Chapter Thirty-one

Eternity caught

Colin Harcourt the fifth pushed the snooze button on his alarm clock. Tuesday was his regular day off. However, he had switched shifts with another today. Looking out the window, he regretted that decision. The bright early blue sky had all the makings of another fantastic day. He hoped his shift would be an easy one, but he knew Engine 054 out of Manhattan would be ready for anything that came their way. As he ran out the door the portrait over the mantle caught his attention, it had been passed down in his family for nearly two-hundred years. It was a portrait of his sixth great grandmother and grandfather, his namesake. If you looked close enough, you could see the legendary scarab necklace grasped in his hands.

Colin hated his name. Well, it wasn’t his name he hated. No, Colin was a perfectly normal name. The fact he was the fifth person in his family to have that name given to him that was much to take.

The original Colin was supposed to be some kind of immortal being if you believed such stuff. The fifth wasn’t sure that he did. There were rumors that he fought and died in the First World War. And then again there were just as many rumors he fought in the next war. The myth that he had fought in any war was preposterous.

Colin had died in the 1800s and was buried next to the fifth’s sixth-great-grandmother. No immortality, only a sliver in the pedigree of the Harcourts. The family should dispense with naming children after some creepy grandfather had to stop. When it came time to name his son, the name chosen was Colin Harcourt the sixth.

He asked a genealogist to research his family line. Yes, they found Colin, but without a time of death. They also found a British soldier around the time of the French and Indian War. Not to mention a British soldier who defected over to the Patriot side during the Revolutionary War. The fifth put that aside as mere coincidences.

As for his profession, he couldn’t explain his odd obsession with being a fireman. He never wanted to be one growing up. No, not until his freshman year at Columbia. When heard a man speak at a Career Day all about the noble deeds of a fireman. That day changed his life. He changed his major soon after and last year, 2000, he was sworn in as a firefighter.

He thought of that one speaker and then looked at the portrait. It was uncanny that he never noticed the similarities before. It was just another of a long line of coincidences.

 A few weeks earlier, Colin was sure he had seen the man himself at the Majestic Theater, but he never believed legend could be true. Immortality, how odd?

Shaking the notion from his brain, he leaned over and kissed his wife. “I need to get out of here, remember I took Skoolsher’s shift. I won’t be home for dinner.”

 *

Colin stared up through the rubble dazed and confused. He coughed up blood but felt only a little pain. He was aware his body lay mangled and crushed between a steel girder and the floor. He thought he was in a dream. No other scenarios could explain his surroundings.

Through half-open eyes, he saw the stranger kneeling beside him, squinting he made out the NYFD on the stranger’s helmet.

"Relax, we will have you up and around in no time," the stranger said reverently. Colin could tell the doubt in the stranger’s voice.

With difficulty, Colin asked the stranger, "What day is it?"

"Hush now and relax. It's Tuesday, September the 11th."

"What happened?" Colin asked, weakly.

Tears filled the stranger’s eyes, "They flew airplanes into the North, and South Tower They have both collapsed. The first responders that survived the destruction are searching for survivors.” The stranger checked Colin's pulse and shook his head. "They hit the Pentagon, and a plane crash-landed in some field in Pennsylvania."

"What do you mean the surviving first responders?" Colin asked meekly. He grabbed his scarab weakly and tugged at it.

"We'll have you out of here real soon." The firefighter gripped Colin’s weak, trembling hand, comforting him.

Colin smiled at the firefighter as he thrust the scarab necklace into his hands, “Caglar icin simidi alt." He knew he was cursing his rescuer, but he also knew it was what he was supposed to do. His mind became clear. The firefighter gazed at the necklace.

"What does that mean? I don't speak that language," the firefighter stated confused. Tears flowed down his cheeks. The younger Colin flinched and then glanced at his finger. “The damned thing jabbed my finger.”

Colin smiled one last time, his eyes clear, "You look so much like my Beth."

The firefighter wiped a tear away with his dirty hands. “I had a great-great-grandmother named Beth, and I was named after my great-great-grandfather. But they have both been dead a very long time.”

“I am your namesake. I haven’t enough time to explain. I thought it best not to get you involved in your life.” Colin coughed up blood. “I could not bear to watch you grow up and die, like all the rest. I’m so sorry, but you’ve been chosen by the scarab.”

Raising the old man’s hand, the firefighter kissed it gently. “Chosen? It was you on that Career Day my freshman year?”

“Yes, the scarab wanted you to become a firefighter. I apologize. I had no other choice.” A tear appeared in the corner of Colin’s eyes, “Sorry, I must finish this before I can finally go home to Beth. If you know of the legend you, know what this means. I apologize for what I’m about to do to you, my son. Learn from my mistakes. Now, this must be said, lanet dikkat,” Colin said with his dying breath.

Young Colin wiped tears from his eyes as he struggled to his feet. He swore he heard “I told you that I would wait,” whisper through the smoke and dust filled rubble.

He turned and stared at the body of his great-great-grandfather, unable to hold back the flood of tears. An uncontrollable sense of urgency to leave the area came over him. He gasped and brought the back of his hand to his mouth as his grandfather’s body turned into sand, then stepped away. A moment later, the area where he had stood collapsed. He heard a small voice behind him, “Help me, please.” Colin knew he could save that person. The scarab had found a new home.

The End