by Nathan Roden
I finally realized what they were doing—telling me to lighten up and get over myself.
I had to break off the next line of verse because I was laughing.
The rest of our set was smokin’. We rolled into “Like a Bullet” with a full head of steam. While Nate and Bo tore up the song’s intro, I grabbed the rest of the band by the arms and pulled them to center-stage. They were horrified. We hadn’t rehearsed anything like this. I ran to the side of the stage and tore off my headset.
“Give me a mike! A hot one!” I yelled to a stagehand. He looked around, wondering if he was supposed to listen to me or not. A different stagehand tossed me a wireless microphone.
I joined the rest of the band and we threw our arms around each other’s shoulders. I started banging my head in time to the beat. The rest of the band was a little confused, but they quickly played along and joined in. Bo gave Nate the sign to keep the intro going for an extra four measures.
Needless to say, we were waaaay off script now. I ended the improvisation part of the performance. I didn’t want Skip or Chris to send in security to drag us off the stage. The band went back to their places, and we finished the song. The roar of the crowd was absolutely perfect.
The band met me at the front of the stage and we did a quick and unified bow before we ran off the stage.
There would be no encore. There was none planned and none expected.
I experienced a very, very brief moment of sadness.
This was the first time I had ever ended a show without singing Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”.
We ran to the dressing room. We had to dodge the road crew that was on their way to tear down our equipment and get it out of Skyler’s way. I’m sure they always move like something is on fire, but tonight was the first night of the tour—and they were getting a six-minute-late start.
While I dodged people, I could still hear the roar, and I heard the chant of “Wylie! Wylie!” That gave me goosebumps. But at the same time, I was a little worried.
Was it possible that we did too well?
I shook my head at the thought. That thought was stupid. This whole thing was Skyler’s idea—her baby. She didn’t put me up on this pedestal to be bad—or, for that matter, even mediocre.
The hallway got too congested. I stepped back into the shadows to wait for the stage crew to pass through.
In just a few minutes, the same audience would be going nuts for their Sweetheart—Skyler KwyK—the star they had really come to see.
In an hour-and-a-half, I would get to walk onto her stage, and join her in the song that was a hit for both of us. All because Skyler KwyK believed in me.
No, I think this is going just fine—for me, and for Skyler.
I was determined to enjoy the ride.
I walked into the dressing room to more applause—from my band, this time. Even the two girls were there.
“Oh my God!” one of the girls exclaimed. “We got to bang our heads! I’m never cutting my hair again!”
“That was brilliant, Dude!” Bo said. He raised his hand over his head before he slapped mine.
I crossed my eyes and stuck out my tongue at him.
“No. Your move was brilliant!”
Nate joined us. He laughed and grabbed Bo’s neck and shook it.
“He had to do something, Wyles,” Nate said. “You were acting like a robot! And I don’t mean that in a good way.”
“Ahem!”
We all turned around to find Chris and Skip standing with their arms crossed.
“Ruh-roh,” Nate said.
“We have a few observations to discuss, gentlemen. And ladies,” Chris said.
“First of all,” Skip said. “You handled the sound system problem very well. That could have gotten ugly.”
“Now as for the little bout of improvisation…” Chris said.
I slapped myself on the chest.
“That’s all on me, Boss. I got carried away. It won’t happen again.”
“It won’t happen again?” Skip said. “Do you think that’s all it takes? I won’t do it again? Son, these shows are built on precision. They are made to be infinitely repeatable! There are dozens of considerations that relate to every second once those lights go down!”
Gulp.
“I want to make sure that we have a clear understanding,” Chris said. I looked up at him, and I would have sworn that he was grinning.
“You are to perform the opening to “Like a Bullet”, exactly like you did tonight and for no longer than that!” Chris barely got that out because he was laughing. And so was Skip.
Skip clapped me on the shoulder. Then he squeezed. Pretty hard, actually.
“That worked,” Skip said. “And it worked well. But the next time you decide to alter the choreography on the fly, you will be singing in a much higher tone of voice, young man.”
Skip and Chris made eye contact with each of us.
“Are we all clear on that?” Chris asked.
We were all nods and “Yes, Sirs”.
Thirty-One
Holly McFadden
Branson, Missouri
Oliver McFadden rubbed his tired eyes. He spoke softly to his brother, Robert.
“I can’t say that I’m happy about Holly going with you. Holly has been through a great deal of hardship of her own of late. We all have.”
“I know, Oliver. Believe me, if we had anywhere else to turn, we would.”
“Tara’s not just missing,” Robert whispered. “She’s being hunted. And do you know what the rub is? I don’t know what she’s capable of. My baby girl, Olly! The little girl I bounced on my knee—she’s become…she’s hurt people! She is considered dangerous!”
Robert lowered his voice even more.
“My own people—the one’s I’ve given the best part of my life to—that’s who is looking for her.”
“The army?” Oliver asked.
Robert pressed his finger against his temple.
He nodded.
