Stalking the Moon

by Angel Leigh McCoy

  ♦♦♦

  CHAPTER 37

  Later that morning, alone in my room, I received a call from Mom's lawyer Divana Smart. She had a cool, casual voice with just a hint of old-fashioned manners. It had been fifteen years since I’d received the letter from her about my mother being alive.

  “Miss Rose,” she said, “what a delight to speak with you after so many years. I trust you’re well?”

  “Yeah, I’m good, thank you. Uh, and you?”

  “I’m wonderful.” She paused just long enough that a redirection to the business at hand wasn’t rude, then said, “I’m calling with regard to the letter you sent the firm. I’ve made some progress on your request, and I wanted to warn you that I’ll be coming by the Vince Malum Residential Living Center shortly after midday to serve papers to your psychologist, Dr. Richard Reuter, and to get you and your mother out of there.”

  I couldn’t have been more flabbergasted.

  She must have sensed it or deduced it from my utter silence, because she said, “I realize this may be something of a shock, and I apologize for ambushing you, but it was imperative that we move quickly. If you do not wish to leave the Center, please tell me now.”

  “No. Yes, I want to leave.”

  Divana Smart chuckled—an alto, feminine sound that made me smile. “It’s long overdue, Miss Rose. I was dismayed to learn that you were being held against your will. Dr. Reuter’s misconduct came as quite a surprise. He may be facing jail time for the forged papers, and he’ll undoubtedly lose his license to practice. Richard Reuter is an intelligent sociopath who thinks of you as nothing more than a possession.”

  “Well,” I said, “when you put it like that…”

  “I’m not the only one who thinks so. The courts agree. I have a court order remanding you to your own guardianship and putting your mother under your care. Thanks to the evidence you sent us, it wasn’t difficult to convince a judge that you were being railroaded.”

  “Good.”

  “I spoke with your grandfather, and he’s eager to have you and Gisèle both back in his home. I'll take you there for starters, and if you want to go elsewhere after that, it’ll be entirely up to you.”

  “Thank you.” A mix of excitement, gratitude, and fear overwhelmed me. My whole world was changing.

  “Wow,” said Simon as I hung up. “So, you’re getting out, are you?”

  A smile spread across my face.

  “This is a big moment.” Simon was moving across the room in front of me.

  “It’s going to be a new start, for all of us.”

  Simon said, “Too bad I won’t be going with you.”

  I hadn’t expected that. I’d assumed that Simon went where I went. “What do you mean?” My voice had gone airy.

  “I have things I need to do.”

  “What kinds of things?”

  “That’s not really your business, now is it?” He stopped near the door. “I don’t know how long it will take me, but I’ll visit you as soon as I can. For now, I just want you to know how proud I am of you. You’ve handled yourself like a champion these past few months.”

  “Wait, you're leaving right now?” I had a lump forming in my throat.

  “You won’t be alone. Corona will be with you. You can rely on her, you know? She’s a saucy little wench, and she’s got a good head on that scrawny neck of hers. You’ll be fine.”

  I was silent for a long moment, trying to think of something to say to keep him with me, but nothing came to mind. He had always dropped in and out of my world, though this was the first time he’d warned me and bothered to say good-bye. That made it somehow more serious.

  Simon said, “I’ll see you in Wyrdwood.”

  I blinked back tears and confessed, “I’ll miss you.”

  “I’ll miss you too, sweet Viv.”

  I waited, listening, and after a moment, the words came of their own accord. I said, “I love you, Simon,” though I had no idea whether he was still there to hear them, or not.

  ♦

  I stood at my window and watched a white Mercedes cruise up the driveway to the circular turn-around in front of Vince Malum Residential Living Center. It parked close to the entrance, ignoring the “No Parking” signs.

  As the woman emerged from the car, she tossed her long blond braid to her back. The starkness of its style suited her, as did the crisp, linen pantsuit—cream with a white blouse. Although she was younger than I'd expected, I had no doubt that she was Divana Smart.

