the Buckleys had always felt a kinship for Magyars, Poles and Czechs. Isn't this history stuff just about a hoot? Who knew all that just off the top of their head?

Both Elaine and Ellen said they felt a connection to the valley that was nearly as strong as the one they shared with me. As an outsider, to me it all sounded as if it were right out of some gothic romance novel. That feeling was reinforced when I heard about the centuries old manor house the O'Buckley occupied and the ruins of the ancestral castle.

Katrina finally made it home on leave the fourteenth of August, just a couple of days before school started for us. She had two weeks of leave before classes resumed for her the Tuesday after Labor Day. I expected things to be awkward between Trina and my girlfriends, at least at first. And I thought that since we were at home, Trina would want to sleep in her own bed. I guess that's why I wasn't paid for thinking because neither thing happened that way.

The twins, Cindi and I picked up Katrina at Patrick Air Force Base; she had flown 'space available' on one of those big mother Air Force cargo planes. Nina had loaned me her silver Mercedes so I was feeling sort of pimpish squiring around my honeys. We loaded up Katrina's bags in the Benz's trunk then headed back up I-95 toward Palmdale. I had the opportunity to say hello to Trina, get a hug and that was it as my girlfriends bonded with my sister.

By the time we arrived at Nina's, the girls had made plans to take Katrina shopping with them the next morning. The shopping trip was for last minute school clothes. Cindi had been advising the twins on what to wear so they would fit in without overdoing it. The twins discovered that by dressing differently from each other they had twice the wardrobe to choose from, I guess when you are a teenaged girl that's a big deal.

I took Katrina home where our parents and grandparents were waiting for her. We went to Olga's for a very nice supper. I was in high favor with Aunt Olie after my date with Tonya. Olie hugged me tight enough to bend me like a pretzel and bragged on me anytime she passed our table. She and Nana went on and on about what a handsome couple Tonya and I made, I think if I had been unattached at the time that they would have started planning our wedding right there. Katrina took it all in and gave me a wry grin. When our parents and grandparents were yakking with Olga she leaned towards me.

"You are a busy young man, brother mine," she commented.

I returned her grin. "Not with Tonya. I'll tell you about her later."

Katrina nodded and we joined back into the general conversation at the table. It was a very nice evening that continued at our house. My grandparents left at eleven; Mom and Dad went to bed shortly after. Katrina headed upstairs to take a shower before hitting the rack so I decided to go to bed too. I was under the covers almost asleep when Katrina slipped into bed with me. She was as naked as the day she was born when she snuggled up against me.

"This is dangerous Trina, what if Mom or Dad come up here?" I whispered.

I felt her shrug. "They won't, and even if they did, all I could tell them is you won't make love to me, no matter how badly I want you to."

I had to chuckle about that and pulled her tighter against me. She sighed and told me she loved me; I kissed her behind the ear and told her the same thing.

I woke up to feeling wonderful for some reason. As my foggy mind cleared I figured out why; I was wrapped around Katrina, her breast in my hand, my hard dick between her thighs, I was a half inch from heaven and wonder of wonders, I wasn't freaked out by it. Katrina was awake also, I could tell by the way she was breathing.

"This feels good, Trina," I said as I flexed Kong.

"It feels real good Johnny, better be glad you woke up, I was ten seconds from slipping onto you."

She pushed her hips back against me to demonstrate; I could feel her hot wetness on Kong's hard assed head. For some reason, this morning I didn't flinch away from the contact. In fact I pushed forward a little. Katrina sighed as Kong slipped by her opening and rode over her clit. Would it be so bad if I did what we both wanted me to do? I mean really, what would it hurt except some societal taboo? I drew back a little; Katrina reached down and gently stroked Kong. I held still, not even breathing as her feather light touch traced my throbbing erection down to my balls. She sighed again and moved away from me.

"As good as this would be Bro, our first time isn't going to happen like this. When we do make love you are going to have to seduce me and spend the night making me happy. Anything else would make it cheap and tawdry."

I acknowledged the correctness of what she said and scrambled out of the bed to empty my suddenly protesting bladder. When I returned she took my place in the bathroom, I admired her spectacular butt as she pranced away from the bed. When she returned I was leaning back against the headboard thinking. Katrina climbed on the bed and laid her head on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, I wont try to steal you from your girlfriends," she said, misconstruing my thoughtful look for a frown.

"You've got that all wrong!" I said with some heat. "I made sure they knew how I felt about you from the minute we talked about commitments. I told them you were as important to me as... oof..."

That's all I got out before she hurled herself on top of me.

"You told them you loved me that way?" she asked as she rained kisses on my face.

"I told them I loved you," I confirmed, "and I told them that however we ended up, you would always be in my life and in my heart."

