Shackles: The truth will set you free

by Dianne J Wilson

  “I’m fine thank you. How are you?” Hazel put a deliberately sweet smile on her face.

  Kenneth had the decency to look contrite. “Sorry. How are you Hazel?”

  “To be honest, I’ve been better. To answer your first question, two young men arrived earlier looking for Rebecca. They’re with your Dad now.” She let their mention of Kenneth’s mom pass for now.

  Kenneth’s eyes lit up, “They’re looking for Rebecca? I’ve got to speak to them. Where are they from? How did they find us?”

  “Slow down! They’re very keen to talk to you too. Let them finish with your dad first.”

  Kenneth started pacing as if all the energy driving him over the last few days had finally found a focus and was threatening to sweep him away.

  He stopped mid-stride as Rochester Senior appeared in the doorway, followed by the two visitors. “Hazel, set two extra places for dinner. Jason and Tim will be staying the night. Start without me, I’ll come down when I’m ready.” He looked pale and distracted. Acknowledging Kenneth with a nod, he turned to leave. Kenneth went after him.

  “Dad. Wait. Are you okay?”

  Rochester Senior turned slowly, “I’m… fine, son. I just need to think something through.”

  “Would you like to talk about it? It helps, sometimes.”

  Rochester shook his head, “No.” Turning to Hazel, he said, “Your God works frightfully quickly.”

  With that, he left, leaving Kenneth, Jason and Tim staring at each other.

  __________________________________________

  Hazel quickly stepped in and introduced them to each other. She shooed them into the dining room and bulldozed them into their seats. Waving towards the freshly baked Whole-wheat rolls, she said, “Help yourselves. I’ll bring dinner through now.”

  So, the three of them sat, eyeing each other across the polished width of the grandiose oak dining room table. Kenneth finally stood and held the bowl of rolls for each of them. They buttered in silence, and began eating, conscious of every crunch.

  Jason felt so out of place and uncomfortable. He was the intruder on Rebecca’s home turf. He suddenly felt all wrong about being there and was struggling to remember why this had been so important in the first place. Then he thought of Angus Grey, and Stanton Trent. Men who’d missed out on more than twenty years of being part of Rebecca’s life. “I’m doing this for them, not for myself.” He looked up to see Tim and Kenneth staring at him and realized he’d spoken out loud again.

  “Sorry. Bad habit of mine.”

  Tim snorted. Kenneth caught his eye across the table, and Tim explained, “Don’t worry; he’s always been this way. It’s not contagious.”

  Kenneth grinned, “Okay. So, if you’re still normal, I’m not in mortal danger.”

  Tim waved his gnawed roll in Kenneth’s direction but spoke to Jason, “I like this guy, Jason. We think the same.”

  Jason frowned dubiously, “Tim, that’s the most frightening thing I’ve heard all week. I don’t think the planet could stand having more than one of you on it.” He turned to Kenneth and added in a conspiratorial tone, “I’m not contagious, but I’m not sure about my friend. You might want to sit next to me and not him.”

  They were all laughing when Hazel brought through the main meal. “Young Baas’s, you have a lot to talk about. I suggest you put your heads together before Big Baas comes downstairs. You’ll get further with him if you all agree on a plan of action.”

  With the ice broken, Jason could sense the tenuous threads of camaraderie settling into place. “Hazel’s right. Let’s compare notes and see what we know.”

  __________________________________________

  Just outside the dining room doorway, Hazel breathed a sigh of relief. Hearing their laughter, topped by Jason’s comment had settled the unease in her gut. Somehow an invisible battle had been won by the uniting of these three hearts. It was beyond Hazel to know exactly why or how, but their connection was as crucial as a heart is to a living body.

  The other certainty growing inside Hazel was that the implication of their alliance was far greater than just Rebecca’s well-being. “Well Lord, I’m glad You know what You’re doing. The only thing left for us to do is to cling to You and do every little thing You tell us.”

  Hazel dished up dessert with a smile on her face.

