Clue and The Shrine of the Widowed Bride (Clue Taylor Book 1)

by Wendie Nordgren

  “Clue, please don’t leave things like this between us.”

  “Like what? You made your feelings very clear to me the first time we met. You belong to Palena. I’m not exactly unattached either. Tadashi Shimizu has feelings for me. He said I’d be his wife one day. He told Winks that I was his wife already, but Winks argued with him about it.”

  Gregory chuckled. “I bet I know why, and it’s the reason I didn’t make love to you when I had you alone in my bed.”

  Finally, I looked at him. “It wasn’t because you think I’m ugly?”

  Gregory looked at me like I had made a joke, and he was about to laugh. Then, his expression transformed to one of horror when he realized that was what I believed. I turned my head from him to look at the waves and attempted to stand. Gregory put his hands around my waist and kept me in his lap. I felt him grow hard against me.

  Against my neck, he said, “Don’t doubt that I find you beautiful or that I desire you. My father asks Mr. Taylor for permission for me to court you even now.”

  “You needn’t bother. Tadashi already asked.” I struggled to free myself of Gregory’s lap.

  “More than one man can court you. He hasn’t caught you yet.”

  “What am I, a fish?” I scowled at him as I stood and began walking back to the pier. Gregory caught up to me and took my hand in his.

  Winks, who seemed a bit inebriated, and I thanked the Finns for dinner and said our goodbyes. Gregory walked with us to our transport. “You drive, baby girl. Daddy’s had too much vodka.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll talk you through it.”

  My frowns and arguments had no effect in changing his mind. Winks sat in the passenger seat and waved goodbye to Gregory. I gave Gregory Finn a worried frown along with a wave goodbye.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The journey home made me painfully ashamed of my harsh judgement of Mrs. Stone’s driving. I decided to ask her for lessons. Finally, I parked inside of our garage. Winks had been snoring for the past ten minutes. I had timed him. I held his nostrils closed to wake him. Sure, it was a mean thing to do, but the drive had been stressful. He waved my hand away and stumbled into the house. I got my groceries and bags of clothes inside on my own. After I had put everything away, I took a bath. The jasmine Tadashi had given me was still alive in the glass beside my bed. I gave it some fresh water. As I laid in bed with Daisy in my arms, I realized that I was spending my first night in the house with my own real father and laughed before falling asleep.

  The next morning, my hover board and helmet were returned to me by the Hover Currier service curtesy of Tadashi. After a quick bite to eat, I dressed, grabbed my helmet and board, and went to the Community Center. I had to wait a few minutes for it to open. Unfortunately, once it opened, I discovered that Winks had been correct. Winks had the final say in all of my legal decisions until I turned twenty. Cassini had strict laws in regard to minors.

  When I had been recognized as an orphan, I had been granted responsibility of myself. That had all changed the moment Winks had claimed me as his daughter. However, through Winks, I now had Cassini citizenship which would make my classes a lot less expensive. After a little investigating, I discovered that with my father’s permission, I could enroll at Hyperion College next year and take my classes at the Community Center under a professor’s supervision. I remembered the lady who had been observing the younger students. I found her, and she gave me some forms for Winks to fill out.

  Before going home, I decided to look up sea nymphs. From what I read, it seemed that the consensus was that sea nymphs were beautiful young maidens who protected sailors and fishermen. They were minor goddesses who lived in the ocean. In every depiction of them, they were beautiful. I became less annoyed with Gregory.

  While attempting to check out the book, I snorted in disbelief when the man at the front desk informed me that I would need my father’s permission to check out books. He gave me another form. I carried the book back upstairs and shelved it. As I was walking back down, I saw the man from the front desk holding open the door for a group of little old ladies. I smiled brightly at Mrs. Stone and Mrs. Stevens. I didn’t know the other ladies. A couple of middle-aged women carrying large bags followed behind the slow moving procession.

  “Clue, I’ve been worried about you! I’ve signaled at your door twice in the past few days.” I hugged her careful of her bones and my forms.

