by A. A. Bell
‘If you speak of the echoes that plague me, then yes. But I spoke of my testimonies.’ He patted the pile of paper. ‘How else can a poor wretch such as me explain it?’
He swivelled her chair around for her until she faced the window, then threw back her drapes. Outside she saw the bustle of the festival in full swing, but in the glass itself — for the first time in weeks — she saw her crystal-clear reflection.
Bewildered, she felt as if she’d just woken up.
‘Yesterday was a dream,’ he said. ‘Anything could happen; all futures were screaming at us at once.’
‘No, that was all real,’ she insisted. ‘It happened!’
He nodded. ‘History is stone. Tomorrow is fluid. And on the cusp in between is the storm of life, causing ripples.’
‘So that “me” I couldn’t see clearly was —’
‘My fault. Yesterday’s dreams were becoming nightmares — so I listened to sort the whispers from the shouts. And I did things that distorted some of the echoes, those repercussions in time, until the noise of it all became bearable.’
‘But you’re deaf!’
‘No, you’re silent. Your voice is so fast, it leaves the moment.’ He closed her drapes and returned to the trapdoor. ‘Tomorrow has dictated itself and now one clear vision is set with all the players in place.’ He crouched with his fingers poised to open the latch. ‘All the world’s a stage,’ he laughed. ‘Time has come to read your part and act —’
‘Fredarick, wait!’
With a wave, he hushed her to keep the solitude of his private place intact. Please don’t hate me, he signed, pleading with his eyes again as well as his hands. You did say you enjoyed a little tragedy.
Sanchez sighed, but didn’t try to stop him from sliding down the ladder. She didn’t have time. She’d send one of Freddie’s search teams back to fetch him up and extinguish the flaming wine bottles that he was using down there as his lights.
In the meantime, she had to rush back to check on the progress of the staff she’d assigned to ping Mira’s GPS.
She pushed Fredarick’s play aside on her desk, determined to read it first chance she got, but as it landed, it knocked over her statue of the Greek King Sisyphus — condemned to an eternity of pushing his boulder uphill — causing the glass boulder to roll off his shoulders and smash on the floor.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Ben skidded to a halt in the driveway of his beachhouse. ‘We can’t stay long,’ he warned, unclicking his seatbelt. ‘Leave your toga in the car and follow me.’
Mira nodded and untangled herself from the bedsheet, feeding it over her shoulder in a long twisted ream. Ben switched off the engine and hurried out to open her door.
‘Say hello to Killer, Mira.’ He clapped his hands and Mira heard the dog bounding clumsily towards her. She’d already been warned to expect a large, affectionate dog, but he came at her yowling — not quite a bark and not quite a growl. She stepped back in fear.
Ben clicked his fingers and Mira heard claws tapping on the path.
‘He’s sitting in front of you now. If you crouch and reach out, you can pat his head.’
‘No, thank you!’
Through her glasses, she could see the week-old version of the huge dog sunbaking on the other side of the driveway, his tongue lolling out, sound asleep. His mouth looked big enough to swallow her hand.
‘He’s never hurt anything bigger than a flea, even as a puppy,’ Ben said. ‘His name was a joke because of that, but, sadly, he’s getting so old and arthritic now, he can’t even do that much.’
Mira tucked her fingers into her armpits. ‘I’ve never touched a dog. I’ll wait in the car while you get your things.’
‘No, you won’t. Killer, this is Mira.’ Ben put his arm around her. ‘Killer, keep-safe Mira. There: I just gave him the command to protect you, no matter what.’
The dog barked and Mira jumped.
‘Politely! She can’t see you, old buddy.’
The dog sniffed closer to her, as if he could tell there was something different about her.
‘Hello, Killer.’ Mira relaxed a little, but still kept her fingers safe. ‘Is he really that well behaved?’
‘Yeah. Sorry I can’t say the same about my mother.’
‘You’re afraid of her; why? Does she beat you?’
Ben laughed. ‘No. Mellow by name, Mellow by nature. We just don’t see eye to eye much since I came home from jail — the first time.’
