As the Praetorian Guards wait, they understand that today it is not going to be necessary to call in the Archangel. The Saint tells George the stage call is not an emergency but it also is not a dress rehearsal. They will really go through the portal.
Mavis loves her Roman guard costume and, like the others, is allowed a few variations, mostly involving sword color, sandal color, and skirt color. But the sword color has to be in the spectrum of blue, the sandal color must be in the spectrum of brown, and the skirt color must compliment the sword color. They are allowed to make these variations as long as their costumes closely match. They all know the Empress hears the inner call and is a seer, so they are careful to ensure that their costumes match well so as not to be distracting to her.
The top part of the costumes can be anything of the guards' creation because the Empress can only see their faces up to the hairline and their bodies from the waist down. This is because of the shadow and the position of the shield that covers everything from the waist up to the chin.
They take this opportunity to design the shirts and helmets however they like, especially the helmets. With feathers on top, some of them look like Roman Guard roosters, and with broad hats as helmets, some look like Roman Guard musketeers, and others, with cowboy hats and eagle feathers, look like Roman Guard cowboys and Indians. Some wear T-shirts behind the shields, some wear tank tops, and others wear breast plates with interesting colorful designs such as dragons, lighthouses, palm trees, and even one of them, a Frenchman who passed over in St. Augustine, has an image of the Eiffel Tower on his breast plate. The only important thing is that their costumes represent an Earth plane reality so that, should the Archangel be called, the costumes help locate the specific Physical Plane segment section. Only on the planet Earth, for example, will we find Roman guards to the Emperor or Zulu tribal warriors or Plains Indians, etc.
The Shadow Breakers are ready to roll. They wait to get the on-stage cue from the Saint and they are so hoping to get it. They really don't want this to be a dress rehearsal. They want to serve the Empress any way they can, so the twelve of them whose turn it is to act on stage wait excitedly to pass through the portal and into the realm of the Empress. The thirteenth guard is invisible, usually a saint, and four of the Praetorian Guards are always present -- George Truax, Jack Tolvey, Larry Welch, and Mavis Davis. The other eight are selected at random according to when it is their turn on the stage.
"Waiting for the word!" the general calls to them, just letting them know he is waiting for the Saint's command. They all stand at attention, their excitement growing.
"Roman guards!" calls out the general on hearing the Saint's voice. "Column, advance!" They pass quickly through the portal in front of them and enter the Physical Plane and realm of the living through the hot water heater closet in the Empress' bathroom in downtown St. Augustine.
With twelve of the Shadow Breakers on stage in the Physical Plane, and particularly Mavis, StumbleBlock sees the opportunity he has been waiting for to convert LoverGirl to a Bored Player. All he needs is the help of MetaphorMan, and he has already gotten him to agree to help.
He goes looking for MetaphorMan and finds him right away sitting under an Oak tree and reading a book of poetry by Keats. MetaphorMan declined to join the Shadow Breakers, an invitation StumbleBlock never gets, because he wants to spend as long as he can on the Astral Plane reading poetry. He didn't have that pleasure on the Physical Plane because he never lived on the Physical Plane. MetaphorMan is a stillborn child whose life experiences began on the Astral Plane and thus he lacks the common language keys that humans develop when physical. Having always lived in the realm of the spirit-soul, he always speaks in metaphors and symbols. Sent on his errand by StumbleBlock, he finds the Cut Ups practicing their Passion Play and notices the one they called LoverGirl. He is deeply drawn to her right away but for reasons he can't understand.
"Gain again! What's out there?" he says to JuicyGirl.
"Look," she says to the group. "It's MetaphorMan." All the girls in the group say hello to him.
"What's he talking about?" asks LoverGirl.
"He's saying we have a new player and he's wondering what play we have planned," interprets JuicyGirl.
"Why does he speak that way?" asks LoverGirl.
"He was never born into physical body," explains TraumaGirl. "His birth was traumatic and ended in his death. I can really dig it."
