Chapter 9

 

AT THE BOTTOM of the hill was a mess to make anyone cry. The avalanche had taken most of the road that snaked around the mountain with it through the barriers. I could see a couple of cars that had ended up in the crumpled trees and my heart thudded heavily. No way anyone in those vehicles had made it.

Renee pulled the ATV to a stop and got off. I lurched forward and gripped onto the empty seat. The hollow ring of devastation echoed through every inch of my skin.

 

CRASH. Smashing, wall of white, Crash, crash, crash. Obliterating everything. Roaring, roaring, ploughing toward the road. Boom. Solid icy wall. Wind screamed. A shock wave. Smash. Blast onto the road. No, No, NO! Crumple the windshield. Heavy. NO. NO!

 

“Aeron?” I felt the warmth of a hand on my arm.

 

Black, darkness, hopelessness. No escape, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Heavy breath-stealing damp, crushing, burying—

 

“Aeron!”

Renee’s yelling in my ear brought me back to the cold, bright afternoon. I had somehow ended up on the ground. I blinked a couple of times, expecting to see Renee peering at me, instead I met the soppiest pair of brown pools that I ever saw.

“Hey, Duke,” I mumbled, trying not to breathe in his doggy breath. “I guess this was one way of getting you on your own.”

Duke sat and cocked his head, a hot steaming tongue flopping out of the side. Nice. Drool. 

“I need to find Charlie,” I told him. “He’s a deputy but I need everybody to think it’s you doing the tracking.”

Duke snorted as if to say. “It will be me. That’s my job, baldy.”

I frowned at him. “Less of the name-calling, fluff ball.”

That earned me a pair of alert ears. Well, as best as a mound of fur could manage. Duke wasn’t used to humans getting him, that much I could tell.

“I can find him and you can do the whole rescue thing,” I said. “But you gotta follow my lead.”

He looked kind of skeptical and sat there panting at me. I didn’t blame him. I was sitting on my butt having had some kind of fit so I knew he was figuring me for crazy or an ill person.

He nudged forward with a paw to confirm his thoughts. I took off my glove and shoved my hand out for inspection. Most folks don’t seem to realize that a dog’s nose is that good that they can tell just how well you really are.

He had a good old sniff and a lick to make sure I wasn’t tricking him somehow and then sat back down to contemplate the information. I used his decision time to focus on Charlie and where he could be.

Now, I ain’t been trained in how to use my burdens and the only time I had been able to track where somebody might be was by touching jewelry of theirs. I had nothing of Charlie’s to help me and so hoped that Supernan would come to my rescue.

I closed my eyes, trying to focus on calling to her. “Nan, you there?”

Nothing. Not even a breeze. Must have been one heck of a card game.

I opened my eyes to see Duke wiggling his eyebrows at me. He didn’t look convinced of my sanity and behind him, Evan seemed to be itching to search.

I took a deep breath and tried again. I tried to think of Joyce, hoping that she would somehow connect me to him.

This time I figured I could maybe do it alone, mentally at least. I pictured the scene, the flash I’d had.

Nothing.

I got to my feet, Renee looking half as though she wanted to shove me back on the ATV and half like she wanted to throttle me. Her aura rolled about like waves in a storm but I closed my eyes, one last time, as the roar of the other parties met my ears.

“Charlie, where are you?” I asked, putting every ounce of mental energy I had into it. I must have looked like I was in agony with my face scrunched up so much. I felt a wet nose on my palm.

“Charlie,” I whispered. “You got to help me out.”

 

Blood, cold, ice, got to hold on, got to pull myself up. They won’t hear me . . . please . . . grip the wood, hands so cold . . . I can’t hold on—

 

“There!” I snapped my eyes open. I sprinted through the snow. It gave way underneath me as I tried to scramble over it. Renee called to me but Charlie had no time for me to stick on some snowshoes.

I could hear heavy panting as Duke kept up with me.

“Over the ridge,” I called to him. “Stay back when we get to the edge. He’s sliding down.”

