Redemption (7 page)

“Um…are you
okay?”  Rebecca paced forward so that she was standing just a couple of feet
from his perch. 

The little boy
lifted his head and gazed up at her with round, startled eyes the color of the
sky.  He looked to be about ten or so, thin, but still carrying traces of that
little-kid roundness in his cheeks.  That little bit of light- of something
more
-
was visible, even in this child.  “I’m lost,” he said in a forlorn little
voice.

Rebecca crouched
down so that she was at eye level.  “How did you get out here all by
yourself?”  There was no way this little boy had just wandered away from his
family or something.  Aside from the grim robed one, Isaac was the only other
person she had ever met in this dream- at least the only one who hadn’t turned
out to be a faceless thing or a monster. 

Bracing herself
for some sort of disaster, she reached out and ruffled the little boy’s silky
hair.  It felt like down under her fingers.  His blue eyes delved into hers
with their familiar light.  The little boy shrugged.  “I got lost.  No one will
come find me.  They probably forgot about me.  It happens all the time.”  He
snuffled loudly.

Rebecca took a
deep breath.  “Ah, hey, what’s your name?”  But she already knew the answer.

He was now
staring at the water, looking completely dejected.  “Isaac,” he said numbly.

Rebecca closed
her eyes in a long blink.  “I thought so.”  She sighed.  “Look, Isaac, it’s me,
Rebecca… do you remember me?”

The boy looked
at her again, his face scrunched up in confusion.  “No.  I don’t know any
Rebecca.”  Then, as if trying to make her feel better, even though he was the
one crying, “It’s a real pretty name though, like a book my sister has.  
Rebecca
of Sunnybrook Farm
.”  He forced a smile through his tears.  “I never read
it, but the lady on the cover had real pretty blond hair, just like yours.”

She sank down on
the bank beside him.  What in the world was she supposed to do?  “Hey, Isaac,”
she tried to sound unconcerned.  “Did you maybe drink some of that water?”  She
gestured at the stream.  Maybe it was poisoned or something.  Maybe the water
made you turn into a child.

He shook his
head.  “No.”  He sighed and gazed the water as if he was mesmerized.  “I almost
jumped in.  I was thinking about it when you came.”  Rebecca stared at him,
shocked. 

“I almost
drowned once when I was fishing with my Dad,” he said in a whisper.  The light
had gone out of his eyes and they looked blank and lifeless.  “He didn’t even
notice.  If my sisters hadn’t pulled me out, I would have died.”  His voice
dropped to a whisper.  “It mighta been easier if he hadn’t noticed.”

Rebecca stood
and went to sit on his rock, putting an arm around him.  “That must have been
really scary,” she said gently.  “But you shouldn’t think about hurting
yourself.”

His skinny
shoulders shook.  “No one knows where I am,” he said, his voice breaking with
tears.  “No one came.  No one c…cares,” he hiccupped.

“That’s not
true,” she said immediately.

But the little
boy was crying in earnest.  “Once, they left me at the grocery store.  It was
almost an hour before they came back.  They didn’t leave any of the other
kids.  J…just m…me.” 

Rebecca stoked
his hair.  “Do you have a big family?  I’m sure it was an accident.  Your
parents must have felt so bad!”

His voice
dropped to a whisper.  “Dad was so embarrassed ‘cause he had to come get me… I
had bruises for weeks.”

Her heart
clenched.  “Sweetie…did…does your dad…hurt you a lot?”

He rubbed his
eyes with his little fists, and she noticed bruises on the soft white skin of
his little wrists.  “Shit,” she whispered softly, hoping he hadn’t heard her.

He shrugged. 
“Not a lot.  Just when I do something stupid… or when he has too much to
drink.”

Rebecca almost
stood and walked away.  It was suddenly just too much.  She didn’t want to hear
any more.  She didn’t want to know what was making Isaac re-live his
childhood.  She didn’t want to think about how her child, who she had treasured
with all her heart, had died before she even drew a breath, while this
beautiful little boy had lived so that his parents could abuse him.

