by K. F. Ridley
wall safe. He opens it and pulls out five hundred dollars in twenties. There were several stacks of money remaining.“Tell her to get what she needs.” I look at him with confusion. “What?” he asks.
“Where did they get all of this?” Apparently, this is the
Birches ’ stash.
“They’re leprechauns. I guess this is their pot of gold.” I hand the money to Taylie. “I can’t take this,” and she pushes
it away.
“Yes, yes, you can. You have to.” She looks down at the cash.
“Tell Rowen thanks.” Reluctantly, she shoves it into her back
pocket.
“I want you to go with me.”
“You know I can’t leave. It’s too risky.”
“If you change your hair and put on a cap, or something,
sunglasses, no one will know you. Ashe, I can’t do this by myself.” I told Rowen I’m going with her. “I know she doesn’t need to
be alone, but we can’t risk it,” he says as he pours me my daily dose
of muck.
“I can’t let her be alone, not at a time like this. It’s my fault this
happened. Straif would have never come here if it weren’t for me.
Her family is dead because of me.” The guilt is overwhelming. I’m
losing it as my hands tremble. The glass of muck in my hand
shatters cutting my palm. Blood pours out.
“What happened?” Coll rushes in after the glass hits the floor.
Rowen wraps my hand up with a towel, but there are still shards of
glass in my palm. I shout as he pulls the towel tighter in an attempt
to stop the bleeding.
“Ashe wants to go with Taylie, but we can’t take the risk of her
being seen.”
“Where is she going?” Coll questions.
“She’s lost everything. Ouch,” I mutter as Rowen applies more
pressure. Drops of red crimson rain on the floor. “She needs
clothes, something to wear to the funeral.”
“I’ll go with her,” Coll volunteers. Rowen and I look at him
simultaneously as if something else came out of his mouth. “Don’t be so surprised, Ashe. I’m not as mean as you think I
am and besides, no one here knows me. It’s the only obvious
choice. And she shouldn’t be alone at a time like this.”
“Stop!” I yell as Rowen continues with his poor attempt at
first-aid.
“Here let me handle this. You are so accident prone.” Coll
places my hand in the sink and turns on the cold water running it
over my open bleeding wound. Holding my lacerated hand in the
palm of his, slowly, the glass pieces emerged out of the tissue
clinking as they fall into the porcelain sink and the open skin begins
to close.
As the wound is healed, Taylie comes into the kitchen and sees
Rowen wiping up the blood off the floor. “Oh my God. What
happened?” Fear and doubt surround her eyes.
“Ashe cut her hand.”
She walks over to the sink and inspects my hand. “Where? I
don’t see a cut.” She peers at Coll with apprehension.
“All better now,” I say trying to down-play the situation. “But there’s blood everywhere.”
“There’s something more we haven’t told you.”
“What?” She trembles as she backs away.
“Calm down. It’s not a bad thing.”
“Coll. Well, he’s a healer.”
“A doctor?”
“He’s not like one of our doctors. It’s a gift.” I explain as she
walks over to inspect my hand.
“Coll is going to go with you today. It’s not safe for me to
leave. But you know I would go if I could.”
“Are you sure you are up for this?” Taylie asks raising her
eyebrows at Coll.
“I’m up for anything. You don’t need to be alone. Not now.”
His tone is without sarcasm.
I am not sure how I’m going to make it happen, but I’m going
to be at that funeral.
23
Rowen and I watch the black clad figures from a distance. Coll stands by Taylie at the graveside. I can’t believe all he’s doing for Taylie, all the support he’s giving her. There aren’t many people here, a small service at the graveside. Taylie’s parents and brother are all buried together. Their remains were burned beyond recognition.
Apparently, Taylie ’s aunt owns their house and the land. The Winston’s lived there and managed the place. As she watches the shovels of dirt cover her brother, Taylie’s aunt appears cold and expressionless. It looks like Taylie is on her own.