  She took her time, tucked an envelope under her arm, and browsed the main house’s façade as she approached and entered it.

  I'd spent the previous few hours packing and getting Mom ready to go. None of the nurses had bothered with us. Lunch came and went, and Corona joined me in the waiting. She was more antsy than I was.

  “Let’s go down to the rec room and wait,” Corona suggested, so we did.

  The ladies were all there, languid in the after-lunch haze. Eun Hee played a quiet and haunting tune on the piano. Calla and Iraida bent over that week’s puzzle, an antique map of the world. They were a salt and pepper set, Calla pink and fair, Iraida dark and draped in black.

  Dahlia was curled up on a couch, reading a book and chewing on the nub of a fingernail. Una stood guard in the corner, rocking from foot to foot, keeping an eye on things. She was closest, so I approached her first. She kept her gaze everywhere except on me.

  “I’m leaving today, Una,” I said. “For real. I’ll think of you often.”

  She didn’t respond, but as I turned away I caught a flicker of movement at her eyes. She looked at me. That she had looked said it all.

  “Hey, Dahlia,” I said, moving to stand beside her. “I’m out of here today.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” she replied.

  “No, I mean it this time. There’s a lawyer coming with papers to get me out.”

  “Uh huh.” She looked up without moving the rest of her face and lowered her book into her lap.

  “Look, I just wanted to say thank you.” I smiled. “You’ve been a good friend.”

  Dahlia shrugged, stoic. “No sweat,” she said. “You’re the most interesting thing to happen around here in years. I should be thankin’ you.”

  That made me laugh. “Maybe I’ll see you again some day.”

  “I hope not. That’ll mean they brought you back here.” She picked up her book and turned her attention to it. I'd been dismissed.

  I skirted around the couch and joined Calla and Iraida at the puzzle table.

  “Hey,” I said.

  They looked at me without saying a word.

  “I’m leaving today, for real, for good, and I wanted you to know how grateful I am for your help with the break-out and everything.”

  “It was no trouble,” said Calla. “Don’t come back this time.”

  “I won’t.”

  “As-salaamu 'alaykum.” Iraida’s face was half-hidden by a veil, but her eyes were soft and gentle. Peace be upon you.

  I mush-mouthed my way through the response, unsure if I was getting it even close to right. “Wa 'alaykum as-salaam.” And upon you, peace. The inverted wording of the call and response always felt magical to me, somehow representative of my world, of the looking glass through which I saw everything, not as it was, but somehow flipped.

  The crinkles and sparkles in her otherwise pitch-black eyes told me she was pleased.

  I crossed to the piano where Eun Hee still played softly. She indicated I should sit down beside her. I did, and she adjusted her playing. The mysterious, gentle tune settled down into a familiar plinking, into a memory from childhood, and now from the Center. I’d never hear “Chopsticks” again without thinking of Eun Hee.

  I joined her, taking the melody away from her and letting her soar on the harmony.

  After a minute of playing together, she leaned toward me and, without looking at me, said, her voice gone husky, “I’m a little bit in love with you. You better take care of yourself
.” She leaned back and took the dance of notes to a whole new level.

  I smiled, but I didn't think she saw.

  The entrance buzzer rang, cutting short our song. I released the melody, and Eun Hee brought the harmony to a satisfying conclusion. With a hand on her shoulder, I stood, my gaze locked on the door, as was everyone else’s, even Una’s.

  Nurse Jones—the white queen—came out of her office and stalked toward the double doors. No one ever rang the buzzer, so she cocked her head to see who it was, long before she got close enough. One of her medical tennis shoes squeaked on the linoleum, loud in the silence that had descended upon the room.

  All eyes watched.

  The glare on the glass obscured the person on the other side, but—when Nurse Jones pulled open the door and asked, “May I help you?”—everyone got a good look at the blond, beautifully statured woman who stood there.

  Several caught their breath just at the sight of her, and several others gasped when she said, “I’m here to free Viviane and Gisèle Rose,” and handed Nurse Jones a copy of the court order.