“Where’s your
mom?” she asked anyway.  “Doesn’t she know you’re unhappy?”

The little boy
sniffed.  “We don’t have a mom.  She’s gone.  It’s just me and my brother and
sisters.”  He looked at the water again.  “I’m the biggest, so I have to
protect them.  I’d do anything to make them happy.”

Her heart
broke.  “Isaac,” she said softly.  “Come on Isaac…wake up.  You’re not a kid
anymore.  That was all a long time ago.”

This just seemed
to make him cry harder.  “I don’t wanna be here anymore.  But I don’t wanna go
home either.  I never could do anything right.  Nobody cares about me.  And now
they’re all grown up and nobody n…n…needs me around anymore.”  His little body
was wracked with sobs.

Rebecca wrapped
her arms around him and held him together.  “That’s not true,” she said
fiercely.  “
I
care about you.”  She pulled back and looked into those
blue eyes.  “
I
need you.  You have to help me.  You can’t just leave me
here to do this on my own.”

She had no idea
if the child Isaac would even know what she was talking about, but he blinked
at her.  “You care about me?”

She nodded, her
own eyes tearing up.  “Yeah…I do.  And I need you to be yourself again, okay? 
I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“You… you need
me?”  He put his head in his hands.  Rebecca watched, amazed, as he morphed
from child to gawky teenager and into adulthood.  When he was himself again,
she gingerly reached out and patted his back.  “Feeling better now?”

He lifted his
head, but refused to look at her.  “Sorry,” he muttered, so low that she barely
heard him.

Rebecca stood
and nervously wiped her hands on her pants.  She felt like she had just been
caught peeping in on something private- again.  This was beginning to be a
pattern, and an uncomfortable one.  “Ah, don’t worry about it, okay.”  She held
up her hands.  “We can just pretend that never happened.”

The tips of his
ears were faintly pink.  “I’m sorry.  I don’t know what came over me.  I
haven’t thought about that crap for a long time.  No- that’s not true.  I
try
not to think about it.  Sometimes I just can’t help it.”

He stood and
looked down at the water.  “I think it’s okay to drink.  That wasn’t what
caused it.”  Before she could protest, he had dropped to the ground push-up
style and put his lips to the water.

Then he knelt
and splashed a bit of water onto his face.  Seeing that he didn’t seem to be in
any mortal peril, Rebecca followed suit.  The water was cold and clear, perfect. 
More importantly, Rebecca didn’t turn into a child.  She remained firmly
planted in adulthood.  When she was done, Isaac gave her a hand up.  His sharp
blue eyes met hers, and this time he seemed determined not to look away. 

“Thank you,” he
said quietly.  “For, well, for saying what I needed to hear.”

Rebecca flushed
and squirmed.  “I would have done the same thing for any little kid,” she said,
heading back toward the path.  “It’s no big deal.”

