The Tree and the Tablet (The St. James Chronicles Book 1)

by Kathryn O'Brien

  Stunned, I just stared at it. Kelsey jumped up from the floor, her face appeared happy yet super intense and serious all at the same time, “Look, Auntie. It's Daddy. He’s okay.”

  Frustrated now, I stomped over to the door and opened it roughly to shoo it away. As the door slid open, it flew straight toward the bay. In the distance, I could make out the figures of a man holding a small child and two smaller figures walking toward the house. The rain had begun to let up, but they were silhouettes against the rain and fog. My mouth fell straight to the floor. Standing there, mouth agape and absolutely flabbergasted, I exclaimed, “I’ll be damned!” Turning to Sherri, I said excitedly, “Come quick, you need to see this.”

  Sherri was looking down at her coffee. Setting it on the table, she lifted her eyes to the vision outside. Jumping out of her chair, she literally appeared to fly off the deck in the direction of the approaching figures. Tears and excitement ensued. Peanut, having followed Sherri out the door, was running around everyone barking rambunctiously and barely bouncing out of the way of the feet of the people at the other end of the yard. Following closely behind her, I jumped off the end of the low deck and ran out to help bring the family in from the rain.

  Dave was still holding three-year-old Raiden, who he passed into the arms of Sherri. He lifted six-year-old Wren, as I hoisted five-year-old Ryder up. We ran the rest of the way to the house to get out of the rain. Setting Ryder on the floor just inside the door, I was barely able to get out of the way as Kelsey ran over to hug her friend, “I’m so happy you’re here. Did you see my daddy? He’s a bird.” She laughed. “Was it scary in the storm,” she continued exuberantly, not waiting for a reply, “Daddy helped you get here, didn’t he?” Ryder just looked at her and smiled. He was always a shy and quiet child. Kelsey made up for that by talking enough for the both of them.

  As I was closing the door to shut out the weather, I saw the little robin fly over and land in the weeping cherry tree on the right side of the yard. Shaking my head violently, my mind screamed out, NOPE! Nope, nope, nope. Closing my eyes against the thoughts raging inside me, I told myself not to think about it. Taking a deep breath and plastering a smile on my face, I turned to the family and called out to Kelsey as she and Ryder had moved further into the house, “Kelsey, let’s get some blankets and towels from the linen closet in the bathroom.”

  The family was quickly removing items of soaking wet clothing. Kelsey and I made our way down the hallway toward the closet and on the way there, Kelsey asked, “Are you sure it isn’t Daddy?”

  Pulling linens out and piling them in Kelsey’s arms, I replied stiffly, “I don’t know what to think, but I don't want to talk about it right now, okay?” Solemnly nodding at me, I continued, “Let’s go take care of Sherri and her family and we can talk later. Agreed?”

  Sighing, she said, “Okay, Auntie.” As we turned to go back into the dining room area I swear I could feel her smiling smugly behind my back.

  As we entered the dining room and started handing out blankets, there was a lot of laughing and chattering going on at the same time from all of them. Wrapping towels and blankets around them, I wasn’t really focused on what was being said. After gathering the wet shirts, coats, and socks, I went to put them in the dryer.

  Returning to the dining room again, I watched my best friend. Her eyes were now lit up with such love and adoration as she listened to the children and Dave relate their harrowing experiences. It sounded as if they were simply telling a story of a grand adventure. She was smiling so brightly, it looked like sunshine. Making my way through the group, I walked into the living room and turned on the gas fireplace, “You all can move your chairs over here to get warm. The clothes are drying.” They all said thank you in their own ways and started moving the dining room chairs over to the fireplace. Walking toward the kitchen, I called over my shoulder toward Sherri, “I’m going to call the sheriff and coast guard to let them know everyone’s safe.” She glanced over to me and said, “Okay” as she nodded. Turning toward the kitchen island, I grabbed my phone and dialed the non-emergency number to the Sheriff. The other line rang twice and a pleasant young man’s voice answered, “Sheriff’s office, how can I help you?”

  “Hello, my name is Maggie, I called earlier about a grandfather and his three grandson’s out in the storm on the bay.”

