Hidden Voices (Tess Schafer-Medium)

by Deborah Hughes

  “Mary, you were just as much a victim as he was in that situation. Had you let him live, countless more would be dead.” How to get her to see this?

  “Did Jesus not say turn the other cheek? We shouldn’t have been there in the first place. We were in his country, he was defending it.”

  Kade grabbed her hands and pulled them from her face. “No. The men that attacked your convoy, they were not defending their country. You were defending their country. They are trying to muscle into power to rule it with ruthless tyranny and hatred. Surely you understood that while you were over there? You were there in response to the masses, the general population who are all helpless from the onslaught of evil. He was the bad guy, Mary. There’s no glory in war, there really isn’t, but our society has made it a necessity and people like you are why our world is not overrun with evil.”

  I was quite impressed. Both Mary and I looked at Kade with wide, respectful eyes. Mary stared at his unwavering gaze for a long moment then nodded slowly, understanding dawning in the sorrowful depths of her dark eyes. “Yes. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I just was so focused on what I did. I didn’t think it right to rationalize away what happened.”

  “Stating facts is not rationalization, Mary. Now, that business is over for you, as mine is for me. We need to focus on what is happening now and see what can be done about it.”

  I loved how he said “we” and not “you”. “Kade’s right, Mary. The man for whom you mourn, he was part of a group that planted a roadside bomb that killed several men in Kade’s unit. Innocent men who were not on a mission to kill. Where’s the justice in that? The men that died in Kade’s Humvee hadn’t raised a single weapon to the men that planted that bomb. They were not in a kill-or-be-killed situation. Our troops aren’t over there hiding bombs and hoping to kill whoever happens upon them. We aren’t strapping bombs to innocent people and sending them out to kill crowds of people who have nothing to do with war. That is the kind of man you killed, Mary.”

  Kade leaned over and kissed me. It was so unexpected that I glanced at him in surprise. He gently ran a finger along my cheek. “You are pretty incredible.”

  Mary squeezed my arm. “Yes you are.” She turned to Kade and touched his arm as well. “And so are you.”

  Kade sat back. “Okay, we have a mutual fan club going on here but what we need to do is focus on the situation at hand. Is there nothing to be done to postpone the foreclosure?”

  “Daniel asked the same thing, we have some money put aside for the boys’ college fund and he was willing to dip into it. But the amount we need is just more than we have.”

  “How much are we talking here, Mary?”

  “Almost two-hundred thousand.”

  It was a surprising amount considering the house had been in the family for generations. Mary must have seen the question in my eyes and her voice sounded tired, weighted down with burden. “When my dad got sick, his medical insurance was not the greatest. It wouldn’t pay for the experimental treatments he endured. They took out a loan against the house to pay the medical bills with extra to help with living expenses. The money has helped in the past five years but now it’s gone. Unfortunately, the interest rate they secured is atrocious. We all knew mom wouldn’t be able to handle the payments forever but we thought something would work out for her eventually. Then things happened that required money and suddenly we are out of time.”

  “What did you hope might happen to prevent this?” I know I was being particularly nosey but I really was curious. Maybe the answer to their problem could be found in the answer to this question.

  Mary gave a short, sharp bark of laughter and ran a hand up through her hair. “I don’t know…that one of us would win the lottery, or marry someone rich or land a great job…who knows what we thought. We were just living with blind hope.”

  “You are at the point now that you must pay the whole note? Can you pay a portion…?”

  “Unfortunately it isn’t just the mortgage payments mom fell behind on. She owes quite a bit in back taxes. One way or another, she’s going to lose the house.” Mary covered her mouth with her hand in an effort to stifle the sobs that rose in her throat. She made a choked sound and closed her eyes. “I just feel so bad for my mother. And I know Pop would be horrified to have his family home go to a stranger.”

  It was the most frustrating thing in the world to watch something happen that you wished you could prevent. If only I could do something. Much as I wanted to help her, that was a huge sum of money. With the family not having any possible answer to their financial woes in the near future, they were nothing but a huge financial risk. Even if they came up with the money to stop the foreclosure and pay off the taxes, how were they going to continue paying the high costs of living in and maintaining such a large home?

