Atancia
Page 16
I hadn’t even thought about that. The funeral had consumed me, and I hadn’t cared that I had no clue where Christy and Ana were. Ben must have scared them off the day he met them because they hadn’t called or come around since. I realized that Ben must have been worrying about it all this time and hadn’t wanted to upset me by mentioning it.
“Yes. That sounds good. Australia’s pretty far.” There wouldn’t be much to remind me of Nana in a place so different from Miami. “How soon can we leave?”
“As soon as you’d like. We already told your professors you won’t be returning to class this semester, right? But I assume we’d need to make some arrangements for the house before we go.”
“Can’t we just go? I can leave Dolores the keys and tell her to do what she wants with it.”
“All right. How about tomorrow then? I’m sure I can get us on a flight. Just pack your things, and we’ll be ready to go.”
I had Ben drive me to Coral Bank that afternoon, though I didn’t go into specifics about why. I asked him to pick up a few things for me at the drugstore while I was in the bank, so he left me up front and went to run the errand. I once again asked to open my mother’s safety deposit box, then took out almost all the cash, leaving a few thousand dollars just in case. I opened a checking account and deposited most of the money I’d retrieved from the box. I didn’t want to fly to Australia with that much cash on me, but I needed to have access to it even across the ocean.
The next morning, I visited Dolores and explained that I would be leaving for a while. I told her that I couldn’t bear to pack all of Nana’s things yet and that I would do it when I returned. I then gave her the phone number Ben had given me for his house so that she could reach me if there were any problems. She told me not to worry and that she would try to look through everything at the house once she was feeling stronger.
By 11 o’clock that night we were in L.A. and by midnight we were aboard a plane headed to Sydney. Ben had gotten us first class seats, so there was plenty of room to get comfortable, and I was so tired by then that I fell asleep right after take-off.
Several hours later I awoke to the voice of a flight attendant asking Ben if he wanted something for breakfast. It took me a moment to remember where I was, but as soon as I opened my eyes Ben was right there.
“Hey, I’m glad you were able to sleep a bit. You want something to eat?”
I sat up and stretched a little. “Maybe in a few minutes. First I need to use the restroom.”
I got up slowly and walked to the bathroom. Inside the lights flickered on, and my reflection jolted me awake. My hair was sticking in all directions and my eyes were very red. I wet my hands in the sink and ran my fingers through my hair trying to flatten it a bit. I splashed some water on my face and rinsed my mouth. There wasn’t much to be done in an airplane bathroom, not even in first class. I should have thought to pack my comb and toothbrush in my carry-on.
When I returned to my seat, the flight attendant came right over and offered me refreshments. I got some apple juice and some eggs with potatoes. They were pretty decent for airplane food. As I ate, Ben filled me in on the flight details. We were still a few hours away from Sydney, but it looked like a smooth ride.
“I have someone dropping a car off at the airport since you said you didn’t want to fly anymore after this, and the airport closest to my father’s house is pretty small.”
“Sounds good. You said it would be like an hour and a half driving?”
“Yes, pretty much, two hours if we catch traffic. You sure you don’t want to stay in Sydney for tonight and go up tomorrow?”
“No, I just want to get to where I’m going as quickly as possible.”
“No problem, but you’re going to crash once we get there,” he said with concern.
“Probably,” was what I said, but what I was thinking was that I knew he would never let me crash.
The plane landed in Sydney about eight in the morning, and it took us about another hour to get through customs and be on our way. I couldn’t say what time it might have been in Miami then, though I did take note of how much cooler the weather was. After getting the car, we drove away from the airport and past a golf course before entering what appeared to be an endless stretch of suburban road. We drove for a long time, passing houses as we went. Eventually Ben pointed out the edge of the Blue Mountains; the houses became a bit scarcer, but there were still plenty by the main road. We were surrounded by green as we drove; an endless forest of eucalyptus. Ben pointed out some of the towns as we passed, but I couldn’t remember much of what he said. I was a bit dazed and just absorbing the scenery. I had never been anywhere this high above sea level.
When we passed a sign informing us we were in Katoomba, the road once again was lined with homes, but I noticed the town only because Ben said we were almost done driving. We cruised through the town and continued down the main highway until the houses all but disappeared. Finally we turned off the main road and up an unpaved path that seemed to lead into the forest.
“Is this it? Or just a turn?” I asked, hopeful that our journey was almost over.
“This is it,” Ben acknowledged.
“How far is it off the main highway?”
“Not far, but we have to go slowly on this road.”
The way the car was bumping up and down I could understand what he meant. We followed the curve up the mountain, entirely surrounded by trees. It reminded me of the stories I’d read as a child of estates with mile-long drives set deep in the woods. It was beautiful, but in my current emotional state, the only thing that came to mind was that I hoped I wouldn’t be haunted the way that most of the characters in those books had been.
