by Paula Wynne
Feeling like a naughty child who’d been scolded, she nodded.
‘You’re pretty shaken and you shouldn’t be alone. I could keep you in here for the night to check on you.’
She threw her hand in the air, her fingers quoting a headline. ‘Prisoner Wade held hostage. Her crime: being a lonely old hag. Her punishment: locked in hospital for the night.’
His chest expanded as he straightened.
They stared at each other.
Finally, she gave in and whispered, ‘I’ll call Hawk.’
‘Your …’ he shook his head hoping she’d finish the sentence, but she couldn’t think of how to describe Hawk. Maybe she should fess up and tell the doctor about the threats and Teresina’s murder.
‘Good night, Kelby. We’ll give you a sheet on post-head injury advice and precautions to heed at home.’
As he turned, he pulled the curtain back around her cubicle bed and said softly so only she could hear, ‘We wouldn’t want anyone recognising you, now, would we?’
Kelby’s cheeks flared. With a dull drumbeat thumping inside her head, she muttered, ‘I have to get out of here.’
No way was she staying the night in hospital. Even if she wasn’t safe at home. She should call Hawk, but she needed someone close to be with right now.
Only one person outside her family fitted the bill.
71
Kelby watched Jimmy packing her things and mumbled, ‘Thank you for collecting me. I couldn’t face asking Stacie.’
‘Sure, but you’ve gotta listen to your man in the white coat. He knows what’s best. Everything he said back there could happen. You could be alone and get a dizzy spell and no-one would know.’
‘You’re normally not a drama queen, Jimmy. Don’t listen to him.’
It took ages to be discharged and collect her belongings. When at last the nursing staff handed over her briefcase and gym bag, Kelby dived in and checked her laptop.
‘Phew. I had visions of it being cracked.’
‘That’s all you’re worried about?’ Jimmy grabbed it from her and shoved it back into the briefcase.
‘Can you get me a hire for a few days until we sort out my car?’
‘Kelby, I drove past your beamer on the way here. That will not be fixed any time soon. Consider it a write-off! Besides, you have Big Boy.’ He stopped packing her things and swivelled his head to frown at her. ‘Why didn’t you call him? He should’ve taken you to find Stacie.’
Her teeth went into action and scrubbed along her thumb nail while she considered her options. ‘You know what Stacie’s reaction would have been.’
Jimmy rolled his eyes with suspicion. ‘Come on, let’s get you home. The Big Boy will be worried sick about you.’
‘Later. We’re going to see Annie first.’
‘You heard what your man said. Home, bed, rest. I’ll cancel your meetings for the next few days.’
‘Thanks Jimmy. But I have to see Annie first.’
‘Okay, a quick visit. But then you’d better keep out of trouble.’
72
Kelby hobbled out of the lift. She normally took the stairs to Annie’s ward, but her whole body still ached. She shuffled close to the wall so she didn’t topple over.
Jimmy was right; she needed to rest, but Annie always came first. Jimmy had stayed in the car to call off her meetings.
When Kelby limped into her niece’s room, she found Roy examining the charts while Annie slept peacefully.
A sensation of pleasure belted through Kelby.
‘Hello again.’ Roy whispered, ‘I thought as much. Can’t put you to bed, can we?’
‘What’s wrong with visiting my niece before going home to rest?’ She smiled and stroked Annie’s thin leg over the hospital blanket. ‘What are you doing here?’
He tapped on Annie’s charts. ‘Annie’s doctors have treated her asthma symptoms with inhaled corticosteroids.’
Kelby glanced at the notes, not understanding any of them.
‘Mm,’ Roy mumbled, ‘although they’re the preferred treatment for young children, they can possibly slow —’ He stopped in mid-sentence and cleared his throat. ‘You know I shouldn’t be discussing Annie’s treatment with you.’
She stared at him, her eyes pleading for help.
He lowered his voice, ‘Have you worked out her triggers?’