Duke barked in response and I looked around me for something to help.

“Need a rope!” I called back toward Renee who was firing up the ATV.

“Watch the edge!” she called back. “It’ll give way.”

I stopped just short, Duke huffed and panted in my ear.

“He’s cold and injured, right?” I said to him.

Duke snorted, his paws testing the snow in front. His eyes met mine as if to warn me that it was loose.

“Any ideas?”

If a dog could roll his eyes, Duke would have.

“Look I know I ain’t an expert,” I told him, “but Charlie needs our help.”

Duke looked over his shoulder at Renee. She slowly moved the vehicle over the snow, trying not to send a new run down on top of Charlie. I guessed that meant wait for the person who was actually trained.

“Charlie!” I called out over the edge, my heart thudded and Duke whimpered as the snow shifted beneath my feet. “Charlie . . . can you hear me?”

“Down here!” came the panicked reply.

To stop myself saying something stupid like “hold on” I looked back at Renee. She was off the ATV on snowshoes and had attached a rope to the front end. “Aeron, you move another inch and I’ll throw you over myself!”

Duke lifted his ears at the threat.

“Oh, that’s nothin’,” I muttered. “Should see her when there’s no chocolate.”

Renee got to us and fed the rope over the edge. “Can you see the rope?” she called out.

I fought the urge to move any closer to take a look.

“A little lower,” came the reply.

Renee fed more over and after a long silence, a voice called up. “Got it!”

I wanted to cheer but Renee was not smiling. “Can you hold on enough for us to pull you up?”

“Think so.”

Renee looked back to Evan and signaled to him. He started to back up the ATV. The other members of our rescue crew in the distance were digging around a car on its side. The snow underneath us shifted and I got a warning flash.

“Stop!”

Evan did as he was told and Renee lifted her eyebrows in question.

“I’ll have to pull him from here, the whole thing is shifting.”

Renee didn’t argue but took Duke and moved him back. “Aeron, can you pull him up?”

I nodded.

“Then I’ll bring a rope out to you too,” she said.

“There’s no time,” I answered. My heart thudded, my skin clammy against the cold-weather gear. I shivered and Renee frowned.

“Aeron, you don’t look too great . . . maybe—”

“I can do this. Trust me. Just get everyone back.” I turned to the edge. “Charlie, I’m gonna pull you up.”

“Hurry.”

Renee met my eyes, all manner of thoughts flashed across her face.

“Hey,” I said. “I’ll be okay. What’s a little snow, right?”

She hesitated.

“Nan didn’t get you saving my butt back in Oppidum to see me hurtle over a snowy edge,” I said. “Trust me.”

Grey eyes bored into mine. “I do.”

It was such a strong statement that I took a few seconds to clear my thoughts. Renee had always been kinda intense but that was like a two-by-four across the head. I guessed that was what happened when you lived the life she did. You needed conviction. There were times, like now, when I wondered how much of a toll it took on her.

Charlie grunted and I tore my eyes away from her.

“Good. Back up and let the snow expert do her thing,” I said, my throat feeling like it had a snowball wedged in it. Not the greatest time to get mushy.

Renee did as I asked, although I knew that no way did she want to. I turned back to face the edge. My flash had warned me that I stood on the top of a huge slab of snow which was going to give way . . . soon.

All I had to do was haul up a fully grown man with a tow rope and not get me or him hurt.

No problem, I thought as I gripped hold of the rope. No problem at all.

 

RENEE WATCHED AERON ready herself, digging her feet into the snow, and winced. What had Ursula been teaching her? How had Aeron passed the cold weather training when so far all Renee had witnessed was how little Aeron knew about any of it?

Renee sighed.

It was simple why Aeron had passed, she had to. There was no way that CIG could operate without her and no way that they could find anyone else.

How many times had Renee wished that Aeron would lose all her gifts? That the sweet-natured woman could live her life quietly beside the river and never have to worry about anything. Aeron deserved that much, she had been through enough.

