“There’s not even a picture of a clown.”
Zack stepped into the pantry, right through the clown, and started to look through the juice boxes that nobody had touched and the Little Debbie Snack Cakes.
“Zack,” Uncle Mark said. “Why don’t you take your pie and eat it in your room.”
Zack came out of the pantry, and walked toward me. I was still standing there shaking, with Payne holding my hand.
“Why isn’t everyone else telling her that there’s no clown?” he asked. “Do you all see something?”
I couldn’t take my eyes off the clown.
“Zack,” I said, my voice pleading. “Go on upstairs. Please.”
I shut my eyes tight and refused to look at either the clown or Zack I had gotten used to some people knowing my secret, but not Zack. I didn’t want to see the look of loathing that would certainly cross his face. The look that said, ‘you’re a freak.’
“No,” Zack said. “You’re scared. I’m not leaving you when you’re scared. Tell me what’s wrong. Are you seeing a ghost?”
I nodded. There seemed to be little point in hiding it.
I felt someone take my other hand.
Opening my eyes, I saw Zack’s eyes were fierce, protective, and full of nothing but love.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Besides, it’s just a ghost. It can’t hurt you, can it?”
I shook my head.
“No,” I said. “Ghosts can’t hurt anyone. I’m not afraid of ghosts.”
Zack hugged me, his embarrassment at showing affection gone for the time being. “Then why did you scream like a little girl?” he asked.
“It’s a good question,” Payne said.
I looked over to the clown, who looked frightened himself.
“It’s a clown,” I said as if that in and of itself should be enough. “I’m scared of clowns.”
Zack took a step back. Now, he started to stare at me like I was crazy.
“You’re okay with ghosts, but clowns scare you?”
I nodded.
“Wow,” he said. “You’re nuts.”
I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry.
Before I could decide, the clown stepped forward. Little bells on his feet gave tiny rings.
“I’m really sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you, but I need your help. Well, not me, exactly. There’s a small boy out there that needs you to help him.”
That shook me out of my trance. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a copy of the picture that Archer had drawn. I held it up so the clown could see.
“Is this him?” I asked. “Is this the boy?”
The clown took off his silly hat and looked at the picture.
“Yeah,” he said. “That’s him. You need to find him before it’s too late.”
Chapter Four
Facing the McKnights
The clown was still fiddling with his bright blue hat as he waited for me. Grandpa had finally herded Zack into the other room, taking the pie with them.
“Tell me about the boy,” I said. “How do you know him?”
The clown shrugged as he put his hat back on his head, indicating his clown outfit with an outstretched hand.
“I guess it has something to do with all of this.”
“You weren’t a clown before you passed?” I asked.
“Not professionally,” he said. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Barry. I owned a few furniture stores in Boston. We did good business, and I was grooming my son to take over so I could retire. He’s ready now. He’ll be fine. But I got into this about thirty years ago.”
“Dressing like a clown?” I said. “Why?”
“My daughter. Heather,” Barry said. I could hear the sadness in his voice. “She was my little angel, and when she was three, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Poor little thing. We were told that she probably wouldn’t last more than a year or so. But we showed them!” He smiled triumphantly.
“My Heather was a fighter. She hung in there until she was twelve. Never complained. She was close to her brothers, too. They were twins. It was hard on my eldest son to see her so sick, but he was so good with her. He’s a clown, too. Used to be my assistant, you know. All for Heather.”
Listening to him, he was starting to become a little less terrifying.
“You see,” Barry continued, “Heather would have to spend a lot of time in the Children’s Hospital. There was this guy, Edward Klein. He used to come every Saturday to entertain the kids. He was sponsored by many of the local businesses like mine. Heather loved it. So did all the children. I had struck up a friendship with Ed. Well, one day Ed went and got into a car accident.”
I resisted the urge to ask if he was in a really small car with two dozen of his clown friends along for the ride.
“He ended up fine,” Barry said. “But he was laid up for a few weeks, and so I figured, why couldn’t I do it? I asked Ed, and he thought it was a great idea. I had a clown outfit made for myself. He taught me how to make balloon animals, and a few other clown tricks. I’ve gotta tell you, it’s not as easy as it seems, but when you see the smiles on all those kids’ faces, it’s all worth it.”
Barry smiled, and I took a moment to summarize everything so far for Uncle Mark and Payne. Zack and Grandpa had gone into the living room. I could see Payne was getting impatient. He wanted to know about the boy, but I knew that ghosts needed to tell their story in their own way.
“Well,” Barry continued. “By the time Ed was able to resume clowning, I had gotten pretty good. So he and I both did it. In a few years, when Ed threw out his back, I took over full time. Heather knew it was me, of course, but it was still magical to her. She was so proud that her daddy was the clown. And my son and I kept doing it, even though we lost Heather twenty-three years ago. I know she would have wanted that. It always made me feel good. My son still goes there, and so do his kids. Those children need to laugh and forget that they’re sick. If I could do that for them for a few minutes....”
Barry stopped for a moment. I knew he was thinking about his daughter.
