by Rushell Ann
Chapter 3
The Discovery
My Dearest Jayden,
I wish that I could be there with you now. I know that you have been through a lot in your life, I mourn the things I know I’ve missed, every birthday, every Christmas, the first boy that you kissed, your prom and graduating high school. All of the things you were without me, I’m sure that you managed, but I’m sad that I missed them. You were such a bright and curious child, always finding trouble where there was none. Always wanting to right the wrongs of the world. I know that you will fare well in your life, it’s in your blood, you are my daughter. There are things that I need to tell you so listen closely. The ring that you have now is a very special ring, be sure that you never take it off . This ring has been in our family since our clans were changed. It has passed on through generations so keep it close. There are people in your life that mean you harm, so do not trust as easy as you have in the past. Your guardian will protect you as he has done since my death. He will protect you so keep him close. There is a family that you must search out, I cannot tell you their names but I can tell you that they come from the east and they have something that you seek. I’m sorry that I cannot be more descriptive in this letter, but it is against their laws. I can tell you that things will happen to you that you don’t understand, but trust me, it will be ok and you need to search deep within yourself for them to be clear. Remember that not all help comes in the form that you are use to, so open your eyes and look around, help is always with you. You are a very special girl and you have destiny like no other so choose wisely in your life for you are my princess and I am always with you.
I want to hold you right now and tell you how much I love you, but since you are reading this letter, I was careless and died before my time. I do not want that to happen to you so be careful in your life and try to see ahead if you can. My dearest Jayden, I love you so much and please tell your father I love and miss him too, but do not show this letter to him, for he has been kept in the dark about our lives and it will put him in danger to know anything. I was not supposed to marry your father, but he was my soul mate and one cannot risk everything without love. I know that this letter did not give you the answers that you were looking for, but that will come in time. I will always be with you, so open your heart and I will help you through your journey. Some of the answers you seek can be found in the chest in the attic.
Take care, my Jayden. I am so very proud of you.
With all my Love forever,
Mother
The tears rolled off my face, I want my mother back, I want to hold her and have her tell me I’m going to be ok. I want her to explain this letter to me, now my questions are too much for me to even think about. What did this letter mean, how dare she leave me to deal with this all by myself? Why was I feeling anger towards her, I had never been angry with her before, why now? I reached over to grab some tissue and Saska got up and rested his head on my lap.
“So, are you my guardian? Is that what I’m supposed to believe, that a dog comes out now where and suddenly he's my guardian?”
Saska wined while I rubbed his soft ears.
This is all too weird for me, as my thoughts were all mangled together.
I started to drift off to sleep.
I woke up feeling rested, but a little uncomfortable. I looked over and Saska had taken up almost the entire bed with his feet pushing into my back. Great, now I have to share my bed, what else will I have to give up? Sully was already dressed and had put the mattress away, but she wasn’t in the room, had she already left. I put my robe on, I had to hide my letter, I put it under my mattress, somewhere that I knew my Dad would not look, and went downstairs hoping that Sully was still here, I wanted to talk to her about my letter.
I could hear voices coming from the kitchen.
“Good morning Jayden, how are you feeling this morning?” My dad asked with a hint of anger in his voice.
“I’m ok Dad, how are you?” I asked with innocent eyes. I knew when I could push my Dad, and right now wasn't one of them.
“Oh I’m fine, so how was your night?” he asked. I could tell he knew something but I wasn’t sure what it was.
Sully was sitting on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, looking at me with wide eyes trying not to let my dad see.
“It was an adventure, thanks for asking,” I said trying to hide any lie.
“So can you tell me why the police called this morning while you two sleepy heads were still resting? They are on their way to our house right now?” He asked.
“The police are on their way to our house?” I asked as I went over to pour myself come coffee that Dad had already made. I hope that he put four heaping scopes; he likes his coffee lighter than I do.
“Yes they are, so let’s hear what you ladies did last night that would warrant a visit from the authorities.” My dad handed me a mug and poured my coffee for me trying to read my face for some answers. I turned to walk towards Sully and mouthed help to her, but she just shrugged. I mouthed “Thanks” to her, but she just smiled at me. Saska came to the rescue by whining at the back door.