  The three of us sat quietly, each lost in our own thoughts when we heard a crash from inside the house and someone screamed. We all jumped at once and went running.

  When we entered the living room, we found Adam standing near the fireplace, a stricken look on his face. Dawn was kneeling next to him gathering shattered pieces of something on the floor.

  “What happened?” Mary ran to her mother and grabbed her hand. “Mom! You ‘re bleeding.”

  Dawn looked down at the blood dripping from a gash on the fleshy pad below her thumb. “I tried to catch it but it was broken before it even hit the floor.” She brushed away Mary’s gripping hand. “Leave it, Mary, I’m fine.”

  I knelt next to Dawn and looked at the mess spread everywhere. Whatever it was, it looked like it had literally exploded for it now lay in a million unrecognizable pieces. “What was it?”

  “An Indian bust. You don’t remember it from last night?” Dawn’s mouth trembled as she surveyed the mess. “It’s been in the family for ages. I think my husband’s grandfather had it given to him as a gift.”

  “Don’t touch anything, Mom. I’m going to get a broom and dustpan.” Mary scurried away; sending me a look that clearly asked for my help in ensuring her mother obeyed her command.

  I gently touched Dawn’s shoulder. “What happened?”

  “It exploded, that’s what happened,” Adam said, his voice high pitched with disbelief. “We were sitting here talking about what we could keep and what we could sell. Mom said that bust might bring in a pretty decent price and it freakin’ exploded!” Adam ran an agitated hand through his hair. “But first it started vibrating on the mantel. That’s when mom jumped up to grab it. Just as she went to reach for it, the thing literally exploded in air.” He pulled his mother up and away from the mess. “Leave it, Mom.”

  “We should take care of that cut.” The blood spurting from her wound was quite substantial. I wondered if she’d need stitches.

  Kade stepped close to Dawn and held out his hand. “My name is Kade Sinclair, I’m a friend of Tess’s. I used to be in the military and have had extensive training in first aid. Would you mind if I take a look?”

  Dawn put her blood-covered hand in his. Kade bent over to get a better look. “I can’t see the cut.” He glanced at Adam. “Could you get me a clean cloth of some sort?”

  Adam nodded and quickly left the room. Mary rejoined us and looked relieved that Kade was tending to her mom. She swept up the shattered pieces with disbelieving eyes. “That bust was made of granite. It was hand-carved and a family heirloom. Such a shame. What on earth would make it shatter like that?”

  I was trying hard to think back to last night. Since we’d been talking about Indians, you’d think I would remember this bust…that it would have stood out somehow and caught my notice. Especially when the picture fell from the same mantel. Speaking of which, I saw it now sat on a small end table next to the easy chair Adam was sitting in last night. I looked from it to the mess now filling a large dustpan. Two things were thrown from the mantel. Two things. I walked over to the fireplace and looked around.

  “What are you looking for?” Mary asked as she passed me to take the de
bris to the trash.

  “I find it most interesting that two things have fallen from your mantel in the past two days.”

  Adam returned with a damp white hand towel. “Here.” He held up a bottle of Peroxide. “In case you want to clean it.”

  I turned to watch Kade press the cloth gently to Dawn’s palm. She didn’t even wince. Her face was very pale, her eyes looking like she was not with us but lost in deep thought. She paid no mind to Kade and what he was doing.

  Kade frowned. “I can’t see a cut anywhere.”

  “It’s on the fleshy pad below her thumb. That’s where I thought I saw the blood coming from.” The fireplace could wait. Dawn needed to be taken care of first. I stepped close to Dawn and gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “You okay?”

  Dawn pulled from her thoughts and looked at me. “I think so. It doesn’t hurt.” She spread her palm wider so Kade could get a better look. “I can’t figure what happened. Timmy was sitting on my lap. Just as the Indian bust began to shake, he hissed really loud, the hairs on his back going right up straight and then he scrambled off the couch and ran from the room.”

