"Mr. Parker, are you saying that she was a fortune teller or soothsayer of some kind?" Maria asks the question when no one else would.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Jeff Parker opens the scrapbook and points to a picture. "My father visited the ancestral home after the war and took pictures of the gallery of ancestors gone by."

"She looks like you Liz." Isabel and Teresa comment on the family likeness.

"Aisling is about five or six years old when she first gets a vision of a being not of this earth." Jeff Parker is distracted momentarily from his storytelling when Michael knocks over the saltshaker.

"Sorry," a visibly shaken Michael returns the shaker to its original position as he meets the eyes of his fellow podsters. "Please continue with your story Mr. Parker."

"Aisling eventually meets and befriends this being near the waterfall on her family's estate. Apparently he has a weakness for strawberries, of all things." He smiles at his daughter before continuing.

"Aisling claims to have made some kind of mental connection with the being whereas she was able to see his home and a future battle that he would participate in. To ease her concerns about him in battle he either takes her to his home or allows her to see his home by some kind of vision. That part has always been kind of hazy." Jeff Parker shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders.

"Anyway, at some point he does transport her to a far away land which my father always thought was the American West." He misreads his audience's faces to be that of disbelief.

"I know, eleventh century Europeans did not know the America's existed. But, Aisling tells a story of a tribe with painted faces who danced to flute music."

"What do you mean by 'transport'," Kyle queries of the older man.

"Aisling claims that they were engulfed in a blue light and moments later were in a land much drier and barren than that of the northeast coast of England." Mr. Parker answers Kyle question and when the expected questioning from the others was fruitless he continues.

"On their return to the area near the waterfall, the being tells Aisling that its time that he returns home and that they may never see each other again." Mr. Parker pulls the scrapbook in front of him and thumbs through the pictures until he comes across an aerial view of the Parker estate.

"Before I go any farther I need to explain how the surname Parker came about. During the Middle Ages a park was a large enclosed area where the landowner could hunt game. The name Parker is an occupational name for the gamekeeper. My family were gamekeepers on Aisling's family estate."

"Wouldn't that make her a nobleman's daughter? No offense Mr. But, are you about to tell us that Aisling marries a lowly games keeper?" Maria cocks her head to one side in query.

Michael nudges Maria to quiet her and she stares at him, "What?"

"Michael, she has a legitimate question which is one that I also asked when I first heard the story. The answer is simple. Aisling was an only child and a girl at that. No male heirs to inherit. But, Aisling has been in love with Geoffrey Parker all her life and her father had only to give him land, secure his loyalty and make him a lord."

"So what happens after the being leaves for his home?" Liz lightly touches her father's arm prompting him to continue the story.

"Well, he is about to leave when he hears Aisling scream and subsequently finds her covered in fourteen year old Geoffrey Parker's blood when he stepped in front of a wild boar that would have surely killed the six year old girl."

"The being apparately possesses a healing power where upon he heals the otherwise fatal wound of the young Parker, thus saving the boy's life and starting the Parker line."

"Did Aisling ever see this being again?" Max asks Mr. Parker.

"Not in the flesh but she continued to have visions of him throughout her life and so did her granddaughter and every other generation of Parker women for the next 900 years."

Aisling had her first vision around the age of four, her granddaughter had her first vision at the age of six and my father's great aunt Elizabeth had her first vision at age fourteen. The pattern appears to be that each generation of Parker women's visions occur later in life. My Great, Great Aunt Elizabeth, who predicted that my Lizzy would be the next seer in the family, had her last vision in 1939. Any visions of beings not of this earth lately?" Mr. Parker laughs as he pulls Liz to his side. "If the family gift is true to form you should have had you first vision by now."

"Okay, that was a great story dad, but what does that have to do with granddad and Great Moon?" Liz places the picture on top of the opened scrapbook.

"Oh yea, I almost forgot about that." Jeff Parker stands to go pour himself a cup of coffee.

The room is very quiet and all eyes follow his every movement until he takes his seat and sips from his coffee.

"My father was fresh out of college when he enlisted in the Marines whereupon he was immediately sent to the South Pacific on Corregidor which sits in the middle of the channel entrance to Manila Bay." He finds another picture of his father in uniform and it's passed among the group.

"Corregidor has been under air attack for several months. Each night my father and Great Moon would take turns sleeping and standing guard. One particular morning when neither one of them could sleep my father told Great Moon the story of Aisling and the being not of this earth." Jeff Parker takes another sip of his coffee and looks around at the intense looks on the young faces of his daughter's friends.

He is hesitant to go on, feeling that the story has either frightened them or there is more to their interest than meets the eye.

"Generations of visions from other Parker woman has expanded to include visions of the being participating in a long running war were his son dies and is sent to earth as a human being." Jeff shakes his head and snickers a little before he continues.

"Great Moon shares a similar story of a being not of this earth whose son also dies in battle and is sent to earth in human form where he finds his predestined mate. These soul mates create a dynasty that will save earth from destruction by the same enemy that had killed the young alien leader. He tells of rock art on his reservation that depicts this "Gray Ghost." My father is stunned because Aisling's friend is also called "Gray Ghost."

"How can that be Mr. Parker?" Sondra's mind races as the magnitude of the possibilities hit her. "England is at least 5000 miles away from here."

"I know. It boggles the mind doesn't it?" He shakes his head and shrugs.

Jeff Parker snaps his fingers the way one does when suddenly remembering something. "There's one other thing that might interest you. My father never told me this, but I once eavesdropped on a conversation of his and Great Moon's, in which they spoke of the secret society they both belonged called the Nih-Hi-Cho."

"Come on Mr. Parker, now you're pulling our leg; aliens and secret societies." Kyle rolls his eyes and gives a nervous laugh. "What's next? Government conspiracies?"

"Seriously, my father was a member of an alliance dedicated to the preservation of the human race against an alien species prophesized to live among humans. These aliens are awaiting the opportunity to annihilate our species and take over the earth." Jeff Parker's words trail off as though he regrets telling the kids this part.

"Jeff, the Seligmans are getting ready to leave and want to say goodnight." Nancy Parker peeks into the kitchen. "What have you guys been up to?"

"I was telling them the story of "Gray Ghost," he winks at his wife before joining her near the door.

Nancy Parker looks at her daughter and the mesmerized faces of her young friends. "I thought that we agreed not to tell her that story."

"Come on Nancy, it's just a story." Jeff looks down at his wife's concerned face as he turns to leave.

Liz grabs the picture of her grandparents and Great Moon and runs over to her parents. "Dad, I almost forgot. Who's the other the man in the picture?"