You know I was just being honest with Katrina by letting her know that she would always be special to me. I mean, after all, we had a tie that superceded relationship. We were genetically engineered to fit together perfectly. My admission of what I thought was obvious triggered something in Katrina that ratcheted our relationship up a couple of notches. I didn't know that my girlfriends were going to take up Katrina's cause, but you know how I feel about things they decide are in my best interest.

It was Saturday morning and I had football practice at eight so I hustled out the door after giving Katrina and Mom a kiss on the cheek. Today was team assignment day, the day when Coach Boyette announced his tentative starting offense and defense. Come Monday we would start practicing as a unit. I had a good week so I figured I was all set as starting strong side linebacker and number two tight end. The second tight end was in about a third of the offensive plays that we ran.

We players filed into the bleachers after a short conditioning practice. Coach Boyette and his assistants stood in front of us flanked by boxes of brand new maroon and white jerseys. One of the assistants would pull out a jersey and show the number to Coach Boyette. Coach would check his clipboard and announce player and position. It was an excellent way to psyche us all up. I clapped and cheered along with the rest of the team as the jerseys were distributed. Then the assistant coach pulled number fifty out of the box.

"Number fifty, starting middle linebacker and defensive captain," he paused for dramatic effect, "That would be you, Pulaski. You are also weak side tight end and Special Teams Captain, think you can handle all that?"

I gulped and nodded; I was blown away.

When the girls returned from their shopping trip they went to the Nina's with their loot. They called me and I hustled over there with my bathing suit and my good news. I was elated that the coach thought enough of my abilities and slightly worried that his trust might be misplaced. It was a large responsibility directing the defense on the field, even with the coaching staff signaling formations and coverage. My sweeties and Katrina thought it was great and indorsed Coach Boyette's decision. Cindi and the twins, in their typical gonzo fashion, had been studying football as if it were a school subject. They wanted to know what they were watching when they came to my games.

I had a great time at Nina's as the girls vamped it up showing me what they bought at the mall. I was extremely happy by the way the other women included Katrina and by how Katrina joined in so naturally. It was a hot, sticky, sultry day so after ohing and ahing over how good they looked in their new clothes we decided to hit the pool. I changed into my red flowered Jams surfing trunks in the pool bath and dove in the water. I was floating on my back looking at the clouds when someone cleared their throat. I righted myself, turned towards the voice and almost drowned. The girls were tittering as I coughed up some of the water I swallowed.

"I guess we don't have to ask if you like," Ellen said.

I nodded my head in answer, oh yes, I liked! All four girls were in very brief bikinis; their suits together didn't have enough material to make half of my swim shorts. Then they tried to get me to inhale more water by turning around to show me the suits were even smaller in the rear. Man what a display! They had four of the nicest asses I've ever seen, and being an ass man I was in heaven. They started to turn around again but I told them not to move as I etched the sight of them in my brain. Because they were standing side by side I could do some comparing. Katrina was the biggest woman of the four and her ass was slightly bigger and more muscular. Cindi's was heart shaped and baby smooth, while the twins were more slender hipped with cute little bubble butts.

I climbed out of the pool and joined them, helping them situate the reclining lounge chairs. I was pressed into service slathering SPF-50 sun block on Elaine while Cindi and Ellen slicked up Katrina with some Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil. I was amused at how sedulously Ellen was in applying the oil to my sister. Her hands were sensuously running over Katrina's legs as Cindi squeezed on the oil. Then Cindi dropped all pretenses of helping and joined Elaine and I. She pushed her chair up next to Elaine's and flopped down on her stomach.

"Me next," she said.

I told her it would be my pleasure then glanced back at Ellen and Katrina. Ellen was now sitting lightly on Katrina's butt as she smoothed oil onto her shoulders. Elaine was watching them too. She pulled my head down and whispered in my ear.

"Ellen is going to try to seduce your sister. She says Katrina makes her feel all weak and submissive."

I nodded, never taking my eyes off Ellen and Katrina. For their part, they were oblivious to our presence. One thing I was mostly certain of; Ellen was rubbing the right person if she wanted to be dominated. I knew from experience that my sister could be very sexually aggressive. Katrina was no dummy; she quickly figured out that Ellen's touches were more than needed to apply the oil.

"Put some on my ass," she directed, "so you don't stick to me."

Ellen quickly complied. She slid down Katrina's legs and started massaging the oil onto her butt cheeks.

"You have a gorgeous ass, Katrina, it's very muscular."

"Thank you, uhmmm, that feels nice, don't stop," Katrina replied.

It didn't appear that Ellen had any intention of stopping but she gave Katrina, A firm, "Yes Ma'am!" anyway.

