Sacrifice (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 2) (16 page)

‘Dear Mr Lee,

I have tried to contact you, but you don’t see or hear me, so I’ve found someone to write this card for me.

I see you come to my grave. You look around to make sure you’re alone, and then you gently kiss the petals of the yellow rose before you place it on my headstone. And I hear you beg forgiveness for what you believe to be your fault. But it was not your fault. You don’t need forgiveness. What happened was my fault. You couldn’t have prevented it. I was the one that walked in front of your tram. I should have looked.

Please—do not blame yourself any longer. And if you can find it in your heart, please forgive me for causing you so much pain. I have said what I needed to say, and I can go now.

Rhonda

She was right. I would post the card today, and on some level, he would know that it had come from her.

~~***~~

That evening, as I snuggled up next to Sam I decided I should tell him about my day with Rhonda. At first, he listened intently, and I thought for sure he was going to be angry. In some ways, I couldn’t blame him, not after what had happened with Rachel. But I continued telling him the whole story, and promised him it was different—that it had been co-ordinated by Elizabeth who had ensured Rhonda’s motives were genuine. By the end of my story, his face had changed from looking dubious, to looking proud. And when I said I’d be going back tomorrow to help another ghost, he just smiled and wished me luck.

Then he rolled me onto my back, and my gorgeous husband touched me in ways that made the whole world seem to disappear, with the exception of him of course.

~~***~~

The following morning I met Elizabeth at her bench again.

‘How did you go with Rhonda? I haven’t seen her since yesterday. Did everything go well?’ she asked.

‘I suppose so. Had she told you what she wanted me to do?’ I asked.

‘Yes, to send a card to the tram driver.’

‘That’s right. So, I wrote what she wanted and she followed me to the post office and watched me mail it.’

‘And then?’

‘Well, just after the envelope dropped from my fingers, she smiled, thanked me, and disappeared.’

‘Oh, is that all? Nothing interesting?’

‘No, not really. Well, she did seem younger just before she disappeared, or maybe I just hadn’t realised how young she actually was. She looked to be around the same age as me.’

‘Yes, about the same I think. But she’d been so worried about that poor man—I think that made her look older. Anyway, I’m glad you were able to help her. It was easy, wasn’t it?’

‘Very. And I felt really good about doing it; about helping her resolve her issues.’

‘Yes,’ she said, smiling brightly. ‘Now, are you ready for another? It’s just a small request—similar to Rhonda’s.’

‘Sure. I mean, of course I’ll try.

She called out, and an older man approached us. His name was Arthur, and his request was simple too. He wanted me to write a note for him and put it in his garage. It seems he died without telling his wife about some money he’d buried in his back yard, and though he tried and tried, she just wouldn’t see him.

His house wasn’t far—we went by tram. When we got there, we waited to be sure she wasn’t home, and then went into the garage. There was some paper, and an old pencil in one of the drawers of his workbench. He told me exactly what to write, and even helped me find a bit of paper with his writing on it so I could get my writing to look similar to his own. Then he showed me where to hide the note. I tucked it into a crack in the cupboard where she kept her laundry powder so that just a bit of the corner showed. Then he had me tip the laundry powder over and spill some, so that she would have to clean it up. He figured that way she’d find the note the next time she did the laundry. He hoped she’d think she’d simply overlooked it—that it had been there all along.

That took up the whole morning, but it was fun. It made me feel like a private investigator—sneaking around in their garage. My heart was thumping like crazy for fear of getting caught, but she didn’t come home while we were there.

The following morning when I met Elizabeth in the gardens she had an older woman with her—Hilary. Hilary must have been in her seventies, with a kind face and piercing blue eyes that looked too young for her wizened face. Hilary hadn’t spoken to her sister, Joan, for several years. It seems the sisters had argued over something so trivial that Hilary couldn’t even remember exactly what it was. Hilary wanted to tell Joan that she was sorry for being so childish, but Joan couldn’t, or wouldn’t, see her even though Hilary had tried many times.

This request was a bit harder than the other two, as Hilary wanted me to meet Joan, in person. She wanted me to tell Joan that I’d known Hilary through a book club, and that she’d often spoken of her sister, and about how she had been planning to patch things up between them. The story would go that Hilary spoke of Joan’s routine, and how she’d intended to meet her at the zoo, at the butterfly enclosure.