The scenery got much brighter once we broke free of the woods that surrounded the road to the house. There was a large, circular clearing, and the house was set in the center. The smooth driveway was a nice change from the rocky path that had led us there. The two-story house was protected by natural brown wood siding. It gave the impression of a cabin in the woods, only much bigger. Ben pulled up to the short staircase that led to the front door and helped me out of the car. I took a moment to stretch; it had been a long trip.
“You ready?” he asked, and I nodded. His father and possibly some of his brothers would be inside. He held my hand as we climbed to the porch and only let go for a moment so that he could open the door to enter. “Hello! We’re here.” I guessed he said it more for my benefit than anyone’s inside. I was sure whoever was in the house would have felt us approach.
I heard footsteps from the back of the house but didn’t feel any energy. It was a bit disconcerting. A young man appeared in the main hallway. He was Ben’s height, but his hair was a shade darker and his eyes, while light, were a more yellowish green. I figured he must be one of Ben’s brothers because he looked like he might be younger. Maybe this was Matthew, the youngest, and the only one whose name I remembered at the moment.
“Atty, this is my father, Emilius Althaus. Father, this is Atancia Clark.” His father—right. Even though I knew everyone must look young around there, I just hadn’t pictured Ben’s father looking younger than he did.
I reached my hand out to shake his, and though he was smiling, he gave Ben a strange look before taking my hand. “Hello, Atancia, I am so happy to finally meet you. Ben has not stopped talking about you since the two of you met.”
“Hello, Mr. Althaus, I’m very glad to meet you, too,” I said before letting go of his hand. It occurred to me then that the look he gave Ben must have been over the handshake. I couldn’t feel his energy at all; he must have a really strong guard and touching unknown people was probably unusual for him.
“Call me Emilius, I never remember which last name I’m going by anymore,” he said, his smile never wavering.
“Call me Atty,” I replied.
“Well, follow me, Atty, I’m sure you’d like to get some fresh air. You’ve been stuffed up for quite a long time, haven’t you?”
“No, thank you. I’m all right.”
“Well, if you think of anything, let me know.”
I nodded then leaned my back on the wood railing that surrounded the porch. Ben came to stand next to me, and Emilius sat down in the chair in front of us. “So how was the trip? The flight comfortable? Not much turbulence, I hope.”
“None at all, Father. It was a very smooth trip. I was just glad that Atty had a current passport, otherwise we couldn’t have left right away like she wanted.”
“Nana always made me keep my passport current; she said you never knew when you’d want to run off to see the world.” Tears formed in my eyes when I said it, and Ben squeezed my hand.
“Well, she sounds like a very smart and adventurous woman,” said Emilius.
“She was,” I managed to say before drawing in a deep breath.
Emilius stood up then and clapped his hands together before saying, “Well, I’m sure you’d like some time to get comfortable. If you need me, just call. I’ll leave you two alone for a while.”
Before I could say anything, he had disappeared back into the house, and we were left on the porch alone. Ben hugged me, and I leaned into his support.
“I’m sorry, Ben.”
He moved back a bit to look me in the eye. “What for?”
“For acting like an idiot in front of your father!”
“What are you talking about, Atty? You didn’t act like an idiot.”
“I couldn’t even keep up a normal conversation for more than two minutes!”
“Atty, he knows you’re not at your best right now. He didn’t expect for you to be ready to party or something.”
“Even so, I shook his hand, Ben! He must have thought I was so rude!”
“What?”
“Come on, I saw how he looked at you when I put my hand out. You guys don’t usually do that, do you? Touch random people?”
“You’re not random people, Atty. He wasn’t worried about you touching him. He was impressed with your trust in him. People don’t usually put their hands out for my father unless they know him very well. Anyone who comes near him can tell how well-guarded he is. Anyone with that much control over himself is considered a danger to others.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t thought of that.
“Seriously, don’t worry, Atty. He knows that you’re an amazing person, and he’s not going to judge you on your first meeting, especially considering the circumstances. Just try to relax.”
“OK.”
“You want to go see your room?”
“OK.” I followed him back inside, sulking just slightly, but I felt better about the handshake at least, even if I still felt bad about the crying. I guess it didn’t really matter much.
I hoped I would be better the next time I saw him and when I met Ben’s brothers.
Ben led me through the living room and to the wood staircase that went up to the second floor. We turned right, following the banister that overlooked the lower level, then moved on through the hall until it met a wall. There we turned left and walked to the end of that hall which was lit by a large window at its end. Ben stopped at the door closest to the window and opened it.
“Here’s where you’ll be staying,” he said as we walked into the room. It was large with a king-sized bed against the center of the wall opposite the door and a dresser on the wall next to it. Four large windows framed with wood to look like four panes provided plenty of light, two on the wall on the left and two bordering the bed. Below those windows there were nightstands on both sides of the bed, the wood matching its frame. The bed was draped with a white comforter and very fluffy white pillows.
