Sanguine

by Carolyn Denman

  In an instant, Sergeant Loxwood jumped in front of me with his gun aimed directly at my guardian angel. A scream tore loose and I covered my head with my hands when I realised it had come from me.

  ‘Lainie, I’m so sorry, I never should have trusted him! I’m here now, it’ll be all right.’ I could hear Bane speaking to me but I was too frightened to look up so I just curled myself into an even tighter ball.

  ‘Mr Millard, what are you doing here? Where’s that other friend of yours?’

  ‘He’s not here. He stayed in Melbourne.’

  He left Dallmin on his own? He was abandoning everyone today.

  A few more tense seconds passed.

  ‘I’ll ask you one more time,’ the sergeant growled. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Where’s Tessa?’ Bane snarled back through gritted teeth. I knew that tone, he was holding on by a thread. More seconds passed so I forced myself to peer through my wet eyelashes up at the sergeant. The horrid weapon was still in his hands. Its black metal was the sole focus of the room. The gun was the one in total control of the situation, not me, not Bane, not even the policeman. Its very existence controlled what everybody did and I was suddenly furious with it. Without that evil thing I would be able to sort out this mess, rescue Tessa and … what? Send Dallmin home? Keep the police away from the farm? Was Eden under any threat at all? If there was an incident here, what would the implications be to Eden? There would be an investigation. News and camera crews. ‘Police shooting in Bendigo linked to abduction of pregnant woman’. That was a headline that would shake the foundations of my small country town. My town. My job to keep it nicely ignored by the rest of the world. I felt fiercely protective of my valley and I didn’t want a whole lot of strangers poking their noses into our business. It was my valley.

  Swirling thoughts resolved into protective emotion and I centred my attention on that until it morphed into a quiet hope. The hope became a softly whispered supplication. Closing my eyes, I encouraged it to develop into Word …

  The police officer flinched as the gun dissolved into a pile of dust, which he reflexively tried to grasp at as it eddied down to the carpet. Then he searched the floor as if he thought he had somehow dropped it without realising. The swear words that flew from his mouth were a testament to just how many drunk footy fans he must have babysat over the years.

  ‘What the hell did you do? Where’s my firearm?’ he finally managed to ask me.

  ‘Not hell. The other one,’ I mumbled thickly around the speech embargo. There had to be something I could tell him. ‘I unhinged its molecular structure. I have a much better comprehension of the nature of covalent bonds now.’ Well, I tried. How was it I could perform a miracle right in front of him and then still struggle to talk about it?

  ‘Give it back!’

  ‘No. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. It doesn’t work that way.’ At least as far as I knew, anyway. My abilities felt so hit and miss, would I ever figure them out? When it worked, it all felt so easy and natural, but at other times I was at a complete loss as to how to even begin.

  He looked around again, just to make sure the gun wasn’t hiding from him, and then prodded the small pile of dust with the toe of his shoe.

  Bane, who had moved to stand between me and the sergeant, looked ready to tackle a charging bull. ‘Now I’ll ask you one more time. Where. Is. Tessa?’

  ‘What makes you think I know where she is? You’re the one who seems to have an uncanny knack of finding people,’ he said, still scanning the floor in disbelief. ‘I said I would protect Lainie, so we were heading back to Nalong—away from danger—or so I thought.’

  ‘Then why didn’t you answer your phone today?’

  ‘I did. I spoke to Sergeant Franklin when he called. I told him I didn’t want anyone speaking with Lainie just yet. Not until I had a chance to get some proper answers from her. I expect he told you I was unavailable.’

  The tension in the room eased a fraction as Bane looked at me for confirmation.

  Hiccupping my nerves away, I forced myself to speak, knowing he wasn’t likely to react well. ‘He doesn’t know where Tess is. Or else he wouldn’t have agreed to take me back.’

  When Bane realised that meant Tessa must be back in Nalong, he looked for a second as if he was about to kick the wall. But he didn’t.