"Oh," says LoverGirl. "My brother was stillborn but that was many years before I was born. I always wondered about him."
"A hush fell over them," says MetaphorMan. "Time is an anxious traveler that can't be kept waiting."
"He wants to talk with you," translates JuicyGirl. "He probably is sent by StumbleBlock to enlist you in the Bored Players. Don't even bother talking to him."
"No, I want to talk with him," says LoverGirl. "I like the way he talks."
"Ho hum," says JuicyGirl, feigning boredom. 'That's what you will become if you go with him -- bored. Suit yourself." She turns back to the group to continue their rehearsal for her latest sex play tragedy entitled, 'Get a grip.' The truth is, LoverGirl can't relate at all to JuicyGirl's script, although TraumaGirl and ActorGirl like it. SillyGirl doesn't think it's silly enough.
LoverGirl leaves with MetaphorMan to discover more about him. He seems so intriguing to her. Maybe he will be her new best friend. She is getting a little disappointed in JuicyGirl, who seems self-centered. All JuicyGirl cares about, really, is getting her scripts onto the stage.
"Where do you want to take me?" LoverGirl asks MetaphorMan.
"We can go home again," he says. "Life is a tree that leaves in the spring. Buds leave together. Let's make tracks."
"Ok," says LoverGirl. "You lead." Wanting to please her new friend, she makes footprints appear on the ground behind them as they stroll along about two inches above the ground. MetaphorMan notices and smiles at her, pleased indeed.
Gladys Kurtz casts a long shadow as she gets in her car after work to drive to the rendezvous on Nine Run Road. As usual, she is careful to drive off the road, down the lane, and around the curve to make sure no one sees her and so she can spy on Jimmy Dobbs. He is bringing her two things -- a supply of crack and the name of a wealthy man who will pay a lot for sex with her. "Nothing like a city commissioner," Jimmy said to him, selling him on the idea.
Jimmy likes being a pimp and if it weren't for some nut case killing off his girls, he would have made a lot more money by now. Without those girls he is forced to find clients for Gladys, and she insists they have plenty of bucks. That's the problem with her, she's too picky. He recruited some girls lately and is making a point of not letting Gladys find out and, at the same time, he is giving them all free crack. That puts them right in the palm of his hand, and he can do with them whatever he likes. If Gladys knew, she might find a way to put an end to them, as he suspects she did with the other girls.
Gladys likes crack as much as she likes sex with strangers. She enjoys the lurid aspects of it, of not knowing what they are capable of and how they like it. But she knows one thing about them; they are entirely corruptible if not already corrupted. And once she has them addicted both to her and the crack, she as good as owns them. That's where the money comes from that guarantees her tenure in office won't be interrupted. She holds it over them, too, if they don't pay up when she needs their money. All she has to do is let a little bit of information slip, she reminds them, and they will be ruined socially. In the end, the men want the serial killer to get his hands on Gladys, but beyond doing her in themselves, there is nothing more to be done than simply pay up. And so they do.
The Indian who lives in the left corner room on the waterfront side of the old fort is making his plans to pass over. Much needs to be done. He has, first of all, to let someone know his space is coming available and so he telepathically calls Gary Gravestone on the astral phone. He learns later that a nice young woman is going to take over, and that makes him feel happy to know who will be in his spot.
He has lived at the old fort for over a hundred and fifty years and he is growing desirous to move forward. He only stayed behind to help the other Indians assimilate themselves in the Astral Plane, but most of them, too, are going forward. Now, it seems to be a good time for him to leave. Many tourists had their pictures taken with him. When they returned to their homes and had the film developed, they saw his transparent body standing with them. He knows it gives them hope of life after death and he is only too glad to help out.
The sounds and smells of the old fort will always be with him, along with good memories and bad, but he hopes to leave some of the bad memories behind. It was not easy in those days, being captured and brought to the place. He fought hard against it and he nearly died there by refusing to eat their nasty food. He only came back because of the memories and because of the Indian spirit-souls he knew he could help. He would have left the plane sooner but he wants to be as useful as he can.
