Absent Shadows: Destiny Part 12

'Hmmm ... maybe you've got a point. But what are you thinking? Send Lili with Elizabeth, to look for these ghosts?' The tone of Sam's voice suggested he could be open to the idea.

'Yes. She's very approachable, as is Elizabeth. Between the two of them we have the best shot at getting some information, if there is any to be had that is,' replied Michael.

Sam turned to me, and put his hands on my shoulders. His eyes searched mine, and I knew he was looking for signs of fear. But I wasn't afraid, and he must have been able to see that, because after a few moments, he turned back to Michael.

'Okay. Lili can go with Elizabeth. And I'll stay back. But I want to be close enough to see what's happening, if that's okay with you Michael.'

If I'd had any doubt before, it was quite clear now that Michael was very much in charge.

Crystal looked at me and smiled as she spoke, 'Lili, I'm sorry-I'm a terrible hostess. Can I get you a coffee or cool drink? And has Sam remembered that you actually need to eat? Can I make you some toast? I've got some beautiful cinnamon bread that I bought at the market.'

I hadn't thought of food, but at the mention of the toast, my mouth started to water.

'Yes, thank you-that sounds wonderful. Can I help?' I offered.

'No, you stay here. How do you have your coffee?'

'Just black thank you-no sugar.'

'She's sweet enough,' laughed Michael, 'I'll have one too, while you're at it. And toast, thanks.'

The mood in the room had softened with the talk of food. Erranase just smiled at Sam, lifting one eyebrow. He seemed to behave toward Sam the way any father would behave toward a son. Maybe the link between them was stronger than Sam had suggested.

I looked at Sam, and he smirked. 'What?' he asked.

'I was just wondering, how will she know you want to speak to her? She isn't just there all the time is she?'

'No. She does spend a lot of time in the gardens, but she also wanders throughout the markets for a bit of entertainment. She likes to make contact with the little toddlers and babies in prams. She gets a real kick out of making them laugh. And other times she just sits with Henry and some of the other ghosts. But if I go to my tree and think of her, she generally appears shortly afterwards. She seems to be able to hear me from quite a distance.'

'Other ghosts ... from the graveyard?' I knew Sam had said he sees ghosts all the time but I'd never actually clarified just how many, and where they came from.

'Yes. You know there are thousands of bodies still in that graveyard, under the car park, don't you? They aren't all ghosts of course, but I believe there are still several hundred there-maybe more. They don't all wander about as much as Elizabeth does, but I do see different ones from time to time. And Elizabeth mentions others, especially if they've said anything she thinks might be of interest to us.'

'Oh, I see.' This was freaky. I mean, I'd seen Elizabeth of course, and there was absolutely nothing even the slightest bit scary about her. But I wasn't too sure that I wanted to come across others. And yet here I was, volunteering to try to talk to four new ghosts that had died violent deaths, and might not even yet believe that they'd died.

Crystal came back with the coffee, and a plate with several pieces of thick cinnamon toast. The smell was heavenly, and I had to be careful to make sure I didn't start drooling.

'You know, you could come into the kitchen and sit at the table if you prefer,' she said as she handed me the coffee and set the plate on the edge of the dining table.

'Oh, I don't mind standing. I don't want to miss anything.'

'Of course, whatever you prefer,' she replied in her perfectly calm voice.

'Thanks Crystal,' said Michael, still focusing on the map as he reached over for a piece of the toast. Then he paused as something seemed to catch his attention.

'Sam, look at this,' he said, pointing to the triangle he'd drawn with the purple dots. 'See this triangle-the equidistant one? See here, from Queensberry Street... here, down to the corner of Victoria and Orr Streets... then down to Little Londsdale Street. This triangle completely misses the market car park-just barely cutting across the fresh foods section of the market.'

'Yeah, I see,' said Sam.

'Well, I don't think they could've secured The Cauldron yet. Or if they have, they don't have the crystals yet.'

'How do you know that?' asked Sam.

'Well, if they had, you wouldn't have been able to get in here this morning. We'd be inside the diamond. But there's something else, Sam. The diamond ... it would cover the car park ... completely.'

'Yeah, and your point is?'

'Well, I was just thinking about what you said to Lili about the ghosts. If Zunios gets the diamond in place, and it covers the car park, the ghosts may be trapped there for as long as the diamond exists.' Sam's eyes widened. 'Why do you say that, Michael? I didn't think the power had any effect on humans, so why should it trap the ghosts?'