I promised I would go for as long as it took until I ran into her.

After Hilary left, Elizabeth sat with me a bit longer.

‘How did you go with Arthur yesterday?’

‘Good. I put the note in his laundry—he’s convinced his wife will find it next time she does the laundry. He’s going to stay there and watch until she does.’

‘Oh, that’s wonderful isn’t it? I hope that works out for him. And now, with Hilary, you’re happy going to the zoo to meet her sister? I wish I could come with you. I would love the zoo. But it’s way too far. I could never get there.’

‘Ah, I wish you could come too. I mean, I’m happy to go on my own, but it would be more fun if you could come. I just hope she doesn’t think I’m some sort of nut-case.’

‘She won’t. Why would she? You’ll just say you’d been thinking about Hilary and how she’d told you about her sister. Hilary died nearly six months ago, but you can say that you hemmed and hawed about going, and just finally decided it was the right thing to do.’

‘That sounds plausible. Good thinking, ninety-nine.’

‘Nighty-nine?’

‘Oh, just a silly line from an old TV show—a nickname—you wouldn’t know it.’

‘No. Can’t say as how I’ve ever seen TV. Ninety-nine. What a funny nickname.’

~~***~~

On Friday I took the tram to the zoo. I halfway expected Hilary to be following me, but she did say she wouldn’t come, and seemed to be keeping her word.

It was a glorious day—not a cloud in the sky. I walked around for a time, making sure I had my story straight and getting up the nerve to actually do this.

After I’d done a lap of the entire zoo, I walked into the butterfly enclosure, and there sat an elderly woman on a small bench right in the middle. She was wearing a broad brimmed straw hat that was covered with butterflies and there were even more on her lap. She was the spitting image of Hilary.

I made my way over to her slowly, careful not to startle either her or the butterflies. When I stopped right beside her she looked up at me with the same piercing blue eyes I’d seen in Hilary’s face.

‘They’re so beautiful, aren’t they?’ she asked.

‘Yes, they are. I’m surprised, I mean, I didn’t know they landed on you like that.’

‘If you stand very still, they will land on you too, I’m sure.’

I stood perfectly still, and sure enough one landed on my shoulder. I giggled, and felt just like a little kid again.

‘May I sit with you?’ I asked after a few moments.

‘Of course, dear. Just mind the butterflies there, won’t you?’

I made sure there were none on the seat as I sat down beside her, and waited for the right moment to speak again.

‘You’re Joan, aren’t you?’ I asked, leaning away and looking back at her as if I’d just recognised her.

‘Why, yes I am. Do I know you, dear?’

‘No. But I know, or rather, knew, your sister. She said you often came here.’

‘My sister—well, I’ll be.’

‘You know, she intended to come here herself—to apologise. She felt terrible about the distance that had grown between you.’

‘Did she? And how do you know that?’ she asked, suspiciously.

‘I often saw her at the book club, and we got to talking one day—about family and that. You know, she couldn’t even remember what you two had argued about—it meant that little to her. But she said her pride got in the way and that’s why she never rang. And time went on. But she had every intention of coming here to see you. That’s how I knew it was you. She said you often came here and sat with the butterflies.’

‘Well … I never,’ she sputtered, shaking her head with a confused look on her face.

‘She was sorry. She really didn’t mean for the distance to grow between you the way it did. She had every intention of making things right, but time wasn’t on her side.’

‘No, it certainly wasn’t. It certainly wasn’t at that.’

We sat there, neither of us speaking or looking at each other. I wondered if she was happy, or sad, or even felt anything. She made no sound what-so-ever.

After several minutes had gone by, I slowly stood up and faced her. She looked up at me, and I could see tears in her beautiful blue eyes.

‘Thank you, dear. Thank you for telling me this. We were both too stubborn for our own good. When I think of the things we could have done together … the times we should have shared … well, never mind, never mind. But I am grateful that you’ve come to tell me this.’

‘I’m just glad that you were here today. I so wanted to pass on that message for Hilary.’

‘Will you come again? Perhaps we can chat … or maybe we could have a cup of tea in the café?’

