Spirits of Ash and Foam (29 page)

She reached for him, as if to put a hand against his chest. As Cash's chest was substance-free, her hand passed into his body, as if reaching for his heart, as if she were touching his soul. He clearly didn't appreciate the sensation and jumped back. But in that second or two, she'd heard one whispered word. Well, not heard it exactly, but she'd felt it. It was liquid, washing in and sweeping away, like a wave lapping at her mind. Or maybe it was a whiff of smoke carried past her consciousness on the wind. One wave, one whiff, one word:
DEATH.
In any case, neither ghost not girl seemed anxious to repeat the experiment. Rain looked around the room, frustrated and helpless. Finally, she said, “Could you leave? I need to change for bed, and, well…”

Again Cash looked briefly confused, and then he seemed to get it. He headed for the closed door.

Rain said, “If 'Bastian gets back before dawn, we'll come find you. Um, down in the lobby. If not, we'll talk after sunset, okay?”

Cash looked back, started to speak, caught himself and nodded. Then he walked through the closed door and was gone.

Rain stood there for a good three minutes, staring after him. Composing herself. Then she got ready for bed.

Wearing a long T-shirt, she turned off the lights and slipped under the covers. The room was dark but not pitch. She stared up at the ceiling. She missed her armband, and not just because of Cash. It had begun to feel like a part of her. It seemed to give her strength. She hadn't been the only one to miss it, either. As Rain and Charlie were getting off the Guerreros' boat earlier, Miranda had noticed Rain wasn't wearing it. Charlie looked instantly panic-stricken. Rain's knee-jerk response had been to lie, to tell Miranda she hadn't worn it today.

Miranda had said, “But I'm sure I—”

Rain had cut her off. “I usually wear it, but I left it home.”

Miranda shook her head slightly. Then nodded, suddenly doubting her own memory.

Rain hated lying to Miranda, who deserved better. In fact, she hated lying about this, period, because she—Rain—deserved better.
But what other choice do I have?

Slowly, all that exhaustion crept up on her. She began to drift. Her last conscious, coherent thoughts were of the Kimlets at the mercy of First Witch.

At that moment, as I felt her fears for the children from across town, I began to growl reflexively. It was a low guttural noise born of my own frustration. I was under yet another bus bench on Camino de las Casas, trying to stay out of the rain, out of the storm caused by
Hura-hupia
to interfere with the search for the kids, not because she cared what happened to them one way or another, but because their abduction provided a useful and serendipitous distraction for Rain that interfered with the Searcher's search for the next
zemi.

A hand reached down and rubbed my neck, roughly scrunching up the fur and skin, and gently rubbing it back down with the grain, the way I liked it. It stopped me from growling. Maq was above me, lying across the bench with his straw hat over his face. Up to this point, he had seemed oblivious to the rain and indifferent to the fate of the Lost Girl and Boys. But the words he spoke belied that impression. “You know I can't break the rules, Opie. You know that.”

I gruffled some sound or other, acknowledging as much.

“Can't break 'em. But no one said anything about
bending
'em a mite. If
Hura-hupia
can send Rain a dream or three to set our girl thinking down the wrong path, then I can certainly spin one of my own for a minor mental course correction. Heck, I wouldn't even be sending a new dream exactly. If anyone asks, it's really just a do-over of one of
Hura-hupia
's reveries, spun a bit closer to how
I
remember the story…”

I quickly barked my approval. I couldn't really see how a dream would help anyone at this stage, but at least we were doing
something.
So I lowered my chin onto my paws and watched the show playing out behind Rain Cacique's eyelids.

This was the dream Maq sent:

In the First Days, Aycayia the Cursed was in mourning for the death of her child. Aycayia had not eaten, had barely slept and would not leave the
bohio,
where once she had cared for the baby and held him close.

Her six older sisters, who had raised and cared for Aycayia since she herself was a babe, were in fear for their youngest sister's life. They urged her to leave the
bohio,
to bathe under the cool light of the moon. But Aycayia would not move. She stared into the fire at the center of the hut and watched the smoke and ashes float away.