  __________________________________________

  Rebecca woke before sunrise. She had slept well despite the strange surroundings and felt refreshed. This somehow rubbed off onto her mental state, proving the old saying; things will seem brighter in the morning. She really did feel brighter about her life, even though nothing had changed.

  Tip-toeing past Shane’s door closed door, Rebecca could hear loud snoring coming from within. Stifling a giggle, she put the kettle on in the kitchen and went out on the balcony while waiting for it to boil.

  From her vantage point, she could hear the waves breaking on the shore even though it was difficult to see in the pre-dawn gloom. Breathing in the salt-tainted air, Rebecca felt a vague tremor of unease snake through her body. Convincing herself that the kettle must have boiled by now, Rebecca turned and rushed back inside, quickly sliding the door shut behind her. Darkness and salty water — not a good combination.

  As it was, she had to wait for the kettle. Scrutinizing her reflection on the gleaming stainless steel of the toaster, Rebecca gingerly traced the cut across her temple. It was healing much more quickly than she expected, and most of the bruising had disappeared. She was looking a lot more like her old self, but then again, who was she anyway? Finding out that she came from a Mom who really loved her but had died threw her whole life into a new context. So different from being someone who was hated and discarded as a baby. The feeling of being loved and treasured warmed her, thawing something deep inside.

  Of course, it also unearthed all sorts of other questions about Mom’s family. Surely she must have had family? Why hadn’t they taken her in?

  Relieved from her mental debate by the kettle’s loud ‘click’, Rebecca reached for two mugs and made coffee. The aroma of hot coffee must have filtered through to Shane’s sub-conscious. He joined her in the kitchen, looking more than half asleep. With a huge yawn, he took his mug, mumbled thanks and settled in the lounge. Feeling strange, Rebecca took the seat opposite him and quietly sipped the warm liquid.

  Halfway through his drink, the caffeine must have kicked in, causing Shane to wake beyond the semi-conscious state he’d emerged from the bedroom in.

  “So, Rachel. I picked up last night that you don’t really want to talk about your past, so we won’t go there. What are your plans for now?”

  Rebecca cleared her throat to buy some time. Putting on her biggest smile she answered, “Well, for now I intend finishing this cup of coffee.”

  “Brilliant long-term goal, Sweet Pea, I’m so impressed.” He shook his head and laughed.

  Rebecca laughed too, “Why thank you, kind sir, it took a long time to figure that one out.”

  “You should have been blonde.” Shane’s smile dissolved, “Seriously. My roommates are due back tomorrow night. You’re welcome to occupy the couch; I just don’t know that you’d want to live in our lounge. Could be a health hazard.”

  A faint smile touched Rebecca’s lips, “Thank you for the offer. I know. I need to find a job and a place to stay.” Rebecca shrugged, “I just don’t know where to start. It’s all rather overwhelming.”

  “I’ve got nothing on today. How about we go looking together?”

  “Are you serious? Why would you do that for me?”

  Shane lifted an eyebrow and stared at her as if she were mad, “What knight in shining armor would rescue a princess from the dragon — or in your case, a roaringly drunk bunch of dragon’s — and then dump her halfway to the castle? I’ve read the books. I know what the ending needs to be.”

  “Oh? And what ending is that?”

  “They all lived happily ever after, of course.” Shane’s fa
ce was so sincere, that Rebecca burst out laughing. She just couldn’t hold it in.

  “Oh, Shane. You are so good for my soul.” Warm relief flooded through Rebecca’s insides. At least she didn’t have to tackle this alone.

  “Of course I am, dear. Now, let’s get some more coffee and figure out what you are good at doing.”

  Chapter 19 – Pursuit and Success

  This really was the perfect time of day for long-distance travel. The sun was just starting to tickle the sleepy sky with bright fingers and a Midas touch that turned everything to gold. Beautiful.

  Jason took the steaming mug of coffee from Tim, holding it gingerly on the rim to avoid scalding his fingers. They had this traveling refreshment thing down to a fine art. Glancing to where Kenneth sat in the middle of the back seat of the car, Jason asked, “You sure you won’t have any?”