Now, even with a hundred and fifty years left to stay if he wants to, it is time to move on and go forward. As he gathers his belongings around him to distribute them to his friends, the other spirit-souls that live in the fort with him begin to gather around him. They are planning his launching ceremony. They are sorry to see him go but they know they will see him again sometime later. He is really their leader in spirit and he is also their leader into the next dimension. He is the Seminole Indian Chief Osceola. His name means "Black Drink Singer." It has something to do with drinking deeply of death. His influence will always be felt just as his reputation as a good man will precede him.
To Osceola, it is perfectly balanced that a young woman will take his place. The spirits of the old fort have been there for hundreds of years and the changing of the guard is beginning. Many things are changing. Osceola knows that Great Creator is making a place for him in the Beautiful Plane. The Saint has already spoken to him about it. With this in mind he begins to say his good-byes and prepare for the time when his body will drop off. He will pass over to the realm of the Beautiful Plane. He will miss those he leaves behind, but he looks forward to meeting them again and to meeting new friends. That is the blessing of the life-death cycle. Old friends will be lost but they will be found again later on, and how happy the reunion will be.
Gary Gravestone doesn't consider himself to be just a realtor. He is in the service of the Saint and he does his job according to the Saint's wishes. He is also devoted to the Virgin Mary. By living so close to her chapel in Le Leche Shrine he can hear directly her voice counseling him on how to do his job the best way possible and how to serve both the Virgin and the Saint.
The Virgin speaks to many people in St. Augustine and all planes of reality. She speaks to Grace Courage, the woman called the Empress by the Shadow Breakers, and tells her to have courage in her writing and to be frank and honest and true. The Virgin's connection with Grace Courage enables Gary Gravestone to speak directly with Grace. The three of them talk often about reality in St. Augustine.
The Virgin leads Grace Courage to hold seances locally to anchor into the Physical Plane more of the Virgin's friends and devotees. The Virgin leaves crucifixes in her chapel for Grace to find and tells her in advance the two colors they will be. Then, Grace passes this information on to the people in her seance group and they find only crucifixes with those two colors. This is how the Virgin lets Grace and the group know she is truly with them and working with them on understanding how things are in spiritual St. Augustine.
When Grace follows carefully the Virgin's wishes, the Virgin always gives Grace and her groups the aroma of roses to smell. During the seances led by Grace and directed by the Virgin, Grace meets some of the spirits who she later writes about, but this was the Virgin's plan all along. As long as Grace follows the plan, all will be revealed.
The Virgin sent Gary to introduce himself to Grace and to let her know he lives in Le Leche Cemetery in his grave. This was the moment that the Virgin hoped Grace would come to realize that things are going on all around her that are worth her notice and worth writing about. But what she does not tell Grace is that the book will be eternally inspiring to many people, as long as Grace writes it the way the Virgin hopes she will. She wants Grace to believe she thinks of it all by herself. This is the way the Virgin likes to work, always in the background, always in support of her children.
The Virgin is the Mother-in-Spirit of many people. She gives them all the love they need, as any mother must do who wants her children to do well and to achieve their dreams. With mother's love they can find the inspiration to create the Divine Message the way they long to create it. The Madonna's child is the Co-Creator and the Creation is the Truth. Together, the Virgin Mary and Child mirror the original archetype of Black Madonna and Creator.
Because of the Virgin, Gary and Grace are friends although they live in two different dimensions of reality. This is what the Virgin hopes to accomplish, to bring everyone together in the love, spirit, and knowledge of the Divine.
Warner Thompson knows there is something about Grace Courage that gives him deep feelings of happiness, but he shies away from those feelings, having never felt them before and not understanding how to handle them. He only knows that if Grace Courage doesn't accept his invitation to his office, if she skips out on him for some reason, he will be disappointed. In fact, he fully intends to find her anyway and talk with her. His central mission of the day is to see and speak with Grace Courage. Whether he can understand it doesn't matter, only that he means to be with her on this day, no matter what.
