Fin appeared as confused as Adele was by Ophelia’s words. He cleared his throat. “Perhaps you could tell me what my father’s views on God were.”
Ophelia let go of Fin’s hands and tilted her head upward. “He believed the modern version of God to be far too cartoonish and commercialized to be taken seriously. He was never intentionally cruel in his assessment, at least not around me, though was clearly amused by what he called the fabrications of organized religion. And though Delroy might not have been religious I’m certain he was a deeply spiritual man.”
“I see,” Fin said.
“I didn’t ask about what you see, Mr. Kearns. I asked about what you believe.”
“From what you’ve just told me I believe my father and I would have shared a great deal in common regarding our views on God and organized religion.”
Ophelia nodded. “Very well. You may be wrong, but at least you’re interesting. That’s more than most can say.” She turned toward Adele. “So, what brings you back here?”
“I have some questions I was hoping you could answer.”
“Questions? Regarding what?”
Adele took the book out and handed it to Ophelia. “Regarding this.”
Ophelia’s hands trembled as she stared at the cover. She immediately gave the book back to Adele and shook her head. “No. I’m very happy to see you again. We can visit. We can reminisce. And you’re both welcome to stay at the convent for as long as you like, but I won’t spend my time discussing that creature. Not now. Not ever.”
“I don’t understand,” Adele said.
Ophelia sighed. “All the better that you never will. Trust me. No good will come of it. There are things in this world you don’t disturb, Adele. The monster on that book cover is among them.”
Fin adjusted the cap on his head. “That man, or monster, or whatever, is long gone by now. We’re just hoping to learn more about what he was involved in. Namely the rumors of healing that are said to be part of the island’s history.”
“And why do you wish to know about any of that, Mr. Kearns?”
“It fascinates me.”
“And that’s it?”
Fin shrugged. “Sure. I came here to learn more about my father. I also came to learn more about the healing stuff some say can be found on Orcas. And now, just today, I’m told that my father went in search of the very same thing. That feels more than a little bit like destiny, don’t you think? It wouldn’t be right for me to have come this far only to then ignore such a thing.”
Ophelia straightened. Though she was physically much smaller than Fin the powerful confidence of her personality made her appear greater than the sum of her aged parts. “For a man who likens God to a cartoon you express a remarkable amount of faith in the unknown.”
“Not faith so much as curiosity.”
“Curiosity killed the cat, Mr. Kearns.” Ophelia nodded at Adele. “I care a great deal about this one and I don’t wish to see her hurt.”
“Ophelia,” Adele replied, “you know I can take care of myself. And you also know I’m going to Orcas to investigate these rumors about Karl Bloodbone with or without your help.”
The mention of Bloodbone made Ophelia visibly wince. She covered her eyes with her hand. “Lord forgive them,” she whispered.
Adele and Fin shared a quick look. “My father survived his time with Bloodbone just fine,” Fin said.
Ophelia’s hand dropped slowly away from her eyes. “Did he?”
“Did he what?” Adele questioned.
“Did Delroy Hicks survive just fine as your new friend seems to think?”
Adele was alarmed by what she heard in the old nun’s voice. Mother Mary Ophelia was afraid.
“Ophelia, what’s wrong? Why does this have you so upset?”
“Please,” Ophelia replied. “I’m begging you not to take this path. Go back to Roche Harbor. Return to Ireland. Think of this no more.” She looked at Fin. “Your father came to me then just as you are doing now. He knew of my prior history with Bloodbone. And like you he wanted to know more. I was so much younger then. Confused by things I didn’t fully understand but also equally naïve and vain and not wanting to appear too much like a stupid and frightened woman. So, my warnings to Delroy were too quiet, too accommodating, too easily dispatched by his natural charm and curiosity. I watched him leave the dock here at Shaw on his way across the water to Orcas and then watched him return months later. Outwardly he was the same man who had left. Beneath the confident exterior, though, he was different. Changed. Haunted. Something within him was missing. I knew who had taken it and that its taking had been the price Delroy was forced to pay for having dared investigate the thing that goes by the name of Karl Bloodbone.”