Katrina glanced our way and winked as Elaine and I gawked. Cindi was facing away from her as Elaine and I coated her in sunscreen. I think that Miss Ellen had just met her match. The role-playing Elaine had hinted didn't upset me. My experience with Caroline and Amanda had cured that. Besides, Cindi and I had that little kink going for us also. Cindi loved me to spank and play with her ass when we were alone and we were diligently working on loosening her up enough for me to get her last cherry.

Once Katrina was oiled up and slippery as an eel she swapped places with Ellen and started putting the thick sunscreen on the redheaded twin. Katrina took serious liberties with Ellen's nubile young body as she applied the lotion. Katrina made sure she was well and truly coated front and back then pulled Ellen to her feet and led her to the pool. I couldn't see what they were doing down at the deep end but figured I'd find out about it sooner or later. They stayed in the pool about fifteen minutes while Elaine, Cindi and I talked about the upcoming first day of school. Just as the three of us went to join them they emerged from the water.

"We'll be back out in a few minutes, Ellen needs to get out of the sun for awhile," Katrina said as they ducked through the French doors.

Cindi and Elaine smirked and exchanged high fives as soon as Katrina and Ellen were out of sight.

"I'd sure like to be a fly on the wall in there," Cindi giggled.

"I'll say. Ellen is about to find out which side of bi she likes best," Elaine retorted.

Then they both turned to me.

"Honey, your sister is one of us, no doubt about it. In your heart you know that as well as we do. We women had a talk about it while we were waiting for you to get here. I think that next Saturday we should have another sleepover and bring Katrina into our relationship completely. Being one of us is not going to interfere with her life at the academy. What it will do is end the uncertainty for her; she'll know we are here for her if that's what she wants."

I couldn't disagree with anything she said even if I wanted to.

The three of us splashed around in the pool for another twenty minutes before Katrina and Ellen reemerged from the house. I swear, Katrina was striding along as if she were some Amazon Goddess while a dazed looking Ellen clung to her hand. Damn, they looked as hot as Xena and that little chick that followed her around! Katrina settled onto one of the loungers face up, whipped off her top and handed Ellen the oil. Ellen reverently started rubbing the coconut-scented oil into my sister's skin.

That evening the five of us went out. Katrina drove us in her Camry. Ellen rode shotgun while Elaine, Cindi and I rode in back. We went to the Olive Garden across from the mall then to a movie at the Cineplex. The movie was some subtitled French romance. It was about as exciting as watching paint dry to me, but it was sexily riveting to my women so I tried to follow along. I have to tell you, though, to me, watching Katrina and Ellen was much better than the movie. Ellen had her head on Katrina's shoulder while Katrina had her hand under Ellen's skirt. Ellen still had that 'deer in the headlights' look. Katrina leaned toward me and whispered. "Your little girlfriend is so hot she can't sit still but I'm not going to let her cum as long as she has a single hair on her body below the neck." Ellen heard her and let out a muffled groan. "Of course that doesn't apply to me; she is so eager and has such a talented little tongue."

Women just befuddle the shit out of me. My sister was one of the sweetest people on Earth and Ellen was feisty and independent as anyone I'd ever met, but damned if you had a clue of that watching them together right now. I was beginning to think I was retarded or something.

We went to the Cavanaughs' after the movie. Thomas, Donna, Shelia and Alan were all sitting around the pool deck discussing the younger couple's future plans. We said hello then migrated up to the twins' playroom. Cindi, Elaine and I sat on the sofa and Katrina took the love seat. Ellen sat on the floor next to Katrina, her arm on my big sister's thigh. Cindi, Elaine and I were much more interested in Katrina and Ellen than we were the movie showing on HBO. Katrina cupped Ellen's chin and turned her face up.

"Are you ready for your transformation Little Butterfly?" Katrina asked.

Ellen nodded eagerly, jumped up and led Katrina into the bedroom.

"Wait here," Katrina told us as they passed through the door.

Elaine was grinning hugely when I looked at her. Cindi looked pretty smug too. I asked them what they were so all 'cat with the canary' about.

"Katrina is going to turn Ellen into a Lipstick Lesbian for a few weeks. We all talked about it and Ellen likes the idea of being Katrina's girlfriend a lot."

"What's a Lipstick Lesbian?" I asked.

"A lesbian that's ultra feminine," Cindi chimed in.

I still didn't get it. "Why would Ellen want that?"

My Elaine had the patience of a saint with me. "Look around you Honey, we've mostly been prisoners here for the last twelve years. Ellen wants to try something new and exciting but also safe. And don't forget, Katrina is as close as any woman will ever come to being you."