He hears Tommy Lassiter calling to him from the outer office but he ignores him because he wants to put in a call to Grace to see when she is coming. At least this way she will know he means his invitation, that he is not just being polite.
Tommy, on the other hand, is wondering what in the world is wrong with the chief. He seems disinterested in all the facts of the murder case they have lately uncovered, what few facts there are. He wonders if the chief is going to tell him again to suppress those little pieces of evidence. The chief apparently doesn't want to talk about it right now, so Tommy lets the matter drop. He knows something is up with the chief and he decides to just wait and see what that something turns out to be.
Warner gets his nerve up and gives Grace a call, only to get her answering machine, which assures the caller that she will return the call. It isn't much but at least he gets to hear her voice. He thinks of calling again to hear the message twice but it occurs to him that she might have caller ID, so he gives that idea a rest. All there is to do now is wait.
The only other problem he can foresee is her roommate, Stephen Allger. What's up with that, he wonders? Could it be they're romantically involved? A woman her age, which is about his age, can find herself attracted to a younger man. He knows that he is often attracted to younger women, but only from a sexual point of view. And that, of course, must explain their relationship, if they actually have one. He is hoping they are just friends and roommates and nothing more. He means to find out the answer to this puzzle from Grace herself if she shows up today.
He tries to busy himself with work and he means to stay in his office all day and wait. "That's how bad I've got it for Grace Courage," he chides himself out loud. He doesn't know Tommy has returned to his office in the next room and overhears him.
"Oh boy," says Tommy, under his breath. "Here we go."
I was beginning to be afraid of Warner Thompson, but I have never been comfortable with fear. I like to meet fear head on and back it down. So that's why I got all dressed up to go visit a man who I suspect is a serial killer. If I look great, maybe he won't kill me. What a silly thought. Besides, I have my Praetorian Guards with me.
Earlier I closed my eyes and peered into the bucket and saw their sandals and metal skirts. I also saw some of their faces. They are with me and so I have nothing to fear. But still it is with trepidation that I walk into Warner's office to question him about the murders, to see what he intends to do about it, and hopefully to hear what he promised to tell me. But when I see how he is looking at me, so happy to see me, I wonder if maybe I haven't played this thing up in my mind a little too much. How can a man this attractive and this happy to see me also be planning on doing me in?
As I sit down in the chair across from him I lower my head a little to peer into the bucket, and I see the guards in full dress uniform. I even see a shield with the words written on it, "Shield Guide." Whew. That makes me feel better. Little does Warner know that I have stationed a column of guardian angels all around us, and they have swords and shields and the intention of protecting me at all costs. That gives me strength and courage to look a police chief straight in eye who might also be a murderer.
"Grace, how are you?" he asks, as though he truly cared.
"Great, Warner. And you?"
"Oh, doing well, thank you."
Silence.
More silence.
Even more silence.
"I asked you here to let you know that I am becoming more personally involved in the murders and I am also looking to investigate certain people who I suspect may have some motive to commit these crimes." He looks pleased with himself.
"I see. Did you want to tell me who the people are?"
"I couldn't do that, ah, right at this point but I will help you get your book going if you like. I know something that can put you on the right track."
"Oh? What is it?"
"It's not widely known that the last victim, a girl named Louise Lauder, was killed down on residential St. George Street right in front of the Catholic School. Actually, right in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary and behind the hedge, just across the street from St. Augustine House."
"You mean right where the ghost tour stops in front of that building?" I couldn't believe my ears. Is it really possible we stood there and chatted about gangsters and ghosts while the whole time Louise Lauder was lying dead behind us? "I was standing right there on a ghost tour. She must have been lying right behind us. It was so dark that night, only a little moonlight, and all we had was the tour guide's lantern." My heartbeat picks up a little, and Warner suddenly sits forward in his chair.
"Who was with you on the tour?" he asks.
"Well, it was me and my friend Laurel from Atlanta, and a man who was talkative and kept mentioning Jack the Ripper..."