Adele stood stunned and silent, not knowing what to say. Then she heard a sound that made her throat tighten and her eyes widen. In a tree above her head came the gurgling croak of a raven.
Ophelia glared up at the great black bird and made the sign of the cross. “You are not welcome here,” she shouted.
The raven let out a shrill cry, leapt from the tree, and fell toward the group below. Both Adele and Fin jumped to the side. Ophelia stood her ground with her arms spread wide. Her eyes were lit by a righteous fire, her hands curled inward like claws, and her lips pulled back in a feral snarl.
“Come on then. I’m right here. Try to finish what was so long ago started.”
The raven swooped low, barely missing the nun’s head. When it attempted to pull up with a powerful flap of its wings, Ophelia’s hand closed tightly around its tail feathers. The bird screamed as it was flung to the ground and its body skidded into the tall grass that grew alongside the road. Ophelia lost her balance and fell backwards, hitting the dirt and gravel road with a loud grunt. The raven immediately regained its footing and bounded toward Ophelia with its head low.
“Bloody hell,” Fin cried out as he threw a rock that bounced off the road directly in front of the bird, momentarily halting its progress. Adele began whirling her backpack around her head. The raven squawked, backed up, and then took off into the trees. Adele turned around to help Ophelia up. “Did you hurt anything?” she asked.
“Just an old woman’s pride.”
Fin stared into the trees, clearly shaken by the attack. “I would never believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. That was absolutely insane. Do birds get rabies?”
Ophelia brushed the dirt off her jeans. “Quick thinking throwing that rock. Another second or two and that thing would have been on me.”
“Apologies for missing so badly,” Fin said. “I was actually trying to hit it.”
Adele slung her backpack over her shoulder. “Birds don’t get rabies. I saw that same raven in Friday Harbor yesterday outside the bookstore. It attacked my car.”
Fin’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”
“I am.”
“You mean to say that thing followed you all the way here? That’s impossible.”
“And yet,” Adele said with a shrug, “that’s exactly what happened.”
Ophelia took a step and then grimaced. “I think I did manage to hurt something—my ankle.”
When Adele went to help, Ophelia waved her away. “I’m fine. Just a bit tender. I’ll walk it off. Can I interest you two in a snack?”
Fin nodded. “I can eat.”
“Thank you,” Adele said. “But we can’t stay long.”
Ophelia turned around. “You’re still going to Orcas, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Adele answered. “I plan to be there within the hour.”
“Before you go, and against my better judgement, I have something you’ll want to hear.”
Fin stepped forward. “My father’s story, what he shared with you when he returned from his time with Karl Bloodbone. That’s it, isn’t it?”
Ophelia nodded. “It is. There is much that wasn’t part of that book. Things he kept hidden from the public likely for fear of being called crazy. But he told me and u
ntil now I have told no one else. Do you wish to know of it?”
Both Adele and Fin said yes. Ophelia closed her eyes and sighed. “Very well. Let us return to the convent. It’ll be far safer to speak of such things there.”
The old nun limped her way back home as Adele and Fin followed close behind.
14.
“C areful, it’s hot,” Ophelia said as she filled Adele’s and Fin’s teacups and then pointed to the plate in front of Fin. “The cheese and the crackers were made here as well. Enjoy.”
Fin bit into some cheese. “Mm, it’s wonderful. Thank you.”
Ophelia sat on the wooden bench on the other side of the table and then filled her own cup. The convent’s main hall was as Adele remembered it: the scuffed wood floor, the high exposed wood ceiling, and the massive chandelier that had been a gift from St. James Cathedral in Seattle. Though austere it was also a warm place full of history and the accumulated devotion of the nuns who had long called it home.
“We can speak freely,” Ophelia remarked. “No one will overhear what is said. The other two sisters are visiting friends and family out of state. They aren’t due to return for another week.”