“I’ll be right back dad, Saska needs to pee, and I’ll just be a minute. Sully can you grab a water dish out of the cupboard, I bet he’s thirsty too?” I asked with a look that I hoped told her that I didn’t want to give my Dad any reason to think I was up to anything.
Once we were outside, Saska went over to the bushes to do his business. I had a feeling that my Dad was watching through the kitchen window.
Shit.
Shit.
I hate to lie, especially to my Dad, but Mom's letter told me that I couldn't tell him. I wouldn't put my only parent left
“Sully, have you told my Dad anything?” I asked in the softest whisper I could manage, we had our backs to the kitchen window.
“No, he just got the phone call a few minutes before you came downstairs and I excused myself to use the bathroom so he wouldn’t be able to ask me any questions,” She also whispered.
“We only have a few minutes to get our stories straight, I think we should stick to the truth as much as possible, except we leave out the bar part, and the gun part.” I pointed out to the yard as if we were talking about Saska.
“That sounds good, how about we tell him we got some pizza to go and walked down Main Street to window shop and I went to use the bathroom when you were attacked,” Sully said with excitement.
“Yeah, that’s great, and when came out and I was gone, you got in your truck to look for me. Good great and….” Dad interrupted my last thought.
“Are you finished letting the dog pee, Jayden.” My Dad asked with accusation.
“Let’s go Saska,” I commanded.
Saska went right in with no hesitation.
“So, are ladies going to tell me what happened before the police get here?” Dad asked as he sipped on his coffee.
“Ok, dad, now you can’t over react….” The doorbell rang.
“Great, they’re here, now I’m going to have to hear it as you tell it to the police. I hope you ladies didn’t get into any trouble.”
Dad brought the two police officers into the kitchen. Sully and I were sitting next to each other on the stools leaning our elbows on the breakfast bar, drinking our coffee, trying to act as nothing was wrong.
“Hello ladies, I’m officer Tuddles, and this is officer Sparks. We are here to talk to you about what happened last night,” he said as he took out his note pad to start writing down what we were about to say.
I was trying to pull off calm, but I could feel my arm pits start to dampen, I was hoping it didn’t show on my face.
“Ok,” We both said at the same time.
“Which one of you owns that Ford pick up?” office Sparks asked.
“That’s mine, isn't she a beauty.” Sully answered with a huge smile on her face. If anyone could lie, it was Sully, emotions were bottled down deep with her and it never showed on her face.
>
I knew that police could look up license plates; they probably already knew that it belonged to her.
“Can you tell me where you were last night?” officer Tuddles asked while looking straight at me.
“Sully took me out last night to get my mind of my best friend that died a few days ago. He drowned out in Lake Stevens,” I said, trying to sound distraught. I was upset, but I wanted to pull the attention off Sully and me and onto Logan’s death. Sorry Logan.
“I heard about that, we’re real sorry for your loss,” Office Tuddles said and he sounded like he meant it.
“Thanks,” I said. Small town, nothing usually gets by, one of the reasons I wanted to go to the U.W. for college, to blend into the crowd and disappear.
“So where did you go last night?” Officer Tuddles asked.
“Well, we stopped at "The Pizza Dive" and took our pizza to go, walked down Main Street to window shop, since most of the shops were closed by that time,” I answered sipping on my coffee again, trying to head off any unneeded questions.
“Is that all that happened last night,” officer Sparks asked with lingering question in his voice.
I could tell they knew more than we had hoped. Should I just spill the beans or should I try to answer just what they are asking us.
“Oh, it was my birthday yesterday, and I got…..” I started to finish and Saska nipped me on the back of my leg.
“Ouch!” I yelled.
“What happened?” Dad asked.
“Oh I bit my tongue. Good coffee,” I said.
I looked down at Saska and he had his lips pulled back and was showing me his teeth. What is going on with this dog, one minute he’s friendly and the next he’s jaws trying to take out my leg.
“So, can either one of you ladies explain to me why your truck was seen by an alley that in now covered in blood?” officer Sparks asked while tapping his pen on his notepad.
“Would you fella’s like some coffee?” I started to get up.
Sometimes you can use good old charm.
“No ma’am, we just need you to answer our questions,” officer Sparks said with annoyance in his voice.