'You're right about the diamond not affecting humans, but ghosts have more in common with us than humans do-being immortal as it were. I just think that in the same way that we won't be able to get inside the diamond once it forms, they very well may not be able to get out.'

'Let me look at that diamond again,' Sam said, leaning over the map. 'The diamond cuts across the corner of the gardens too, and it looks like my tree would be just outside it. If what you're thinking ends up being true, Elizabeth won't be able to get to the tree.'

'Exactly,' said Michael, 'and we won't be able to get out either, if we're inside the diamond when it happens.'

'We'll go now,' said Sam, looking at me anxiously while I sipped my hot coffee. I could see fear in his eyes, for the first time since I'd met him. If all that they'd just been talking about was true, then on top of everything else, there was a chance he could lose communication with Elizabeth, and I knew that was something he could never bear.

Michael shook his head thoughtfully. 'There's no need to rush, Sam. Lili, finish your coffee. Today is Sunday. Nothing will change today. And I'm certain the diamond can't be in place yet, or you wouldn't have been able to get here, to the house.'

'But you can ring the owner, today, and make sure that he stops any transfer, if there is one in the pipeline,' said Sam, looking pleadingly at Michael.

Crystal stepped forward, and seemed to grow taller as she turned to speak directly to Sam.

'Relax, Sam. Let Lili finish her breakfast. Now,' she said, turning to me, 'Lili, you need to relax too. Take a deep breath. You'll need to be calm when you try to make contact with these victims if there is to be any hope of them telling us anything. There is time.'

Her calm voice helped make me a little less anxious. I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. My heart was still racing, but I tried to relax. I finished the toast and felt better for it.

There was a loud knock on the door, and Tom came barrelling in and made his way into the dining room.

'Erranase,' he said, similar to Sam's greeting. 'Michael, Crystal-what have I missed? Fill me in.'

Michael quickly filled Tom in on the details. The whole conversation was just a murmur to me. It occurred to me that maybe Michael had been speaking clearly and slowly for my benefit, as Tom seemed perfectly capable of taking everything in.

Tom looked at me and smiled. 'You're brave, Lili. I don't envy you the job of talking to the ghosts. Not my cup of tea, mingling with spirits,' he said, doing a mock shiver as he laughed.

Sam glared at Tom, then took my hand and rubbed it softly. 'Thanks, Tom. Don't scare her. She's doing very well so far. Just ignore him Lili, he's just teasing you. They can't hurt you, and even if they tried Elizabeth and I would never let anything happen to you.'

Tom kept laughing, but when Michael glared at him he stopped, though he seemed to have trouble wiping the smile off his face.

Michael turned to us, speaking quietly, but with authority. 'Whenever you're ready, Lili.'

* CHAPTER FOURTEEN *.

'I'm ready,' I said, swallowing hard. I had that image again-of standing in the plane with my parachute strapped on, too terrified to jump. Only this time, it wasn't just Sam standing there with me-it was Tom, and Michael, and Crystal... and Erranase.

'Let's do this,' I said to Sam, pleased at the confidence I could hear in my voice.

'Okay, let's go,' he said, taking my hand and leading me to the front door.

'We'll all be right here Lili, watching closely. Nothing bad will happen. But just remember, we'd be there in the blink of an eye if you need us, so relax,' said Crystal, in a rea.s.suring voice.

We walked out the door, and stood on the sidewalk for a moment. The gardens looked like they always did. There was nothing amiss, nothing unusual.

As we approached the tree I wondered if Elizabeth might be there already, but she wasn't. We stood there for a few minutes, Sam with his arm around my shoulders protecting me from the chill wind.

It didn't take long for her to appear. And when she did she was humming a little song. I didn't recognise it, but it was sweet and I felt comforted immediately. Sam looked relieved that she'd appeared.

'Hi Sam, Lili. What brings you here on this miserably cold day?' she said in her sweet voice.

I thought of the four bodies laid out in the diamond shape, and in a moment her face changed and her humming stopped.

'Oh, I see,' she said to both of us. 'Well, let me see if I can find them.'

She walked once around the tree, and then over toward the bench we'd sat on last time. 'Come, sit with me, Lili.'

Sam looked at me, and reluctantly let go of my hand. 'Go with her, it'll be fine.'

