Celeste

by Dale Mayer

  “Affect, yes, in that it makes it stronger. It blends with our energy. We are one with nature,” she murmured, sounding like she was almost in a trance. “The storm is nature. We are one with the storm.” And on that very odd note she turned and headed into the pool room.

  Matt watched until she closed the door, and even then he couldn’t pull his mind away. What the hell was that about? He understood energy was part of nature. He understood that the storm was energy, and therefore the two should be compatible, but what the hell did that mean about joining with them?

  Celeste had been calm, almost too calm, as if she were under the influence of something. And the only thing was the storm. He studied the animals all around him. Most slept or gave the appearance of sleeping. He knew Darbo never slept, but often lay curled up as if recharging. The others were the same. As he watched, several faded in and out of his sight. Granny had said that was a sign of their fading energy, their fading days on this planet. That they’d return to their origin before long. He couldn’t imagine losing Darbo, and wondered if animals that were well loved had a longer life span, seeing as they were connected at a deeper level. Or maybe that was just hope talking.

  More lightning. More thunder. This wasn’t going to end any time soon. He walked into the kitchen and put on the tea kettle. Maybe Celeste would like a hot cup of tea. Given there was no coffee, he’d have to make do. Waiting for the water to heat up, he stared out the window at the storm. Heavy winds bent the shrubbery over, the trees bowing to a force bigger than themselves. He could feel the wind scrape over the roof of the cabin, but knew they were in no danger from a rainstorm, no matter how severe. This place would outlast anything in town.

  He studied the clouds, squinting, as his imagination played games with his mind. It was as if he could see animals in that storm. Their faces staring out at him. He blinked several times to clear his vision, and when he looked again, they were gone.

  And then something else appeared.

  He gasped and leaned closer to peer through the rain-slicked glass. Surely he wasn’t seeing what he’d thought he’d seen. He blinked and shook his head. When he looked again, the vision was gone. He stared for a long moment. Right. It was just his mind playing tricks. He turned his back on the window, but unable to help himself, he turned to take another look.

  And saw it—her—again.

  He raced to Celeste.

  Chapter 11

  The muffled sound of yelling reached Celeste, as though she were deeply buried under water, or sand.

  “Damn it, wake up.”

  She groaned.

  “That’s right. Listen to my voice. Follow it back to reality, and wake up, damn it.”

  Matt. He was shouting at her. His words were difficult to understand. Hard to sort out. Her thoughts were thick. Fuzzy. “What?”

  “Easy. You were really deeply asleep.”

  She blinked up at him. “Why?”

  He frowned at her. “Yeah, that’s the question, isn’t it?”

  She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs in her brain. She was in the pool. When had she come back in here? She remembered being in here last night, then she’d walked through the living room, spotted Matt sleeping, and had gone to bed. She did not remember waking up and coming back to the pool room.

  Her teeth chattered suddenly. Also a surprise. She tried to gather her wits about her. Matt stared at her, worry on his face.

  “Climb out. I’ll get tea. We have to talk.” And he disappeared. She stared at the open doorway, then hoisted herself out of the pool. The water clung to her, almost pulling her back, but she fought against it. She wrapped the towel she’d laid out for herself around her body, the material rough against her skin, then sat at the edge of the pool, staring down into it. The water swirled, agitated. She reached down and placed a hand in the water. The pool calmed.

  “What’s going on?” she whispered. She knew one should never be ripped out of the water, as whatever was in process couldn’t stop in time, So she slipped her feet back in.

  Instantly, the warm water climbed up her leg to the injury. She shifted so it was under the water level and glanced at her neatly folded pajamas nearby. She shot a look at the door, made a quick decision, and stepped out of the pool again. After toweling off and quickly redressing, she rolled up her pajama leg and lowered her leg into the pool again. The water was much calmer, now, and her injury now had closed completely. But there was a lot of other stuff to heal, yet. Some of that took longer, and some seemed to take forever, and happened on a different level. She just needed to stay close to home and let her body and mind do their thing. As for her heart, she had no idea.

  “Here’s tea,” Matt said, placing a hot cup of herbal tea beside her.

  He sat down on the edge of the pool, his face easing as he studied her. “You look better.”

  “I’d be much better if you hadn’t yanked me out of the healing waters.”

  “I didn’t think I had a choice,” he said quietly. “I saw something in that storm out there that scared the bejesus out of me.” He studied the water for a long moment then continued. “Devon said Tori had seemed to be under some kind of control of the storm. She admitted she wanted to join with it, become one with it, so when I saw—” he waved his hand at the window “—what I saw, I raced in here to try and save you.”

  Saw her? Save her?

  “Save me from what?” She had no idea what he was talking about. “I actually don’t even remember coming back to the pool. The last thing I remember was going to bed last night.” She lifted the hot cup to her lips. “I only woke up when you pulled me out of the water.”

  His breath noisily rushed out of him. “Jesus.” He stared at her in disbelief. “I spoke to you a few hours ago, when you came to the pool. I talked to you about the crazy storm, and you replied like normal.”

  Now it was her turn to stare at him. “What?” She shook her head. “I don’t remember any of that.”

