by Lisa Beeson
Ari felt like slowing the tempo down a bit to make it sound more soulful. She closed her eyes and started playing the intro. With every note she played, she felt her heart start to become lighter. Singing with all her heart felt just as cathartic as blowing out the pain, as her Mom had taught her. She put all her love, pain, and hopes into the words as they passed her lips.
“If I could reach the stars, pull one down for you
Shine it on my heart, so you could see the truth
That this love I have inside, is everything it seems
But for now I find, it's only in my dreams
That I can change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You will think my love was really something good
Baby, if I could, change the world….”
Feeling the healing musical energy flowing from her, the song that started as a plea then became a promise. She started to believe maybe she really could change the world with her light. Just like Walter had said.
*****
Adam was finally able to get the bolt loose, and once he did he figured he’d done enough on the mower for the day. As he was walking across the yard towards the kitchen door, he heard music. At first he thought that it must be coming from the radio. But as he came closer, he realized that it was someone playing guitar in the dining room.
He knew it couldn’t be Jamie; she didn’t have a musical bone in her body. But then he thought, no… that couldn’t be the kid, the way the player was adlibbing and enhancing the chords, it sounded like someone who had been a musician for decades. But as he walked onto the back porch and looked through the dining room window, there she was, expertly playing his dad’s old guitar. Even his dad had never played that well. Her voice sounded like no twelve year old he’d ever heard before.
Hell, most adults don’t sound that good.
He had to get closer. The music was drawing him in like a siren’s song. Opening the screen door as quietly as he could so he wouldn’t disturb her, he was hit by a wave of emotions. But they weren’t his emotions, they seemed to be coming from her. Love and hope flowed with the music as it moved through him, awakening feelings he had buried deep down. But even though there was still sadness, there wasn’t the piercing pain that usually accompanied those feelings. It felt as though the music was filling him up and healing him. He could feel the hope in the words as she sang, and he believed her. This runaway girl with the crazy story was changing him for the better, and he was in awe. This child was special. And he wanted more than ever to protect her, and help her live up to everything she was meant to be.
He looked over at Jamie, who was her clutching at her chest, her eyes overflowing with tears.
She felt it too.
*****
As the song came to an end and the last notes trailed away, Ari opened her eyes.
Adam had come in at some point during the song and was standing there, looking at her with a shocked look on his face. Jamie sat there with tears in her eyes, hugging her arms to her chest.
“Oh Ari, that was beautiful. Your voice is gorgeous. I actually, truly felt the music fill me up as if it was healing me.” Her voice was filled with wonder. “Look, I literally have goose bumps,” she said, pointing to her forearm.
Ari stood up and placed the guitar back on the stand. She wasn’t sure how to take their reactions. She felt a bit embarrassed, but there was also a beautiful release in her heart. The constricting weight was gone from her chest, and it felt freeing.
She turned back around and Adam was still standing there almost trance-like, just staring at her. He snapped himself out of it and raked a shaky hand through his hair. “Ari…that was….”
He couldn’t seem to find the right words to finish the sentence, but Ari knew what he meant.
He finally believes…
Chapter 16
Ari had only expected to stay for a couple days at Paradise Glades. But a couple days turned into a couple weeks, and then into a month.
The three of them fell into an easy rhythm. Ari helped out with the cooking and the chores while Jamie worked on her sculptures, and Adam did odd jobs around the property. Sometimes in the afternoons, under the shade of the apple trees in the orchard, he would also teach Ari fighting and defensive skills.
He was a good teacher. He wasn’t too hard on her, and he didn’t push her beyond her limits. But he also made sure not to be too soft as well, so that she would be strong enough to fight off a real combatant. Adam taught her how to use fulcrums and pressure points, and how to use her attacker’s own weight against them, since they would most likely be bigger and stronger than her. She was a quick learner, so she was soon at a level where she was able to incapacitate an attacker long enough for her to escape and run to safety. There were cuts and bruises, but these were skills that Ari needed to master, so she pushed through the pain and did what needed to be done. She didn’t like punching Adam hard enough to hurt him, so he hung up an old punching bag in the barn to toughen up her hands, so she could learn how to punch harder.
*****
Adam had done some research and called in some favors from his old MP and Intelligence buddies to see if they could find out anything on these ‘Suits’ that were after Ari. But, after weeks of looking into it and trying to do a background check on ‘Mr. Briggs’, they realized that these people were ghosts. There was only one thing that seemed consistent in their research; a person known as Anaximander was rumored to run a group that covers their tracks almost flawlessly. The only bits of information they could gather were that they are a para-science group, and they seem to have infiltrated various international government agencies. Anyone who tries to get near them mysteriously disappears.
Adam didn’t share what he had found out with Ari, because he didn’t want to scare her. But he would do everything he could to prepare her and to make sure that she would be ready if the time came for another confrontation. He vowed to himself that he would be right there beside her, every step of the way.
