by Martha Carr
Leira didn’t wait for an answer. The reprieve felt fragile standing so close to the door. She put her arm around her mother and gently pushed her forward and out, into the air.
They made their way quickly to the green Mustang but as Leira held open the passenger side door, Eireka hesitated. She threw her head back, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply. “Fifteen years,” she said, softly, barely above a whisper. “The air really does smell sweeter out here.”
***
Correk watched them walk down the stairs, stunned at what Eireka had said. “How is that possible?” he muttered.
“Can I help you?”
An orderly eyed him up and down as if he was trying to decide if he was looking at a visitor or a new patient. Correk tapped the visitor’s badge clipped to his jacket.
“I want to see whoever’s in charge.”
“Do you have an appointment? If you don’t have an appointment, that won’t be possible. I suggest calling on the phone first and then come back.”
Correk let the magic rise up in him, his eyes starting to glow and the fiery symbols scrolling across his skin.
The orderly stumbled back, reaching for the wall behind him.
“Never was, never will be.” Correk spun a fireball over the man, leaving just a few nits in his pants. “A compromise.”
He spun another fireball and whispered into it, following it as it rocketed down the hallway and up a flight of stairs before stopping in front of a door. He called it back to him, letting it dissolve in his hand and went up, and opened the door.
“What the hell?” The director stood up, splashing his coffee. “Dammit!” He mopped at it, pulling a wad of Kleenex from the box on his desk.
Correk quietly closed and locked the door behind him. Without saying a word he spun a fiery red ball of light in his hands, his eyes aglow, the symbols returning. He stepped forward and whispered into the ball, sending it spinning around the director.
“You will work tirelessly for the rest of your life to improve the quality of care for everyone who comes through these doors or I will return.” The fireball spun faster, finally slamming into the man’s chest and seeping into his shirt, and under his skin. “Think of it as a GPS that will not only tell me where you are, but what you’re doing. I will always know. Veer from your mission and I will get angry. You don’t want to see me angry. Tell anyone, and prepare to join the people you have treated so miserably and become one of their own. This I swear.”
Correk let the magic subside within him and opened the door, striding out and down the hallway. The director collapsed into his chair, throwing up his breakfast into his metal wastebasket.
Correk kept going till he got to the parking lot. Once he was there he turned around so that Leira couldn’t see him and sent one more fireball back toward the building. “One outbreak of nits among the staff is not even a start at being enough.”
***
Mara Berens was getting better at navigating through the ether, pushing her will in front of her and letting her body follow. The poltergeist kept his word and showed her how to talk to the living still in the world. She kept hers and agreed to hide him long enough for him to visit his family. It turned out he was too afraid to get near them and reveal their whereabouts to the darker forces caroming through the world in between.
If you want it to work, I have to go with you. It was true, but she also wanted to be sure he wasn’t going to try and drag someone into the world in between with them. That was more than she could bear.
Suit yourself. They moved through the world in between, pushing aside wormholes that led to different places until they got to one he recognized and went through. She could feel how eager he was to get to where they were going.
On the other side was a bedroom with faded wallpaper and a matching set of oak furniture.
That’s my wife. Would have been married fifty-two years this year.
He found his wife folding clothes and putting them away in their old bedroom, whistling a song from a commercial playing on the TV in the background. Can’t startle her. Need to start slow.
What are you going to do? Mara still wasn’t sure this was going to end well.
Watch and learn. He focused his attention and let go of his will, sending it out ahead of himself to the wilted cut flowers in a blue ceramic vase on top of the dresser. They sprang back to life, lifting their heads, the leaves turning green again.
His wife turned and stared at the flowers, clutching a pile of underwear.
He turned his attention to the towels still jumbled in a pile on the bed and let his will fold one into a perfect square.
That should impress her. Couldn’t get me to do laundry when I was alive. I wasn’t the best around the house.
The woman sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly reached toward the towel, gently touching the edges.
See? Now she’s ready. He pushed his will out again, his expression softening as he touched her hand. She shivered at the sudden cold blast of air in the room.
“Edward? Is that you?”
He smiled, pushing further and a small drawer at the top of the dresser opened. The contents flew into the air, tumbling in a sudden wind until a card separated itself out, falling gently into his wife’s lap. Inside it read, Happy 40th Anniversary! To the most beautiful woman I will ever meet. Thank you for loving me. With all my heart. Edward. xoxo.
He put his chin down to his chest, smiling, sending out his love to surround his wife.
“I never… where did this… why Edward,” she said pressing the card to her chest, looking up at the ceiling.
They always think you have to be up there. Isn’t she beautiful?
“Drew! Elizabeth! Look what I found!”
A man and a woman came rushing into the room, followed by small children who climbed on the bed.
Grandkids.
Mara looked at him and realized all he had lost. I’m sorry.
My fault. I stepped off a curb too quick. Didn’t look. Thanks for this. Now I can go.
Mara turned to go but as she did a bright light opened up a tear in the world in between, bathing Edward in it. His head was round again and his teeth were no longer broken.