  ‘Dallmin! Come in, it’s okay,’ he called wearily instead.

  My heart smiled as my ancient friend’s unruly hair appeared around the smashed door frame.

  Sergeant Loxwood glared at Bane. ‘Still in Melbourne, huh? Now will you please tell me what’s really going on? A young woman’s life it still in grave danger and in her state every moment counts. I need to know the truth about all this once and for all.’ As he spoke, his hands checked his holster as if hoping his gun had reappeared there.

  Bane glared at him with his lips pressed together, while I drew myself up on my knees, feeling more confident than I had for a long time. ‘He can’t tell you either,’ I said. ‘But Dallmin might be able to.’

  Chapter 38

  The abandoned shearing shed was pitch black and freezing. Rain was coming steadily in through the roof and the old wooden floor was rotting in so many places that Tess was amazed it held her enormous weight at all.

  Her captor sat in the driest corner of the shed, eating a sloppy hamburger. ‘Want some?’ he asked. ‘You’ve only had half a potato cake. Aren’t you supposed to be eating for two?’

  Tessa shook her head. She’d once let Liam talk her into buying dinner from Nalongest Yard Fish and Chippery. Their burgers were even cheesier than their name. The Ashbrees must have had their own brand of superpowers to survive them. No way was she going to risk her son’s life for one, but at least the offer of dinner meant she no longer had her mouth taped shut.

  ‘Why don’t you just call Bane again and tell him where we are? You keep saying you want him to find us.’

  ‘Sure, just not with a police escort,’ he said, downing the last bite and then licking sauce from his wrist. ‘They traced my call this morning. That’s why we had to move again. And of course I had to ditch the phone too, so I can’t listen in on their radio traffic anymore, let alone call anyone. Hey, I suggest you don’t go having any … medical emergencies. We’re not exactly close to a hospital here.’

  As if she had any control over it. He was such an idiot. She couldn’t believe she had allowed herself to get abducted by such a loser. It was embarrassing. If it hadn’t been for the baby she would have long since shown him what a Guardian could do.

  They had only spent a couple of hours in his house on the outskirts of Nalong before he’d chickened out and moved her yet again. In such a small town news always travelled fast, and everyone knew who she was. It would only have taken one person to look through the right window at the right time. Shame. She had nearly managed to make him yell at her. Someone might have noticed that because she never remembered him as being the yelling type before.

  Given that there was no furniture, she tried to make herself as comfortable as possible on the floor as he taped her hands around one of the roof supports. The pole was old but looked sturdy enough. Even so, she tried not to move too much in case she brought the entire roof down on their heads. Idiotic man. She was so tired and angry, and tired of being angry. Her back hurt, her feet hurt, her ribs hurt, her clothes were wet and she needed to pee, again. He hadn’t believed she needed to pee so often but the consequences of having a close to term infant using her bladder as a trampoline spoke for itself. She loathed him.

  Beset by violent shivers, she huddled against the post. He had given her an old parker to wear that smelled like the couch in the foyer of the Nalong pub, and was about as useful for keeping her warm. Nausea that had nothing to do with Noah still stopped her from eating more than a couple of mouthfuls of the crap she’d been offered throughout the day, and so she kept g
etting dizzy. She needed to sleep but was far too uncomfortable, so instead she began to hum a tune in her head. Perhaps if she couldn’t sleep she could at least try to help the baby to relax. Stress was bad for him. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to become lost in the beautiful song that Dallmin and Lainie had gifted them with. A sweet melody, birthed in a place that she could almost taste. The Garden Paradise. Real. As real to her as Noah’s kisses. A place that was not for her. Not for humans tainted with self-centred greed, violence and fear. Her fear—this terror of what was happening to her, to her son—was like a wound that she could feel festering and tangling with other polluted emotions. Shame, for allowing it to happen, because she was supposed to keep Noah and their baby safe. Anger, hate and even greed that valued her own life above that of the bastard who was hurting her.

