Magical Legacy

by Pamela M. Richter

  In moments the diamond was abruptly burning. She dropped Rod’s hand and stopped, pulling on the chain frantically to release it from her dress. Anything to get rid of the feeling that a patch of her skin was burning. It was much worse than the scorching sand blast they were enduring from the helicopter.

  Abigail was even hot to touch she noticed when she pulled the diamond free and held it in her hand. It was a signal, but what did it mean?

  People were passing her and Rod now, splashing up water over her feet and legs.

  “Why’d you stop?” Rod asked.

  “Wait. I have to think,” Michelle said, looking down into the surface of the diamond. It seemed to have a light glowing from within. Was Abigail warning her that Omar was around? Or did it have to do with taking care of more of Abigail’s distant relatives? Michelle was one of Abigail’s relatives. But her three children were also gifted with paranormal abilities. Maybe Abigail was reacting to a threat to the children with supernatural gifts, like Abigail had herself when she was alive.

  Michelle hadn’t felt anything from the diamond in the ballroom earlier that evening. And Omar was there. Therefore she wasn’t being threatened by him. Michelle decided Abigail must be signaling her about the children.

  They were doing something wrong, running down the beach, trying to catch the man who ran off with the girls.

  “We have to go back,” Michelle said, still looking down at the diamond.

  “Why?” Rod asked.

  “Let me try an experiment,” Michelle said. She turned around and took a few steps in the opposite direction. The diamond, which felt like it was scorching her hand, quickly became cool.

  “Yeah, we have to go back,” Michelle said. “The girls are behind us somewhere.”

  Michelle remembered the game she played with her parents on her birthday. She had to search the house for her presents. They told her she was getting hotter, the nearer she got to finding her pile of presents. Abigail was doing the exact opposite. When they went in the right direction, the diamond got cool.

  “This way,” Michelle said. She started running in the opposite direction, passing the people who she now believed were all going the wrong way. It took a while, but finally they were again across from the Moana Hotel, where they had started tracking Omar.

  Michelle turned and started to go back toward the hotel. She knew immediately she had done the wrong thing. The diamond became hot again.

  She turned around and started running along the shore, toward Diamond Head.

  “Aren’t we going the wrong way?” Rod asked.

  “I’m still getting signals from the diamond,” Michelle said. “When I do the wrong thing, Abigail gets burning hot.”

  Rod nodded as though he understood what she was saying, and hoped she was right. It was unbelievable that Omar was here in Hawaii, let alone that he had managed to abduct the children. Rod shook his head, a little bewildered. They were following directions from an inanimate object; a big old diamond named Abigail, which was supposed to have psychic power.

  The nice thing was that they were far enough away from the crowd now that they weren’t being blasted by sand grains whipped around by the helicopter’s rotor blades.

  Chapter 24

  Michelle and Rod had run past the Outrigger Hotel, the Royal Hawaiian, the Halekulani Hotel, and the Sheraton. All beachfront hotels in Waikiki. They were both exhausted. It felt like they’d run a marathon.

  Michelle finally stopped and looked at the diamond in her hand. It was getting hot again. Maybe they passed the spot to find the children.

  She turned and looked toward the huge Hyatt Regency about a block away and across the street. The diamond got cool as she went across the sand toward the giant hotel. Soon the diamond was ice cold.

  “This way,” Michelle said to Rod.

  They crossed busy Kalakaua Avenue, the main beach road along the length of Waikiki, and went down an alley beside the hotel that was used for deliveries and garbage collection. Michelle was totally intent on following the diamond’s signals that led them to the alley.

  They heard subdued little whimpers as they moved further into the dark place. It sounded like heartbreak. Michelle blinked her eyes, trying to see in the blackness.

  She followed the sad echoes, and then saw a ball of pink just above ground level. Yes! She ran and dropped to her knees in front of the little girl, who was lying in a fetal position against the dirty concrete alley wall.

  Petal sat up and looked up at Michelle. Tears stained her face.