‘Yes.’ She whispered, ‘Sadly for poor Annie, it’s pets, and she so desperately wants a kitten or a puppy. Even a rabbit.’
‘And pollen from grass and flowers?’
‘Not as bad as pets, but yes, they’re there too. And smoke.’ Kelby glanced over her shoulder, then whispered, ‘I keep telling her mother to stop smoking. She has a fag as she gets here and hugs Annie reeking of smoke.’
‘That may be an irritant. She may not actually be allergic to it —’
‘I know! But it does bother her. Like her skin,’ Kelby pointed at Annie’s hands, ‘Sometimes the red, scaly skin gets thick patches of white scales. She gets so upset about it.’
‘There’s no way of predicting the next flare-up. And worrying about it will get Annie to pick up on the anxiety. A laid-back approach is best.’
Kelby touched his hand, forcing him to look directly into her eyes. ‘What can I do? I can’t stand seeing her in this state.’ Her voice was barely a whisper, ‘Ever since her father —’
Roy put his hand on her arm. ‘I know. It’s a terrible worry.’
‘The doctor said the stress of Gary’s death caused the eczema.’ She cleared her throat, ‘Annie didn’t know the ins and outs. She just knew her daddy wasn’t coming home anymore.’
Kelby watched as he moved effortlessly around Annie. Without waking her, he checked her drip and the tubes going into her nose.
‘Anaphylaxis is the worst. With Annie’s weak heart, a severe allergic reaction can cause respiratory arrest.’
‘At least it’s not likely to kill her.’
His look showed her how wrong she was.
73
Still searching around their home for her mother, María’s breath jumped in rapid gulps. She crept across the cobbled toft on which Padre had built their home. Madre would have tried to escape if soldiers came to their house.
Her mother’s soft melodious tone would single itself out from the crude voices. Although some of the shutters were rotting, María strained to peek through them into the narrow windows. As she tiptoed backwards, around the rear of the house she bumped into something.
¡Bah!
María sighed in relief. The water barrel, almost empty after a poor winter’s rainfall, stood in her way. She ducked behind it and headed towards the front door.
Suddenly someone booted the door wide open. María slipped back into the shadows and sneaked behind Padre’s workshop. Her dry mouth felt as if she’d eaten a sheet of her writing paper. Standing in the dim light from the front door, the soldier, wearing a leather jerkin, fiddled at his groin.
¡Uf!
María slapped her hands against her cheeks and watched in shock as he relieved himself right on their doorstep. Within plain sight of the privy!
After a few vile body noises, the leather jerkin soldier went inside.
María wondered if Madre was hiding in the underground cellar. Padre had built it to store the wild boar and buck he smoked or salted after being paid in livestock by local villagers for building more rooms onto their homes. As if he were creating a treasure trove, he had buried it inside the back of the stable. As a child María had loved to hide in there. Now it shrouded the second copy of the herbal journal. And the rizado papers she had removed from the copy Tío sent to Barcelona.
But it would have taken Madre too long to lift the heavy wooden door, scramble down the stone steps an
d secure it quietly behind her.
With the stealth of a snake, María slunk between the donkey’s stable, the goat’s shelter, the pig stye, and the hen and goose houses. The animals recognised her light tread and didn’t cry in alarm. In the day the animals grazed in the lower croft, but María penned them in at night, especially the hens and geese, to keep them safe from wild animals.
Careful not to bump into the pile of firewood or step on any of the sprouting vegetables and sprawling herbs in Madre’s garden, María searched the bake house in the middle of the croft. A heavy feeling in her stomach made her nauseous. Her mother was nowhere to be found.
¡Por dios! By God, what will I do now?
Trembling, María took sanctuary behind Padre’s workshop and picked at the splintered wood. She watched the cottage for a long time and listened for her mother’s voice.
Finally, it came.
In a piercing scream.
