Legends II - Legends of Love by Nicole Mayer

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Legends II : LEGENDS OF LOVE. (8/9)
by Nicole Mayer

Now, John Danziger was truly alone. His house was empty, and only the ghosts of the past whispered from behind the doors and in the corners. More than ever, Devon's face danced before him, constantly hovering near but forever out of his reach. He knew he was plunging into the depths of madness, but the love in his heart would not allow him to let her go.

Every day without fail, he checked the latest medical advances on G889 and worked even harder to establish a link across the galaxy with Earth. There were rumours that the Council was changing, and that soon G889 would no longer be an outlawed planet. Recent arrivals who had fled the stations brought messages of hope and free settlement seemed not too far in the future.

Danziger and his work team had communicated with underground revolutionaries who were sure that a reformation was near. They were beginning to infiltrate the Council with a high rate of success, and slowly, things were beginning to change. However, Danziger's interest no longer lay within the politics of the stations and their leaders. He spent valuable hours accessing the most recent medical records, just waiting for the day when someone was brought back from the dead.

His co-workers tolerated Danziger's actions, sensing that he had witnessed more pain than any one person should in a lifetime. Besides, he was supposedly in charge. Yet all to often, they whispered and laughed quietly about his futile quest. Once someone was dead, that was it.

The nights for John Danziger were terrible. He had not slept peacefully since the day they remembered Devon, and after he lost her again, the nightmares had become worse.

She was *always* there, whether in spirit or just in Danziger's mind, he did not know. Her essence hovered in a realm of shadows only able to be reached in the darkest hours before dawn, but even then Danziger could not touch her. She was alone, he was alone, and he was dying inside.

"As the years passed," continued Bess, "John rarely ventured out at all, although True and I made valiant visits and encouraged him to begin living again. Ariel, too, felt sadness as her Uncle John grew more distant every day.

I often wondered why Danziger could not let Devon go. Alonzo had endured Julia's death, and although he never fell in love again, he lived a fairly happy and successful life in the years to come. Alonzo even kept up his piloting, and founded the hugely successful Solace Transport Corporation. Once connections with Earth and the Council were not only safe, but beneficial, and G889 was open for colonisation, the interstellar transport business boomed. It was something for Alonzo to do, and a reason for him to keep living."

"I travelled with Solace Transport!" mused Gillian aloud. It was another connection to the past. She continued reading.

"The moment I truly realised that John Danziger was lost to us was when little Wendy came running home, crying that the ghost was going to get her. Ari followed soon after, more than a little upset herself. She, too, had half-believed John's words and that's how the rumours began."

"Uncle John?" called Ariel warily as she stepped into the foreboding Danziger house. She had vague memories of happy times there when she was young, but ever since True moved out, it had become a very dark place.

Ari didn't expect an answer, so she took Wendy's hand and slowly wandered into the living room. Dust hung heavily in the air, and dirty clothing was scattered across every available surface. Dim sunlight fought its way through the grimy windows, and Ari could see one word scrawled over and over through the dirt. "Devon".

More than a little annoyed at her brother John for weaseling his way out of the visit (he seemed to take after his father more and more every day) Ari followed a muffled noise of tapping until she reached the door of the back room that had been closed as long as she could remember.

"Ari," asked Wendy in a tiny voice, "I don't like it here. I'm scared."

"It'll be alright, Wendy," soothed Ari. "Mommy promised that Uncle John is a wonderful person. He's just a bit lonely at the moment."

Wendy's six year old features crinkled into a suspicious glance at her older sister, wondering if she was telling the truth. She decided to test her.

"What's in there?" Wendy asked, pointing at the closed door. Now louder thumps were emanating from beyond. Ari paused for a moment, carefully considering her answer. Finally, she decided to tell the truth. "I don't know. How about we knock?"

Nervously, the young teenager did so, then again as there was no response.

"Uncle John can't hear you!" declared Wendy in a sudden fit of boldness, and she banged on the door. After a few moments, it flew open.