  Rod kept on going, running further up the alley, searching for the other two children.

  Petal looked up at her.

  “Michelle! I don’t know how to get home to mommy,” Petal said despondently, and started crying.

  “Honey, I’m going to take you to your mother,” Michelle said, hugging her. The little girl looked so sad Michelle felt tears in her own eyes.

  “Where are your sisters?” Michelle asked.

  “Daddy and Samson took them away,” Petal said desolately. “We thought they were playing a game. But they weren’t. I want my mommy.”

  “I’ll take you to your mommy right now,” Michelle said.

  The little girl perked up and said, “I got an ouchy when Samson dropped me.” She pulled up her pink dress and there was a tiny cut on her knee. “Kiss and make better?”

  Michelle kissed the hurt knee.

  “Better,” Petal said after a few moments, nodding seriously.

  Rod came back and shook his head at Michelle grimly. He knelt down beside them. “Why did Samson drop you?”

  “Shelly bit his ear. That was when we decided they weren’t playing a fun running or hiding game. They tried to get us and take us away from Mommy. Mommy told us what to do. We started fighting and screaming and kicking.”

  “They took Ivory and Shelly?” Michelle asked.

  Petal nodded. “In a yellow car. With two women inside. Daddy and Samson and my sisters were all squashed in the back seat. I ran away. My sisters told me to go hide.”

  Michelle wondered how Petal could have seen the getaway car if she was running away. She thought it might be some kind of special communication the sisters had among themselves.

  “Do you know where they went?” Michelle asked, as Rod picked up Petal and they left the alley, walking down Kalakaua Avenue toward the entrance to the Moana Hotel. It felt strange to Michelle, walking down the main drag in Waikiki in a beautiful gown, with sand in her hair and clinging to her legs, and barefoot as well.

  “I can’t see them yet,” Petal said. “Can Michelle hold me?”

  “Michelle is carrying a little baby inside her. So she needs to rest. Do you mind if I carry you?” Rod said.

  “No. You can carry me.” Petal reached down and patted Michelle’s baby bump. “I’m glad Michelle’s having a baby. We’ll have a little brother to play with soon,” she said, laying her head down on Rod’s shoulder.

  Michelle and Rod exchanged astonished glances. Just how much did this little girl know? She seemed to have extrasensory perception that she shared with her sisters. She declared she didn’t know where her sisters were yet. But it sounded like she would know in the future.

  Michelle wondered if Petal knew that she was her real mother? Why else would she say that she and her sisters would have a little brother?

  How could Petal even know the sex of the child Michelle was carrying? Michelle and Rod had decided not to find out in advance of the birth, so Petal couldn’t have figured the sex of the child by telepathic communication–reading their minds.

  Of course, Petal could be guessing, or maybe hoping for a baby boy to play with.

  They were getting into totally unknown territory. Michelle had to admit that Omar was probably right. She did have special eggs that transferred psychic ability. She’d never heard of the things Petal could do explained in the paranormal world. This little gifted child was extraordinary. Michelle thought her sisters were probably equally powerf
ul. Who knew what they would be able to do when they became adults.

  All the more reason not to let Omar get control of them. He was pure, wicked, evil.

  Chapter 25

  Omar went down the ballroom terrace steps and sauntered away from the Moana Hotel. He moved to the sand and started going east along Waikiki beach. He shook his head. People were so predictable. He could feel eyes riveted on his back, watching him. Of course he knew it was the professor, Vincent Middleton, peering at him from above.

  Omar kept going until he no longer felt the staring eyes. Then he doubled back until he was right under the ballroom terrace of the Moana Hotel again, where no one could see him.

  Staying close to the walls, he went around the whole building and ended up on Kalakaua Avenue. There he crossed the street and saw Samson and the three girls. Samson had done as he had asked. The girls were covered with a big blanket hiding the pink dresses.

  There was a lot of traffic on Kalakaua, and right in front of the Hyatt Regency Hotel as well, but no one seemed to notice anything odd about Samson carrying three little girls, whose heads peeped just above the blanket.

