An Unearthing of Goddesses

An Unearthing of Goddesses Part 45

The goddesses bicycled through the sky, scanning for any sign of Lhamo and Kate. It wasn't very long before they spotted some activity in their path, and they followed it to find a lively market, with vendors displaying their wares in booths that hung in the sky.

"An air market!" Aurae clapped in glee. "It has been so long since I've shopped in the clouds."

"Don't get distracted," Gaia warned. "The last thing you need is more wind chimes." Aurae frowned. They peddled about the market perusing the booths and questioning the vendors. Gaia herself got quite entranced by a display of Turkish rugs that the peddler was deeply discounting.

"Going out of business sale," the bearded salesman said, fingering the intricate designs. "The finest flying carpets on the market. Everything must go!"

"I think you were going out of business last time I saw you, a century ago," Aurae noted.

Then Anya pulled them away, pointing to a vendor with a pungent smell enveloping the market. It was a Chinese junket. Anya held her hand over her eyes, a cloud obscuring her vision.

"Wong-di!" She called out, and led the others to the noodle shop. "Since when did you get a delivery ship?"

He exclaimed in glee at her arrival. "Anya! Times are tough my lovely sister. What a coincidence – I just served Lhamo a meal. A bit of an unusual delivery." In a few minutes Wond-di was flying them all to the location he had dropped Lhamo and Kate off at. Except that instead of the grand home, they found only a grove of pine trees.

Wong-di cursed. "GPS maps this as my last drop off point. No mistake."

"Lhamo said this was the home of an old friend?" Anya asked.

"Looks like an earth creature's home," Kitsune said. "She has shifted it back to a forest for privacy."

"Well, how do we find the front doorbell?" Dona asked.

"We don't until morning," Maeve said, noting the darkening sky. "The privacy screen is impenetrable at night."

"You need a place to stay?' Wong-di grinned. "My cousin lives nearby. He'll put you all up."

The sisters all eyed each other warily but were too polite to decline.

***

Lhamo and Kate were joined by Meilin in the morning to begin their journey into the village.

"I haven't been on a quest in years," Meilin said as they mounted ponies for the ride. "It's just like old times Lhamo."

"Are you – blushing?" Kate poked Lhamo's arm as they rode.

"Just – a bit too much sun," Lhamo said, as he fell in line behind Meilin. 

They rode all morning and then reached the village, stopping a couple of times for Meilin to greet old neighbors she had been neglectful to visit lately. Then they reached the thatched cottage of the village elder that Meilin had remembered from her own youth. A small child ran out to greet them and then took them in to visit with the ancient lady. 

The elder remembered Meilin, and her son. She had a solid knowledge of all the members of her community. When she heard Lhamo's name she exclaimed – "The boy you used to run with! Your father did not approve. And you married the wrong brother..."

"Ama! That was many years ago." Meilin looked mortified.

"Your father was obstinate, as an old man and as a boy. I used to watch him when I was a child myself, when his mother was out working in the laundry. He was a stubborn child I recall. Refused to help me pick blueberries."