Blood of the Rainbow (64 page)

“Then just listen to the sound of my voice. Hold on to the fact that I’m here – I’m real. I need to know if I’m right about this. Did you ever have a dream about being in a burning building?”

“Yes.”

“Did you recognize this building? Did you know where you were?”

“No, I was lost. Smoke was everywhere. I couldn’t see. I was crying. I was alone, and I couldn’t find my father, or my mother. I had an extremely strong feeling that I should go in a particular direction. But when I went that direction, instead of leading me out, it led me deeper into the building. The smoke was thick, and burning my throat. I couldn’t breathe.”

“How old were you? Can you remember that?”

“I don’t know. Three – four – maybe even five. I don’t think I’d started school yet.”

“Did you get out of the building? Did you wake up before you died?”

Sara started to cry silent tears. Jared could feel them, warm and wet on his shoulder. He closed his eyes. His heart ached. This was hurting Sara, and it hurt him to hurt her. “I got out Jared, obviously,” she replied, trying to keep a steady voice. Sara didn’t want Jared to know how upset this was making her. How weak she was.

“Ok, then
how
did you get out? How did you get to safety?”

Sara drew in a deep sigh. All she could remember was the pale blue light and something white. The same light she’d seen from the book. The same light and something white. It was a dog. A small white dog. A small, white dog with soft amber eyes.

“It was a dog Jared. A small white dog. I’d closed my eyes. I was tired. I was sleepy. I wanted to sleep. I was falling asleep, and the little white dog licked my face until I opened my eyes. I reached out to pet it, but as soon as my fingertips were close enough, it backed away. Each time I tried to touch it, the white dog, took another step backward. The next thing I knew, I was out, in the clean air, gathered in strong, warm arms. I remember. I reached out to pet the little white dog… but it was gone, and when I looked up, no one was there with me. I was alone again. There was no face to go with the warm embrace that had just held me.”

“So you think it was a man who embraced you? You said
strong,
warm arms. Did you see his face, or maybe the color of his eyes?”

“His eyes were dark. As dark as the night. The glow from the fire danced like a firefly in his eyes.”

Jared kissed Sara’s temple, remembering. “Sara… what color are your father’s eyes?”

“Blue.”

“And your mother’s?” he prompted.

Sara drew in a heavy sigh. “They’re blue too, only hers are a brighter blue, like Lucy’s.”

“So where did your brown eyes come from Angel? Who in your family do you know that has, or
had
brown eyes?”

“I don’t know Jared,” Sara whispered. “I don’t think there were any, not unless it was several generations back,” she yawned.

“We’ll talk more in the morning. Just remember if you get scared in your dreams, think of the little white dog with the amber eyes. Somehow, I think it will be there for you again, only it might be bigger, and its eyes might be crimson now.”

Chapter 30

After they’d awakened, showered and dressed, Jared and Sara sat on the bed together, talking for a while before they went downstairs for breakfast. Jared sat propped against the head board, holding Sara. “How did you sleep last night? Did you have any more bad dreams or nightmares?”

“Not what I would call a bad dream, or even a nightmare.”

“So you
did
dream then?”

“Yes, and you were right. The white wolf was there with me, and it did have crimson eyes. The other one, a cub that followed the wolf had amber eyes.”

Jared groaned inwardly. “The wolf cub had amber eyes - was it male or female?”

“Female.”

Jared’s eyes lit. “You’re
sure
it was female?”

Sara blushed and grinned. “It had to be. Either that, or the cub was missing a few vital parts,” she chuckled.

Jared softly laughed. “All things considered, you’d know the difference. Do you want to tell me about the dream?”

“I don’t remember a lot about it. We were on the mountain. It was early in the morning. The top of the mountain was covered in a thick fog. I was standing near a campfire. The white wolf and the wolf cub came to me. I stroked his head and looked into its crimson eyes. For some reason, I don’t know why, it looked sad. So did the wolf cub. Then I faded away, and all that was left was the wolf and the cub, and then I woke up. That’s all I can remember.”