Don’t come too close. It’s not your time yet. Find whoever it is you have to, but be careful. There are always darker things in here looking for ways to amuse themselves.
He let himself fall into the light and was sucked out of the world in between as if he was drawn into vacuum. Mara was all alone. There’s a way out. The loneliness was overtaking her. Alone.
Except for the people in the room. They were hugging and holding hands and admiring the card.
Leira. Mara focused her will and felt herself get pulled back through the wormhole. She moved steadily through the gelatinous ether, searching through different wormholes, feeling for something familiar until finally she found it. She had no idea how much time it had taken or where she would come out.
But she knew. Leira was near. The energy was strong.
She peered through the ether and saw the green Mustang in the parking lot of the hospital. Leira was sitting behind the wheel.
Focus.
She sent her will out ahead of her, through the windows of the car, moving around Leira and the other occupants.
There’s something else here that’s familiar. The memories flooded back into her. She pulled herself closer until she could see who else was in the car.
Eireka! She tried to focus and send her will around her family but it was gone. The wormhole pulled her in, spinning her around and dumping her in an old train station somewhere in New Jersey.
In the Mustang, Eireka felt the swirl of cold energy move around her and looked up, recognizing the traces of magic it left behind. “Mama.” She reached out, putting her hand on the window but it was too late. The feeling was gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“I get it. It’s okay. You didn’t have to buy me breakfast tacos.” Hagan and Leira were sitti
ng at one of the picnic tables set up around the food trucks in the lot on Rainey Street.
“Think of it as more of a celebration breakfast than anything else. I didn’t get to buy you that drink last night.
“Date night with Rose, you know,” said Hagan.
Leira gave a crooked smile. “Thanks for meeting me here. I don’t want to get too far away from my mother for a few days. She may have magical abilities but she was still confined for fifteen years.”
“I get it, kid. You know, it takes time. The worry. It’ll take a while before you stop tensing every time you don’t find her right away or she doesn’t answer the phone. Phones! Have you shown her your iPhone yet? For that matter did you show the big guy one of those? Blow their minds!” Hagan took a hearty bite of his taco. “Still, I get it. It was a nice change of pace clearing those cases like we did.”
“Chew a little more, would you?”
“Sorry. So used to getting five bites and then having to dump the whole thing and run somewhere.”
“I’ve never seen you dump food the whole time I’ve worked with you.”
Hagan laughed, taking another bite. “Sounded good, though, didn’t it?”
“You know it’s not about the government job.”
“I hear those jobs pay well. Better than here. It’s okay.”
“It’s not the job. It’s the magic. Eventually, I was going to get found out. I couldn’t use magic on the force and I was finding it impossible to not help someone by pulling out a little something. This way I can use the magic and do some good without getting into some kind of bad situation.”
Hagan stopped eating and licked his lips. “You got them to let your mother out, didn’t you? That was what you wanted.” He nodded his head. “Well done, kid. I like a partner who sticks up for their family first. I would have done the same.” He took another bite, pulling Leira’s tray toward him. “You still made them pay you some real cha-ching though, right? Good job!”
“No, go ahead. I can get more.” Leira watched him take one of her tacos. “Surely, Rose lets you eat.”
“I was in a hurry this morning. The captain said I had to find you before I could come in. I didn’t know if it was good or bad news. Found it hard to eat.”
Leira raised an eyebrow. “That is news.”
“You gonna stay in touch? Send me a picture from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.”
“I’m not going to D.C. Another condition of mine. I’m staying right here. You and I can still catch a beer once in a while.”
“And if I ever need some help?”
“If you or Rose ever need help, I’m your first phone call. Don’t insult me. If you mean, with a case. I’m sure there will be times we need to work together again.”
“Then we’re all good. Hey, do you have to leave the car? Don’t tell me. Another condition. I taught you right, kid. You went for the gold.” He licked each of his fingers, smacking his lips. “I only have two problems left. Whatever mook they stick me with next that I have to break in and well,” he looked down at his lap before looking up at Leira, “I might have run over a section of Rose’s flowerbed. She is not happy with me. Mostly because I tried to replace them with some flowers I got at Lowe’s. Apparently there was more of a system to the whole thing than I realized. She said I messed up her placement. Anyway, I’m in the doghouse for now.” He rolled his eyes, and shrugged. “What are you gonna do? She’s stuck with me.”
“There’s something I can do. Just this once!” Leira held up her finger. “A gift for teaching me everything I ever needed to know.”
“Well, at least everything I know. Be still my heart. Are you gonna?” He fluttered his fingers.
“Not the jazz hands again. Promise me you’ll retire those.”
“Berens, you put Rose’s flowerbeds back to what they used to be and I will never wave my hands around again!”
Leira closed her eyes, focusing on the energy.
Hagan watched but he didn’t see anything happening.