74
Kelby swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn’t stand the thought of any more harm coming to her family.
Roy cleared his throat. ‘I’m not trying to frighten you.’
She dropped her chin and peered at him over the rim of her glasses. ‘Or to get me to try your herbs?’
He chuckled. ‘When we find rizado, it would be great to try it on Annie’s skin.’
Kelby tried to get a word in, but he protested again.
‘Seriously, Kelby, she’s on the wrong treatment.’ He tapped the charts again. ‘I won’t interfere. Get her mum to talk to the doctor. It’s not good seeing her vitality crushed by what they’re pumping into her. Try natural alternatives.’
‘I’ve been saying this for ages, but I can’t get Stacie to agree.’
‘I’m not an expert on sister-in-law relationships so I can’t help there.’
A smile tugged at Kelby’s lips. He had obviously heard the rumours of bust ups with Stacie. ‘What else can I do?’
Roy said, ‘I can authorise new tests if that’s okay with you.’
Kelby nodded, ‘Yes, please.’
‘And make sure there are no triggers at home. Get her outside as much as possible to adjust to what’s around her. She must learn to live normally, without being cocooned inside.’
Kelby’s face lit up as though seeing the light for the first time.
‘Being vigilant with Annie’s skin protection is vital. But there’s so many other benefits, such as natural vitamin D found in sunlight.’
‘We could all do with a dose of that.’
‘She has a lovely little personality.’ Roy came closer.
That first spark that connected them on the plane twined around them one more time.
‘You’re so good with kids.’
The thread became taut and Kelby wanted to sit and talk to him without any interruptions.
‘Probably from growing up with two kid sisters. Annie needs to get out there and take life by the horns.’
‘Funnily enough, she has been talking about a bull. She has this imaginary friend who lives near a waterfall and is going to teach her to swim. She said May-ree has hidden secret treasure beside her bull in a cave …’
Roy frowned at her. ‘May-ree?’
Kelby read his expression and chuckled. ‘Not the same one, obviously.’
‘But a strange coincidence.’
75
A shiver crept along Kelby’s back as though a droplet of water was meandering down the rocky path between her spine nodules.
‘Has Annie had visions in the past?’
Kelby thought for a moment and said, ‘She has lots of friends, they come and go. I’ve always encouraged her to speak to her dad. It helped me as a kid to get over the loss of my parents.’
‘Yes, talking to their loved ones can be healing for people. It’s good for her to know he’s there.’
The thread between them tightened again.
She smiled at him. ‘So you believe in that?’
‘I haven’t had any experience myself, but lots of my patients have told me similar stories.’ He puffed out his chest. ‘‘Besides, I’ve grown up between two cultures. My Spanish family are religious; the other side are the opposite.’
‘I’m neutral. I feel Gary around me a lot of the time, especially when I’m stressed. But it hasn’t made me run off to a séance or anything weird. I prefer to keep my beliefs and feelings private.’
‘That’s the best way.’
Kelby suddenly recalled Annie’s big secret chat. Goosebumps rose on her skin. ‘Come to think of it, she did tell me something weird …’ Her voice faded as she tried to recall Annie’s words. ‘At the time, I didn’t make a connection, but —’ Kelby looked into his eyes. Her jaw dropped.
‘What?’
‘She told me her friend’s waterfall is a secret place no-one has ever seen.’ Kelby’s fingers pressed against her forehead as she strained to remember Annie’s exact words.
‘That gives me an eerie feeling of déjà vu.’
Kelby stared at him through her fingers. ‘Um. What did Annie say?’ Silence hung in the room for a long moment. Then, Annie’s words floated into Kelby’s mind, slowly like the first drops of snow. ‘Annie said her friend’s waterfall is inside a cave. She gave me a picture of it. Jimmy is getting it framed for me.’
‘A waterfall inside a cave.’ Roy looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘I wonder if …’ He reached out and laid a hand on Kelby’s arm. ‘Could it be?’
