Raven (21 page)

“
Lilly, Oliver and Ben have been through a lot over the
years. They have had to come to terms with the fact that both their
mother and father were killed by two wild mountain lions. If you
told them now that you may well be an animal of the feline variety,
they could see you as a huge threat. It's very risky,” she said
gently. “You're still very young, Lilly. Oliver is your first
boyfriend. Are you absolutely certain that he is the one? Because
if he's not... and he finds out about this family, all hell could
break loose. There are so many things you need to think about, to
take into consideration. Ultimately though, it's up to you. We
can't tell you what you should be doing with your life. That's for
you to decide.”

Of
course I knew what she said was true and, although it hurt in the
pit of my stomach, I had gone to Rose for a reason. I trusted her
and so I knew I had to think long and hard about my
decision.

There
was so much going on in my life and perhaps stringing Oliver along
was the worst thing I could do. The problem was that my feelings
for him were getting stronger. They were strengthened every time I
saw him.

But on
the other hand, I had to think of him and I did know that he would
undoubtedly be safer not knowing the truth. But how could he
continue to be such a big part of my life and not know? I felt so
confused.

As I
watched Rose continue to prune her beloved flowers, I couldn't help
but think what a remarkable woman she was. She had been through so
much, losing her true love and their daughter – and had never known
what had happened to them – and yet she had remained clear-headed
and, well, normal. She had continued to be a strong and loving
woman in spite of it all.

It was
then that I thought about how Vivian had taken my father and me
away from our family, and I wondered whether someone like Vivian
could have been responsible for Walter's disappearance too. I
didn't mention it though; I had already drudged up enough
heartbreaking memories. I didn't want to cause any more grief. As I
left Rose's house a little while later, I thought that perhaps it
was something I could talk about with Gabriel.

Walking
back down the pathway through the trees, I decided to take the
scenic route home, stopping along the shoreline to watch a single
fisherman catch a small fish off in the distance. I began to think
about Oliver and decided that I ought to ask Gabriel for his advice
too.

He was
pleased that I wanted his opinion on the matter, because he had
practically raised the two boys himself and knew how difficult it
was to keep the truth from them.

“
But I
am a strong believer in fate, Lilly, and if Oliver is meant to be
in your life, then he will be.”

“
But
how can he be and not know the truth. Surely he needs to know who I
really am. Who we really are. Doesn't he, and Ben, deserve to know
the truth about the family that raised them?” I asked, almost
wishing for him to just say 'yes, let's tell them the
truth'.

But he
shook his head and reiterated that what will be, will
be.

As the
afternoon turned into evening, the sky slowly became darker and my
family members began to arrive. My worries about Oliver moved
towards the back of my mind as I began to feel excited about seeing
Sammy again. I was eager for him to be welcomed into the family
after all these years. At least that's what I hoped would
happen.

The six
of us assembled just beyond the opening to the forest, where I'd
followed my mother's ghost the night before, and stood huddled
together for warmth as we awaited Sammy's arrival.

Soon we
could hear the soft flapping of wings from above. It wasn't a
frightening sound, just like a rather large bird flying down from
the sky. Only this bird was a man.

As he
swooped down quite a few metres from us, he came to a gentle halt,
before walking very slowly towards us.

I rushed
forward with open arms and as I approached him, I could almost feel
the tension from behind me but I ignored it completely, hugging
Sammy like the long lost brother that he was.

“
Sammy,” I whispered, “don't worry. I've explained the
truth. They know what happened now and they have nothing against
you... but it's been such a long time and it might take a little
while for them to accept you and to come to terms with everything.
Please bear with them.”

His face
belied his body language, which was cool and confident. I could see
in his eyes that he was nervous. Scared, even.

I took
his hand in mine, and together we turned to face my family. We
walked towards them and waited.

“
Sammy... oh dear Sammy,” cried Rose, “we're so sorry” and
she rushed forward and took him into a big hug, sobbing. I could
see that she wasn't the only one crying. As I looked closely at all
their faces, all were wet with tears and I smiled as they rolled
down my own cheeks too.

This is
what my mother and Neleh had wanted. They had wanted the truth to
be known. They had wanted me to find Sammy and bring him
home.

Gabriel
took his hand in both of his own then and smiled. He didn't say a
word, he just stood looking at the man he had once held responsible
for the death of two beloved family members. He now knew that he
had been so wrong.

Jo later
told me that she had been a little afraid at first. Although she
knew of the amazing things our family could do, she had never
actually seen anything like him before and had hovered in the
background waiting to be introduced, nervously.

Of
course as soon as I'd done so, her nerves had melted and she was
won over by Sammy's gentle soul.

As we
huddled together for warmth, we walked back towards the house,
checking that there was nobody out and about before we quickly
rushed indoors, cautiously hiding that magnificent set of wings. It
was the first time that Sammy had set foot indoors in so many years
and the simple act led him to break down in tears as he looked
around and saw that everything was pretty much as it had been all
those years before.

Meredith
patted him on his back before quickly jerking her arm away for fear
of hurting him. It broke the ice instantly and he laughed at her
reaction, “It's okay”, he said, “they won't break. They're pretty
strong,” as he wiped away the tears from his cheeks.

“
Come
Sammy, come and sit down with us. Let's make some hot coffee, or
tea?” Gabriel asked. We all wondered what he must have survived on
all these years and Sammy smiled, “It's been a long time since I
had coffee,” he smiled.

