WISHBONE

by Brooklyn Hudson

  He backed away from the counter never having developed plan B for the jewelry box story and sure he never would. He could have insisted that the box was found in the lower level where Randall had not been working, but in reality, there was no jewelry box, and he did not want to raise any more eyebrows than he already had.

  The mayor nodded and winked. “I’m sure it’s Sarah’s,” he agreed.

  “Yes, perhaps you are right.” Julien smiled at the woman behind the counter then turned away leaving the building in a hurry.

  Something is very wrong here.

  Julien was about to climb onto his bike when he spotted Dr. Lind getting into his car. He hurried across the grass, passing a tall bronze statue at the center of a roundabout.

  “Dr. Lind!” he called before the man could close his door. “Dr. Lind…’allo.” He approached the doctor’s car.

  “Well, I see that leg is healing nicely,” Lind said sarcastically as he climbed back out of the car.

  Julien glanced down. “Yes…I guess it was not as bad as you thought?”

  The doctor looked him over. “Well, it looks like you’ve managed to get yourself into more trouble.”

  “I had a small accident with my bike,” he said, motioning across the street at the Indian Chief chopper. “I wanted to talk to you about Sarah…”

  “Oh?” Dr. Lind asked. “Is she causing a problem?” He laughed nervously.

  “No, no…” Julien shook his head. “No, it’s not…well…” He realized he hadn’t a clue what to say. He panicked.

  I should have never come here today.

  I have no plan.

  “Are you alright?” the doctor asked, tilting his head back and peering at him suspiciously through his glasses.

  “The chickens,” Julien said. “What is her thing with the chickens?” He tried to buy time dancing around the topic.

  Dr. Lind chuckled. “You scared me for a moment there. Yes, she has a way with those birds, doesn’t she?”

  Julien nodded uneasily. “You could say that,” he said.

  “You know, tending to those chickens has made a world of difference for Sarah. Before them, she was alone in her own mind; there was no communicating with her. My sister-in-law, Arlette…she is the one to thank. She started taking Sarah up to the old house when Sarah was only three, maybe four years old.”

  Julien asked, “How old is Sarah?”

  Dr. Lind thought for a moment. “Seventeen now … practically a woman. The years pass so quickly.” He laughed again.

  Julien’s confidence grew. “Actually,” he began, scratching at the back of his head stalling to muster the courage to say his peace, “there has been something…”

  The mayor called out from across the street, “Carl!” He jogged toward them. “Arlette’s been hounding me all morning and I keep forgetting to call you. Are we on for this weekend?”

  The mayor is Arlette’s husband.

  The mayor turned his attention to Julien. “Hello, again, Mr. Grenier. You should have my brother take a look at that.” He pointed at Julien’s bruises. Bernie held his hands up and took a step back. “Am I interrupting anything?”

  Dr. Lind shook his head and looked to Julien for agreement. “We were just talking about Sarah’s magic with those chickens.”

  Julien stood silently watching the interaction between them.

  Dr. Lind looked at him, still suspicious. “Was there anything else, Mr. Grenier?”

  Julien shook his head and backed away. “I have to get home.”

  “Well, you take care of yourself. No more close calls for you.” Dr. Lind laughed and the mayor joined in.

  As he straddled his bike, Julien could hear Bernie’s hacking cough in the distance. He rode away from the town en route home. By the time he reached the mountain road, he was chastising himself for not telling the doctor to keep his daughter off their property and demanding that the town produce all public records on the house. He parked the bike alongside the Lexus.

  Julien fearfully walked past the porch swing and entered the house. Rachael sat at the dining room table sipping a glass of wine.

  “Do you want some?” she asked.

  He nodded and slid into the seat across from her. She disappeared into the kitchen returning with another glass. She poured him some wine and sat back down.

  “You went into town looking like that?” she inquired.

  “How do you know where I went?” he answered with a question.

  “Where else would you go?”

  “For a ride,” he responded. He took a sip of the wine and rummaged through a pocket for his cigarettes.

  She calmly confronted him. “There you go again…never quite a lie, just an incomplete story…”

  Julien watched her, searching for some sign of the Rachael he knew and loved.

  She continued, “Nine…no…what is it now? Eleven years of your vague stories and tightly-kept secrets?”

  Julien defended himself and said, “Some things are better left forgotten, Rachael.”

  “Like your rules.” She stretched across the table and toyed with his pack of cigarettes. Reaching awkwardly, she removed one and rolled it toward her. Julien did not bother to help, but leaned over the table to light it with his Zippo.

  “So it seems,” he agreed. “All I wanted was for us to be responsible. Whatever this…game has brought to us, I wanted us to be careful…not to affect others…not hurt one another…not be greedy.”

  “Julien, wanting a baby that was brutally taken from me is not being greedy.”

  “She was not meant to be,” he said with sadness.

  “Fuck you! You didn’t want her to be.”

  He snapped back at her, “I didn’t know about her!”

  “Shit… Julien…” She jumped up and went to the bottom of the stairs to listen for Jessica. Satisfied that she had not been woken by his voice, Rachael returned to the table. “Keep your fucking voice down,” she demanded.