  Kenneth was having great trouble sitting still. “Nah, I’d either burn myself or need to find a loo. I’ll give it a miss.” His long legs stretched into the space between the Jason and Tim’s seats, stopping just short of interfering with the handbrake. His toes tapped non-stop, with an intensity that was beginning to wear on Jason’s patience.

  “Uh, Kenneth? Could you stop the foot thing please? It’s horribly distracting.”

  “Oh sorry! I wasn’t thinking.” He withdrew his feet from the gap and the toe-tapping stopped. Without missing a beat, his mouth took over where his feet had left off. “I still can’t believe my Dad let me come with you guys. You should have seen him a week ago; he nearly bit my head off for suggesting that I go look for Rebecca.”

  Jason felt a sharp stab of something he didn’t care to identify. Kenneth was obviously smitten. “You aren’t here to look for Rebecca, remember. Your Dad sent you with us to find Claude and take him home. We are looking for Rebecca.”

  “I know. I know. Trust me, where you find Rebecca, you will find Claude. I just hope we’re not too late.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Tim and Jason blurted out the question together.

  “I’ll be honest with you; my brother is really messed up inside. Even from little, his sanity was a little bit suspect. Mom always knew just what he needed, she understood him in a way no one else did. Dad expected him to be normal and wouldn’t treat him any differently to how he treated me. Dad and I enjoyed the same things and got on really well. Claude was Mommy’s boy. She was the only one keeping him afloat, so to speak. When she left, he toppled. I don’t know what goes on in the dark depths of that mind.”

  “What about Claude and Rebecca?” Jason pressed.

  Kenneth paused, trying to capture vague impressions into a legitimate concern. “I picked up on a few things that made me uneasy. Never anything so wrong that I could actually confront him.”

  A sliver of anxiety shot through Jason’s insides. “What then?” He spoke sharply, earning himself a shocked look from Tim. Trying to cover up, he forced himself to speak more calmly, “What did he do?”

  Kenneth was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn’t seem to notice Jason’s anxiety. “It was a lot of little things. The way he looked at her, how much time he spent hanging around her. The look in his eyes when she wasn’t looking at him —” Kenneth trailed off bleakly.

  Jason cleared his throat, “What you’ve just described sounds like jealousy. Yours. You obviously both have feelings for this girl.” Jason choked on the thought but kept going, “You can’t handle the thought of him being around her, when you’re not.”

  Kenneth’s answer was bald in its candor, “Look, I won’t lie to you guys and pretend that I don’t have feelings for Rebecca. But this is more than that. I overheard something the afternoon before Rebecca disappeared that confirmed all my previous suspicions.” When nobody spoke, he continued, “I was about to walk into the kitchen when I heard Claude talking to Rebecca while she was baking. Something inside me compelled me to hang back, which I did. Then I heard the one sentence that turned my blood to ice.”

  Jason couldn’t help himself, “Kenneth stop being dramatic and spill it! What did you hear?”

  Kenneth took a deep breath and spoke, “Tonight is the night, Babe. Ready or not, it’s you and me, I’ll come to you.” He quoted verbatim, as if those words had repeated in his head a thousand times since he’d heard them uttered. “I wanted to run into the kitchen and punch him in the face. It took every scrap of self-control to walk in normally as if I hadn’t heard a thing. Claude left the room without a word. Rebecca was pale and shaking, very close to tears. She pretended that everything was fine, but I knew that she was shaken to the core. That night she disappeared. The last time I saw Claude was the next morning, but he has been gone since too.”

  No-one felt like talking. Jason found his foot growing heavy on the accelerator as the urgency in his gut grew by the second.

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  Clive Sheldon threw the phone down in disgust. His mousy-blonde receptionist stared at him with wide eyes, and asked, “Is everything okay Mr. Sheldon?” Even as the question left her lips, Clair winced. Everything was very obviously not okay. In fact, she could tell that something was seriously wrong. Clive Sheldon had passed up a perfect opportunity to comment on the color of her hair, relative to the size of her I.Q. Unheard of.