May became June, and other than the sparring lessons, Adam kept himself and Ari in shape by running every morning around the property. They would hurdle over fences, dodge rocks, and run up and down the hills. Then, when they were sufficiently hot, sweaty, and exhausted, they would race off the small pier on the edge of the pond and into the cool embrace of the water. Jamie would stop what she was doing, and come down to join them.
*****
There was an old rope swing tied to a tree branch that hung over the pond, and Ari would impress them with twists and flips as she swung off the rope into the water. She missed the dive team at school, and the rope swing was the closest thing to it. Some days, if she was beat after a morning of running and swimming, she’d take a nap in the hammock hanging between two trees by the pier. She was almost able to convince herself that she was just spending the summer with her favorite aunt and uncle, and that she wasn’t on the run from insidious people who wanted to capture her… or worse.
Some nights the three of them would play poker, using Oreo cookies as the poker chips. Ari was able to master the mechanics and technique of the game, but Adam was always able to beat her. One night in frustration, she finally asked him how, and he said that her face was always giving her away. It was too expressive.
Great, all that time trying to teach myself how to have normal facial expressions to fit in, and now I have to unlearn it.
So, he taught her how to control her features by internalizing her thoughts and not broadcasting them on her face. As soon as she was able to perfect her poker face, she was unstoppable. Jamie quit playing, saying that she was only in it for the cookies and that she already owed Ari about three bags worth.
Whenever the Lennox siblings had any visitors Ari would go up in the attic when the sensor at the gate went off. One time when she was up there, she found an old book titled The Joy of Signing. She spent the rest of the afternoon teaching herself the different signs. She surprised both Adam and
Jamie when she was able to hold a whole conversation in sign language with them.
No more secret conversations about me anymore… at least in front of my face, anyway.
One evening, in mid-June, Ari and Jamie were sitting on the back porch sipping lemonade, rocking in rocking chairs, and watching a thunderstorm roll in. They were talking about anything and everything, and Jamie commented that Ari had grown at least two or three inches just since she had arrived there.
Ari stretched out her legs and looked down at the pair of old sneakers on her feet that she’d found up in the attic. She had already grown out of the shoes Ruby had bought for her. Jamie had said that she would buy her a new pair, but Ari told her not to bother; the old ones she found fit fine and she’d probably just grow out of them in a couple months anyway. Her face had lost some of its baby fat from all the running and training she and Adam had been doing, which made her look a bit older. She had also gained some muscle tone in her arms and legs, but was still lacking the curves that would put her over the line between childhood and adolescence, which made her feel even more gangly and awkward than she had before.
After an impressive roll of thunder, Jamie took another sip of her lemonade and said, “I’ve been thinking. If you can’t remember anything from before the coma, when do you celebrate your birthday?”
“Since we didn’t know when the real day was, we decided to celebrate it on the day that I woke up.”
“And what day was that?”
“…June 7th …” Ari said reluctantly.
Jamie stood up abruptly, almost spilling her drink. “Ari, you knuckle head. That was two weeks ago! Why didn’t you tell us?” she scolded.
Ari shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know…it didn’t seem like a big deal.”
Jamie looked at her in disbelief. “Not a big deal? Ari, you just turned thirteen! You’re a teenager now. That’s a huge deal!”
Ari shrugged again. In truth she hadn’t wanted to think about having a birthday without her family. Who knew if she even really was thirteen this year, it could’ve been last year, or maybe not even until next year. It didn’t really matter now anyway. At least that was what she tried to convince herself.
“That’s it. You are going to have a belated birthday party. I don’t care how blasé you are about it.”
“But...”
“No buts! You’re having a party and you’re going to like it!” she said, pointing emphatically at Ari.
“Jamie, please don’t make a fuss…” Ari called after her, but she was already inside making plans.
A couple days passed, and Ari hoped that Jamie had forgotten about the whole birthday thing. But then one afternoon Adam asked her to come up to the attic with him to help organize some of his parents’ stuff. It was fun going through all the antique treasures, family memorabilia, and old pictures of Adam and Jamie growing up. She had a good time teasing Adam about his old haircuts and fashion choices as well, much to his chagrin.
It took all afternoon, but the place was clean and organized. They congratulated each other for a job well done, and made their way down stairs for something to eat. But as they were coming down the stairs, Ari smelled something sweet and delicious coming from the kitchen. It smelled suspiciously like birthday cake.
Ari spun around to look at Adam. He tried to look innocent and keep a straight face, but he couldn’t hold back the small grin curling the corners of his mouth.
He’s in on it!
With a resigned sigh, she let Adam put his hands over her eyes and guide her through the house. When they reached the dining room, he took his hands away and said, “Happy birthday, kid.” The room was decorated in streamers and tissue paper flowers. Jamie stood behind a beautifully decorated two-tiered birthday cake, with a candle on top in the shape of the number thirteen. Twelve more sparkly candles were placed around the bottom tier.
Ari stood there, dumbfounded, until Jamie and Adam started singing Happy Birthday to her. Adam was all right, but Jamie had been right when she said she couldn’t hold a tune.