  He nodded. “It’s true.”

  She lowered her cup, and asked in a low voice, “What did you see in the storm?”

  “Your face,” he said, harshly. “I could see your face.”

  What was she to do with that? “I don’t understand.”

  “Neither do I, but I know what I saw. First, I thought it was my imagination, as I thought I was seeing all kinds of animals appearing and dancing through the storm, but then when I looked again, I saw your face. Your eyes were open, staring at me.”

  “But I’m here,” she exclaimed. “And there’s no way I could be in the middle of the storm.”

  “I know what I saw.” He hesitated, then said, “I think you should talk to your sisters about these storms. They are getting worse.”

  She scowled at him. “So, what—we’re to blame for the crappy weather, too?”

  He took a deep breath and said in a very quiet voice, “I think so…yes.”

  *

  He knew she wouldn’t take that well, but he hadn’t expected her to shut down. From the look on her face, he knew she wanted him to leave the cottage, but he wasn’t going anywhere. She shot him a dirty look and turned her back on him. But she kept her leg in the water and continued to drink her tea.

  Back in the kitchen, he washed his cup and stood it on the draining board to dry. The storm appeared to be working through its fury. Even as he watched, the clouds broke up and scuttled across the sky. Too fast to be normal. As Celeste’s mind was awake and clearing now, too, it seemed too easy to match the calming of the storm to her again.

  If this was what one sister could do alone, he was afraid to imagine what three of them could do together. Scary thought to let something like this continue uncontrolled. Her granny had loved the storms. Likely had controlled them, herself. But she’d been well into her second century of life. These girls were babies compared to that. They had so much to learn, and it was going to take time. Even longer without Granny to show them the way. The thing was, it was looking like they didn’t h
ave much time. The girls needed to step up and take her place—now.

  He glanced at his watch. It was too early to call for a hovercraft yet. He’d need to wait a couple more hours. Then he changed his mind with a muttered curse, and quickly called.

  He ran a hand over his early morning stubble, and, feeling more grizzled than he could remember being in a long time, he realized if coffee was out, and sleep was definitely out, then he needed some other kind of fuel to keep going. He walked to the basket that Genesis had packed yesterday. He didn’t think Celeste had eaten much. There were still several sandwiches inside. Loathe to eat one without asking, he walked back to the pool room and asked, “Celeste, do you want a sandwich?”

  She jerked as if he’d disturbed a heavy contemplation, but she turned and nodded. “Thank you. That would be good.”

  Relieved, he withdrew and made up a platter of sandwiches, and another cup of tea for himself. Back at the pool room, he sat down beside her and offered her one.

  She ate it without noticing.

  But at least she ate.

  He ripped through two, then stopped to make sure she ate the rest of hers. He’d have to have his pilot deliver more food. There was little here for her, and it was obvious she wasn’t ready to leave the cabin yet.

  Neither was she showing any sign of wanting anything to do with him. “I’ll leave as soon as my ride gets here.”

  Startled, she gazed at him. “Okay,” she said, her voice soft, wary.

  “I know you don’t want to return to the Center, and most likely because of me, but I’m not comfortable with you staying here all alone.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with me staying here alone. My leg might be fine,” she murmured, popping the limb out of the water to study the unblemished skin, “but I need healing on other aspects.”

  What did that mean? “So you need to stay here for the day or a couple of days?” He was trying to make this work, but he needed her assistance. Something she didn’t appear to want to give.

  She glanced over at him curiously. “What difference does it make?”

  “It determines how much clothing and food I return with,” he said coolly. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you aren’t to be alone until this mess is settled.”

  She lowered her lashes, blocking him out. But she hadn’t argued with him. Neither had she said no. So he was making progress.

  “I need to be here all day and quite possibly all tomorrow. I don’t know. And I don’t need clothing. I have things here.”

  “Good enough. Then I’ll bring two days’ worth of food, and we’ll see how that goes.”

  “What about your work?”

  “I’ll bring some with me,” he said, a touch of defiance in his voice. She wasn’t going to dissuade him that easily. “And while I’m gone, you’ll have company.”

  She raised her eyebrows? “A babysitter? I hardly think I need that.”

  “Two of them.” He smiled, raising his phone. “They already contacted me, asking if they can come.”

  Her smile, when it finally spread across her face in that long, slow movement that made his heart ache, was stunning. She’d been alone for too long. Being home was good for her.

  Chapter 12

  Celeste didn’t know what to think of the babysitting thing, or of Matt’s refusal to leave her alone. But it was comforting. She was more disturbed by her actions in the night and his comment about her face in the storm than she was willing to admit. Talking to her sisters was the best way to work things like this out. Of all the things Matt had said, he was absolutely right about one of them. Something weird was going on—likely had been going on for months—and now that she was finally home they’d hit a crux of some kind.

  It needed to be solved. And fast. Before the next storm, and before one of the three of them went in and never came out.

  They’d all seen Granny’s face in a storm. But that had been when she’d been standing in front of them, not battling the elements, but joining with them. She’d been strong enough to do so. Celeste and her sisters weren’t. At least, she didn’t think so. So far they’d had little experience in controlling the weather. In fact, she’d always thought it had controlled them.

