Chapter 3

Courage

For fisher, time literally slowed down to a near stop, as he saw the blade get closer and closer to young Joy's back. Fisher tried with all his strength and speed to make it to the front of the crowd but he would've never made it. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the speaker's dagger flies out of his hands and lands into a tall patch of grass. The speaker backed away in disbelief when he noticed that the weapon was no longer in his hands. He looked down at the ground to find a sharp object protruding from the earth, standing just as King Arthur's trusty sword, Excalibur, once had in it's giant stone. The crowd gasped in shock as Fisher let out a deep sigh of relief.

"What... What is this?" Said the speaker, still gazing at the sharp object. "Who would dare defy God's will?"

The crowd looked around, curious to know who would stand up and admit to committing this heinous act. Suddenly, a hand rose from the crowd and pointed upwards.

"It was her!! it..."

Fisher didn't even have time to look in that direction when the crowd scurried like vermin, looking for a safe place to remain hidden. During all this commotion, Fisher's thoughts were still on saving little Joy and the speaker who had nearly killed her. He did his best to push himself through the panicking crowd, occasionally being pushed back himself by a frightened woman or panic stricken man.

The man who spoke in front of the crowd looked above and yelled out curses to whatever had been hovering menacingly above his head. The man then quickly grabbed Joy around the waist and shoved anyone who stood in his way. He ran with his arm around the little girl, who's nearly too tired to even keep her eyes open. He ran with fear in his eyes. He ran like a coward who might have seen several comrades die at the hands of enemies at war. Suddenly, he bumped into someone who had been simply standing still, someone who had seen him running towards his direction. The man tried shoving the person aside as though he was a homeless wretch, but his attempts were not affective.

"Stand aside ye wretched fool. Would we be waiting for the demon above to swallow yer soul?"

The speaker looked up at the man that stood before him, waiting for an answer. Fisher looked back down at him with anger clearly set in the irises of his eyes.

"Let the girl go ye dog!!"

With that answer, Fisher clenched a fist and hit the man on his left temple, knocking him out cold. The speaker, now rendered silent, had fallen flat on his stomach with his face in the mud as the crowd had nearly all fled to their homes. Young Joy had fallen next to the man, her white gown now covered in mud as well. She laid there, also out cold. Fisher bent down where the little girl now slept and brushed aside several hairs that had fallen in front of her eyes. Fisher smiled as he looked down to her.

"Hard to believe that ye'll grow up to be the woman who shall capture my heart little one..."

Fisher shook his head from side to side with a smile still attached to his face. Fisher's smile then went away as he looked to the left and to the right, to see the entire crowd had disappeared. Fisher then looked back towards the little girl.

"Now, what shall we do with ye little one?"

With a gentle care of a loving parent, Fisher gently scooped little Joy into his strong arms and stood back up upon his feet. Little Joy's head rested upon his chest as he looked around for a place to take her. Of course, after what the speaker had said, the red markings all around the girl’s body had been the mark of the devil. Who would want to take her in after hearing such nonsense, after hearing that a simple case of chicken pocks was a curse that could be passed down to anyone. Although partially right, these markings were definitely not an act of the demons burning tormented souls below.



"Hey!! Up here!!"

Fisher looked above to see the mermaid hovering above with her tail swinging from side to side. She smiled once she noticed that she had the Celtic man's attention. She passed her fingers through her hair and stared at him, almost flirtatiously, which only got her a cold stare from the Celtic man below. She looked up in the sky for a second, sighed and looked back down at him.

"Geeze!! You could've at least thanked me for saving her life."

Fisher shook his head "I'll give ye thanks once Joy will be safe from harm. Leaving the lass here in the open will shirly get her killed, so, if ye can help me find her a place to..."

"O.K., fine." The mermaid raised a hand and pointed towards the northeast with her index finger. "If you HAVE to save your future love, than just take her up the hill where your house now stands."

"Me house...?"

Fisher looked in the direction she had pointed and was happy to see that his house had still been standing. He still remembered seeing his house engulfed in flames and smoke before the mermaid had whisked him away to the Galapagos Islands, but now, his house still stood there. Fisher looked back up to where the mermaid had been hovering and smiled at her.

"I thank ye." He said as he started to make his way up the hill.

The mermaid smiled "It was my pleasure sweetheart." She whispered as she began to fly back towards the lake.

*****

Fisher stood in front of his door, still holding the little girl in his arms. His knees trembled, but not from the weight he had been carrying to the very top of the hill to his old home, but from a nervous fear which made his stomach feel as solid as a piece of tissue paper in water. He now knew that he's presently in his very own past, where his mother might actually be standing behind the door that stood before him. At this time, his father had left town to purchase some provisions for the villagers, which, he in turn will sell. Fisher had always blamed his father for not being there, he hated the idea that he would always leave his dear mother open for an attack without anyone strong enough to defend her. Fisher still had no idea what had happened the day his mother had died, and no soul had the heart to tell him how she had departed from the imprisonment of her body and ascended to the heavens. Once again, he had blamed his father for her death.

