Atancia

by Figueiro, Wren

  Once we got home, I put all thoughts of drivers or danger out of my mind. I hadn’t been apart from Ben in a very long time, and I wanted to savor his presence. The house felt empty, and though I knew that was probably not the case, I led Ben up the stairs to the room we shared. We lay on the bed and kissed for a very long time, just enjoying each other. Eventually the kissing led to other things, and I fell asleep still relishing the touch of his skin against mine.

  Chapter 24

  When I woke up, I could sense that Ben was in the bathroom, and I figured he must be getting ready to go. I couldn’t feel Matt anywhere near and wondered if he’d even come home. I hadn’t noted his presence at all. Ben came out of the bathroom in boxer briefs, his body still glistening with moisture from the shower. I let my eyes and thoughts wander as he came over to the bed and sat down next to me, giving me a quick good morning kiss.

  “You sleep all right?” he asked.

  I nodded. “You leaving soon?”

  “Julian wants to leave in 10 minutes.”

  That made me pout. “You should have woken me. We could have spent more time together.”

  “I liked how comfortable you looked,” he said.

  I smiled at him. “I’m going to throw something on so I can walk with you downstairs. No point in wasting time with a shower if I’m going to the reserve anyway. I’ll get clean later.”

  He smirked and said, “Thanks for the image. I’ll keep it on the plane.”

  Ben hadn’t been exaggerating about having someone there before he left. He introduced me to my driver as we walked out to Julian’s car. Both Julian and Javed were already inside waiting for him.

  “Atty, this is Frank. We’ve known each other for a long time. He drives my father on occasion.” I hadn’t thought of it before, but it occurred to me that I had never seen Emilius leave the house. I wondered why that was.

  “Hi, Frank.”

  “Morning, miss.”

  Frank was human, huge and muscular. He looked more like a bodyguard than a driver, and it made me a bit nervous again thinking I might need protection because of what I was or, perhaps, because of whom I was with. Maybe Ben’s paranoia wasn’t just because of my ability. Maybe he worried that people might hurt me to get to him or Emilius.

  “You’ll be safe with Frank, Atty. Just tell him if you want to go someplace other than the reserve. Though I’d prefer it if you stuck to there and here unless you want to go someplace with Matt. I told him you would be on your own for a few days.”

  “OK.”

  He hugged me and then kissed me goodbye. “I’ll be back really soon. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Lynn didn’t seem surprised to see me when I walked into the reserve. Ben must have told her I was coming. She said hello and waved me over to see what she was doing.

  “Is that the joey from yesterday?” I asked her.

  “Yes. He looks good, right?”

  I nodded. He did look good, certainly better than he had the day before. He was drinking what I assumed was formula from a bottle she was holding and, though he couldn’t move much, he seemed content just to stay where he was and drink.

  “Martha’ll be by later to check on him, but so far so good.”

  “That’s awesome.”

  “So what would you like to do today, Atty?”

  “I don’t know. I thought I could help you with something. Just tell me what to do.”

  “Well, I have to cut all that fruit there. You want to do that?” she asked, pointing at a pile on the back counter.

  “Sure.”

  I went over to start on the fruit while she finished feeding the joey. There was a lot of fruit. Once I was done, I helped carry it and feed several animals. Lynn and I talked as we walked.

  “How long have you been working here, Lynn?”

  “About three months.”

  “And you like it?”

  “I love it. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. It’s only part time now, but that’s because I’m still finishing school.”

  “What are you studying?”

  “Veterinary science.”

  “Of course. You like working with Martha then?”

  “Oh yes. I have learned so much just watching her.”

  “She seems like a really great vet.”

  “She is, especially when you consider how young she is.”

  Just then I felt Martha drive up. “She’s here.”

  “Who’s here?”

  Oh dear, I couldn’t tell Lynn I felt Martha approaching.

  “She’s here all the time, I mean?”