Renee watched Aeron slide as she started to pull on the rope and walked over to the ATV. She’d sent the men back up the hillside but no way would she leave. She gripped the throttle—the second anything started moving, she was hitting reverse. There was no way she wanted to leave a man to nature but Aeron was too important to risk. Too important to the mission, and to her.

A breeze tickled her arms and she smiled. No doubt it was a reassurance from Nan. God, how she had missed the odd and surreal world that was Aeron Lorelei.

She swallowed the well of agony in her heart and watched Aeron haul the rope upward. She tensed. Aeron was going too fast but shouting would do no good.

“It’d probably make it slide faster,” she muttered.

The sound of Duke barking drew her attention. He was bouncing around, Evan trying to calm him. A breeze tickled Renee’s arm. She heard Aeron swear. She hit the throttle. The ATV screamed backward. The snow cracked. The ground under Aeron gave way. Renee fought the sliding snow. The ATV wailed in protest. The tread caught on a hard piece of packed snow and a cloud of white plumed into the air as the run gave way.

No! Renee clung to the throttle. “Aeron!”

Renee looked through the powdery mist. Her stomach clenched as she roared the ATV backward.

Please, please . . . please be okay.

She hit a bank of snow and the ATV crunched to a halt. She grunted as it kicked up at her but her eyes remained on the fallen run.

“Aeron!”

“I’m okay!” came a yelp-like cry. “Got him!”

Renee scrambled off the ATV and used the rope to slide downward. The road was almost cleared by the snow collapsing. “Aeron, where are you?”

Please be okay, please be okay.

Aeron clung to the rope. Her legs dangled over the edge. She had one long arm under the man’s shoulders and another clinging to the rope. Renee’s breath caught when she saw that the man was holding onto a small boy.

“I’m coming!” She could hear barking as the rescue team closed in on them and reached out to pull the young boy upward.

“Charlie’s got a gashed leg,” Aeron told her as Renee checked over the boy.

“I can’t see anything,” Renee answered.

“He’s not Charlie,” the man grunted as he hauled himself upward, the bloodstain dark on his trouser leg. “He was banging a log against the car he’d climbed out of, made one heck of a noise. I went to get him. Brave little man.”

The boy shivered and wrapped his arms around Renee’s waist. She pulled him in close, hoping that her body heat would help him for now.

“Aeron?”

“I’m just great,” Aeron mumbled as she pulled herself up and collapsed in a heap on top of the ledge. “Walk in the Arctic.” She grinned up at Renee. “Told you not to worry.”

Renee tried not to show any emotion, not to look at her, not to give anything away. Her heart pounded with what she wanted to say, with what she felt. It was too dangerous now, Aeron was too essential to the mission.

“Let’s get you somewhere warm,” Renee said to the boy, knowing better than to ask too many questions here.

The rescue team set to work transporting Charlie. Evan and Duke took the boy with them, the dog huddling close. Renee didn’t dare look at Aeron for too long. In her heart she wanted to praise her, to tell her that she was a hero, and hug her senseless. To tell her the truth, to hold Aeron close, and beg Aeron to keep her safe from the cold and the past. Renee tried to keep the tears from forming. Tried not to break down. There was no place for that now. Aeron had to stand strong alone. Getting too close would risk everything that the CIG worked so hard for.

The cause was more important. Aeron was more important.

Renee could feel Aeron watching her as they rode back up the mountain. No doubt she could tell something was wrong. Even without gifts, Aeron knew her well enough to read her moods.

Too well.

“Well done,” Renee whispered, hoping that Aeron would think that she was merely acting cold for the audience.

Aeron grunted in response and Renee’s heart sank. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her but the alternative was unbearable. No, it was better this way. Instead of explaining and letting Aeron in, instead of having the comfort and release that talking to her would bring, Renee stayed quiet. Duty first.

She looked over the barren snow-filled landscape and felt colder than she should have. Stupidly, when she had met Aeron, she had begun to believe that her past would not define her future. Aeron’s laughter, her joy at the simplicity of life had covered over the dark spaces, the loneliness, but now Renee would have to face reality once more.