"What did he look like?" Warner asks quickly.
"I don't remember, really. He was a regular looking guy, tall, thin, about forty or so, with a mustache, and an attaché case that made me think he was a businessman just taking a break. He cast a long shadow. He played around with me and Laurel a little and made hissing sounds like a cat to make us think a ghost cat was behind us."
"If you saw him again could you identify him?" Warner is starting to make notes.
"Sure. I think so. Do you think he is the murderer?" I can't help but ask. In my mind I am beginning to move further away from the idea that Warner is the serial killer.
"Can't say but we will look into it. Who else was on that tour with you?"
"Let's see, there were some other people, just tourists, who didn't say much, about fifteen of them I guess. Oh! Gladys Kurtz was there."
"The city commissioner?" he asks, surprised. "Wonder what she was doing there?"
"She said she was walking home. She said she lives down on St. George Street just past St. Francis Street."
"Did she say anything or do anything that you remember?" He is looking a little confused about Gladys being there.
"She told us that there were no ghosts in St. Augustine House, that it was all a hoax. I told her that I used to live in that building, that it was haunted with gangster ghosts. I wanted to discuss that with her but instead she just walked away." I decided not to tell him about running into her again when I was last in his office.
"Well, it couldn't have been Gladys," he says.
I thought about that time the kid shot me with the BB gun and the police covered for him. I wonder if Warner is now going to cover for Gladys. I don't say anything about that. I just wait to see what he will say next.
"Look, I'll tell you what," he says. "Let's go get some lunch and talk about this a little more."
Uh oh. Now comes the time when I am supposed to get in his patrol car with him, the time I dread, the time for which I prepared myself with guardian angels. I have to make a quick decision. I decide to go with him. I just hope it's not going to be one of the last decisions I ever make.
George tells Mavis the good news about the room at the old fort, and Mavis can hardly wait to tell Louise about it. But Louise is nowhere to be found. They look for her at the Cut Ups Passion Play rehearsal, but no Louise.
"Last time I saw her," says JuicyGirl, "she was going off with MetaphorMan." Her disdain is obvious to all. "I told her she was in danger of becoming a Bored Player but she said she wanted to hear what MetaphorMan had to say. Like he had something to say other than what StumbleBlock told him to say." JuicyGirl can't be bothered any more with the problem. She is busy directing TraumaGirl and ActorGirl, hoping to fine-tune their performances in her new sex play tragedy.
"Let's go check with the Bored Players to see if she has joined them," says George, pessimistically.
"Oh, don't say that," says Mavis. "We'll have to get her back."
"Not if she's made that decision," says George. "She's entitled to do whatever she wants to do. Those are the rules."
"But she hasn't lived here long enough to even know what she's doing. We're supposed to guide her and help her to make better decisions," argues Mavis.
"Guide her, yes, but also follow her when she makes up her mind what she wants to do. If she decides to become one of the Bored Players, then we have to follow that decision and support it however we can. It's not for us to decide for her or to judge her."
Mavis can't argue with that. She recognizes the wisdom of the Saint behind George's words. She just hopes Louise hasn't become one of the Bored Players.
They approach the stage and see StumbleBlock sitting on it, looking dejected. Behind him sit Ralph Dragon, John Simpleton, GoryGuy, and GermyGirl.
"Hey, Block," says George.
"What do you want?" asks StumbleBlock, rudely.
"What's the matter?" says George. "You look sad."
"I've lost my best player. MetaphorMan refuses to play the part of St. George anymore. He says he is going to think about what he wants to do next. What does he mean by that? Is he talking about becoming one of the Passion Players?" StumbleBlock is so distressed he forgets to hide his real feelings.
"What did he say," asks Mavis, "before he went away?"
"He said, 'Gang busters. Blow the lid off.' I don't know what that means. I never heard him talk that way before. He had that new girl, what's her name, with him. They went off together talking about it. She seemed like she understood what he was talking about."
"By new girl, you mean Louise?" asks George.
