Caitlin's Book of Shadows.

Chapter ~6~

~6~

January 10:

The morning passed quietly and she looked forward to a moment's peace. When noon came, she set up a small teapot on the hot plate she'd brought the beginning of the week. Something bothered her, though and she didn't know how to broach the subject. She had a request to make and she wasn't sure how Trevor would take it.

"You're going to see Arianrhod again soon, right?"

"Full moon as usual," he said. "Why?"

"I want to go with you," she said, setting a mug down before him.

Trevor stared at her, then resumed stirring honey into his tea. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" She settled into her chair and pulled her own teacup closer, tightening her grip. "So sue me, I'm curious." He'd gone twice now. She thought she had a right to learn the exact location of his whereabouts on those nights.

"That may be so," he said. He shook his head. "The Otherworld, well, it's really not your kind of place."

She knew it probably lacked every modern convenience she'd come to know and love. She didn't care about them. She wanted to see where her husband was running off to with this beautiful goddess, once a month. "I don't care," she said. "I want to go with you. Just once. If I hate it, I won't bother you with a second request."

"It's not that I think you'll hate it."

Caitlin sat back and smirked. "I doubt anything she's got over there will scare me, either. Remember, I've been down that rabbit hole once."

Trevor reached out and caressed her hand. "Of all the things that happened that night, that's the one thing I want to remember." He kissed her fingers. "I got lucky when I met you. Who else can say his wife would fight for him the way you did?" He frowned. "That's supposed to be my job."

She pulled her hand from his and selected a half of the cut ham sandwich gracing her plate. "Oh, now, don't get all huffy male chauvinist on me." She winked. "I don't want to explain to Heather why I had to hurt you."

He held his hands out. "It was my fault, I asked for it. Take me away, Officer Heather. Or whoever she brings over."

She smiled. "Cuffs, there's a thought. I'll cuff you to the bed." A wicked happy gleam lit his eyes. She reached out and ran her fingers along his clean-shaven chin. "That'll keep you here where you belong."

"I like the idea but I don't think Arianrhod would allow it. Not tonight, anyway." He shook his head. "I really don't want you to go to the Otherworld, Cait. If I tell you it's not safe, will that convince you to stay here?"

"I think it would have the opposite effect." Doubt crept over her. Would Arianrhod really put her husband at risk? "How bad can it be?"

He sighed and sat back, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Fine. We'll go together. But if it gives you fits, don't say I didn't warn you."

She rose and sliding into her coat, she trudged out of the shop. He kissed her once before slamming the car door on her, and returning to his work.

Watching him, she wondered why he took the steps as if he carried something heavy on his back. Caitlin twisted her key in the ignition, wondering what she'd talked herself into.

Her day crawled by like a slinking demon, despite the customers who frequented the print shop—students, mostly—and she couldn't help but wonder what she'd find on the other side. At lunch, she perused the Internet, refreshing her memory on the various forms of the Otherworld. She knew the picture Trevor had painted for her of the place but she still wondered if the world's various ideas didn't somehow hold kernels of truth. Would there be temples and three-headed hounds waiting to greet them, or harp-plucking angels? Or, was it as the Celts said, a verdant field for battle and play? A sea of waving grass and gold?