  “My bike…I could have bought that bike. The pool…that can be bought too. Rings, televisions, stereo systems, tattoos, even the horses…they can all be bought. That baby is not real, Rachael.”

  Rachael released a low guttural laugh. “You won’t let this rest. As long as we were wishing for material bullshit it was all good, but finally something that means anything real, and suddenly it’s a problem.”

  “Are you listening to anything I am saying? This is not only about a baby. What about my father? Look at me, Rachael…do you honestly believe I did this to myself?”

  “Maybe your demons are coming back to haunt you.” Exhausted by the repeated argument, a frustrated sigh escaped her. “Look, I don’t know what happened to you in France…you’ve never told me.” She shook her head, stopping herself before she made another accusation.

  “Maybe so,” he admitted. “But if I did tell you, it would have no bearing on what is happening here today.”

  “What about your leg…the ladder?” she questioned. “That was just fine. You couldn’t buy that wish.”

  “I would gladly have that surgery if it means our lives are back to normal right now and none of this has taken place. Besides,” he looked at her before going on, “that was the first wish. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. I didn’t even believe in the game. I still don’t believe. There’s something more going on here.”

  “Spell this out for me, Jules…what are you asking for? What do you want?”

  “I want us to make a final wish…to make everything right again. Wait…” He stopped, positive he caught her in her game. “You are trying to get me to say it out loud…” He laughed. “…that way the wish can never come true.” He pointed at her narrowing his eyes. “You are very smart, Rachael. There is my girl. She is in there some places.”

  She grinned proudly and poured more wine for them both. “You do understand that I can never trust you to play the game again, don’t you?”

  “We just played a few hours ago,” he countered. “Yo
u trusted me then.”

  “Yeah, well…” She took another sip of wine. “That was an emergency.”

  “Rachael?” He scoffed.

  She parroted his accent back at him. “Rachael.” She tried not to laugh. “It seems you’re not thinking clearly these days, Julien.” Her eyes grew wild. “We have the world at our fingertips here…the power of God.”

  “What happens when we run out of chickens?”

  “Have you done a head-count out there? There are dozens of ‘em. The fuckers breed fast enough to reload the joint before we can cook them all…or, we just wish for more! It’s simple. Besides, Sarah’s got a way with those birds.” She grinned.

  “Let me ask you, why did you not wish for that night…the burglary… never to have happened? You could have wished us back to our anniversary. We could have had a wonderful night and be back home in the city. You would have still been pregnant.”

  “Oh, I thought about it,” she offered. “I thought about it a lot, but the rape is done and over. Shit! I’d even go through it again for what we have now.”

  “The power of God,” he said sarcastically.

  “Uh-huh…” She lit another smoke and continued, “…and I have Jessica back, like nothing ever happened…and a beautiful home and our child will never have to be sick or want for anything. Those bones are like little miracle machines, Jules. If only you weren’t so fucking worried about losing control of everything. I mean, that’s what this is, right? I’ve made a decision and put my foot down, and you’re not happy about it.”

  Julien looked into her eyes and asked, “Do you love me?”

  Rachael huffed and looked away.

  “Rachael…I am asking you this. Do you still love me?”

  “What…to love you means I have to agree with everything you say? Always be at your beck and call?”

  “Have I ever treated you with disrespect?” he pleaded. “Asked anything of you that was dangerous or led you into trouble?”

  “Julien, I do love you.” She looked him in the eyes. “But I absolutely do not agree with you on this one, and as much as I do love you, don’t force me to choose between you and that baby, and honestly…” she took another sip of wine and avowed, “I can’t say that I trust you right now. I don’t.”

  “So you will sacrifice me—and I don’t mean our marriage, I’m not even going there yet—I’m talking about everything that has happened to me since we started this game…the visions, and my father, and the accident with the ladder. For whatever reasons, I seem to be developing very bad luck and I think…no…I know Sarah has something to do with this.”

  “That’s it!” She yelled and jumped up. Her chair flew backward, landing on its side with a crash.

  Julien’s phone rang in the kitchen. He got up and went to it. He hoped it would be Matt calling from home and did not want to avoid him again, causing another unannounced trip.

  He answered, “’allo.”

  “Julien, its Philip,” the voice of his former boss came through the phone.

  “Phil?” Julien asked in a surprised tone.

  Philip cleared his throat. “How are you?”

  “Good, good. Yourself?”

  “Julien, I’m calling you because…” He sighed. “Julien, this is never easy…we’re all broken up about this…I know you were very close and I have to let you know… Matt and his wife were killed in a car accident today.”

  Julien felt the air rush from his lungs and the room began to blur. He slid down the counter to the floor in shock.

  Philip continued, “Julien, they were heading up to see you and Rachael. The accident happened just a few miles from your new place. I guess it was supposed to be some sort of surprise.” Philip listened for a response from Julien; there was silence. “I’m so sorry; I just thought I should be the one to call you.”

  Rachael stood over Julien now; she pried the phone from his hand. She could not imagine whom he was talking to, or what he was hearing. “Hello?” she said frantically.

