They quietly moved around the festivities. A few guests noticed them, but remained silent. They remembered how it was when they had first arrived. Lila guided Heron past the courtyard where they reached another door. Beyond that door was a large building with another courtyard. Lila ignored Heron’s gapes and kept walking.

“This is my home. It was built during my great, great grandfather’s day and has been reworked quite a few times since then. The renovations made over the years were attempts to make people from different eras feel more at home. You may notice some of the architecture throughout the house because some elements were designed by Greek guests of the past. We’ve also had a few architects from different eras built onto this place in the style of their homeland.” She walked the perimeter of the house. “This small section was built by a Japanese architect and our two Japanese guests feel very comfortable staying here because of it.” She walked past it into a differently styled section. “While this was not built by anyone from the era, we modeled it after the French palace Versailles. It’s nothing in comparison to the real Versailles, but it is a small tribute meant for any French visitors.”

Lila guided Heron around the perimeter, through other sections inspired by different cultures. “We see more Chinese guests than any others, so we are very proud of their accommodations. This was built to mimic rooms from the Purple Forbidden Palace.” They walked farther still. “And these rooms were designed for tribesmen of various cultures. Currently we have an elderly Sioux woman who stays here.” Before they could walk past, Lila noticed movement within. “Excuse me Heron, I’ll be right back.” Lila moved the fur curtains out of her path and saw the old woman sitting on the ground. Her legs were crossed and she was humming. Lila moved in closer. “Makawee,” Lila said softly. The old woman looked up to her. “Makawee, why aren’t you at the festival? Are you unwell?” Makawee smiled, shaking her head back and forth to reassure Lila. She closed her eyes and began to hum again.

Heron could hear Lila speaking, but the language was unknown to him. Curious he followed her voice and moved the furs to see the old Native American woman, Makawee. As he entered Makawee pointed her finger up towards him with her eyes still closed. In her own tongue, she spoke to Lila, “This new traveler will bring change for you, child. He will give you something you would otherwise deny yourself.” Lila crouched down and replied in Sioux, “I understand Makawee.” They nodded to each other and Makawee’s humming turned to chanting. Lila motioned for Heron to leave.

“Is everything alright with the old woman?” Heron asked.

Lila nodded, “Yes, she has her own ways. Makawee is a mystical person, and she’s very wise. She’s also been here for fifty years.” Lila grew sad thinking about how Makawee must feel in this foreign time. She had waited forty years before her rift opened again. Makawee no longer had the heart to return to her people, in her era, and Lila broke her own rules for the first time. The old woman had been a close friend of Lila’s mother, acted as her mother’s midwife and helped raise Lila. Lila had never known her grandparents, but she thought of Makawee as her grandmother. More than anything, Lila wanted to give Makawee her forty years back, but all she could do now was watch as Makawee lived out her final days. “Lila?” Heron inquired, breaking her from her thoughts.

“Where were we? Oh yes, if we continue farther we’ll come to our Russian housing.” The tour was coming to an end and Lila’s face brightened as they came to a final stop. “I saved this for last, as I always try to do with my guests.” She turned a corner and stepped aside. “This was inspired by both Greece and Rome.” Heron’s face lit up, he was in a place that felt familiar. Watching her guest’s expressions when they recognized something gratified Lila.

“This is like a temple of the gods.” Heron exclaimed. Lila walked through the marbled yard, down the stone path flanked by sculptures and columns, and came to a door.

“If you’d like, this will be your room.” Heron followed her and looked into the doorway.

“Yes, this is perfect.”

“You must also be hungry and thirsty. You can always drink water from the fountains; they are clean and the water is pure. As for food, there are many fruit trees right here, but we also have livestock for milk, eggs, and meat. At anytime you can join the others for a meal in the second courtyard. Each morning, noon, and night we come together to help prepare, set up and clean up meals. However, since it is your first night here, please do not feel obligated to help tomorrow. Just take time to adjust.”

Lila turned to leave, “There is food at the festival, if you want to eat with us you can. Or, you can take time to settle in. If you are all right here, I’ll see to the festival. I promised to set off a few fireworks and sing a song.”

Heron nodded, “Yes, I’m fine. I have everything I need.” Lila bowed slightly before she walked away. Heron was too energized to think about sleep. He quenched his thirst at a fountain and tasted different fruits from surrounding trees. He inspected the statues and acquainted himself with his room. Everything was surreal and new, yet recognizable. Regardless of her earlier denial, Heron was convinced that Lila was otherworldly.

He lay in bed thinking about her movements and gestures. Lila had a mysterious beauty to her and Heron’s interests were piqued. She was not only attractive and well mannered, but her knowledge seemed vast. He had heard many things from traveling scholars, but Heron bet that all of those scholars would pale in comparison to this single woman. His blood ran hot with a thought, but he quickly pushed it out of his mind. Heron, like most men his age, was passionate and over eager.

He left his bed and found his way back to the courtyard where he watched Lila and the others from a safe distance. He didn’t want anyone to know that he was there, especially Lila.