  “When she has an injured patient. Otherwise she comes once a week or so.”

  We had finished distributing the fruit, so I walked farther from the entrance so that it would take a while for Martha to reach us. I didn’t need Lynn noticing how odd my timing had been. Fortunately it seemed Martha had something to do inside because I felt her linger there a while. It was at least 10 minutes before she came out to find us.

  “The joey looks good, Lynn!” Martha shouted as she approached.

  “He does,” Lynn agreed, smiling.

  “Hey, Atty! How are you doing? Did you see the joey?”

  “I’m good. Yes, I did. I’m so glad he’s OK.”

  Martha nodded and turned toward Lynn, “Would you mind going to get me some supplies? I had meant to bring them from my office, but I forgot.”

  “Not at all,” Lynn said. “Just give me a list.”

  “Great. I’ll stay with Atty.”

  Once Lynn left, Martha looked at me. “I hope you don’t mind me sending Lynn away awhile. I wanted to talk to you alone.”

  “No problem. What did you want to talk about?”

  “Your talent.”

  “OK, though I can’t really tell you much other than I have it.”

  “But you’d done this before? Transferred to something?”

  “To a lizard once, and to some cows.” I started walking again because this topic made me a bit anxious, and I needed to move.

  “Ben said you tried on a human once.”

  Pain stabbed at my heart and I couldn’t answer.

  “Are you OK, Atty? You look ill all of a sudden.”

  It took me a moment to reply. “Yes, I’m sorry. It’s just that the human was my adoptive grandmother and the transfer didn’t work.”

  “I’m sorry, Atty. Ben didn’t give me all the details. I didn’t realize.”

  “You couldn’t have, don’t worry.”

  “Do you know why it didn’t work?”

  “No idea, maybe it just wasn’t my place to help her.”

  “I doubt that, but all right.”

  She stopped for a second and stared at a koala chewing on a leaf.

  “So how do you manage it, Atty? Do you always have more than necessary just in case? Or do you get more just when you need it for a transfer?”

  “Well, with the lizard and the cows I took it from them and then gave it back. For my … for my grandmother, I tried collecting extra the entire day so that I would have enough to help her. With the joey yesterday, I took what I could from the mother. I was pretty low and Ben told me to do it that way. Maybe he was worried I would hurt myself, but I think I could have done it without the mother’s energy. I just panicked and followed his instructions.”

  “That was probably a good idea, Atty. There’s no need risking you over this. That talent of yours is too important to let you get weak from it.”

  I wasn’t sure whether to be offended that she was more concerned about my talent than me. She realized what she had said and added, “I didn’t mean to imply that you’re not important for just yourself, but rather that what you can do can help so much, Atty, maybe even help people. You need to take care of yourself, so you can see how much good you can do.”

  I just nodded and continued walking. She didn’t say anything for a while but then asked if I could show her how I did it. She tried to get me to show her di
rectly on herself, but I told her I wasn’t comfortable doing that so she directed me toward a pen with some goats.

  “They’re tame, you can walk right up to them.”

  “I know, but won’t they freak out and try to run? The cows I tried this on were mostly asleep.”

  “OK, how about a tortoise? It can’t go far.”

  “Well, OK.”

  We walked to where a giant tortoise lay chewing on a pile of vegetables. I squatted next to it and put my hand on its leg. I drew out some energy, and the tortoise turned its head to stare at me. I quickly replaced everything I had taken.

  “Oh, I felt it. You have great control, Atty. He didn’t even notice anything until you were almost ready to put everything back.”

  “Ben told me it’s important not to spook them.”

  “Of course he would tell you that, but that doesn’t mean that you could do it right away. He said you’ve only be transferring for a short while. Usually, it takes years for us to get as steady as you seem to be.”

  “I must have had a really good teacher.”

  “Hmm. Maybe.”

  We’d been talking for almost an hour, and I was glad when I felt Lynn approaching again.

