Chapter 17

 

THE SUN SETS, bathing the snow, turning it into pools of deepening color. Alone in a dark wilderness of midnight blue the silver glints bathe her face with its radiance. The stars, like eyes, bear witness to a transcendent sonata as her hands create sweeping motions of pinks and reds.

The mists begin to swirl, dropping like snowdrops upon the barren landscape. Grey to brown, to blue, to green, eyes so distant beckon forth the heavens until outstretched fingers touch the glimmering audience above.

Hurt had robbed the music, ears agonized for the loss of such beauty. Swirling, the mist had covered the land with dirty brown greys, the sun no more than a spotlight covered by the dust of chaos.

No path in sight, no way to find, nothing but murky smudges and inaudible sounds. Whispers sniping, demanding, taunting.

“Aimed for me,” the voice of deceit bays.

“Who do you think you are?” a swirl of emerald declares.

“Would have seen . . .” Doubt from the golden star.

“I didn’t see,” the fish leaps from an endless lake. “I didn’t see,” it pleads. “I didn’t see!”

Malice lurks beneath dormant waters, teeth bared and eyes like flame. The vulture circles and swoops, beak like razors, the sky but a charcoal storm cloud. “Always alone!”

The heart beats and beats faster and faster, the rolling symphony declaring war upon the enemies’ ranks. A pebbled stone in palm, nine two three bursts into yellow-white shimmers, so blinding, so bright—

 

The floor broke me from my vision as the soaring pain ripped right through my side. I spluttered and placed my hand flat against the smooth wood as I sucked in my breaths and tried to calm my pounding pulse. The cool surface anchored me as I tried to regain my senses.

“You are a very strange creature,” Blob commented as he sat on the foot of my bed.

“Yeah, well . . . you try seeing what I see.” I tried to lift my head, testing that it was still attached. “Man, I’m glad I am not my mother.”

“Why, does she throw herself on the floor?”

I grunted, getting to my feet. The room swayed at first but it cleared after a few breaths. “I don’t know. Why don’t you go find her and haunt her instead?”

Blob ignored me and I heard snoring again. Maybe ghosts slept more the longer they hung around. I guessed there wasn’t a lot else to do.

Thinking of ghosts.

“Nan?” I called out, hoping she would have some nugget of wisdom that would help me.

“You hollered, Shorty?” Nan swept in, making the wind chimes that hung from one of the rafters jingle like it was singing.

“You know what happened,” I said. “How am I gonna get Renee out of this?”

“Honey,” Nan said. “Sometimes things happen that you can’t fix.”

“Nuh uh.” I wagged my finger at her. “No way am I giving up on her.”

“Why’s that?”

I folded my arms and stared in the direction that I could feel her loitering. “Because, it’s Renee.”

“That ain’t an answer.”

I narrowed my eyes. We weren’t going there. “Yeah, it is.”

“No, it ain’t, Shortstop,” Nan said and I felt a swish as she moved to my side. “She’s someplace deep . . . someplace scary. You really think you want to go back there . . . after everything?”

“Yes.”

My certainty made Nan pause but I could feel her so I knew she hadn’t vanished on me. It terrified me that Renee was somewhere fighting a battle and I couldn’t get to help her on the inside until I’d freed her on the outside. The longer I took, the less chance I had at doing either.

“Aeron,” Nan said. I’d never once heard her say my name, so it captured my attention pretty good. “You are gonna have to use all those gifts that you hate.”

The sweat broke out on the back of my neck and I shivered.

“You’re gonna have to do all the things you hate doing so bad,” she said. “You always say that you hate messing with people’s lives.”

“It’s for Renee,” I said. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

I took out the necklace that I always wore. It had been Nan’s, then Lilia’s before me. The inscription of Ephesians was inscribed on the back. The letters, a comforting feeling against the pad of my thumb. The armor that kept me safe from all the darkness lurking ready to strike. I knew what Nan was saying, the more I used my burdens, the more of a target I placed on my head.

“It’s for Renee,” I repeated.

Thud.

I spun around, ready to block the blow from whoever was ambushing me. No one was there.

Nan sighed. “If you’re that easily spooked. There ain’t no use in continuing.”

Realizing that no monster was ready to attack, I looked around for what caused the noise and saw an open book at my feet.

“You gonna quote me scripture?” I asked, bending down to pick up the Bible.

“I thought it was poetic, seeming as you were thinkin’ on the armor.”

Murmuring an “uh huh,” I scanned over the page, trying to find something that would help me. “Driving out spirits? Great, so now you help with Blob.”

Blob prodded me in the side, making me shiver and yelp at the same time and then Nan poked my other side and I shivered and yelped again.

“Hey, quit it!”

“You want to save Renee don’t you?” Nan asked, her tone cheeky.

“Of course. If I can.”

My eyes tracked to a number from my vision: nine two three. Chapter nine verse twenty three and I read it aloud.

“ ‘If you can?’ said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for one who believes.’ ”

I’m used to spooky but the verse and answer made even me blink a couple of times.

“You know how to unlock people’s pasts and truths,” Nan said as I closed the book and returned it to its shelf. “You need to get going though.”

I nodded and hurried around the room, struggling to put my clothes on.

“Why don’t you just heal yourself and be done with it?” she asked as I cussed under my breath with the pain.