  “Oh, yes, ma’am. The Sheriff and a couple of men are out doing a search and rescue in the bay with a coast guard boat. What can I do for you?”

  “I’m calling to let you know that the people they are searching for have made landfall at my home.”

  “Oh? That’s great news. Can you hold the line while I relay the information to the group?”

  “Yes, I’ll hold.” After a fairly brief time, the young man came back on the line.

  “Alright, ma’am. The coast guard requires a follow-up so the Sheriff and an EMS team will be coming to your residence on Sherman road to check on the individuals and take a statement. Please advise the individuals to stay put so we can complete the protocols.”

  “I’ll do that. I think they’re all fine, though.”

  “I understand but it’s a procedure that we have to do with any waterway emergency. It really shouldn’t take long.”

  “Okay. I’ll let them know. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, ma’am. The sheriff will be there soon.”

  “Alright, Goodbye.”

  “Goodbye.”

  Disconnecting the line, I signaled to Sherri as I walked over to her, “The Sheriff has to do a report, so they’ll be coming by to check on you all and then take a statement.”

  Looking to Dave, they both nodded and said, “Okay.”

  “Are you guys hungry?”

  Five voices chimed in with affirmative responses which made me giggle. “Okay, then, I’ll get started on that.”

  “Can I help?” Sherri asked.

  “No! You just stay here with your family. I got this.” She tried to stand up, but I placed a firm hand on her shoulder to keep her in place. “No, really.”

  While I was in the kitchen, I made some little sandwiches and started another pot of coffee. As we were waiting, the boys were busy eating and laughing about random comments they made to each other. Kelsey was perched next to the French doors again, eating some grapes. Sherri and Dave were huddled close, whispering to each other while warming up by the fire. Peanut was curled up in her little bed next to the fire as well.

  Everyone looked cozy enough for the moment. Sherri briefly left Dave to get him a cup of coffee. On her way to him with his hot coffee, she winked and smiled at me warmly mouthing the words, “Thank you.” As she sat back down next to him.

  “You're welcome,” left my lips just as silently as her gratification, but she didn’t see as she had turned her adoring eyes back to the love of her life.

  Settled in a chair at the island, nursing a cup of coffee, I stared blankly out the front window. Soon, the sheriff pulled into the driveway along with the paramedics. Looking toward the group, I said, “They're here.” Walking to the front door, I ushered Sheriff Cooper into the room along with the volunteer fire department’s Emergency Medical technicians on duty. As everyone was being checked out, I stood to the side with the Sheriff.

  “Hello, George.” I said to Sheriff Cooper. “How’s Shirley doing?”

  He looked at me, smiled, “Better than yesterday, but every day is different.” He looked down and cleared his throat trying to get control of his emotions. Looking up, he smiled and said, “Thanks for asking.”

  Returning his smile, “Let me know if you need anything.”

  He nodded. “By the way, Shirley said to tell you how sorry we are about your loss. She wanted to bake you some cookies but she just couldn’t get up.” Sorrow drifted across his face again like a wave and just as quickly as it came, it was gone as he turned his attention toward the group excitedly chattering at the same time.

  Resting my hand on his forearm, I replied in a sof
t voice, “It’s okay. You tell your beautiful wife that me and Peanut will be coming around for a visit soon.”

  A gentle smile lit his features briefly, “She’d love that. She really gets a hoot out of your little dog.” Looking around, he spotted Peanut laying on her bed near the fire and his face glowed with adoration for her. “She keeps asking me if there’s some obscure law that would allow me to steal your dog.” He laughed a singular bark. Peanut looked up at him and growled. Caused him to laugh harder. Holding out his hand, he exclaimed, “Okay, no worries, Peanut, I’ll let her know your feelings on the matter.” As I glanced at Peanut, she calmed down as if she understood what he said. We looked at one another and chuckled. “Well, enough said.”

