Tomorrows Child (33 page)

“Come on, we’ve
got to go. If they find us on the beach after dark, they will think
you are a witch.”

“What?” I
turned. It was Phoenix, I think, but his clothes were wrong, and
his hair was pulled back. It was wrong - all of it wrong.

“Where am
I?”

“What’s wrong
with you today? They will know you’re a witch if you keep talking
like this. Come on, Sara, it’s almost dark.” Sara? He called me
Sara.

It must be a
vision of a Darnell daughter. I dropped my skirt and petticoats and
ran barefoot up the beach behind Phoenix. It didn’t feel like a
vision. It felt real in an unreal way. Visions appeared a little
hazy and I never felt completely lost in them or attached to the
former daughter. But now I felt attached, connected. Then I felt
lost.

We reached a
house, but it really wasn’t much of a house at all. It was tiny and
made from rock and mud and the roof was thatched, but the fog was
thick so it was difficult to tell.

“You really
need to be more careful,” he said. “They have been called because
someone reported witches.”

“Phoenix, who’s
been called?” I said when we went inside. “Tell me where we are.”
My voice sounded unfamiliar and thick with an accent I didn’t
recognise. Even the words weren’t my own.

He reached out
and pressed his hand against my forehead. “You must be ill, that’s
the only cause I can think. I am Jasper, you are Sara and we live
here in Cornwall and if you don’t stop this, you will be dead and
swinging on the end of the inquisitor’s noose.”

Oh God! I was
in the middle of the Inquisition.

Lightning
crackled and filled the cave as if it were daylight. The energy
poured in and jolted me awake.

“What’s the
matter?” Phoenix asked.

“Oh this is
really weird, I’m not even sure I know what happened. I think it
was a vision of one of the Darnell daughters, but it was different.
You were there. I am sure you were there. We were in Cornwall and
it was in the middle of the witch trials.”

“It’s not a
vision of a Darnell. It’s a vision of you, us; it’s a past
life.”

“Really? That
hasn’t happened before. It felt so real. I thought I was trapped
there.” I told Phoenix about the vision. Filling in details and
hoping he could tell me more. I didn’t know if he would, but
maybe.

“It was about
1640 or 1650, somewhere around then. It was cold in Cornwall,
really cold, always cold. It was the worst place we ever
lived.”

“I don’t really
see how it’s related to anything.”

“Maybe it
isn’t, maybe it’s because you want me to tell you things.”

“Maybe.”

“But it felt
important.”

“I wouldn’t
worry too much. The storm has almost passed so we need to get
going. We should have stayed here last night and gotten much
further along than we are now.”

When the sound
of thunder was just a rumble in the distance, we left the cave and
began walking. The rain still fell lightly and the basalt was
slippery. The energy was strong and the air buzzed like an excited
child.

We walked for
hours until the sun began to slip below the horizon. My wet shoes
were rubbing my feet and I knew that blisters had formed beneath
the damp socks. It wasn’t a good start to our journey, but at least
we were heading somewhere.

“We are very
close to Lon Everly’s property,” said Phoenix.

“Didn’t Ruben
say to keep away from there?”

“Yes, but
Tahinah is worried that Raven is there and this is the only chance
we will get to check.”

“I think it’s a
really bad idea.”

“So do I, but
Tahinah asked me. If it was earlier, we could call in and just ask
and leave. But it’s late. Maybe we should think about staying there
tonight.”

“Will it be
safe?”

“Well, it will
be dry and safe from the hellhounds, probably not from Lon and his
crazy ideas, but I don’t think our lives will be in danger.”

The sign
hanging from the wooden gate read “The Sanctuary.”

“Ruben would
love this,” Phoenix joked. Ruben made it clear that he didn’t like
Lon Everly and trusted him even less. Our travel plans had not
included a night at “The Sanctuary,” but here we were, against the
advice of Ruben, standing at the gates of Lon Everly’s
property.

“This place
used be called “The Boar Hunter Resort” or something lame like
that,” Phoenix said.

