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shaved tonsure on the head of a monk. I could feel the
rightness of the area, as close as we could get to the spot I
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had marked on the map. We had arrived. Without a word,
the three of us removed our packs.
The sky was a darker blue now. Fluffy white clouds
piled behind the farther, higher peaks and the sun was little
more than an hour above them. I hadn t bothered to check
my watch for that observation; I didn t need to. The time, the
temperature, and our exact location were as clear to me as if
I read them from a computer screen& clearer, because there
was nothing artificial between me and my environment. I
had always been a city boy, but today s trek had led me
farther from my everyday reality than just the top of a
mountain. Somehow, I felt I had traveled back into a time
when nature was everything and human beings only a small
part of it.
I took a deep breath. The air was clean and filled with
the scents of pine and grass and sun-warmed rock. Mixed
with those was the smell of Lila s herbal shampoo and a
scent I knew very well the sweet musk of the man I love.
Calm certainty stole over me. I was precisely where I was
meant to be, at the center of the universe.
Glen turned back from his own survey of our
surroundings. The smile he gave me was warm.
Lila knelt, opened her pack, took out her measuring
rope, and just as we had planned, Glen and I helped lay out
the magic circle, marking its boundary with large rocks.
When we were finished, the circle was perhaps twelve feet in
diameter, placed near the center of the grassy space, leaving
a large clear area around it. We gathered more rocks to form
a fire ring; Glen built a cone of dry wood and grass inside it
and kindled it with a match. Lila brought out a heavy metal
bowl and added a small disc of charcoal. When that was lit
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and burning well, she topped it with leaves from Glen s
smudge stick and some sort of dull, yellowish crystals. The
herbs and sap caught, and I smelled the dusty scent of
frankincense and the refreshing bite of sage.
Glen moved our packs away from the circle while Lila
continued her preparations. I prowled the edges of the
clearing, looking down at the rocks and brush below, spying
the occasional trail. I was amazed at how far my vision
stretched in the clear, thin air. I saw hawks soaring above
the trees, a fox drinking from a brook, a marmot sunning
himself on a rock. Then something else caught my eye. On a
path far below us moved a line of human figures carrying
packs.
People, I called to Lila.
It ll take them a while to get here, she said, if they re
even headed this way. Don t worry.
She was busy arranging the remainder of the ritual
supplies. I shrugged.
It wasn t long before Glen returned, his arms full of
fresh-cut pine-smelling branches. He piled them within the
circle, but well away from the fire.
How long? he asked.
Lila shook her head.
A while yet. We should be ready, though. Why don t
you two get undressed.
It wasn t cold, but at this elevation, the afternoon wasn t
warm, either. Besides, I wasn t eager to remove my clothes. If
I did, that meant the start of the ritual couldn t be far away.
Glen obligingly kicked out of his shoes and stripped off
his T-shirt and jeans. I couldn t help but stare at the
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beautiful body I loved so much. It had been almost a week
since we had done anything more than kiss and cuddle. Glen
must have felt my eyes on him because he turned and
smiled at me. I felt a spurt of excitement& sexual, of
course& but something else as well. It couldn t be long now.
I concentrated on the mundane task of folding my
clothes neatly, determined not to watch as Lila removed her
shorts, top, and boots. When I looked back, she was
wrapped in a long gray cloak. It covered everything but her
bare feet and had a hood as well, though she left that lying
back on her shoulders. She had released her hair from its
fastenings, and the long, dark strands moved with the light
breeze.
That same breeze raised goose bumps on my exposed
flesh. I eyed the pebble-strewn ground suspiciously, and
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