  George and Shirley Cooper were longtime residents of Allyn. Shirley used to be a teacher at the grade school in Grapeview which was a short distance down the road. George had been a sheriff in Mason county for over thirty years, but chose not to retire yet as they needed his health insurance for his wife. Shirley was forced to retire after twenty years with the school due to a diagnosis of lung cancer two years ago. She’d never smoked a day in her life, but when she was younger, she worked as a waitress in the local bar for seven years before she decided to try her hand at school, and eventually at teaching. She and I met through Mom as they were best friends and spent a lot of time together.

  The EMT’s finished up and gave everyone a clean bill of health. The female, Janice, asked, “Who wants a sticker?” All the children held up their hands, “Me”, “I do”, “Yes, please” were the responses. As the EMT handed out the fire Marshall stickers, the other EMT reached in his bag and pulled out a bunch of plastic junior firefighter hats which turned out to be another big hit causing a chorus of “Thank you” and excited child chatter.

  Turning to Dave and Sherri, the male EMT stated, “Everyone looks to be in good health, but if you have any of the symptoms we talked about earlier such as trouble breathing, a fever, or lethargy, please don’t hesitate to call us or go to the hospital.”

  “Thank you. We will. Thank you for your time,” Dave replied.

  Janice turned and nodded at Sheriff Cooper, “They're all yours,” and they headed out.

  Smiling at the boy’s antics, George looked to Dave saying, “Tell me what happened today.”

  Dave glanced at Sherri, turned his eyes to me, smiled and then, making eye contact with the sheriff, he said, “You won’t believe me, but, we were out on the water. The skies were clear when we left and the forecast for today was supposed to stay that way, otherwise I never would’ve gone.” The sheriff was rapidly writing in his notepad. Dave took another breath and then while exhaling, he said in a rush, “It was the darnedest thing I’ve ever seen.” He stopped and looked at Sherri again.

  She nodded and he continued, as if there was an unspoken conversation that just took place. “Well, the clouds started forming out of the blue and then lightning and thunder. We just brought up the anchor to start in. I was telling the boys that it looked like the weather service was wrong and we were going to head in. Suddenly, there was a wall of water that just fell on us. It was raining so hard, we couldn’t see the shore or even make out which way the shore was with my compass. It just kept spinning.” He pulled the compass out of his pants pocket and looked at it. “Hmm. Funny, it appears to be working now.” He shrugged and placed the compass on the side table. “I cinched down the boys more tightly into their life jackets and we spread our raincoats out over our heads as I tried to radio in to get help. There was only static. Then, there was a flipping bird flying around us in a panic. I’m surprised it could fly in that amount of rain.” He stopped and ran his fingers through his thin grey hair.

  Sheriff Cooper looked up from his frantic scribbling and said, “Did you say a bird?”

  “Yeah.” Dave replied. “Not a seabird either, but like an orange and grey thing. I swear it looked like a robin.” He chuckled while shaking his head, “I know it sounds crazy.”

  Standing in the kitchen, cleaning up the dishes from the sandwiches while they were talking, a gasp escaped my lips and I dropped the plate I was holding which caused it to hit the floor, shattering into several pieces. “Are you sure?” I asked, looking at Dave in amazement.

  Cocking his head to the side to look at me, he squinted his blue eyes and said. “Yes. It was different though, almost like it was shiny.”

  The sheriff cleared his throat drawing attention back to him. “That’s odd for sure.” He went back to scribbling in his book.

  Sherri touched his shoulder and said, “I’ll be right back.” She got up and rushed to the pantry to get the broom while I kneeled down to pick up the larger pieces of the broken plate.

  Dave looked at Sheriff Cooper and continued, “Anyway, it kept flying and whistling at me and it would fly away in the same direction and then fly back. After the third time, I figured it wanted me to follow, so I started the outboard and tried to keep up. The bird disappeared and there was Maggie’s boathouse straight in front of me. We tied off, took off our life vests and climbed the hill.”

  He rubbed his hands on his pant legs as if they were all of a sudden quite sweaty and he didn’t have any other place to wipe them. “It was the oddest thing I ever saw.” He looked at the Sheriff, shrugging again, “But we’re here and we’re safe. Maybe I was seeing things and maybe I wasn’t. I don’t care how it happened.” He stated the last part matter-of-factly and looked at his wife pointedly. Sherri and he exchanged smiles. “I’m blessed to have had a way to find the shore and get myself and the boys back to my sweet Sherri.” His words made Sherri glow. She positively radiated with love.