“Jayden’s dog took off on us and we went looking for him, we found him eating some garbage by some dumpsters.” Sully poked her head around me to answer the officers.
Saska whined at me again, as he needed to pee, pacing in front of the back slider.
“Excuse me, gentlemen I’m going to let my dog outside before I have a mess to clean up,” I said as I got off my stool.
I went to the door and Saska took off around the corner, towards the front of the house.
“Ma’am we still need to ask you a few questions, it won’t take much longer,” officer Tuddles said.
“I hope not, because I have to bury my best friend today, and I am still very emotional about it, and would like time to grieve before the funeral.
“I understand, just one more thing," officer Sparks said.
I could tell that officers Sparks didn’t believe a word we were saying, but Tuddles felt sorry for us, with the loss of our friend and all.
“We need to take a look at your truck, inside and out, if you don’t mind Ms. McCormick," he stated.
“That would be fine with me, let me go upstairs and fetch my keys,” Sully said with pleasure.
Oh no, the blood, they will see the blood covering the back of the truck and a lot more questions will be asked, I was hoping to avoid talking about this attack. It would mean that the police would be involved, and I don’t need that right now.
As Sully came back down the stairs, she handed the keys to the Officer Sparks and we followed them outside.
Sully tried to hide her emotions, but I saw past her smile that went all the way to her eyes. I could see the worry in them, not that we did anything wrong.
The Officers looked inside the cab of the truck and walked back to the bed of the truck.
“I can explain…,” I started to say.
There was nothing there; a clean truck bed. Where did that tarp go, had Sully gotten up early this morning and moved it? That tarp was full of blood from Saska. If those officers found in they would know that we were involved in something.
“So what are you looking for?” Sully interrupted me.
“There were reports of a shooting in the area that you two were in last night, and a few people witnessed your truck at the scene and we got a report from a Vet last night that two girls brought their dog to them with a supposed gun shot. It turned out to just be a lot of blood. Your truck matched their description,” officer Tuddles said.
“Well none of us got shot last night, but boy that sounds like a better time than we had,” Sully said as she shut her truck doors and put her hand out to the officer to get her keys back.
My Dad has come outside, just as the officers were handing Sully here keys back.
“Officers I think that the girls have things to do today, so if you don’t mind,” My Dad put his arm out as to coral us back into the house.
Both officers looked a little perplexed, looking at each other then the back of the truck.
"Do either of you ladies have a gun registered or not?" This came from officer Sparks.
"No sir we don't. I might invest in a stun gun though. A girls gotta look out for herself with all the weirdo's out there," she told both officers.
“Well thanks for your time, if we have any further questions, we’ll be in touch,” officer Sparks said.
The police officers left and we all went back in the house. When we got back in house, I saw Saska waiting by the back door.
“So, ladies, if there is that kind of violence going on in town you need to be careful. Maybe stay away from that part of town for awhile, at least until this blows over,” Dad said as he opened the fridge.
“We will dad,” I said as I took a seat on my stool again.
“So would you ladies like me to make you some eggs and bacon?” Dad asked turning towards us.
“Yes Mr. St.Claire, that would be groovy,” Sully said.
Sully always called my dad by his last name instead of his first, I’m not sure why. He was the only adult figure that she seems to respect. Maybe she did that so she wouldn’t have to get to close to him. Sully made people believe that she didn't have room in her heart, even though I knew different.
“Hey Dad, could you grab that left over steak in the fridge, I bet Saska is starving, poor thing I’ve been so busy I forgot to feed him,” I said as I grabbed a plate.
Dad handed me the streak, I warmed it up a little, and set it down for him, he ate it as if it was pudding.
“Slow down, you’re going to choke,” Sully said.
I bent down in a cupboard by the sink and grabbed a plastic dish for a water bowl. I grabbed the Britta out of the fridge and filled the bowl. He drank it all and went too laid on the rug by the back door.
“So are you going to call around about him?” Dad asked as he was dishing up our breakfast.
“I sure am, I just wanted to get some food in me, my appetite seems to be back,” I said as I started to squirt ketchup on my eggs.
“So, what time is Logan’s funeral?” I asked Dad.
He hesitated. I could tell he didn't want to talk about this with me. “It’s at 11am. We still have a few hours. Are you going Sully?” Dad asked.
