The foliage seemed to be thinning, and the slowly increasing greyness could almost be visibly detected filtering into the darkness before us. As I forced my way through the thicket, I tilted the flashlight up then panned it around and saw its focused beam disappear into nothingness. Pressing forward, I crunched through the carpet of fallen leaves and aimed myself in what I imagined to be a straight line.
After several steps, the landscape began to lighten more noticeably even if it was still a muddy twilight. Pushing through the brush, I continued down the incline and soon found myself unceremoniously sliding the last few feet down a vastly sharper drop. Fortunately, I didn’t fall far, landing in what at first appeared to be a shallow clearing.
I heard Ben skidding down the slope behind me and twisted out of the way just in time to avoid being run over by him as he stumbled out into the open space. I quickly panned the light around, trying to get my bearings and realized that we were standing on a service road.
It was somewhat overgrown and didn’t appear recently traveled, by vehicle at least. I tilted the flashlight down and scanned the ground, looking for any sign that Felicity might have come through. I harbored no belief that I would find anything so obvious as footprints, but at this point, I was willing to accept anything The Ancients would see fit to bestow upon me.
Their gift came in the form of an audible clue, although it was connected not with her directly but with my own pet theory about where she would be heading. I listened closely as in the distance a low rumble was beginning to build in both volume and tempo. Unfortunately, the sound was echoing through the woods in a haphazard pattern.
“Whaddaya think?” Ben asked.
“Sounds like a train,” I replied.
“Yeah, but I mean, which way?”
I sighed and shook my head. Then I pointed the flashlight to my right and began to speak, my tone unsure, “Well, it looks like the road curves up ahead there. Assuming we followed a relatively straight path coming over the ridge and didn’t get turned around, that should take us deeper into the park and toward the train tracks. I’m guessing that’s where she’d be heading.”
“Why’s that?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Just a feeling.”
“Okay. I’m good with that.”
“Of course, as I recall, the tracks curve,” I added, second-guessing myself. “So she might have gone back the other way. That is if she came through here at all.”
“So whaddaya wanna do?”
“I’m pretty sure we kept on a straight course,” I finally said, a tremor of uncertainty still underscoring my words. “If nothing else, going right should take us farther into the park. I think.”
“Then let’s go,” he urged.
We started walking, and I twisted my wrist up then pressed the backlight button on my watch. The blue glow lit the dial, and I peered quickly at the numbers. “Five-thirty,” I said over my shoulder. “If she was being guided by some ethereal force, then she knows exactly where she’s going and has probably had plenty of time to get there by now.”
I was amazed at how calm my voice suddenly sounded because internally I was a wreck. My stomach was twisted into a double knot, and nausea had become a constant companion. A sickly sense of dread was raping my spine and wrapping its cold fingers around the back of my brain.
The only thing that kept me from completely losing my sanity at this very moment was the fact that I had not felt anything happen on an ethereal level. Felicity and I had a very tight connection with one another and would often share experiences as if we were one person. At the very least, I was sure I’d be able to feel it if she was already in immediate danger.
At least, that is what I kept telling myself.
The buzzing annoyance of myriad insects was beginning to fill the air, and we both found ourselves randomly slapping at mosquitoes. Birds had begun to chirp their staccato songs to greet the onset of morning, and I could hear squirrels chittering in the branches above.
The distant rumble of the train was coming closer, but I still couldn’t pinpoint a direction due to the echo, and that made me even more unsure of my choice. We continued along the unused service road for several yards before I began to slow my pace, eventually coming to a complete stop.
“What’s wrong?” Ben asked. “You goin’ la-la?”
“I don’t know, Ben,” I replied, my agitation growing rapidly. “I don’t know if… I’m not… I’m just not sure we’re going in the right direction.”
“You wanna turn around?” he asked.
“Gods, I just don’t know,” I replied, fear suddenly bubbling to the top in an attempt to overtake me.
“Just calm down, Row,” he told me, then looked upward. “Sun’ll be up in less than twenty minutes. It’s already gettin’ light, so why don’t we do this. You keep goin’ this way, and I’ll backtrack and go the other way.”
I shook my head. “I still don’t even know if she actually used this road, Ben.”
“Listen, Row, I know you’re upset, but you gotta get a handle on it,” he said. “I’m tellin’ ya’, man, we’re gonna find her and it’s gonna be okay.”
“How can you know that?” I snapped.
“Because I’m tellin’ ya that’s how it is,” he responded in a stern voice. “It’s gonna be all good, Rowan. Now go.”
He turned and started back down the service road, heading quickly away from me through the overgrowth. I watched after him for a moment then swallowed hard and mutely kicked myself for the display of emotion. Where Felicity’s safety was concerned, I had a hard time being rational, and he was correct- I had to stop letting it get the best of me.
I turned in the opposite direction and started up the road, pressing forward into the almost ninety-degree curve, my head down to follow the spot of the flashlight along the ground. I stepped carefully around a deep rut and continued walking until I rounded the bend.
