“What happened to me? I’m OK. How about you first tell me what happened to you?” I gently prodded.
Ian shook his head slightly and smiled weakly. “Right after you fell, the Ferris wheel jerked again. By then, I couldn’t hold on any longer. When I dropped, I don’t think I was as lucky as you. I fell on top of the metal gate that was around the Ferris wheel and then my head swung down and hit the ground pretty hard. I was knocked unconscious for a while. In fact, I don’t have a memory of anything after that until I woke up in the hospital. I ended up with a concussion, a cracked nose and a couple of black eyes. I will recover, so I’m more fortunate than others that were there.” Ian squeezed my hand. “So, now I want to hear about you, Tess.”
With a shiver I started, “I fell in a pile of hay or something because my fall was somewhat cushioned. I wouldn’t say that I was knocked out, but I was definitely stunned. As soon as I could get up I started walking around looking for people, but I think I started going into shock. Will found me and got me out of the park. He ended up driving me along with Rainy, Annie and Eve to the hospital where they took x-rays. I’m OK other than some scratches and bruises. The doctor said I was really lucky.”
Ian studied me a moment and remarked, “I thought I heard you did something to your neck. Aren’t you supposed to be wearing something to protect yourself from further injury?”
“Oh, that!” I waved dismissively with my hand, “I don’t have to wear it ALL the time.”
Ian managed to give me a half smile. The other half of his face was too stiff. (He looked beautiful even with a swollen head and two black eyes!) “I’m not sure if I believe you, Tess, but I’m so glad you’re OK. When I woke up, all I could think about was you. That’s why I had my mom call. By the way, how’s everyone else?”
“Eve got burned a little from splattering hot grease. My friend, Mercy, was on the roller coaster which ended up coming right off the tracks. Fortunately, they got down from there just in time. Others weren’t so lucky,” I said softly.
Ian stared at me for a minute before he quietly stated, “So, Will was your hero. I have to say that I wish it was me, but I am grateful he was there. Going into shock on top of everything else must’ve been scary.”
We sat there blissfully for a minute with Ian holding my hand. All of a sudden a question popped into my head. “By the way, who found you and took you to the hospital?”
Ian hesitated for a moment and then answered, “It was Tonya and Red.”
“It was Tonya?” I practically shouted. Ian looked at me funny. After all, Ian doesn’t know anything about what’s going on between me and Tonya, at least I don’t think he does. He probably doesn’t know that Tonya may very well be a primary cause of the disaster. I just wonder what this connection is between Tonya and Ian. It’s definitely weird. She can’t seem to leave him alone. Is it mutual? There’s a question I have to ask him.
“Ian, do you have any idea what caused the disaster at the fair?”
Quickly, almost too quickly, Ian answered, “No, no idea, none at all.”
“Really? You haven’t even thought about it?”
He frowned. “Well, yeah, I guess I have. I….I just don’t know what it would have been. It was probably an electrical problem, some kind of surge. Yeah, those things can happen.”
I shook my head. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
Suddenly, a smiling Mrs. Miller came bustling into the room. I stood up as she came over and gave me a quick hug. “Hello! You must be Tess. It’s so sweet of you to visit Ian.”
“Oh, no problem. I feel so bad for him,” I responded with a sad smile.
Mrs. Miller glanced over at Ian anxiously before she said, “Ian, I think it’s time for Tess to go. The doctor said that you shouldn’t be overtaxed.”
Ian answered, in an irritated tone, “Mom, I’ve been laying around in this bed forever. I’m used to working all the time so it’s driving me crazy. Tess is helping me to forget.”
Oh boy, time for me to leave. I don’t want to get on the bad side of Mrs. Miller. “Ian, I have to get going anyway.” I made a point to check my watch and added, “My mom will be picking me up shortly. I’ll see you after school tomorrow, if you like. Would that be OK, Mrs. Miller?”
“It would be wonderful if you could visit Ian tomorrow, Tess. It was so nice meeting you,” Mrs. Miller replied as she glanced between us and discreetly left the room.