Jared drew in a heavy sigh as he fought stinging tears. He remembered the other sketches – the two Sara had just described. One last night, one this morning, and one other one. The one that hurt the most. The one Jared would never let Sara see. No matter what happened. He couldn’t let her see it. If she did, it might change everything.
But she said the cub was female.
Dine'é Kay-Yah females don’t undergo the change. Maybe something
has
changed. Maybe the future
wasn’t
to be set in stone. If only Jared had paid more attention to his grandfather.

For a couple of minutes, Jared sat in deep thought. Sara watched him and wondered what was going on in his mind. Finally, he smiled. “Come on, let’s get downstairs. I’m starving.”

------------

As Jared and Sara entered the kitchen, Jared and his father shared a knowing glance.

Nadine put the orange juice on the table. “Did Sara have another one of her nightmares last night?”

Jared glanced at Sara, and sighed. “She had an episode before we went to bed.” He glanced at his father again.

“Oh dear! I hope you managed to get some sleep. Was it like the dream you told Myra and I…?”

Jared narrowed his eyes. “What dream?”

Sara brushed it off and attempted to change the subject. “It was nothing, Jared. Where’s Myra?”

“She left early. She wanted some extra study time before her exam. I think she’s concerned about this one.” She handed Tom a platter of what looked like thin pancakes. “Oh – and before I forget it – Sara, Myra said she wanted you to keep Angelstar. She appreciated the offer, but she said she couldn’t take Angelstar, not after Jared had already promised her to you.”

Sara shared a puzzled look with Jared, and then looked back at Nadine. “Nada, Jared hadn’t promised her to me. All I did was give her a name.”

Jared cleared his throat. “Ah – Sara – in our eyes, giving an animal a name is the same thing as claiming it.”

Tom added, eyeing Jared suspiciously. “Yes, it is, but I didn’t think you believed in all that ‘legend stuff’ as you put it.”

“Dad, could we not go into that right now. I’m already dealing with enough. I have some rather good news – or at least I think it is. We may not have that hard of a time convincing the Council to accept Sara into our Clan after we’re married.”

“How do you figure that?”

“I think Sara is already one of us – well – at least the Dine'é Kay-Yah.”

Tom drew in a quick breath. His eyes widened. “Jared….”

Jared held up his hand. “It’s all right Dad. She knows.”

“You’ve told her everything?”

Jared tightened his jaw. “Everything she
needs
to know.”

“Then what are you talking about Jared? Has something happened?”

“Two things actually. I’m starting to have my doubts about David Whitefeather. It should have shown up in her blood test.”

“What should have shown up? Jared you know I don’t like guessing games.”

“Sara has seen the symbol Dad and a lot more.”

Tom rolled his eyes and sighed. “That still doesn’t explain where she learned about the Dine'é Kay-Yah.”

Sara glanced at Jared, and then looked at Tom. “Not just the Dine'é Kay-Yah. I know about the Dine’é Yá too. I learned about both of them by reading the cover page from your father’s book.”

Tom glanced at Jared and then back at Sara. “Sara, neither are mentioned in my father’s….”

Jared held up his hand again. “Dad, it might not be there for us, but it
is
there for Sara. She saw the pale blue light, and she described the symbol. It’s the same symbol I drew when I was in the second grade. Joel didn’t just drug Sara with acid. The acid must have been laced with dream dust.”

Nadine’s mouth gaped. “But it should have….”

Jared smiled. “…Drove her mad? I know Mother, but it didn’t. It only opened her mind. Either Granddad or the Dine’é Yá sent Sara a message.”

Tom’s attention piqued. “A message – from what? How?”

Jared looked to Sara, smiled, and then turned. “The day of Granddad’s funeral, Sara was here alone. She read the book – well, at least she tried. Someone was trying to stop her.”

“What do you mean stop her – how?”

“I sat on the bed, opened the book, and the wind from the window blew it shut.”

Tom shook his head and sighed. “That’s perfectly normal Sara.”

“Just wait Dad. Go on Sara.”

“I agree with you Tom, and that’s why I didn’t pay it a lot of attention the first time it happened. I opened the book again, and this time a gust of wind came from the window and flung the book to the floor.”

“Was anything else in the room affected? Was anything blown over on the nightstand?”

“No Tom. The only thing that was affected was the book. At that point, I decided to try one last time. I got up and closed the window. When I opened the book again, and read the first paragraph, the one I’d just read in plain English, had changed to these weird symbols.”