With her blonde hair blowing in the wind, Taylie sits at the graveside of her family staring at the mound of dirt that covers her past. Coll stands behind her with his hand on her shoulder in consolation.
After everyone is gone, Rowen and I walk over and offer what support we can. Nothing is going to fill the crushing emptiness that soaks Taylie’s heart.
No tears. No sobbing. Taylie stands up and looks me. “Now what?” she says. “I have nothing left and nothing to live for. Tell me what I’m supposed to do now.” Her face is flat. Her emotions drained.
“ You’ll stay with us and we’ll figure something out,” Rowen says.
I take her hand and head to the gate of the cemetery. Making our way out, I trip over a tombstone falling flat, my hands catching me. Rowen takes my arm helping me up. The marker in front of me catches my eye. I slowly lift my head. The letters N-U-I-N emerge past the bright rays of the sun. Nuin’s grave. Iciness overcomes me as I gaze at the tombstone of my mother. She’s here. She’s actually here. Dad never brought me to the cemetery. I guess coming here made him realize her death all over again. At this moment, I truly feel her death for the first time. Nuin is more real to me now than she ever was.
“Is this the first time you’ve seen this?” Rowen asks as he puts his arm around me.
“Yes.” I stand there and stare at her name for a few moments. As we walk away, a part of me stays behind. Part of me is buried with my mother.
When we get back to the house, everyone is exhausted. I sit back on the couch and take in all that’s happened. Taylie falls asleep on the couch across from me.
“I know everyone is tired, but we’re going to have to dig tomorrow. We’re almost out of serum,” Rowen reminds us.
After a few hours of sleep, the voice wakes me. This night the voice is exceptionally strong. It rattles the inside of my head as it pulsates between my ears, pushing against my skull. Apparently, no one else hears it, they’re quite asleep. I get up and follow the sound. It leads me outside the house. I push through the darkness, mindless and unaware of direction. I follow the beckoning.
“AAsshheee LLLeighhhh, AAssshhheee LLLeighhhh,” it calls. The voice is familiar, but the darkness surrounding it makes it unrecognizable.“AAAssshhheee LLLeighhh.” I’m getting closer.
A strong cold wind smacks me in the face and I come out of my stupor. When I come to my senses, I’m standing over the marker of my mother’s grave. The voice is gone. I stand in the pitch black, bitter midnight air, barefoot and shivering. The hollow silhouette of the moon hides behind clouds I cannot see. I can feel a presence around me making me unsure of what’s about to happen.
“Who’s there? Who’s there?” I’m terrified, but I try to pretend otherwise. I’m vulnerable, unsure, and at the mercy of the unknown.
I recognize the voice. A voice I hate. “My dear Ashe. You came to see me after all.”
“Why did you kill her family? They were no threat to you!
Dirt
She ’s no threat to you!” Rage fills me.
“But it was the only way I could get your attention.” His voice
reeks of evil and is s
low and deliberate with each word, taunting
and full of malignancy. “If only you would have listened, all of this
could have been prevented. What a pity.”
I have never been so angry in my life. “Kill me then. And leave
everyone else alone.”
“Oh, but I plan to.” He swaggers toward me with his thin
blonde hair and black rob blowing freely behind him. He’s standing
about twenty feet from me and his putrid scent covers him like
maggots. As he moves closer, I turn and run. “You won’t get far my
dear.” His voice reaches beyond the grave on which he stands. I hide behind the tree line as he crushes the dead leaves on the
ground with each step. I try to catch my breath. “I can hear you
breathing, Ashe. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” I try to slow my breathing down as I hear his steps ease closer
and closer. I run again, but decide to backtrack, returning to Nuin’s
grave and hiding behind the tombstone. I hope Straif will continue
on through the woods, so I crouch down underneath Nuin’s name,
realizing I may die right where she’s buried. I am freezing and I’m
concerned the chattering of my teeth will give me away. The
footsteps of the evil one approaches when I hear another voice. “Ashe, Ashe!” I swallow my spit and I want him to stop calling
me. “Ashe, Ashe!” Rowen yells.