Adele nibbled on a corner of cheese. “Remember, we can’t stay long.”
Ophelia nodded as she kept her eyes fixed on Adele. “So, shall I begin?”
“Please,” Adele replied.
“You’ve read the book in your backpack?”
“Yes, most of it.”
“And?”
“And what?”
Ophelia sipped her tea. “What did you think of it? Namely, what did you think of its assessment of Karl Bloodbone?”
“Delroy considered him a fraud.”
“That’s right,” Ophelia said. “But it was Delroy Hicks who was the fraud because his book was a lie and he knew it.”
Fin pushed the plate of cheese and crackers away. “I don’t understand.”
“I met Bloodbone before your father. As I already told you, that’s why Delroy came to me before going to Orcas. He wanted help in understanding what made Bloodbone tick. I knew what Bloodbone was, but I didn’t share it with Delroy. I should have, but I didn’t.”
“Why not?” Adele asked.
Ophelia folded her hands together and bowed her head. “I feared I would sound crazy. I had no proof of anything. It was all just a feeling—instinct. Something in his eyes, how he looked at others. How he looked at me. I sensed the darkness in him. I should have been more forthcoming. Truth is truth no matter how unlikely it might seem to some. Instead I just told Mr. Hicks to be careful. Not not trust anything Bloodbone said. He left here intrigued but not fearful. I failed to adequately prepare him for what he would later discover—a discovery that confirmed what I knew even though I had not seen it for myself.”
It seemed to Adele as if the entire convent had gone silent in anticipation of what Mother Mary Ophelia would say next. She reached across the table and squeezed the old nun’s hand. “What happened?”
Ophelia shut her eyes tight and shook her head. Only after her eyes opened did she continue. “Delroy was gone for months and then he suddenly returned. He was the same but different—very different. He spent three days here at the convent before going on to Roche Harbor. For the first two days he said little about Orcas Island and Karl Bloodbone. It was the morning of the third day as we walked alone on the road leading to the ferry terminal when he finally spoke of the experience.
“Bloodbone never slept. Never ate. Never drank. Delroy wondered why he would hide those things from him. Day after day, week after week, month after month, he couldn’t understand Bloodbone’s dedication toward upholding the ruse of not needing drink, food, or rest. In fact, he remarked there was an almost total absence of anything of note happening throughout the encampment. There were nearly forty followers the first month Delroy had arrived there. Three months later that number was half. Soon after, it was only Delroy and Bloodbone. Everyone else had gone without warning or explanation. One day they were there and the next they were not. Delroy had assumed they had left out of the same boredom he had been suffering from while there.
“It was the night before Delroy was scheduled to leave Orcas that he awoke to find Bloodbone standing over him inside the little shack that was just big enough to fit the cot he had slept on during those long six months. Startled, he propped himself up onto his elbows and asked Bloodbone what he wanted. Bloodbone told him he was to lie about what he had seen. When Delroy replied he hadn’t really seen anything, Bloodbone grabbed hold of his wrist, pulled him out of bed, and dragged him outside.
“The moon was full, bathing the empty encampment in its light. The clearing was encircled by old growth trees. When Delroy looked into those trees, he found hundreds of eyes staring back at him—eyes of blackest night. On nearly every branch of every tree he saw them—ravens.
“One called out. Then another and then another. The noise they made was so unbearably painful Delroy was forced to cover his ears and drop to his knees. The wailing ravens continued, until just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Delroy looked up into the eyes of Bloodbone who was smiling back at him.
“Bloodbone yanked Delroy back onto his feet and ordered him to follow. They took a path Delroy had never seen before. He didn’t have time to ponder how that was possible as he struggled to keep up as they climbed the side of a hill. Up they went, through brush and bramble that inexplicably appeared to make way for Bloodbone as he approached. At some point Delroy realized they were no longer going up the hill but rather into it. He was surrounded by earth above and below and on all sides. And still Bloodbone pressed forward, going deeper and deeper into the darkness. When Delroy stumbled over a root, Bloodbone paused, turned around, and warned that should Delroy fall too far behind he may never return to the outside world. The earth would simply swallow him up as if he had never been.”
