Menagerie

by Kristy Tate

  “On the island, I had no idea who I was. I had no one to turn to for help. I thought I was alone.” She reached over and took her mom’s hand. “But I’m not alone. And I’m not scared.” She gave Lizbet a loving smile. “You are my daughter. You’ll always be so. No one can take what we share away. Besides, we have no real way of knowing how old you are. According to Rose—who I knew as Daugherty—she disappeared before you were born about seventeen years ago.” She lifted a shoulder. “We’ll claim you are eighteen.”

  “Aren’t you worried that Rose’s ex will find us now?” Lizbet asked.

  Rose shook her head. “I’m not afraid of him.”

  “This guy must know he can’t have any legal claim on Lizbet, so why he did he come looking for her?” Josie asked.

  “He wasn’t looking for just her, he was looking for Rose.”

  “What happened to Rose?” Lizbet asked. A tight fist of pain clenched in her belly.

  “I think she knew she was dying even before I arrived. At the end, she contacted a friend who brought out a doctor, but he said she’d left it until too late. They took her to a hospital on Whidbey Island where she died.” Rose met Lizbet’s gaze. “I’m so sorry. You and I were both lost for a while after that.”

  “But this man, Daugherty’s ex, found you,” Lizbet said.

  Rose nodded. “He did. I don’t know how. And it was just as I feared, he wanted Lizbet.”

  “Why?” Lizbet asked. “He doesn’t even know me.”

  “But he knows who you are. He knows what you’re capable of.”

  Lizbet froze.

  “What’s that?” Josie demanded.

  “Goodness, you make it sound as if Lizbet has secret powers!” Elizabeth laughed.

  “Of course she does,” Rose said calmly. “We all do. Just not all of us have developed them.” She picked up her teacup and winked at Lizbet over the rim before taking a sip.

  #

  With Daugherty living on the ranch, Josie was fine with Elizabeth moving back home. Daugherty still wasn’t a hundred percent but every day her health grew stronger. About a week after her release from the hospital, Elizabeth announced it was her turn to host a party.

  “Are you sure, Mother?” Josie, who had taken to spending most evenings at the ranch, asked. “Our last one bombed.”

  “We’ll have this one on the island,” Elizabeth announced.

  “My island?” Daugherty asked.

  “Of course. I’m sure everyone is curious to see where you’ve been and how you got along,” Elizabeth said. “Besides, I’m proud of you. I want them all to know how amazing you are. I also want to invite Frank Forsythe and reunite him with his grandson.”

  “And John Lamb?” Lizbet asked, sliding her mom a knowing smile.

  Daugherty blushed.

  “Do you want to tell me about him, Mom?” Lizbet asked.

  Daugherty opened her mouth as if to say something, but then quickly closed it. “Uh, no. I don’t think I do.”

  Lizbet placed her hands on her hips, ready to press the matter, but Daugherty flushed and ran up the stairs. Lizbet thought about following, but decided against it. If she could keep her secrets, she guessed that her mother could keep her own, as well.

  Someone knocked on the door. Lizbet answered it to find Declan leaning against a porch post, one ankle crossed over the other. “I told you so,” he said with a smug smile.

  She matched his grin. “You know, I’m glad.”

  “Yeah?” he asked, pulling away from the pillar and heading her way.

  She nodded.

  He reached for her with one hand and brushed her hair away from her face with the other. “Can we go somewhere?”

  “Like where?” She leaned into to his hand cupping her cheek.

  “Somewhere I can kiss you in a most unbrotherly sort of way.”

  Smiling, she slipped her hand into his. “I think I know just the place.” Hand in hand, they crossed through the pasture.

  “Where are you going?” Trotter wanted to know. Ever since their midnight ride to Josie’s, where he’d learned that there was an entire world to be explored, he’d been eager to see new places and things.

  “Somewhere for just the two of us,” Lizbet said.

  Declan laughed. “It’s almost like you’re talking to them.”

  “To who?” Lizbet asked, but she knew.