John Danziger stood before the girls, tall, frightening and imposing. Yet his expression immediately softened when he realised who it was. "Hello, Ari, Wendy," he said gruffly.

"Hello, Uncle John," chorused the girls a little shyly. Ari strained to make out what was in the mysterious room behind Danziger, when he suddenly stepped back and motioned them to come inside. Holding her breath, Ari did so.

They entered another world. This room was immaculate and completely dust free. Everything was perfectly ordered save for an object covered with a white sheet situated in the centre of the room.

As Ari's eyes adjusted to the candle-lit dimness, she gasped. The room was a shrine. Pictures of a dark-haired woman adorned the walls and each was flawlessly positioned in a strange, yet beautiful pattern. In some cases, intricately carved frames surrounded the portraits, created lovingly for this purpose alone.

There were images of the woman in every imaginable pose and with so many expressions. Laughing, crying, or standing wistfully on the edge of ridge as empty plains stretched forever before her. The flickering light of the candles cast random shadows over the images and Ari had the sudden impression that this person was watching them now.

Wendy's attention was caught by a pedestal centred on the far wall. Boldly she walked over it, and was surprised to see a single strand of dark hair resting in the midst of a satin pillow. "Who's is it?" she asked, her curiosity about the strange room now having overcome all of her earlier fears.

Danziger smiled eerily. "It belongs to *her*." "I know this face," mused Ari. "It's Devon Adair, isn't it." She knew the tragic story, for her mother had shared it with her long ago. However, neither Ari nor Bess ever suspected that Danziger had become so obsessed.

"Yes, Devon," Danziger sighed. "My angel... Girls, let me show you something. Something special I've been working on for a long time."

Wendy looked to him with anticipation. Never had she seen her Uncle John so animated and willing to talk. Her eyes followed his movement towards the central piece hidden from view. Danziger grasped the end of the sheet, and with a flourish, drew it off.

A statue, an elaborate, almost lifelike statue of Devon Adair appeared before them.

"Do you like it?" asked Danziger, nervous as his creation was unveiled to foreign eyes for the first time.

"It looks so real," replied Ari. Many hours of work had obviously gone into the statue as each detail appeared identical to the features of the woman in the pictures.

Devon's likeness was standing bravely, an expression of hope and wonderment on her face, just like the photo of her above the vast prairie.

"She's pretty," said Wendy truthfully. "I like her." Danziger smiled in satisfaction as he realised that the legacy of Devon Adair could continue.

"Is it finished?" Ari asked, noticing the tools still near the foot of the statue and recalling the banging as the girls had entered the house.

Danziger replied, "Almost. I'm just working on the inscription now. When it's finished, I'm going to put it in the centre of town. Then no one will forget her ever again."

Ari leaned forward and slowly made out the words. "This monument erected in memory of Devon Adair, leader of the Eden Project and visionary of the future. She will not be -" The words ended, but Danziger verbally added the rest. "Forgotten." He ran his hands through his head and told the girls, "Never again. We won't forget here. Not us, not me. Never!"

His eyes were flashing wildly, and Ari felt suddenly nervous again. She reached out and found Wendy's hand.

"She's still out there, you know." Danziger leaned close to the girls. "She's waiting for me. I can feel her spirit."

"There's no such thing as ghosts," declared Wendy, repeating the words her mother had told her. "Even on the Dreamplane, they're all real people or Terrians."

"But she can't get to the Dreamplane," told Danziger. "So her spirit has to hover, just out of reach of the living world, until I go back for her."

"I thought she died," said Ari bluntly. "No!" flared Danziger. "Devon's not dead! I will not accept that! I feel her at night, when she wanders through all the houses, even yours. She searches for Uly in the faces of young boys. And she searches for me. She's lonely, and I should never have left her..." To Ari's horror, Danziger's tirade ended in tears.

Wendy's eyes were wide with fright and she bolted from the house. Ari glanced around the room helplessly, not knowing what to do. Perhaps she could call Uly, but then the doctors might lock her Uncle John away. Ariel Martin did not want to be responsible for that.