  ♦♦♦

  CHAPTER 38

  Abram came out of the house as soon as Mom and I pulled up in Ms. Smart’s fancy car, as if he’d been watching for us. By the time he got to the curb, Mom and I were both out on the sidewalk, equally eager.

  I couldn’t have been more shocked when he hugged Mom to him and cried in her hair. I’d never seen my grandfather so emotional. It was as if a dam were breaking, a dam he’d shored up time and again over the years.

  I heard him whisper to her, “I kept my promises. I kept them all.”

  She neither said nor did anything to indicate that she knew he was even there, but it didn’t matter.

  After awhile, he hugged me too, and although I was tempted to give him the same cold response that my mother had, I discovered that, after everything that had happened, in his arms I was a kid again, full of love for my grandfather.

  By the time we got into the house, he had aged another ten years. He was shaking. Ms. Smart and I helped him into his recliner. The lawyer crouched beside him and asked, “Mr. Rose, is there anything I can get you?”

  He shook his head, unable to take his eyes off my mom. “You already answered my prayers,” he told her. “Thank you.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” said Ms. Smart, “but all I did was file paperwork. It was your granddaughter who saw through Dr. Reuter’s lies. She’s the one who pulled the plug.”

  Abram said, “He lied to me too,” and his eyes filled with tears again. He hid them behind a hand.

  Ms. Smart said, “I need to go.” She came to me. “Viviane—may I call you Viviane?”

  “Of course.”

  “Please call me Divana. And please, don’t hesitate to ring if you need anything at all from Bagley, Smart, and Cobb. We’re here for you.” Up close, she had the most amazing green eyes and ageless skin I’d ever seen.

  I accompanied her to the door. “Thank you, for everything.”

  “You’re quite welcome,” she replied, resting a hand lightly on my shoulder. She smiled at me, and I found myself automatically smiling back.

  She turned away and headed down the walkway, calling over her shoulder, "Look me up when you get to Wyrdwood. I may have a job for you."

  I stood there blinking, watching until she'd driven out of sight. When I returned to the living room, I found Abram on the couch with my mom. She was there, with him. I could see it in the tilt of her head and the awareness in her eyes.

  “Don’t cry, Dad,” Mom said. “Someday, she’ll understand.”

  “I promised,” he said.

  “Yes, you did.” Mom reached out and laid her hand on his, then she looked over her shoulder at the wall. “I don’t have much time.” Leaning forward, she kissed Abram on the cheek.

  “Don’t go.”

  “I have to. I’m sorry. I know how hard this has been on you.”

  Abram straightened his back and shoulders.

  Mom said, “You have to let us go for now, both of us. But we’ll come back to you, and when we do, we’ll be able to stay, all of us, together.”

  “Promise?” asked Abram. He studied her face as if he were starving for the sight of it.

  “I promise,” said Mom. She rested a hand on his cheek. “I love you, Dad.”

  She was there a moment longer, a breath in and out, and then I saw the spark leave her eyes, her facial features relaxed, and it was as if something had cast the tunnel to her consciousness into darkness.

  “But, baby girl, I’m all alone here.” Abram pulled his daughter to him and rocked her like the child she had once been. I’d never seen my grandfather with her, had never seen that sorrow and love on his face. I was immediately ashamed of all the terrible, mean things I’d said. It stuck in my throat and made my jaw ache.

  I knelt at his knee. “What did you promise?”

  Abram looked at me with watery, old man eyes, and several seconds passed before he answered. Finally, he sniffed and said, “I promised your mother that I’d stay away from the Center.”

  “Why?”

  “So they wouldn’t find you. They’ve been searching for years, waiting for you to appear. Your mother left us because she thought it would keep you safer.”

  “They?”

  “Your father's enemies.” Abram set Mom gently back against the cushions and turned to face me. “They're dangerous, Viviane. If they ever found you, they’d take you away, and you’d never see home again.”