“When I died,” Barry said. “I expected I’d see my Heather again, but I just felt like there was something that I needed to do first. I could just feel it. A child who just needed a laugh. I closed my eyes and just concentrated on that feeling. Then he was there. Or rather, I was with him. This boy spends nearly every day in fear and pain. They barely feed him. Sometimes they leave him for days without any food. He’s treated worse that a neglected pet. They want him to be afraid. Somebody has to help him.”
His eyes were pleading, locked on mine. This time, I didn’t look away.
“Do you know where he is?” I asked. “How can I find him?”
Barry shook his head.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I asked him. He wasn’t really sure—but his name is Seth.”
Seth. I thought back to the frightened child that I had seen in my vision. The name felt right. And knowing it made him even more real for me.
I gave my uncle and Payne a very condensed version of the information Barry had just relayed.
“What else can you tell us,” Uncle Mark asked, knowing that the ghost could hear him even he couldn’t hear the ghost. “The name of a town? A nearby street? A phone area code?”
But Barry just shook his head.
“I don’t know any of that,” he said. “I just know that he’s terrified of them. I promised him that there was someone out there that could help him. He didn’t believe me, but I just had to imagine someone could help. I just closed my eyes and concentrated on finding help for this boy. Then I was in your pantry, and you were screaming your head off.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m scared of clowns.”
“I kind of figured that,” he said, smiling. “I never wanted to scare you. I just need you to help Seth.”
“I know,” I assured him. “I will, but I need to find him. Can you go back to him? See if you can get a town, a phone numb
er or even an address?”
Barry closed his eyes, but nothing happened.
“No,” He said. “I can’t go back. And even if I did, I couldn’t promise that I’d get back to you. I feel this need to go. It’s my Heather. She’s waiting for me.”
I nodded and forced myself to step closer to him.
“It’s all right,” I said. “I promise you that we’ll find him. Let me ask you a question. When you were there, was Seth alone?”
“Yes,” Barry said. “He was the only one I saw. Seth was afraid that someone else was going to come, but he was alone.”
“Somehow, we’ll find him. I promise. Go see your little girl.”
I gave Barry a smile.
Barry nodded. He looked off to the side and his face lit up with unhindered joy. I knew that he was seeing Heather.
Then he was gone.
“He’s moved on,” I said.
I went over to the kitchen table and sat down. I went through everything that he told me. Uncle Mark shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “We don’t know much more than we did before. We’ve got his first name, Seth. But that’s it. If this clown got here to see you, then the fact that he used to live in Boston doesn’t mean a thing. We have no idea where he is or where to start looking. We don’t have anything to go on.”
“We may have more than you realize,” I said. “I might know Seth’s last name too. I think I have it down to two names.”
Payne and Uncle Mark looked at me. Their gazes sharpened.
“How?” Payne asked.
“Think about it,” I said. “Barry felt the need to find Seth because there was a child who was afraid and needed to laugh. And he did make Seth laugh. He talked to Seth, and Seth talked to him. Don’t you see?”
Payne and Uncle Mark had blank looks on their faces.
“Seth could see the clown,” I said. “He’s like me. He can talk to ghosts. That’s gotta make him either a Blackburn or a McKnight.”
When we filled in Grandpa, he agreed with me. Not only because the boy had an ability, but also because the poor kid clearly had rotten luck. However, there were no kids missing between the two families.
It reminded me of Scarlett. She had been the child of a Blackburn who had left Spirit. Nobody knew she had even been born until she came back to town. Could this be the same thing? A boy that nobody knew existed? I thought about the name Seth, too. It sounded more Blackburn than McKnight, but that didn’t mean anything if he had been raised outside of Spirit.
I decided that we needed to talk to Varick. After all, there was a fifty-fifty chance that the boy was a McKnight, and Varick had resources Uncle Mark might not have. He had money, political connections and wasn’t bound by things like jurisdiction or silly little laws as Uncle Mark was.
Varick was very supportive and sympathetic when I called him. He offered to help in whatever way that he could, but without more to go on, there wasn’t much more for him to do.
He did however have a suggestion.
“I think you should come and speak to the McKnight Family Council. Tell them what you’ve told me.”
I was in my bedroom on my cell with Varick, pacing back and forth with Ricky watching me.
“Why? What good could that do?”
I hated the sound of panic in my voice, but the idea of talking about my visions to people I didn’t know made me tremble. I wasn’t a fan of talking to people I did know. There were times I didn’t even like talking in front of Ricky.
“We all run business around the world,” Varick explained. “We have different contacts and resources. Perhaps they’ll have some insight on who this child is or how to find them. Besides, if this young man is possibly a McKnight, they have a right to know he’s out there.”
I hated the fact that he was being reasonable and I wanted to hide in my closet, but I needed to put this child first. I had no idea if he was a McKnight or a Blackburn, but ever since that first vision of him, I’ve been haunted by his face whenever I close my eyes. I know I’d never met the boy, but I was already attached.
“Fine,” I said, wincing as I did. “I’ll go. But I’m not going to like it.”
Varick had the nerve to chuckle.
