CAMERON'S CEILIDH, Part 2
At first everyone sat in silence around the fire once more, letting the music wash over them. But as Cameron became more accustomed to the experience of playing the pipes in the great outdoors, his enthusiasm seemed to accelerate his performance. His tunes became livelier and so too did the mood of the Eden group.
The children were in high spirits and got up to dance around the campfire. Bess, Magus and Walman began clapping along to the skirl of the pipes. Smiles crossed the faces of those around the fire and soon almost everyone was putting their hands together or tapping a toe along with the music.
Alonzo rose to stand before Julia. Though he could now walk without a crutch, his leg was still giving him troubles from the bullet wound he suffered at the hands of the Z.E.D.
"C'mon doc, let's dance." He gave Julia a sexy smile.
"Alonzo! You can't possibly dance. What about your leg?"
He bent in close to her and gently took her arm. "I have you to lean on, don't I?" He said softly, winking at her.
Julia melted at his touch and his voice sent a shiver straight through her heart. Wordlessly, she stood up and let him put his arms around her and draw her close. They danced somewhat off beat, as the tempo of the pipes was much faster than their movements.
True and Uly continued to spin each other around to the beat of the music and their mood of laughter and gaiety was infectious. Bess could no longer keep to her seat. She leaned over to Morgan and asked him to dance with her. When he refused she shrugged her shoulders and pulled Magus up to the makeshift dancefloor. Magus in turn grabbed hold of Devon's hand, who shook her head to decline the offer. But when Bess grabbed Devon's other hand and yanked her from her seat, she laughed and followed them into the circle of light cast from the fire.
The women invented their own sort of jig and were soon joined by Walman. They laughed uproariously at their own antics as they tried to spin each other around in some kind of four person reel.
Although they didn't know it, and would never admit to it if it was realized, Morgan and Danziger were united in like emotions during that time. Each man's eyes followed the movements of one of two women, respectively, who moved to the music with unabashed enthusiasm. Neither man was willing to let loose and create what he perceived to be a spectacle of himself before the others. But both men longed to be able to stand and take the particular woman that he admired in his arms and share in her pleasure with the night and with the joy the sounds of the pipes were bringing forth. The men also shared a feeling of jealousy toward Walman, who was doing what they would not.
The dancers, faces flushed from the fire and from exertion, and glowing from enjoyment, sat down to rest.
Still Cameron played on, continuing to infuse the night with the magic of a world that was long gone yet the spirit of whose people was not lost.
Once Bess had caught her breath she stood again and said, "I have the perfect thing for a party." She began walking in the direction of her tent.
Morgan reached out to grab her arm but she had already moved away. "Bess, what are you doing?" He moaned.
Bess returned quickly and tucked in her arm was a bottle. She grinned at all of the group. "What's a party without a little something to toast ourselves with?"
"No, Bess, not the wine," Morgan said, sounding as if his world was ending. "We were saving that for a celebration."
"This is a celebration Morgan," Bess replied. "We're celebrating our survival. We're celebrating the fact that we've made it this far and that we haven't lost anyone more along the way." She favoured Julia with a swift, soft, smile.
"I'll get the cups," Walman said.
Danziger shook his head. 'A bottle of wine from the private stock of Martin,' he thought wryly. 'God knows what else they're hiding in that tent.'
Walman reappeared with the cups and Bess proceeded to ration out the one bottle of wine between just over a dozen people. It was little more than a few sips each, but no one needed any artificial enhancement to their mood that night. The atmosphere was intoxicating in itself with the skirl of the pipes, the radiance of the fire and the renewed companionship of a group of people, once strangers but fast becoming friends and for a few, maybe something more than that.
Magus was the first to raise her glass. "To New Pacifica," she said. "May the road be short and easy to travel."
"To Eden Advance," Bess continued. "Comrades and new friends."
"To G-889," Julia offered softly. "A place of beauty, wonder and second chances."
"To Broderick O'Neill and the others lost to us," Devon said. "May their spirits soar among the stars and may their souls find a home in a perfect existence."
"To a hot bath and a five-course gourmet meal," Morgan said, and everyone laughed, breaking the solemnness brought about by the preceding toast.
"Slainte!" Yale said as everyone raised their cups and drank.
The night progressed, still Cameron played on, embracing the planet with sounds not heard there before.
Uly's wish was finally fulfilled as Yale began a story. He told a tale of clans and allegiances, castles and claymores. Then he ended with a sad story about a bonnie prince named Charlie and a placed called Culloden Moor.
Cameron's playing seemed to now echo the poignancy in Yale's chronicle of the Scottish people and their proud spirit.
Though the melodies that drifted from the ridge and encompassed the Eden group were haunting, they did not bring about a mood of depression or sadness but rather of hope and courage and perseverance to attain their goal.
The night had grown late, some had already sought their beds. The children were huddled sleepily in blankets at Yale's feet as he answered their never ending questions about Highland warriors and swordfighting. Their parents were equally as loath to order them to bed as a night such as this was a rarity on this planet they had brought them to. So Uly and True were left to drift off to sleep by the fireside, guided by the melodic tones of their tutor's voice.