  “I’m sorry I worried you, but I’m great! I’ve been with my father. He’s alive! I found him.” I felt really stupid when a few tears slipped out of my eyes.

  “Oh, Clue, that is wonderful news. I’m so happy for you. I thought you were all alone. You never talked about your family, and I didn’t want to pry,” Mrs. Stone said quietly.

  Changing the subject, I said, “So, working on the fabric some more today?”

  “Yes, we are.” Mrs. Stone gave my wrist a gentle squeeze with her soft old hand. “Would you like to learn?”

  I looked at my papers. “I want to get my father to fill these out. I think I’d rather have some driving lessons, though.”

  Mrs. Stone laughed in delight. “Any time.”

  I waved goodbye to the ladies. On the way home, I held the forms carefully to my chest. Leaving my helmet and board on the floor by the door, I went in search of Winks. I found him in the basement in which I had promised to stay out squinting into a cup of black coffee.

  “You look beautiful this morning, Pops.” I began digging through his things for a pen. Finding one, I handed it to him and placed the forms in front of him.

  “What’s all this, baby girl?”

  I pointed. “I need permission to check out books from the Community Center.” Winks signed it. “I need permission to register in classes next semester. I can take them at the Community Center. There is a professor there who has agreed to supervise me. She is there for the little kids, but says she doesn’t mind being my instructor of record. She’ll get a stipend for it.” Winks filled out the forms. I kissed his stubbly cheek and rushed back to the Community Center.

  Winks was dressed and waiting for me when I got home. “Go put your things away. Today your lessons with me begin.” I took my book up to my room. When I came back downstairs, Winks waited for me beside the fireplace. “Come show me what you’ve learned to do.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Show me how you mesh realities,” Winks said as he took my hand in his.

  “I don’t know. I’ve only done it when I was either terrified or had to escape.”

  Winks became thoughtful. “When you were afraid, you desperately wanted something. What was it?”

  Staring at him in confusion, I said, “Not to die.”

  “How could you prevent your death?” Winks stared deeply into my eyes with his green ones as if he were trying to watch how my mind worked.

  “By getting away from the men with knives.”

  “Okay, that’s good. Close your eyes. Think about getting away. Think of being somewhere else. Think of being in the kitchen where you could get a cold sweet tea.” I stood there struggling for what seemed like forever. “You’re trying too hard. You weren’t thinking before when you slipped. You were needing. You needed to escape. It was a primal need. Thirst is primal. To drink is instinctual. You need the sweet tea.”

  I tried to empty everything from my mind but my thirst and my need for a drink. When it happened, I realized the whump of sound and odd lifting and falling sensation occurred as the realities seemed to fall one on top of the other like one transparent picture being laid over another. Each was its own thing, but together they were more. In awe, I turned to Winks who had a pleased expression on his face.

  “Now, open the cold storage and take out a bottle of sweet tea.”

  “I can hear you! I usually don’t hear anything except Palena or Kiyohime. I thought I heard you yell, “run,” but thought maybe I was imagining it.” I took out a bottle of tea and drank i
t. “Does this work on Eris Station?”

  Shaking his head, Winks said, “It will work for you here on Cassini. I can only teleport here on our home world. Off world, occasionally, I can manage to phase in and out.”

  “Why?”

  “Cassini is alive with magic,” he said as he grinned and waggled his eyebrows at me. Now, we’ve tried thirst and know that you can teleport inside of the house. Let’s see how far you can go. Think about feeling safe and happy. Concentrate on those feelings. Then, the next time you are afraid, you’ll end up in that safe place, and I’ll know where to find you. Let’s walk down the block first. Slip us back out into our reality first.”

  “How?”

  “You aren’t thirsty anymore. You got what you came for, and you’re done. Concentrate on satisfaction.” Winks took my hand in his.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated. Immediately, I felt the change. Winks grinned at me, took the bottle from my hand, placed it in the sink, and led me from the house. We walked a couple of blocks along Honjo Street. Then, he turned us into an alley.

  “Okay, baby girl, think about feeling safe and happy. No one can hurt you there. Let your feelings guide you.”