And besides, she felt a hint of truth in his words. Sometimes at night, she had felt a dim presence that was nothing to do with the Terrians. Maybe, just maybe, John Danziger was right.

"It's now local legend that Devon is buried alive in the desert," wrote Bess. "I used to hear my grandchildren scaring each other with the stories of the ghost, a rumour that the children of today delight in. There's really no point in trying to tell the truth that she died long ago. The children like to visit Devon's statue and dream up stories and John frequently encouraged them. He told them that we have yet to return for her, that she is still waiting for him and Uly to come free her from the sickness.

We would have only caused John more pain if we had undermined his beliefs. And now I look at it with a more philosophical view - he's getting his wish. Devon Adair is remembered."

"Hey, look," whispered Alex Danthinore. "It's the crazy old guy! Wonder what he's doing out of his cave!" He heard the sniggers of his friends, and felt powerful.

Picking up a stray rock in his hand, Alex casually tossed it up and down, moving all the time closer to the statue of Devon Adair.

"He comes here every day," offered one of the other boys. "At twilight, just like now. I think he's in love with the statue!" More laughter, and an idea began to form in Alex's head.

"I wonder what the old geezer would do if...I threw a rock at it!" Alex whirled around and let the projectile fly. Clunk. It rebounded straight off of the statue's head.

"Hey, hey!" shouted Danziger, wheezing heavily as he tried to race along. "You kids stop that, you hear? You owe everything to this woman!"

"Sure, old man," goaded Alex. "And I bet if we don't stop, the ghost will get us, too!" He made a show of picking up another handful of pebbles, and threw them viciously.

"I'm going to report you for this!" threatened Danziger. "I know the Administrator personally!" Maybe that wasn't true anymore, for he wasn't sure who was in charge nowadays, but Danziger was searching for any excuse to make the children stop their vandalism.

"Sure you do," shot back Alex. "You know every Administrator that's passed through office!" Alex's friends laughed hysterically. "You can't stop us!" he continued. The boys raced off into the gathering darkness.

Shaking his fist helplessly, Danziger then continued his daily ritual, facing the statue and talking to it. "I'm so sorry, Devon," he began. "I tried to get them away, but I guess I'm just too damn old. Funny, you've never had that problem."

His words carried on the wind to Alex's ears. The boy was lurking around the corner in search of more mischief. He was gang leader, and it was his duty to find fun things for his friends to do.

"Wonder if anyone likes that guy," snorted one of the boys. "Probably only old people."

"Maybe all his friends are dead. Just like that lady." An idea began to form in Alex's mind, one that would cement him as gang leader for good if they could pull it off. He gathered his followers close, an evil gleam in his eyes.

"What do you say, we break into his place and trash it!" A chorus of "yeahs" followed his suggestion, and they crept through the darkened streets until they reached the decrepit house.

Lifting his arms in a gesture of triumph, Alex hurled the first brick that would smash a window. That done, the boys made their way inside.

"Cool..." muttered one of them, wishing that *his* mother would let him live in a place as messy as this. Mothers had some strange idea that a tidy house was the only acceptable way of living. Obviously, the old man's mother hadn't taught him much.

The boys wandered through the house, but it soon became obvious that there wasn't much to break or destroy. They threw a few items around, although Alex guessed that it wouldn't even be noticed.

"Let's go," he said in disappointment, when one of the boys shouted, "No, wait! Come see this room!"

Alex followed the voice, and was surprised to see the room full of burning candles and hundreds of portraits. All of a single woman, the same one as the statue.

"Told ya he's in love with her," crowed Alex. He sauntered over to one wall, and tore down a picture. "Whoops..." he said mockingly. The photograph fluttered helplessly to the floor.

Another boy followed Alex's lead, triumphantly tearing the image in half before burning it over a candle. Soon, there was a frenzy of ripping and incinerating of everything that John Danziger held dear.

"Make a fire!" shouted Alex, caught up in the thrill and excitement. A pile began to form in the centre of the room, burning brightly as the hungry red flames devoured Devon Adair's face over and over. The boys did not realise that the carpet would catch fire so easily as they hooted and cheered, until suddenly, it seemed as if the whole room was burning.

