by E. Earle
I gritted my teeth at the thought. No, I needed to stay strong and show face.
“You ok?” Brynn asked as he leant against the bar. The dark circles had finally left his face and he was looking his usual tanned rugged self. Since Rino had fallen off the cliff, he had been a lot less jittery. I didn’t realise until now how relaxed he seemed- could he have been this uptight all of this time because Rino was on the loose? It was a curious thought.
I nodded, looking up at him. Well above six foot with a few inches to boot, it was always interesting to see troublesome tourists’ reactions when Brynn came to show them the way out. I realised then that I was staring and Brynn had noticed. Looking away quickly, I turned to the fireplace to open some post so he couldn’t see that my cheeks had flamed red.
“Well that’s us then,” my dad said coming down through the bar area with his suitcase. “Now are you sure you won’t come with us?”
I gave him a look that said I’m-not-doing-this-again and put my hands on my hips. He shrugged and then pulled on his Barbour jacket. My mum was a wreck as she hugged me, and I found my eyes welling up too.
“Promise me you’ll think about coming over,” she said. “Even if for a month.”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe- but not now. We’ve got loads to sort out with the-”
“Museum, yes I know,” she finished for me, looking tired.
“What are you going to do with all of this junk then?” Andy said pulling out the papers from Old Marley’s box. Brynn and I had pulled it out of the back to discuss what to do with it. We hadn’t come to a conclusion as yet- there wasn’t anything of value to display in the museum except maybe the medals as a memorial to Old Marley, but everything else? Even the rum was useless seeing as I had given up drink.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “We’ll probably just store it.”
Andy jerked suddenly and grasped the mouldy paper tighter. “Old Marley was a Brother?”
I raised my eyebrow. “Yeah, he had a brother called Patrick.”
My dad rolled his eyes at me. “No not that kind of brother- a Masonic Brother.”
“Really?” I stepped forward and peered down at the nonsensical scribbles on the paper. “How can you tell?”
Andy laughed as though I was blind. “This is all in code! Absolutely fascinating stuff…”
I glanced at Brynn and saw, like myself, he was none the wiser.
“He never said anything to me,” Brynn said.
“Of course he wouldn’t,” Andy scoffed. “The Brotherhood is a secret society.”
Brynn cleared his throat and took a breath that said he was trying to be patient.
“What does it mean, then?” I said quickly, flashing him a warning glance.
Andy paused dramatically and then slumped his shoulders in defeat. “I don’t know,” he admitted, looking slightly disappointed. “But this is dated 1888…” Not releasing it, he waved it in front of my nose and pointed out a scrawled ‘1888’ in the corner. “You should take this to an expert or something.”
“Or use Google?” I offered unhelpfully.
Andy made a scoffing sound and shook his head. Exchanging glances with Brynn, I shrugged and puffed air out of my cheeks. My mother was checking her watch and rolled her eyes as Andy continued to pour over the paper.
“I tell you what,” I said, “why don’t you just take it with you- it can be your little investigation project for when you get bored.”
I thought he would refuse at first but a huge grin broke out on Andy’s face. “Ok,” he said cheerfully. “I’ll do a bit of research.”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise, but my mother looked happy at the prospect of finally getting him to the car.
Brynn and I walked outside with them to the car park, the freezing air making me pull my cardigan tighter around myself. Giving my mother yet another tight hug, I caught eye of Brynn and Andy exchanging words and then shaking hands.
“I love you, Ellena,” my mother said, eyeing Ben as he padded up beside me. A strange look passed over her face and suddenly she knelt down and stroked his head. “I don’t know where you came from,” she said. “But you saved my daughter’s life.”
Ben purred with warm surprise and moved under her hand so it ran down his back. My mother smiled and gave him a quick scratch. “He does look a lot like him, doesn’t he?”
My eyes crinkled into a smile as she stood back up. “Maybe it is him,” I said playfully.
Rolling her eyes in disbelief, my mother got into the car. Tears were running down my face as my dad embraced me painfully, and I soon realised that he was crying too.
“Stay alive, Ellena,” he said jokingly. “That’s all I ask.”
I laughed and breathed in a scent that resembled security, love and a new start. Andy always represented a new life for me- he had changed so much for our family and I would never be able to express in words how much of an amazing father he was.
Waving as they drove off, Brynn put an arm around my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“Ready?” he said, as the car lights began to dim into the distance.
“Ready?” I echoed. Ready for what? Ready for a life without Rino? Ready for a life without being scared? Ready for a night without nightmares? Ready for the possibility of investigating whatever lay between me and Brynn? Ready for discovering what had happened to Olivia?
“Yeah, it’s freezing. Let’s go inside.”
I allowed myself to be led back into Craggy’s, Ben’s soft padding silent at my side. I may not be ready for a whole lot of things- but one thing was for sure.
I was ready for my fresh start.
www.eearle.com
More from this author…
The Adventures of Benedict and Blackwell
The Girl With Nine Lives
The Girl Who Bit Back
The Girl With Ten Claws
Stay tuned for the next instalment!
Hell Huntress
Tartarus
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