  No. She was not ready for that place. Not yet. Still, just knowing it was there … right on the doorstep. Waiting for her. So real. The echo of it playing in her memory with such beautiful harmonies.

  She felt as if it was the only thing keeping her sane.

  Chapter 39

  ‘What would you like to know?’ Dallmin asked, biting at each word. His dark eyes looked haunted and for the first time I was able to believe that he really was over a hundred years old. The childlike wonder had all but gone from them. It left a chasm that might never be filled again.

  Instead of answering straight away, Sergeant Loxwood stepped out through the broken door to see who else might have noticed the commotion. Luckily the weather was terrible and therefore it was quiet, even for Bendigo. He came in and tried to close the door again, but it was a lost cause. The whole frame would have to be replaced.

  ‘Perhaps we should move into the bedroom,’ he said. ‘I get the feeling this conversation is going to be one that none of us wants overheard.’

  Bane picked me up like I was a tiny doll and carried me to the bed. He must have put on some serious muscle because although I wasn’t overweight, I was quite tall. He sat on the bed with his back to the wall and cradled me against his chest. I could still feel tremors passing through his body and he looked kind of feverish. Dallmin sat on the floor while Nalong’s most senior police officer stood by the closed door, legs apart and arms crossed, as if he was ready to prevent us from trying to leave.

  The silence that fell once we’d all settled was a bit awkward.

  ‘Are you sure you can’t give me back my gun?’ Sergeant Loxwood said eventually. ‘I’m not going to shoot anyone.’

  ‘Your gun is now dust. You can sweep it up if you want it back.’ Horrible thing.

  Bane gave my elbow a quick squeeze to tell me to back off a little. As if he could talk. More uncomfortable seconds passed.

  The sergeant broke first. ‘Okay. So how about I start with what I do know, or at least suspect.’ His hand drifted towards his empty holster before he realised and crossed his arms again. ‘You can fill me in on anything else you think might be relevant. Fair?’

  Despite his professional demeanour I could hear a slight tremor in his voice. My power had thrown him. Not surprising—it still threw me too. I was grateful that he seemed to be willing to play nice.

  He cleared his throat. ‘Three years ago Alex Beckinsale had a run in with Harr—’

  ‘Don’t say his name,’ I interrupted.

  The policeman flinched, throwing me a nervous look, which was just a bit gratifying. ‘Right, sorry. I forgot. Anyway, someone stopped Mr Beckinsale’s attack by blinding him, and messing with his memory. I’m assuming the method used to do that was … was not … natural.’ This time he seemed too nervous to even dare to look at me. Clearly, he knew who to blame, but I could hardly even remember the incident. The details I tried to recall were very difficult for me to interpret, as if my memories had been written down by a doctor who’d been running late for his round of golf, and I was left to decipher his handwriting. My mother had been there. Tessa had been in danger then too.

  Bane held my hands to stop them trembling.

  The sergeant continued, flicking his eyes to me every few seconds but addressing my Guardian. ‘By the time you brought the knife to me, Bane, the Gracewood’s farmhand had already died and I had closed the case. Until I realised that Lainie had disappeared.’

  Bane’s head jerked up. Apparently that part was unexpected.

  ‘The knife had been cleaned,’ the officer said slowly. ‘Despite me asking you not to touch it, you had cleaned it and brought it in to me rather than let me come and get it. If an official inquiry had been underway you would have been charged with interfering with the evidence, but there was no reported crime, so I couldn’t act.’

  I could feel Bane’s gaze burning into the sergeant’s face, as if he wanted to warn him off. He interrupted just as the policeman was about to continue.

  ‘Dallmin. Tell the sergeant where Lainie has been for the last three years,’ he said, still not breaking the officer’s gaze.

  Dallmin looked at me for confirmation. Are you certain, child? You are the leader of this dance. Do you want me to talk?

  I nodded once, defiantly. I would take responsibility for this if it would help Tess. I had ‘read’ Sergeant Loxwood’s character numerous times that day and I had to trust that I was making the right judgement.