  Right on time, Chloe and Louise drove up in front of the Hyatt and stopped.

  Omar shook his head, rolled his eyes, and sputtered French profanity. A yellow car? How could they be so stupid as to rent a bright yellow vehicle? If anyone was watching, they’d surely remember the color, if nothing else.

  Then something much worse happened. All of a sudden, the children, who had been completely docile in Samson’s arms, started screaming and kicking.

  The getaway car was parked almost in front of Samson, but he was trying to fend off the children’s attack and dropped one of them, yelling in pain, grabbing at his ear. Samson couldn’t help yelping, Omar noticed. Part of his ear lobe was missing. Samson probably could feel the thick blood trickling down his neck.

  The little girl he dropped scampered away and went down a dark alley at the side of the hotel.

  Omar saw the girl run away, and then he was running himself, to prevent a disaster. He plucked one of the girls from Samson’s arms.

  Chloe, who was driving the car, had a look of terror on her face as Omar yanked open the back passenger car door and jumped inside. He desperately motioned for Samson to follow him.

  Omar almost smiled. His kids were little wildcat terrors. He’d never seen them like this before. Too bad one of them got away.

  Samson jumped into the car after Omar, with Shelly still in his arms. He slammed the door and Chloe took off, down Kalakaua Avenue.

  The two girls were still screaming shrilly.

  “What about the child who got away?” Louise asked, turning around to look at Omar in the back seat.

  “We can’t get her now,” Omar said. “It’s too risky. I don’t want to leave without her, though. We’ll figure out how to get her back. I want Michelle, too.”

  Omar pulled Ivory off of Samson, who was getting a blitz of fist blows from the child. He sat her in his lap beside Shelly. He looked at the two little girls, screaming, their little voices painfully piercing his ears.

  “Hush now!” Omar said sternly. “You are safe, and soon we’ll have your sister, too.”

  Ivory had always been a little afraid of Daddy. She saw his eyes flash with the spooky bright yellow color, like glowing headlights in the dark car. She stopped screaming immediately.

  Shelly was not so intimidated. Her throat hurt from screaming, so she stopped. It was blessedly quiet in the car for a few moments. Then she yelled, “I want my mommy. Right now!”

  “Hush up,” Omar said, squeezing her little ribcage a bit too hard.

  Shelly looked at her Daddy and realized he might hurt her. She didn’t know why that surprising thought was true; just knew he would hurt her if she made him mad.

  Shelly vowed she and her sister would get back to their mother. For the time being she would shut up.

  Michelle and Rod went into the front entrance of the Moana Hotel with Petal. They were surrounded by a huge crowd when they got to the ballroom where the wedding reception was still going on. There were fewer people, though. Many were still searching Waikiki beach for the children.

  Leilanie gave a little cry when she saw them, then ran across the ballroom to get her child.

  Rod passed Petal to Leilanie, who had been inconsolable ever since the children went missing. He watched as Petal threw her arms around Leilanie’s neck, while Leilanie hugged her child back, and cried with relief.

  “Where are the other girls?” Leilanie asked.

  “Omar’s got them,” Michelle said. “They’re in a car with Samson and two women. Petal said the car was yellow.”

  “I bet it’s those two French women I told you about. The creepy ones following me and the girls around.”

  Michelle nodded. Leilanie was probably right. Omar had sent the women from France to help with the abduction.

  Two policemen pushed through the crowd that had surrounded them, congratulating Michelle and Rod on finding one missing child.

  “We need someplace private where you can tell us how you found the little girl,” one of the policeman said to Rod The other policeman was on his radio, contacting headquarters to tell them that one of the missing children had been recovered.

  Michelle, Rod, and the two policemen went to a corner table in the ballroom and sat down.

  There was a lot they had to eliminate from the rescue story—like a big diamond guiding them and finding Petal in a dark alley. The police would never believe it.

  Michelle explained that so many people were scouring the beach they decided to go in a different direction. They said they got lucky.