When the sun rose, First Sister tried again. She left the
bohio
herself and bathed in the clear, fresh water outside. She called for her sisters to join her, but Aycayia did not budge.

So Second Sister left the
bohio
to bathe with First Sister. And both called to the others to join them. But Aycayia said not a word and did not budge.

And so it went, as Third Sister and Fourth Sister and Fifth Sister emerged one by one from the
bohio.
And each began to bathe and each called back. But only when Sixth Sister joined them and all were calling Aycayia did she stir from the flames and smoke and ash.

Finally, Aycayia emerged. She joined her Sisters, who washed the soot from her body. But the ash washed from Aycayia's face was replaced by streaks of tears for her Lost Child. And the song she sang was beautiful but heartbreaking. Yet even in her grief, Aycayia was the most beautiful woman who had ever lived. And that was her curse. Men looked at her and saw the curve of her hip, the fullness of her breast, her raven-dark hair and the light in her eyes. But few saw the love that she had borne for her child or the anguish in her heart now that he was lost to her.

When the bath was done, the Six Sisters made a large pot of
ajiaco
and coaxed Aycayia to eat. The soup was warm and flavorful and brought forth memories of her childhood—not so long ago—in the days before the horror of her wedding night. The smallest of smiles bloomed on Aycayia's lovely face. But this smile would not last.

The old crone Guanayoa appeared. She said, “First Chief and First Shaman have banished you from the
cacicazgo.
”

The Six Sisters protested. They knew Guanayoa had always hated Aycayia and suspected she had poisoned First Chief and First Shaman against Her.

But Aycayia was resigned to her fate. And with her child gone, there was nothing to keep her in the
cacicazgo.
“I will leave,” she said.

Guanayoa was not pleased that Aycayia was not angry. And Guanayoa was even less pleased when the Six Sisters insisted on joining Aycayia in her exile. “We will go with Aycayia from the
cacicazgo,
” First Sister said. “Else Guanayoa will triumph.”

The crone argued against it, but the Sisters would not budge, and their loyalty brought a small smile to Aycayia's face. So it was decided that Guanayoa would take Aycayia and her Six Sisters far away.

Fourteen Warriors were placed in seven canoes. They were blindfolded, so they could not look upon Aycayia. And their nostrils were plugged with rubber gum, so they could not revel in her scent. Aycayia was led to the First Canoe. She was bound so she could touch no one. And she was gagged so her voice could make no appeal. For Aycayia's beauty was so potent, all the senses must be thwarted, lest someone take pity upon her.

Aycayia's Six Sisters sat in the six other canoes. Guanayoa sat beside Aycayia and guided the blind warriors far away to Punta Majagua. There, Aycayia, her Sisters and Guanayoa were abandoned. The Fourteen Warriors were instructed to row toward the heat of the setting sun with their blindfolds in place. Only when night had fallen could they remove them and find their way home.

But there was no peace for Aycayia. She and her Sisters were forced to build a new
bohio
for Guanayoa. And they served the old crone as her slaves.

And Guanayoa was cruel to Aycayia in many small ways. But Aycayia would not be brought to anger. It seemed nothing Guanayoa did could harm Aycayia more than her own grief.

But Aycayia's Six Sisters, Aunties to her dead child, could not bear to see Her treated in such a way. And so the Sisters summoned First Hummingbird to take a message back to the
cacicazgo,
pleading for help. Hummingbird flitted to each of the Fourteen Warriors, and each and every one answered the Six Sisters' call. They sat in their canoes and put blindfolds on again. And they remembered their First Journey and crossed through the darkness in the same manner.

The Fourteen Warriors found the
bohio
of Guanayoa on Punta Majagua. They found Aycayia bathing Guanayoa with her Sisters. But Guanayoa saw the Warriors first, and Guanayoa was First Witch. She cast a spell upon the Fourteen and told them only the strongest might have Aycayia. Thus enthralled, each Warrior did battle against friend and brother. And by nightfall, all Fourteen lay dead on Punta Majagua.

Aycayia was one of only ten witnesses to the crime. She threatened to tell First Chief and First Shaman of First Witch's evil. But Guanayoa warned, “There is no land safe from my magicks, Aycayia! And if no land is safe from me, then you will never be safe on land.”