  I sat back on my heels. “I don’t understand. I’ve been going to the Center for twenty years. I’d think they’d have found me by now if they were looking that hard.”

  Abram shook his head dourly. “They're not familiar with the sound of your heart strings. They know Gisèle’s, and my own are also familiar to them, especially the tones I put out when I’m with her. We’re taking a huge risk—she and I—being here in the same house together. I hope the charms hold until you and Gisèle can get underway.”

  “My father's enemies?” I asked. “Are they…do they…do you know about the other realms?”

  Abram’s gaze lifted sharply to my own and locked there. “Yes. You?"

  I grinned. "Oh, yes."

  My grandfather took a deep breath and shook his head in wonder. "That's a relief. Are you aware that your father was from a place called Apfallon?”

  I felt heat rising to my cheeks and heart, anger and other emotions fighting for dominance. Why had no one told me? The pieces were finally coming together.

  “That's,” I said, “why I can see things other people can't.” My mind went to my mom's journal entries.

  “Yes,” Abram said. “You see things because you’re half Apfallonian.”

  “All this time—”

  “Now, hold on,” he interrupted me. “Before you get mad, let me explain why I couldn’t tell you.”

  “Go on,” I prompted.

  “Right now,” he said, “you’re thinking it would have been easier if you’d known what you were seeing was real, but you’re wrong. You think you felt different from other kids because you had hallucinations? Just imagine for a minute how you’d have felt and acted if you knew they were real. Now, imagine what would have happened if you’d told somebody you believed they were real. They'd have locked you away much younger.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “What I did, keeping this from you all those years, might’ve been evil, but it was the lesser of two evils. Sometimes, when you love somebody, you have to do wrong in order to do right by them.”

  Suddenly, I understood. I thought of Lettie. I knew I couldn’t tell her I'd flown with Colin. My own best friend would think I’d gone off the deep end.

  “I need to lie down,” I said quietly.

  Abram agreed.

  ♦♦♦

  CHAPTER 39

  We stayed with Abram for a week longer, protected by charms placed on the house. Lettie came over nearly every day, and we hung out like we had before my world cra
cked. On our last morning together, I made her breakfast after her graveyard shift in the laundry. She sat at the counter and said, “I can’t believe you’re leaving.”

  “It’s surreal, I know.” I sat beside her and set our omelets in front of us. “It’s all happening so fast.”

  She put her hand on my arm. “Are you sure about this?”

  “Positive. Jake has this amazing new therapy. It's exactly what I need.”

  “Well,” Lettie said, “I’d rather you be healthy and there than sick and here. But, do you really have to go that far?”

  “I need to get out of here."

  “Okay.” A tear dropped off the end of her nose, into her omelet.

  “Oh, honey.” I put my arms around her. “It’ll be okay. You can come visit. I’ve heard it’s beautiful out there. They have mountains and ocean.”

  “I will,” she said, her voice tremulous with emotion. “I’ll visit. A lot.”

  We hugged for a long while, both crying our good-byes.

  ♦

  Abram drove us to the airport. Mom sat in the front seat. Corona and I sat in the back with luggage on our laps.

  I watched Peoria slide past, outside the car, the stream of time flowing onward, my history falling away behind me.

  I thought of Lettie. I was going to miss her so much, but when I couldn’t tell her the truth, I realized she couldn’t be as big a part of my life. It was one thing to ask my best friend to believe my fiancé had been kidnapped. It was another entirely to ask her to believe he was a prince from another realm who could sprout wings and fly. According to Corona, the minds of pureblooded Earth natives had their limits, and what Lettie didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.

  Abram came into the main terminal with us, pulling Mom’s suitcase behind him. He couldn’t go beyond security, so he said his good-byes there. He hugged Mom, and I could see he was using every ounce of his strength to keep from getting emotional again. He had on his hard mask, the one I’d seen so often growing up. His lips pursed to keep back words he didn’t dare say aloud for fear of losing control of himself.