  “Maybe he scratched you?” It was likely the case especially if the bust burst before Dawn got to it.

  Kade gently wiped away the blood. “That’s about all I see, a surface scratch. How it generated this much blood I don’t know.”

  We all leaned close to take a look and when Mary rejoined us I moved aside to allow her into our little circle. We stared at Dawn’s hand in complete amazement. As Kade stated, all we could see was a small scratch. It wasn’t bleeding anymore. What the heck? How was this possible?

  Dawn took the bloody white towel. “I’ll just go wash up and be right back.”

  Once Dawn left the room, I pulled from my thoughts to look at Mary. “Where did your father get the bust?”

  “I think his father, Grampa, had it gifted to him. I can’t remember exactly.” She glanced at her brother. “Do you know, Adam?”

  Adam flopped down on the couch and heaved a huge, loud sigh. “No.”

  Kade was now examining the fireplace. “How long has this been here?”

  “Since the house was built.” Adam watched Kade with distrusting eyes. “Why?”

  “Do you think you can get anything from it, Tess?” Kade waved me over and I immediately joined him.

  “I don’t know. I tried to pick up something last night.”

  “What are you talking about?” Adam asked.

  “Sometimes things absorb energy from a past event and I can pick up on it.” I put my hand on the cold, smooth mantel. It was made of wood and had an interesting shade of red, sort of like cranberries gone bad. Cherry wood maybe?

  “What do you mean you can pick up on it? I thought you talked to ghosts?” Adam stood up and started toward the fireplace to join us but Mary grabbed his arm.

  “Stay back, Adam, and let her do her thing.”

  Adam’s eyes narrowed, his dislike of the request quite plain to see but he stayed where he was. “So what do you pick up?”

  “I can sometime see visions of events that have happened. I can’t always, though, so don’t expect too much.” I let my hands run along the mantel’s smooth surface and closed my eyes. What happened next was so sudden I barely managed to gasp before the breath was stolen from my body. An invisible pair of hands took control of mine; making me grip the mantel so hard my knuckles turned white and my fingers went numb. I tried to pull away but couldn’t. Cold air burst around me in a thick invisible mass, cocooning me in, muffling all sound. I heard sobbing, screams, chanting, gun shots, shouts. It all came at me in an instant. I tried to break the contact but whatever energy surrounded me, it wouldn’t let me go. The cold got worse and my breath shot out in puffs of frosted air. I couldn’t even close my eyes. It was an awful feeling. A helpless one. “Sheila, please help me! Please, God.”

  I managed to look at my hands and shock jolted through me. It wasn’t my hands gripping the mantel. The hands I stared at were very male. Large, thick, strong. Deeply tanned. They held fast to the fireplace and I knew the owner of those hands was trying to control his emotions. He was trying…trying. I threw back my head and cried out in pain, for the pressure bearing down on me was too much to handle. Fighting it was worse but I felt I had to break free or be lost forever. As I struggled for control, I was sure my fingers were going to dent the wood or burst from the pressure.

  “Tess! Dammit, Tess, can you hear me?”

  Kade’s frantic voice finally penetrated through the sounds of screams and sobs and anger. I focused on his voice, latching on to his words and using them as a beacon to safety from this nightmare.

  “Tess, please answer me.”

  The pressure let up. Thank God. Oh thank God. As Kade’s low murmurs continued from close by, I followed the sound. The grip on my hands suddenly went away and since I was pulling against a pressure now gone, I went flying backwards. Kade made a whoomph sound as I smacked into his chest but he held his ground as his arms went around me and steadied our balance.

  “For the love of God, Tess, are you okay or not?”

  I turned my face into his chest and listened to the frantic beating of his heart. My own was carrying on pretty well itself. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

  "It's times like this when I could really use a damned cigarette." Kade murmured the words next to my ear and I had to smile in response. We both quit smoking only a few weeks ago. Though I was glad to have kicked the habit, there were times, as Kade just said, when a cigarette sure would be nice.