“No, I think I’ll leave that up to you two, I’ve got a bath calling my name and maybe a nap,” she said in between shoveling her food in her mouth.
We ate breakfast, but I kept thinking about where that tarp had gone and I didn’t want to risk asking Sully while my Dad was in earshot. Breakfast tasted so good, Dad’s eggs are always the perfect over easy, and his bacon is never to greasy and is always the right crispiness.
“Ok Dad, Sully and I are going to go get dressed and then I’ll call around about the Saska,” I said as I started leaving the kitchen.
“Hey Jayden, can you wait just a sec, I’d like to talk to you,”
Dad said as he started to gather our breakfast dishes.
“Sully, go ahead upstairs, take Saska with you, I’ll meet you in a few minutes.”
I knew this conversation was not going to go very well.
“What’s up Dad, was there something else on your mind?” I asked, but I knew exactly what he wanted to know from me.
“So, did you get a chance to read your Mom’s letter yet?” he asked as he was rinsing the plates to put in the dishwasher.
“No, not yet, we didn’t get home until late last night and I wanted to be fresh, maybe I might get to it tonight. Sorry Dad,” I said with sympathy. I knew how much he wanted to read the letter.
“Oh honey, it’s ok, it’s your letter I just wanted to read it and hear your mother’s voice in my head again,” he looked up and winked at me.
I hated to lie to my dad, I hardly ever do, and this is not one of the times that I wanted to.
“Ok Dad, we’ll I’ll let you know when I do. I love you.” I went up and hugged him and it felt so good. My Dad has been so supportive of me, always cheering me on in whatever I decided to do, even if it’s something he’s not fond of.
I went upstairs still thinking about the fact that I had just lied to my Dad about something that means so much to him, why can’t I show him the letter, what laws was mom talking about? She makes it sound like we’re part of some secret society. I decided at that moment that I would find out what all these things meant.
Sully was waiting for me sitting on the bed, petting Saska. Sully has never seemed to like pets much, but she seemed to like this one.
“So, I went outside looking for that tarp, can you think who might have put it next to the house under your Dad’s boat?” Sully said while staring at the dog.
“What, you think the dog put it there? How would he have known what the police were saying?” I said to Sully as she jumped off the bed to face Saska.
“Saska, go get Jayden’s hair brush,” Sully said while crossing her arms.
Saska jumped off the bed, went over to Jayden’s vanity, scooped up her hairbrush, and brought it to Sully. Sully took the hairbrush and looked t me like
“I told you so,” she said with a grin.
“So…what you’re saying that he understands English,” I said with contempt.
“This all seems a little too much like Saturday morning cartoons, Sully”.
“Why is this so hard for you to grasp, why would this not be possible,” Sully said while she climbed back on the bed and crossed her legs.
“OK, so say it's real. How is he able to understand us?” I said as I sat down on the bed with defeat.
I pulled my Mom’s letter out from under the bed and I read it aloud to her. She just sat there with her mouth open when I finished.
“Well what do you think?” I asked knowing that it was so cryptic.
“Wow that was like listening to a twilight zone episode. So, that letter was written almost 12 years ago?” Sully lay back on the bed.
“I don’t know, but I have to find out what all this stuff means,” I said as I looked at the clock on my nightstand.
I got up, went to the closet, and picked out some clothes for the funeral. I didn’t dress up much so I didn’t have much of a choice, but I grabbed a dark blue dress that was sleeveless and had a pattern of flowers on it, it was my favorite dress more so because the it felt like you weren’t wearing anything, it is so light weight. My shoes were black heels about an inch tall, I was already a tall girl about 5’ 8” so I tend to wear flats whenever I can.
After I got dressed, Sully said goodbye and told me she would call me after the funeral. I went downstairs and called all the local pounds and shelters to see if anyone reported a dog missing. No one had, I left my name and number with a description of the dog and left it at that. I had my doubts that anyone would call, with all the weirdness going around I just felt that this dogs place was next to me.
I was standing in the kitchen just staring out at the back yard when my Dad put his arm around my shoulder.
“Are you ready, sweet pea?” My Dad loved to call me that.
“I’m not ready to say goodbye, but I’m ready to get this over with,” I said as I put my hand over my dad's.