  “The animals. That horse just nickered and you responded.”

  “I was talking to you,” Lizbet said.

  “Were not,” Trotter said.

  Lizbet shot the horse a dirty look, but it was hard to keep a frown on her face. She ducked under the boughs of a cedar tree and Declan followed close behind. They walked side by side on the narrow path, their shoulders occasionally bumping.

  “I want to show you this amazing place,” Lizbet said. “I found it on the day of the party when I left to collect mushrooms.”

  “You didn’t find any mushrooms...”

  “That’s right. I found something better.”

  “It’s hard to imagine anything better than this,” Declan said, pulling her in for another kiss.

  “That’s good,” Lizbet agreed after a few long kisses. “But I think you’ll like this place. It had a reverent vibe.”

  “Reverent, huh?”

  She shrugged. “I can’t think of a better word for it.”

  “I’m not a reverent sort of guy,” he reminded her. “I don’t believe in vibes.”

  “Well, I think that’s very silly of you. Everyone believes in vibes.”

  “No they don’t,” he said.

  She liked how they could disagree without arguing. “You’ll see,” she said.

  Only he couldn’t, because she couldn’t find the clearing with the circle of stones.

  “So weird,” she said, after wandering down one wooded path after another.

  “Here,” Declan said, pulling his phone out of his pocket, “let me look it up on the GPS. If it’s as big as you say it is, it should show up.”

  Lizbet watched the phone load, but they didn’t get reception. The sharp wave of disappointment surprised her. “I really wanted you to see it.” Although she couldn’t say why this was so important to her. She felt pressed to share it, and wanted to know if others could feel its hypnotic pull.

  But then, looking into Declan’s eyes, she decided he had a hypnotic pull of his very own. One that she found impossible to resist.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.”

  ―Francis of Assisi

  From Declan’s Research

  Daugherty and Elizabeth spent days in the kitchen cooking. Josie ordered the invitations, addressed them all by hand, and mailed them to everyone who had known and loved Daugherty before her disappearance. On the day of the party, Declan went with Lizbet to the island to hang white twinkly lights and paper lanterns in the trees. While Lizbet dusted and vacuumed inside, Declan used an old push lawnmower to tackle the lawns. They took a break when their work was done and picnicked on the lawn with ice-cold lemonade and shrimp salad sandwiches.

  “Are you curious about your real mom?” Declan asked.

  “Deathly curious,” Lizbet admitted.

  “What can you remember about her?”

  “Not a lot. She was small and dark, like me. She had a high-pitched laugh and she liked to sing and whistle. I remember she told fantastic stories about fairies and wolves and creatures that lived in the deep forests... What stays with me the most is an overwhelming sadness when I think of her—which is strange, since she died when I was so young. I want to find out more about her. I want to see if I have family and what I can learn about my father.”

  “You should do all of that, except for the part about your dad. From what your mom said, he doesn’t sound like a nice person.”

  Lizbet lay back on the blanket they’d spread on the lawn and gazed up at the sky. The sun skimmed the tops of t
he trees, letting her know that they only had a few hours until the guests would arrive.

  “It’s weird to think he knows who I am, but I don’t know a thing about him.”

  “Except he wears size-fourteen boots,” Declan reminded her.

  She sighed and rolled over to her side and used her arm as a pillow. “It’s not much of a clue.”

  “Your mom will recognize him when she sees him.” Declan leaned back and braced himself on his elbows.

  “If she sees him. If he’s smart, he’ll stay away from her.”

  “If he’s smart, he’ll stay away from you.” Declan sat up and ran his finger down Lizbet’s arm. Her skin warmed beneath his touch.

  “Yeah? What would you do about it?” she asked, grinning.

  Declan puffed out his chest. “I’d take him on. My feet are just as big as his!”

  “Bravery can’t be measured in boot size.” Lizbet rolled back onto her back, turning her face to the sun and closing her eyes.

  He laughed. “That’s so profound. That might be one of the most profound things you’ve said today.”