‘Did you grow taller? Or shrink?’ Mira pictured him on a rack, being stretched like the prisoners a century ago at Serenity; or perhaps starved down to skin and bone.
He chuckled again and ushered her towards the front door of the house. ‘I suppose it was a bit of both; from her perspective, my heart shrank while the chip on my shoulder grew bigger.’
‘How does having a chip on your shoulder make it harder to look in her eyes?’
‘Because he hides behind it,’ answered a woman from nearby, ‘and he won’t talk to me. Will you, Ben-Ben? You just drive off and leave me holding my breath — amongst other things.’
‘I’m here to fix that, Ma, and half a day early you might notice?’
‘Oh, yes? And did you notice your car in the garage? It came home this morning without you.’ She drummed her fingers on the doorframe. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you’ve been in trouble with the police again?’
‘Can we talk about this inside?’ Ben asked.
‘You haven’t introduced me to your friend yet.’
‘Sorry,’ he said, sounding flustered. ‘Mira, this is my mother, Mellow, or just Mel. Ma, Mira’s … Well, she’s the victim of an injustice that makes mine look like a bloodied nose at kindergarten.’
‘And she trusts you well enough to let you drive her car, does she?’ Mellow interrupted. ‘Is that wise, given your track record?’
‘Forget the cars, Ma. That thing I gave you this morning is hers, so if you want an explanation of what’s been going on with me, the police and everything, could you get it for us, please?’
‘Why don’t you just say “Fetch"?’
‘Come on, please?’
The latch clicked and the hinge whispered a hiss.
‘Take her through to the patio,’ Mellow said. ‘I’ll bring it down in a minute. And don’t go near the phone on your way through. I only just fixed it.’
Ben nudged Mira’s elbow as a signal to walk. She closed her eyes as she passed through the ghostly security mesh, and reopened them to find herself in a large airy living room with purplish-white furniture. Three walls were glass, through which she could see the ocean curling in long violet waves onto a foggy beach and peninsula. To her left was a small tidy kitchen with a view over a placid lagoon, while upstairs she saw a balcony with five doors to other rooms. From the nearest door emerged a short, wiry ghost dressed as a nurse. Compared to Ben’s ghost herskin was much darker, but mostly Mira was surprised by how small Mellow was compared to Ben.
‘Nice piano,’ Mira said, attracted by its elegance. ‘This is much bigger inside than it looked from out there,’ she added, trying to think of something more polite to say.
‘I just cleaned it,’ Mellow replied. ‘Please leave it a while to set the shine.’ Invisible footsteps padded away from her, then up the stairs. Mira waited until it sounded as if Ben’s mother had made it to the top, then leaned closer to whisper to him. ‘You didn’t warn me she was a nurse.’
‘In a geriatrics’ ward. She’s never worked with patients like you, Mira.’
‘Oh.’ She scratched her cheek, unsure if that was a good thing or not.
‘This way.’ He led her past a brick pillar and the piano to a wide pane of glass that looked like a window — until he slid it sideways to make a door.
‘That’s loud!’ She clamped both hands over her ears. ‘Is a storm coming?’
‘No, what do you … Oh, you mean the waves? Sorry, that’s the Pacific Ocean.’
She lowered her hands, surprise
d to notice the waves she could hear sounded virtually synchronous with the ones she could see from a week ago. ‘Is it always like this?’
‘Pretty much. Except when there is a storm coming. Would you prefer to stay inside? The glass door acts a bit like a volume switch.’
‘No, I like being out here. It smells like home. It’s a little hard to hear anything else over the waves, but I’ll get used to it. Do you have many birds here?’
Claws pattered across the tiled floor and joined them on the timbered deck.
‘Not when he‘s here.’
Mira followed the sound of the dog as far as a sun lounge and stooped to check if it was dry enough for her to sit. A wet tongue slurped her nose. She yelped and fell sideways.
‘No!’ Ben scolded. ‘Sit!’
He grabbed Mira’s arm and helped her up.
‘Are you talking to him or me?’ she asked.