Now see? Explained to me like that, it made perfect sense. I must have fallen down as a child and seriously damaged my brain or something because without being told, I'd have never figured that out in a million years.

It took almost an hour to transform Ellen, but my goodness, it was time well spent. When Ellen slithered into the room on Katrina's arm we all had to look twice to make sure it was her. Ellen's makeup actually made her look older than Katrina and the outfit she wore was adult woman sexy. They had even managed to tame Ellen's riotous red hair. Ellen walked regally on three-inch heels, her hips swaying seductively. It was obvious to the casual observer that she had received many a lesson on how to hold herself with poise and grace. Katrina took a step to the side and made a grand gesture toward Ellen.

"Ladies and gentleman, may I present Miss Ellen Nicole Cavanaugh?"

Ellen stood tall with her shoulders back, one foot slightly in front of the other, and her right hand on her jutting hip. The next hour was one of the most erotic of my life as Katrina joined us in our lovemaking for the first time. Katrina and Ellen stayed paired up as I manfully strove to take care of Elaine and Cindi. Katrina was a distraction for all of us because my sister was a sex machine. Katrina had poor Ellen reduced to a quivering bowl of Jell-o in fewer than ten minutes. My other two girls rode me as if I were one of cmsix's mules as they raptly watched the other couple.

Katrina and I took Cindi home at midnight, Cindi was very happy that both of us kissed her good night. Katrina again climbed into my bed naked; we shared a few nice kisses then snuggled up for the night. Mass was a family affair once again that Sunday morning as all of the Pulaski's were there. The Cavanaughs and Nina Murphy sat right in front of us. Sunday afternoon Katrina and I rode over to the Cavanaughs' for a cookout. Cindi was seldom available on Sundays because of family and church commitments.

The next morning my sweeties and I started our senior year of high school together. I had one or more of them in every one of my classes. Elaine and Ellen didn't have the slightest problem qualifying as seniors, hell they were already as well educated in some subjects as the teaching staff. They also had no trouble fitting in with the school population. Being pretty and rich certainly didn't hurt them. Cindi and I tried to hang out with the twins as much as we could just in case. My afternoons were filled with football as I worked at mastering the intracsies of my new position. Coach Boyette gave me a DVD of old film footage featuring Jake Turner and a few others playing the position and I soon picked up the rhythm of the job.

Then there was you, Miss McElroy. I was blown away when I saw you sitting behind the desk, all prim and proper. I loved that shy little smile you gave me as I said hello. I also loved your look for some reason, that throwback Victorian schoolmarm thing you do so well, with your long skirts and bunned up hair. It was my turn to smile as our hands touched and our connection flared. The feelings were totally different from the soothing one we had when I was near panic aboard the plane we shared to Atlanta last April. That touch changed our status from student - teacher to lovers in waiting.

I was very happy about everything life had to offer as I sat in your class on Thursday. I was also excited about the upcoming Saturday and the night my sweethearts had planned for Katrina joining our relationship. Heck, I felt so good I didn't even get annoyed when the intercom squawked and asked Miss McElroy to send me to the office. As I stood up to go Elaine gave me a quizzical look, I shrugged in reply, I hadn't done anything to get me in trouble. Must be some paperwork thing or something, I figured. Wrong, Wrong, WRONG!

I started getting bad vibes as soon as I hit the student counter at the office when everyone seemed too busy to look at me. A somber Coach Boyette was waiting for me and led me to his office. He opened the door and ushered me in but didn't enter himself. My dad was there, so were Katrina and Father O'Donovan; Katrina was sitting in one of the chairs facing away from me gazing out the window. Father O'Donovan put his hand gently on my shoulder.

"Johnny there has been an accident involving your grandparents."

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. I looked at my father, his red-rimmed sad eyes told me that Papa and Nana hadn't survived. I suddenly felt light headed and tiny black dots danced before my eyes. Dad caught me when I pitched forward. I didn't really lose consciousness; my mind just felt like it had shut down and refused to control my body. I heard Katrina give a startled yelp as I started falling and when Dad guided me down into a chair Katrina pushed my head down between my knees.

I have given as much thought to writing the next few pages as I have this entire journal. It required all that because there in Mr. Boyette's office, at 11:30 on the 18th of August 2005, my youth ended and I dropped into the abyss. My grandparents' death almost literally destroyed me as I discovered the downside of my empathic talents and the truth about myself. Here's why. I'm sure you've noticed and maybe even wondered about how I bonded with people and how quickly they took on such importance to me. That was my empathy at work. I was bonded closer to my grandparent than to anyone else in the universe. That bond being so cruelly broken exposed the consequence of being that attached to someone. I fell into a depression that was so bleak and black I was more dead than alive.