  “Just today?" She opened her eyes and saw him leaning over her, his lips inches from her own.

  “You’re pretty profound and also really, really pretty,” he murmured, moments before he kissed her.

  “Lizbet! Lizbet!” A gull swooped overhead.

  Lizbet pushed Declan off her and rolled away from him. Sitting up, she gazed into the sun’s glare at the gull.

  Declan sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, I thought...”

  “It’s not you,” Lizbet cut him off. “I love...kissing you, but something’s wrong.”

  “What does that mean?”

  The gulls flew overhead, calling her name, their cries full of warning.

  “Shh! I can’t hear!”

  “Hear what?” Declan said, glancing around. “I don’t hear anything.”

  The gulls squawked out warnings.

  “A man in a boat!”

  “A man with a gun!”

  “Follow us!”

  Lizbet jumped to her feet and ran for the cove.

  “Where are you going?” Declan scrambled after her.

  “My mom!” Lizbet called over her shoulder. “Something’s happened to my mom.”

  “What?” Declan caught up to her and grabbed her elbow. “You’re nuts!”

  She shook him off. “Let me go!”

  A little white speedboat puttered into the cove. Josie waved a greeting.

  “My mom! Elizabeth! Are they with you?”

  The boat sputtered up to the dock and Josie threw Declan a line. “No, they’re getting a ride with Declan’s folks.”

  Declan held the rope while Josie climbed onto the dock.

  “Your parents?” Lizbet’s hair had come loose and her curls blew in the wind. She tried to tame it back. She tried to feel calm. Nothing could be wrong if Daugherty and Elizabeth were with Declan’s parents. Maybe the gulls were mistaken, as they sometimes were.

  “My mom and stepfather,” Declan clarified.

  Lizbet squinted at an approaching yacht and the two figures standing on the prow. She thought she spotted Declan’s mother. “But isn’t that your mom?”

  “With my grandfather,” Declan breathed, “and Elizabeth.”

  “Then my mom must be with your stepfather.” Lizbet’s heart accelerated, even as she told herself that this should be okay.

  “The same man who came before!” A gull cried. “A man of violence.”

  Lizbet yanked the rope out of Declan’s hands. “Tell me quick! Do you trust your stepfather?”

  “I...wait, why?”

  “Just tell me!” Lizbet screamed.

  “Are you all right?” Josie asked, sending Declan a questioning look. “Gaylord Godwin is a highly respected businessman of impeccable—”

  Lizbet huffed with impatience, turned her back on Josie, and focused on just Declan. “Tell me, do you, for any reason, think that your stepfather would hurt my mom? Could you see him shooting my dog?”

  “Listen.” Declan held up his hands like a traffic cop. “I hate my stepfather, but that doesn’t mean—”

  Lizbet jumped into the boat, climbed behind the steering wheel, and gunned the motor.

  “Hey!” Josie called after her.

  Declan jumped in after her. He landed in a heap near the stern. “What are you doing?” he called, raising his voice over the thrumming engine.

  “Doggie!” Lizbet spotted the pod of dolphins just ahead of her. “Have you seen my mom?”

  The dolphin rose from the water. “She’s with that man. Do you wish us to stop them?”

  Lizbet nodded.

  “Follow us!” the dolphins called.

  Declan scrambled beside her and fell into the passenger seat. “Who are you talking to?”

  “Hold on!” Lizbet told him, pushing the boat into full throttle.

  “The whales! The pelicans have told the whales!” the gulls cried.

  “Oh, thank you!” Lizbet called above the roaring engine.

  “This is crazy.” Declan gripped the side of the boat. “Lizbet, slow down. You’re going to get us killed.”

  A line of pelicans flew overhead, calling her name.

  Lizbet raised her hand in greeting. “What did the whales say?” she screamed at the birds.

  “They’re on it!” the lead pelican called out.

  “Make sure they don’t hurt my mom!”

  Declan stared at her. She met his gaze, shook her head, and turned her attention back to the open sea.