“Jesus,” Fin muttered.
Ophelia slapped the table. “Watch your tongue, young man.”
Fin quickly apologized. Ophelia took in a long breath, let it out, and then resumed the story.
“Delroy realized the path forward was being lit by something. That something was the large crystal that hung from Bloodbone’s neck. The deeper into the hill they went the more intensely the crystal glowed. There was also a hum, faint at first but growing more powerful. Delroy likened it to the sound of an electric transformer. He could both hear it and feel it below his feet. Bloodbone’s pace quickened. He yelled for Delroy to hurry.
“And then all prior darkness ceased. Everything was light upon more light. Delroy told me he cried out, blind, confused, and fearing for his life. Eventually his eyes adjusted, and a new world took shape all around him. It was a massive, glowing wall of multi-colored crystal that extended down into a seemingly bottomless abyss below. Bloodbone stood near the great precipice with his back to Delroy. ‘Is this nothing?’ he bellowed. And then, very slowly, very deliberately, he turned around. The light of the crystal against Bloodbone’s chest pulsated like a heartbeat in rhythm with the strange humming Delroy felt. Thump-thump-thump, it went.
“Bloodbone held Delroy in his eyes, staring for what felt like hours as the crystal continued its incessant beating. Delroy said he attempted to move but couldn’t. No matter how hard he tried, his limbs simply wouldn’t obey. He wasn’t even sure he was blinking. All he heard, all he felt, all he knew was the humming beat of whatever unknown power lay deep inside the earth. Thump-thump-thump.
“Then the humming stopped. The light of the crystals dimmed. ‘See me,’ Bloodbone ordered. Delroy had no choice but to obey. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t look away. He watched Bloodbone’s face collapse into itself. The skin pulled back, broke apart, until only a skull remained. It was then and only then that Delroy was able to cry out, though he still couldn’t move. He screamed and he screamed. The thing called Bloodbone spread its arms wide, teetered backwards for a moment, as if pausing between this world and the next, before fallin
g completely into the void below.
“Delroy crept forward inch by inch, until he was able to look down. At first, he saw nothing but unmoving, impenetrable, blackness, like the universe before God turned on the light. Then the darkness took shape and began to rush upward toward him. Delroy crouched low and covered his face as a thousand wings buffeted the air around him. It was the ravens again, emerging from the pit to return to the world outside. Delroy crawled out behind them, sobbing like a child. He made his way down the hill until he finally reached the shed. He scrambled inside and collapsed onto the cot, thinking himself too frightened to sleep.
“But sleep he did, long and deep. He awoke the next morning feeling more rested and alert than he had in years. His mind raced to replay the events of the night before, but already the recollection was fragmented to the point he thought it might have been nothing more than an unusually vivid dream. That is until he rose from his bed and saw the words carved on the inside of the door.
“Be a slave to the truth or know freedom from the lie.”
“What could that possibly mean?” Fin asked.
Ophelia’s thin smile already hinted at the answer to come. “The world would never believe the truth of what he experienced. Delroy’s academic reputation would suffer greatly. So, he chose freedom. He chose the lie. His book dismissed Karl Bloodbone as an eccentric—one made more notorious by those desperate to seek out his alleged power to heal. An interesting study but ultimately a fraud like so many others before him. In turn, Bloodbone was given back what he wanted most—the safety of obscurity. He was notorious no longer but merely another passing moment in time, an inconsequential footnote of our local history.”
“But you don’t believe that,” Adele said. “You think Bloodbone was something more.”
“Indeed. I know Bloodbone is something more.”
“C’mon,” Fin scoffed. “The story you just shared with us, and it is admittedly one hell of a story, was told to you some forty years ago. Legend or not, Bloodbone is certainly long gone by now.”
Roche Harbor Rogue Page 10