“What do we have here? Two for one. I couldn’t be happier.”
Straif has Rowen. I remain still keeping quiet. “Ashe Leigh, my
dear, you must come and say hello to your sentry, your protector.”
His tone slithers with repugnance.
“Ashe, stay put,” Rowen calls out through a strained voice. I
have to do something, anything. “Stay put!” Rowen cries out with
effort. I peek around and the moon’s glow illuminates the darkness.
Straif is much larger than Rowen and not to mention he’s armed
and Rowen isn’t.
I huddle down trying to think of what to do, but I don’t have
long to figure things out. “Maybe, this will provide you a little
encouragement,” Straif calls. Whatever he does to Rowen makes
him scream out in agony. This is about to stop.
I get up from behind Nuin’s name. “Let him go!” I do my best
to keep my voice from cracking. He has a knife to Rowen’s throat.
“Let him go and I’ll go freely.”
“Ashe, no. Run!” Rowen shouts and Straif hits him in the face
knocking him out cold. He drops him on the ground, unconscious. “Leave him alone!” I insist. I am boiling with fury, when I
realize this might be a good thing. Anger feeds my energy, but I
keep control of myself until the right time. Straif walks up to me
and grabs me around the neck with his left arm, raising his sword
with his right arm.
“I’m taking what is due to me. Don’t you see, Ashe? Your
mother left me for you, for your father. She took my soul. Now, I’m
taking it back.”
I wrap my hands around his left arm when he starts to scream.
His skin hardens like marble. He drops his sword as the rest of his
body becomes petrified. His arm is stone and I feel his chest harden
up against my back. His agonizing shriek fades as he becomes a
monument towering over my mother’s grave with an expression of
surprise frozen in time. He will spend eternity with her after all. My
rage has sculpted its version of evil.
Even though I’m relieved by Straif’s destruction, I realize I’m
trapped in the statue I’ve created. Straif’s left arm has hardened
around my throat. I can barely breathe. I’ve succeeded in destroying
him, but it appears I’ve also destroyed myself. I strain to cry for
help, but I can barely get enough air to breathe much less to talk.
Rowen is still lying on the ground, and I’m scared he might be...I
can’t bring myself to think it. He has to be all right.
I remain here for what seems hours while Rowen lies helpless.
The sunrise begins behind the tree line, and I can’t wait for the bit
of warmth it might offer. Exhaustion takes over from my repeated
attempts to escape the stone grip when I hear Rowen groaning.
Thank God. He’s alive.
“Rowen, Rowen,” I mutter.
“Ashe, Ashe, Ashe,” he mumbles as he slowly comes around.
He doesn’t hear me.“Ashe, Ashe.” Then his eyes find me and the
statue of Straif wrapped around my neck. He rushes over and tries
to free me from the last bit of wrath left in the evil one. “Ashe, Ashe!” his voice sounds so far away. Everything is
cold. I’m numb. My legs and arms are filled with lead. Time is still.
I feel as if I’m separated from my body somehow. Then everything
goes black.
24
“ She’s moving,” a voice sounds as if it’s coming from the bottom of a well.
“Ashe?’“ The voice is clearer now.
My eyes open, but I don’t feel I’m moving them with intent. Suddenly the thought of Straif catapults into my mind and I sit straight up.
“Ashe,” Rowen says. “Everything is alright. He’s dead. You killed him.”
We’re still in the Darby cemetery. Rowen, Coll and Taylie are all staring down at me. My head is swimming laps. I gather myself and look toward Nuin’s grave. There, towering over it is a one armed statue of Straif. His colorless eyes and mouth remain open screaming in silence. It’s the most brilliant piece of work I’ve ever produced.
Relief sets in and I feel finally there’ll be rest. Everything will go back to normal, when I realize there’s nothing normal about my life. Nothing will ever be normal again.