Then he walked back toward the house, looking over his shoulder a few times before he dropped out of sight.

'They are here, but they don't understand what's happened so they're quite wary,' she said, once Sam had disappeared over the road.

'Is there anything I should be doing, in particular?'

'Well, remember what Sam had you do the first time we met? Close your eyes and think of a relaxing place. Try to clear any negative thoughts from your mind.'

I did as she said, and as soon as my eyes were closed, her humming started again. The wind had stopped, and it felt warm here on the bench, and I thought that the sun must have finally broken through the thick clouds.

I wondered if I should open my eyes, but as soon as I thought it, Elizabeth replied, 'Not yet'.

Sitting there with my eyes closed, I felt like I was dreaming. I seemed to be floating above myself, watching my own face-it all seemed so peaceful.

'Now,' said Elizabeth, softly.

I opened my eyes and standing before me were three ghosts: one man, and slightly behind him, two women. They couldn't have been much older than me, and looked perfectly normal; confused perhaps, but not frightened. And there was certainly nothing scary about them.

Elizabeth spoke to them, asking them their names and what they remembered.

The young man spoke for the three of them. He was a backpacker from Scotland named Kevin. He'd been travelling on his own, but met up with the two women at a pub, and they'd hit it off. The women were twin sisters, from Ireland. They were all three in their early twenties.

Elizabeth then asked them what else they could remember, about last night.

Kevin looked at the girls, and they shook their heads in unison. But he remembered something. He recalled that when they were leaving the pub there were three dark men standing near the door. He'd thought at the time that they looked a bit out of place in the pub-older, and overdressed. Then one of the men spoke to them in a deep voice with an accent Kevin couldn't place. The man had simply asked if they were enjoying their visit to Melbourne. That was the last memory he had. It wasn't much, but he hoped maybe it meant something.

Elizabeth thanked Kevin and said that yes, his memory was very helpful.

She then whispered to the three young ghosts, and I could no longer hear what she was saying. Whatever she said was obviously meant only for them. As they listened to Elizabeth, the confusion on their faces seemed to dissolve, and slight smiles touched their lips. They all looked up, and then they were gone. Elizabeth had sent them home.

A deep sense of joy overwhelmed me, and I felt a shiver run down my spine. When I looked down, the hair on my arms was standing straight up. And suddenly I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to help people-or ghosts, rather-as Elizabeth had just done.

We sat there on the bench in silence, waiting to see if the fourth ghost would appear, but there were no others.

'I can't feel anyone,' Elizabeth finally said after some time had pa.s.sed.

'Perhaps I should go tell Sam and the others what we've learned?' I asked.

'Yes, you go, and I'll stay here. If the fourth one turns up, I'll find out what I can.'

I smiled at Elizabeth, remembering that I didn't actually need to speak out loud. I thanked her for her help, and got up to leave.

'Wait, just a moment. I forgot to tell you. Henry wants to meet you. I've told him all about you. He thinks of Sam as a son you know ... so, he wants to meet you. Maybe we can try tomorrow?'

I wondered if that meant he would come up to the bench.

'Oh, I doubt that. He hasn't been out of the tunnel since the day he died. But Sam can come too if that makes it easier for you.'

My heart skipped a beat. Another challenge-would this never end?

Elizabeth laughed. 'You'll like Henry. He's just like a big teddy bear. Don't be frightened.'

'Okay. I'd love to meet Henry. I'll see what Sam thinks about me going into the tunnel.'

I left then, and as I reached the road Sam came running over and put his arm around my shoulders, guiding me back to the house.

'Tell us everything,' he said, as soon as we were in the dining room.

I had all their attention, and it felt brilliant to be a real part of this team-to be helping them.

I told them everything that Kevin had said. Michael was silent, but nodded his head a few times, as if what I was saying simply confirmed what he already knew.

'Well, it was definitely them. Three men ... dressed strangely ... with unusual accents,' he said, looking at Erranase.

'Yes, I have no doubt,' Erranase agreed.

'And these first three were together. They were the triangle of sorts. Then the fourth was added afterwards. From memory, when I removed the bodies, all four were roughly the same size. Does that sound right, from what you just saw?' Michael asked me.

'Yes, I would say they were the same height, although I was mostly concentrating on Kevin.'

'And the fourth, they didn't say anything about the fourth person?' Michael asked.

'No, they didn't remember anything past the pub. Kevin was the only one to even remember the three men.'