“I would go with you myself, Robert, but it’s just not possible,” Oliver said. “We are stretching the limits of Quentin Lynchburg’s hospitality. Gwen and I have to remain here in order for the castle to remain a profitable venture. It’s the least we can do at the moment.”
“After this happened,” Robert said, “I went through the army’s resources to locate you. You’ve been through your own ordeals lately. Most unusual. Is there anything I should know about?”
Oliver shook his head.
“You have more than enough to worry about.”
“I understand,” Robert said. “I’ll not let Holly leave my side, Olly—you can count on that. I cannot imagine what ties Holly and Tara formed at such young ages, but I…I don’t know what else to do.”
Oliver put his hand on Robert’s shoulder.
“I don’t know how Holly can help you, but she’ll do whatever she can. She has a strong spirit—she always has.”
Gwendoline cast a pitiful glance at Emily. Emily looked out of the window and wrung her hands. She appeared incapable of doing anything else.
Gwen stepped to Oliver’s side.
“Robert,” Gwen said. “Your daughter is no ordinary child. And neither is ours.”
“Gwen—” Oliver interrupted.
“No, Olly,” Gwen said. “Can’t you see their pain? We cannot run from this any longer—this is our family! Our daughters have special gifts, Robert, and you must come to terms with it. I have hidden away from the truth for most of my life. Your daughter may indeed be dangerous, but she is still your daughter! Your flesh-and-blood! Just like Holly is to us. I want you to promise me—you will look out for Holly as if she was your very own child.”
“Of course, Gwen. I will protect her with my life.”
“You may have to,” Gwen said.
“In that corner of the room, I saw a man— and a woman—”
“A man and a woman who have been dead for five hundred years,” Oliver said.
>
Robert Jamison stared at his brother in disbelief.
“You must prepare yourself, Robert,” Oliver said. “You will see things in the coming days that will go against everything you believe to be true. The same thing happened to me.”
“And it happened to me,” Gwen said. “I wasted years of my life because of it. Do not allow that to happen to you, Robert. Your daughter’s life could depend on it.”
Robert looked away. He looked at his wife’s back as she stared out of the window.
“I can’t talk to Emily about—”
“No,” Oliver said. “I don’t believe that Emily should hear this now, and you do not have the time to spare.”
Robert swallowed hard. He nodded.
“Have I lost my mind?” he whispered.
“No more than the rest of us,” Gwen said.
Oliver tapped at Holly’s open bedroom door. She was packing her suitcase.
“You don’t have to do this, Holly,” Oliver said.
“You saw the video—the same as I did,” Holly said. “And I always thought I was a freak.”
Oliver winced.
“I wish you wouldn’t refer to it that way.”
Holly sat down on her bed. She shook her head.
“Even on the video, I could feel it—her loneliness—the isolation! She never had the opportunity to hide at home—like I did. Who knows what kind of power she has—who knows what she is able to see? And she had no one—no one she could talk to. She had probably been avoiding those children for years—protecting herself. She was also protecting them, even while they mocked and taunted her.”
“I know, Holly,” Oliver said. “Please, promise me that you will be careful.”
“I will. And I’m taking the Team with me.”
“The Team?”
“Arabella, Bruiser, Dougie, and Delbert. The Ghost Detectives. They sort of…invited themselves.”
Oliver exhaled.
“You may be in danger, but you’ll be entertained. I’m glad that they’re going.”
“So am I,” Holly said.
The taxi stopped in front of the entrance to the airport gates.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this, Holly,” Robert Jamison said.
“Wait!” Holly said to the taxi driver, who was loading their luggage onto a cart. “I need to get my coat.”
Holly took a large coat from her largest suitcase.
“I don’t think you’ll be needing that,” Robert said.
“Do I have a window seat?” Holly asked.
“I’m afraid not. Is that necessary?”
Holly sighed.
“I’ll explain later,” Holly said. She hurried into the terminal. Robert ran to catch up with her.
“You can trust me, Holly,” Robert said.
“What about the army?” she said. “What will happen if they find Tara before you do? Do you trust them?”
Robert stopped.
“No. I don’t. I know them. They already see her as a research project. They’ll never leave her alone. It’s not in their nature.”
“How long do we have before boarding?” Holly asked.
“A little more than an hour,” Robert said.
Holly looked around.
“Do you think you can get us access to a private room?”
Robert approached a security guard. The man nodded and motioned them toward a hallway marked “Security Personnel Only”.
“The uniform comes in handy on occasion,” Robert said.
The guard opened the door to an empty room. Robert closed the door.
Holly had her back to Robert.
“This is my Uncle Robert. My father’s brother,” Holly said.
“Holly?” Robert said. “W-what are you doing?”
Holly raised a finger in Robert’s direction without turning around.
“I’m going to introduce you now. Please try and make this as easy as possible. My Uncle Robert has been under a considerable amount of stress.”
“Holly,” Robert said, “I have no idea what you’re—”
Holly took Robert by the hand.