"LoverGirl, that's what they call her. She was with him. They went off together holding hands. I didn't like the look of it. Hey, wait a minute," StumbleBlock says suddenly, looking suspiciously at George and Mavis. "I see what's going on. You're converting them to Shadow Breakers. Yeah, that's it! You get off of my stage right now!" StumbleBlock is steaming. Mavis and George jump down off the stage and leave to find Louise and MetaphorMan.
"And don't come back, either!" calls StumbleBlock after them. "Thanks to you, I've got only John Simpleton to play the Saint, and if that don't work I'm stuck with GoryGuy or GermyGirl." He stomps his foot and yells, and everyone gets back away from him. He is awful when he is mad. He can get himself into a murderous rage if he really gets mad, so they know to give him plenty of space on his stage.
Mavis takes her chance to get the last word in with StumbleBlock, who usually ends their encounters by having the last word. She turns around and calls out so that everyone can hear, 'You might want to consider a new play. That one's boring, it's seen its day."
George laughs. "Don't even bother. StumbleBlock never learns."
"At least she's not one of the Bored Players. What a relief," says Mavis.
"Even better," says George. "She managed to get MetaphorMan out of the group. It was a tragedy that MetaphorMan kept going with them. At least we have a chance to guide him to the Shadow Breakers, thanks to Louise."
"Let's find them," says Mavis. "I just can't wait to tell her about the waterfront room at the old fort."
Page 1 - A Ghost Tour | Light of Recognition Copyright Notice - Disk of the World - Text and images copyrighted March 21, 1993-2023, Claire Grace Watson, B.A., M.S.T., U.S. Copyright and under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, All rights reserved.
Copyright Notice - "The Shadow Breakers" Text and images copyrighted March 21, 1993-2023, Claire Grace Watson, B.A., M.S.T., U.S. Copyright and under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, All rights reserved. Additional to these copyrights is TXu 692-656, Isis and Osiris, The Phaistos Disk Deciphered, June 26, 1995, above images included, and The Shadow Breakers, including twenty-two of these images, copyright 2005. All solution images, pictograph tracings, disk tracings, photos of Phaistos and Heraklion harbor, Crete by Claire Grace Watson. No part of this web page may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
METAPHORMAN
THE LURID APPEAL
THE INDIAN IN THE OLD FORT
DEUS MADRE REDUX
SOMETHING ABOUT HER
SOMETHING ABOUT HIM
THE BORED PLAYERS
Page 2 - Deus Madre | Authentic Metaphor | Bury the Evidence
Dagon-Jah the Potter
Page 3 - Reality Bytes | The Cut Ups
Page 4 - The Time is Coming | Non Deus Non Madre
Gary Gravestone | Dagon-Jah's Creation
Page 5 - The Roommate | LoverGirl | The Two-Way Door
Grace Courage | Gladys Kurtz | Jimmy Dobbs
The Al Capone Syndrome
Page 6 - Outside Forces | Good and Evil - God 'N Devil
The FoundDeads | The Stalker
Page 7 - The Dinner Date | Concealed Personas | Some New Girls
Ghost Real Estate | Dagon-Jah at Knossos
Page 8 - The Bucket | Stage Call | A Trip to St. Aug
Elevated Consciousness | The Black Madonna
Page 9 - Planes of Reality
Page 10 - The Masterpiece of Dagon-Jah
Page 11 - The Praetorian Guards | MetaphorMan
The Lurid Appeal | The Indian in the old Fort
Deus Madre Redux | Something About Her
Something About Him | The Bored Players
Page 12 - The Arc in the Covenant | The Man
Page 13 - The Artists Round | The Good, the Bad, and the Curious
Sudden Death
Part 14 - Death and Remembrance | Ur Nammu, the Created God
Part 15 - Worlds Apart | You Don't Know What It's Like
Spinning the Sword | A Destiny Foretold
Invoking the Archangel
Part 16 - Some Go Forward and Some Go Back | Going Home
Back Travel | The Miracle of Birth
The Fire that does not Consume