Spirits of Ash and Foam (9 page)

“That's kinda cool,” Rain said. She found herself studying Ms. Vendaval intently. The woman was truly striking. So much so that after seeing her only once the night she'd checked in, her image had invaded Rain's dreams. The Tall Woman was over six feet in height and in her mid- to late twenties, with long black hair, very pale skin and dusky red lips. Her eyes were dark brown, but they caught the light and twinkled invitingly. She was wearing a blue strapless dress, cut above the knee, with a red belt and purse—not to mention nail polish—that matched her lipstick perfectly. Throw in the cool job, and now Rain found herself
admiring
Ms. Vendaval intently. Until a couple of days ago—before learning of the
zemi
and the Search—this was exactly the kind of woman Rain had wanted to be.

“It's
very
cool, actually,” the woman was saying. “I spend a few months in a place where everyone wants to go. And just when I'm about to get bored, I'm off to the next great
where
out there.”

Rain nodded.
Exactly
the kind of woman Rain had wanted to be.

“I'm Judith, by the way.”

“Rain. And this is Charlie and—” Rain swallowed hard. “And this is Charlie.”

“Hi, Charlie,” Judith said.

“Hi,” Charlie croaked, a little freaked that Rain had come so close to introducing her dead, transparent grandfather to the nice lady.

“I haven't seen you at breakfast,” Rain said, desperate to change the subject.

Judith blushed, a little embarrassed. “Well, I'm not exactly an early riser. My target audience is a bit more interested in the island's nightlife. Speaking of which…”

“Oh, yeah, dinner. Um, well, Old Town isn't exactly Nightlife Central. That's more downtown or by the beach. But there's Kelly's Bar and Grill over on Rue de Lafitte, which has the best burger in the Pueblo.” Rain looked at Judith again and frowned. “Of course, you're a little overdressed for Kelly's, so, um…”

“Barcelona,”'Bastian offered.

“
“Barcelona!”
Rain said, way too loud. Judith looked taken aback. Rain tried to recover by pointing and saying, “It's just a shout away! Two blocks down and a right turn on Honest Robin Lane.”

“I love the street names here,” Judith said with a sparkling laugh.

“Yeah, I guess they're … quirky. Anyway, Barcelona serves traditional Spanish food. Old World. The paella's pretty amazing. Totally four stars. The place is packed at lunch, but getting a table for dinner's pretty easy. And it's not pricey.”

“Sounds perfect. Hey, do you two want to come along? I'm on an expense account, so the paella's on me.”

Rain turned again to look at 'Bastian and Charlie and then down at her armband. She shook her head.

Judith looked embarrassed again. “I'm sorry, that was weird, wasn't it? I'm some stranger inviting two kids to dinner.”

“No, it's just … we already ate. And we have homework.”

“Of course, of course. I'm going to be here for five or six weeks anyway. Maybe some time I could invite you
and
your parents to dinner.”

“That sounds nice,” Rain said. “You all set or do you want a map or something?”

“Two blocks down and turn right? I think I can handle it.”

“Okay, um, well. Enjoy.” Rain grabbed Charlie's hand and tugged him up the front stairs. 'Bastian paused to admire the Tall Woman, who was a good six inches taller than he. Captain Bohique brushed a hand through his hair, but she looked right through him, her eyes following the teens up the stairs. Then she sighed heavily and headed out the Inn's front door—just as 'Bastian felt that ol'
zemi-
tug yanking him upward.

Seconds later, all three of them were back in front of Rain's door. Glancing involuntarily at Room Six once more, Rain again dropped Charlie's hand to pull out her key.

“It must be kind of sad,” Charlie said as he rubbed the hand Rain had just released.

“What?” Rain asked.

“Eating alone every night. I mean, even if the food's great and it's all paid for, you're still eating alone.”

“Yeah,” Rain agreed, distracted momentarily by seeing Judith's glamorous life from this new perspective.

Then 'Bastian cleared his throat, and Rain unlocked her door. They all went inside.

Rain shut the door and faced 'Bastian. “Mom couldn't see you.”