‘Him, sorry. But if it makes you feel any better, that was a kiss — his way of showing he likes you. I’ll pack some dog food and he can come with us — not that we’ll need his teeth where we’re going, just his ears.’
‘Oh, but …’
The dog whined and leaned against her.
‘Oh!’ She startled, but relaxed when she realised he hadn’t bitten her. ‘He’s soft like a kangaroo!’
‘I’d say fat like a wombat, and obviously as pushy sometimes. Go chase the gulls, Killer.’
The dog left her and Mira heard claws clicking across the timber, along with Ben’s shoes, then a hinge creaked and the sounds changed as the dog reached the sand and began to squeak.
‘Gosh, he sounds like he needs oiling!’
Ben chuckled. ‘That’s the sand. High silica content is what keeps so much of Straddie from being developed. You don’t get much of a feel for it at this end of the island, but a bird’s-eye view is all national parks and sandmining.’
‘He doesn’t hurt the birds?’ she asked.
‘With his poor old legs, it’s more like letting the seagulls play with him. If his arthritis gets any worse I’m afraid I’ll have to put him down. The vet says I should have done it already, but he still enjoys life. I simply don’t have the heart yet.’
‘Sometimes I don’t know who’s the bigger kid — Killer or Ben,’ said Mellow as she rejoined them.
‘Killer’s better at communicating than me — and at cleaning up after himself.’
Ben walked to Mira’s side and guided her to an upright chair at a round timber table. Mellow’s shoes clacked noisily to the other side of the table, where she dumped something heavy onto its surface.
‘You washed it?’ Ben asked.
‘It was hardly coming into the house as it was, Ben-Ben.’
‘Fair enough. Pull up a seat?’
Mira heard her sigh and walk away instead. Mellow began pacing the deck, her footsteps tapping a similar tune to the one set by Ben in the foyer of the Drift Inn.
‘Break it to me gently,’ Mellow pleaded. ‘The truth, the whole truth … You know the deal.’
Ben took a seat beside Mira and spent the next few minutes explaining about how they’d met and taken a day trip that ended with him in jail for kidnapping.
‘She’s an inmate?’
‘Client,’ Ben corrected. ‘She’s blind, but —’
‘Stop right there! You had me going for a while, but nobody owns a car if they can’t see to drive it; and a hot pink Beetle at that? That’s a fashion statement, Ben, and who needs a fashion statement if they can’t see to bask in it?’
‘The car isn’t hers, Ma. It belongs to Matron Sanchez.’
‘But she saw the piano. Explain how she did that if she’s as blind as a bat?’
‘Even bats can see in their own way,’ Mira defended.
‘She can see some things,’ Ben explained. ‘I was just getting to that. She can’t see you or me at the moment, but hopefully next week —’
‘Oh, stop. She’s either blind or not. If her eyesight is only blurry then just say so. I’ve had it up to here with the way you keep dodging the truth. It’s not healthy for you. Or for us.’
‘That’s what I thought at first too, but Mira is legally blind, not totally blind. She can’t see well enough to recognise anyone or anything around her.’
‘Oh, like cataracts when you get old?’
‘Like a thick fog,’ Mira replied.
‘She can also sense movement,’ Ben explained. ‘A bit like shadows, only today Mira saw a shadow commit murder — and now the person responsible wants to make sure she doesn’t tell anyone.’
‘You’re serious?’
‘I’d swear on your Bible.’
‘Since when did you start believing in God again, Ben?’
‘I can recognise a miracle when I see one, Ma. Can you?’
He touched Mira’s arm and she shuddered, knowing what he needed her to do. She closed her eyes and rubbed them, preparing herself for the agony of broad daylight … then swiftly and determinedly took off her sunglasses.
‘Sweet Mother of Mary!’ Mellow’s footsteps moved closer to Mira.
‘Please hurry,’ Mira pleaded. ‘Light hurts me incredibly.’
She tried not to squint, and around her the house vanished. Scrubby trees appeared in the same blink that the purple sand turned blue. The ocean rushed away, taking the beach and coastline with it, and a whale lay dead and sunbaked in its wake. Two dark skinny hunters, boys really, poked at it with their spears, while a third climbed onto its back and slid down to its tail with silent shouts of glee.