"They are in a better place, Johnny, and it was God's will," Father O'Donovan offered.

I just looked at him; that was the instant I lost my faith. I didn't want to believe in a God who could do something so capricious. Dad checked me out of school as soon as I regained enough composure to leave. Looking back on it, I know my father and Katrina were devastated also and I should have been sensitive to that but the thought never crossed my mind. Once we were home Dad called the Fraziers about arrangements. Chester and Lulu were at the house twenty minutes later, as friends as much as any other reason. I sat in stony silence as he signed the releases so that Chester could pick up my grandparents bodies. I could not imagine a more surreal moment.

A steady stream of friends and neighbors came by that afternoon; they brought food and drinks and tried to comfort us. I was oblivious to it all, almost catatonic. The Cavanaughs arrived around four, as did Cindi and the twins. Cindi and Elaine latched on to me and Ellen grabbed Katrina. I let the girls lead me up to my bedroom and we all five piled onto my bed. It wasn't until then that I could finally cry. Cindi and Elaine tried to send me comfort but the black hole of my grief actually caused them physical pain. They had better luck with Katrina, I was aware enough to appreciate that.

My mother arrived home at six, and took charge. She focused on my father at first but at his insistence came up to my room. I looked up when Mom walked into the room. She took one look at me and burst into tears. Cindi sprang up and pulled Mom down on the crowded bed; it only took a few seconds for Cindi to work her magic and calm Mom down. Mom held me like a baby and I cried like one in her arms. Mom stayed with us for fifteen or twenty minutes then went back downstairs. As soon as she left I had my first lucid thought since that morning.

"Jethro?" I croaked.

Cindi bounced up again and headed for the door.

"I'm on it," she said.

Cindi was only gone a couple of minutes.

"Kayla and Emma were downstairs, they volunteered to take care of Jethro for a while," she said.

I nodded vaguely. Next to Papa, Emma loved Jethro the most, and the feeling was mutual.

The next three days might as well have not existed, as they were just a blur of sameness. I didn't go to Mass on Sunday with my family, as a matter of fact I didn't leave the house the entire weekend. Cindi and the twins were with us almost constantly. I was causing everyone a lot of anguish but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

It took what little I had left in me, and a lot of encouragement from Katrina and the girls, for me to go to the funeral Monday morning.

The funeral was huge as at least five hundred people came to pay their respects. Papa and Nana were laid to rest side by side in Sacred Heart's Cemetery. A simple single headstone marked both graves, so both of them would be under one roof for all eternity.

Tuesday, Thomas Cavanaugh came to the house for the reading of Papa and Nana's wills. He said he had a fiduciary responsibility to my grandparents as the executor of their estate to read it as soon as possible because we were so seldom all together. We sat at the dining room table for the reading. Thomas pulled a folder out of his briefcase and started.

"Like everything he did, Mr. Pulaski's affairs were in exceptionally good order. He and Mrs. Pulaski just updated their wills the first of the year."

Thomas looked up then, his eyes shiny with unshed tears.

"Both wills have provisions for their estate if they died together. Mrs. Pulaski insisted on that, she told me when I first drew them up that they would die together holding hands."

Thomas looked down, cleared his throat and began reading. I was surprised by the size of my grandparents' estate and even more surprised when Thomas read that Katrina and I inherited everything except Papa's business, share and share alike. Pulaski construction he left to my father with the request that Dad make sure the jobs underway were completed before he liquidated the company's assets. Thomas went on to say that the insurance settlement from the accident was going to be substantial. As executor of the estate, Cavanaugh and Cavanaugh were handling the negotiations. A tractor trailer truck belonging to a giant electronics chain had ran a red light and flattened Nana's Lincoln while Papa was driving her to a doctor's appointment. The proceeds from the insurance would become part of the estate and also shared by Katrina and I. Both Katrina and I asked Thomas to sit in trust for us over our inheritance. He agreed and said he would draw up the necessary documents.

I went back to school on Wednesday; it took Dad at his firmest to convince me to go. Dad had been right of course; being in school was the best place I could be. It didn't cure my depression but at least it gave me a purpose. Football was even better because it gave me an outlet for my pent up rage. I practiced with an intensity that caused Coach Boyette to sit me down afterward for a little talk. He asked me point blank if I was in any danger of loosing control. When I told him no, he said that I needed to save the big hits for our opponents, not my teammates.

My altered state was the hardest on my women, among whom I now counted Katrina. No, Katrina and I hadn't consummated our relationship, but that was only a technicality. It was hard on them because my emphatic ability had disappeared, replace by a brooding emptiness. What probably sucked the worst was that I lost my sense of humor. To their great credit they stuck by me even when I suggested that they would be better off with almost anyone else on the planet.