‘Yes, I’d like that.’

‘So would I. I am here most Fridays, you see.’

‘Well then, until next time.’

‘Good-bye dear. And again, thank you.’

I left Joan sitting there on that bench, surrounded by the little butterflies that seemed to give her so much pleasure. And even though I felt a lump growing in my own throat, I was happy. I’d done something that really mattered. Not just for Hilary, the ghost that wanted to move on, but for Joan too. For a lonely woman who missed her departed sister.

~ Chapter Seventeen ~

I was feeling really good. I mean, I always felt really good when I was expecting, but this time it was more than that. I’d helped several more ghosts resolve their issues, I’d enquired about enrolling in some psychology courses, and I’d finally settled the dates for our trip to California. I felt like I was finally making progress with my life and that nagging feeling that I’d taken on too much no longer plagued me.

And there’d been no more bold encounters anywhere near the gardens. Sam figured word must have filtered out into the broader vampire population that Melbourne was stitched up tight at the moment. Or at least that’s what he told me, when a few days before we were to head to Mladen’s for the birth of my third child, he mentioned that he was a bit worried that Tom was getting bored again. He figured it was likely Tom would take off on one of his
trips
soon.

Then, the afternoon before we were leaving, Sam asked if I would mind terribly much if he didn’t come with me this time. He said he was still a bit concerned about Tom taking off, and felt it would be better if he stayed to help Michael—in case anything happened. I didn’t let on that Crystal had said anything to me about her suspicions as to why he mightn’t want to come. Nor did I try to get him to change his mind. I simply said that it was fine.

But of course it wasn’t fine. Not really. It was going to be terrible in actual fact. It meant we’d be apart for three weeks. Anything could happen in three weeks. Sure, nothing was
likely
to happen, but I had a sick feeling that my insecurities would return. Even so, I simply couldn’t insist he come with me—it would be both childish and selfish. Instead, I bit my lip and gritted my teeth and excused myself to go upstairs to pack.

Although Western Australia probably wouldn’t be as cold as Melbourne, I was pretty sure there’d be no swimming this time. So I just packed casual walking clothes, and a couple of books that had been sitting on my bedside table for the past few months. There were also a few toys that I’d picked up to take to Ben and Henry.

As I put the toys in my suitcase, my spirits lifted. One way or another Crystal and I could keep ourselves entertained for the three weeks. Ben would be talking by now, and even little Henry would no doubt be trying to keep up with his big brother. I smiled, remembering Crystal playing with Ben last time. This time there’d be the two of them.

After I finished packing I decided to make one last trip to the gardens to say goodbye to Elizabeth. As soon as I could see the bench I noticed that Elizabeth was already there, with Arthur beside her.

‘We hoped you’d come today,’ she said as I walked up to sit with them.

‘Oh, hi Arthur. How nice to see you again. Has your wife found the note yet?’ I asked, smiling as I sat beside them.

‘She sure did, love,’ he said, and I could see he was struggling to contain his excitement. ‘She found it yesterday. After she read it, she just sorta stood there scratching her head and mumbling “my, oh my”. But then she grabbed me old shovel and raced out back to the spot under that old tree. Took her no time to dig it up,’ he laughed. ‘Must’a been one of those a-drenaline rushes you hear people talk about—that ground was like cement.’

‘Wow, that’s great. So, you never did tell me, was it a lot of money?’

‘Yes love, it sure was. Nearly twenty thousand dollars, it was. You see, I’d been saving up to buy us a caravan so as we could travel. Wanted to surprise her, yer know, for our wedding anniversary. But then I went and had that bloody heart attack—surprised her alright, just not the surprise I wanted to give her,’ he chuckled at that too, then sat back and smiled.

As we sat there chatting, Arthur seemed to grow more and more transparent, and his colours became softer. Then, after a few more minutes, he was gone.

‘He won’t be back. He’s happy now. That was a good thing you did for him.’

‘It was so easy. It’s been easy with all of them really. I’m so glad they’ve trusted me enough to let me help.’

‘And I’m glad you’re enjoying it so much.’

‘So, are there others? I mean, of course I can’t do anything right now since I’m leaving for Mladen’s tomorrow, but when I get back I’ll be anxious to help again.’