  Only, Matt had a different hypothesis. His comments had burned into her mind, where they festered. Making her question other oddities she’d wondered over the last year.

  She needed her sisters to come, and quickly. This was a safe place for them to talk considering someone out there was trying to kill them. Their only saving grace was that at least, that person couldn’t enter the cottage. That was according to Genesis, who had told her about Portman Junior. They had to make sure an episode like that couldn’t repeat itself. But beyond that, there was also something in the woods. Something that had scared those two men.

  “Those men…that were hunting me…?” She didn’t want to ask, but she had to know.

  “They died overnight.”

  She nodded. That was what she’d been afraid of. “Not an easy way to go.”

  “Is there an easy way to go?” he asked, curiously. “Your granny, how did she die?”

  Celeste halted for a moment, her teacup in the air, then she said gently, “Old age. She just faded away in front of us.” That, at least, was the truth. More than that, she couldn’t say.

  “Right. I guess that was to be expected, given her age.”

  She stood and reached for the towel to dry her leg off. “My sisters are almost here. Are you ready to leave?”

  “I suppose I am. I don’t want to leave, but you need time with your sisters, and I need to check in at work. See if anyone knows those two men who died, and see if we can track down whoever hired them.”

  “That would be good.” What else could she say? She needed Matt to do whatever Matt did. While she and her sisters put their heads together and figured this out. “I’m going to get dressed before they arrive.” She walked slowly to the door.

  “I don’t think they’ll get here that fast,” he cautioned, following her out of the pool room.

  “I can hear the hovercraft,” she called over her shoulder, as she walked to her bedroom and closed the door. She dressed quickly. When done, she stepped in the living room. The hovercraft was landing outside. She waved Matt off. “Go.”

  Indecision warred on his face. Finally, he nodded. “I’ll be back tonight.”

  Inside, her heart leapt with joy, but she kept her face impassive. “If you believe it’s necessary.”

  “Oh, it’s necessary.”

  Darbo opened his arms to her, and Celeste’s heart hitched. She reached out and Darbo wrapped his long arms around her. The lost look on Matt’s face made her realize he didn’t know if Darbo was planning to stay with her or leave with him. Silky chattered at Darbo in a full-on conversation, before silence descended. She kissed them both, then walked close to Matt, watching as Darbo reached out to Matt. He swallowed visibly and hugged the tiny lemur, then, with a big grin, settled him on his shoulder.

  She was an idiot. She had dozens of animal friends. He had one. With the number needing human interaction, he’d do them all a favor by bonding with a second animal. But after the fuss she’d made over Darbo, that suggestion wouldn’t be well received from her. Better she ask her sisters to mention it to him.

  It took longer to open the locks, but finally the energy blocks fell and she could open the front door.

  As she watched Matt walk out into the early morning light, Darbo gently stroking his cheek, and it finally hit her why she’d taken such a hit over his and Darbo’s bond.

  Darbo had been especially close to Granny. Losing Granny, then losing Darbo almost immediately after, had been like losing Granny all over again. As if somehow, Matt had been responsible. And that was foolish. She’d been so mixed up. So needy and in pain. She hadn’t known which end was up, and she’d reacted badly to everything. She’d refused to go into the pools after her death as well, as they all reminded her of what she’d lost. How damn foolis
h of her. She’d been given so much, then had let her childishness stop her from gaining so much more.

  Her sisters exited the hovercraft, spoke with Matt briefly, then raced toward her, huge smiles on their faces.

  Celeste had so much good in her life. Now, if only she hadn’t been so selfish to walk away from it all in the first place—and she couldn’t repeat it by walking away again.

  *

  Matt called a meeting the moment he got back. “Any news?”

  “Some,” Devon said. “There were some smaller rocks at the water’s edge, where we first found the stolen rocks. We used a vacuum and sealed containers to collect every piece we could. We ended up bringing several gallons of water back with us, as it all came with the shards.”

  “Good thinking. If we can find a way to separate the rocks from the water, we can dump it again.”

  “The water did clean up significantly after we removed the rest.” Connor said. “The women should find it that much easier to heal the area with the shards gone. And Kona found another area where there appeared to be some moved by animals. Likely a large bird.”

  “I wonder if he was trying to remove the rocks to help out or to spread the poison.”

  Scott stepped forward. “No way to know. Storm found a small pile, as well, that had also been transferred from the original pile.”

  “So the only way to find these things is to systematically track them through the woods?” Matt frowned. “That sounds horribly inefficient and slow.”

  “It’s not the fastest, but at least we’re finding them. We were out for hours, yesterday. We only came back when the storm hit.”

  “Yeah, that storm.” Moodily, Matt stared at the desk in front of him. “What about the two men?”

  “They used to work for Mason. Now that he’s dead, we’re presuming they’ve found a new employer.”

  “Grandfather?”

  The three of them shook their heads. “No, we don’t think so.”

  Scott added, “I’m not sure he’s capable of even menial work anymore. He sits and smiles at everything. I don’t know what the healing pools did to him, but he’s out of it.”