Friday night I was an intensely focused machine on the football field. When the game started I was able to forget everything that wasn't happening between the sidelines. I called the defense then staked out my defensive territory. If an opposing player, carrying the ball or not, entered my zone I made him pay for the privilege. If I saw the slightest opening to the quarterback I was on him like Rush Limbaugh on a pain pill. I finished the game with ten tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Most of that happened in the first half, in the second half they either double or triple teamed me or went somewhere else. Either way was fine by me because I had a good defense around me.

After the game I had plenty of well-wishers still hanging around. One of them was Dee Dee Drake. Dee looked as bad as I felt. She had lost a bunch of weight and she was wearing a kerchief on her head.

"Johnny I am so sorry I couldn't help you after your grandparents passed away. I was in the hospital and I was physically unable to be there."

"I understand," I said. Then dreading the answer, I asked the question. "Why were you in the hospital?"

"I have breast cancer, or at least I did. I had a lumpectomy, radiation and just finished chemo. We think they got it all."

I hugged her to me gently; Jesus, the hits just kept on coming.

Katrina flew back to the Air Force Academy Sunday and Mom flew back to Houston the same day. Their leaving just heaped another serving of sadness onto my already full plate.

Things gradually became better for me though; enough so that by the time my birthday rolled around in November I had my connection back with my Sweet Hearts stronger than ever. Our relationship had deepened both from the tragedy of my grandparents death and by Katrina joining it. I still had bouts of depression but my lovers helped me overcome them. The fly in the ointment was our future. Since my grandfather died, my plans had undergone a dramatic transformation. A week after my birthday I broached the subject with the twins and Cindi.

"I am going to join the Army as soon as we graduate," I told them.

As soon as they realized I wasn't joking the objections started. I received the same response from my parents and just about everyone else I knew. Everyone thought I was crazy, especially after I received a fist full of football scholarship offers from some top-notch schools. College held no appeal to me now so I was resolute and pushed ahead. It was something I felt I needed to do, both as a tribute to Papa and a test for myself. Here is the argument I used.

"Listen, I'm not interested in college so I'm not going. Katrina still has two years left at the academy; Cindi, Ellen and Elaine are all going away to some big time school and will be gone for at least four years. I need to be out on my own and to grow up some, what better way to do that than by serving in the Army?"

It took a month to convince my parents but they eventually signed for me to enlist in the delayed entry program. My mother was especially cold toward the idea, but she knew I was too Pulaski stubborn to change my mind, so she grudgingly agreed. Two trips the processing station in Jacksonville and I was all set. In the middle of next June I was leaving for Fort Benning, Georgia. It was one stop shopping for me, as I would take basic training, infantry advanced individual training, the Airborne Course and assignment to the 75th Ranger Regiment without having to leave Benning. I would train at my ranger unit to prepare me for the Ranger Course.

That brings us to the present day and the end of this journal. I don't know how my life so far rates compared to other teenagers, but I do know that in many ways my life has been charmed. Especially up until three months ago. It makes me sad sometimes when I think that my future will probably not be that good and that the best part of my life is already over. I no longer believe in happily ever after so I'm not as anxious to jump into my future. I sure hope that the rigors of being a soldier will give me back the perspective that I've lost.

I end this with two unresolved issues facing me. One of those is my sister Katrina. She will be home for Christmas in a few weeks and already my other women are planning her integration into our sexual relationship. How do I feel about that after all that has happened? The fucked up answer is I don't know. On the one hand I am convinced now that it is meant to be; on the other, I sometimes have these flashes of Catholic guilt that says my grandparents' death was a punishment for even thinking about it.

You are the other unresolved issue Thea. See, I know you love me, just like you know I love you. I also know that you are one of us and my other women know it too. I respect that you aren't going to do anything while you are my teacher; you are much too self-disciplined to let that happen. It's funny sometimes when we are alone, watching you exercise all that self-restraint. I admire the hell out of you but I'm giving you fair warning. When I graduate I'm coming after you and that virginity you have so zealously guarded for twenty-three years.

Epilogue

I closed the journal and sat back in my chair with a sigh. It seemed hard to believe that the events I'd written about were sixteen years in my past. Where in the hell had all the years in between flown? Rereading about the events of my early life brought them into sharply embarrassing focus: Oh Lord, had I ever been full of myself, I wrote more about those three years of my life in that journal than I had about the last fifteen years in the next one. One thing that you can't deny, though, is that I had it pretty damned good until real life jumped up and slapped me.

