A Banshee's Tale

by Veronica Breville

  Leaning away, I considered my mother’s words.

  Was she giving me the green light?

  “But what about the complications? What about the effect it might have on my duty?” I muttered.

  “As I see it, Zane’s influence has made you a better Guide, not taken away from your abilities. I trust you both to make the right choices. You might want to give your dad some time before you fill him in, though. He’s not as observant as I am and tends to turn a blind eye where you are concerned.” With that, she shooed me through the kitchen doorway and into the dining room where buffet tables were set up.

  Wow, that wasn’t expected. Two down, one to go.

  The sounds of “Happy Birthday” being sung in every key but the right one rang through the house, widening Anna’s already beaming smile. She hadn’t stopped smiling the entire evening, and I was sure as we fell asleep that night she would still be smiling. Imagining her lying in bed sound asleep with a huge grin plastered on her face sent me into convulsions of laughter, prompting every pair of eyes in the room to snap toward me.

  “Sorry, just a funny thought,” I mumbled and then stole away into the back yard to continue my laughing.

  Outside the warmth of my house, the crisp winter air swirled around me, sparking every nerve under my skin. Standing there listening to my family laugh inside the house made me feel happy and safe. The magic of that sound hit me with a quiet force and turned my laughter to quiet tears. They were born of love, and I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time I cried for a good reason rather than out of sadness or fear.

  Looking into the kitchen window, I spied Zane looking for me and waved. His brows furrowed as he waved back slightly before turning to look behind him. I could just make out my aunt’s face as she walked to the window and looked out quirking her brow.

  “What?” I mouthed. She shook her head and smiled crookedly, turning around to face Zane and blocking my view of the interaction completely. Moments later the squeak of the screen door echoed through the yard and Zane walked down the steps to my side.

  “Our little secret really isn’t much of one anymore, Cat.” Bending, he kissed my cheek and smiled.

  “How did she know? I mean, it’s not like we were obvious, right?”

  Zane chuckled and pulled me into the warmth of his arms. “She mentioned giving us lessons in stealth, actually. Apparently we are more than obvious and she and your mom have been discussing the situation since we returned from Ireland.” Pulling back he peered down at me and kissed the deep thought lines between my eyes. “She’s all right with it, Cat. She just cautioned us to take it slowly and make sure that it was the right thing for us both.”

  My breath let out in a loud whoosh and I sank into the comfort of his arms. “I suppose we should go in and let the rest of them in on the situation, huh?”

  “We should. I’d like to get the dad talk over as quickly as possible, actually.” He chuckled again, dropping his arms to take my hand and pull me to the kitchen door.

  “Let’s do this.” I nodded, completely sure that my family would support our budding relationship.

  Buoyed by hope and a multitude of warm feelings I walked into my house holding Zane’s hand proudly, ready to declare my feelings for him to all.

  I had, at first, enjoyed sharing a room and bed with Anna. It seemed to calm her and make her transition immeasurably easier. Unfortunately, time was catching up to her and so was her physical development. She was shaping up to be quite a tall girl and was currently all knees and elbows. Those same appendages created havoc on our once cozy sleeping arrangements, and I was the one suffering. There was no comfortable angle or distance. If I moved further from her, she would respond unconsciously by reaching for me or moving so that one of her bony parts poked me.

  The other reason for my morning grump was, of course, because the day had arrived for me to keep my promise to Will. We would confront his Gran and convince her to follow her path to the light. Will’s unfailing faith in my abilities kept me on the track of good this morning, rather than biting the head off everyone that dared to talk at me. Oh, who was I kidding? All it would take this morning would be a look.

  With all the holiday fanfare, I hadn’t had much time to research methods of helping a “ghost” pass over while in my corporeal form, so I was going to have to wing it and hope it worked. I supposed the worst that could happen was that she wouldn’t follow me and would remain stuck where only Will could see her. It wasn’t like she freaked him out or anything.

  Working quickly, I washed and dressed then ran to the kitchen to wolf down my breakfast. I had really hoped Will would choose a day closer to New Year’s Day, but instead he chose the Sunday before school started again. To make matters worse, Zane insisted on coming with me. He refused to let Will watch over me as he wasn’t trained to know what to look for or how to combat it even if he realized something was wrong. The mortification I felt knowing Zane would be subjected to whatever rude things Will’s grandmother decided to say to me—and she would say rude things—made me uneasy. So, my day went from bad to worse and my attitude was officially in the toilet. All in all, it was a pretty terrible way to end what had been a wonderful holiday break, filled with stolen kisses and lots of family, but I’d made a promise and I would make good on it.

  Our Christmas decorations littered the floor in nearly every room, waiting to be put into their respective boxes and stored until next year. Because I was in a hurry, a particularly tangled strand of lights caught my foot and sent me reeling into the front door with a loud thwack! Cursing under my breath, I straightened out my now equally tangled limbs, pulling myself up straight, and took my frustration out on the very heavy door. Without even turning to look, I knew Zane had seen this ridiculous acrobatic debacle. His tell was a series of coughs that he thought hid the fact that he was laughing.