‘What’s wrong with her?’ Mellow asked.
‘What is her gift is a better question,’ Ben replied.
Mira took that as a cue to put her glasses back on. She fossicked in her bra for Karin Sei’s painkillers, dissolved two under her tongue and rubbed her temples, wishing the pain away.
‘Okay, so what is her gift?’ said Mellow.
‘That’s complicated. The docs don’t know exactly how her eyes function yet, but they’re working on it. Or they would be, if we hadn’t stumbled across the murder and become witnesses.’
‘You saw the murder too?’
‘Indirectly. The two docs who were with us have already been captured, and their two assistants were killed right in front of us, so no doubt we’ll be framed for their murders as well when their bodies turn up.’
‘Ben, this is horrific! Have you contacted the police?’
‘You know how I feel about cops, Ma. Besides, the killer’s already taken steps to frame us, and the cops are no doubt siding with him. How do you think they’re going to greet me if I call them?’
‘That depends. Do you know who the killer is?’
Mira nodded and Ben confirmed it.
‘Then you have to tell someone!’
‘We are, Ma. We’re telling you.’
‘I mean someone who’s got the authority to do something!’
‘That’s the plan — we just don’t know who yet. We have to find somewhere to lie low, figure things out. I was thinking of a camping ground maybe, over the border, one that allows dogs. Mira has excellent hearing, but I want to take Killer with us so she can get some rest — if that’s okay with you?’
‘Sure, but you don’t have to leave. I can bring someone here; someone who already knows you.’
‘Oh, yeah? And who would that be?’
‘I think he introduced himself to you as Pete.’
‘Pete the P-I-G? You’ve gotta be kidding me? He’s your new boyfriend?’
‘You can’t go through life judging every cop by the ones who failed to investigate the robbery properly.’
‘Oh, I think I’m fairly safe to judge him. He pulled me over for no reason!’
‘A random check, he told me. Besides, look at it from his perspective: he saw a young guy in a hot car driving fast over the bridge from Likiba, and nobody goes there except developers, staff from the nuthouse and transients thieving from the worksites.’
‘He also headed the
team that nabbed me for kidnapping!’
‘A mistake. He knows that now. Who do you think got your car back so quickly after it had been sent to Brisbane?’
‘For charges that have now been dropped! It certainly took him long enough!’
Ben began to pace the deck; from the heavy pace of his stride, Mira could tell he was angry — angrier than she could ever have imagined him being. It wasn’t directed at her, though.
‘You haven’t answered me yet,’ he demanded. ‘Is this the guy you’ve been seeing?’
‘It’s not a sure thing yet, Benny. Was I wrong to save you the worry until now?’
He didn’t answer, and there was a long, tense silence. Mira wished she knew something to say or do to help ease the friction between them.
‘Let me call him,’ Mellow pleaded. ‘He’s not long gone, so he can be back here in ten minutes.’
‘With a hundred of his mates, I’ll bet — and handcuffs.’
‘He doesn’t need to know why he’s coming. I’ll just tell him I need him.’
‘You’d lie for me? And risk losing him too?’
‘I won’t be lying! I don’t want to be dragged through another court case any more than you do, and I certainly can’t bear to see you locked up again. But I’m sure Pete would listen to your side without prejudice. I know him. If he’d been stationed here six years ago, who knows how things might have turned out? Her footsteps took her closer to him. ‘Please, Bennet. Don’t do anything to make yourself look guilty while you still have a chance to prove that you’re innocent. Not again!’
He stayed silent for a longer moment, then strode back to Mira and crouched beside her. ‘What do you think?’
Mira shrugged. ‘I think you were right. Officially, I’m a ward of the state. The worst they can do is send me back to Serenity. I used to think that was torture, but …’ She reached out to find his face. ‘… it was much worse knowing the police had locked you up because of me.’
‘So you agree I shouldn’t trust them?’
‘Well, I don’t trust them, but I didn’t trust you at first either, and how wrong was I about that?’
‘What about the docs and Matron? Do you trust them?’