Sixteen years have passed though, and I'm Doctor Janus Paul Pulaski III now. No, not a medical doctor, but a Doctor of Philosophy, a PhD. I finally went back to college after my stint in the Army and had my head screwed back on straight. The Army turned out to be exactly what I needed; the discipline and regimentation finally let my brain catch up to my body in maturity. I don't know if I'd recommend it to everyone, but there is nothing like a combat tour in Afghanistan to hustle the maturation process along. I know I aged considerably during my first firefight with the Taliban.

I am sitting here reviewing my old journals because I am about to start a new one. A new journal is in order because I experienced something so incredible that if I hadn't been there, I wouldn't believe it myself. I'm excited about writing about my recent experiences; I had pretty much given up on writing after my first journal, that's why my second covered sixteen years. I guess it wouldn't hurt anything to bring you up to date on my life before I begin my new book so here goes.

I'm back in Palmdale, of course, I could never really live anywhere else. I am rooted here like Ellen and Elaine's family are rooted in Keelmira Ireland. I even live in a house that my sister, Katrina, and I inherited from our grandparents. No not their house in town, that would be too painful; this is a house Papa built on fifteen acres out in Spotsatula before he died. He built the house for after the retirement he never got around to taking. I enlarged the house and added a second story when I was discharged from the Army. The house is also the home of my business, Pulaski Consulting.

I found out in the Army that I have a gift for problem solving; a gift that I believe is related to my emphatic ability somehow. I don't need to work, my grandparents left me very well off, but as my Papa always said, "I'm a Pulaski, and Pulaskis work." The advantage of having money is that I can pick the jobs I want instead of taking whatever comes along. Consequently, I have had some interesting assignments. My two biggest clients are Turner and Thornton Inc, and New Man University. Both clients seem to delight in giving me strangely exotic problems to figure out.

I have a relationship with Turner-Thornton partly because both my mother and sister work for the company. My mother is the director of the Turner Space Program, and Katrina is TSP's chief test pilot. The other reason for my relationship with TnT is Melissa Thornton-Turner and the sad story of her daughter Mikayla. To this day, Melissa only has to say jump and I'll ask how high. Maybe I'll go back into my second journal and extract some of my relationship with Melissa to add to this story.

My association with New Man is a strange one that is a result of Elaine and Ellen. Unless you've been marooned on a deserted island for the last few years you know all about the e-Kids by now. For those who were marooned, you can read Andrew Wiggins' excellent account of the exploits and origins of the 'New Man' universe. It is both my blessing and curse to be in love with the oldest documented set of E-twins. Yes, I'm still in love with the Cavanaugh sisters, and in spite of everything they love me. They are medical doctors now, deeply involved in genetic research. They are currently working in Ireland, trying to solve the mystery that is the Buckley woman. I have a love-hate relationship with New Man; I'm their go to guy, yet I'm persona non-gratis on their campus. I guess my Pulaskiness grates on them; Emma Adkins, the daughter of the school's founder, calls me Doctor Neanderthal.

I'll catch you up with Cindi and everyone else as we go along, Okay? The story I'm going to tell you now is partly based on events that I did not observe first hand, but my research has proven them to be true. Because of that, I'm going to tell you the story in both the first and third voice; I hope it works. Now on with the story.

If I Hadn't Been There...

Chapter One

Egypt 1223BC

The old man dropped his arms to his sides allowing the white linen robe to fall into place around his scrawny body. A matched pair of tall concubines straightened the robe until it draped correctly. One of the maids set a dark blue conical hat in place on his bald pate as the other efficiently tied a matching blue sash around his narrow waist.

"Be quick my beauties," the old man ordered, "the heavens move not at our whim."

"Amon-Ra will like what he sees tonight, Exalted Lord," one of the girls replied.

The old man stepped over to a polished bronze mirror and checked his appearance. Reflected back at him was a small man, now bald, but showing few other signs of the ravage of time. His face was clean-shaven and only slightly wrinkled. Large, piercing eyes the color of honey, were set evenly above his hawkish nose. His mouth was generous in size with laugh lines at the corners that hinted at good humor. Surprisingly, his teeth were intact and still white, although ground down some from almost a century of use.

"You have done well, my little ibises. Now off to bed with you, I have work to do."

The two young women turned in tandem toward the bedchamber.

"We will save you a warm spot between us, Pamiu (Old Tomcat), for your tired old bones," said one over her shoulder as she danced out of his reach.

The young woman giggled as the old man pretended to swat at her; smiling, he watched their swaying backsides disappear. The young women, Mery and Tiy, were twin sisters. They had been in the man's service for four years. The twins were tall and statuesque, towering over the diminutive priest. They shared his bed of their own accord; he was the kindest, gentlest man they had ever met. The women doted on their 'Old Tomcat', and he, in turn, adored them. The Israelite women were more slaves to their hot and passionate nature than they were to the High Priest of the Cult of Amon-Ra. Of the scores of young women who had served him over his incredibly long lifetime, these two were by far his favorites.