  “You know, if you’re going to laugh at me you could at least have the decency to not sound like a choking hippo.” If this was to be a precursor to the remainder of the day, I was in deep without a ladder, but the one happy thought I had was that I would take my boyfriend and best friend down with me. Misery loves company and all that.

  “I do not sound like a choking hippo when I lau... cough.” I imagined that as he said this his eyes narrowed, but his lips most likely had turned up in a smirk that would make me want to kiss him and pinch him in equal measure.

  “Yes, you do. Now, are you driving or am I?” I turned and to my chagrin, he looked exactly as I’d pictured him. The desire to kiss him was starting to win out over thoughts of pinching him though. What I’d give to shout to the masses that he was mine and I loved him completely.

  “I’ll drive, just in case you’re tired when you’re done.” Nodding, I opened the door, giving it a little kick just for good measure, and walked to his car.

  As soon as he shut the car door, I put on my headphones and cranked my iPod as loud as my ears could handle, searching for the perfect mood music to put me in the right frame of mind for what I had to do. Settling on a playlist filled with thumping bass that alternated with orchestral rhythms soothed the panic my morning had aggravated. Zane left me to my music. All I could think was that it was a good thing he could read me. I needed the entire five minutes it took to drive to Will’s to get in the zone. We pulled up to the cozy white two-story house that Will called home. I was afraid to get out. Not actually afraid of the job I had to do. No, I had done this enough to feel a sense of anticipation in helping someone cross over, joy even. The fear was of letting my one true friend down and not being able to help someone he loved so deeply.

  Five deep breaths later, I heard my door open and looked up to see Zane smiling down at me. He helped me out and closed the door behind me as my feet numbly carried me toward the door. Before I could raise my arm to ring the bell, the door was wrenched open and Will stood there looking at me, his com
plexion a strange green color and his normally vibrant smile a mere sideways frown.

  “You look like crap,” My remark earned me a nudge from Zane and an even greener look from Will.

  “Hey, Will.” Zane stuck his hand out and shook Will’s only to pull it back and wipe it on his pant leg. “Either you’re nervous, or you’ve smuggled a hose up your shirt.”

  “You know, Zane, under normal circumstances I’d think that was funny, but right now it just makes me want to puke on your shoes.” Zane took a few steps and stared at us with wide eyes.

  This time I was the one giving a not so sweet nudge to Zane before looking at Will. “I think we’re all aware that nervousness is a forgone conclusion with today’s activities. C’mon, let’s just get this done so our last day of vacation isn’t a total wash.”

  “Why do you have to make it sound like the end of the world, Cat? She’s my grandmother, not some old hag bent on destroying everything as we know it!”

  “That’s not what I mean and you know it. Your gran doesn’t like me, never has, and I think we both know this is going to be worse than having every single tooth in both our heads pulled.” I tried desperately to make light of the subject but my words had the sting of truth.

  “She promised to be on her best behavior and listen to everything we had to say before reacting.”

  Before I could reply, Zane stepped back into the conversation and clapped his hands together loudly. “All right, you two drama queens, enough stalling. Where are we doing this, Will?”

  I sighed deeply and just stood there waiting for Will to lead the way. Every cautious step he took seemed pained and difficult. I tried to place the reason. Perhaps because she had been a part of his life for so long the finality of what I was doing had settled in. Maybe he was just worried she would make it harder than it had to be. It felt like that was about as close to an explanation as I would get. I knew I wouldn’t ask him to explain it to me. It was bad enough I had to witness the way he was reacting to something he knew his grandmother needed. As though Zane could sense my discomfited contemplation, he placed his hand on my lower back as we reached the landing and Will motioned to his bedroom.

  Looking from him to his room, I asked, “Do you really think this is the best place?”

  “Good a place as any and it’s where she feels most at ease. I would have liked to take you to her old house, but it was sold and I don’t know the people.” His shoulders slumped, and just as Zane had placed a hand on me for comfort, I did the same to Will.

  “Okay. I just want to make sure you will be able to be in here after this. I mean, it’s not scary or anything but sometimes just the thought of the last place you saw someone can be... painful.”

  “ It’s fine, Cat. I’ll be okay; I have a lot of really great memories of her, maybe even more than my parents.” He paused, searching the room for something. Locating his desk chair, he motioned for me to sit on it and then planted himself on the edge of his bed. “Are you ready?”

  No!

  “Sure, whenever you are,” I whispered.

  “Before you start would you like me to wait in the hall, Will? I don’t want to intrude or make your grandmother uncomfortable.” Zane’s voice cracked as he offered what he could to make the situation less stressful and it made me wonder how many family members he’d lost in his life.

  “You can stay in here, Zane. I don’t think it will really matter. If Gran’s uncomfortable, she’ll be the first to speak up.” Will looked to me. “Should I try to contact her now?”

  I nodded and held Zane’s hand tightly as Will began speaking.

  “Gran, I need to talk to you. Can you come here, please?” His voice broke a little when he said this.