  They mentioned a yellow car that Petal had seen. They told the police the abductors were Omar Satinov, and a man they only knew as Samson. There were also two women in the getaway car.

  After the policeman finished taking notes, Michelle and Rod were told that the police might have more questions. They were told to please remain in the Honolulu area during the next few days.

  The policeman explained that the Moana Hotel, like all the big hotels in Waikiki, had hidden cameras in all the public areas and hallways. They would be monitoring all the feedback tonight. The policeman asked them to come to the station early tomorrow morning to identify pictures of Omar Satinov and Samson. Perhaps they could also identify the two women who were in on the kidnapping.

  Michelle and Rod agreed.

  After speaking to the policemen, they went over to Leilanie, who was sitting at one of the tables, hugging her daughter. She appeared haunted, fearful for her two lost children.

  It was late and Petal was asleep.

  People were dragging back into the ballroom from the beach. Most were covered with gritty sand. Some were barefoot because the whirlwind of sand from the helicopter had buried or blown their shoes away.

  Michelle whispered to Leilanie, “Petal said she didn’t know where her sisters were. Yet. I think the girls communicate together without talking. Is it possible?”

  Leilanie nodded and sighed. “They do it all the time. I wished for a long time that they didn’t have the ability to do psychic stuff. I wanted them happy and normal. But if Petal can see images that her sisters send, or even talk to them, then we might get an idea of where Omar took them.”

  Michelle said, “You might not want to wake up Petal. She went through a lot tonight. But could you? I want to find the girls before Omar has a chance to hide them or get them on a flight back to France.”

  Leilanie nodded and jiggled the little girl in her arms.

  Petal blinked slowly, and was groggy when Leilanie asked her, “Petal, this is important. Can you see where your sisters are?”

  “Not yet,” Petal said, with an enormous yawn. “They’re still driving.”

  “Can you tell your sisters to look out the window? Ask them what they see?”

  Petal took a few moments to reply. “Lots of lights in the sky. All over the place.”

&nbs
p; “Stars?” Leilanie asked.

  Petal shook her head. “No. Lights are big, and moving. Maybe airplanes?”

  Michelle’s eyes widened. Could they be going to the Honolulu International Airport? Or maybe they were going to the hotel where the two French women had been living. Those two were last seen in Kaneoke. Michelle figured Omar had been driving for at least a half hour. Maybe longer. So wherever they were going, it was a long way from Waikiki.

  “Wait!” Michelle said. “Omar hasn’t completed his objective to get all three of the children. Maybe he’s not leaving the islands. He’s used pilots at private airfields in the past to hop to Kauai and Maui. Maybe he’s planning to move the kids to another island to hide out and stay ahead of the police hunting for him around here.”

  She turned to Rod, “Do you remember where that airfield is? Or the name of the guy who took Omar and me to Guadalajara?”

  “Let’s ask Heather,” Rod said. “She’s the one who found the pilot when Omar abducted you to Mexico. And I hate to bring more bad news. But you’re not safe, Michelle. He may have plans to abduct you as well. It’s like part of Omar’s strange to-do list.”

  Michelle frowned and shook her head. “You think I’m on his bucket list?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “I don’t think he has any more use for me. But he hates you. He had Samson try to kill you. So he’s on some kind of vendetta. You’re not safe until he’s gone.”

  Rod said, “No matter. We have to concentrate on finding Shelly and Ivory. I remember Guy Thorner’s private air-field near the Honolulu International Airport. Omar used to fly from there to the other islands.”

  “But he had to use another pilot to take me to Mexico. Guy Thorner wouldn’t take Omar because he was on parole and wasn’t supposed to leave Hawaii. Guy could have lost his airfield and pilot’s license, if anyone found out.”

  Heather appeared exhausted and happy when they went over to where she was sitting, drinking champagne with Mike and a bunch of friends. “I still can’t believe I’m a wifey,” she said, punching Mike’s shoulder. “Hey good job finding Petal.”