The next day, Uncle Mark brought me to one of Varick’s office buildings, this one a large twelve story structure that looked like a series of mirrors stacked one on top of each other, culminating in an odd, geometrical shape that made it almost look like an abstract work of art. It reflected the bright sun in the early morning as I walked in.
Taking the elevator, Uncle Mark made our way up to the top floor conference room.
When we arrived, I wasn’t surprised to see Payne there. However, he wasn’t alone. Sitting with him in the elegant waiting room were Hunter and Archer. Both looked at ease. I looked around. There was expensive abstract art hanging on the walls, several long, white sofas and, in the far corner, a giant tropical fish tank.
“We’re going in with you,” Hunter said, rising and walking over. “I want them to know that if they lie to you, I’ll know it and I’ll say it.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said. “This is your family.”
Hunter just shook her head.
“I’m doing it,” She insisted. “We’re in this together.”
Archer came over to stand next to her.
“I won’t be able to tell if they’re lying or not. But, if they’re mean to you, I can always blow them up.”
“Archer,” I admonished. “Stop.”
“Look,” he said. “Things may get rough in there. I know at least one council member isn’t comfortable with the idea of McKnights and Blackburns working together. But whatever happens; I’ve got your back.”
I smiled at him. “Fine, but I’m not looking forward to going in there. Who do you know on the council?”
Before Archer could answer, Varick came out through a pair of thick, mahogany doors. He was a tall man, well over six feet. He had salt and pepper hair and a moustache that commanded respect and probably had its own Facebook page. He wore a sleek black suit over a white collared shirt. He was the same age as grandpa, and his face had the same wrinkles brought on with time and loss.
He smiled as he saw me. “They’re ready and waiting for you.”
We all filed into the room. Varick whispered reassuringly in my ear that it was going to be alright.
Dark green walls adorned with portraits of different members of the McKnight clan were lit by a roaring fire and a crystal chandelier. Facing the council were several brown leather chairs that surrounded a sturdy looking antique mahogany table. I took a seat toward the end of this row, with Payne on one side and Uncle Mark on the other. Hunter and Archer sat to the left of Payne while Varick went to the head.
Facing me were the McKnights. I instantly recognized Teague McKnight. He had been there the last time I’d spoken to the McKnights, which had been a monumental waste of time as they wouldn’t believe the idea of the shadow creatures that existed in Spirit. It probably hadn’t helped that I had refused to talk about my psychic gifts and had just listened as Varick spoken on my behalf, leaving out any mention of my abilities. He smiled at me politely, but didn’t look happy to see me. He was balding with grey hair and a hawklike face. He wore a blue suit with no tie.
Varick introduced everyone else. Halden McKnight, who had salt and pepper hair and was stroking his goatee gave me a small nod, but didn’t smile. Laird McKnight, whose fading red hair was receding from his hairline, and wore a pinstriped suit, looked like he wished he were anywhere but here. Wolf McKnight’s grey eyes watched me carefully. I remembered seeing him around school a few times. He was in his seventies, but came to see his grandchildren perform in orchestra. He was dressed in black, and scowled as he saw Payne’s hand on mine. Next to him was portly Willard McKnight, around sixty, with thick black grey hair and looked like he was ready to hit the tennis courts in his all white polo shirt and shorts. He had a great poker face and I couldn’
t get any feeling on what he was thinking.
But my eyes were drawn to two McKnights sitting at the end of the table. One was a woman who I had never seen before. She was absolutely beautiful; very elegant in her business suit which was a striking, bold red. Her eyes studied me, drinking up every detail, watching how I moved into the room. Her hair was black, with a single streak of grey, and her eyes were a striking blue that reminded me of Payne. A small grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. She stood to introduce herself, taking my hand and introducing herself as Sapphire McKnight.
The other person was tall, handsome and wore a friendly look on his face that I didn’t trust. He narrowed his eyes as he studied me for weaknesses. Varick introduced him as Patton McKnight. I’d seen him once before in a vision, slapping his son’s face. It was Archer’s father.
Neither son nor father would look at one another.
“I’m not sure if I understand why we’re here,” Wolf said before Varick could speak, his scowl deepening. “Miss Blackburn, are you accusing one of us of hurting this child?”
“No,” I said quickly. “I have no idea who’s taken him, but he’s frightened and alone, and he needs our help. He’s most likely related to one of our families.”
“You mean he’s a Blackburn,” Willard said with an accusatory tone. His face remained passive as he spoke, but I could feel him distrust me.
“I don’t know. The only reason I know Seth’s related to one of us is because of his ability.”
“That name,” Wolf glanced over toward the fireplace. “Seth. Not quite as common a name as most Blackburns favor, but one less unique than expected from a McKnight. How can we determine which family he belongs to?”
“I don’t think we can,” I said. “At least, not until we find him.”
“Tell us about your ability,” Patton said, speaking for the first time.
“What does Bristol’s ability have to do with anything?” Archer asked, before I could say anything.
“Son,” Patton was still not looking at Archer as he spoke. “You shouldn’t even be here, so I’d appreciate if you kept your mouth shut.”
Vision of Sacrifices Page 5