  A white yacht appeared on the horizon. Lizbet pushed the boat full throttle.

  “You are crazy!” Declan shouted. “You are a crazy person!”

  As they approached, Godwin rose, lifted a gun, and pointed it at them.

  “Hold on!” Lizbet shouted. She spun the boat to the right, but not before she saw the pelicans diving toward Godwin’s boat like a line of jet fighter pilots.

  Godwin put his arms over his head and ducked as an enormous orca whale rose out of the water and fell with a splash that sent Godwin’s boat reeling.

  “My mom!” Lizbet called out to the whales and dolphins churning the water like frothy butter. “Be careful of my mom!”

  Another whale jumped, sending millions of water drops like shining crystals into the air. The black and white creature glistened as it arced above Godwin’s boat. Lizbet sped forward, unaware she was heading directly into the whale’s descent.

  Splinters of wood flew through the air as the whale landed on their boat. The dolphins curved in graceful, airborne arcs, tossing passengers and gear. Empty orange life preservers flew like confetti. Declan’s body cartwheeled skyward then pummeled downward. He hit the water neck-first and disappeared into the Sound.

  Lizbet dove after him, willing him to surface. Debris bobbed on the water in a pool of gasoline. Pushing aside the wreckage while bullets pinged around her, she treaded water for a moment and searched the accident scene until her leg made contact with something solid. Taking a deep breath, Lizbet pushed below the surface, scanning for Declan. He floated toward the dark deep, his shoes dragging him downward. His body limp and lifeless. A small curl of blood floated around his head.

  Lizbet grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed toward the surface. She rolled him over so he could breathe. Pulling Declan’s body against her chest, his head lolling against her shoulder as she back-floated, she kicked violently in any direction away from Godwin and his war against the animals.

  An explosion filled the air with billowing black smoke and the acrid smell of burning fuel. Even with the salt water stinging her eyes, Lizbet saw Godwin standing on the deck. The yacht disappeared in a purple black sky. A wave tinged with fuel washed over her. She sputtered, then holding Declan as high as she could, pushed away.

  Moments later, Declan’s heavy weight lifted off her. She grabbed at him and fought to keep him pressed against her chest.

  #


  “Lizzy.” A finger trailed across her cheek, brushing hair from her face and eyes. She blinked. Sand gritted beneath her eyelids, the sun’s white light blinded her, and salt stung her cracked lips.

  Someone gathered her into her arms and began to cry. Lizbet felt the shuddering body and wet tears. She closed her eyes and opened them again. “Mom?” she asked, her face pressed against her mother’s dress. Lizbet’s voice sounded small and raspy and it hurt to talk and breathe.

  Daugherty crushed Lizbet against her so hard she heard her heart beating. Rocking her gently, crying quietly, and murmuring, “Thank you, God, thank you.”

  Beside Lizbet, Declan began to cough. He propped up on his elbow and vomited a bellyful of water.

  On the rocks, Elizabeth and Josie picked their way toward the beach. Concentration and concern were written on their faces as Josie carefully helped Elizabeth find toeholds on the slippery black rocks.

  Another person stood on the bluff. Lizbet closed her eyes against the sun’s glare, unsure of what she really saw.

  Rose. Her real mother. The woman who had died years ago. She smiled as she approached, holding out her hand, leading Lizbet into darkness.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “There are more things in heaven and earth ... than are dreamt of.”

  Shakespeare, Hamlet

  From Declan’s Research

  Lizbet sat curled in the club chair by the fireplace. Even though it was late spring and the weather was slowly and surely turning balmy, Elizabeth had insisted on lighting a fire and keeping Lizbet swaddled in blankets. Her mom had purchased a laptop so Lizbet could prepare for the SATs and the Washington State Exit Exam without leaving the chair. Lizbet had returned to the work of preparing for her future. And it was work. In the days following the accident, even drawing breath had become a chore, and lifting, and pushing buttons on a keyboard was an onerous task. But worth it.