Many of the adults were just as loath to leave the aura of enchantment created by Cameron and his pipes.
Julia and Alonzo were dancing once more, swaying softly together. Bess had managed to get Morgan to join her and they circled the fire in each other's arms.
Danziger looked at the two couples, each set of two people moving together as one. He glanced at Devon, then at the fire, then at the stars, then at Devon again. Finally, he stood up before her and offered her his hand. "C'mon Adair, dance with me," he said gruffly.
Devon wanted to say no but of its own volition her slender hand moved to be encased by his large one. As he led her into the firelight Devon knew why she didn't want to dance with him. She had done so once before, at the Martins' wedding, and remembered the sensations that had been created by his nearness to her.
Those feelings that she didn't want to experience were sparked once again when Danziger placed his arm around her and drew her close. Though their bodies were not quite touching their movements seemed to mirror those of the other, as if their bodies were somehow created to be in perfect symmetry, destined to find and respond to the rhythms of each other.
She fought to ignore the response of her body to his touch and refused to explore the thoughts that his proximity brought into her head. Those ideas bothered her and she could not consider the prospect of John Danziger being anything more than her nemesis and her reluctant partner in leading the group to New Pacifica.
But as she looked up at his face, illuminated in the firelight, she could not draw her gaze away from his. He studied her with eyes that seemed to hold a question, a reluctance and a desire.
The rest of the world fell away and Devon was left with only the stars, the music and the man.
Danziger drew their entwined hands between them and raised them to Devon's face. Their hands still clasped together, he ran a knuckle softly across Devon's cheek. Her skin tingled in the wake of his touch.
Then her back slammed into something hard and the real world came rushing back at her. She let go Danziger's hold on her hand and stepped out of his embrace.
"Geez, Morgan, why don't you watch where you're going," Danziger said, sounding annoyed and strangely frustrated. Devon had already disappeared to her seat at the other side of the campfire.
A flush had crept across her face. 'It's the fire and the wine,' she told herself. She ignored Danziger as he took a seat beside her and banished the memory of what had just prevailed between them to the back of her mind.
She concentrated her thoughts on the people that still remained around the fire. Yale was hoisting a sleeping child in each arm to see them to their beds. Julia and Alonzo continued to be wrapped up in their own world. The Martins, however, were involved in an animated discussion which ended in them approaching Julia and Alonzo. Devon leaned forward, watching intently, waiting to see if she would need to diffuse a heated argument.
Morgan was speaking to Julia. But instead of seeing the crestfallen expression Devon expected, she saw Julia's face light up in a smile. She watched the doctor race off to the med tent and return with her medical kit. She treated the burn on Morgan's arm and wondrously, Morgan appeared to be nodding his head in thanks while saying something to the doctor. Julia smiled and Devon could have sworn she saw the doctor brush a tear from her eye. Whatever had transpired, Devon noted that the miserable expression Julia had worn in the days since her return to the fold was replaced by one filled with hope and expectancy.
That hope was shared by Devon. At that moment she again believed that this group could overcome any obstacle the planet put in its way, surmount any hurdles they created for each other.
Danziger unwittingly reinforced her conviction. He was leaning back in his seat, resting against a crate with his arms behind his head, eyes closed, as he absorbed the ambience of the night. His eyes opened a crack to peer up at Devon.
"Never thought I'd say this while I was on this planet, Adair, but I had fun tonight."
Devon turned and smiled at him. "Me too, John. I think we're back to being a group once more." She unconsciouly reached out and patted his leg as she spoke, then, surprising herself, she let her hand linger for a moment longer before she turned back to the fire.
'Let him try to figure out what that was all about,' she thought wickedly, turning her apprehension at being near to Danziger into a weapon for her never ending battle of wills with him. She relaxed considerably. That, she could deal with, even if a part of her argued that it was something else entirely that motivated her to touch him so.
Devon let the memories of the night play over her mind. 'Yes,' she thought, 'we had fun tonight. We had fun together, because of each other.' The group had experienced enjoyment together before, at the Martins' wedding. But that enjoyment had been VR enhanced. It had been in a fictitious setting populated with imaginary people that had shielded each of them from the necessity of wholly interacting together. Tonight had been different. Tonight their joy and their merriment had come from a place within each of them that was brought forth to be shared with each other.
They had already proven that they could work together, that they could fight together, that they could learn forgiveness together and that together they could reach new goals. Tonight they had fun together.
Devon's optimism for the future of the Eden group and for New Pacifica grew in bounds. No longer was this a group of individuals unwillingly forced together as a means of survival. Tonight they had become a community and had come together on their own, for the pure pleasure of it and for the delight to be found in each others' company.
Her feelings of satisfaction radiated up to the sky, accompanied by the strains Cameron sent forth from the bagpipes.
As the other sounds of the night within the camp ceased to be heard, still Cameron played on, until the last of the Eden group had fallen into a restful and contented sleep.
-The End-
Chapter End Notes:
-Any and all comments are welcomed at jvfirth@wchat.on.ca Cameron's Ceilidh by Vicki Firth Copyright 1995
//from e-mail on 18 Aug 95
//from e-mail on 18 Aug 95