  Mary was beside us at once. “What happened? Are you sure you are okay?”

  I forced myself to relax so Kade would feel reassured and let me go. His arms fell away reluctantly. “Yeah, I’m okay. Really.”

  “What’s going on?” Dawn rejoined us, going straight to Adam and gripping his arm for support. “What’s happened?”

  “Mary’s friend here just totally freaked on us.”

  I looked at him to see if he was kidding. He wasn’t. “What did I do?”

  “You were gripping that mantel so hard your hands were white. You were shaking all over and making strange noises.” Kade ran an agitated hand through his hair. “I couldn’t get close. It was like you had a damned force field around you. It was cold as hell and nearly blistered my hands when I tried to penetrate it.”

  Mary’s hand fluttered nervously to her throat. I could see the pulse there pounding wildly. I reached out to touch her and she flinched. “My God, Tess, your hands are like ice.”

  They felt hot to me. I flexed my fingers several times and held them out for everyone to see. “They are fine. Really, it was just a vision. I’m sorry it frightened you.”

  “What was the vision?” Kade asked. He wasn’t happy with the situation and I worried that he would decide this was all too strange and bizarre for him. What if he didn’t want to be part of it anymore? My insides dropped like a rock and I actually bent over in response to it. “Tess, hey, are you okay?” Kade put an arm around my shoulders and bent low to look at my face. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  I felt sick inside. The idea of him leaving me chased all other concerns from my mind. I pulled away from him so I could think. This was why I behaved myself and stopped a lot of my activities when Mike was alive. The world of the paranormal is a strange one. You can never know what to expect. Knowing Mike wasn’t comfortable with it, I constantly worried something would happen to turn him off, make him stop loving me. Even though Kade was more open to it, I still worried that something like that would happen with him as well. I couldn’t go through losing another love. Granted, going separate ways was not so final as a death but it was just as devastating. I know my own strength and I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I wouldn’t.

  “Tess? What’s wrong?” Kade wanted to touch me but since I withdrew from him, he held back. His hands clenched at his side and I knew he was holding in his frustration and worry.

  “For a moment I was merged wi
th a man. A very strong man. It wasn’t Big Red.”

  “Big Red?” Mary frowned at the reference. “Who is that?”

  “Just the name I gave to the Indian I’ve been seeing. The man who had a grip on that fireplace wasn’t him, though. But it was a man nearly as big as him.” I looked at Adam. “Was your dad your size?” From the shattered picture of him he looked like he might be.

  “Dad was bigger than me. He was six four and weighed about two-hundred fifty pounds. He was solid muscle.” Adam looked quite proud of this and I smiled in response. Such a shame that cancer brought him down. But then it was a shame when cancer brought anyone down.

  “It might have been him but I don’t think so.” I thought for a moment then glanced at Dawn who was getting filled in on what happened by Mary. “You said this house has been in your husband’s family since it was built, would you say that all the men in his family were large?”

  “Yes, I’d say that.”

  I nodded thoughtfully. “Then it was one of his ancestors.” I glanced at Mary and Adam and hoped that what I was about to share with them wouldn’t add to their worry. Not that it should, but you never knew how people were going to react. “I heard a gunshot, shouts, crying. It had to have been from an event that occurred here a long time ago.”

  “You think someone was murdered here?” Adam asked. He didn’t look too happy with that idea, but then, who would?

  “I’m not sure, but something traumatic took place.”

  “Well, couldn’t you just ask them?” Mary waved a hand as if a ghost was standing next to me and speaking to it was just a simple matter of … well, just speaking to it. “If his ghost is still here, can’t you still talk to him?”

  “I wasn’t in contact with his ghost. I somehow tuned into a past event. Maybe because I was standing in the very spot he had stood in, doing what he was doing. I don’t know how I do it because it doesn’t always happen at will.” It was frustrating when visions came to me that I couldn’t figure out. It was like handing someone pieces of a puzzle without showing them the picture they were meant to create with them.