I’m thinking that Ian’s older brother, James, must take after Ian’s father because Mrs. Miller seemed like a really nice lady. I could see the edges of her aura around her face, a beautiful orange yellow. No aggression or darkness there, just sweetness and light.
As I got up from the bed and walked toward the door, I looked over at Ian with a reassuring smile. “I’ll come by tomorrow.” Then I raised my right eyebrow before adding, “And I know it’s hard, but you should get some rest today.”
“Come here, Tess,” Ian stated, his tone serious.
I walked back to him hesitantly. What does he want with me? As soon as I got within reach, he quickly sat up, grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled my head down for a long, slow kiss. Oh . . . my . . . God. It set my brain humming and a tingle down my spine.
Ian looked directly into my eyes. “Tessie, I was so worried at the fair. I was afraid you would fall off that ride and die.”
I paused for a moment and answered softly, “I’m here and I’m all right, Ian. Nothing bad happened to me.”
He took a deep breath and stared at me with sad eyes. “I know. I’m just so relieved. You don’t know how much I’ve been thinking about you since that stupid fair. I really like you, Tess. You have a way about you. You’re cute and sweet, but you also have a stubborn streak. You’re irresistible to me.”
I started to say something but he put his index finger on my lips. “You don’t have to respond to me. I just wanted to let you know how I was feeling and how relieved I am that you’re doing OK.”
I leaned in, pressed my lips on his warm, inviting mouth, and rested my forehead on his for a moment, listening to him catch his breath. As I stood up, he brushed an errant strand of hair away from my eyes, all the while looking right at me. I smiled, backed up a step, and quietly walked out. I held my hand up to my chest. Still my beating heart.
32. Storm
I floated down the stairs, hoping I wouldn’t bump into nasty James. My head wasn’t in the right place to deal with him now. Mrs. Miller poked her head out from the kitchen and gave me a quick wave. “Good bye, Mrs. Miller. See you tomorrow,” I imparted.
The minute I stepped outside Ian’s front door I felt something strange. The weather was dark and threatening, but it was more than that. I proceeded down the walk quickly and looked around, hoping to see my aunt’s car in the vicinity. That was when I noticed two people walking toward me through the light drizzle. Oh, great! It was Tonya and Red, probably coming to visit Ian. What was it with the two of them? Ian claims he doesn’t like her but she’s always turning up around him.
You certainly couldn’t miss Tonya and Red from this distance because of their flashy auras. Both of them might as well have been shouting, “We’re coming, so deal with it!” It was odd because their combined aural colors were intermingled, as if they were of a similar mind. I’ve never observed that phenomenon before. It was dark red and orange waves of color with sharp streaks of black. It made both of them appear to be engulfed in jagged, angry flames.
As they got closer, I could tell by their obnoxious expressions that they recognized me. Tonya muttered something to Red and turned to me with a deadly look. As she stared, I felt that weird prickly sensation around my eyes and my forehead, an all too familiar sensation around Tonya.
Tonya used her mindspeak. “I see you survived the disaster at the Tri-town fair.”
I decided to answer her out loud. This private conversing made me very uncomfortable. I smiled brightly and shouted over the noise of the rain and the wind. “Yes, I’m doi
ng fine! It’s too bad that Ian got injured, wouldn’t you say?”
Her lips curled as she glared at me. “Yes it is. It should have been you.”
Something about her raised my hackles and caused me to say stupid things. “Are YOU responsible for everything that happened at the Tri-Town Fair?”
A grin spread across her face. “Why, what would make you think that?”
Since Tonya and Red were getting closer I should have been more careful, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. “Many innocent people suffered and some even died. Fortunately, my close friend, Mercy, is fine. Did you know that?”
She sneered, “That is rather unfortunate but we do what we can. I am finding myself in a very good situation at the moment.”