Isaac followed
along behind her, his deep voice thick with emotion.  “It is to me.”

~~~~~

The hooded man
managed to find them the moment Rebecca was alone.  She couldn’t help but feel
that he had planned it this way, and that could only mean that he was watching
them.

“Enjoying your
game?”  She asked, her voice dripping with sweet sarcasm.  Rebecca refused to
let the hooded thing think that he had surprised her.

The robed man
drifted closer, bringing with him a chill that seemed to settle in her bones. 
He was close enough that she could see a wooden mask hidden in the shadows of
his hood.  It was carved in the likeness of a raven, with a long, curved beak
where the nose should be, and deep, fathomless pools of blackness for eyes. 
The worn wood grain made the mask look ancient.  Of course, how old was death?

“You’re still
traveling with your companion?”  The raspy voice made her shiver
involuntarily. 

“Of course,” she
said defiantly.  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

The hooded
figure laughed at her reply, a hallow sound like the winter wind through
leafless trees.  “Oh,” it rasped, “I just thought perhaps you would think it
unwise, given how much you’ve seen of his weaknesses and failings.  He can’t be
much help on your quest, after all.”

Rebecca crossed
her arms and refused to show even a hint of doubt, though she had experienced similar
thoughts herself.  “We all have weaknesses and failings,” she said firmly. 
“It’s what makes us human… but then, I suppose that’s something you wouldn’t
know anything about.  Being human, I mean.”

The robed figure
cocked its head this way and that, its movements making it look like it really
was a huge raven turned man.  “Are you
sympathizing
with that pathetic
excuse for a man, now that you’ve seen his inner child?”

Rebecca glared
and refused to answer.  “Is there a point to this visit?”

The robed one
was silent for a moment.  When he spoke, it was like a parent lecturing an
errant child.  “Your strength is the reason the two of you have come so far. 
I’m not blind to the fact that you are the one pulling all the weight.” 

Rebecca shook her
head, her hair whipping about in the light breeze.  “You’re wrong.  You say
he’s a worthless companion, but back there in the glade, I was the one who was
weak and useless.  He pulled me through when I would have given up.”

The masked
figure paced in front of her.  His sudden change from cold stillness to
determined activity alarmed her.  What could make death so excited?

“The ubis?  
Pfft
!
 Child’s play.  You were only weak against them because of your innocence.  You
can hardly see his manwhore past as a strength?”  He waved it away with a long,
pale hand.  “I think you’ll find bigger challenges ahead,” he rasped.  “And
when you face the things that have destroyed you- what will your new friend do
then?  Do you honestly think that inconstant, shallow, waste of space will have
it in him to save you?”

Rebecca
swallowed hard and refused to let her doubt show.  But she couldn’t entirely
deny her fear.  “He won’t have to,” she said, raising her chin.  “I’ll save us
both.”

The sound of his
laughter was like nails on a chalkboard.  Chills walked down her spine, and she
felt like she would come unhinged.  “We’ll see,” he rasped happily.  “We’ll
see.”  Then he was gone in a swirl of dead leaves and icy wind.

~~~~~

Isaac
was aloof after their last little challenge, but there was nothing Rebecca
could do about it, since bringing up the incident at the stream would seem like
prying.  She paused to tie her shoe and roll up the long cuffs of her
jeans, slapping at them to knock off some of the accumulated dust and
debris.  She snuck a glance at Isaac's broad back until he slowed his pace
and turned to see what was holding her up.  Caught in the act of staring,
she hastily went to join him.  Watching him in all his moods was becoming
a guilty pleasure.

She
was surprised when he spoke.  "I'm the oldest of five," he said
suddenly.
Rebecca glanced at him as they made their way up
a slight hill.  "Oh...really?  I'm an only child." 
She didn't know what else to say.  She wanted to ask him about his
siblings, but wasn't sure if she was allowed.

Apparently,
the topic wasn’t off limits.  He glanced at her, and the look in his
crystal blue eyes was unreadable.  "I have three sisters and one
little brother."  He stepped over a fallen tree in the path and waited
while she scrambled over to join him. 

"My
mom left when my youngest brother was born.  Just ditched."  He
put his hands in his pockets and continued as they walked.  "Dad was
always a surly bastard, but he got worse once she was gone.  But it was
his own fault.  I guess that's what you get when you marry a kid." 

He
looked away, then back at Rebecca again.  "She was only sixteen when
she had me, see.  So I can't really blame her too much for leaving
us.  She got the heck out of a bad situation.  I just wonder- did she
end up better off?  Or did she end up with someone just as miserable as the old
man?"

Rebecca
swallowed, trying to think of something to say, but Isaac saved her from that
for a few minutes more.  "The little ones- even though I was a kid, I
knew it wasn't right the way he treated them.  So I tried my best to
always get between them, I was old enough to take it.  Poor little Jess
was just a baby still when Mom left.  And Meg wasn't much older.  I
was old enough to change diapers and make bottles at least."

Rebecca
finally found her voice.  "How... how old were you?"

He
squinted into the watery sun visible on the horizon.  "Oh, I was
seven.  Big enough to do what Dad told me.  And a couple years later-
big enough to take a punch without much fuss."