Fisher was now deep in thought, remembering how sad he had felt when he learned of his mother's death. He looked down, and looked back down the hill where he saw the tall grass being pushed by the wind, creating a beautiful sea of green waves speckled in dandelions, daisies and other wild flowers. Fisher smiled, remembering how he used to stare at this vast ocean for hours, dreaming of a future of adventures at sea. Any sense of fear, anxiety or anger had been nearly erased from his mind whenever he would imagine himself in this world of oceanic adventure. That is, until his mother died.

Suddenly, the door he had been standing in front of opened before him, startling him. When he looked back to where the door once stood, he was happy to see the smiling face of a woman looking back at him. Fisher still had a surprised look on his face, for he recognized the woman before him as his mother. She looked the same as she did when he had last seen her. He remembered her loving smile which would invite almost anyone to simply talk to her, her green eyes which where handed down to him, sparkled with life and were complimented by her lovely, long red hair.

"And how may I 'elp ye stranger?"

Fisher was still surprised to see his mother after all these years. It had been nearly 10 years since he hasn't seen her face and he had no idea what he should do, that is, until he remembered that he had been holding a young girl in his arms that desperately needed her attention.

"Oh!! Ummm... I've heard from someone that ye could help me. Ye see, this girl in my arms..."

His mother simply took a glimpse at the little girl. Her smile suddenly changed to a look of concern. Then, she looked back at his son and smiled.

"Ye can bring her in, I'll take care o' her."

His mother walked away, leaving Fisher feeling somewhat uneasy about walking into his old home. He looked around throughout the nearly empty hut as old memories came back into his mind. Some were sad while some were happy, but memories were memories and they were all better than whatever had happened to him before he had appeared into his very own past. His mother turned towards him and gave him a very impatient look.

"Well... Thou haven’t all day to make such a small decision. Will ye be coming in, or not?"

"Sorry, I'll be coming in. Fisher had said with somewhat of a nervous smile.

*****

Several minutes later, Fisher steps out of the hut and takes a deep breath of the air up the hill. He felt better knowing that little Joy is presently alive and taken care of and probably wouldn't need him for quite some time. However, something deep in the back of his head kept bothering him. A very familiar yet horrible feeling of impending doom kept surfacing to the surface, but the memory was too cloudy to tell what this feeling was about. Then, he look to his right where he saw a 12 year old version of himself sitting on the grass and admiring the view. Probably thinking of his future adventures at sea. Fisher smiled as he looked at himself, wishing that he could go back to that simple age once again and simply made sure that he would never repeat the same mistakes he had done after that age. Fisher stood there in thought for a while until he decided to join the little boy and admire the waving grassy fields with him. Fisher sat down beside himself and stared into the distance with his younger self.

"What's on yer mind young one?"

"Me mother told me that we should nay speak to strangers."

"Aye, 't is right. Ye young ones should nay speak to these strangers she speaks of, however, I am far from being a stranger lad."

The boy looked at Fisher, somewhat perplexed. He had no idea what this stranger was talking about and didn't even know the fact that this man was indeed his future self. The boy stood up, never taking his sight away from Fisher as he kept the same perplexed look.

"I find it best if I head back inside. Me mother might need me help with my brother."

Fisher's younger self ran back into the house, leaving the adult Fisher to watch him leave. Fisher shook his head from side to side, feeling slightly guilty about what he had just done. He turned back around and stared ahead to the fields which still waved in the wind.

Thought Fisher

"Hey honey!!" Said a feminine voice.

Fisher buried his face in the palms of his hands as soon as he heard that voice, the same voice he heard ever since he had left his home. The same voice which had been slowly starting to get on his nerves.

"How long have ye been up there ye sea wench?"

"Ouch!! Aren’t we a little bit touchy today?" said the mermaid as she slowly hovered her way down besides the reminiscing man. "Don't you like the idea of coming back home, seeing your mother again...?"

"Aye, ye're right, I am 'appy to see 'er again. However, these were not the best circumstances to bring me self into, were they?"

"Why? What do you mean by that sweetheart?"

"I've nearly seen me Joy murdered by a man who spoke biblical nonsense. I've met me mother, but I can nay tell 'er who I am for fear she might not understand. I've scared me younger self and I am presently left to 'ave a conversation with ye."

"Honestly Fisher, am I as bad as you imagine?"

"Aye, maybe even worse. Ye've given me eternal life and brought me to the past. There's no real clue as to what ye may 'ave planned for me or the planet for that matter."

"Oh, ye of such little fate. I know that's not what's really bothering you Fisher. There's something deep down inside of you that you know will eventually happen, but you have no idea how or where. You just know the time which this event had happened."

"... Ye're right..." Fisher looked down in sorrow.

"Ye want to know what day it is today?"

Fisher looked down and thought for a second or two. "Yes, please tell me so that me fears should finally be confirmed."

"Alright then, since you asked so kindly..." The mermaid gave him an evil grin "We're in the year 1689, June 15th. Would that help your memory?"

"Aye." Fisher looked down again, shaking his head from side to side. "Me mother... Me mother will die tomorrow..."