When I looked up, the road stretched out before me in a straight line, and the overgrowth was knocked down as if the pathway had been frequented far more recently. In fact, it even looked somewhat maintained. In the distance, the lane passed beneath a short train trestle and beyond that, disappeared into the forest.
I was mentally debating whether or not I should call Ben back this way when I focused on something slumped against a tree along the roadside, just before the trestle.
My heart froze in my chest, and the sudden onset of blind panic made my skin prickle hot then cold. The flashlight struck the ground with a thud, its beam now directed against a clump of tall grass off the side of the road. I felt a heavy thump in my chest as my heart reacted to the dump of adrenalin, and my legs began pumping hard against the ground.
I wasn’t sure if I heard myself screaming or if it was simply the whistle of the oncoming train as I sprinted madly toward Felicity’s motionless form.
CHAPTER 25:
What I heard wasn’t just me screaming, nor was it only the whistle of the train. It was both. A pair of disharmonic tones blended into a single horrific chord. I don’t know what it was that I was screaming, but my guttural shriek had joined with the blast of the air horn to shatter the pre-dawn calm.
It could have been the word ‘no’. It could have been Felicity’s name. I might have been calling for Ben. A flagrant curse aimed at the Dark Mother wasn’t out of the realm of possibility either. Perhaps it was even all of them at once, I really cannot say.
The simple fact was that the chilling wail was just exactly that- an unintelligible cry of lament in a single drawn out breath. I suppose the second round would have been just as terrifying to hear as the first had it not been drowned out by the now overwhelming roar of the approaching freight train.
My heart was pounding as I drove myself forward- covering the distance between Felicity and me with a burst of speed that could only have been the product of an adrenalin surge. I started backpedaling as I drew near, trying to bring myself to a stop. In the end, I literally fell in front of her, hit
ting the ground hard and scrambling the last foot or so on my hands and knees.
As I crawled, my ears were filled with the thunder of the diesel engine. The cacophony was punctuated by the rhythmic clack of the locomotive wheels against track as the southbound freight train started across the trestle above.
Slipping my arms behind my wife’s back, I pulled her up and hugged her close. Hot tears were already streaming down my face as every ounce of the fear and dread I had been holding at bay was now bleeding out of me in an emotional hemorrhage.
Her body was warm to the touch and I buried my face against her neck, stroking her hair as my own body shuddered in an off-kilter cadence with my heavy sobs. My very soul was rending itself into nothingness as I spiraled into darkened despair. I couldn’t even find the energy to curse Cerridwen for taking her from me, nor myself for allowing it to happen.
All I could do was cry.
The last thing I expected to feel were her arms slowly wrapping across my back.
In my head, I could have sworn I heard the lilting Celtic tone of her faint voice saying, “Aye, Rowan, it’s okay…”
My first thought was that she had now joined the voices of the dead. It only stood to reason that she would speak to me from beyond the veil. And, of course, the whispers of those on the other side had become such an integral part of my life these past few years that I was rarely surprised when they made themselves known.
My second thought, when I considered the pressure I believed I felt against my back, was that the inevitable had arrived without delay. I had stepped over the edge and was officially insane.
I continued to hold her tight, letting the world around me be swallowed by the riotous noise from above. It didn’t even cross my mind that she was actually alive and well until the train had finally passed, and I could actually hear her complaining.
“Row, please,” she said, her voice a strained whisper. “I can’t breathe.”
I loosened my grip and pulled away from her. She was staring back at me with her eyes wide. Her tired expression displayed the cumulative fatigue of the past few days, but she still managed to cock her head to the side and give me a look of concern. She sucked in a deep breath and quickly huffed it back out.
“Thank you,” she said.
“I thought you were gone…” I said, wiping the back of my hand across my eyes.
“Aye,” she returned with a slight nod. “I got that impression.”
“Oh Gods…” I whispered, reaching out and gently brushing her cheek.
“It’s okay, Row.” She gave me a weak smile. “I’m fine. Really.”
“Told ya’, white man.” I heard Ben’s voice come from behind me, and I quickly glanced back over my shoulder.
My friend was standing in the middle of the service road looking down at us. He was nervously fidgeting, wringing his hands around the length of the flashlight I had dropped, and he had apparently retrieved. His expression was a mix of relief and discomfort all at once, and he looked away as if embarrassed to have witnessed my unchecked emotional outburst.
I forced out a hot breath and then sucked in a fresh one in an attempt to relax. I continued to wipe my eyes as I sniffed, somewhat chagrined myself. “How long have you been there?”
“For a bit,” he said softly. “Caught up to ya’ right after ya’ started screamin’.”
“I’m surprised you heard me.”
“Jeezus, Kemosabe, who couldn’t? You were louder than the fuckin’ train,” he told me with a half-hearted chuckle. I’m sure the joke was to ease his apparent discomfort as much as mine.
I let out a clipped laugh as well. “Yeah… So… I guess I looked pretty ridiculous.”
“No,” he replied with a slow shake of his head. “You looked pretty much like any guy would if he thought he’d just lost everything he had to live for.”