“Because,” I mumbled from inside my sweater. “I promised Renee I wouldn’t do it on my own.” I grunted as I bent down to put on my socks. “Besides, I nearly drown when it happens.”

Once dressed and my hunger blunted with toast, I headed out into the cold air, not bothering to clear the path as it was only me trudging through it.

“You got any ideas where I should start?” I asked Nan under my breath, returning the wave of one of the ladies from the field hospital.

“Start with the friendliest face,” Nan whispered into my ear. “But to help you, she needs your help first.”

“More riddles?” I muttered.

“Yup. If you’re gonna ask a ghost for help, the answer’s always gonna be see-through.” Nan’s laughter made another woman look around to see who was chuckling.

“A friendly she. I’m guessing that’s Martha.” I smiled at the thought of breakfast. “At least she can cook.”

“Don’t forget, Shorty,” Nan said as I felt her fading. “Folks don’t always believe, even when it’s right in front of them.”

Alone once more, I was glad to see the sight of the café but I couldn’t help but stare at the police station as I walked. Renee had spent a lonely night in a cell locked in her head with whatever monster was plaguing her. That sucked.

“Ronny, honey,” Martha called out as I opened the café door. “Go take Aeron her breakfast.”

“Yes, Ma,” Ronny mumbled and I took a seat in the empty café. The folks in town had eaten breakfast and were hard at work more than likely. Snow or no snow, St. Jude’s seemed to rumble on like nothing was happening.

As Ronny brought the food to me I caught him wince and his leg wobble.

“You pick up an injury?” I asked.

The sheer panic sucked the color right out of his face and I fought the urge to groan at myself. “You’re walkin’ funny.”

“What’s this?” Martha asked, seeing her son’s expression.

“I . . . it’s nothing, Ma,” he said.

Earl attempted to scuttle out the back as he overheard the conversation and Martha was quick to catch on.

“Earl,” she called. “What’s this about Ronny?”

Ronny sighed, his shoulders sagged, and Earl trundled over to us. Ronny tried to warn his father to keep quiet and I wished I’d kept my mouth shut. Nan said help the woman not cause a family dispute.

“Where’s Zack?” I asked, hoping that they could forget my question and I could eat my breakfast without watching them bicker.

“Upstairs taking a nap,” Martha answered and without so much as pausing for breath she turned to Ronny. “Now you said that the doctor told you it was fine.”

Ronny and his father bore the universal look that said “busted” and I shoveled my food into my mouth, hoping I could at least get through a few bites before the fireworks started.

“Ma, it’s nothing.” Ronny looked at Earl for support. “The doc said it was nothing.”

“Earl?” Martha put her hands on her hips, she knew Ronny was lying, I knew he was lying, and both men knew we knew they were lying. I kept chomping, knowing that Earl was going to have to pull something special out of his greasy overalls to save this one.

Instead, he sighed in defeat and Ronny looked like he wanted to grip his chest with the betrayal.

“Martha, honey,” he said. “Now . . . you hear me out.”

I continued trying to get my food in as fast as I could.

“Earl, what did the doctor say?”

“Now, honey.” Earl put his hands up like Martha was pointing a gun at him. “I can explain.”

“What did he say about his knee?”

Ronny slumped down opposite me and buried his head in his hands, knowing the game was up.

“That he needs a replacement,” Earl admitted. “A full replacement.”

Martha leaned against the seat and I wondered if she was going to faint for a minute. “So the scholarship?”

“I can play, Ma,” Ronny said. “I can still play.”

“You can barely walk!”

“I can fix that,” I piped up. I saw the opportunity and went for it.  

“Thank you,” Earl said. “But the doctor showed us and—”

“I can fix him.” Help the woman. I could do that.

Earl frowned at me. “Are you a surgeon?” He sighed. “They won’t even look at him if he’s got a replacement.”

“No, I ain’t a surgeon,” I said. “Ronny, you up for trying somethin’?”

Ronny nodded. “Anything.”

I went around the table and knelt in front of him. “Roll up your pant leg.”

Martha and Earl watched on as Ronny did as I asked. His knee looked all kinds of swollen and I felt the twinge in my own knee. “This is gonna feel pretty weird and no matter what anybody says, you can’t say what I did, okay?”

“What are you going to do?” Martha asked.

“What I was made to,” I told her and placed my hands on the knee.

After the sheriff and his injury, Ronny’s knee wasn’t so bad and it soon heated up under my hands as the relief spread across Ronny’s face.

My hands got to the point where they burned so hot that I had to let go and Ronny flexed his knee like it was brand new. I hoped that what I’d done had helped and I hoped that the injury hadn’t been given to him to stop nothing nastier happening.

“How?” Earl asked. “What did you—?”

I turned to look up at Martha. “I need to wash my hands.” Her eyes tracked over every inch of my face. “It’s just a technique I learned in the army. Knees ain’t always as bad as they look on an x-ray.” Or whatever the doctors used for those things. I only hoped I was close enough for them to believe me.

“You think it will help him?” she asked, glancing at Ronny.

“Better than surgery,” I answered.

After a moment, Martha nodded and a beaming smile spread across her face. “I am glad that you were in the medical corps.”

My hands throbbed with the pain from Ronny’s knee. “Hands?”

Martha led me through to the back. I didn’t want to risk the public rest room so I was glad she offered me their bathroom. I looked at the door, then took a deep breath, this was not going to be pretty.