We stood at the
gate, waiting to be let in. We could have climbed through the
barbed wire fence, but the old sign beside the freshly painted
“Sanctuary” sign clearly stated that we should not enter.

“Maybe it’s
just an old sign.”

“I don’t think
so. See? There’s someone coming.” An armed man approached. He
didn’t look especially dangerous, but after the raid in the valley,
the sight of any stranger with a gun made me nervous.

“What do you
want?” the man addressed Phoenix, ignoring me completely.

“Oh… hello,”
Phoenix said, “We are hoping Lon can provide us with a meal and a
place to sleep tonight.”

“This isn’t a
charity, you know.”

“Sorry, but we
are just travelling and my grandmother knows Mr. Everly and said he
might help us if we needed anything,” I said. My voice was sweet
and innocent. Slipping into the damsel act was easier than I
thought.

“Who should I
say is calling?”

“Phoenix Riley
and Psyche Darnell, and my grandmother is Libby Darnell.” I smiled,
hoping the sweet damsel would win over the burly man. He left us
standing at the gate.

“You were
laying it on a bit, so sweet and polite. Let’s hope it worked,”
Phoenix remarked.

We stood at the
gate for about half an hour. “I don’t think they are coming back.
We should find somewhere to camp,” Phoenix eventually
suggested.

Just as we were
about to leave, a young boy ran to the gate and pushed a key into a
huge padlock, “Sir said you’re welcome to stay the night.”

We were led
past the main homestead, which was a sprawling mansion, built with
old money, and followed a long, narrow, dirt road. The road
continued down a steep hill, across a concrete causeway and up a
gentle slope. As we reached the top of ridge, we got our first look
at “The Sanctuary.”

I stood there,
unable to take a step further. Phoenix reached for my hand and
squeezed it tightly. Standing on the ridge gave us a perfect view
of the camp below us. There were people, tents, tarps, and
makeshift lean-tos everywhere. Many of the buildings, if you could
even call them buildings, were made from old corrugated iron and
saplings. It looked more like shantytown than a sanctuary.

“Hey, are you
coming? Sir wants to meet you,” the boy asked.

We wound our
way through the camp following the boy. As we got closer, the
stench of human habitation bombarded our nostrils. I tried not to
gag and forced myself to breathe. My eyes began to water and I
hoped my senses would become used to the smell fast.

People were
busy doing all sorts of things, but nobody looked up at us as we
passed and no one spoke, until we reached the centre of
shantytown.

“Welcome to the
Sanctuary.” I remembered Lon from the markets and his visit to the
valley. He was larger than life, over-animated and fake. I felt the
same that day at the markets as I did now.

He looked
surprised when Phoenix reached out to shake his hand. “So you must
be Phoenix Riley. I’ve known your father for many years; and
Psyche, I remember you from the crossroads earlier in the year. You
were there with Libby. So sorry to hear about your mother, sweet
girl, Celeste. You’ll fit right in here.” He waved his arm over the
groups of people and said, “Everyone here has lost someone
close.”

Phoenix asked
about Raven.

“We don’t see
many kids around here. But we’ve had dealings with a gang living in
the caves near the river. We do a bit of trading with them
occasionally. It stops the brats stealing. I’ll tell my men to keep
an eye out for the girl.”

A willowy woman
with fine, blond hair walked up and stood silently beside us. “This
is Heather; she will show you where you can sleep tonight. I expect
you to join me for a meal later. I’ll send someone to get you when
I’m ready.”

Heather headed
off without a word. We had been dismissed. The Sanctuary was
turning out to be a very strange place. Heather took us to one of
the only “real tents” in the entire camp. “Sir puts our guests
here,” she said as she held the door to the tent open and motioned
for us to enter. “I can get you anything you want.”

“I’d like some
water, but I can get it myself if you show me where to go,” I said,
as she shrugged and I followed her through a dozen small campsites
to the creek.

“There’s a
bucket there,” she pointed to an assortment of coloured plastic
buckets. What I really needed was a bath, but I washed my face and
drank the cool water from my hands. “If you want a wash later,
you’ll need to fill the bucket.”