The level of understanding Ben was displaying was a testament to the depth of our friendship. I knew full well that he wasn’t one for overt displays of tenderness or sharing of vulnerabilities, so I appreciated his words even more.
“Thanks, Chief,” I told him.
“It’s all good, Kemosabe,” he replied, raising a hand and smoothing back his hair. “So ya’think we can change the subject before this gets all touchy feely?”
“Afraid you’ll damage your reputation with the woodland creatures?” Felicity quipped.
“Maybe,” he grunted. “So what’s up with you? Ya’ damn near gave us all heart attacks.”
She shrugged. “Aye, sorry about that.”
“So what did happen?” I asked, turning back to Felicity. “Why are you just sitting here?”
“Waiting for you,” she replied. “I knew you wouldn’t be too far behind.”
“Look at this,” Ben said, shoving a wrinkled piece of paper over my shoulder.
I took it and glanced at the scribbles. It was the map he had copied from Felicity’s bloody rendition.
“Turn it the other way,” he instructed, motioning with his finger.
I followed his direction and rotated the paper, then looked carefully at the scrawl of lines. My friend reached over my shoulder and indicated several points on the homemade map.
“Service road, railroad tracks…” he allowed his voice to trail off.
I looked up from the paper and at Felicity. “Did you find…”
She was already nodding before I could finish the question. “Aye, there’s a grave on the other side of the tracks. A few yards off the road.”
“Did you disturb anything?” Ben asked, shifting into his official cop persona.
“No.” She shook her head. “I haven’t even been over there.”
“Then how do you know for sure…” he began, then caught himself. “Forget it. Forget it.”
“Not that I’m complaining,” I said. “But I was certain you would try to connect with her. Why didn’t you?”
“I would have, but she wouldn’t let me,” she replied. “She remembered me, Rowan.”
“She what?”
“Brittany and I went to elementary school together,” she replied. “I’d almost forgotten that myself, but she didn’t. She told me she couldn’t allow an old friend to be hurt. All she wanted was for me to find her.”
Behind me, I heard Ben softly whistling the theme from the television show, Twilight Zone.
*****
“Hey! You wanna get off my ass?” Ben’s angry shout echoed through the woods as he stared down at Lieutenant Albright. “It’s not like I’m the one who killed ‘er ya’know!”
“Don’t take that tone with me, Detective Storm,” she spat in return.
“Both of you need to settle down,” Constance interjected.
“I don’t see where you have much say in this, Special Agent Mandalay,” Albright announced as she brought her angry gaze to bear on Constance. “This is no longer an abduction, it is a homicide investigation.”
True to what Constance had told me earlier, Lieutenant Albright was well on her way to reclaiming this case. It was obvious from her display that in her mind, you were either with her or against her. And, the four of us were already marked as against. Of course, I’m sure we had been tagged as such all along.
“The Bureau still has an interest in this, Lieutenant,” Constance returned. “The fact is you have a serial killer on your hands.”
“Be that as it may, you have no business interfering with my command,” Albright snipped.
“I’m not trying to interfere with anything,” Constance replied with a shake of her head. “I’m simply telling you that standing here yelling at one another isn’t getting any of us any closer to solving this crime.”
“I still want to know what THEY are doing here.” Albright shrugged off Mandalay’s observation and shunted the conversation into a different direction as she gestured at Felicity and me.
“They’re why we found the body,” Ben returned stiffly.
“What are you, Storm, some kind of lap dog? Do you just
let these two lead you around by the nose?”
“I’m a cop,” he retorted. “Unlike someone I could mention.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
My friend shook his head and looked away. “Just forget it.”
“No,” Albright snarled. “I want to know just exactly what you were implying.”
“Okay, you wanna know…” Ben replied, thrusting a finger at her.
“Storm…” Constance warned.
“No, Mandalay, she says she wants ta’ know.” He shot a glance her way then looked back to the lieutenant. “It means if you’d quit fuckin’ around playin’ politics, maybe the Major Case Squad could get back to doin’ police work like it’s supposed to.”
“I see,” she returned with a cold chill in her voice. “And you call what you have been doing ‘police work’?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Considering your entourage, I would say that is a matter for debate.”
“Yeah, well who just found Larson’s body?” he chided.
“That is a good question, Detective,” she answered. “An even better question would be, just exactly how did your little group find the body?”
He shook his head. “You don’t really wanna know that.”
“Oh, but I do, Detective,” she told him as she crossed her arms and nodded her head. She didn’t hide her sarcasm. “I do.”
“Listen, I’m not goin’ there with ya’ right now, ‘cause you’re not gonna believe it if I do.”
“WitchCraft, then,” she replied, spitting the word as if it was a bad taste in her mouth.
“Yeah, whatever. I’ll take any lead I can get if it helps me get an asshole off the streets.”
“Even if that lead could compromise the investigation?”
“There’s nothin’ compromised here,” he snapped.
“Are you certain of that?”
“Yeah, I am. Besides, who are you ta’ lecture me on compromisin’ an investigation anyway?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Let’s just say I sure as hell don’t try ta’ help the assholes of the world escape.”
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