My dad drove to the church; it was only a few minutes from our house. I loved living in this town; different shades of green smothered the ground.
We arrived about 15 minutes early and we still had to park several blocks away. Logan was a well-known guy in the community; he was always donating his time. He would collect food for the food banks, help with maintenance at the church that his funeral was now being held at, and his favorite was to pop in and be a TA to the local elementary schools. Kindergartners were his favorite.
“Was it necessary to bring that dog?” My dad moaned as he got out of the car.
“Yes dad, he’s part of our family now, and his name is Saska. I don’t think he likes to be called dog,” I said as I opened the back door to let Saska jump out.
“I don’t think they allow animals into the church,” Dad frowned as he waited for us.
“Well, we'll just have to sneak him in then,” I grinned.
By the time we walked up to the entrance of the church, most of the people were already seated inside. The only open benches were in the back, which worked for me since I didn’t want to draw attention. I do think he might have a point about animals in churches, but whatever. Better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Dad sat in the aisle seat and I sat next to him, with Saska lying on the floor by my feet.
This church is my favorite, Logan and I would come just to sit in the benches and stare up at the stain glassed windows that lined the ceiling that seem to correspond to the heavens. Logan and I use to talk about how long it must have taken to make the angels in the windows and who might the artist have been?
The sermon started and it brought my attention back from my warm memories. I could barely hear what he was saying, but I am sure it was all nice things.
“So, are you going to get up and say anything about him?” a voice whispered to me in my right ear from behind me.
I recognized the voice.
Saska raised his head and started to rumble. Ok, now I can see why maybe the dog should have stayed home.
I turned to him and he was smiling at me, the guy that saved my life last night. I finally was able to look at him with every piece of my eye. He had a stocky build like Logan, but his face was more oval with a softer look throughout his face. His eyes are almond shaped, but the color brown is so dark, they looked like they were swirling every few seconds. Just like Logan's eyes but brown. His eyebrows looked more manicured than that of a typical man. I wonder if he plucks them? His lips are fluffy and wide and when he smiled that made the dimples pop out. I wanted to just stare at him; but I had to look away, I could feel the red creeping up my face. What was he doing here, how did he know about Logan?
“Umm…No, I don’t do well in front of crowds,” I said as I felt my face start to turn shades of unnatural color.
My Dad had gotten up and went towards the front to speak about Logan. My Dad adored Logan, he was one guy that my Dad never worried about. When Logan and I would go out, he never seemed concerned with curfews. It probably helped that I didn’t date, so to my Dad, Logan was my best friend and not a threat to his little girl, but a bodyguard.
“I’m sure you are a wonderful speaker, Jayden,” he said.
I could smell his cologne and it was driving me crazy, it clouded my mind while I was trying to figure out how he knew my name. I closed my eyes to take a deep breath just so that I could savor that smell. It made me want to sit closer to him even though I didn't know him.
“So what are you doing here, did you know Logan?” I asked with the thought of my mother's words ringing in my head “do not trust as easily as you have in the past”.
“Actually Logan and I are half-brothers,” he said as he watched for an expression on my face.
Saska started to growl, softly.
“It’s ok Saska,” I said as I stroked his fur along his neck. He nuzzled his face into my hand.
“Nice looking dog, how long have you had him?” this stranger who claimed to be Logan's brother asked me. A brother I had never heard about.
Ever.
“He’s been in the family for years,” I said as I kept my hand on Saska.
“Logan never mentioned a brother before?” I asked with a hint of anger. If this was true, I was starting to feel a little betrayed that Logan wouldn’t have told me about him.
“Logan didn’t know about me until just recently. I apologize, I haven’t introduced myself. I am Blake Hamilton,” he said as he reached his hand out for me to shake.
“So you too have what…different mothers,” I said as I ignored his hand.
“Yes, same fathers but different mothers. My mother didn’t want to be a burden so she kept me a secret, and I took her last name,” he said as he turned towards me.
“So how long has this dog been in the family?” he said as he reached to pet Saska.
Saska snapped at him.
Well that settles that.
“I really need to listen to what's going on. Logan was my best friend and I owe him my respect right now, plus my Dad’s getting ready to speak.” I bent down and put my face next to Saska’s.