Her remark sent a shiver down my spine. To make matters worse, I heard Ian’s front door open. I looked back and saw James staring at me. How shocking is that! He’s with them. It was becoming apparent that Tonya, Red and James would like to inflict bodily harm upon me. After all, Tonya failed to hurt me at the fair and I am all alone here. It was getting darker, the wind was swirling in different directions, and the rain was increasing to a steady stream. I wish Aunt Amy would get here!
Before I knew it, James was right behind me and Tonya and Red were in front of me. Through the heavy rain, all I could really see was Tonya’s leering face and fat, puffy Red with his pig nose. Behind me, James was getting closer, a nasty sneer pasted across his lips.
A sense of detachment came over me as I reacted instinctively to the threat. I have learned to put the fear out of my mind and channel it into anger. It was easy to do because just looking at Tonya’s smug expression enraged me. My vision blurred slightly as if I was viewing my surroundings through a thick lens. I could feel a raging heat emanate from the center of my body to my limbs and my head. When the intense energy of the heat reached my toes, I felt myself lift slightly off the ground. I knew my hair was sticking straight out as if it was full of static electricity.
Tonya grabbed at my wrist which resulted in a shower of sparks. She screamed and pulled her hand back as I caught the unpleasant whiff of scorched skin. Red went to take my other arm but stopped when he saw her reaction. Meanwhile, I felt someone pull at my hair and I turned around to see James whip his hand back and yelp. A wisp of smoke drifted from his fingers.
I rose slightly more and backed onto the lawn. The three of them had converged and were within my range of vision. By now, all of them were staring at me, trying to determine how they could hurt me without getting hurt themselves; a fortunate turn of events for me.
Suddenly, Red pulled out a long thin jack knife and popped it open. “Maybe I can’t touch you, but this knife sure can,” he jeered.
A wave of fear washed over me and I started to sink back to the ground.
Tonya shrieked, “Let’s get that bitch, now!”
Something about her voice always spurred me on. The heat inside me intensified and I rose up again. It became pulsing, alive. I felt electric. Without thinking, I started rapidly rubbing my hands together. I knew I was gathering more electricity inside and outside of me. I continued rubbing and rubbing, my movement causing sparks to fly, initiating a mini show of fireworks as a ball of concentrated electricity was formed between my palms. It distracted Red for a minute. He was rubbing the blade of the knife while he was staring at the flashes. Tonya was pushing and yelling something at him but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. James was picking up a big rock. I had to do something soon, but it had to be the right moment. It was almost time. I could feel it coming, the perfect atmospheric pressure. Red was losing interest in the fireworks and he was about to throw.
THIS WAS IT! I levered my hand back and whipped the ball of electricity right at them. At that exact moment, lightning from the sky flashed straight down and connected with my electric ball, smack in the center of the tormentors, lighting up the air all around them. For a second, their hair was straight out, bodies rigid and eyes bulging. Then, they collapsed.
I was tossed back by the violence of the strike but was otherwise untouched. The charge around my body must have shielded me. I looked over to see Tonya, Red, and James all flat out. I caught a whiff of stinky, burnt hair.
BEEP BEEP!!! I looked over to see Aunt Amy’s car in the driveway next door behind a tall hedge. She probably couldn’t see Ian’s address in the darkness. I stood up, ran to her car and jumped inside. It was fortunate that Aunt Amy couldn’t see the bodies on the ground. It was too dark.
As we passed Ian’s house, I caught a glimpse of something that made my heart skip a beat. It was Ian’s bruised face peering out of his bedroom window, right at me.
33. Memorial
The memorial for the victims of the Tri-town fair disaster was to be held on the town green. There was no indoor facility in the area that would have been large enough to accommodate the number of people who were expected. Town officials decided to schedule the event for Monday, the same day that the schools and all other town activities had been cancelled and designated as a day of mourning. As it turned out, two elementary students and one middle school student from Woodley died in the catastrophe. In addition, two adults died, one of them having been a friend of my grandmother’s. No one from the high school passed away, although there were several injuries, including one boy who was paralyzed from the waist down.