All she wanted was to be back in Nan’s cabin. Safe and sound beside the river with Aeron. Safe and sound.

So many years being other people had become a survival mechanism. So many identities used to hide the mess that was her own. Aeron had found the woman within her and she’d enjoyed that warm summer pretending, hoping.

Foolish, silly hopes and dreams that would have to be chased away. Dreams that had no place here. She was the job. She was her duty.

To do that, she would have to become someone else once more and that someone couldn’t be close to Aeron or anyone else. Isolation was the only way they could get through this. Renee looked at Aeron who stared toward the emerging shapes of St. Jude’s. Aeron, her little Missourian. Her strong jawline proud and noble, her imposing stature like a beacon of hope and warmth. She was so beautiful. The native blood and European mix culminated in a powerful, yet gentle soul. Strong, kind, courageous, and so very, very unique. Aeron made it impossible not to love her.

Renee was used to hiding. Burying every part of herself was something she was used to but burying the love she felt for Aeron would be agonizing.

A smile played across Aeron’s lips as Evan called out to her from another ATV and Renee groaned. Agonizing and close to impossible.

 

I HELPED CHARLIE off the ATV trailer with Evan and the doctor rushed over to us as we carried Charlie up the steps to the field hospital. My hands were cramping from clinging onto the rope and I was glad that Renee hadn’t gotten close enough to notice that I’d battered my left knee.

The thought of Renee’s weird reaction only brought a queasy feeling to my stomach and so I decided it was best for everyone if I just ignored her mood for now. Even if it was confusing me and, if I was honest, it hurt.

Renee kept her distance as we settled Charlie onto a bed that had been brought down into the reception area.

Joyce came sprinting over and hauled herself into his arms. “I told you not to go,” she kept sobbing over and over. “You never listen.”

He met my eyes and I could see that he wanted everybody to leave them alone. Her energy was manic and like one of those whizzing fireworks that darted off in all directions. She made me feel all giddy just looking at her.

“I’m fine, honey,” he whispered to her, his eyes pleaded with mine to get everyone to back off. “I’m just fine.”

“Hey, how are the others?” I asked the gathered rescuers and Mark nodded over to the other side of the room.

“We got two families,” he said and then lowered his head. “And the boy.”

“Where is he?” I asked. I knew from touching Charlie that he’d been holding onto the boy on that slope for hours. What I didn’t know was what had happened to his family.

“Over with the women,” Mark said. “He’ll get fussed over until he’s blue.”

I walked over to the little boy who looked up at me with clear blue eyes. It was funny how many different shades of blue there seemed to be. Renee’s were grey but with hints of blue that made them look like the color of a rainy sky in winter. The little guy’s eyes were more like a cloudless summer.

“Hey there,” I said. I tried not to yelp as I knelt beside him. “What’s your name?”

“Can’t get him to talk,” one of the women told me.

“Too shocked,” another added.

“Needs to lie down,” a third said.

I took off my gloves and held my palms up. “I’m different,” I told him, not that I needed too. Kids seem to get things a lot quicker than adults. “If you put your hands in mine, I can tell stuff about you.”

Shooting a glance at the ladies who were now discussing what best to feed him, I lowered my voice. “I can help you.”

He searched my eyes for a while, then his big blues filled with tears and he placed his hands in mine.

 

What do you mean you can’t find him? Where are you, you little jerk?

SLAM.

Please don’t . . . he’s just a boy.

CRASH.

A boy? And whose boy is he, you tramp?

BANG.

Run Zack, run . . . don’t let them find you . . .

BANG.

 

I gripped him to me, tight, as his pain poured out through his breathy sobs. The visions thick and fast.

 

“Zack Thomas, his mother is locked up for murder, shot the boyfriend.”

Long corridors, strange faces, kids in their beds with hostile eyes.

“His name is Zack, he don’t speak. He’s stupid.”