“It’s wonderful, thank you. I’m not pushing anyone out of a room, am I?”
“Of course not, this is one of the guest rooms.”
“How many guest rooms are there?”
“Just three, but this is the nicest one.”
“Where is your room?”
“Right next door.”
“Will you be sleeping there?”
“Where else would I sleep?”
I blushed then but couldn’t help asking because I wasn’t sure I would be able to manage sleeping on my own again. “Here?” I whispered.
“If you want me to, of course, Atty.”
“Your father wouldn’t mind? I mean it wouldn’t be weird for you to be sleeping in the same room as me?”
He started to laugh then. “You still don’t believe me when I tell you I’m an old man, do you? My father would probably think it odder if you were sleeping alone. And my brothers would not let me hear the end of it!”
I blushed deeper at that. “I guess they would assume stuff, huh? Since we’ve been together for a while?”
“Yes, they would. But I can tell them not to assume if you prefer.”
“No, it’s OK. No need to get into it.”
“No problem. I was hoping you’d ask me to stay with you, that’s why I made sure you got this room. But it’s completely all right if you prefer to be alone, Atty. Just let me know.”
“I won’t. I mean, I won’t want you to leave. I don’t think I can face sleeping alone just yet.”
“OK. Anyway, you want to unpack or just hang out for a while?” I was about to say that my bags were still in the car, but then I realized they were already in the corner of the room.
“Maybe just a couple of things, stuff I’ll need soon.”
“You want help?”
“No, it’s OK. Why don’t you go hang out with your dad awhile, and I’ll get my stuff in order.”
“If you want to take a shower or anything, it’s right through there.” He pointed toward a door on the right wall of the room, not far from the edge of the dresser. Then he shifted his gaze toward the back right corner and said, “That other one’s the closet.”
I nodded, and he came over and hugged me again.
“Just call if you need me. I’ll be downstairs,” he said before leaving me with my suitcases.
My first instinct upon being left alone was to sit down on the bed and blank out for a while. It wasn’t going to help though, so I decided to go ahead and unpack. At first I was just going to take out what I needed to change into, but I found it comforting to take everything out and find a space for it to go. I emptied both my suitcases, neatly placing all my clothes in the closet and dresser. I knew the order wouldn’t last, I was not a neat freak by any means, but at least it would look organized for a few days.
Once I finished unpacking, I thought Ben was onto something suggesting the shower. I felt grimy from the long trip, and I saw no need to wait until nighttime to clean up. I grabbed the bag I had brought with my toiletries and went into the bathroom. Turned out I didn’t need much of my stuff because the bathroom had been fully stocked with everything a girl might desire. I found expensive-looking shampoo, conditioner, lotions and all sorts of other things. I chose to use what they had there, hoping the new scents would help me feel better. My old shampoo reminded me of home, and I wanted to get away from that.
When I was done cleaning up, I got dressed and walked over to one of the windows as I combed my hair. The room had a beautiful view of the clearing where the house sat and deep woods right behind it. I watched a bird flutter from the ground back to a tree several times, working on a nest or maybe finding worms. Then after six or seven landings, it became startled and flew off in the opposite direction of its tree. I looked around to see what had scared it and saw a guy riding out of the woods on a mountain bike. I wondered if he was one of Ben’s brothers.
Ben. I should go find him; I’d kept him waiting long enough already. I left my hair loose since it was still wet and walked bac
k the way I thought we’d come from the staircase. My horrible sense of direction was still as bad as ever, so I took a wrong turn and ended up in an unfamiliar corridor. I turned around and walked back in the direction I’d come. Ben must have felt me wandering and came to my rescue.
“Oh, thank goodness. I was afraid I might be lost in the maze forever!”
He laughed and said, “I wouldn’t let that happen. Plus, it’s not really that big a house; you would have found your way out eventually.” I smiled and took his outstretched hand as he led me back the right way, and we were once again by the railing overlooking the lower level.
As we descended the stairs, I felt someone coming before the front door opened and a guy walked in. I recognized him as the same one who had been riding the bike outside my window, or actually I assumed because of his gear. I am as bad at observing what people look like as I am at noticing which direction I am traveling—not to mention he had been far away and wearing a helmet. He was covered in mud, but I could tell he was beautiful. His short, dark hair was wet with sweat and plastered to his head. His eyes were the color of dulce de leche, the light caramel we used for sweets in Miami. The contrast of his light brown eyes against his dark, almost black hair, was striking.
“Oh, hey, Matt!”
Matt, who was in the process of taking off his socks, having apparently left his dirty shoes outside, looked up when Ben called.
“Hey, Ben, you’re back!” he said smiling. His gaze shifted to me and his happy expression turned to one that appeared to be fear. His energy pulsed strongly; I could feel it was less protected for a moment then he put his shield back up. His energy was still distinct, but his shield was stronger than when he first came in. I wondered why he did it. I hoped he didn’t think I was there to drain him or something.