  “I put everything inside, Martha.”

  “Great, thanks so much.” She followed Lynn inside and left me wondering whether I should have gone too. I thought maybe I’d recharge a little. I walked toward the back end of the kangaroo field and pet a few before heading back to the main building.

  When I walked in, Lynn was packing up to go to school. She was leaving earlier than usual because Martha told her she’d stay until the afternoon caretaker showed up. I wasn’t too keen on having another serious conversation with Martha, so I called Frank and he drove up a few minutes later. I guess he hadn’t gone far, but that didn’t surprise me.

  The house was empty when Frank dropped me off, or at least it felt empty. I assumed Emilius was inside someplace; otherwise Frank might not have left. I decided to take my overdue shower so I headed upstairs. While I was in the bathroom, I felt Matt come in the house and go to his room. Again I wondered if he’d come home the night before.

  I didn’t need energy, but I wanted to eat so I went downstairs and started boiling some water for pasta. I mixed cream, butter and parmesan in a saucepan and started making some white sauce. I learned how to make it from Lizzie’s mom. Nana taught me how to cook a lot of things, but she was not a big fan of pasta. I found some frozen spinach and decided to add that too. I was immersed in cooking when I felt Matt coming toward the kitchen.

  “You’re cooking,” he stated.

  I turned toward him and said, “Yes. It’s pasta Alfredo, sort of. You want?”

  He smiled and nodded before sitting down to watch me finish cooking. I’d just recently become aware of the way he made statements to lead the conversation rather than ask questions. If he had straight out asked whether he could have some pasta, I might have said no and he would have made me feel rude. I wouldn’t have said no, but it was nice to know that he thought about that stuff.

  “I love the way a house smells when things are cooking. Not so much for the food, but because it’s like knowing you’re home.”

  I had always felt that way when I walked into the house after a long day of school and could smell the dinner Nana was cooking. It made me feel cared for, loved. That’s why I wanted to learn how, so I could do it for her too. It occurred to me that Matt’s mother must have cooked. “I know just what you mean.”

  “It’s amazing how much I miss that,” he lamented.

  He’d complained about the lack of food in the house before, but the way he said it made me wonder if he meant that this place didn’t feel like home to him.

  “Me too.”

  He looked up at me as I was stirring the sauce, and I could see the empathy in his expression. I turned my face back to the sauce.

  He watched as I scooped up a piece of pasta and tested to see if it was ready. Then he volunteered to drain the pasta. I moved over so he could pick up the pot and carry it to the sink before emptying its contents into the colander I had waiting there. He brought the pot back in silence, and I poured in the sauce.

  We served ourselves and sat down to eat, still not saying anything. I didn’t feel as uncomfortable as I usually did when there was silence like that, but I preferred talking. “So, Ben said that you might start studying at the university in Sydney.”

  “Yes, I’ve been thinking about it.”

  “What are you going to study?”

  “Music.”

  “Of course.”

  “I am predictable. Or at least I am now.” He scooped up some pasta and started to eat.

  “Why now?”

  “Mmm. This is really good, Atty,” he said, pointing to the pasta.

  “Thanks.” I wasn’t sure if he was avoiding the question, so I asked again even though maybe I shouldn’t. I wanted to know why he added the “now.”

  “Well, before coming here I was going to study journalism.”

  “Really? I wouldn’t have pegged you for a reporter.”

  “Well, I wasn’t going to be a reporter; maybe a freelance magazine writer. I wanted to do something where I wouldn’t be in an office arousing suspicion by not looking any older.”

  “Right,” I said, thinking this made sense, but then I realized something. “But, you didn’t want to work with your brothers?”

  “I didn’t know my brothers then.”

  “Oh. I forget that. You didn’t know them at all?”

  “We’d never met until I came here.”

  I very much wanted to get more information about this, but I didn’t want to push him. I didn’t want to remind him of anything that might make him sad.