  Closing my eyes, I concentrated on feeling relaxed, protected, and completely safe. I felt the slip and an odd sensation as though we were being pulled along a line. When I opened my eyes, my cheeks began to burn, and I let go of Winks’ hand. We were not at 888 Honjo Street. Winks’ expression was pained. I heard the snarls of angry wolves moments before a large black wolf with his hair standing on end filled the doorway to Tadashi’s bedroom.

  “I can explain, Lord Tanaka. My daddy was just teaching me how to….” Two more wolves had joined him. The brown and white wolf shimmered, and a completely nude Tadashi walked past the large growling black wolf and held his hand out to me. I took it and jumped down from where I stood in the center of his bed.

  “Explain before my Okami master eats your father.”

  Winks jumped down to the floor on the other side of the bed. My face burned from embarrassment. “He’s teaching me to slip. I went from the living room to the kitchen. Then, we went down the street, so I could learn to go home when I got scared.” I moved closer to Tadashi and whispered the rest in his ear. “He told me to concentrate on feeling safe and protected, and we showed up here. I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

  Lord Tanaka had shifted form as I whispered in Tadashi’s ear. I looked toward his laughter and saw his naked backside as he left the room. Grumbling, Winks followed after him. Tadashi held my face still so that I couldn’t hide and had to look at him. “You are always welcome here, my love. What you have just done means more to me than any words you could ever say. I wish to show you something.” Smiling, I tried to lower my eyes enough to look at him. “After I dress, will you come with me on an adventure?”

  “Sure. Oh, I have to ask permission. Winks claimed me, and had Mr. Nixon make it all legal and stuff.”

  Tadashi kissed my nose. “Go get yourself something from the bar, and I’ll be right down.”

  “I can stay and help you,” I said as I moved my hands up his arms to his shoulders.

  “I can’t risk angering your father. I don’t wish to be forced to wait until your twentieth birthday to see you again.”

  Sighing, I turned to go. I found Winks sitting angrily on one of the red couches in the main room. Dorian, in wolf form, sat panting on the floor in front of him. Dorian whined when he saw me warning me of Winks’ mood. I sat beside Winks and held his hand. The thought of attempting to manipulate him with the “daddy” word entered my mind but blew through it like wind and vanished.

  “Winks, when I arrived in Scorpius, I thought you were my deceased uncle. I began searching for you out of respect. I wanted your final resting place to be in your home and not alone someplace. Cosmo, Tadashi, Dorian, and Lord Tanaka were the only people on whom I could count. Lord Tanaka saved me from horrible little mononoke things that were making Momma’s loss and being alone so much worse. While I’m still hurt they didn’t help me rescue you, they are my friends. I wish you could try to get along.” My eyes had begun to swell from what I had decided to say next, and a deep ache seized my heart. With a thick voice, I said, “You’re my father. You come first with me. We’re family, and I won’t allow anyone to come between us.” I stared at Winks’ hand. It was a strong hand. His palm was soft unlike Gregory’s. It was the tips of his fingers that felt rough to me probably from taking apart stolen jewelry. “If you really dislike Tadashi, I won’t see him anymore.” My voice had cracked on my last words as if the ache in my throat had cut them on their way out.

  With his left hand, Winks lifted my chin up to make my eyes meet his eyes making mine spill over. “Clue Taylor, who am I to judge? If my baby girl has her heart set on her very own puppy, that is what she will have.” He gave me an innocent expression. My puzzlement at his comment turned to shocked embarrassment when I figured out he was going to consider Tadashi my pet.

  “Maybe we should go wait at the bar.”

  “Why are we waiting?”

  “Tadashi wants to ask you something.”

  Winks shrugged and stood. I rose with him. He linked our arms together. Dorian had his large wolf head tilted to the side. He looked like he was trying to decide whether to let Winks go or to eat him. Winks patted Dorian between the ears and began to whistle. Before I could blink, we were standing on the first floor at the end of the bar near the exit door. Whistling, Winks led me over to a barstool.