One kid to the other. Pushed to and fro, pushed and shoved.

“Zack we’re taking you to Denver, there’s a place you might like there.”

Strange places, names, faces, the car is big, smells of cigarettes. The mountains so big, so white.

“We’ll be there soon. What the—?”

 

“It’s okay,” I murmured to him as he sank into my arms. “You’re safe now.”

Something inside me bonded to the kid in that moment and no way was I letting more strangers take him from my side.

“My name is Aeron,” I told him. “I’m here for a while so you can stay with me. Would you like that, Zack?”

At the mention of his name, his eyes filled with wonder.

“Told you I could see it,” I said. “Now, why don’t we go get some food?”

“Aeron?” I turned to look at Renee who was frowning. “You need to leave him here.”

“Uh uh.” I felt Zack grip hold of me. “Me and my buddy are gonna get some pecan pie.”

Renee folded her arms. “Aeron, you can’t.”

Her anger rippled from her but I was tired, battered, and I was not gonna let Zack face another night on his own. Nan had said I was here for a reason and I was pretty damn sure that Zack was it.

“We are,” I told her. “Come if you want or we’ll see you back at the cabin.”

“Aeron,” she called after me, but I carried my little buddy through the snowy street and climbed up the café steps.

If I was real honest, I would admit that Renee’s demeanor had me swirling around in circles. Maybe we both needed a timeout.

I opened the door and was greeted by the smell of cooking. Martha soon came scurrying over and led me and my buddy over to a table.

“And who do we have here?” Martha asked.

“This is Zack,” I said. “He’s the strong silent type but he’s also kinda starved.”

Martha chuckled and seemed to get my hint without faltering. “How ’bout a burger and fries?” she asked him.

Zack didn’t need to answer out loud, his eyes and grin did it all for him.

“Same for you?” Martha asked me. “What will Serena have?”

My stomach clenched. Now, Renee, the real Renee would tuck into a croque-madame as she called it or a ham and cheese sandwich, toasted with an egg on top—a Monte Cristo—to the rest of us. I guessed it was a meal that she’d learned about in Europe, or maybe it was a family thing brought over from there. Anyhow, Renee loved that meal and she loved a fried breakfast too. She loved a lot of things that I did. I looked up as the door opened and I weren’t sure if the woman walking through the door was Renee anymore. Something had happened and she was surrounding herself with the impenetrable wall that I once got to see through. It hurt.

I adored Renee, even when she was fiery and intense, but Doctor Serena Llys was another story. No, she was the stuck-up Ivy League psychiatrist who was all airs, graces, and vegetarian diets.

“Not sure,” I answered as Renee joined us.

“These two are in the mood for burgers,” Martha told her. “What do you care for?”

Who was standing in front of me? Renee, the woman I knew, or Serena, the stranger?

“Vegetarian pasta if you don’t mind.”

So that was it then. All the promises she’d made back in the summer about us always being close, about caring about me as a person were all lies. All she had spouted about me not just being another protectee and that she’d take me on a road trip to see her mom, it was all just another face. Man, did it sting. In fact, it hurt as much, if not more, as Sam’s betrayal. I stared out of the window to try and squash the pain back down. It seemed like everybody who said they cared only did when it suited them. Guess that was all a freak like me could expect.

Zack squeezed my hand and I looked down at him, fighting desperately to control my voice. “What’s up, buddy?”

He grabbed three straws from the side.

“Think he wants a soda,” I said to Martha.

She chuckled. “You think, or are you more of a milkshake man?”

Zack scrunched up his tanned face as though she’d asked him the meaning of life. After long, arduous minutes of contemplation he turned to look at me. I got the flash of him with a pink frothy moustache.

“Milkshake,” I answered. “Strawberry.”

 

AERON AND THE young boy seemed in perfect harmony as Martha watched them chomp on their burgers. The boy was mute and no doubt traumatized, that much Martha could see, but he looked completely at home with his giant friend.