“And there's no point tormenting her with the knowledge of something she can't experience.”

“And probably wouldn't believe.”

“So we keep the secret among ourselves.”

Rain turned to include Charlie. “Only the three of us can know about this. Do you swear?”

“No one else would believe us anyway.”

“That's your vow?” she asked, unimpressed.

He held up a hand. “I swear.”

She looked at 'Bastian, waiting. He grinned. “Who am I going to tell?
How
am I going to tell? You're the only one who can hear me.” She suddenly looked very cross, and he quickly held up a hand. “I swear.”

Charlie glanced over at the mirror on the closet door and watched Rain hold up her hand, saying, “I swear too,” to empty air. Then he had a thought.

“Rain, can you see 'Bastian in the mirror? Can he see himself?”

Both Rain and 'Bastian turned toward the closet and were stunned by the
lack
of what they beheld. 'Bastian wasn't reflected in the glass. Rain's head ping-ponged back and forth between 'Bastian and no-'Bastian.
This
was almost freakier than the fact that he existed. The ghost himself took a couple of steps forward, as if getting closer might suddenly make his reflection appear.

“It's like you're a vampire,” Rain said in a hushed voice.

“So I take it that means no,” Charlie said. “Makes sense when you think about it. The mirror reflects actual light, not mystic glows or whatever.”

Disturbed, 'Bastian turned his back on the closet. Rain sank down onto her bed. Charlie felt stranded in the middle of the room and ultimately retreated back to the desk chair. They were silent for a while. Then finally, Rain said, “Why me?”

'Bastian and Charlie looked up at her.

“I mean, I'm glad, honestly. I like that I'm the Searcher. But I don't understand why, and I'm a little afraid…”

“Of what, Raindrop?”'Bastian asked gently.

“That there's been some kind of mistake.”

They all thought about this for a long minute. Then 'Bastian spoke. “I don't think there's been any mistake.”

Independently Charlie said, “Remember Rubio the Pirate?”

“Exactly.”'Bastian nodded in agreement.

Rain rolled her eyes. (Oh, if Maq and I had a quarter for every time she did that, we'd never go hungry.) “Oh, come on,” she scoffed. “My imaginary friend from when I was
four
?”

“You used to swear he was real, Rain,” Charlie said firmly.

“You used to point to him and say,
He's right there!
”'Bastian said in a similar tone.

She crossed her arms. “He was. An imaginary.
Pirate.
”

“He taught you Spanish,” Charlie said.

“He did not!”

“Maybe he did,”'Bastian said, thinking. “Your folks and I wanted you to be bilingual, but we always forgot to speak Spanish around the house. But somehow you were fluent by the time you were five. For a while we thought you were a bit of a genius.”

“But you got over that?” Rain asked crossly. In fact, this whole Rubio tangent was putting her on edge in a way she couldn't quite explain to herself.

“It drove me crazy,” Charlie remembered. “You were always speaking Spanish to Rubio and leaving me out of the conversation. Kinda like you two do now! Honestly, when I think about it, it's probably why I took French.”

“And it wasn't just Rubio,”'Bastian said thoughtfully. “There were others. You'd wander off sometimes and say Martha wanted to show you something or Stefano had found a penny. I never took it too seriously, but it actually worried your parents. And even at age six, you could see they were worried. So first you stopped telling them about your ‘friends,' and then you promised you wouldn't see them anymore. Your ghost-sight, Rain. I think you
willed
it to go away.”

Rain was stunned. From somewhere in the dim recess of her memory, she could picture Rubio and Martha and Stefano and Guillermo with more clarity than now made sense for figments of her imagination. And when she pictured them, they were always surrounded by a soft white glow. Still she resisted the obvious conclusion. “So if I willed away my ghost-sight, why's it back now?”

“I think because I died,”'Bastian said, “and you wanted to see me.”

Charlie had his own theory. “Maybe the
zemi
healed you. The way it healed your arm after Callahan harpooned you.”