  ‘Lainie has been in my homeland. The Garden of Eden, you would call it, although I have been told that stories about my home have developed in many different places on this side of the Boundary, under different names.’

  The sergeant blinked, and waited.

  ‘There is a path that leads to it from a place near the farm. It is not permitted for humans to go there, which is why Lainie can’t make herself speak of it, even if she wants to. It is her task to keep humans away.’

  We let that sink in for a little while as we watched the man’s expression move from disdain to anger to confusion and finally sheer surprise. I tried to imagine his thought pattern. He needed something to explain the gun, and he couldn’t deny it was supernatural, so why not Eden? At least it was biblical, so he was being invited to believe something that millions of other people throughout history agreed had existed at some point. Maybe not in present day, and certainly not in Nalong—even I had no idea how to explain that. Like everyone else, he would just have to find a way to reconcile his experiences with his theology in his own time.

  His eyes darted down to his empty holster again. ‘And if you’re not human, what are you?’

  I shrugged back at him helplessly.

  ‘She is a Cherub. It is her job to guard the way against those who would try to pass. She must keep people from knowing the Garden is even there. You are a very honoured person to be allowed this knowledge. Knowledge can be very … dangerous.’

  ‘And Bane? He can’t speak either?’ The officer leant against the bedroom door as if unsure that his legs would continue to support him.

  ‘He cannot say any words that might reveal the existence of Eden. He is human, but he is linked to Lainie as her Guardian. It is a life-bond that cannot be broken. That is why he can find her and why he suffers pain when she is in danger. He trusted you to care for her today, and yet we found her upset. Why was she upset?’

  ‘Dallmin,’ Bane soothed. ‘This is not the time for anger. This is the time for helping him to understand.’

  ‘Damn right it is,’ the policeman agreed. ‘So Eden is the secret that the abductor mentioned in the note? How does Tessa tie into all of this? Does Bane have a way of tracking her down too?’

  ‘No. Only Lainie does,’ Dallmin said. ‘She can sense another Cherub. Tessa’s baby is Noah’s firstborn son so he is a Cherub and must be protected. She can sense where they are but it is difficult for her because he is not yet born. She must be given room to concentrate.’

  I could hear the condemnation in his voice and it bruised my soul to hear that tone coming from my gentle friend.

/>   ‘Noah Ashbree is a Cherub?’ the officer asked incredulously. Of all the parts of the story that he had the most trouble with, the idea that Noah was supposed to be a supernatural being in charge of guarding anything at all was the apparently most difficult to swallow. I understood perfectly well how he felt. Noah and I had never been known for our responsible behaviour. I shrugged again. Apologetically.

  The solid character who had led our town through numerous natural disasters and emergencies for twenty-five years without batting an eyelid, finally slumped to the floor, rubbing his hands through his short hair. He looked up at Dallmin and sighed.

  ‘No wonder I couldn’t place your accent,’ he said.

  We arrived back at the farm just after midnight. The sergeant had followed us the entire way, which probably hadn’t helped Bane’s stress levels much, but had at least kept him alert and within the speed limits.

  As I stood under the stars, leaning against the petrified wooden gatepost by the home paddock, I could feel the baby off to the west, and there was considerable discussion around whether to continue until we found them or wait until morning. No one wanted Tessa in danger a second longer than was absolutely necessary, yet even Dallmin was starting to see the logic in waiting until daylight. We really had no idea what we would be walking into.

  Sergeant Loxwood was pushing hard to be allowed to call for his team and do things the ‘proper way’, but he still needed me to come along to pinpoint Tessa’s location—which Bane flatly refused to agree to. The other option was to get Noah to find them, but Bane didn’t want to call him, even though Tessa should be close enough not to suffer too badly if he returned. Bane explained to me why. It got me thinking. There had to be a way for us to use our compulsions to our advantage—they were never intended to be a hindrance.