Rowen helps me up and Taylie gives me a hug. “Let’s go h...hom...” She stops herself midsentence with a sadness. I think she realizes she has no real home to go to.
We take it easy the rest of the day until night falls and it’s time for muck hunting. We’re tired and worn, but there is no time to stop. It’s been a tremendous week of shock, a week of sorrow scaring our hearts permanently. We’re going to have to return to Durt one day, but I want to stay in Darby for as long as we can. I can’t leave Taylie after all she’s gone through. She’s alone and she needs me. I want to soak in the little bit of calm and peace that has now found its way back into my life. Straif is gone.
We load the shovels in Taylie’s car and Rowen drives. I suggest Taylie stay in but she doesn’t want to be alone. She sits with Coll in the back seat. They seem a little cozy and I’m taken aback. My imagination is getting away with me. He’s trying to be nice to her. I mean she’s lost everything. I pull myself together and try to stop noticing them. Coll hates humans, and his out-ofcharacter behavior makes me uncomfortable.
I sit with Taylie by the car as the boys turn my yard upside down. They look like a couple of midnight grave diggers. I don’t hear any voices tonight, stilling the air with calmness, although the air is only to be still for a moment.
A police car pulls up. He doesn’t have his blue lights on. A huge man gets out of his patrol car, inflating his chest making sure we notice his size. Taylie quickly approaches him to keep his eyes away from the rest of us.
“What are you kids doing out here? This place is off limits.” His deep voice resonates across the yard. I can barely make out Taylie’s stuttering. “We, we....we...” Her nerves are taking over.
“I..I..I’m Taylie Winston. Hangin’ out with some friends.”
“Wasn’t it your house that burned down the other day?”
“Yes, sir,”
she says as the pitch of her voice turns solemn. She’s sinking and I need to rescue her.
“Sorry to hear about that,” he says, preoccupied with the rest of us. He takes his beaming spot light and points it at the backyard lighting up the presence of Rowen and Coll. “Hey boys! What are you doing back there?” he yells.
As Taylie’s nerves tied her up, I walk toward her as she stands by the police car. “They’re friends of ours,” I say as if it will help.
“Hold on a minute here,” he says giving me the once over with saucer-sized eyes. He looks as if he’s won the lottery.“You girls wait right here.”
Coll drops his shovel and looks over at us confused. Rowen continues digging, trying to appear innocent. We need that muck.
The officer returns to his car, calling the station and I’m unsure of what he says, but I think I hear my name come up. He steps back out of the car and stares sternly at me.“Yeah, you’re that girl. Fair isn’t it?”
I keep my mouth shut, not on purpose. I don’t know what to say or what to do.
“Yeah, I thought it was you. Why don’t you come with me?”
I start to panic as he takes me by the arm escorting me to the car. Rowen heads our way.
“Hey!” he shouts as he sprints across the yard. Coll follows right behind. As Rowen gets closer, the officer gets a look at him.
“And you. Who do we have here? Mr. Arsonist,” he mumbles to himself. He shoves me into the backseat and slams the door. He darts toward Rowen.
“I can explain!” I yell hoping my voice is heard through the car window. Then I think about what I’ve said. I wouldn’t really be able to explain anything. Not anything that makes sense. Instead of jail, I’d end up in The Montana Institute for the Mentally Insane.
He seizes Rowen’s arm and throws him up against the car pressing his face up against the window. I mouth, “What do I do?”
Taylie makes up as many lies as possible to try and get us out of this predicament. “They’re my cousins. They came down for the funeral.”
But Barney Fife isn’t going to hear it. He’s determined to be the local hero. The officer throws a pair of handcuffs on Rowen and shoves him into the back seat next to me.
“Officer! Officer, you’ve got it all wrong!” Taylie pleads. He ignores her as he calls into the station to inform that he’s apprehended the assailant. Taylie begs the police officer. She’s crying hysterically.” Please! You’ve got to believe me!” Coll tries to calm her. He’s a stranger in another world and confusion shows all over his face. Helpless.