“What kind of symbols Sara,” Tom asked, now more willing to listen.

Sara sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know, just symbols – letters of some kind….”

“But you didn’t recognize what language they were?”

Sara sighed again. “No Tom. They were just….”

Tom took an envelope from his pocket. “Nadine, get me a pencil, please.”

Nadine handed him a pencil. “What are you doing Tom?”

Tom ignored her, and started sketching. He sketched two sets of symbols. Was it anything like either of these?” he asked.

“It was more like the second set. I’m sure that last symbol was one of them. It reminded me of a McDonald’s golden arches on its side.”

“And you’re sure the first set wasn’t part of what you saw?”

“No, they’re Egyptian hieroglyphics. I’ve seen them before in a museum in Shreveport. It was definitely the other symbols.”

Jared furrowed his brow. “Dad…?”

Tom held up his hand. “Just wait Jared,” he said. “Then I’ll explain as much as I can.”

Oh Great,
Sara thought.
I know what that means. He’s not going to tell us the whole story.

“Jared, I need you to bring me one of your sketch pads or a piece of paper – something big enough Sara can draw on.”

Sara opened her mouth to speak. Tom held up his hand again. “Before you start objecting Sara, I know you’re not that good at drawing, but I need you to draw as many of the symbols as you can remember.”

“That’s not going to be very easy,” Sara complained. “I only saw them once. Last night, when I looked at the book a second time, I saw something totally different.”

“That’s ok,” Tom said. “I still need you to draw as many as you can remember. They don’t have to be in any particular order. Not even the order you saw them in. Just take your time, and do the best you can.”

“Ok, but don’t laugh if it looks more like a stick figure,” she chuckled as she picked up the pencil and started roughly sketching strange symbols.”

Tom and Jared leaned in, so they could see. Nadine watched from her chair. Tom had spoken of odd symbols his father saw once in a dream, and something young Joe had sketched on one of his letters to Tom. Since she never actually saw the symbols, and would have known nothing about it, she busied herself with clearing the breakfast dishes.

Sara finished the sketch and passed it to Tom. Some of the symbols were exact to the ones Tom’s father had shown him, and the ones in Joe’s letter.

Tom sighed deeply, and looked at Sara. “You said someone sent you a message. Can you describe how you got this message, and what it said Sara?”

“That I can do,” Sara said, laying the pencil on the table. “When the symbols appeared where English had been before, I got frightened. I began to believe maybe Joel was right. The book was cursed. When I tried to look away, I couldn’t. It felt as if something was holding my head in place, but nothing was there. No matter how hard I tried to,  I couldn’t turn away. I was forced to watch as the symbols started to spool off the page, gathering into what looked like a ball of black yarn – only it was ink. The ink from the page. The ball started to unwind and spelt out the phrase ‘Sara don’t be afraid’. But one thing’s for sure – I was afraid and terribly sick to my stomach. I almost didn’t make it to the bathroom. God I was so scared.”

“But when I got back from the funeral, you didn’t mention any of this to me. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Tom sighed and answered the question for Sara. “Because she was afraid it would make you upset with her. She’s curious Jared. It’s understandable. You can’t just tell her part of the story, and not expect her to search for the rest if you’re not willing to tell her.”

Jared clenched his teeth. “Dad, you know the consequences for doing that.”

“Jared for heaven’s sake. If you believe Sara is your perfect match, then you shouldn’t hide anything from her – not if she asks you. I know you don’t want to accept your possible future, but keeping it from Sara won’t change it.”

Jared growled. “
Dad
….”

“I’m sorry Jared. By not telling her, you could be doing the one thing you’re trying to prevent. If Sara looks for answers on her own, anything could happen to her. Tell her Jared. If she is a seer, eventually, you won’t be able to keep anything from her anyway. Take her to the mountain, and show her what she needs to know. She’s here, with you. Enjoy that. None of us knows how long we’ll have that. Don’t live your life in regret Jared. It isn’t fair to you, and it isn’t fair to Sara either!”

Jared stormed out back. Sara started to follow him, but Tom stopped her. “Let me Sara. No matter how much I think you should know, or how much I want to tell you, I won’t do what is Jared’s job. Let me talk to him.”