“Hey boy, be nice, no causing trouble right now. We are in church. I don’t think they would appreciate you as much as I do,” I said while I laughed quietly.
I could barely hear my dad; he started talking about when we first met Logan and how he was always at our house.
It was hard to hear the rest but my mind started to wander to when my mother died. I was such a little girl, only nine, and not ready to be hit with such a tragic experience. My mother and I were very close, and her death was very hard on me. When I would get scared at night, I would crawl into bed with my mom and dad knowing that I would immediately feel at ease and that whatever was bothering me was gone.
My mom was always involved at school, it helped that she didn’t have to work. She would come to class several times a week and help the teacher with special projects that were going on like carnivals for fundraisers, baking sales, and she loved to come help the teacher with math. She was always a favorite with my classmates, especially the boys. My mom was a very beautiful woman; she had long red hair that seemed wave all around her. I guess I have the same hair as my mom. I remember she use to love to brush my hair and she would style our hair the same. She called us twins. I loved that, since I didn’t have any siblings. With my Mom at home, she had time to do cooking and other projects around the house. On Saturdays, I would help her make her coffee and we would go outside and paint; she called me her little Picasso.
Being at this funeral was bringing up memories that I hadn’t thought about in a long time.
I remember the day like it just happened yesterday. I was in third grade, and loved school. My Mom was supposed to show up to help our class out with a play that we were planning. She was going to show up before lunch, I loved it when my Mom ate lunch with me. Lunch came and went and she still hadn’t shown up yet, I started to wonder where she was and I got worried. My worries got worse when I saw my Dad show up and I knew that something was definitely wrong. I was very young but I knew when I saw my Dad whisper in my teacher’s ear and she gasped and put her hands over her face and started to cry. My Dad walked past the front tables, stopped at my desk, bent down, and got real close to my face.
“Honey, let’s get your things together, ok,” he said as he put his hand over mine.
“Where’s Mom, she was suppose to be here today,” I said as I started to get up.
“It’s ok honey, let’s get your coat.” He walked over to the wall where we all had put our coats and bags.
We collected our stuff, and I remember looking back at my teacher, she was wiping her face off with a tissue. She gave me a look, and at the time I didn’t know what it meant, but looking back, she was giving me the look of sympathy, telling me with her face how sorry she was for me.
Dad didn’t say anything to me while we drove home, and I was still not sure what was going on. We pulled up at home, and that’s when I finally asked again.
“Daddy, where’s Mom? Why are we home?” I asked as I got out of the car.
“Let’s go inside and then we can talk,” he said.
Dad brought me into the house with his arm around my little shoulders and sat me down on the living room sofa. He proceeded to tell me that mommy had died and would not be coming home. It’s hard at that age to understand death, but the not coming home part, wasn’t comprehendible. I remember crying so hard and for so long that had to make a call to our family doctor, who came to make a special house call. Dad had carried me to my room and put me into my pajamas. I couldn’t stop crying so the doctor had to give me something to help keep me calm. Dad to this day has never told me what happened; just that there had been an accident and she had died. How she died had never been important to me, just that she was dead and never coming home. I wanted to see my mom again and sit in her lap while she ran her fingers through my hair, to run into her room when I had a bad dream, and to come home to the smell of homemade cookies. I would never get to do any of those things again, at least with my mom anyway.
I started to get teary eyed and realized that Blake was still sitting there.
He leaned over to me and said, “What are you thinking about that has you looking so serious?”
“You mean the death of my best friend, and your supposed brother shouldn't put that look there?" I firmly asked.
How dare this person get to understand anything that I'm going through.
"Fine if you must know, my mom’s death,” I said as I wiped a tear from my face. This guy is starting to really piss me off.
“I’m sorry to hear that your mother passed, how old were you?” he asked with what seemed like real sincerity.
“I don’t want to talk about it right now, I have to go, please excuse me,” I said as I started to get up.
Blake grabbed my hand. Saska started to growl and his lips pulled back to show his teeth.
“Blake I wouldn’t grab me like that, my dog has a thing about people touching me,” I said as I yanked my arm away.
“I apologize. I just wanted to tell you that if you ever need anything, anything at all, even if it’s just to talk, I’ll be staying at Logan’s house to help out his mom.
“I’m sure I won’t, but thank you,” I said to him as he walked away.