“Oh,” I replied
as I filled the bucket and followed Heather back up the bank away
from the creek. We passed a number of gardens, or what resembled
gardens. Small yellow plants in rows struggling to exist in hard
rocky soil. Libby would be horrified. I was horrified.

“Is this your
only garden?” Heather looked at the pitiful plants in the shallow,
pebbled soil. She shrugged. We arrived back at the tent and Heather
left without saying another word.

“This is
strange; no, it’s more than strange. I’m not sure what is going on
here, but I wish we’d never come. This was a really bad idea.” I
whispered to Phoenix, afraid someone would hear me.

“We need to
rest; we still have a long way to go and this place is safe, even
if it is really weird.” Phoenix was lying on a mattress fully made
with clean sheets, pillows and blankets.

“Everything
around us is in a state of disorder, but this place is fitted out
like it’s made for royalty.”

“Maybe they
like to treat their guests right.”

“You don’t
think it’s strange?” I was still whispering.

“Of course,
it’s strange, Psyche. Heather and the boy both called him ‘Sir.’
And that’s just for starters, but I don’t think we should get into
it now.”

Now wasn’t the
right time, but this place was more than just strange. The energy
was all wrong, but I couldn’t figure out why.

I awoke
sometime later. It was already dark and Heather was standing at the
door again. “Sir said to get you for dinner.” I struggled to put my
shoes on my sore and blistered feet, but I couldn’t go barefoot
either, so I winced through the pain and again we followed Heather
back to the centre of the camp.

I couldn’t see
Lon, but the atmosphere around the camp had changed. Smiling faces
greeted us and the people chatted amongst themselves. Chunks of
meat roasted on the fire, the smell was amazing and made my mouth
water.

“Sir will be
here shortly.”

Phoenix had his
arm around me. I felt safe and protected and I knew Phoenix well
enough to know that this was his intention. He held my hand all the
time, but seldom put his arm around my shoulders. Despite the
smiling faces, I still felt that something wasn’t right. I could
almost taste the energy - thick and bitter. But I couldn’t feel the
pure energy of the earth and it wasn’t coursing through me like it
normally did. I felt as if I would suffocate.

Lon arrived,
“Sit, eat.” He waved his hand over the food as if giving permission
to the people and they immediately began carving the roasted meat
into chunks. A thin, red-haired woman brought a plate to Lon.
Heather arrived with two similar plates and served Phoenix and then
me. The tin plates piled high with roughly cut chunks of beef and
small green leaves that looked like four-leaf clover. The leaves
were watery and tasteless.

“Thanks,
Heather, but we could have gotten our own dinner,” I said and
Heather simply smiled, nodded and left.

“I hope Heather
has been taking care of you. She’s a good girl now, but she needs
to be reminded sometimes,” Lon remarked.

“See these
people here? There are more than three hundred people living on my
land. I have over one thousand hectares here and ten times that has
been abandoned where my boundary ends. Almost everyone is from the
city, and left everything behind. They were running from death and
found their way here.” He paused, “It’s no coincidence that all
these people found me.”

I had no idea
what he was telling us. “I am a gift to these people,” he said.
“Without this land, they would have nothing. They would probably be
dead. If starvation didn’t get them, those black, devil beasts
would.”

“We call them
hellhounds,” I was going to tell him that we thought they were only
after me, but I remembered where we were.

“Yes, yes…
Truly a beast sent from hell and a sign that God has abandoned us.”
Again he paused, but I got the idea that this was well-rehearsed
and the pauses were inserted for effect.

“I’ve never
been much of a religious man myself, but there have been some very
dark days, dark days indeed. Still not much for religion, at least
not the God-fearing, church-going type, not that it would do me
much good anyways. But it is time for something new, something to
get us through these dark and lonely nights.” And then another long
pause.

“If you two
ever want a change of scenery or if things get bad out there, we
can always use a strong, young fellow like you. Fresh blood is what
will keep places like the Sanctuary alive in the years to
come.”

“I will keep
that in mind, but things are fine at the moment,” said Phoenix.

“Yes, yes, but
it can’t be easy living out there with Ruben. He can be a hard man
sometimes.”