‘There will be others, as word spreads of the success you’ve had so far. But I don’t know who just yet.’

I smiled at the thought of doing this on a more regular basis. This was something I could really feel good about. It gave me the sense of purpose I’d been searching for.

Elizabeth frowned—not with deep furrows the way Sam did, but for her it was definitely a frown. ‘But you need to keep in mind … I mean … don’t expect all their issues to be as easily resolved as these first few have been. They were all fairly young ghosts and their issues were current. In fact, I only met Rhonda and Arthur quite recently. They came here specifically looking for you when they heard what happened with Rachel. But most of the ghosts I know have been here for many years, so helping them may prove to be much more difficult. But let’s talk about it when you get back.’

‘Sure, we’ll talk when I get back. And I know not all of them will have such easy issues to resolve, but I still want to try,’ I replied.

‘Yes, I know you do. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up too much.’

‘I understand. So, I guess we’ll just have to wait to see, eh?’

She smiled, the frown completely gone now. ‘Yes, we’ll just have to wait. Enjoy your trip, and I’ll see you in a few weeks,’ she said as she stood and faced in the direction of Henry’s tunnel. ‘I must go find Henry. I haven’t seen him today. I do worry about him sometimes.’

‘Okay—tell him goodbye for me, won’t you? I’ll see you in a few weeks. And I really am looking forward to meeting some more of the ghosts.’

~~***~~

Sam stood with us in front of Crystal’s house waiting for the taxi to arrive to take us to the airport. It was a cool morning, so I was wearing a light coat. Sam stood behind me with his hands in my pockets. His touch felt so familiar, like I’d always known it, and yet it occurred to me that it had been less than a year since we’d met. Eleven months. A year ago today I would have just been getting organised for my trip to Australia. So much had happened in such a short time, I hardly felt that I even remembered that young girl who was anxious about her first trip overseas.

When the taxi pulled up, Sam squeezed me gently and whispered in my ear, ‘I love you more than anything in the entire universe. You know that, don’t you?’

I turned around, and looked up into his eyes. ‘Do you? Well, I love you more than I thought it was possible to love anyone or anything. You’re everything to me.’

He gave me a crooked smile, and bent down and kissed me firmly, with his hands on each side of my face. When he stepped back, he continued to look at me, but there was no smile in his eyes.

‘What is it Sam? Is everything alright?’

‘Sure. I’m just going to miss you, that’s all,’ he said, his voice sounding as sad as the look on his face. ‘You know it won’t always be like this.’

‘Won’t always be like what?’

‘Us not having time together … and me … being so hung up on patrolling. Ben and Henry will grow up, and then they’ll be here to help. We’ll be able to spend more time together—just the two of us. We’ll be able to go places, like back up north if you want to.’

‘I’d like that. We could go where we went on our honeymoon,’ I suggested, remembering some of the places I’d wished we could have stayed longer.

‘I just wish,’ he broke off, and the look on his face nearly broke my heart.

‘Don’t Sam. Don’t wish for anything to be different. Our life together will be perfect. It is perfect.’

He smiled, and it warmed me far more than any coat ever could.

‘Don’t forget to ring me when you get there, to let me know you’ve arrived safely.’

‘I will. And I’ll ring you every day.’

He helped me into the taxi as Crystal walked around and got in on the other side. Then he bent down and gently kissed me one more time before shutting the door.

As the taxi pulled away from the kerb, I turned and looked back—he was still standing there watching us drive off. I waved, but I don’t think he could see me through the tinted glass. Then the driver turned the corner and I could see him no longer.

~~***~~

We arrived at Mladen’s to find everything was exactly as it had been a few months earlier. I had the same room I’d had in February and as I walked in I hardly felt as though I’d been away.

The boys were what had changed. They’d grown so much. Ben was now five months old, which basically put him right in the middle of what would be his terrible twos. And Henry at three months was like an eighteen-month-old toddler, and not far behind his brother in terms of his precociousness. He was growing fast and I was certain that he’d be taller than his older brother.

The boys were both darker than Sam—their eyes were nearly black, and their skin was a warm brown from the Western Australian sun. And they were strong, much stronger than normal children their size would be.