  I stared at him until I saw a shimmering mist in the corner of his room, just out of my line of sight. Shifting all my attention to the mist as it floated closer and closer to us, I noticed a face like a 3D rendering: no color, no marks. It was just raised hills of mist forming a person’s face.

  “Well, well, well. William told me you would be visiting, but I had no idea that a great Guide like you would look so frightened at the sight of a measly little ghost. And who is this young man you’ve got a death grip on?” As she spoke the mist began to coalesce into human form, dressed oddly in an outfit straight out of the fifties. Her body took shape and with it came a hint of color but only slightly. I could see through her, and I was sure I could pass through her, though I wasn’t about to test that theory.

  Her words finally hit me, and I realized she had been frowning at me as she spoke. Her distrust of me hung in the air between us, heavier than the mist that she had come from.

  This will be fun.

  “I’m here because your grandson loves you enough to want you to be truly happy, and this is my Caomhnóir, Zane Laroche.” Zane nodded.

  “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m only here to protect Catherine. If you’d be more comfortable I can wait in the hall.”

  For the briefest moment Mrs. Sayer’s eyes went wide and her lips trembled. She shook her head from side to side slowly, closing her eyes tightly. When she opened them the look of fear from moments before was gone and back was the casual indifference we’d been treated to since she had arrived. “There’s no need for you to leave, Mr. Laroche, but you’ll excuse me if I don’t believe that you’re only here to protect her. You’ve the eyes of a man in love.” Shaking her head, she made a tsking noise and floated closer to us. “But that is neither here nor there. I do believe I’d like an explanation from little Catherine here as to how she thinks she can help set me on my true path.” Her final words were a mix of disbelieving laughter and general dislike.

  “You hang around here and the only person you can communicate with is Will. There is more out there for you, Mrs. Sayer, I promise. If you’ll trust me just a little I can set your soul on the path it was meant for so many years ago. ”

  “I’ll have you know, young lady, that being able to communicate with Will is more than I ever expected. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into when I chose this path, as you like to refer to it. Protection. I had to protect Will. That’s why I’m still here and even if he couldn’t have ever seen me, I would have chosen to stay. Your argument can’t touch the feelings I have for this boy, and I will not leave. Well, unless he asks me to, which I am quite certain he won’t. Blood ties are strong and love only adds to them. Right, Willie?” she prattled.

  Willie... oh he would get crap about that.

  Looking through the foggy old lady standing between us, I spied Will’s torn look and held my tongue. If he truly didn’t want her to go, then I wouldn’t try to persuade him. Love of family was something you just didn’t screw with. Zane squeezed my hand reassuringly. I turned to smile at him before watching Will stand up and square his shoulders, looking more a man than boy, and knew Gran wasn’t going to like what he had to tell her.

  “Gran, you don’t need to protect me anymore. I’m nearly an adult and can take care of myself. The fact that you stayed behind for me, missing out for so long on being with Gramps and your siblings, fills me with guilt.” As I listened to his words, I realized I had misinterpreted his torn look; he felt bad that she stayed behind for him. “I am asking you to go with Catherine and be a part of the world you were meant for. If you stay I will shun you in every way I can to make my point,” he said coldly.

  “Well, I never...” she grunted. “You can’t even spare a thank you or an I love you for your grandmother? You think you can just a command me to go with this girl, Catherine and I’ll blindly follow?” She spat.

  “You know I love you, and saying thank you doesn’t seem enough, but I need you to be at peace so that I can move on in my life. I can’t just let you hang out here forever watching over me, especially when I don’t need it.” He was nearly begging at this point.

  Not wanting
to upset the situation any more I pulled myself close to Zane, hoping they would both come to an agreement before it was officially too late for me to salvage my day.

  “It was... no, is my job to keep you from the same fate that has touched our family since time immemorial. I will not let you fall into the same trap as your friend there. You do have a choice,” she mumbled.

  Trap? What the hell was she talking about? I hadn’t fallen into a trap. If she was talking about my duty to be a Guide then I would agree that, though I had accepted with a heavy heart initially, I had grown to love the feelings that accompanied my job. Besides, what did that have to do with Will?

  “That doesn’t make any sense, Gran. I am in charge of what I choose to do with my life. There is no great secret about our family like Cat’s, and I’m not special... unless you count the fact that I’m a medium. You’re just stalling and you know I am right!” Will’s patience was starting to wear thin. The vein in his temple that only stood out when he was upset had popped out and looked to be pulsing just slightly.

  If his grandmother had been able to, I was sure she would fall to the floor in exasperation. Instead she looked straight at him and delivered the most cryptic message I had ever heard.

  “William Henry Sayer, you and your friends here have more in common than you could know. The last part is due to the fact that I kept it from you and your parents. I had hoped the secret would die with me, but I see your will is not to be derailed and you need to know the truth.” Her shoulders fell in a defeated slump.

  “What truth? I don’t understand a word you’re saying, Gran.” He shook his head and looked at the ground.

  “The truth about who you were born to be. There lies my quandary for I can’t rightly tell you who you are, either; it goes against everything I have promised myself since you were born. I suppose there is only one thing left to do... you will have to look for the book.” She spoke quietly.