The courtyard glowed with a warm orange from the handmade lanterns. All the decorations were arranged to meet at the center of attention; a cluster of ‘booths’ where games were set up and food was offered. There were two Japanese guests, Tadanori, a wandering swordsman from the Meiji era, and Sei, a fisherman’s daughter from the Heian period. While from different classes, occupations and times, the festival brought them together as they almost forgot themselves. Among them were five Chinese guests, Gen Li, Lei Feng, Ting Yan, Heng Chang, and Xiu Song. All but Heng Chang spoke Mandarin and unfortunately he was often left out of the group. All of them were working class citizens who came from different dynasties.

William stuck out of the bunch. He was a seventeenth century British colonial. Although he was on home grounds, he was in a completely different America. Even Marjorette, a fifteenth century French dancer, fit in more than William. Marjorette was lively and danced to her own tune. Though the oriental guest were not used to such a passionate and open display of dancing, they eventually accepted her ‘odd’ ways. William however remained as stern as he had been since his day one. He obviously disapproved of Marjorette’s show and was very confused with the Asians’ traditions. He really only conversed with Lila.

Lila was reserved in her enjoyment in the festival. She was all smiles, but always kept her composure. She was tasked with making sure everyone got along on some level. For the most part, Lila was very pleased with the personalities of her current guests. Not one of them caused trouble or drama and Lila rejoiced inwardly. She had a good feeling about Heron joining the group, it seemed that he would not disrupt the tranquil aura.

It was growing darker and each person took turns in lighting some fireworks. Everyone clapped after each firework went off in the air and exploded in brilliant colors. When all the fireworks were gone, Lila sang a song that moved her Japanese guests greatly. Afterwards she wished everyone a good night. Marjorette was still all a flutter with excitement from the party; she always loved a good party and she had never experienced an oriental festival. She made sure to give Lila kisses of appreciation before dancing off to her quarters. William stayed behind to also express his gratitude for the ‘interesting’ event before he wandered off to bed.

Only Tadanori stayed behind after all were gone. Lila was like his ‘master’ and he was very subservient towards her. He offered to help take down the festival decorations, but Lila was too fond of them. She decided to leave them up for a few more days. Every other week Lila tried to prepare an event that would bring comfort to her guests. In the past two months she held a Chinese festival, a reserved party for William, a saloon styled party for Marjorette and now a Japanese festival. It was time to start planning a banquet for Heron. After Lila assured Tadanori that there was nothing she required, he left her staring up at the lanterns.

These were the moments Lila relished. She lived her whole life catering to the needs of her guests, but after they’d go to bed, Lila would take time to herself. She never remembered a moment in her childhood when she was alone. There were always guests. It was like that for her youth, her mother’s, grandfather’s and great grandfather’s youth. She listened to the crickets chirping and when she was sure no one was around, Lila let her shoulders drop. She loosened her obi and took off her shoes before she laid her back on the warm green grass. The stars were bright and clear. It was in these moments when she reminisced about life with her mother and father. She missed them and wished they’d come back home to visit. Lila was fully capable of running the place on her own, but she hadn’t seen or heard her parents in years. They were off traveling the world.

Ever since Lila was young, her mother, Amelie, ingrained in her the traditions of the family. There were many things Lila needed to learn in order to take on the family ‘business’. She needed to be proficient in world history and language as well as skilled enough to plant and nurture crops and harvest the land. It was always simply accepted that Lila learn whatever necessary to continue their way of life; she never once questioned it. So when Lila was told that when she reached of age, her parents would retire and travel the world like their parents before them and their grandparents, she accepted without question.

It was hard running the place without a steady helping hand, but Lila managed with the help of her guests. It was somewhat expected of Lila to be married by now, which would have eased the burden of her trade, but Lila was not inclined to marry. She had thought of hiring a few able people to tend the land and animals, but she took her mother's words of ‘what lays within these walls stays within these walls’ too literally. Lila could never break that sacred oath and bring in outsiders, people who had nothing to do with her family’s way of life. No, Lila was resolved to keep things within the family and between the guests. Still, she missed how fun and free she had felt at one time.

As much as Lila wanted to carelessly lie under the stars, it was getting late and she needed to be up early to prepare for the new day. She slowly sat up, making sure all her hairpins were still in place. Lila sighed as she stood and put her shoes back on. She checked to see that all the lanterns were out and made a short round to make sure that nothing was forgotten. Once she was satisfied, she made her way to her own quarters. Heron was still watching and when Lila was out of sight, he followed after her. He was too curious about her personal space. Why was it forbidden? What did she keep in there?

He kept to the shadows and watched as she entered a door at the end of a hallway. He waited a few minutes before walking to the entrance. Heron tried to listen to the noise in Lila’s room by placing his ear to the door, but he heard nothing. He carefully tried pulling at the door, but it wouldn’t budge; it was locked. He noticed a numbered keypad to the right of the door, but he didn’t know what it was for. Disappointed, but not deterred, Heron went back to his room and fell asleep.