  Face pale, Clive turned to her. “That was our chef. He has come down with—” he paused a moment, cradling his forehead in his hands, “—chickenpox.” He grabbed her by the arms and whispered fiercely, face millimeters from hers, “Why him? Why tonight? Why ME?!”

  Trying not to choke on his cigar tainted breath; Clair gently extricated her arms from his grip, talking calmly all the while. “It’s okay Mr. Sheldon. We’ll find a replacement. It will all work out. You’ll see.”

  Like a barge cut loose from its anchor, he began pacing with an urgency that threatened the well being of the carpet. “Do you know how much money I’ve spent in establishing this place? Do you have any idea how much I’ve got riding on tonight being a success? For crying out loud Clair, I’ve invited every food critic from the Cape to Cairo. Mega Marketing has pulled out all the stops to make sure that everyone who is anyone in the food industry is here tonight. It’s all under the guise of a charity event, but make no mistake Clair, tonight is make or break for me.” His stopped and swung towards her, face as pale as death. “I’m sunk. This is the end of me. I might as well climb to the top storey of this black hole and throw myself off.”

  Clair opened her mouth to say something soothing, but before she could utter a word, the front door intercom buzzed loudly. “Just a moment, Mr. Sheldon.” Lifting the handset she answered, “Manager’s office. Now is a bad time. Could you call back in half an hour or so?” The question was rhetorical and she hung up the phone without waiting for an answer, or finding out who was on the other end.

  __________________________________________

  Shane turned to Rebecca with a shrug. “They are obviously not hiring at the moment. Sorry Rachel.”

  Rebecca winced at being called Rachel, but shoved it aside for the moment. The problem at hand was more important than her moral dilemma. “Are you telling me that you are willing to give up just like that?”

  Shane looked puzzled. “Well, let’s see… The doors are locked and the lady at the other end of the buzzer is not going to let us in. Maybe you’re seeing an option that I’m not?” There was a certain smugness to his tone that raised her eyebrows.

  “Of course. Watch and learn.” Sauntering over to the intercom, she pressed the button long and hard.

  The voice on the other end sounded frazzled, “WHAT?!”

  Rebecca winked at Shane and answered quickly before the lady cut her off, “Fresh cream and milk delivery.”

  In a voice thickly edged with frustration, the lady answered, “Delivery entrance is at the back. Oh what the—” The intercom went dead, but the door buzzed and popped open.

  Rebecca grinned, face beaming. “Voila!”

  Findi
ng the manager’s office was a simple matter of heading towards a male voice in full bellow. Rebecca knew that she was on the right path. They soon stood outside a door, partially ajar, the origin of the shouting pacing to and fro within. His gruff belly-aching was interspersed with the slightly forced tones of a female voice, tinged with panic.

  Rebecca took a deep breath. Shane squeezed her shoulder, winked and showed her a thumbs-up, all in one smooth move. Leaning toward her, he whispered, “You go knock ‘em dead, Sweet Pea. I’ll come rescue you if they get out of hand.”

  Rebecca threw him a grateful grin and headed into the Manager’s office.

  __________________________________________

  Clair was trying to convince Clive Sheldon to take a calming tablet, when a striking raven-haired young woman walked into his office. Shocked by her sudden appearance, they both fell silent and stared at her. She stared back, her pale eyes wide. Then she spoke, “I’m so sorry to interrupt.”

  Clair took the opening, grateful for a victim to vent her frustrations on. “Well then don’t! You are not allowed in here. Who let you in?” For a small, mousy person, Clair had a fierce temper when provoked. She started towards the woman to shoo her out, when Clive Sheldon stepped in. He had a notorious soft spot for beautiful women.

  “Not so fast Clair. I’ll deal with this. You go catch up on your typing or something.” Clair gaped at him. “But Mr. Sheldon—”

  “Now Clair, you must have so many things to do on such an important day. Off you go.” Clair left the office, her face a frightening shade of puce.

  The change in Mr. Sheldon was nothing short of miraculous. Rebecca smiled brightly to cover her desire to laugh.

  “What can I do for you, young lady?”

  “I was wondering if you have any vacancies in your restaurant. I’m new in town and in need of employment rather urgently.”