The ancient priest passed through a bronze-bound door into an antechamber that sat adjacent to his sleeping quarters. Two young acolytes jumped up from their studies as he entered.

"Is tonight the night, My Lord?" asked the older of the boys reverently.

It was a ritual question that had been asked nightly tens of thousands of times down through the centuries.

The old man was named Sulihotep (Man of Peace); he was High Priest of the Amonaten (Amon's servants), the Cult of Amon-Ra's Return. Sulihotep was ancient by any culture's standards. Well past a hundred years old, Sulihotep had been the Amonaten for eighty years. All the high priests of Amon-Ra had been long-lived, so much so that Sulihotep was only the fourteenth Amonaten in the thousand years the cult had existed.

"It will be, if the One God wishes it," Sulihotep answered by rote.

The younger acolyte bowed and handed him his staff, then the boys fell in beside the old man as he briskly walked toward the ceremonial chamber. Sulihotep's living quarters were in the same subterranean wing of the huge Temple of Karnak that held the sacred chamber. This part of the temple had been carved directly into the sandstone plateau that Karnak dominated. A vaulted corridor, six paces wide and six tall, was the central feature of the grotto that housed the Cult of Amon Ra. The corridor was split by a single row of ornately carved pillars, left to support the weight of the temple above. Between the pillars, small bronze-lined circular shafts reached to the surface, allowing fresh air and sunlight into the tunnel. Rooms to either side of the central corridor provided living, work, storage, and study space for the members of the cult.

In contrast to the corridor, the ceremonial Chamber of the Return of Amon-Ra was small and unassuming, perfectly mirroring the cult that served it. The cult was small and exclusive by design; the cult's creator had carefully specified the number of acolytes and priests eleven centuries earlier. Its small number —and the knowledge and wisdom of its priests— were what had kept the cult alive in the shifting sands that marked the affairs of Pharaohs.

The Amonaten were skilled physicians, architects, and astronomers. They were the keepers of the knowledge of the first high priest, Khenemetamon (the one joined with Amon). Khenemetamon was the architect of the great pyramid of Khufu and of this section of the Temple of Karnak. Khenemetamon's knowledge had been so advanced that even a millennium later only his followers knew most of it. Khenemetamon had been sent to Earth by Amon; born fully-grown, he had descended from the stars full of wondrous knowledge.

The inner sanctum of the Amonaten was a small stone chamber barely four paces square. Every inch of the walls and ceiling were covered with hieroglyphs representing the teaching of Khenemetamon. The north wall of the chamber extended under a part of the exterior wall of the Temple above them. A massive buttress —two paces wide and three paces long— anchored this section of the wall to the bedrock. Centered on the north wall was the room's only object, a gleaming gray granite cube half a pace on each side. In front of the cube, there was a recess in the wall; six inches above the recess, a small shaft pierced through both the wall and the huge buttress at a steep upward angle.

Sulihotep entered the chamber and bowed toward each wall. Then he sat on the granite cube, placed his chin on the ledge, and looked up through the shaft. The shaft and position of the ledge forced the observer to focus on a small patch of sky that contained only two stars. At least that had been the case for a millennium until this fateful night.

Sulihotep cried out and pulled back from the ledge, he rubbed his eyes and peered back through the shaft as his acolytes looked on in fearful wonder. Sulihotep gazed in rapt awe as his eyes focused on the three stars shining brightly in the deep black sky. Convinced that his vision was not playing tricks on him he once more pulled back from the shaft.

"Each of you look, my sons, and confirm that I am seeing what I think I see. For it appears that Amon has returned..."

Egypt 2018AD

Ellis Stone pulled away her fingertips that had been trailing over the glyphs carved into the stone. Her rumbling stomach announcing that it was near noon. Ellis' appetite was almost as accurate as her digital watch. Ellis shook her head in wonderment; she had been transfixed on the riveting story of Sulihotep for almost four hours. She glanced around, shining her flashlight on the walls and ceiling. This simple, unadorned chamber was turning out to be a much more important discovery than Tutankhamon's Tomb.

Ellis played her light onto the east wall once more, trying to wrap her mind around what she was seeing. The wall had a perfectly proportioned scale model of the solar system carved on it. This was something so mind boggling that it made her breathless. It had to be some elaborate hoax. How could a culture barely into the Iron Age have beaten Copernicus to the punch by three thousand years? One thing was certain; Ellis had a lot of research to do before she reported her findings back to New Man University.

The End
Joe J