  “I’ll have a vodka on the rocks. Make it the good stuff. Shimizu is paying. What’ll you have, baby girl?”

  “May I have a cup of coffee, please?” I tried to hand him a credit chip.

  “Yes, Miss. The staff has been informed that there is never a charge for the Taylors,” the bartender said with a polite smile. I put my chip back into my pocket. He placed a cup in front of me. I blew on the contents before taking a sip.

  Winks took a gulp of his drink. Tadashi appeared in a pair of dark blue slacks and a grey shirt. He had high cheekbones in an oval-shaped face. Tadashi was a strong secure type of handsome. My feelings for him were growing slowly and steadily. The feelings I had for Gregory were all over the place. Tadashi strode to me, took my hand in his, and kissed it. I stared at his lips against my skin. Tadashi’s lips weren’t full and rosy like Gregory’s. They were thin but filled my stomach with butterflies. Tadashi released my hand and bowed to Winks. I watched Winks’ face.

  “Mr. Taylor, may I take Clue to see our forest? I would like for her to see it before winter.”

  Scowling, Winks said, “You may if you promise to keep her safe and return her to our home in two hours.”

  Tadashi bowed to Winks again. “Yes, sir. Thank you for your trust.”

  Tadashi offered me his arm and a mischievous grin. Before taking it, I kissed Winks on the cheek. Instead of going through the basement, Tadashi led me through the lobby and out of the main entrance to a waiting transport. He climbed into the back with me, and the driver pulled away from the curb.

  “Where is this forest?”

  “It isn’t far. It is where we go when we need the freedom of our wolf spirit forms. Lord Tanaka is the oldest and most powerful of us. We have discovered that in forming our Okami pack, we are stronger and more balanced.” We were driving away from the train and in an opposite direction from Dorado. “When mortal life becomes oppressive, we take wolf form and run along the beach to our forest. It is two hundred-thousand acres of private solitude.”

  The forest had come into view. Even with the approach of fall, the tall conifers remained green. The driver parked in a graveled clearing. Tadashi helped me out. I stared up at the trees in wonder.

  “Are you alright? You seem as though you look upon trees for the first time.”

  Looking down when I stumbled, I said, “I’ve seen trees before here and in Hyperion. I’ve just never seen such big ones all in one place. We did have a few trees on Eris Sta
tion, too. They were fruit trees in the hydroponics bay. Reading about a forest and seeing one for yourself are two different things.”

  Tadashi smiled at me. “Would you like to see something funny?”

  “Sure.”

  We held hands as we walked under the massive trees. Bending down, I picked up one of the skinny green leaves that had fallen even though it remained green and sniffed it. A loud howl scared me making me jump. “Don’t be afraid. Even the Okami enjoys hunting a fat rabbit every now and then.”

  “That was Lord Tanaka?” I whispered.

  Tadashi grinned. “He is serving as our chaperone.”

  Gradually, the trees began to change until a forest of bamboo with trunks as thick as legs surrounded us. I placed my palm against one enjoying the smoothness that gave way to knotty segments. Tadashi led me to a clearing.

  “What’s that?” I asked as I pointed to a small mound on the ground.

  With Tadashi at my side, I cautiously approached it. Frowning, I bent down and picked up a shirt. My companion doubled over with laughter. I stared at him with a mystified expression.

  “Each time we shift into our wolf spirit forms, our clothing vanishes and appears here. There is a cave through there.” I followed with my eyes where he pointed. “When we settled here long ago, we brought with us thousands of bamboo seeds. The magic was dying in our world. Even though after much exploration, we decided to settle here on Cassini where the magic is rich, we did not wish to leave all of our home world behind. For many years, we remained wild in this forest as our spirits replenished. Cassini recognizes us as kindred and this place as our sacred den. Lesser spirits such as Kiyohime and Palena occasionally need to be near those such as you and your father in order to take corporeal form. They will seek you out, but I will not allow them to use you as a servant or a power source.”

  “Palena does seem stronger each time I see her.” Tadashi appeared worried. “What?”