‘I don’t know. But Annie said her friend drew a map and hid it inside her book bag. She said her friend’s book bag was old-fashioned, but similar to her own school bag.’
Still reeling from shock, Kelby’s head swayed from side to side in slow motion. ‘I wonder if the rizado map is hidden inside the book!’
Roy took her arm, ‘Come on, there’s only one way to find out.’
Once in the car park, Roy marched her to Jimmy’s car. ‘Jimmy, I’m taking this bruised and battered patient home. She needs rest.’
Jimmy looked up in surprise. ‘What about Hawk?’
‘I’ll call him.’ Kelby opened the back door and retrieved her briefcase and gym bag. At least she could take off her suit and change into something comfier. She came around to Jimmy’s window, his eyes wide. ‘I’ll be at home if you need me.’
‘Grand. Just what the doctor ordered.’
Roy waved at Jimmy as he drove off. He turned to Kelby. ‘Hawk? I thought you didn’t have a hubby.’
‘He’s my security guard.’
‘What?’
‘I should’ve told you. I was having Twitter threats. At first I thought it was a bozo thinking he was clever to frighten me, but after you told me about rizado, his threats got worse.’
‘My God! Kelby, I’m so sorry.’
‘What for? It’s not your fault.’
‘By telling you, this has somehow escalated. Do you trust Jimmy?’
‘With my life.’
‘So, if it’s not him, who?’
‘That’s why Hawk is watching my house.’
‘You’ll be safe with me.’ He stopped her strolling beside him with a hand on her arm. ‘Are you sure you still want to find out if Annie is right about Ana-María’s map? You’ve got a lot going on, and now you’ve seen the risks.’
Kelby exhaled. ‘I’m prepared to take those risks. I need to find out who killed Gary. And why.’
76
Sitting beside Roy in Costa, Kelby listened to the clattering of the pouring rain against the windows. It splattered over the street lantern, making it look like an illuminated shower cubicle on the pavement. Gushing water swept along the streets and cascaded into the gutters.
The ambient sound of pouring rain with water dripping from the roof rem
inded Kelby of her mother. Adelaide Wade had loved the rain and used to dance in it with Kelby and Gary. It was her mother’s way of teaching her children to accept the miserable weather.
Inside, the day’s bustle had slowed down with only late commuters shrugging off the weather for a coffee or sandwich on their way home.
When checking the chalk boards with brightly coloured coffee and chocolate options, Kelby had been sorely tempted to divert from her regular course of coffee. But in haste she had ordered her favourite Colombian. Now she absentmindedly ran her finger around a coffee stain ring on the wooden table. As her eyes fixed on the leather pouch tucked inside Roy’s open briefcase, she thought Roy’s café macchiato looked too small.
Huddling over the book, they stared at it. After a long moment, Roy lifted the leather pouch but left his briefcase lid open so any nearby coffee drinkers wouldn’t see the contents. ‘Give it a go.’
She looked at him in surprise. ‘But it’s your book.’
‘I know, but you remembered Annie’s secret. Go on, have the honours.’
Kelby’s hand rested on the mottled leather book. After a moment, she held it by the large knot. She lifted the book from inside and gently placed it inside Roy’s briefcase. Next, she lay the girdle bag between them and looked into Roy’s eyes.
He smiled at her, showing his encouragement. They leaned over the bedraggled looking leather skin. Kelby opened it and stretched it from corner to corner. The base, which held the inner book, had been sewn into a watertight wrapper. As before, the book electrified her.
When she’d first touched it, she had felt a slight bump somewhere. The soft inner skin felt creamy under her fingertips. Near the top where the strip of calf pelt joined into the knot, the leather bunched up. Stroking each section with long separate lines, Kelby studied the leather binding. Then her heart skipped a beat.
Her finger caught a tiny ripple. She leaned right over and whispered, ‘Here, take a look.’