Leira concentrated on his backyard, letting the magic lead her, choosing what to do next as she followed behind it. Green shoots erupted, growing into flowers in full bloom, arranging themselves in a pattern of purple, yellow and pink. Leira smiled at the image in her mind, letting the magic drain back into the Earth. She opened her eyes.
“Go home. Yes, you can take my tacos with you. Then get to work. You’re going to be late.”
“You are the best, kid, I’ll see you soon!”
***
Hagan pulled into his driveway and was met by Rose on the front steps. She grabbed him around the waist and kissed him hard. Hagan started but caught on and kissed her back.
“You wonderful man! How did you do it?” She pulled Hagan by the hand through the house and out the back door to admire the garden. “I never would have believed you could do it! I didn’t even know you were paying any attention to my garden but you must have been! You remembered every detail!”
Hagan stepped around her, down the few cement steps that led to the yard and stepped over the dog.
“It’s even in full bloom! The old flowers were starting to go into hibernation but you brought them all back. It’s like we get a second spring before it’s even spring!”
“It’s beautiful,” he whispered. The garden was in full bloom from one end to the other. Not just in the swath that Hagan had mowed down. Everything had come back to life, stretching upwards to meet the warm Austin winter sunlight. If he didn’t know better, Hagan would have even sworn there was a kind of glitter.
“Nah, must be the light,” he said, scratching his head. Rose came down the steps and wrapped an arm around his waist, admiring the garden with him. “You wonderful man! I love you.”
“I love you too, Rose. I love you too.”
***
Leira and Eireka sat outside on the patio in the late morning, enjoying the sounds of the birds. Estelle told everyone the patio was closed to give them some time to be alone. Eireka sat with her chin tilted up toward the warm sunlight, smiling.
Her daughter’s hand rested in hers. Leira kept watching her mother, trying to believe in her good fortune and let go of the small feeling deep inside that wondered what trial was coming next.
Things could just be good for a while.
The air stirred, blowing the hair off Eireka’s face. It was turning colder in Austin and there was the possibility of frost. Leira knew Rose’s flowers would survive. Let her wonder why they did so well this winter.
Another current of air blew across them as the temperature dropped. “Should we go inside? Strange weather.” Leira pulled out her phone to check the weather report.
Eireka’s eyes popped open and she looked around, side to side.
“Mom, what is it? What’s wrong?” Leira’s stomach clenched and she looked back at the guesthouse where Correk was still sleeping, the troll in a small box on the floor next to him.
Maybe he’ll hear me in his head. She wrinkled her forehead but nothing happened.
“Mama.” Eireka stood up, holding out her arms.
“What are you doing?” Leira stood up with her, trying to see what was out of order.
“Not with your eyes,” said Eireka. “Feel it in here.” She tapped her chest.
The votive candle holders on the nearby tables rattled and the wind blew Eireka’s long hair into her face. Leira felt a growing sense of panic but forced herself to focus, center herself.
Eireka grabbed her hand, flowing energy into her, connecting them. Leira closed her eyes and felt a new energy flowing through her.
A connection reaching out to generations of women in her line that had come before her and to those yet to come. She was connected to all of them.
A peace came over her and she smelled the scent of lilacs. It had been years, over four years to be exact, since she had smelled them last. She snapped her head to the left, her eyes still shut, to the line of women who had come before her and in her mind she saw an image tha
t was more real than imagined. More present than past.
Her eyes widened. “Nana,” she whispered. “You’re alive.”
Her mother inhaled suddenly, eyes open in surprise. “She’s trapped. In the world in between.”
“But she’s alive,” Leira’s eyebrows narrowed in concentration. “I can work with that.”
She felt the magic go out ahead of her, reaching out toward her grandmother, getting closer. A sense of relief came over her.
Suddenly, a look of surprise came over Mara’s face as she was abruptly sucked backward into the void of the world in between. Leira jerked forward, hoping to feel her grandmother’s energy but she was gone.
The last thing Leira saw was her grandmother reaching out toward her, her hand outstretched.
Sorrow seeped into the space instead and Leira yanked back her energy, recoiling from the sensation. The face of a young woman appeared in the dense mist, her energy grasping at Leira.
Leira knew that feeling all too well from her time as a homicide detective. Someone desperate for her help. Only this time it wasn’t the murder victim’s family, it was the dead woman reaching out for answers. Now they’re sending me cases from beyond the grave. Fuck, I miss Hagan.
“No, family first, for once. I find my grandmother.” She felt her mother squeeze her hand.
“We do this together,” said Eireka.
“Together,” said Leira.
FINIS
Author Notes - Martha Carr
Written August 12th, 2017
I was watching America’s Got Talent last week. I’m a sucker for any reality show that helps someone get closer to their dreams. This season there are two acts that have made it to the live shows – a singing group and a lone singer – who are older. Great singers, beautiful harmonies, great stage presence. Just never made it.
Yet.
The singing group had been trying since the 1960’s and gotten close… so close… but missed the mark. Now, they are on TV in front of millions and being recognized as great artists – no matter what happens next.
I was moved to tears and thought, good for you! But a half a beat later, it really struck me.