It wasn’t raining when we drove into town but there were threatening clouds that only added to the gloom. Grandma parked her ancient station wagon behind the library, the closest spot we could find. It was eerily quiet as people streamed to the green from every direction. Grandma and Aunt Amy acknowledged a number of people with a nod or a quiet greeting as everyone converged to the center square. It was one of my favorite spots in Woodley, an old fashioned New England green dotted with large trees and surrounded by very old homes and an austere congregational church.
In front of the town hall, a large area was set up with several rows of folding chairs facing a platform with a podium in the center. We followed Grandma into the crowd and down an aisle between the chairs, sitting next to her old church friends. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned to see Mercy and Belinda behind us.
As I nodded at Mercy she leaned over and whispered to me, “Did you see who’s sitting in that front section with all the town big shots?”
I frowned and shook my head while checking it out. There was Miss Cassie, just as Mercy said! What was she doing up there?
I turned to Grandma and asked, “Who are those people in that sectioned off area?”
Grandma looked at me suspiciously, “Why do you want to know?”
I shrugged. “One of them looks familiar to me.”
Grandma frowned but she finally put her glasses on and peered through the crowd. “Why there’s Mayor Hopkins, Police Chief Zurkowski, Pastor Jenkins from the congregational church, a priest from St Margaret Mary’s church, I don’t know his name and Rabbi Miller. Oh, and the woman is Miss Cassie.”
“Yeah, I thought that was Miss Cassie,” I affirmed.
“What do you know about her?”
“I see her when I ride my bike around town. She lives near the old mill.”
“Yes, she lives in the Loomis Homestead.”
“Why is she sitting up there?”
“Miss Cassie is a volunteer counselor at the hospital. Her specialty is bereavement and grief counseling. I’ve heard some unusual things about her style of treatment,” Grandma answered.
“What have you heard?” I asked.
Grandma frowned. “I’m trying to remember. A friend of mine saw her after the death of her husband. She told me that Miss Cassie is known for her unusual methods of treating people who have difficulty recovering from the death of a loved one.”
“I wonder what she does that’s so different.”
Grandma shrugged. “Not sure, but I do remember hearing that she was sent by the government to Malaysia last year after that horrific cyclone. It was terrible because there w
ere people who lost their entire family.”
“Really?” Mercy asked as she leaned in from behind me. Grandma’s eyes widened as she turned and looked at her.
“Oh, Grandma, this is Mercy, a good friend of mine. She knows Miss Cassie, too.”
Mercy stuck her hand out to Grandma. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Drake.”
Grandma nodded curtly.
“Why would Miss Cassie be sitting up there today?” I inquired.
“I presume she’ll give a talk on how to deal with grief,” Grandma said impatiently.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Mercy said, nodding.
TAP……TAP……TAP…... “Can you hear me?” We immediately turned to the speaker in the front. “Can everyone please take a seat? We will be introducing the mayor as soon as the crowd is quiet.”
Within two minutes, the mayor of Woodley walked up to the microphone and started talking. I hardly heard a word he said because my mind drifted off like it tends to during speeches. Someone poked me in the side of the ribs. I turned to see Annie glaring at me.
“This isn’t a good time to take a nap!” She hissed.
“I’m not sleeping!” I whispered indignantly, even though I knew I was.
I pinched my arm to try and stay awake but it was hopeless. The last few days were catching up to me. I found myself in that self induced fog that occurs when you start falling asleep while sitting up in a chair; a sort of half asleep, half awake state. An odd ability I have while in this semiconscious condition is to detect outlying sounds. The ring of someone’s laughter was getting louder and more obtrusive, while the mayor’s speech had shrunk to mere background noise. It was disturbing enough to bring me back to full consciousness. Why was someone laughing?
As I opened my eyes to look around, both Grandma and Annie turned to me, disapproval emanating from their frowning eyes. I smiled slightly and straightened my shoulders, making a point to stare at the mayor as if I was totally absorbed in his talk. Suddenly everyone clapped, an indication that he was done. Hopefully this little snooze I just had will help me get through the rest of the program.
A Girl Beyond (War of the Witches Book 2) Page 16