Alex stared around him with fascinated horror. He'd never meant for the game to go this far! As the flames danced higher and the thick black smoke sunk heavily throughout the room, he screamed, "Let's get out of here!" Coughing and spluttering, he ran for the door. And collided with something. A person. John Danziger.

Danziger's cry of outrage echoed throughout the neighbourhood. He couldn't believe what was happening - his shrine, sanctuary; his tribute to Devon, was being devoured by terrible fire.

The acrid smoke burned Danziger's eyes and lungs, but he ploughed into the room regardless. He could not let her burn, he could not lose everything he had of her, not when there was so little left....

"We found John huddled in the smoking ruins of his house. Clutched in one hand was the only thing he managed to save - a single strand of hair. His eyes were full of defeat as I shepherded him home with me. Now he truly had nothing. John stared blankly into space all night as we tried to comfort him, but he wasn't aware of us at all. He just kept repeating one word over and over: "Devon".

Sometime soon after that terrible night, John disappeared. We suspected he went out into the desert, in search of Devon, but could find no traces of him at all. We searched for days, Alonzo, Morgan, True, Uly and I, hoping that we would find him, and perhaps help John escape the demons that had plagued him for so long. But I never saw John Danziger again."

"True," Uly said sorrowfully, "It's time to head home." The woman sighed wearily, brushing one dirty hand across her forehead. She sat in the driver's seat of the old vehicle, her eyes scanning the desert endlessly as the sun began to set. And in the glorious rays of brilliance, True sensed an understanding with the planet that her father was gone forever.

Uly pulled his gear from his head. "That was Morgan. He said, uh, that maybe it's time to accept the fact that we won't find him." He looked at his wife, expecting to see denial in her eyes, but there was none. "I'm surprised everyone's stuck out the search this long," Uly continued. "It's not how most people would be spending their retirement."

"I'm not surprised that they're helping," True said sincerely. "They're our friends and they all cared for Dad. Even if we did lose him a while ago."

"You're right," agreed Uly. He felt the vehicle turn away from the sun, into the shadows that reached towards the city of Devon, and sighed. Darkness had claimed his mother, and another darkness had claimed John Danziger, one of the closest things he ever had to a father.

They drove on in silence, finally arriving at the Martins' house where they were staying. True and Uly lived in a town called Freedom, however True had been in Devon the day of the fire; and Uly travelled north as soon as he heard the news. Bess had insisted they stay with her and Morgan, for they had so many free rooms now that their children had their own children.

Bess held out her arms as True alighted from the vehicle. "I'm sorry," she whispered, holding the other woman tight. "But he's gone."

"I know," confessed True. "I want to thank you, and everyone, for searching so long. I guess Dad just didn't want to be found." True and Bess followed the rest of the search party inside, noting the dust that clung ferociously to everyone's clothing. It appeared as if the colonists would never conquer the desert.

True sat down, Bess beside her. "I just wish," True began, pulling her hair away from her face, "I just wish that I could have helped Dad, long ago. His life ended in so much pain and darkness...I never truly believed that it could happen like that."

"Don't blame yourself," consoled Bess. "All of us saw what was happening. But we didn't try hard enough, we let John push us away too often."

"If only we'd tried harder," cried True, feeling terribly guilty.

"True," Bess gently reminded her, "John made his own decisions. He controlled his own life, and I don't know why he accepted the dark path that he did. But it was his choice, and I know how much you tried to help him. We all tried."

"And we failed," True said dully. Bess tried to smile bravely. "You have to accept that as a part of life. We can't control everything." True nodded, recognising the truth in her friend's words.

"I'm going to miss him," she sniffed. "We should hold some sort of service, a memorial service."

"Yes," Bess agreed softly, taking True's hand. "We'll do that."

They comforted each other, feeling glad of the friendship that linked them and accepting that one part of their lives was finally gone. Once again, it was time to move on.

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