Robert’s lips continued to move, but he no longer made a sound.
“I remember this bloke, all right,” Arabella McIntyre said. “He has a little more gray at the temples, of course, but he and his family came to the castle that one Christmas.”
“Do I…do I know you, Miss?” Robert whispered.
“This is Arabella, Uncle Robert,” Holly said. “Arabella McIntyre.”
“Princess Arabella McIntyre,” Arabella said. She held out her hand.
Robert gulped. He looked at Holly. Holly whispered to him.
“She expects you to kiss her hand. It’s the custom she’s used to. It would be quicker and easier if you just did it.”
“Is it….is it possible?” Robert whispered.
Holly nodded.
Robert reached toward Arabella’s hand with his own trembling one. Her hand was neither warm nor cold but seemed to be void of any temperature at all. Robert put his lips to her hand. He shuddered. An explosion of visions raced through his mind—visions of an ancient day and time.
Robert released Arabella’s hand. He rose up and stared at her.
“You lived in the Village? McIntyre Village?”
“Of course,” Arabella said.
“Arabella’s family lived in the castle, Uncle Robert,” Holly said. “Six hundred years ago.”
“Oh.”
“I would like for you to meet our friends from Branson,” Holly said. “Bruiser Brady, Douglas Day, and Delbert Scoggins.”
Bruiser stuck out his hand.
“A military man. Pleasure to meet you, Soldier.”
Robert shook Bruiser’s hand.
“Good to meet you, Captain,” Dougie Day said.
“It’s…Major. I’m a…Major.”
“An Army Man,” Delbert said with a flourish. “Just like the King.”
“You bear a strong resemblance to the Mr. Presley, Mr…Scoggins,” Robert said.
Delbert sucked in his belly.
“Thank you very much.”
“I saw Elvis—in Hawaii,” Robert said. “My parents took me—I was only seven.”
Robert jumped backward. Delbert had floated right up in Robert’s face.
“You were there?” Delbert asked. “Aloha from Hawaii? Nineteen-seventy-three?”
Robert nodded nervously.
“We had better get moving,” Holly said.
Robert nodded some more.
“Holly,” Robert gulped.
“Have you always been able to—?”
“No. It was only after we moved into the castle. I don’t know why.”
“Tara used to—” Robert began.
“She talked to people who weren’t there—from the day that she learned to talk. It frightened Emily and me—we were afraid that there was something wrong with her. She always had her imaginary friends, like many children do. But, that wasn’t it, at all. God, how tortured she must have been! We didn’t know!”
Robert sat down hard on a chair.
“Tara sees them—the departed souls—doesn’t she?”
“I don’t know,” Holly said. “She didn’t say anything about it to me. But, she was only four.”
“Oliver said that you have two friends—two young girls. They were with you and the other children when we visited.”
“Nora and Charlotte,” Arabella said. “My nieces.”
“Is that true?” Robert asked Holly.
“Ahem, Major Robert,” Arabella said with her hands on her hips. “In my day, a man that questioned the word of the Royal Family might end up missing something—like his head!”
“Put a lid on it, Arabella,” Holly said. “I told you that Robert has been under a lot of stress, and that doesn’t even include your introduction!”
“I’m very sorry, Princess,” Robert said. “This is so difficult to absorb—I’m only trying to understand my own
daughter.”
“Very well, then,” Arabella said.
“Might big of you, Princess,” Bruiser said. “Let the poor man keep his head.”
Robert looked down at his hand.
“You touched my hand—and I could see them.”
“That’s the way it works.”
“But it’s not permanent,” Robert said.
“No. It’s never permanent. Well, except for one time.”
“Who was that?”
“A…friend,” Holly said quietly.
“A friend?” Arabella said. “It’s her Singing-Boy boyfriend.”
“Your boyfriend?” Robert said. “And he can transfer the ability as well?”
“His name is Wylie,” Holly said. “Wylie Westerhouse.”
Holly shot an angry look at Arabella.
“And let’s not refer to him as ‘my boyfriend’, you got it?”
Arabella held up both hands.
“Whatever you say, Holly,” Arabella said. “I didn’t know that there was—”
“Just zip it, all right?” Holly snapped.
“Fine,” Arabella said.
“We’re going to have to keep a lid on this, Holly,” Robert whispered. “This boy is in danger as well. Where is he?”
Holly waved her hand in the air.
“He’s gone all fancy with his records and his singing to thousands of people—with that famous girl.”
“What famous girl?” Robert asked.
“Skyler…Something,” Holly said.
“Skyler KwyK?”
Holly rolled her eyes.
“Oh, sure. You’ve heard of her. Everybody’s heard of that girl.”
“I have a sixteen-year-old daughter,” Robert said. “Skyler KwyK has been on the tellie for years. Look, Holly, when I find Tara, I don’t know what I’m going to have to do to keep her away from the authorities. But the same thing applies to you—and to this other young man, as well.”