  “So what kind of magazines did you want to write for?”

  “Travel magazines. I’ve been to so many places I figured I could write several articles without even leaving home,” he said, smiling.

  “I guess that makes you like your brothers. Where was your favorite place?”

  “Greece.”

  “Greece must be awesome. All that history,” I said.

  “History, yes, it’s amazing. But what’s more amazing is the food!”

  He said it with such adoration that I started to laugh. “The food? Seriously?”

  “I can see by your amusement that you have never eaten in Greece.”

  “And here I thought you were going to come up with some deep reason why you loved an exotic locale.”

  “Oh, it’s deep. A deep love of their cooking.”

  “Forget travel writing, Matt, you should be a food critic.”

  “Yeah, I thought of that, but I doubt I’d be good at it. I like everything too much.”

  We ate our lunch as he described to me all the things he ate in Greece. Occasionally he mentioned the monument he was near when he did it. Apparently the baklava he got at a restaurant near the Parthenon was the best one he’d ever tasted. He then took 15 minutes or so to describe the differences between the American and Greek versions of feta cheese.

  Eventually I got him talking about his music again, and he had me wait out on the porch while he got his guitar. He played and I listened, admiring the perfect way he hit each chord and the way his voice warmed me. Actually, it warmed me a bit too much and made me wish that Ben were nearby. It couldn’t be appropriate to think of the things I was thinking while hanging out with Matt instead of Ben, even if the face I saw in my mind was definitely Ben’s. I decided to distract him once he finished the song.

  “So, did you go out last night?” I didn’t want to mention I hadn’t felt him return; he’d think I was keeping tabs on him. That would be weird.

  “Yeah, I went out with Andrew, then crashed at his place. It was pretty late.”

  “Sounds like a good time.”

  “Yeah, I guess. If you ever want to come, just let me know. Especially if you’re going to be bored here while Ben is out of town.”

  “T
hanks. I’ve been good so far. I went to the reserve this morning.”

  “I heard something about you maybe helping Martha.”

  “Yeah, she asked me about helping when her patients need a bit of extra energy to get through,” I replied but wondered where and when he’d heard about it.

  “That could certainly be helpful.” The tone of the statement made me wonder if there was a question he wasn’t asking.

  “Yeah. She weirds me out a bit though.” I wasn’t sure why I had shared that.

  He nodded and said, “It’s not just you. I think maybe she’s so focused on her work that she’s not really good at social stuff or talking to people. Maybe she’s been around animals too long.”

  “Maybe. Between her and Frank it was a bit of an odd morning.”

  “Ah yes, Frank is a bit intimidating. He never talks.”

  “So it’s not just me then?”

  “No. I think he’s used to minding his own business when he deals with us. He just drives. Though I think we use him more as a bodyguard than a driver, really.”

  “That’s the same thing I thought. But why would we need a human bodyguard?” I asked, thinking about Ben and how I worried he might be doing something dangerous.

  “Lots of reasons, Atty, including the fact that he can’t overpower you. A Durand bodyguard with a good shield and duplicitous intentions would be dangerous. I don’t think I’m the one who should explain it all to you, though.”

  Now I was really worried. “Is it really that dangerous to be related to your father?”

  “It can be.” He said it with a look that made me think he was remembering something. I didn’t want to upset him, so I decided I better talk to Ben about all this when he got back.

  Neither of us said anything for a few moments, then Matt volunteered, “If you feel strange with Frank, Atty, I can take you wherever you need to go.”

  “No, I couldn’t turn you into my personal driver. I’m sure you have lots to do.”

  “It wouldn’t be any trouble at all. Actually, if you’re going into the reserve tomorrow, I can definitely drive you. I was going to go to Sydney, and it’s on the way.”

  I hesitated for a moment, but I really preferred to drive with Matt. The ride to the reserve seemed longer with no one talking. “OK, if you’re sure it won’t mess up your plans.”