“
Coffee it is then,” said Gabriel standing
quickly.

“
No
Gabriel, I'll do it. You've all got a lot of catching up to do. Let
me do it,” said Jo as I walked with her into the kitchen, leaving
them to reminisce about the happy times and get to know each other
all over again.

Later
that evening, it was decided that Sammy would move in with us.
Gabriel's house was close enough to the forest and had easy access
should Sammy need more space. And of course, should he need to hide
from anybody.

Sammy
shed plenty of tears that night, as all of us did. As I had hoped,
he was welcomed back into the family with open arms. All was as it
should have been. But there were still so many questions that
needed to be answered. Things we needed to figure out together. A
future to plan. A father, a son and a brother to find and bring
home.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

The next
few weeks were fairly uneventful and seemed to go by quickly. Sammy
was a joy to be around and he and Gabriel were developing a close
bond. He had even been introduced to the rest of the family, after
they had suspected something pretty major was going on. Gabriel
knew that it was wrong to keep it from them.

Meredith's husband John and their son Cormac as well as
Wyatt's wife, Sonya, were told of his existence prior to them
coming over to our house. They were told that a discovery had been
made that proved, contrary to popular belief, that Sammy Morton was
innocent. That he had nothing to do with Neleh's murder or Serena's
'suicide'. They weren't told, however, about the shocking curse
that had been placed upon him until the small group arrived at the
house.

Because
they were aware of the strange creatures that already inhabited our
world, they weren't as shocked as I thought they would be. Cormac,
however, nearly fell off his chair when Sammy walked in with his
huge wings on full view. After a few minutes, though, he declared
it to be 'cool' and wanted to know if he could see him fly. Again,
the ice was broken and Sammy no longer needed to be hidden from the
rest of the family. Who he did need to be hidden from, however,
were two men who had been a big part of the family for many
years... Ben and Oliver.

Although
it was discussed at length, we all felt the same. With their
parents killed by wild animals, they needed to be shielded from the
truth. So during those few weeks, I had to prevent Oliver from
coming to the house. I knew eventually he would become suspicious
but until then, I would go on as normal.

Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned.

It was
an evening in early March. Gabriel had gone out to celebrate an old
friend's birthday and Sammy and I were enjoying an evening in
alone. We had eaten pizza and were watching an old film on the
television. Ever since Sammy had moved in, we had just clicked.
After all, we did have a lot in common. We had both spent many
lonely years forced to live without so many things. Although I'd
had a few creature comforts, there had been none for
Sammy.

We had
gone without things like TV and pizza so whenever we had the
chance, we would savour every moment.

That
night we were being silly and giggling away when there was a knock
on the door. Sammy became nervous.

“
Hide,” I whispered, giving him a few moments to slip away
somewhere in the house.

“
Who
is it?” I yelled through the door, and as I slowly opened it, there
was a beaming Oliver.

“
Happy
Valentine's Day,” he said with a beaming smile.

“
But
it's not Valentine's Day,” I answered hoping that Sammy had managed
to hide himself well.

He
grinned again and produced from behind his back a single rose.
Handing it to me, he said, “I know, but as we haven't been able to
do much together lately, and we couldn't celebrate Valentine's Day,
I thought I'd surprise you tonight. I know Gabriel is at a birthday
party so I figured you'd be alone.”

He bent
down and kissed me softly on the lips. My concern for Sammy,
however, meant that I didn't respond the way I should
have.

He
pulled back and looked at me strangely, “Is everything all right,
Lilly?” he asked.

I nodded
but I knew I had never been a very good liar.

“
What
is it?” he asked.

I
smiled, trying to think of something to say when we both heard a
noise from indoors.

It
dawned on Oliver that I was not alone. He knew I was hiding
something and I had no explanation. I was mortified.

“
Oh
God, Lilly. Are you seeing someone else?”

“
No,
of course not,” I whispered in response, though not convincingly
enough for him. If only I could just tell him the truth.

Suspicion got the better of him and he pushed open the front
door and walked in, “So who is he, Lilly? Is it someone I know?
Someone from school?”

I
repeated over and over again that there was nobody else but he just
didn't believe me. He walked into the living room and when he saw
two plates and two glasses, he knew, for sure, that I certainly
wasn't on my own.

“
Oliver, please don't do this. Of course I'm not seeing
anybody else. You're the only one,” I sobbed.

“
Then
why all the secrecy, Lilly? Why have you been avoiding me for the
past month or so?”

Again I
was speechless, there was nothing I could say.

When I
heard the front door slam, I knew that Sammy had made a run for
it.

Oliver
followed and I was terrified that he would see him. I tried to grab
him but I wasn't quick enough.

I
followed hot on his heels and knew that he had seen the man leaving
the house.

“
Who
are you?” shouted Oliver.

I
watched in horror as Sammy turned slowly and the realisation hit
Oliver smack in the face.

“
But
you're... you're a murderer. You're Sammy Morton. Oh my God, what
the...? Wings?,” he said. Something clicked within Oliver then and
I could see that he was going to try to catch him.

“
No,
just let him go Oliver,” I yelled as loud as I could, running
faster than I'd ever ran before, chasing after them. The two men
that meant the world to me. It was then that something
extraordinary happened to me.