  Sheriff Cooper finished his writing and said, “Well, Dave, I’ve seen some odd things in these many years that I’ve been doing the job and I’ve never heard of a bird leading someone to shore in a storm before, but I agree with you.” Wrapping the pen and book together with a rubber band, he placed them in his front pocket and reached for his hat, “you’re a lucky man, indeed.” He handed a card to Dave. “This is the case number. If you think of anything else, give me a call.”

  Turning toward the front door, “Well, it looks like everyone is in good health and very lucky to have made it back home today. I have all I need. I’ll submit my information to the coast guard for review if they request it, but my end is completed.” As he reached for the door, he stopped, then turned and smiled at no one in particular, “You know, there’re legends that say birds are spirits of our lost loved ones sent to watch over us.” With that, he tipped his hat and turned toward the door, he stared out the glass side windows saying, “Looks like the rain’s letting up.” As he reached for the door, “You all take care.” He closed the door behind him and I sank into the nearest chair watching him get into his car, radio dispatch, and then drive away. The only thing better than a drink right then would be a nap! That’s exactly what I needed right then.

  Chapter Eight

  Looking at the clock, I noticed it was almost four. It was getting late. Having returned the dry clothing to the family, they’d gotten dressed. The sky was clearing and after what was a very minimal discussion, it was decided that Sherri would stay at the house with all of the children. Since Dave had dropped off Sherri before they went to put the boat in the water, I’d give Dave a ride to the boat dock to retrieve their vehicle which had all of the car seats in it. Besides, I’d been waiting quite a while to pick his brain about the bird incident since he had ties to the local Quileute tribe and was familiar with some of their legends and lore.

  Once we were in the car, Dave was buckling his seatbelt when he looked up and said, “Sherri thought we should talk.” He was fidgeting with his hands in his lap now as I pulled up in the driveway toward the highway.

  Looking at him, slightly surprised, but not completely shocked, I chuckled. He smiled, “What’s on your mind? As if I can’t guess.”

  Raising my eyebrows at him, the blinker clicked on and clacked softly in the background while I formed
my thoughts. Seeing the way was clear, I pulled out and headed toward the waterfront park and public boat dock. Quickly glancing sideways at him and then back to the road, “Is there anything specific in your tribal lore about robins?”

  He laughed and then looked a little serious for a moment. “You know, now that I think on it, there isn’t anything specific that I can recall; however, there are some websites that have information about different tribes and their beliefs.” My sigh of frustration was difficult to hold in. Looking at me with understanding and compassion, he said, “I vaguely recall my grandmother sharing a story with me when I was little about a little boy named Opichee but that’s from a southern tribe.” He shook his head as if trying to clear the cobwebs.

  Excitedly, I asked, “Can you remember anything about the story?” He shook his head and eyed me apologetically, “I’m so sorry, Maggie. I just don’t remember it that well.” When my face clearly showed a look of exasperation and sadness, he added, “I’ll ask my Grandma if she can remember, but don’t get your hopes up. She’s getting up there, and it’s difficult for her to remember things these days.” He fell silent for a bit. The sound of my blinker broke his concentration. Raising his eyes to the surroundings, “Oh, we’re here.”

  “Yeah,” I nodded as I pulled into the park. Seeing his Ford Explorer parked at the end of the driveway with his boat trailer attached, I turned in that direction. Parking next to his vehicle, I smiled as I said, “Thank you.”

  Having reached for the door, he paused with his hand on the door handle and looked over his shoulder at me. “Maggie, I know what you’re thinking about the little robin.” At my little gasp, he said, “Don’t be surprised by the way Mother Earth sends messages to you. There are things that happen beyond our understanding.” Smiling, he continued, “I can’t say for certain, but I believe it’s entirely possible that the robin may be a spirit guide. He may be who Kelsey thinks he is, but there’s no way of knowing for sure.”