Frightened, Aycayia and her Sisters fled to First Ocean, hoping to escape Guanayoa's wrath. They stumbled through the water, trying to reach the canoes of the Fourteen Warriors. But Guanayoa's curse reached them first. The Six Sisters were transformed into dolphins. And the First Witch transformed Aycayia into a hideous manatee.

But the beauty of Aycayia the Cursed is still strong, and so too her grief and her loneliness. And it is said, she can still become beautiful to lure children into the water with her song, never to be seen again …

Lost in the dream, Rain felt something scrape along her arm. Then her Papa 'Bastian's voice summoned her from sleep. “Rain! Rain, wake up!” Still groggy, she stirred. He poked the armband he had slipped upon her arm, nudging it and her. “Rain. Listen. I saw the kids. Rain!”

Instantly, her eyes popped open, and she all but bolted out of bed—right through her ghostly grandfather, who now stood up behind her. Cash was there, too. She was still confused, half-asleep, but she was dragging herself awake, using her desperation like a rope to pull herself out of slumber's grip. She stepped back so she could see them both. “Did you say you saw the Kim kids? Where are they? What time is it?” She glanced at the clock. It was 5:26
A.M.
“Where are they?” she repeated.

“They're on Witch's Finger with Aycayia. I tried to talk to them, to her. But I was pretty useless. The kids couldn't hear me. Maybe she couldn't either—”

“How'd you get back here so quickly?”

He couldn't believe that mattered to her at this moment, but he said, “I ran across the island and hopped the first ferry back. Joe was at the helm. He looked so old…”

She couldn't believe that mattered to him at this moment, and she asked, “How were they? How did they look?”

“Fine, actually. Happy. I mean I guess they're under a spell, but they—”

“Were they dolphins?”

“No, human. At least at first. So was Aycayia. She was wrapped in seaweed, which was probably good for my sanity. But the kids were naked—”

“Were they cold?”

“No, listen. Aycayia had built a fire and made them soup. She was
taking care
of them. I don't think she's evil, Rain. I just think she's—”

“Lonely.”

“Yes. And sad.”

“The dream. I was dreaming that when you woke me.”

“Dreaming me finding her?”

“No, dreaming her story. But it was different this time than the last time. I mean it was the same story, but it wasn't. That first dream … I think that first dream … lied.”

Cash suddenly spoke up. “Kid, dreams can totally lie.”

This was an odd epiphany for Rain. “Yeah. I guess so. But these dreams, the ones I've been having since all the weirdness started. They're different. They feel so real. And this one tonight seemed … true. Or
truer
than the old version of the story, anyway.”

The Pale Tourist shook his head. “I don't ever trust my dreams. That's fluff. Spinning off and evaporating like cotton candy for the mind, my friend. You want something to trust, try money. Coin. Lucre. That's the stuff you can bank on. Cold, hard cash.”

“Isn't your name Cash?” the Dark Man asked.

“It is now. And that's why.”

Rain and 'Bastian exchanged confused looks. Rain said, “Didn't you have something to tell me?”

“Oh, yeah. See, this mosquito swarm vampire thing killed me. And now it's looking to kill you. It's taking orders from this woman, who formed right out of the air.”

“Julia,” Rain and 'Bastian said in unison.

“If you say so. I didn't catch her name. Anyway, I figured I should warn you. Figured if I did, maybe I could move on.” He looked around, but nothing had changed. There was nowhere in particular for him to move. He scrunched his face into a frown. “'Course, I might have gotten that wrong.”

Rain visibly shook off Cash's musings and turned back to 'Bastian. “Do you think they're still there, where you left them?”

“No. I stayed with them
until
they left. Then I followed. They went back to the water, and Aycayia had her manatee skin wrapped like a bundle under her arm. I kept up as long as I could. I saw her dress herself and transform back. Then I saw her transform the kids back into dolphin pups with her tail. The other six dolphins joined them, and they swam off faster than I could follow. So I went back to shore and crossed the island. Oh, and Callahan was there too!”