Martha smiled to herself as she filled up his milkshake. He looked comfortable and safe around her. Not that she could argue with that. From what she had seen of Aeron, she was the sweetest, gentlest spirit.

It made Martha wonder at the world. How one so tall and muscular could be so soft.

She caught sight of Serena as she placed the milkshake on the tray. Now there was a conflicted woman if she had ever seen one. She watched as Aeron and the boy giggled, their connection effortless and sibling-like. It was evident that Serena wanted nothing more than to join in. In fact she looked like she would give anything to relax.

So why wasn’t she?

From the way that Aeron talked to her and acted, Serena was very welcome, very much liked and yet she chose to isolate herself. It was almost painful to watch, and if she was a busybody, she would more than likely try and unravel the reasons to help.

“Martha, hon,” Earl called and she tried not to tut as he stood in the doorway in his oily clothes. “You got something I can get on the go? The pipe is leaking and—”

“Wash,” she interrupted. “Then I’ll fix you a steak.”

Earl smiled and went to approach but she wagged her finger. “Wash.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, his eyes lighting over her face for long moments.

An apology for not being perfect, not being the man he had wanted so much to be. She looked away, unable to stand the self-loathing in his eyes. He was who he was, same as she. That was that in her eyes.

“Mom?”

Martha smiled reflexively as she turned to see her son standing where Earl had been. He was a perfect blend of them both, her red hair and Earl’s green eyes. Her willowy frame but with Earl’s strong arms and legs. He was a wide receiver and had been offered a scholarship, having caught the attention of quite a few college scouts. She knew next to nothing about football and all she knew was her son had a knack for catching the ball in the touchdown area. Much like his father had once done.

“Mom?” Ronny asked when she didn’t answer. “You dreaming of anything nice?” He dipped around her to pinch some fries from out of the serving tray.

“Look at the state you’re in,” Martha scolded him. “Just like your father. Go on, go get washed up. No food for either of you until you’re clean.”

Ronny swerved around her swatting, pinched another couple of fries and then ducked through the back door which led to their private home. She wanted better for Ronny. She and Earl had the cabins but they hadn’t been fruitful and it was getting harder and harder to keep them running.

“No use fretting over things you can’t change,” she reminded herself for the hundredth time today and turned back to stare out at the unlikely trio.

There was an energy about Aeron, a bright light shining from her when she smiled, which only dimmed when she looked at Serena. Her smile faded then, her amber eyes scouring her friend for an answer to some question. Serena looked like she wanted to give her that answer too but something was blocking the way.

Martha put the two sodas next to the milkshake and carried over the tray. She saw all sorts when the people stopped by on their way to the glamorous resorts. Some stories played out right in front of her eyes and some she had to dream up the ending. She didn’t mind all that much, it was a habit that had kept her going. One day, she would sit and write a book of her tales. She smiled to herself as she ducked around a customer who got to his feet. When she had time at least. Some day when she retired. Aeron looked up at her as she got to the table.

Martha put on her best smile. “One milkshake for the gentleman,” she said, enjoying the grin it provoked from the boy. “And two sodas for his ladies.”

“Thanks, Martha,” Aeron said, trying to push money her way.

“It’s on the house,” she said, offering a smile at Serena.

The one she received in return was half-hearted that showed more signs of aching loss than it did gratitude. Martha fought the urge to comfort the young woman.

“Thank you.” Serena’s voice was so small that Martha feared she would burst into tears at any moment.

“It’s been a long day,” Martha offered. “Why don’t you finish up your food and I’ll pop by to set up a bed for your guest?”

Two beaming faces on one side contradicted a thin-lipped grimace on the other. Martha left them to it and tried to imagine what could make Serena so unhappy. Was it the boy? No, she had been just as sullen last night before the avalanche. She’d assumed it was tiredness from a long drive, but no, the weariness was very much evident even today.

Martha put on the steaks for her boys and watched the trio quietly. Yes, there was a story there lurking beneath the surface, she only hoped for them at least, it involved a happy ending.