  “Rachael, it’s Philip. I’m so sorry, Rachael. “Maybe I shouldn’t have called, I just thought…” he stopped short, not wanting to continue.

  “Philip, what is it? What did you say to him?” she stammered.

  “I thought I should be the one to tell you that Matt and Lily were killed in a car accident today.”

  “Oh my God!” Rachael screamed and clapped a hand to her chest. “Oh no.” She was stunned.

  “Is he alright?” Phil asked of Julien.

  “I...I should…I need to go. Thank you for letting us know.”

  “I’ll call you in a few—” The phone went dead in Phil’s hand.

  Rachael dropped down beside Julien who sat staring across the room.

  “Now Julien, this isn’t our fault. They should never have come without telling us.”

  Julien turned to look at her in disgust. “What will it take?” Unsteady, he climbed to his feet.

  Seconds later, Rachael heard the screen door slam shut and Julien’s footsteps on the gravel passing by the kitchen window outside. She went after him.

  “Julien!” she cried. “Julien!” She glanced back at the house not wanting to leave the baby, but she felt compelled to follow him. “What are you doing?” she demanded to know.

  Rachael jogged alongside him as he walked with purpose toward the barn. “What are you doing?” she screamed as she tugged at his arms.

  He ignored her.

  It’s gone far enough!

  Where is she?

  Julien crossed the bridge pushing past Rachael, who tried to stop him at the far end. He entered the barn and bellowed,

  “SARAH!”

  “Leave her be, Julien…” Rachael tried to pull him back out the door, but he was determined.

  Julien shook free from his wife’s grasp, went to the chicken coop and swung it open. Rachael followed him in, crying and pleading for him to stop.

  “She’s not here, Julien. She’s gone. She went home.”

  “Sarah!” he yelled through the heavy wire out into the trees. He turned around and moved Rachael aside. He rushed back into the barn and returned to the coop with a hatchet. Rachael screamed and kept stepping in front of him, but he continued patiently moving her aside each time. He walked to the far corner of the coop where it met the barn wall and began hacking at the wood, which gradually broke away in small chunks. He used his hands to grip the wire, pulling at it until, one by one, the links popped from their fasteners. He grabbed the hatchet again and cracked through more of the wood.

  Rachael continued to scream at the top of her lungs. A handful of chickens escaped through the open door into the barn and she turned to go after them, but changed her mind, heading back to Julien. He continued to tear at the structure with silent determination.

  One side was completely free now and Julien tugged at it some more, curling the length of the wire back into the coop. He attempted to herd the chickens toward the opening, chasing after the birds, who took off in all directions, cackling and fluttering about. He managed to get a few through the opening, but most only ran in circles, as the opening was not wide enough for the simple-minded birds to notice. He returned to the curled metal and tugged harder, widening the gap. Again, he tried to herd the chickens, but as he turned away and looked up, he collided with his father’s massive chest.

  Jérome brought his menacing fist upward and with one potent blow knocked Julien onto his back, parting the frenetic birds.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The faint sound of birds chirping in the apple orchard brought Julien to consciousness. His mind danced with incomplete memories of the incident in the coop. It took him a few moments to recall the fine details, as if the event had happened ages ago.

  How far did I get?

  Did I destroy it?

  Are the chickens gone?

  No, the girls…a wish…they would wish the coop to be fixed.

  Jérome…

  He needed to get up, assess yesterday’s da
mage, and try again to talk sense into Rachael. Hurriedly, he moved to sit up; he cringed. Confused by what he was feeling, he tried again more cautiously. He lifted himself slowly onto his elbows and looked down. At first, the sight did not register, he was not sure who or what he was seeing. Everything went silent and he felt disconnected. The sight of it brought awareness of the pain and he began to pant. He wanted to leap from the bed; get away from it, but it was part of him.

  He stared down at his leg encased in the metal apparatus, a fitted cage, embedding screws deep into his flesh. He reached down, panic-stricken and stunned by the sight of the gear. Fearfully, he touched the equipment and quickly realized it was no more removable than it was a hallucination. He fell back against the pillows. A claustrophobic anxiety washing over him, he tried to separate himself from his repulsion and make sense of the development.

  The ladder.

  They wished me back to the ladder.

  The surgery.

  I had the surgery.

  He reached overhead and gripped the headboard, pulling himself back so he could sit up and have a better look. He studied the mechanism in disbelief and horror. The rigid equipment ran the entire length of his leg. He looked around the room for crutches or anything he could use as an aid to get up.

  “I thought I heard you,” Rachael sang sweetly from the doorway. “How are you feeling?” she asked with a smile.

  Julien felt like a caged animal; he was suddenly terrified of her.

  Rachael approached him and bent to kiss the top of his head. He flinched, but she found her mark, seeming to not notice her husband’s trepidation.

  Her expression was soft and reminiscent. He wondered if she had come to her senses and wished to erase all of their mistakes, returning him to his state prior to their first turn at the game.

  I want to trust her.

  Don’t trust her.

  “Up. I need to get up,” he mumbled groggily. He needed to get out of the room and look for the baby. He was afraid to ask.

  “No, no. You can’t,” she informed him. “You need to rest. You can go as far as that bathroom, but no stairs.”