Or,
Rain thought almost against her will,
the way it healed your foot this morning. Or Mom and Dad's hearts at dinner.
Haltingly, she said, “Let's … talk … about the
zemi.
”

“Well, I don't know much more than I've already told you,”'Bastian said. “I got it from my
abuela
when I was injured in the war. It probably saved my life, though I didn't believe that then. After I recovered, I offered to return it, but she told me it wasn't hers to take back or to keep. It had been given to her by her
tío abuelo
. In fact, she told me it had been handed down within our family, for generation after generation, for four hundred years. She said it was my turn, but that when the time was right, I'd pass it on to my child or grandchild. I remember telling her I didn't think I'd ever have kids. She laughed at me.”

Charlie waited as long as he could stand before clearing his throat overdramatically. Rain quickly repeated what 'Bastian had told her.

Then she asked her
abuelo,
“Tell me about your
abuela.
”

“She was born and raised on Tío Samuel—until the U.S. Navy took possession of the island and the family moved here to San Próspero. She went to Mass every Sunday at the
Catedral
. But she was infamous for laughing at, well … inappropriate moments during the service or the sermon. When I was little, she was already old, and my friends used to tease me and say she was
una bruja.
”

“Rain,” Charlie said.

“She was a witch,” Rain said.

“I didn't say she
was
a witch,”'Bastian protested. “That's what they called her. I think she simply valued the old ways along with the new. And that made her threatening to some people who didn't understand.”

“She was a
misunderstood
witch,” Rain said.

'Bastian sighed heavily.

Charlie was running some calculations through his head. “So 'Bastian wore the armband for…”

“Sixty-nine years,” Rain said.

Both Charlie and 'Bastian looked at her wide-eyed while mentally confirming her arithmetic. She didn't want them making a big deal out of it. “What? I did the math. I'm a genius, remember?”

“Who said you were a genius?” Charlie asked, mock-appalled.

“He did. Look. Why does the number matter?”

“Well, I was thinking maybe that's why he's tied to it. Because he wore it for so long. But then I figured that if his
abuela
got it from her great-uncle, she probably wore it for at least a few decades. Sooooo … is she in there too?”

'Bastian was taken aback. Slowly, he said, “I don't think so.”

Rain shook her head.

Charlie raised an eyebrow. “So did he displace her when he died?”

'Bastian scowled. “I don't think so.”

Rain shrugged.

Then Charlie pointedly asked her, “And if you keep wearing it, will you get stuck in there when
you
die?”

This notion truly horrified 'Bastian. It was one thing for him to stick around and have more time with his granddaughter, help her to complete her mission. The thought that she'd be trapped for all eternity in the snake charm—with no rest, no heaven—was another matter. He whispered, “Rain. Maybe … maybe you should take it off.”

But on this point, Rain was firm, solid. “No. I'm the Searcher and the Healer. If I heal the wound like I'm supposed to, we won't have to worry about that. I'm not taking off the
zemi
.”

'Bastian still felt a little queasy, but Charlie simply nodded. “Okay,” he said. “That just leaves us with one real question: What's a
zemi
?”

CHAPTER TEN

NIGHT MOVES

MONDAY AND TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8–9

Nine
P.M.

They talked a while longer. Rain told them about her trip to the Cache and the roll-of-quarters shape of the second
zemi
. But they reached no further conclusions about what a
zemi
actually was or how they could, would or should go about finding out, let alone finding the next one. Eventually, Alonso knocked on the door to tell Charlie his mother had called and it was time for him to go home. As he got up to leave, Rain hugged him without warning and whispered, “Thanks. I couldn't do this without you.” She started to disengage, but without thinking, he gave her one last squeeze before letting her go. Then, terrified he'd revealed too much, he all but pushed her away. She hadn't noticed—though the same couldn't be said of a smiling 'Bastian or a frowning Alonso.

Charlie said his “See you tomorrow” and departed with Alonso as fast as he could manage.

Leaving Rain alone with 'Bastian.
Now what?
It suddenly occurred to both of them that for all intents and purposes, granddaughter and grandfather were roommates for the foreseeable future.
Awkward.