Ari laughed, embarrassed by the attention. When they finished singing, Jamie urged her to blow out the candles and make a wish. Ari closed her eyes and wished that there was some way she could repay them for all they had done for her. Then, she opened her eyes and blew out all thirteen candles.
Jamie clapped her hands, then brought out a small wrapped box that she had hidden under the table, on one of the chairs.
“Jamie, you didn’t have-” Ari started, but Jamie shushed her.
“I know you don’t like a big fuss, but I had to give you something. Now open it.”
Ari smiled as she tore open the paper and lifted the lid of the gift box. Inside was a tooled leather cuff bracelet with colorful twine, small glass beads, and braided copper wire sewn onto it. On top was a larger glass bead that looked like the earth surrounded by a ring of braided silver wire. On the inside was an imprinted message that read: Grab your stars and shine. The world is yours to change.
Ari’s eyes misted over. “Jamie, did you make this?”
Jamie smiled shyly and nodded. “Do you like it?”
Ari snapped the cuff on her right wrist – she still wore Ruby’s watch on her left one – and ran over to give Jamie a big hug. “I love it! Thank you so much.”
Jamie hugged her back. “You’re welcome, sweet heart. Happy birthday.”
When Ari pulled back, she admired the cuff on her wrist. “Now I have a Jamie Lennox original,” she said, smiling.
Adam cleared his throat. “Um… that’s not all. Come with me.” He led them outside into the golden light of the setting sun, towards the barn.
Adam opened up the barn doors to show something covered with a tarp. He walked behind it and then removed the tarp with a dramatic swish. “Taadaa!”
Ari’s eyes widened. It was an old Kawasaki motor cross bike, with a black helmet perched on the seat. “Is that for me?”
He nodded. “I had one when I was kid. I got this one a while ago, thinking I could fix it up and sell it, but then you came along…and I thought that you might like it.” He raked his hand through his hair, self-consciously.
“That…is…awesome!” Ari exclaimed. She ran over to Adam, saying thank you over and over. He scooped her up in a big hug and acknowledged her thanks.
He put her down and she went over to the bike excitedly. “Can I ride it?”
“Cake now, bike tomorrow,” Jamie protested.
Ari’s eyes lit up at the thought of that delicious cake, and then she ran inside.
Adam chuckled. “You didn’t have to twist her arm, did you?”
They both laughed and followed Ari inside.
Chapter 17
The next day Adam taught Ari how to ride the motor cross bike. There were a few hiccups and spills at first, but she got the hang of it. Soon, she was riding all over the property. They also let her ride down the gravel road to pick up the mail in the evenings, as long as she kept her helmet on so no one would see her face. As much as Ari loved Adam and Jamie, it felt good to ride by herself and feel a bit of freedom.
When the Fourth of July came around, Adam went into town and came back with a box full of fireworks. That night, they set them off, with Jamie yelling from the back porch, “Don’t go blowing your faces off, you crazies!”
Adam didn’t play around; he got the good stuff. And when they went through the ‘smaller ones’ and got to the big guns, Adam told Ari to go up on the porch with Jamie. So, Ari jogged up to the porch and leaned on the rail beside her.
Adam set off one the heavy duty ones, and it shot into the air exploding with multiple colorful blooms. The embers reflected in the pond, making it look like a tiny galaxy.
Ari stood there in the warm night breeze, watching the fireflies blinking, hearing the crickets’ night-time song, watching the colorful explosions in the sky, with people who truly cared for her… and she felt at that moment that the world was a beautiful place.
But, like mos
t things did in Ari’s life, the peace and happiness she had found at Paradise Glades came to an end.
One evening in early August, Ari went down the gravel road to get the mail. She parked at the tree line and walked over to the mail box, keeping her helmet on in case someone drove by. Reaching in, she pulled out a handful of envelopes. Most were just bills, but there was one that stood out. It was cream colored, square, and it felt like thick, high-quality paper. But instead of having an address on the front, there was only the initials “A.R.”
It couldn’t be for Adam; his initials were A.L. Then, she remembered that the name on her passport was Ariana Reyes. This letter was for her. It had to be from Cass; she was the only person who knew that name. The pictogram of an eye that she saw when she flipped the envelope over confirmed her suspicion.
But how did this get here? There wasn’t any address or post mark, so that meant someone had to have dropped it off personally.
Man, Cass has friends everywhere…
Ari walked back down the gravel road a bit, away from the main road and into the woods. She lifted up the visor of her helmet and opened up the envelope. It was a single folded piece of paper that read:
You must leave now.
They are coming.
The last line made a chill run down her spine as her skin prickled with goose bumps. Swiftly turning around, she stuffed the letter back into the envelope, lowered her visor, and ran back to her bike. She shoved the mail into her pocket and hopped onto the bike.
Speeding down the road, her heart hammering in her chest, she forced herself to calm down and focus. Keeping Adam and Jamie safe was her first priority. She couldn’t put them in danger. She had to leave tonight while they were sleeping, so Adam wouldn’t try to stop her or follow her. He was a cop and a soldier, but he couldn’t sense or see the dangers like Ari could, which would make him a liability.