They knew that I was their mother, of course, and they were happy to see me, but they were formal and maybe even a bit shy. I felt my chest tighten at the thought that my own children could be shy around me. But when I handed them the toys I’d brought them—a fire truck and police car—they giggled and carried on as any children would when given new toys. I knew they’d outgrow these toys very quickly, but I wanted them to have some memories of being children.

If all went to plan, I had five days to go, and it would be nearly three weeks before I would see Sam again. I’d done as he’d asked, and called him when we arrived, but I’d only gotten his voice message which surprised me. He almost always answered, and generally on the first or second ring.

I still felt good, physically, so after spending an hour playing with Ben and Henry and their new toys, Crystal and I decided to go for a long walk to stretch our legs.

We walked out along the main track that ran just inside the perimeter of the property, meandering through and around the tree trunks, under the canopy of some ancient gum trees. The whole track was just under a four mile circuit.

‘Crystal, do you think there’s something up? At home I mean. Sam didn’t answer the phone when I rang, and that’s not like him. And he seemed, well, not really anxious exactly, but a little worried or something the last few days. Has Michael said anything to you?’

Crystal looked at me and dropped her eyes. I suspected she knew something.

‘Crystal, look at me. Is something happening? Please tell me—the truth is probably far less dramatic than what my imagination will conjure up if I’m left to speculate about it.’

‘Nothing’s certain, Lili. But one of the vampires they caught just before we left said something, and it was a bit like the one that you encountered that time. He made some threat about revenge. It was vague, nothing definite.’

‘Zunios?’

‘No, well, at least we don’t think so. Sam spoke to Erranase, and they’ve pretty much ruled him out. Erranase believes he left the country as he said he would. But Lili, as you know, there are a lot of vampires out there, and they love our area. Our protective hold scares some of them off, but it presents a challenge to the bolder ones.’

‘So, do you think someone wants to challenge Michael?’

‘Yes, it’s possible—Michael, as well as Sam and Tom.’

‘I see. So Sam was anxious then.’

‘Yes, but not overly. This happens more often than you realise. This goes with the job, if you can call it that. Tom loves it—he loves the drama and action. With respect to Michael, well really, it is what he is made for so he just accepts it. Sam’s a bit different to both of them—having to kill goes against his nature. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an awesome fighter when he needs to be, but he’d much prefer to negotiate than destroy. The uncertainty just makes him uneasy, that’s all. But he’s fine. I wouldn’t worry about him not answering his phone. He probably just forgot to charge it or something. Please, don’t concern yourself.’

We walked along in silence for a time; me deep in thought, and Crystal seeming to understand my need for silence. I thought about all the times when Sam had looked a little sad, or preoccupied. Crystal was probably right. He just got a little uneasy at times. I was pretty sure I’d eventually learn not to worry about him, but for now I couldn’t help feeling anxious.

‘Crystal, tell me something. You and Michael, you haven’t been in that same house, doing the same thing, for all these years have you? I mean, surely people would get suspicious of this couple that never aged. I know you keep a low profile, but someone would surely notice?’

‘No, we haven’t been in the same house all that time. In fact, we’ve only been in that house for just over ten years now. We stay for up to thirty years in one place. Toward the end, we both put a little bit of grey dye in our hair—just in case anyone is paying attention. Then eventually we move. Michael gets a new job somewhere and we start over, but never too far from the area. Luckily, people don’t seem to take too much notice of us. We change our names—right now it is Jones but we have been Smith and Moore and Thomas before that.’

‘And what about Sam and Tom? Do they move around and change their names too?’

‘Yes. Sam will eventually put a tenant in that house, and he and Tom, and you of course, will move somewhere nearby. He likes the location of the one he’s in now though, so I suspect he’ll stay as long as he can, then come back to it one day.’

‘I don’t understand … how he does it I mean, keeping it legal and straight with the tax man and all that?’

Crystal just smiled at first, but then she must have realised that I was serious because she did answer. ‘Michael has lots of contacts, and that includes people who are very good with all matters of a legal nature. It’s never been a problem. Michael is not the only clever dhampir in Australia.’

‘I see. And so this job at the market, it’s just a temporary thing for Sam and Tom? I remember Sam saying he’s been a gardener, and a carpenter, and a handy-man over the years.’